Summer has officially begun! - May 1st, 2026
Ballintotis 4 Mile & County Roads
As the traditional curtain-raiser for the summer evening road racing season, the Ballintotis 4-miler is always one to attract a crowd and this year proved no different. Aside from a stiff easterly breeze, conditions were perfect for racing as around 1,200 athletes lined up, under blue skies and a setting sun, to tackle the 4 mile loop around Loughaderra and its hinterland.
The course itself was immaculately presented with all verges trimmed and plenty of support, signs and mascots around and about to offer encouragement to the observant athlete. The observant spectator may have noticed a lack of East Cork singlets at the sharp end when compared to previous years but all our representatives ran to the best of their abilities on the night. Many of those unable to take part assisted in stewarding and administration so thank you to them.
Leading our contingent home was Michael Furlong. Back on form, after some decent solo graft over the past few weeks, and sporting a fresh pair of Puma Super Turbo Boost shoes, the Cork/Kerryman started strongly. In a break from tradition, he then kept it going through to the end, finishing in 27th place with a huge PB of 22m 07s. Sub 22 is surely not far away. Being the top East Cork finisher in Ballintotis is a notable honour. As he stands on the shoulders of club giants, we can be sure sure that Michael will carry this achievement with humility and grace over the coming year.
Somewhat chastened after a bit of early argy-bargy with his leading clubmate, Stephen O'Brien followed Michael home in 29th spot (22m 20s) with Grange-Fermoy's Kieran McKeown separating the two. Kieran Beausang, making his debut for the club, finished 39th while Chris Kelly was 48th having got the better of his Ballynoe nemesis, Jim Harty.
Martin Hennessy led the more experienced contingent home in 72nd place ahead of Ollie Smiddy.
Annelise Hutch was our top female finisher as she continues her return to racing. Also running were Dave O'Dwyer, Lorna O'Brien, Olwyn Reidy, Denis McCarthy and Eiblin Cleary. Special mention should go to Eadaoin Gilmartin and Sarah Forristal who made their returns to the racing scene.
As has been the case since 2024, the race also doubled up as the County Road Championships. The club secured the silver men's novice medal (Michael, Stephen, Kieran & Chris) and bronze M35 (Stephen, Kieran, Chris & Martin). Congratulations to all.
We should commend all those who made light work of organising such a huge race in the East Cork area and for making it an enjoyabale evening for participants and spectators alike. Long may it continue.
Other notes
- Michael Furlong prepared for his Ballintotis heroics by spending some time locked up in Spike Island. And during his time there he tackled the 5k race, finishing in 2nd place (17m 44s). His prize? A voucher for a free visit to Spike Island....
- Paul Hartnett wrapped up his UCC career in the Intervarsities Track & Field Championships at MTU. He finished 5th in his 1500m heat (4m 04s), qualifying for the final, however a niggle prevented him from taking his place in the race the following day.
- Meanwhile our other Michael - Michael Harty - took a comfortable victory at the Curley 4 miler in Galbally, clocking in at a very impressive 19m 24s in his season opener.
- Also Kevin won the uphill only 3k IMRA race on Claragh Mountain in Millsteet in April.
As the traditional curtain-raiser for the summer evening road racing season, the Ballintotis 4-miler is always one to attract a crowd and this year proved no different. Aside from a stiff easterly breeze, conditions were perfect for racing as around 1,200 athletes lined up, under blue skies and a setting sun, to tackle the 4 mile loop around Loughaderra and its hinterland.
The course itself was immaculately presented with all verges trimmed and plenty of support, signs and mascots around and about to offer encouragement to the observant athlete. The observant spectator may have noticed a lack of East Cork singlets at the sharp end when compared to previous years but all our representatives ran to the best of their abilities on the night. Many of those unable to take part assisted in stewarding and administration so thank you to them.
Leading our contingent home was Michael Furlong. Back on form, after some decent solo graft over the past few weeks, and sporting a fresh pair of Puma Super Turbo Boost shoes, the Cork/Kerryman started strongly. In a break from tradition, he then kept it going through to the end, finishing in 27th place with a huge PB of 22m 07s. Sub 22 is surely not far away. Being the top East Cork finisher in Ballintotis is a notable honour. As he stands on the shoulders of club giants, we can be sure sure that Michael will carry this achievement with humility and grace over the coming year.
Somewhat chastened after a bit of early argy-bargy with his leading clubmate, Stephen O'Brien followed Michael home in 29th spot (22m 20s) with Grange-Fermoy's Kieran McKeown separating the two. Kieran Beausang, making his debut for the club, finished 39th while Chris Kelly was 48th having got the better of his Ballynoe nemesis, Jim Harty.
Martin Hennessy led the more experienced contingent home in 72nd place ahead of Ollie Smiddy.
Annelise Hutch was our top female finisher as she continues her return to racing. Also running were Dave O'Dwyer, Lorna O'Brien, Olwyn Reidy, Denis McCarthy and Eiblin Cleary. Special mention should go to Eadaoin Gilmartin and Sarah Forristal who made their returns to the racing scene.
As has been the case since 2024, the race also doubled up as the County Road Championships. The club secured the silver men's novice medal (Michael, Stephen, Kieran & Chris) and bronze M35 (Stephen, Kieran, Chris & Martin). Congratulations to all.
We should commend all those who made light work of organising such a huge race in the East Cork area and for making it an enjoyabale evening for participants and spectators alike. Long may it continue.
Other notes
- Michael Furlong prepared for his Ballintotis heroics by spending some time locked up in Spike Island. And during his time there he tackled the 5k race, finishing in 2nd place (17m 44s). His prize? A voucher for a free visit to Spike Island....
- Paul Hartnett wrapped up his UCC career in the Intervarsities Track & Field Championships at MTU. He finished 5th in his 1500m heat (4m 04s), qualifying for the final, however a niggle prevented him from taking his place in the race the following day.
- Meanwhile our other Michael - Michael Harty - took a comfortable victory at the Curley 4 miler in Galbally, clocking in at a very impressive 19m 24s in his season opener.
- Also Kevin won the uphill only 3k IMRA race on Claragh Mountain in Millsteet in April.
Springtime report - April 14th, 2026
A visit to the Kingdom for the Munster Roads
Suggestions that spring had sprung proved to be somewhat premature as the great and good of Munster athletics converged on Castleisland, Co. Kerry on Sunday, 1st March for the Munster Roads Championships. Wind and cold rain were the order of the day in the Kingdom. Hosted by An Riocht at their impressive club facilities, the 4 mile races took in a loop around the town which included a run down the widest street in Ireland at the beginning of the race, followed by a 300m blast around the track to finish up. All in all, it was an enjoyable course.
The club just about mustered up a team to make the journey and it was Matt Horrigan who led the side home in 20th position (21m 57s) scoring on the Cork gold medal-winning county novice side. Stephen O’Brien was next up in 43rd place, learning that a 300m blast on a track at the end of 4 miles is a different proposition to a 300m blast on a track full stop. Michael Furlong made a racing return in his adopted Kerry homeland in 53rd place with Ollie Smiddy rounding out the club’s day in 77th.
Masters medals galore in Athlone
St. Patrick’s weekend saw the National Masters Indoor Track & Field Championships take place in Athlone. Fresh from their exploits in Nenagh in February both Ollie Smiddy and Niamh O’Connor made the trip up to Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands to measure themselves against the best the country has to offer. And they measured up quite well. In the 1500m, Niamh O’Connor took a comfortable F45 bronze medal (5m 25s). Ollie Smiddy held second place at the 600 metre mark of the M50 800m but was demoted to 3rd place in a blanket finish, setting a 2m 15s PB. Huge congratulations to both national medalists! Congratulations also to our training partner Elaine Cardiff who secured F40 silver in the 3000m behind her Kilmore AC clubmate Fiona Kehoe.
East Cork Roads – Ballynoe
Thursday 9th April saw the 47th edition of the East Cork Roads Championships - the race that not even Covid could defeat – run as always on the fabled lanes around the village of Ballynoe. They speak in hushed tones of the Beast of Ballynoe – the fearsome climb past the GAA club which has reduced some of the county’s finest to mere also-rans on occasion. Who would fall victim in 2026..?
The ladies ran off first and we only had one representative to take on the 3,000m course, Well done to Eibhlin Cleary for keeping the flag flying in a 22nd place finish.
The gentlemen were up next, facing four laps of the village over 5 miles. This year the division welcomed athletes from the revived Glanmire AC to the fold for the first time. Such has been the strength of their recruitment drive, and the current injury crisis affecting East Cork AC, that our hopes of victory were slim at best. Club glory was a more realistic target – something which has managed to elude us for the past few years, given that the top three individuals do not contribute to the team score. Would tactics come into play in order to secure the right result….?
Five clubmen took to the start and, from the off, the race for victory became an immediate battle between Glanmire’s media officer, Donal Coakley, and Carraig na bhFear’s Colin Meritt. These two were initially joined by St. Catherine’s Jim Harty but he was swiftly dropped, falling back into the chasing pack. This pack was led by Chris Kelly and Donal Giltinan. And so it remained for the first two laps, during which time, Stephen O’Brien passed a number of athletes to make it an East Cork trio running in 4th, 5th and 6th places. With Ollie Smiddy and Dave O’Dwyer a few places further back, we were in a strong position to win the team title.
Then, something strange happened on the third run down the hill. Chris Kelly misplaced his script and passed Jim Harty to take 3rd place. As a result of this, Dave O’Dwyer’s positioning suddenly became very important – a message relayed to the Limerick-man in no uncertain terms by Denis McCarthy.
And so it was that Chris, Jim Harty and Donal arrived at the base of the final climb together in that order, with Stephen around 10 seconds adrift. With the top two already finished, it was the battle for 3rd place that was to keep the punters spellbound. Donal made his move early, taking the lead of the group as they approached the GAA club. However, he didn’t bargain on the climbing prowess of his rivals and soon found himself overhauled and out of gas as the climb began to level off. It all came down to a final sprint between Chris and Jim Harty so, as they turned right for the finish line. Chris just couldn’t find that extra gear though (or was he thinking about the team…) and it was the St. Catherine’s man that took the final podium spot with a couple of seconds to spare.
Blissfully unaware of drama playing out ahead, Stephen had been steadily closing the gap to the trio with a final dash up the hill – the recent session at Walshtown no doubt paying off in spades. However, some exquisitely timed encouragement from a spectating Matt Horrigan gave Donal the impetus to keep his clubmate behind as he crossed the line in 5th place, just 2 seconds behind Chris, with Stephen a further two seconds in arrears in 6th place. Ollie Smiddy was fourth man home in a lonely 16th place while Dave O’Dwyer picked up couple of spots in response to Denis’s exhortations to finish 28th. All of this secured a comfortable victory for the club – its first since 2021.
Congratulations to Donal Coakley for winning the race on debut, becoming just the second non-East Cork AC athlete to triumph since the club’s formation in 1985 – Martin Drake being the other, winning for Celtic AC in 1993. We can only hope that ‘normal’ service will be resumed in 2027.
And finally…
· Paul Hartnett and Ciarán McNamee represented their colleges at the IUAA indoor championships in Dublin. Paul placed 5th overall in the 3000m (8m 32s) while Ciarán was 24th in the 1500m (4m 36s).
· Sunday the 8th March saw the second running of the CEASC 10 miler along the Midleton-Mogeely section of the Greenway. Although only one East Cork club singlet was spotted participating in the race, there were plenty of volunteers who turned up for pacing duties: Mike Harty, Frank O’Brien, Matt Horrigan, Chris Kelly, Graham Swords, Christine Kelly and Dave O’Dwyer. Thanks to all. Hopefully the 60-minute gang appreciated the fact that they were being looked after by two national intermediate XC champions…
· The 2025/2026 Cloyne 4k Commons series came to a conclusion on the Sunday before St. Patrick’s Day. There was no club glory on the day but, as always, the race attracted a large turnout on a pleasant March morning. Just seven short months to go now before it all kicks off again!
· And finally, Christine Kelly finished 3rd placed F40 in last weekend’s Cobh 10-miler as she took a ‘break’ from her Cork City Marathon preparations. Well done Christine!
Suggestions that spring had sprung proved to be somewhat premature as the great and good of Munster athletics converged on Castleisland, Co. Kerry on Sunday, 1st March for the Munster Roads Championships. Wind and cold rain were the order of the day in the Kingdom. Hosted by An Riocht at their impressive club facilities, the 4 mile races took in a loop around the town which included a run down the widest street in Ireland at the beginning of the race, followed by a 300m blast around the track to finish up. All in all, it was an enjoyable course.
The club just about mustered up a team to make the journey and it was Matt Horrigan who led the side home in 20th position (21m 57s) scoring on the Cork gold medal-winning county novice side. Stephen O’Brien was next up in 43rd place, learning that a 300m blast on a track at the end of 4 miles is a different proposition to a 300m blast on a track full stop. Michael Furlong made a racing return in his adopted Kerry homeland in 53rd place with Ollie Smiddy rounding out the club’s day in 77th.
Masters medals galore in Athlone
St. Patrick’s weekend saw the National Masters Indoor Track & Field Championships take place in Athlone. Fresh from their exploits in Nenagh in February both Ollie Smiddy and Niamh O’Connor made the trip up to Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands to measure themselves against the best the country has to offer. And they measured up quite well. In the 1500m, Niamh O’Connor took a comfortable F45 bronze medal (5m 25s). Ollie Smiddy held second place at the 600 metre mark of the M50 800m but was demoted to 3rd place in a blanket finish, setting a 2m 15s PB. Huge congratulations to both national medalists! Congratulations also to our training partner Elaine Cardiff who secured F40 silver in the 3000m behind her Kilmore AC clubmate Fiona Kehoe.
East Cork Roads – Ballynoe
Thursday 9th April saw the 47th edition of the East Cork Roads Championships - the race that not even Covid could defeat – run as always on the fabled lanes around the village of Ballynoe. They speak in hushed tones of the Beast of Ballynoe – the fearsome climb past the GAA club which has reduced some of the county’s finest to mere also-rans on occasion. Who would fall victim in 2026..?
The ladies ran off first and we only had one representative to take on the 3,000m course, Well done to Eibhlin Cleary for keeping the flag flying in a 22nd place finish.
The gentlemen were up next, facing four laps of the village over 5 miles. This year the division welcomed athletes from the revived Glanmire AC to the fold for the first time. Such has been the strength of their recruitment drive, and the current injury crisis affecting East Cork AC, that our hopes of victory were slim at best. Club glory was a more realistic target – something which has managed to elude us for the past few years, given that the top three individuals do not contribute to the team score. Would tactics come into play in order to secure the right result….?
Five clubmen took to the start and, from the off, the race for victory became an immediate battle between Glanmire’s media officer, Donal Coakley, and Carraig na bhFear’s Colin Meritt. These two were initially joined by St. Catherine’s Jim Harty but he was swiftly dropped, falling back into the chasing pack. This pack was led by Chris Kelly and Donal Giltinan. And so it remained for the first two laps, during which time, Stephen O’Brien passed a number of athletes to make it an East Cork trio running in 4th, 5th and 6th places. With Ollie Smiddy and Dave O’Dwyer a few places further back, we were in a strong position to win the team title.
Then, something strange happened on the third run down the hill. Chris Kelly misplaced his script and passed Jim Harty to take 3rd place. As a result of this, Dave O’Dwyer’s positioning suddenly became very important – a message relayed to the Limerick-man in no uncertain terms by Denis McCarthy.
And so it was that Chris, Jim Harty and Donal arrived at the base of the final climb together in that order, with Stephen around 10 seconds adrift. With the top two already finished, it was the battle for 3rd place that was to keep the punters spellbound. Donal made his move early, taking the lead of the group as they approached the GAA club. However, he didn’t bargain on the climbing prowess of his rivals and soon found himself overhauled and out of gas as the climb began to level off. It all came down to a final sprint between Chris and Jim Harty so, as they turned right for the finish line. Chris just couldn’t find that extra gear though (or was he thinking about the team…) and it was the St. Catherine’s man that took the final podium spot with a couple of seconds to spare.
Blissfully unaware of drama playing out ahead, Stephen had been steadily closing the gap to the trio with a final dash up the hill – the recent session at Walshtown no doubt paying off in spades. However, some exquisitely timed encouragement from a spectating Matt Horrigan gave Donal the impetus to keep his clubmate behind as he crossed the line in 5th place, just 2 seconds behind Chris, with Stephen a further two seconds in arrears in 6th place. Ollie Smiddy was fourth man home in a lonely 16th place while Dave O’Dwyer picked up couple of spots in response to Denis’s exhortations to finish 28th. All of this secured a comfortable victory for the club – its first since 2021.
Congratulations to Donal Coakley for winning the race on debut, becoming just the second non-East Cork AC athlete to triumph since the club’s formation in 1985 – Martin Drake being the other, winning for Celtic AC in 1993. We can only hope that ‘normal’ service will be resumed in 2027.
And finally…
· Paul Hartnett and Ciarán McNamee represented their colleges at the IUAA indoor championships in Dublin. Paul placed 5th overall in the 3000m (8m 32s) while Ciarán was 24th in the 1500m (4m 36s).
· Sunday the 8th March saw the second running of the CEASC 10 miler along the Midleton-Mogeely section of the Greenway. Although only one East Cork club singlet was spotted participating in the race, there were plenty of volunteers who turned up for pacing duties: Mike Harty, Frank O’Brien, Matt Horrigan, Chris Kelly, Graham Swords, Christine Kelly and Dave O’Dwyer. Thanks to all. Hopefully the 60-minute gang appreciated the fact that they were being looked after by two national intermediate XC champions…
· The 2025/2026 Cloyne 4k Commons series came to a conclusion on the Sunday before St. Patrick’s Day. There was no club glory on the day but, as always, the race attracted a large turnout on a pleasant March morning. Just seven short months to go now before it all kicks off again!
· And finally, Christine Kelly finished 3rd placed F40 in last weekend’s Cobh 10-miler as she took a ‘break’ from her Cork City Marathon preparations. Well done Christine!
National Intermediate Champion and county glories in the wind, rain and mud - Feb 26th, 2026
The early weeks of 2026 have seen the cross-country season come to a close and from Bweeng to the Other Capital there were some great successes for the club.
National Intermediate XC Championships – Frank O’Brien is our latest National Champion!
It’s hard to believe that up until a week ago, the 2025/2026 cross country season had nearly passed without seeing East Cork represented at national level. However, at the last opportunity, Frank O’Brien dutifully stepped in to save the club’s blushes up in Abbotstown, as he lined up at the National Intermediates. And he did it in style.
As the Dublin-based media has kept reminding us, the weather on the east coast has been somewhat damp in the past few weeks. The effects of the rain on the national cross-country course resulted in race distances being cut and the races being run on a shortened kilometre-long lap. The men’s intermediate was thus run over six kilometres as the last event of the day, which may have played to Frank’s benefit, the finely tuned track athlete that he is.
The Dublin-based East Cork man was in the mix from the start and by half-way the race essentially distilled down into a battle between Frank, Clonliffe Harriers’ Mahad Mohamed Egaal and Thomas McStay of Gallway City Harriers. Frank had battled with Egaal two years ago at the national seniors in Enniskillen, coming out on top but the two of them were well behind McStay on that day. With conditions deteriorating underfoot, the two Harriers each took turns at the front, taking a strong headwind, but neither could make a decisive break and so it all came down to the last lap.
Fresh from glory at a prestigious Cork BHAA race the previous week, Frank sniffed another opportunity and with two hundred metres or so left he put on the afterburners. All three pushed hard for the line but it was Frank who prevailed by the slimmest of margins. Three seconds covered the top three at the line with Egaal one second behind Frank and McStay a further two seconds back.
After such a great performance, Frank now joins a select club of East Cork individual national champions. He is our fifth national intermediate cross country champion, following in the footsteps of Bryan Meade (1988), James McCarthy (2007), Mike Harty (2018) and his sparring partner, Paul Hartnett (2024).
Congratulations Frank!
Munster Indoors
We had two individual medals in the Munster indoors in Nenagh at the start of February. Ollie continued his good form for silver in the M50 800m in a swift time of 2.20. And the ever young Niamh O'Connor took gold in the 1500m F45 in 5.37. Well done both.
County Masters XC Championships – club gold in a battle against the elements
On 11th January, The County Masters (& Intermediate) Cross Country Championships returned to Bweeng after a successful trip there in 2025.
Those who were present last year remembered a lovely firm field with a tough climb or two into a cold, stiff breeze. It was an honest course and a tough race. Those who were present this year are still recovering from the shock! Mother Nature was on the entry list again this year and she turned up in force. Stormy winds topped the bill, ably supported by horizontal rain and healthy lashings of mud. Add to that a course designed to make the most of the headwinds and crosswinds and you had all the makings of an ordeal that those who were present on the day will not forget easily. And nor should they as this is what makes cross-country what it is!
The venerable masters athletes have seen it all over their many years mind you, so such conditions should hold no fear for them. There was much relief, however, when word spread at the start line that the race would be reduced from 7k to 6k. Just three long laps so.
So off they went with St. Finbarr’s Barry Twohig, seemingly unperturbed by the conditions, taking up the early running and winning with relative ease. Donal Giltinan initially led the East Cork charge, with Matt Horrigan taking less time than usual to ease himself into the race. Matt passed Donal early doors and knuckled down to finish 6th with Donal not too far behind in 7th. That translated to silver M35 and M40 medals respectively for the two gentlemen. In his favourite racing conditions, Stephen O’Brien found the time to pause and breathe it all in a couple of times on the last lap, stumbling over the line in 14th while Martin Hennessy finished in 39th to complete the East Cork quartet, securing M55 gold for himself in the process.
East Cork thus won club M35 gold for the fourth time in the past five years.
On the roads and in other business….
- Frank O’Brien won the J&J 5k BHAA race in Little Island with a reasonably punchy 15:03. In the same race Eoin Hartnett put his recent training form to good use breaking 18 minutes in a 5k for the first time (24th in 17:51).
- Eve Buckley made her East Cork debut in January’s edition of the Cloyne 4k – the first of many appearances we hope. The running public have continued to strongly support the series and the February race saw Ollie Smiddy, Eric Meade and Dave O’Dwyer claim their t-shirts.
- The ever-popular John Treacy 10 miler in Dungarvan saw a smattering of East Cork athletes taking part in perfect racing conditions.
- Kevin O’Brien dusted off the East Cork singlet, but only for two IMRA races, finishing in 2nd place to Nick Hogan in the Curragh Woods (10k) and 3rd in the Ballyhoura Moonlight Challenge (28k).
National Intermediate XC Championships – Frank O’Brien is our latest National Champion!
It’s hard to believe that up until a week ago, the 2025/2026 cross country season had nearly passed without seeing East Cork represented at national level. However, at the last opportunity, Frank O’Brien dutifully stepped in to save the club’s blushes up in Abbotstown, as he lined up at the National Intermediates. And he did it in style.
As the Dublin-based media has kept reminding us, the weather on the east coast has been somewhat damp in the past few weeks. The effects of the rain on the national cross-country course resulted in race distances being cut and the races being run on a shortened kilometre-long lap. The men’s intermediate was thus run over six kilometres as the last event of the day, which may have played to Frank’s benefit, the finely tuned track athlete that he is.
The Dublin-based East Cork man was in the mix from the start and by half-way the race essentially distilled down into a battle between Frank, Clonliffe Harriers’ Mahad Mohamed Egaal and Thomas McStay of Gallway City Harriers. Frank had battled with Egaal two years ago at the national seniors in Enniskillen, coming out on top but the two of them were well behind McStay on that day. With conditions deteriorating underfoot, the two Harriers each took turns at the front, taking a strong headwind, but neither could make a decisive break and so it all came down to the last lap.
Fresh from glory at a prestigious Cork BHAA race the previous week, Frank sniffed another opportunity and with two hundred metres or so left he put on the afterburners. All three pushed hard for the line but it was Frank who prevailed by the slimmest of margins. Three seconds covered the top three at the line with Egaal one second behind Frank and McStay a further two seconds back.
After such a great performance, Frank now joins a select club of East Cork individual national champions. He is our fifth national intermediate cross country champion, following in the footsteps of Bryan Meade (1988), James McCarthy (2007), Mike Harty (2018) and his sparring partner, Paul Hartnett (2024).
Congratulations Frank!
Munster Indoors
We had two individual medals in the Munster indoors in Nenagh at the start of February. Ollie continued his good form for silver in the M50 800m in a swift time of 2.20. And the ever young Niamh O'Connor took gold in the 1500m F45 in 5.37. Well done both.
County Masters XC Championships – club gold in a battle against the elements
On 11th January, The County Masters (& Intermediate) Cross Country Championships returned to Bweeng after a successful trip there in 2025.
Those who were present last year remembered a lovely firm field with a tough climb or two into a cold, stiff breeze. It was an honest course and a tough race. Those who were present this year are still recovering from the shock! Mother Nature was on the entry list again this year and she turned up in force. Stormy winds topped the bill, ably supported by horizontal rain and healthy lashings of mud. Add to that a course designed to make the most of the headwinds and crosswinds and you had all the makings of an ordeal that those who were present on the day will not forget easily. And nor should they as this is what makes cross-country what it is!
The venerable masters athletes have seen it all over their many years mind you, so such conditions should hold no fear for them. There was much relief, however, when word spread at the start line that the race would be reduced from 7k to 6k. Just three long laps so.
So off they went with St. Finbarr’s Barry Twohig, seemingly unperturbed by the conditions, taking up the early running and winning with relative ease. Donal Giltinan initially led the East Cork charge, with Matt Horrigan taking less time than usual to ease himself into the race. Matt passed Donal early doors and knuckled down to finish 6th with Donal not too far behind in 7th. That translated to silver M35 and M40 medals respectively for the two gentlemen. In his favourite racing conditions, Stephen O’Brien found the time to pause and breathe it all in a couple of times on the last lap, stumbling over the line in 14th while Martin Hennessy finished in 39th to complete the East Cork quartet, securing M55 gold for himself in the process.
East Cork thus won club M35 gold for the fourth time in the past five years.
On the roads and in other business….
- Frank O’Brien won the J&J 5k BHAA race in Little Island with a reasonably punchy 15:03. In the same race Eoin Hartnett put his recent training form to good use breaking 18 minutes in a 5k for the first time (24th in 17:51).
- Eve Buckley made her East Cork debut in January’s edition of the Cloyne 4k – the first of many appearances we hope. The running public have continued to strongly support the series and the February race saw Ollie Smiddy, Eric Meade and Dave O’Dwyer claim their t-shirts.
- The ever-popular John Treacy 10 miler in Dungarvan saw a smattering of East Cork athletes taking part in perfect racing conditions.
- Kevin O’Brien dusted off the East Cork singlet, but only for two IMRA races, finishing in 2nd place to Nick Hogan in the Curragh Woods (10k) and 3rd in the Ballyhoura Moonlight Challenge (28k).
Please support our road race in Whitegate on Thursday night July 3rd. Race starts at 8pm sharp and be aware of the 800 meter jog uphill to the start!
RACE RESULTS HERE
RACE RESULTS HERE
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 |
