AGM Notice:
AGM - October 15th:
The East Cork AC AGM for 2019 will take place at Midleton CBS secondary school on Tuesday October 15th at 8:00pm (directly after training).
If anyone has a motion for the meeting please send it on to Liam (liamobrien001@hotmail.com) before Friday 11th October.
The East Cork AC AGM for 2019 will take place at Midleton CBS secondary school on Tuesday October 15th at 8:00pm (directly after training).
If anyone has a motion for the meeting please send it on to Liam (liamobrien001@hotmail.com) before Friday 11th October.
County Novice - October 6th, 2019. Michelle strikes again!
Novice Ladies:
Congrats to Michelle on winning her second individual XC medal in a week. Michelle followed up her impressive East Cork Senior performance with an even better one on Sunday in Liscarroll. She lead the field early on and was not afraid to take the race to the other girls and finished in 3rd overall. To put this in perspective, in 2017 she finished 39th and last year she was 28th. It just goes to show the improvement that can happen if you dedicate yourself enough to the training. Michelle also lead the womens team to silver medals. Niamh O'Connor was 9th overall after a ding dong battle for a long spell with Norah O'Brien, who ran her first XC race for the club. Norah was 12th overall and 4th in the U23 race. All the late training in Dublin after work seems to be paying dividends! Next home was the ever dependable Lorna Santry in 19th position with Eibhlin Cleary in 27th.
Novice Men:
Shane lead the mens team home with an impressive run in 4th overall, an impressive 10 places better than 2017 in Macroom. Tim Crowley ran an aggressive race and was rewarded with 7th. Chris Kelly on his debut for the club and first ever XC race had a stormer to finish in 10th with Donal hot on his heals for the whole race in 12th.. Another debutant was Paul Crotty who looked menacing over the first 4k. With a few more weeks training under his Paul will be a force to be reckoned with. Jonathon Finn was coming through the field like a train in the last lap and looked certain for a top 10 until an unmerciful stitch derailed him in the last 1km. The mens team were a carbon copy of the womens as they also won silver medals (but also were beaten by 10 points by Leevale!).
Upcoming Races:
The County Senior XC is on Sunday in Carrigadrohid. The womens race of 6k will start at 12pm with the mens straight afterward at approx 12.30pm.
We have had a rich history in this race since the club formed in 1985 winning the team title 20 times and 9 individual titles from four men: Liam O'Brien (1989), Donncha O'Mahoney x6 (1990,1991,1992,1993,1994,2003), Garreth Barry (1997) and Tim O'Donoghue (2018)
East Cork last won the team title in 2017 and will be looking to regain the title relinquished to Leevale last year, although a rejuvenated North Cork and last years intermediate All Ireland winners Togher could provide stiff competition too.
The team titles were won in: 85,86,88,89,90,91,92,94,96,03,04,05,06,07,08,09,10,11,13,17.
Breakdown of team winners below: *6 to count to 1995, 4 to count after:
Congrats to Michelle on winning her second individual XC medal in a week. Michelle followed up her impressive East Cork Senior performance with an even better one on Sunday in Liscarroll. She lead the field early on and was not afraid to take the race to the other girls and finished in 3rd overall. To put this in perspective, in 2017 she finished 39th and last year she was 28th. It just goes to show the improvement that can happen if you dedicate yourself enough to the training. Michelle also lead the womens team to silver medals. Niamh O'Connor was 9th overall after a ding dong battle for a long spell with Norah O'Brien, who ran her first XC race for the club. Norah was 12th overall and 4th in the U23 race. All the late training in Dublin after work seems to be paying dividends! Next home was the ever dependable Lorna Santry in 19th position with Eibhlin Cleary in 27th.
Novice Men:
Shane lead the mens team home with an impressive run in 4th overall, an impressive 10 places better than 2017 in Macroom. Tim Crowley ran an aggressive race and was rewarded with 7th. Chris Kelly on his debut for the club and first ever XC race had a stormer to finish in 10th with Donal hot on his heals for the whole race in 12th.. Another debutant was Paul Crotty who looked menacing over the first 4k. With a few more weeks training under his Paul will be a force to be reckoned with. Jonathon Finn was coming through the field like a train in the last lap and looked certain for a top 10 until an unmerciful stitch derailed him in the last 1km. The mens team were a carbon copy of the womens as they also won silver medals (but also were beaten by 10 points by Leevale!).
Upcoming Races:
The County Senior XC is on Sunday in Carrigadrohid. The womens race of 6k will start at 12pm with the mens straight afterward at approx 12.30pm.
We have had a rich history in this race since the club formed in 1985 winning the team title 20 times and 9 individual titles from four men: Liam O'Brien (1989), Donncha O'Mahoney x6 (1990,1991,1992,1993,1994,2003), Garreth Barry (1997) and Tim O'Donoghue (2018)
East Cork last won the team title in 2017 and will be looking to regain the title relinquished to Leevale last year, although a rejuvenated North Cork and last years intermediate All Ireland winners Togher could provide stiff competition too.
The team titles were won in: 85,86,88,89,90,91,92,94,96,03,04,05,06,07,08,09,10,11,13,17.
Breakdown of team winners below: *6 to count to 1995, 4 to count after:
Kevin O'Leary - 2.25 Marathon Man
Kevin O'Leary made his now annual pilgrimage to Germany for a marathon at the weekend. In 2018 it was the financial superpower of Frankfurt. This year he took on the 26.2 miles at the world famous Berlin marathon, home of the world record. Training had been going well for Kevin in the lead up to the race. On top of setting PB's at 5k (15.23) over the summer he had reduced his 10 mile mark to 51.53 also. But the marathon doesn't usually care about how many miles you have run or how many times you wanted to smash your alarm clock getting up for early morning runs. Luckily for Kevin though he had his taper judged expertly and was fully prepared for the job ahead.
There was a bit of rain around at the start of the race and the wind was stronger than expected. Kevin stuck to his plan of running a sensible controlled first half. He cruised through 5k in 17.11 and 10k in 34.03, envious splits in there own right for most club runners. At half way he was bang on target going through with a group in 72.14. Kevin kept that pacing going for another 18km and reduced the group dramatically. At the crunch part of the race with 7km to go Kevin ran his 35km to 40km split in 17.30! With the Brandenburg Gate coming into sight for the finish, and his body wanting a bar stool, Kevin somehow squeezed every last drop of effort from himself to cross the line in a huge 2 minute PB of 2.25:20.
Congrats Kevin from all at the club. You have been the model of consistency the last two years and all your improvements are truly deserved.
There was a bit of rain around at the start of the race and the wind was stronger than expected. Kevin stuck to his plan of running a sensible controlled first half. He cruised through 5k in 17.11 and 10k in 34.03, envious splits in there own right for most club runners. At half way he was bang on target going through with a group in 72.14. Kevin kept that pacing going for another 18km and reduced the group dramatically. At the crunch part of the race with 7km to go Kevin ran his 35km to 40km split in 17.30! With the Brandenburg Gate coming into sight for the finish, and his body wanting a bar stool, Kevin somehow squeezed every last drop of effort from himself to cross the line in a huge 2 minute PB of 2.25:20.
Congrats Kevin from all at the club. You have been the model of consistency the last two years and all your improvements are truly deserved.
East Cork Cross Country - Sunday September 29th, 2019
Mens Race - 6000m:
Congrats to Tim and Fiona who won the East Cork XC titles on Sunday. On a lovely warm sunny day in Castlelyons Tim blew the rest of the field away winning with 2 minutes to spare and lead the men to the team title for 2019. Also on the winning team was Shane Harrington - who won the overall bronze medal and was top dog in the M35 category, Tim Crowley - running his first ever East Cork XC race and Sean McGrath - running his 1,125th East Cork race.
We also won the M35 team with Shane, Tim and Sean along with Donal Giltinan. Donal was running his first ever cross country race and is eyeing up the County Novice next week as it is right next to his home place in Liscarroll.
Jonathon Finn and Eric Meade who both had completed the Moby Dick triathlon on Saturday in Youghal were next home in 15th and 22nd, followed by Denis in 30th overall.
Womens Race - 4000m:
Fiona won the ladies race in equally devastating fashion as Tim, clearing the course over a minute faster than 2nd. Michelle Ahern had a breakthrough performance coming 3rd overall and beating some decent athletes along the way. Gaining confidence from a good spell of training Michelle positioned herself in 2nd immediately and stamped her authority on the race (after waving goodbye to Fiona at the first bend). Michelle pushed the pace for the next 3k and dropped all of her rivals except Sinead Keavaney from Midleton. Despite a late charge from Jennifer Goggin and Ann Marie Holland, Michelle made sure of her medal with a strong push down off the last hill. Niamh and Lorna were 12th and 13th just behind a big bunch with Eibhlin just behind in 19th. All in all this was good enough for 2nd place behind Youghal AC.
Many thanks to St Nicholas AC who hosted and organised the event. It was an ideal location on a great course and everything ran smoothly.
Next Up:
County Novice and County Seniors: Both these cross country events we are looking to field competitive teams in the mens and womens races.
- October 6th - County Novice in Liscarroll (Entries have already been complete)
- October 13th - County Senior in Carrigadrohid (If you want to enter please let Eadaoin know by Wednesday Oct 2nd)
Congrats to Tim and Fiona who won the East Cork XC titles on Sunday. On a lovely warm sunny day in Castlelyons Tim blew the rest of the field away winning with 2 minutes to spare and lead the men to the team title for 2019. Also on the winning team was Shane Harrington - who won the overall bronze medal and was top dog in the M35 category, Tim Crowley - running his first ever East Cork XC race and Sean McGrath - running his 1,125th East Cork race.
We also won the M35 team with Shane, Tim and Sean along with Donal Giltinan. Donal was running his first ever cross country race and is eyeing up the County Novice next week as it is right next to his home place in Liscarroll.
Jonathon Finn and Eric Meade who both had completed the Moby Dick triathlon on Saturday in Youghal were next home in 15th and 22nd, followed by Denis in 30th overall.
Womens Race - 4000m:
Fiona won the ladies race in equally devastating fashion as Tim, clearing the course over a minute faster than 2nd. Michelle Ahern had a breakthrough performance coming 3rd overall and beating some decent athletes along the way. Gaining confidence from a good spell of training Michelle positioned herself in 2nd immediately and stamped her authority on the race (after waving goodbye to Fiona at the first bend). Michelle pushed the pace for the next 3k and dropped all of her rivals except Sinead Keavaney from Midleton. Despite a late charge from Jennifer Goggin and Ann Marie Holland, Michelle made sure of her medal with a strong push down off the last hill. Niamh and Lorna were 12th and 13th just behind a big bunch with Eibhlin just behind in 19th. All in all this was good enough for 2nd place behind Youghal AC.
Many thanks to St Nicholas AC who hosted and organised the event. It was an ideal location on a great course and everything ran smoothly.
Next Up:
County Novice and County Seniors: Both these cross country events we are looking to field competitive teams in the mens and womens races.
- October 6th - County Novice in Liscarroll (Entries have already been complete)
- October 13th - County Senior in Carrigadrohid (If you want to enter please let Eadaoin know by Wednesday Oct 2nd)
Munster and National Medals - A compilation by James McCarthy and Denis McCarthy
James and Denis have spent a lot of time and effort compiling results from Munster and National championships from the start of time (well 1986). It is very well put together and shows the success the club has had over the years. Thanks to both for this. It might be a trip down memory lane for some people or a source of inspiration to others!
There are one of two gaps that perhaps you might be able to help with. Mainly these are:
- 1989: National Road Relays 3rd team - Missing 3 members of the team.
- 1991: Intermediate Cross Country 2nd team - Missing one member of the scoring team.
- 1996: Munster Cross Country Junior Men 3rd team - All missing!
- 2000: Munster Cross Country Junior Men 3rd team - 2 missing
One wonders if we will have a junior mens or womens team compete again in the near future..
The file can be downloaded below and is also saved in the Club Records section.
There are one of two gaps that perhaps you might be able to help with. Mainly these are:
- 1989: National Road Relays 3rd team - Missing 3 members of the team.
- 1991: Intermediate Cross Country 2nd team - Missing one member of the scoring team.
- 1996: Munster Cross Country Junior Men 3rd team - All missing!
- 2000: Munster Cross Country Junior Men 3rd team - 2 missing
One wonders if we will have a junior mens or womens team compete again in the near future..
The file can be downloaded below and is also saved in the Club Records section.
| east_cork_medal_winners_1986-2018.docx |
2018 - Season Bests
A few pale in comparison to the Club records largely set in the late 1980's/early 1990 but there was Tim's 2.21 marathon record in October to claim for the current generation.
Upcoming Events 2019/2020:2019:
October: - County Novice XC - October 6th; Liscarroll - County Senior XC - October 13th; Carrigadrohid - Munster Novice XC - October 20th; Limerick Racecourse - County Intermediate XC - October 27th; Dromtarriffe November: - County Masters XC - November 3rd; Castlelyons - County Novice B XC - November 3rd; Castlelyons - Munster Senior XC - November 10th; Conna - Munster Masters XC - November 17th; Kerry - National Seniors XC - November 24th; Abbotstown December: - Munster Intermediate XC - December 1st; Two Mile Borris - East Cork Novice XC - December 8th; TBA - National Novice XC - December 15th; TBA |
Member Profile:
Every few weeks we will have a feature on one of our members. The thirteenth installment is an interview with Sean McGrath:
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