'Battle for mid-table mediocrity' Open the sports section of any newspaper and you read articles about elite sportsmen and women, a soccer player who scores a wondrous goal, a hurler who drives a ball over the bar from the touchline or an athlete who breaks his or her own national record. However...

To PB or not to PB - that was the burning question I asked myself as I jogged the streets of Shannon town yesterday afternoon. I was on a 4k warm-up for the Peach 10k, on my own wondering if I really was in good shape for this race as my previous two races had suggested (two Galway 5ks - Athenry and...

Four Galway athletes were delighted to join the Irish team at the European Veteran Championships 2007 held in Regensburg, Germany over four days from Thursday 17th May to Sunday 20th. Athenry's Martin Keane and Philip Magnier accompanied those two diehards of Connacht athletics, TJ Beatty and Andrew...

My thirty first marathon is going to get a small report. Mainly because my actual run was exactly the same as Vienna last week, but also because Belfast lacks something. I'm not sure what it is that's wrong with this event as Belfast has a lot of positives. I stayed in the Hilton which is a fabulous...

I came up with the title of this race report while standing on the start line of the Vienna marathon, as apprehensive as always. Granted it was only a week since London but I still got a chuckle out of it. So here I was, number 30, the big threeeee zerooooo. I should have been excited, but really it...

Sometimes I wonder if there is any point writing race reports, but I keep reminding myself that when I hit the 100 and look back over these that I will fondly remember some marathons and will cringe when I recall others. London 2007 will be one of the middle of the road attempts that I should be...

Despite a few absences (due to injuries and a new baby boy for Owen Curran), Athenry AC competed with both a senior and a veteran's men team in the AAI national championships at 10k on the road on Sunday, April 22nd April. Peter Delmer swopped up to the veteran's team to join Gary Doherty and Philip...

I have a fondness for the Kilnaboy 10’. This is only the second time I’ve raced it but I have already picked up a distinct Kilnaboy atmosphere at the event. Perhaps it’s something to do with the fact that my previous two races were very large-scale events – Ballycotton and Connemara – while here...

No One Else Remembers Your Training Times Preparation for Connemara got serious in January, resulting in 440+ miles from the first. Training went well with many long runs, all under 8 minute pace, include two twenty milers. Almost no racing, missing Ballycotton for the first time in 6 years...

Last November I posted a race report on this site from Helen Lavin, a Galway Girl currently resident in Minnesota. Helen eloquently described her trail race adventures in the Moose Mountain Marathon. In December she took part in the Fields of Athenry 10k and won a nice piece of crystal and this...

AAI Inter-Club Cross Country ‘07 Report by Brian O’ Connor History was made on Saturday 10th March 2007 when Athenry AC entered a team in the AAI National Inter-Club Cross Country Championships. This was the first time that the senior section of the club entered a team in this event. The team was...

If you’re a regular visitor to this site you’ll be aware that this year I set a goal of completing all four ten-mile races in the John Buckley Sports Munster Series. There’s a report on this site on my adventures in Mallow in early January and there’s another on the Dungarvan race in early February...

Ballycotton ‘10’ 2007 Report by Mick Rice It has been said many times before, but it bears repetition, that the Ballycotton ‘10’ is the best road race in Ireland. This is surely the case. For many of us in Athenry AC, we don’t travel to Cork each spring for a race, we go there on pilgrimage. Having...

4 hours 17 minutes Nobody on the bus looks like they would complain if it broke down. The runners have been gathering since early morning to be driven out to the start of the race and conversation has long since ceased. The two older men with the Dublin Marathon 88 tee shirts and the John McEnroe...

I was more apprehensive than nervous heading into this run. I don't seem to suffer from nerves at the start of marathons any more but a definite air of apprehension was present as I left the house at 6:30 AM on Saturday, 10 February. I suppose I was heading into the unknown as my training had a...

I've been talking about this one for a while. When I first got wind of this, I was convinced it would be something unsual, and given that it was a once off, there was no 'wait and see how it goes this time'. I haven't been training since the marathon, and the residual fitness has waned. I pulled out...

I never write short race reports but I’ll try to write this in Ray’s style … Luton in December – not the most exiting place to visit. Let’s put it like this: I was happy enough to get off the streets and safely into my hotel without encountering too many ASBO holders. I hate to generalise, but there...

The following Race Report comes from Helen Lavin who currently resides in Minnesota. Helen has competed in road races, triathlons and trail races in the past few years and this report shows her enthusiasm for the sport. I only had the pleasure of running with her once when we completed a few laps of...

Dublin 2006 - One Lonely Bag It's funny really how every day we learn a little. Two weeks previously in Amsterdam my eyes were opened with the understanding that finding the correct pace and sticking to it is key to completing a marathon in good shape. It's simple really, if you've trained to do a 3...

A Personal Dublin Marathon Race Report by Peter Delmer Peter in Dublin 2005 To say I was well tapered for this race was an understatement – although the training had gone well all summer, the last four or five weeks saw a major drop off in mileage. Each year it’s the same thing – I set out to do...

Maumean Trail Ray O'Connor is Race Director of the hugely successful Connemara Marathon races. Last weekend he launched a new event to a largely unsuspecting public in the form of a run/trek accross the stunning Maumean Trail in Connemara. Here Ray reports on what seems to have been something really...

The Finish Line - Seb Locteau Never Again Without Training - Seb Locteau's Ironman Triathlon report 20 August 2006 ---------------------------------------------------- As you know, I did Kildysart 4miles, Headford 8km, Swinford 4.5 miles, Westport 13 miles and the Streets in 14 days, to see if my...

Old Head Beach Westport Each year in August a small group of dedicated and enthusiastic volunteers organise a half-marathon race along the County Mayo coastline between the picturesque village of Louisburg and the neighboring town of Westport. The race is held in order to raise funds for the...

I've been a little bit slow with this (alot like my running, as you'll see below) but here, finally, is my race report from the Luton Marathon of 2005. It all began last April, when Alan Burke asked me if I'd fancy doing a fun run in Bilbao, near where I live in Limerick. I agreed and started my two...

All is quiet on this race so far but I'm not shy at being first past the post to get a race report out. Training for this consisted of three weeks solid training. Probably upwards of fifty miles per week all on hills and tough ones at that. This was part of my build up to Longford at the end of the...