We arrived in Rome on the Thursday night, so we had all Friday for sightseeing etc, around Rome. After all the usual registration and pasta parties and everybody selling their wares at the Expo on the Saturday, it was suddenly race day on the Sunday. We choose to walk to the start as it was a...

Folks...well done to everyone who competed in the Ultra, the Full, and the Half. It was tremendously enjoyable to do the Lough Inagh, Leenane, Maam Cross loop taking photos of all three races. Here are the photos, 73 in all. http://www.flickr.com/photos/pmagnier/sets/72157626357806617/show/

It was a glorious spring afternoon as we set off on the 45 min journey to the parish of Kilnaboy in Co. Clare on Sunday last (10 April 2011). A 2pm start allowed for a much-needed lie-on, which is always welcome. I was dropped off in Kilnaboy at about 1.30pm, while the rest of the gang headed for...

Spent race morning watching birds. Some black, some brown, some yellow, mostly white. Down in the turlough in Craughwell! The feathered kind, of course, in the company of a good pal and non-runner, PC. A most interesting place and one that is almost unique in the world. Go down there some day for a...

Last week I stupidly passed a remark to Valerie Glavin on how I would love to run the Craughwell Ten as close to 1:34 as I could. I should have known better. By the start line I had a nice plan, or so I thought, I'd start at 9.4 minute miles and then all going well bring it into 9.3 and go from...

They inverted the course direction and the weather pattern inverted from the last few days– instead of starting sunny and raining in the afternoon; it started foggy and the sun eventually shone through. Athenry AC had another great day out at the impeccably organised second Craughwell AC 10 mile...

A third report from an Athenry AC member down in Ballycotton last week... http://www.lyallguiney.com/2011/03/mixed-feelings-from-ballycotton/

Saturday morning started with my picking up Elaine Quinn, Martina McShane and Maria Long. As I said later to Owen Curran it was a case of how many Athenry athletes could we fit in a Yaris? The four of us landed in Kinvara just after 9am, the driver got her distances a tad wrong hence the early...

One of the many GB Shaw quotes is, "We don’t stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing". (Was he any relation to our current secretary, Iain?) In Athenry AC there's a small few of us still 'playing.' Last weekend I decided to travel to that lovely East Cork village of...

There's something special about this race. It’s my favourite race and as I sat near the finish area, completely exhausted, I was already looking forward to next year’s race and getting another shot at this course. The conditions on Sunday were very good and unusually for Ballycotton, there was no...

I was blithely oblivious to nutrition as a child. I lived on a diet of ham sandwiches and cornflakes. My mother (working full time, with six kids) took the path of least resistance – we ate what we didn’t refuse. Hence my younger sister lived on a singular diet of Coco Pops and Rice Krispies for two...

I only entered the Miami marathon on an impulse, after seeing their stall at the Chicago marathon expo last October. Having sat on the entry for a couple of months – with no flights or accommodation booked until Christmas – I ended up turning it into a pretty solid 10-day holiday in the sun. Florida...

She put her arms around her husband’s neck, kissed him and thanked him for all of his support - then quickly slipped out into the dark silent night. Driving up the boreen, only a dim moon for light, the palms of her hands grew clammy. She could hear her heart thump in her chest, her stomach felt...

Dungarvan 10 Miler - Race Report by Marie Curran I travelled to Dungarvan - my hometown - on Saturday with my husband; he was on chauffer duty for the weekend! We arrived mid-afternoon and chilled with my parents for the day (I did ditch Donal for a bit as I caught up with an old school pal, nothing...

1. It’s (almost) never too hot to run I would have begged to differ with this before spending a summer paddling in my own perspiration, in the high heat and humidity of a Minnesotan summer. At first I tried to dodge the heat – running early (still pretty sweaty) or even on the treadmill. Eventually...

Fields of Athenry 10km Race Report by Maire Curran Photographs Courtesy of Francis Kennedy - www.eirefoto.com The start of a new year and what better way to kick start it than a 10k race in perfect weather conditions? Heading into the race my aim was to finish it and if my time was just over the...

From Deirdre Hassett.. This Sunday, we're going to do the first ever Athenry AC Christmas Fatass Run at Kilbrack Woods. Yes, I'm showing the effects of a summer spent in the US - this is an American concept (but a great one, I think). The idea of a fatass run is to get a gang of people together for...

Having being bitten early in the year with the jog in the bog and Gaelforce adventure races I decided to finish the year with the Sea 2 summit in Westport which is quickly establishing itself as the home of adventure racing. The event was organised by Padraig Marrey winner of Gaelforce and Achill...

At the British and Irish Masters International Cross Country, held at Santry on Saturday 13th Nov, Athenry athlete Paul McNamara won silver in his M35 age category in his first outing at Masters level representing Ireland. Paul was fourth overall in the race, just beating Craughwell's Gerry Ryan...

The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner Moose Mountain Marathon Trail Report (Superior Hiking Trail, North Minnesota) Oh God. Well, there are only so many ways to say ‘I ran twenty six miles and I ate a lot of gels’. For a trail marathon report, this extends to ‘I ran twenty six miles up...

The six Athenry athletes who made the trip to Glasson Hotel for the first running of the 19.66 mile race found the organizer's description "an undulating course" to be the euphemism of the year. This is a tough course, up and down all the way, with the ups seeming to predominate to an extent that...

Tomas Mangan's - Dublin Half-Marathon Report As I waited at the start, my mind turned to time. Two minutes to go. Where is the 1:50 pace balloon gone? Did I have to get up at 5.15am this morning - I made Dublin in less than two hours. Why had my wife not reset the Garmin (my Garmin) from her run...

By Martina McShane and Marie Curran 19 th September 2010 - The day marked on our training plan as race day. The plan was devised eight weeks ago with a little help from magazines, Google and the greatest contributor - Maeve Noone. Neither of us would have contemplated taking on a half marathon had...

Good to see Lyall back on form after a very rocky start for 2010. The full report can be found at: http://www.lyallguiney.com/2010/09/blarney-half/ .

National Half Marathon, Race Report by Janet Clancy I found the route of this half fairly good, although, of course it felt much tougher while running it! But, looking back on it afterwards, even though there were hard up-hills there were two nice long downhill stretches on it also. As I was trying...