At the back: Martin Keane, Peter Delmer, TJ Beatty (Loughrea AC), Paul McNamara and Ray O'Connor.
In front: Owen Curran, Michael Rooney, Alan Burke and Mick Rice.
Last night saw an informal gathering of Athenry AC members to celebrate club achievements during 2006. We had a very good turnout in festive surroundings in Keane’s Bar & Restaurant. The atmosphere may have been low-key and informal but there was a palpable sense of pride in what a small and young club had accomplished in such a short time.
Club achievements were wide and varied throughout the year as any regular browser of this website will know, and it was great to see so many club members featuring on the list. We celebrated success at International, National, Provincial, County and Local events and the focus was very much on team events.
Guest speaker on the night was TJ Beatty from Loughrea AC who did an excellent job. TJ’s knowledge of athletics in Galway and the West of Ireland is fantastic and he took us on a tour of Athenry’s contribution to the running scene over the years – even producing newspaper clippings from the 1960’s detailing the exploits of the Athenry de Wett club. He was full of praise for the impact that the current Athenry Athletic Club has had across the county and further afield in terms of running success, club administration and our website.
Highlight of the evening was the presentation of medals for the following events…
Western Region Cross Country Intermediate Championship, Dangan
On November 5th Athenry won the team prize over 10,000m represented by Brian O’Connor, Mick Rice, Alan Burke and Gary Doherty. Brian was also presented with his individual silver medal.
National Half-Marathon Championships, Letterkenny
On the 3rd of September Athenry AC were the 3rd team home in the National Half-Marathon. Team medals were presented to Paul McNamara, Brian O’Connor, Peter Delmer, Mick Rice, Alan Burke and Gary Doherty.
National Marathon, Dublin
National silver medals were presented to Paul McNamara, Mick Rice, Peter Delmer, Owen Curran, Alan Burke, Mike Rooney, Ray O’Connor, and Martin Keane for their achievement in the Senior Men’s Team at the Dublin Marathon on October 30th.
Many thanks to TJ for his entertaining speech, to Keane’s Bar & Restaurant for the excellent service and most of all to the club members who braved the journey on such a cold and foggy night.
The full list of club achievements (nicely condensed onto one page) are attached to this post.