Irish Milers Club - Le Cheile - June 8th, 2019
Very little racing the past week. Tim, Kevin and Frank did venture up to Leixslip on Saurday in the hope of a few cheeky mid season fast times, the wind had other ideas unfortunately. Also Lavinia made the trip to North Cork for the 10k in Doneraile Park.
Firstly in Leixslip - Tim ran a very controlled race in the 3000m B race. After 2000m Tim was in 6th overall but closed very strong and moved up to 3rd with a big move on the last lap to finish with 9.44. Interestingly his last three 3000m's have been 9.43, 9.43 and 9.44.
Kevin and Frank did battle on the track for a third time this season. With Kevin prevailing in the Leevale 3k and Frank getting revenge in the Graded League 800m this shaped up to be a very competitive battle over 1500m. Frank on the very inside of lane 1 started strong with the gale force wind at his back and settled in comfortably behind the 61 second pacemaker. However eventual race winner Mitchell Byrne, Rathfarnham AC, pulled away in the 2nd lap leaving Frank leading the pack into the wind on the home straight through 700m. Kevin was watching and waiting at the back of the lead group as the race settled. The passed through the 800m in 2.05 with Tim Crowley in unmissable compression socks shouting out encouragement and times. At this stage Frank and Kevin were in 5th and 6th and into the home straight for the penultimate time Frank was again taking the brute force of the wind. Kevin not making the same mistakes as the 800m 2 weeks ago bided his time.
With 300m to go Kevin finally made his move, passed Frank and then spent the next 50 seconds waiting for Frank to unleash his trademark kick and come flying past. That did not happen this day and Kevin hung on for 5th in 4.05 with Frank in 7th in 4.09. Again a lot of credit has to go to the organising of these races. They run like clockwork and really give another dimension to track racing.
Doneraile 10k - Lavinia ran a solid 56.03 in a 10k on a very hilly course in Doneraile Park and no doubt had a great day out.
Upcoming Races
- National 5 Mile Champs - June 15th; Phoneix Park (Brian Harty)
- John Buckley Graded League - June 28th; CIT
- National League Rd 2 - June 30th; AIT
- Robbie Steele Corkbeg 4 Mile - July 4th, Whitegate
Jacket Orders:
The below have ordered the limited edition East Cork jackets. If you also want one please let me know ASAP as I have already made the order and only have a small bit of time to update it. This is the final ordering of this style of top.
Donogh, Stephen, Lavinia, Graham, Donal, Niall, Jonathon, Annalise.
Firstly in Leixslip - Tim ran a very controlled race in the 3000m B race. After 2000m Tim was in 6th overall but closed very strong and moved up to 3rd with a big move on the last lap to finish with 9.44. Interestingly his last three 3000m's have been 9.43, 9.43 and 9.44.
Kevin and Frank did battle on the track for a third time this season. With Kevin prevailing in the Leevale 3k and Frank getting revenge in the Graded League 800m this shaped up to be a very competitive battle over 1500m. Frank on the very inside of lane 1 started strong with the gale force wind at his back and settled in comfortably behind the 61 second pacemaker. However eventual race winner Mitchell Byrne, Rathfarnham AC, pulled away in the 2nd lap leaving Frank leading the pack into the wind on the home straight through 700m. Kevin was watching and waiting at the back of the lead group as the race settled. The passed through the 800m in 2.05 with Tim Crowley in unmissable compression socks shouting out encouragement and times. At this stage Frank and Kevin were in 5th and 6th and into the home straight for the penultimate time Frank was again taking the brute force of the wind. Kevin not making the same mistakes as the 800m 2 weeks ago bided his time.
With 300m to go Kevin finally made his move, passed Frank and then spent the next 50 seconds waiting for Frank to unleash his trademark kick and come flying past. That did not happen this day and Kevin hung on for 5th in 4.05 with Frank in 7th in 4.09. Again a lot of credit has to go to the organising of these races. They run like clockwork and really give another dimension to track racing.
Doneraile 10k - Lavinia ran a solid 56.03 in a 10k on a very hilly course in Doneraile Park and no doubt had a great day out.
Upcoming Races
- National 5 Mile Champs - June 15th; Phoneix Park (Brian Harty)
- John Buckley Graded League - June 28th; CIT
- National League Rd 2 - June 30th; AIT
- Robbie Steele Corkbeg 4 Mile - July 4th, Whitegate
Jacket Orders:
The below have ordered the limited edition East Cork jackets. If you also want one please let me know ASAP as I have already made the order and only have a small bit of time to update it. This is the final ordering of this style of top.
Donogh, Stephen, Lavinia, Graham, Donal, Niall, Jonathon, Annalise.
Munster Senior/Masters and Touraneena 5k - May 24th/25th, 2019
Cork Marathon, Half and Relay success
Although it is not a championship race the Cork Marathon weekend is a big one on the calendar. With the relay numbers included there are close to 10,000 people taking part.
This year we had considerable success across all races! Fiona who has finished 3rd and 2nd the last two years finally reached the top of the podium and won the Half Marathon in a new PB of 83.17 and more importantly €500 to be spent on a badly needed new pair or racers.
Tim who has been keeping a low profile of late has obviously still been getting the miles in. He ran an excellent race to finish 2nd overall in the marathon in 2.25:52 and in the process beat 2:15 marathoner Sergio Ciobanu. Tim went through halfway in 71.30 and despite a few hallucinations in the last few miles held strong to hold his pace and finish comfortably clear of Sergio in the end.
Kevin O'Leary was our next man home and was 6th overall in a very commendable 2.33:53. Kevin who is targeting Berlin later on in the year was using Cork as a tester as he has ran 3 track races in the last month alone, and is still hoping to set a few more PB's over the shorter distances this summer.
Niall Murphy was making his debut marathon for East Cork and finished in 41st overall in 3.04:31. Training showed Niall was in much better shape than and will be back for more after a few weeks of recovery.
Relays:
We had mens and a womens relay teams this year also. Our men were 4th overall in 2.34:37, although crucially they did not beat Tim and Kevin to the finish line. So some work will have to be done this winter to make sure this never happens again. Interesting Leevale who won the relay team title only passed out Tim with 2 miles to go, which again shows what a strong run he ran.
Our womens team also had an excellent run for 4th All-female team in 3.19:06. This was 30th overall out of nearly 650 teams. Well done all.
East Cork T&F Day 1:
Results are not up yet for the East Corks that were on Bank Holiday Monday in CIT. Tim Crowley has however reliably informed me he did indeed win the mens Senior 1500m in 4.35 with Frank Hayes in 2nd. Further details will be later in the week when results come out.
Special Mention - Frank O'Brien:
East Cork AC would like to congratulate training squad member Franko on his excellent Senior School 2k steeple victory in Tullamore on Saturday. In a very exciting race Frank showed excellent steepling technique over the water jump to stay in touch with the leaders in the middle part of the race and then showed a clean pair of heels to Daniel Stone of Belvedere College over the final 400m. Franks time of 6.01 is a PB of 13 seconds and puts him in position to realistically eye up a 9.15 3k steeple qualifying time for the European U-20 Championships in Sweden in July.
Although it is not a championship race the Cork Marathon weekend is a big one on the calendar. With the relay numbers included there are close to 10,000 people taking part.
This year we had considerable success across all races! Fiona who has finished 3rd and 2nd the last two years finally reached the top of the podium and won the Half Marathon in a new PB of 83.17 and more importantly €500 to be spent on a badly needed new pair or racers.
Tim who has been keeping a low profile of late has obviously still been getting the miles in. He ran an excellent race to finish 2nd overall in the marathon in 2.25:52 and in the process beat 2:15 marathoner Sergio Ciobanu. Tim went through halfway in 71.30 and despite a few hallucinations in the last few miles held strong to hold his pace and finish comfortably clear of Sergio in the end.
Kevin O'Leary was our next man home and was 6th overall in a very commendable 2.33:53. Kevin who is targeting Berlin later on in the year was using Cork as a tester as he has ran 3 track races in the last month alone, and is still hoping to set a few more PB's over the shorter distances this summer.
Niall Murphy was making his debut marathon for East Cork and finished in 41st overall in 3.04:31. Training showed Niall was in much better shape than and will be back for more after a few weeks of recovery.
Relays:
We had mens and a womens relay teams this year also. Our men were 4th overall in 2.34:37, although crucially they did not beat Tim and Kevin to the finish line. So some work will have to be done this winter to make sure this never happens again. Interesting Leevale who won the relay team title only passed out Tim with 2 miles to go, which again shows what a strong run he ran.
Our womens team also had an excellent run for 4th All-female team in 3.19:06. This was 30th overall out of nearly 650 teams. Well done all.
East Cork T&F Day 1:
Results are not up yet for the East Corks that were on Bank Holiday Monday in CIT. Tim Crowley has however reliably informed me he did indeed win the mens Senior 1500m in 4.35 with Frank Hayes in 2nd. Further details will be later in the week when results come out.
Special Mention - Frank O'Brien:
East Cork AC would like to congratulate training squad member Franko on his excellent Senior School 2k steeple victory in Tullamore on Saturday. In a very exciting race Frank showed excellent steepling technique over the water jump to stay in touch with the leaders in the middle part of the race and then showed a clean pair of heels to Daniel Stone of Belvedere College over the final 400m. Franks time of 6.01 is a PB of 13 seconds and puts him in position to realistically eye up a 9.15 3k steeple qualifying time for the European U-20 Championships in Sweden in July.
John Buckley Bonanza Week!
John Buckley showed his continued support for Cork athletics this week, sponsoring both the very successful BHAA 5k on the marina Tuesday night and the Graded T&F league on Thursday.
John Buckley 5k:
We had good numbers competing in both with a number of PB's set. Starting with the 5k we had Graham Swords lead home the charge of the East Cork brigade, smashing hs PB in the process to run 16.21 and 16th overall. A full 22 seconds faster than Emer Casey last month. Brian Harty continued his rich vein of form also with a PB of 16.27 (a full 71 seconds faster than Emer Casey!! In track terms that would be about 400m).
Shane, running his 4th race in May, ran a solid 16.43. Donal on a mission these days came with a game plan and executed it perfectly. He now is part of a very exclusive sub 17 mins club. Hopefully a few more will join him here sooner rather than later..
Stephen O'Brien literally running in his own back yard followed up his County Track 1500m gold with another impressive outing and PB, finishing 41st in 17.04. Fireman Finn improved on his Cheetah run by 40+ seconds with a 17.31 and Donogh knocked 29 seconds off his PB with 17.36. Lavinia targeted a sub 25 min 5k as a goal at the start of the year and delivered with style in 24.22. Great to see such a large club contingent running.
John Buckely Graded League - Rd 2:
In the graded league then the middle distance events on offer were the 800m and the 3000m. East Corks newest member Norah O'Brien made her much anticipated debut. In a touching moment Norah and Fiona shared a lane for the start of the first 800m of the night. Fiona ran a brilliant 2.24, coming through the field with a very strong last lap and Norah broke her targeted 3 minutes with a bit to spare in 2.51. Stephen ran his first 800m ever in an impressive 2.14. Kevin was 4th in the 800m A race in 2.02, having set up Frank nicely to win in 1.59. Surely the favour will be returned later in the summer...
Kevin doubled up and ran the 3k as well. In a ding dong battle with Dundrums Eamon Morrissey Kevin came out on top in 9.17. But the real race of the night was the showdown between Eadaoin and Michelle. With a target of 11.45 the girls knew 94 seconds a lap was the required pace and you could tell during the strides and at the start line both meant business. As we now know from Fiona's track and field strategy book, pacing is very important in all aspects of racing and even 2 to 3 seconds out from target pace could have disastrous consequences. This did not deter Eadaoin or Michelle, who blasted off to run the first 400m in 84 seconds flat.. However the girls recovered nicely and set into a good rhythm with Eadaoin setting the tempo and Michelle tucked in behind, the tactical battle had begun. With all the recent Wednesday night runs with Denis and Liam one wonders did Michelle learn a few racing tricks from the older section of the club as with 400m to go it looked like it would go down right to the wire but Michelle unleashed a devastating (for Eadaoin) kick to come through very strong and crossed the line in 11.30. Eadaoin was just behind in 11.41. Both excellent times with a long summer of racing left for revenge. Annalesse running her first track race ever ran a great 12.55 too.
A
Norah also doubled up and ran a mighty 32 seconds for the 200m, finishing 2nd in her race and holding off a large pack in the final few meters. With dodgy record keeping in the 80' and 90's this is currently a new club record! What a way to start your East Cork career!
John Buckley 5k:
We had good numbers competing in both with a number of PB's set. Starting with the 5k we had Graham Swords lead home the charge of the East Cork brigade, smashing hs PB in the process to run 16.21 and 16th overall. A full 22 seconds faster than Emer Casey last month. Brian Harty continued his rich vein of form also with a PB of 16.27 (a full 71 seconds faster than Emer Casey!! In track terms that would be about 400m).
Shane, running his 4th race in May, ran a solid 16.43. Donal on a mission these days came with a game plan and executed it perfectly. He now is part of a very exclusive sub 17 mins club. Hopefully a few more will join him here sooner rather than later..
Stephen O'Brien literally running in his own back yard followed up his County Track 1500m gold with another impressive outing and PB, finishing 41st in 17.04. Fireman Finn improved on his Cheetah run by 40+ seconds with a 17.31 and Donogh knocked 29 seconds off his PB with 17.36. Lavinia targeted a sub 25 min 5k as a goal at the start of the year and delivered with style in 24.22. Great to see such a large club contingent running.
John Buckely Graded League - Rd 2:
In the graded league then the middle distance events on offer were the 800m and the 3000m. East Corks newest member Norah O'Brien made her much anticipated debut. In a touching moment Norah and Fiona shared a lane for the start of the first 800m of the night. Fiona ran a brilliant 2.24, coming through the field with a very strong last lap and Norah broke her targeted 3 minutes with a bit to spare in 2.51. Stephen ran his first 800m ever in an impressive 2.14. Kevin was 4th in the 800m A race in 2.02, having set up Frank nicely to win in 1.59. Surely the favour will be returned later in the summer...
Kevin doubled up and ran the 3k as well. In a ding dong battle with Dundrums Eamon Morrissey Kevin came out on top in 9.17. But the real race of the night was the showdown between Eadaoin and Michelle. With a target of 11.45 the girls knew 94 seconds a lap was the required pace and you could tell during the strides and at the start line both meant business. As we now know from Fiona's track and field strategy book, pacing is very important in all aspects of racing and even 2 to 3 seconds out from target pace could have disastrous consequences. This did not deter Eadaoin or Michelle, who blasted off to run the first 400m in 84 seconds flat.. However the girls recovered nicely and set into a good rhythm with Eadaoin setting the tempo and Michelle tucked in behind, the tactical battle had begun. With all the recent Wednesday night runs with Denis and Liam one wonders did Michelle learn a few racing tricks from the older section of the club as with 400m to go it looked like it would go down right to the wire but Michelle unleashed a devastating (for Eadaoin) kick to come through very strong and crossed the line in 11.30. Eadaoin was just behind in 11.41. Both excellent times with a long summer of racing left for revenge. Annalesse running her first track race ever ran a great 12.55 too.
A
Norah also doubled up and ran a mighty 32 seconds for the 200m, finishing 2nd in her race and holding off a large pack in the final few meters. With dodgy record keeping in the 80' and 90's this is currently a new club record! What a way to start your East Cork career!
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 2018/2019:2019:
June: - National 5 Mile Champs - June 15th; Phoneix Park - John Buckley Graded League Rd 3 - June 28th; CIT - National T&F League Rd 2 - June 30th; AIT July: - Robbie Steele Corkbeg 4 Mile - July 4th, 8pm; Whitegate - Youghal 5k - July 11th: Youghal - John Buckley Graded League Rd 4 - July 15th; CIT - National Senior T&F - July 27th/28th; Santry And Beyond: - Munster Senior XC - November 10th; Cork - Munster Masters XC - November 17th; Kerry |
Member Profile:
Every few weeks we will have a feature on one of our members. The eleventh installment is an interview with Michelle Ahern:
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