27th June 2025 – Midsummer report

The summer solstice has passed and the days are getting shorter but the action never stops. Track season continues apace and we have seen a number of notable performances over the past month.

PBs galore - mainly at MTU
Most of the excitement has been on track in the past month, with some notable performances both near and far.

First up, John Spelman was our only representative at the Munster championships in Templemore. Racing in the 1500m, John was 4th place overall in the race with a 4:14 PB – which was good enough for a bronze senior medal to add to his collection. Well done John.

At the third graded league meet of the summer Frank O’Brien comfortably won the 800m A race in a time of 1:54, while Paul Hartnett took the opportunity to reacquaint himself with the tartan. It was John Spelman who stole the show in the B race, breaking the pacemaker to win with a PB of 2:02. That’s three PBs in a short space of time for John and the boy’s not done yet… Stephen O’Brien made his first track appearance since September 2024 clocking 2:15 in the same race.

Frank then hopped over the Irish Sea to attend the Trafford Gold BMC meeting in Manchester. Running 1500m this time, and in a strong field, Frank finished 2nd in his race with a storming 3:49 PB. Interestingly, the race included two Irish singlets – East Cork and Kilkenny Harriers. Cork beat Kilkenny on this occasion. This may need to be replicated in Croke Park next month…

Frank and Paul then ran the 800m in the UCD track meet in Dublin with Frank finishing 8th in 1:53 and Paul just dipping under the two minutes with a 1:59.

Next up were the County U23 and Masters Championships at a blustery MTU - as is ever the case. Following a brief sojourn to Italy to admire the architectural wonders of Pisa, John carried on where he left off at the Graded Leagues, taking U23 gold in 4:12 and in doing so, he shaved a couple of seconds of his time set in Templemore four weeks earlier.
Earlier in the day it was the turn of the venerable masters to show the kids how it’s done in the 3000m. It’s unclear as to whether George Hamilton was calling masters athletics when he used the term ‘economy of effort’ but at this level that’s what it’s all about.  And some of our masters were indeed frugal when it came to expending their efforts. Brian Harty did not fit that bill however. He brought his great training form to the track for the first time in a long time – finishing 2nd overall to Cork Track Club’s Anthony Mannix with a 9:27 and securing M40 gold. Almost derailed by a wardrobe mishap, Donal Giltinan took lumps out of the track on his way to 3rd (silver M40) while Stephen O’Brien was 4th overall (bronze M40). Denis McCarthy took silver M60 and so, all East Cork representatives came home with a souvenir for their economical efforts.

Two days later, and Frank O’Brien was swapping the glitz and glamour of Salford for the more bucolic charms of Carrignavar and the well-tended 300m grass track in the grounds of Coláiste an Chroi Naofa. At the East Cork Track & Field Championships he strode to gold in both the 300m and 800m. Tony Forristal and Brian Harty duked it out at the head of the 3000m field taking out the top two spots. In the end though both were champions – senior for Tony (9:10 – some pace on grass) and M35 for Brian (9:42). Olwyn Reidy was our other winner on the night taking M50 gold in the 100m sprint and silver in the 300m. Participation in the 4*300m relays was also rumoured but photographic evidence is scarce. Thanks to our friends at Carraig na bhFear AC for preparing a great venue and hosting a relaxed and enjoyable evening of racing as always.

We wrap up the track action with a return to MTU for the penultimate night of the Graded Leagues. For those who have sought it there has been ample opportunity to put practice into action in Cork this summer and it certainly is great to see the resurfaced track at MTU being put to good use again after its hiatus. On this occasion we had four representatives in the 3000m race. In a bumper field of 34 athletes, and fresh off the boat from France, Nicky O’Donoghue came home 5th in a very respectable 9:17 PB – his first track action since last year’s City Sports. Ciarán McNamee made his first appearance since April, finishing 7th in 9:35 – equaling the time time he set in Round 1’s 3k race. An appropriately shod Donal Giltinan and Stephen O’Brien improved upon their times from the previous Sunday with Donal finishing 8th in 9:40 and Stephen battling hard to hold on to 11th place in 9:57.

We started the track report with John Spelman setting a PB and we will end it in much the same manner. In the 800m race, which doubled up as the County Championship, John was seeking to break the 2-minute barrier – and maybe bag a medal in the process. In UCC colours he set out hard, reeling off the first 400m in 58 seconds. He suffered in the second half, tying up in the last 100m or so but still crossed the line 5th with yet another PB of 2:01. We will never know if an East Cork singlet would have given John that extra second-and-a-bit. What we do know is that John’s training is paying off big-time. In the space of this report, he has registered 4 PBs and hopefully the upward trajectory will continue over the remainder of the track season.

Road racing - mainly on the Marina
There hasn’t been too much action on the roads to report on in the past month. A smattering of athletes took to the streets of Cork on the June bank holiday marathon Sunday, mainly running in the 10k event.

There were two races on the Marina. In the ever-popular John Buckley 5k, Mike Harty ran a very strong 14:39 while finishing 2nd behind Denis Hegarty. On a damp and humid night, a couple of weeks later, Brian Harty ran a 16:12 PB in the Musgrave’s 5k while Tamzin Muldowney also ran a strong 18:14 in the same event

Corkbeg – a call to action
Don’t forget that our own Corkbeg 4 miler will be held on the evening of Thursday 3rd July. We would encourage those not running to volunteer their services as stewards, prize-givers and cash collectors.  If you are available then please contact Eibhlin Cleary who will only be too happy to assign a role.​