Midwinter report – sun, sea and sand - January 2nd, 2026

The past month has seen some further cross-country action by the seaside in County Waterford, while a fair few club members have sought refuge from the Irish winter in Spain. Meanwhile there was success on the roads to celebrate as the year came to a close.

Munster Masters XC Championships – the start of a beautiful thing?
The Munster Masters Cross-Country Championships were held in Tramore, Co. Waterford on Sunday 30th November. Armed with an unfathomable course map, the athletes arrived to find a route full of hairpins and switchbacks, shoehorned into a park just behind the beach. This made the opening laps a bit of a voyage of discovery and with the odd dollop of deep mud splattered around and about, it made for a challenging race.

The big draw of the day was the hotly anticipated appearance of the East Cork M50 men’s dream team. After much negotiation behind closed doors and in smoky backrooms, Ollie Smiddy, Martin Hennessy, Eric Meade and Dave O’Dwyer united to represent the club at this venerable level. 

Martin Hennessy has been on form throughout the autumn and it was he who led the side home in 26th place overall, following a dramatic final dash to the line against Grange Fermoy’s Seamus McSweeney. This was good enough to secure the M55 individual bronze medal. Next up was Ollie, who left it all out on the course, as he collapsed across the line in 43rd place. Eric Meade and Dave O’Dwyer have not been seen in cross-country action for quite some time and no doubt the two relished the chance to relive their glory days. Eric was not far behind Ollie in 47th position with Dave in 63rd. All this was good enough to ensure that East Cork secured the club silver medal, behind an all-conquering Grange-Fermoy outfit. Fair play to all involved. Hopefully this performance was not for one night on and eyes will be firmly set now on the National Masters in Abbotstown in February.

Stephen O’Brien was our sole M35 representative, and the only club member to witness, in person, the M50 heroics. He kept his nose out of trouble on the first lap and picked off a few positions as the race progressed, finishing 10th overall and 4th M40. His reward was a spot on the gold medal winning county team.

Newmarket 5k
A week later saw the annual Newmarket Christmas 5k held in benign conditions in the North Cork village. Along with the John Buckley 5k, this is one of the best attended races over this distance in Cork and usually attracts its fair share of raiders from outside the county bounds.

Paul Hartnett did not let a false start get in the way on the day as he led throughout, crossing the finish line after 14 minutes 21 seconds of effort, winning with a handy 15 second margin over Leevale’s Eoghan O’Connor and Ben Leen Smith. Next up for the club was Ciarán McNamee in 48th position (16m 27s). Stephen O’Brien finished in 68th position (17m 11s) with Eoin Hartnett rounding out the East Cork representation in 140th place (18m 51s).

Viva Espana – Valencia Marathon, Lanzarote & Malaga​:
A number of club athletes have foregone the tempting lure of cross-country muck over the past few months, dedicating their efforts to marathons and half marathons in Sunny Spain.

On the same morning as the Newmarket 5k, we had four athletes lining up for the Valencia Marathon – Lavinia Swords, Kenneth Kelleher, Donal Giltinan and Graham Swords. This event has become somewhat of a favourite for Cork athletes over the past few years. Indeed there is little doubt that the marathon is what has ensured that Ryanair’s Cork-Valencia service is year-round and not of the seasonal variety.

The going was challenging, at least for us Irish folk, with bright sunshine and relatively balmy temperatures greeting the runners in the early morning. The marathon can be a cruel beast and the best laid plans can be shot to pieces very quickly. This was not the case for Kenneth as he floated around in 2hrs 33 mins – a 2 and a half minute PB – just rewards for his monumental training efforts leading into the event. The Greenway is surely going to miss him... Things didn’t quite go so smoothly for training partners Donal and Graham with no PBs on offer. Nonetheless they persevered with the cards the marathon-Gods dealt them and set highly respectable times of 2hrs 39 mins and 2hrs 44 mins respectively.  Unfortunately, Lavinia succumbed to an ongoing injury in the early stages of the race. No doubt paella and pints were on the menu on Sunday evening. Well done to all!

A day earlier, Olwyn was in Lanzarote running the 10k event – part of a marathon weekend on the island. Chris Kelly chose Malaga and its half marathon as his busman’s holiday destination a week later.

Festive fun​:
December's running of the Cloyne 4k doubled up as the club Christmas run.  The race was dominated by Frank O'Brien who streaked away from the field to win in 12m 07s.  Kevin O'Brien made his first road race appearance of the year, sans-buggy, finishing up in 6th.  Elsewhere, the men's M50 XC heroes re-grouped with Martin Hennessy coming out on top in 20th.  Afterwards, they were spotted in The Rock, hot toddies in hand, as they planned future conquests...  

Paul Hartnett brought the year to a close in Glanworth for the traditional New Year's Eve running of the Grange-Fermoy 10k.  Though comfortably under the previous course-record, his speedy 29m 44s PB was only good enough for 2nd place on the day, with Ryan Creech taking the honours (29m 26s).  Still, a good way to end the year for Paul 5 seconds of Liams club record and 2 seconds off Mikes club supershoe record.​