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...

Janet joined the club in January 2010 and soon established herself as a regular on the Saturday morning 9 o'clock run. Soon after, it seemed anyway, she teamed up with Maeve Noone and Deirdre Quinn to form the triumphirate of gals (and gels) who are one of the bedrocks of training in our club. Janet...

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:...

How do you run 50km of trail - with 6331ft of elevation gain - on a skeleton/ base training/ "Ironman recovery program" plan? The answer is kind of like the joke about fitting elephants into a Mini Cooper - one leg - or at least one foot - at a time. Last Saturday, I ran the North Face 50km...

Okay, you're sick of hearing about this by now, but this is the final piece of the story (and I had to get it out before 2011 ends and the clock resets so I have to find something new to train for)... Written in capitals on the front of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is “DON’T PANIC”. I always...

Marathon weekend kicked off when I stepped foot in the RDS on Sunday afternoon for the Expo. After a bite to eat and a toilet stop, Edel, Elaine and I received our race packs and took a look at the running gear etc on offer. We bumped into Siobhan Keane who was also running her first marathon; and...

Another brilliant day up in Dublin: success, disappointment, pain, elation, and a lot of smiles... It was an absolute blast cycling round, unloading, setting up, taking photos and shouting encouragement. Shouting abuse was fun too but I only did it to Craughwell AC and GCH... Here are some photos as...

Former London marathon winner, Catherina McKiernan, was the first woman home in the inaugural Conamara 10k, coming in less than a minute behind overall winner, Damien Ridge of Galway City Harriers, who won in a time of 36:34. McKiernan, who was at the event to start the race, made a last-minute...

A fantastic performance from the club today in Athlone at the 3/4 marathon. Lots of the Dublin-in-training crew hit the streets with some very speedy times. Mick Rice ran a superb 2:02:54 to place eighth overall and third in the M40 category. Full results attached. Club performances to be added here...

Let’s just clear up some issues first. I don’t like cold water. I’m not a big fan of open water swimming in general. I’m nervous descending on my bike. I don’t like being cold. I love my bed. So how exactly did I get here? Over the years, I really couldn’t picture myself doing an Ironman. I...

(Deirdre Hassett reporting from base...) In the worst, rainiest, windiest summer for triathlon in the past few years, the first Galway Ironman 70.3 triathlon took place in Salthill. For a flavour of the day’s event, check out this great video by GalwayGirl: http://www.galway.com/video/ironman-703...

Note: No club listings in results so apologies for anyone I've missed - please post a comment if you have additional results and I'll update report. The second trip to Longford for a half marathon in just over a month! This time members made their way down to the long standing Longford marathon/...

This is a prelim to the main report (still in progress), but thought it was fun and I'd slap it up. Also have Frank Burke working on same! For the record: Swim: 1:24 Bike: 6:24 Run: 4:13 Finish: 12:17 1. What was the high point of IM Frankfurt 2011 for you? Cycling up the ‘Hell’ (Bad Vibel - km 80/...

{Ed's Note: This is hot off the press; no results available yet but Jane Ann has been reported to have taken a super second place overall in the women's race, and Chairman Maeve has also been reported to have knocked a huge chunk off her half marathon PB - congratulations to both. } Above picture is...

Saturday July 2nd was another day for a road trip to a new running destination… Achill. I had never been on the island before so didn’t know what to expect, however, I had been warned about the toughness of the half marathon race but thought if I completed both Connemara and the Burren I should be...

Mick Rice's highly entertaining (and mildly censored) report on Athenry AC's attempt at domination of the Wicklow Way Relay last Saturday 11th June. More hill work, anyone? When Valerie Glavin tells you that you’re wanted on a club team, you’d need to be either brave or foolhardy to decline. And so...

The inaugural Connemara chamber of commerce Sky Road 10K challenge took place Sunday the 5th of June. The sun was shining, the town was awash with people for the Bank holiday weekend and the atmosphere was electric. Almost 150 participants took and with a prize fund of over €1,500 on offer there was...

The 2011 Ras an Spideil 8km road race which took place on Sunday 29th May last was held under ideal weather conditions as 117 athletes took part in the inaugural Connemara event. A vast field consisting of experienced competitors to recreational walkers took to the staring line with the scenic...

Ed's Note: How did Lyall get Race Number 1? Looks great though! Cork marathon – what a great race. Mile splits: 7:02 6:58 7:00 6:51 7:05 6:50 7:09 6:48 7:17 7:06 – ten mile split: 70:06. Predicted finish time was 3:03:48 at this point! 7:01 7:06 7:14 (0:46) – half: 1:32:13 7:16 7:01 7:05 7:08 7:13 7...