The annual Autumn Loughrea road race has a long and distinguished history. Sonia O'Sullivan ran there twice when it was a 5-miler with Paula Radcliffe joining her one of those years. Much further back in the early 1980s, Seb Coe beat Eamon Coughlin by the width of a singlet in a sprint finish when...

by Peter Delmer The Declan Hayes Doonbeg Half Marathon and 10k took place on Saturday in ideal conditions in the County Clare countryside – ok it was a little windy at times, but pretty ideal for a coastal route. From the start this event had that unique feel of a community coming together to make...

By David Noone It’s sometime after 7 am, all concept of time evaporated when the sun began to set the previous evening. I have been running alternate 10k loops with my running partner, Pat Staunton, Westport AC, for over 19 hours. In that time we’ve covered 100k each on foot, I struggle to get out...

Identify the people in these portraits. Clue: One of them runs 99.95 miles farther than the other. First Prize: One Year Free Entry to the Connemara 100. Second Prize: 5 Years Mandatory Free Entry to the Connemara 100. The fourth annual running of the Connemara 100 took place on Saturday 11th August...

Despite missing many regulars, Athenry's ladies placed first in the team prize at the 25th annual Claregalway 10k (formally known as "Clare River Harriers Athletic Club 25th Annual Road Race"). The team comprised Lorna Freeman, Fiona Lane, and Liz Broderick and none have ever won a prize of any...

By Sinéad Brody I really don’t write much about running, I mean I could give you a lecture for hours on how to run badly, about the quality of that.. but all my news is out of date I’m telling ya, the starting-out-too-fast syndrome is common knowledge but I think for us three ladies, Sinéad Foran...

It's been on the road since 1986 and few would deny that the Corrib Oil Streets of Galway 8k is the star attraction of the Connacht road races in Summer. What a buzz to line up with over two thousand eager runners in the Claddagh at the start. What a jolt to make that final left turn onto the...

The wall of sound hits me as I take the last bend. The glowing red digits on the finish line clock say 2 hours 59 minutes and the seconds are counting inexorably up. My entire existence is distilled into the death battle between those red digits and my aerobically depleted legs but the sound is a...

By Marie O'Connor A gang of Athenry AC competitors hit the track in Dangan last night to compete in the Galway Track and Field Competition. The brave souls were Pearse Hunter, Iain Shaw, Philip Magnier, Peadar Nugent, Anne Hunter, Kellie Burke, Assumpta Feeney and Marie O’Connor. The evening was a...

By Marie O'Connor June 16 th had been a date in my diary for months and it finally rolled in bringing with it a Marathon, 50km, 100km and 10k race. The plan was to pick up Anne Lyng and Val and hit the sidelines in Portumna to scream abuse at our club mates. Like all good plans it went off without a...

By Sinéad Brody (photo by Jan Quilitz) It certainly was a Great Race at the Ballybrit Racecourse Sunday the 17 th June. A happy number of 14 athenryacers, out of the 285 ;-), took part. The course started and finished on the racecourse itself, nearly like the way the horses do. It was grand and...

A number of happy Athenry runners can now designate themselves as Ultra Marathoners after completing the 50k trail race in Portumna on Saturday 16th June. They inlcude Noel Fox, Deirdre Quinn, Kieran Guirey, Maeve Noone, Aoife Callan, Janet Clancy, Patrick Forde, and Kenneth O'Hara. Congratulations...

Okay, so I am waaaaaaaaay behind on the blogging situation - but here's one I started earlier (and failed to finish until now). More news from the US anon... Sometimes, if you are not that fast, it’s necessary to apply a little cunning. You don’t need to outrun a bear, just to find a fat guy to...

Galway 5KM Series (Loughrea) – 15 May 2012. Been going well recently. Fairly well anyhow! Clocking some good times in training. Racing some half-decent times. Sub-72 in Ballycotton 10M. Sub-43 in Ardrahan 10KM. Best 10KM in embarrassingly long time. Off little mileage too. For me anyhow. Nothing new...

For those of you who may be fed up with all the Titanic publicity, don’t read any more of this. Back in 1912 my late uncle Andy Keane was one of a large family living on a small farm outside Athenry. For obvious reasons he decided to emigrate to America but, unfortunately, he decided to travel on...

By Frances Leahy For a lot of people, running has been a way of life from school sports days to continuing on in their adult life – but for some of us that is not the case. Back in May 2011 a group of women joined F4L group in Athenry AC not knowing what we were letting ourselves in for. We gave it...

Noel Fox is another recent recruit to our club but that hasn't stopped him hitting the ground running in a big way since joining. Altogether he has completed 5 marathons: Dublin 2008, Newry 2009, Stockholm 2011, Connemara 2012, Limerick 2012. B elow see his race report on the Limerick marathon on...

Two numbers -- six hundred and twenty seven finishers in Newcastle, six hundred and twenty five in Claregalway -- tell the story eloquently: this Galway 5k Series has been a huge success so far and we look forward to this continuing in the next four races. The Claregalway race last night brought a...

A race report from Aoife Callan on her April 15 marathon in Milan with partner Ray Somers, two great runs. Ray decided he wanted to put an end to the Monday night Ryehiller’s slagging and get his first marathon under his belt. He mentioned doing a marathon in the spring in Europe so I did the...

Several Athenry AC athletes got to challenge the World's current best distance runner, Kenenisa Bekele, in the Great Ireland Run 10k on Sunday 15th April. None seriously troubled him but how many sports are there where "ordinary joes" can compete against the best on the planet? How many are there...

To begin our tales of joy and woe, Jane Mangan has sent in the following race report of her day out in a very sunny Connemara. Stepping off the bus in Leenane I had a strange sense of calm. It was a beautiful day, Connemara was spectacular and everyone was in good form. Wanting to conserve my energy...

Fabulous sunshine and fabulous running were the order of the day at the Craughwell 10 mile run on the Sunday of St Patrick's Day weekend. Athenry AC came through with 66 competitors on the day, over a tenth of the entire field. We were rewarded with a gold medal for our women's team in the Co...

By George Livanos A wise man once told me that your first race sets the stage for the rest of the season so ‘ begin as you intend to go on’. I hope for my sake that these words were more than just the ramblings of a crazy old man since the Rock N Road half was my first race event for the year and it...

By Sinéad Foran Kinvara was buzzing from early morning, I had picked up my number the evening before so, that pressure off, I met up with Deirdre [Hassett] and Sinéad eile for a cuppa and a pre-race chat. Everyone was so relieved to see sunshine and nice conditions – given the nasty predictions...

A great day for running meant that the Tuam 8k on Sunday Jan 15th had a record 630 entrants. They experienced a perfect racing day with cool, dry weather. Most people seemed pleased with the new one-loop course also, with the last 3k or so along the Athenry to Tuam road. From the Tuam AC website:...