Club member Deirdre Hassett underlined the healthy state of women's running in the club over the weekend by claiming the inaugural Ballinasloe 10km Road Race. Deirdre tells me, " It's the first time I've won a prize for an athletics race. Was very excited indeed! Distance was a little short - my...

Well, he's done it again! Ray O'Connor has managed to drag himself over the finish line of the Marathon Des Sables, generally agreed to be one of the toughest footraces on Earth, in more or less one piece. He even managed to get himself interviewed out on the course by the official race web-site and...

A 'gaggle' of Galway women (and a few men to boot!) ran the Paris Marathon today, many of them flying the Athenry AC flag. First time marathoner Miriam Wall will be very, very satisfied with her fine finish time of 3:49 40. Preliminary results from the official race web site show that she ran a very...

Fresh from his organisation of a hugely successful Connemara Marathon Weekend Ray O'Connor is on the brink of taking on the biggest challenge of his racing life. This might sound strange as many of us know that Ray completed the infamous 10-in-10 Brathay Challenge which involved running ten standard...

Nice mention of Athenry Athletic Club in an article by Ian O'Riordan (no mean runner himself!) about Johnny Donnelly on Saturday last. http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/sport/2009/0321/1224243200366.html

Pictured Above: Johnny O'Connor describes the first hill out of Leenane. The say that a picture speaks a thousand words. Well, as I don't have time to write the thousand words here are some snapshots of the action in Connemara over the weekend. There was some fantastic racing out there amongst the...

Athenry AC's Valerie Glavin produced a stunning run in the Connemara sun yesterday to claim her first Connemara Ultra Marathon title. Running strongly from the start Valerie proved immensely strong over the tough Connemara course and came home strongly over the 'Hell of the West' to the resounding...

The Connacht indoor juvenile athletic finals were held in Nenagh recently, 42 athletes from Athenry competed in these finals where they won 7 Gold, 6 Silver and 8 Bronze medals in the individual events and 1Gold and 1 Bronze medal in the relays. The following were the individual medal winners; The...

From Our Special Correspondant in Ballycotton John O'Connor One of our members ran around Ballycotton in these “flip-flops” last week. He must have thought it was a pilgrimage not a race. Without naming and shaming anyone our ex-club treasurer, Limerick born GAA fanatic who works for Nortel was even...

Paul Hession this morning made it through his 60m first round heat of the European Indoor Championships as one of the fastest qualifiers. This has now earned him a place in this afternoons second semi-final. This could prove to be a tough semi with the event favourite Dwain Chambers in the same semi...

Athenry AC sprint sensation Paul Hession will be in action this weekend at the European Indoor Athletics Championships in Turin, Italy. Paul is entered in the 60m, a distance in which, although it is far short of his specialisation, he has met with some considerable success previously. The men's 60m...

Ann Carter put on a confident and well paced display of road running for the second time in as many weeks when she was first woman past the finish line of the Kilconieron 5 Mile Road Race last Saturday. Ann was also first past the post in the Maree 8km two week previously in a splendid time of 31:51...

There have been some fine road races for us all to enjoy in recent weeks around Galway and for once the weather hasn't been too bad at all. Fond memories of the Maree 8k are still fresh in our minds and the Craughwell Fit for Life 5k and last Saturday's Kilconieron 5 Mile race were great days out...

The good news has reached us that Grainne Breen completed her debut marathon in Barcellona yesterday in the time of 4:02:02. Obviously has been secretly training away for many months. We're looking forward to a complete report on her return but in the meantime I'm sure you'll all join me in offering...

The Community Games Art and Model making county Finals take place this year on the 21st March in the new venue of Holy Rosary College Mountbellew. It will commence at 11 am sharp. It is indeed great to see both competitions back in the same venue as last year they had to be hosted in different...

Athenry AC's annual pre-Connemara Marathon raiding party took to the roads of Connemara this weekend to test out the famous marathon route before the big day next month. A full compliment of 27 dedicated Connemara Marathon aspirants wrapped up well and braved the cold weather and were rewarded with...

Athenry AC speedster Paul Hession continued his preparations for the Europen Indoor Championships with some solid sprinting at the Odyessy Arena in Belfast at the Irish National Indoor Championships. Paul was just pipped at the post by American Josh Norman in the final of the 60m sprints but Paul...

Paul Hession got his indoor season off to a bright start in Moscow and Malmo this week. The Athenry AC ace sprinter opened his season at the 'Russian Winter' IAAF Permit meeting in Moscow at the CSKA Stadium last Sunday the 1st of February. Paul made the final of the 60m sprint but finished 6th in...

The much-awaited final took place recently at the Athenry AC (Senior) Christmas party. Peter Delmer versus Mark Breen! Peter retained his title against first-time challenger Mark. Peter's experience of the big occasion shone through as this YouTube video amply displays. After a prolonged stewarts...

Congratulations to Maire Treasa Beatty who won the Club Person of the Year award for 2008, presented at the Athenry AC AGM on Wednesday 14th Jan. This is Maire Treasa's first year of serious running and she didn't commence actual racing until March, so her total haul of 33 races during the year...

The image that Mick Rice hoped would never see the light of day has been exclusively published on the Athenry AC web site this afternoon. Mick Rice has gone native and this is the proof - wearing his very special race director's hat(!) on the morning of the recent Fields of Athenry 10KM Road Race...

Our very own Ruth Kilcawley has been in touch to tell us about some informational clinics she will be holding in the Raheen Woods Hotel during February. She's offering a special discount to members of Athenry AC. Ruth holds a BSc in Human Nutrition & Dietetics and is an Approved Sports Dietitian by...

I'm fair sure Paul is the first ever Athenry athlete to grace this august magazine's cover in its 28 year history.

Congratulations to the juvenile athletics who compete at the national cross country finals in Cavan last weekend. Pride of place goes to Jack Fitzpatrick who won a bronze individual medal in the under 11 boys final and Rachel O' Brien was just outside the medals in fourth place in the under 11 girls...

The Regenerative Medicine Institute (REMEDI), NUI Galway has assembled a distinguished panel of speakers to partake in a free public forum meeting on the subject of Osteoarthritis. The 2008 REMEDI public forum entitled Osteoarthritis - current treatments and future therapies will be held on Tuesday...