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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. 
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It has been a few weeks since the last report and that period has seen continued success for the club in the green fields of Cork and Munster, the highlights being the retention of the Cork and Munster senior cross-country titles. County Seniors - Carrigadrohid: The last Sunday of September saw the latest edition of the County Senior Cross-Country Championships take place around the undulating fields of Carrigadrohid. Forty six athletes took to the start of the men’s race and we had strong representation as usual. The first couple of laps were a cagey affair with a group of ten or so controlling the pace from the front with defending champion Paul Hartnett, Mike Harty and Frank O’Brien well in the mix. The group thinned out though as the race progressed past the half-way point, and it was Paul who made the first major bid for glory with about two kilometres remaining, taking Mike with him. North Cork’s Jeremiah Sheehan didn’t fancy that however, and powered to the front with a kilometre to go, with Mike tucking in behind as they began to drop Paul. Mike then made his move with about 400 metres to go, powering to the front to win his 3rd county senior title with five seconds to spare over Sheehan. Relinquishing his title, Paul had to make do with 3rd place, a further five seconds behind. Frank O’Brien put in a very solid performance to finish 5th which positioned the club very nicely to retain the team title. With a significant member of the previous years’ title-winning teams absent, it was an appropriately dressed Nicky O’Donoghue who sealed the team title this year after a very strong run to 13th. This was Nicky’s first county senior gold medal and, on the way, he claimed the scalps of a former county champion and a prominent social media blogger no less. Brian Harty wasn’t far behind in 25th place, on his return to the senior fray. Ciarán McNamee finished up in 29th (4th U23) with John Spelman rounding out the club’s day in 30th (5th U23), five seconds behind his youthful clubmate. County Novice - Ballynoe: A week later saw the county cross-country circus decamp to yet another field near Ballynoe – this time for the novice championships where we had teams representing the club in both the men’s and women’s races. It was an unforgiving course with a tough climb into a strong headwind greeting the athletes at the start of each lap. The ladies got to experience this challenge first, over a 4km distance. Annelise Hutch led the cub home, finishing in 24th place with Niamh O’Connor in 37th. Sarah Goulding, making her East Cork debut, was not far behind her experienced clubmate in 40th position with Christine Kelly just 2 seconds and two positions further behind in 42nd. Lorna O’Brien rounded off the day for the club in 66th. This all translated to a 7th place result for the team. The men were up next over 6k and of the 99 finishers, it was a quietly satisfied Matt Horrigan who led the attack with a strong run to 11th place, just three seconds off a top ten finish. Ciarán McNamee was next up in 22nd. Michael Furlong, enjoying the XC experience for the first time in a little while finished 34th with Martin Hennessy rolling back the years on his way to a 48th place finish. The club placed 5th of 13 teams. East Cork Novice – Ballinahina: The East Cork Novice Cross-Country championship has become a mainstay of the October bank holiday weekend over the last few years and we found ourselves back in Ballinahina for this year’s running of the event. Unusually, a short 1-kilometre-long lap was used this year, so the spectator who chose to stand in one spot had ample opportunity to cheer on their favourite athletes as they whizzed by 6 times! The ladies were up first and, unfortunately, we were just one short of a full team. Nonetheless, Niamh O’Connor and Christine Kelly ran well to finish just outside the medals in 4th and 5th places respectively with Eibhlin Cleary in 13th. On the lads’ side, Michael Furlong was also just one spot short of an individual medal in 4th place. Martin Hennessy was 7th ahead of his brand-new M50 sparring partner, Ollie Smiddy (9th). Eoin Hartnett rounded out the club interest, finishing up in 12th place in his first cross-country appearance since 2018. Munster Seniors – Two Mile Borris: All roads led to Two Mile Borris in County Tipperary on the 2nd November for the Munster Senior XC Championships. Conditions were cool, dry and breezy and, considering the amount of rain that had fallen in the south of the country in the days preceding the event, the flattish course was remarkably firm. And fast! Paul Hartnett was the star of the show. In his first Munster Seniors, he controlled proceedings from the start with Nenagh Olympic’s Cian Hodgins at least keeping him honest on his way to a deserved victory. The margin in the end was fourteen seconds. This will hopefully be the first of many Munsters for Paul and at this point in time he is the holder of both the Munster Senior Road and Cross-Country titles – a 100% strike rate in both events! Frank O’Brien just missed out on the individual medals finishing strongly in 4th place, just four seconds behind Jeremiah Sheehan. A bit further back, Nicky O’Donoghue got involved in a race-long shemozzle with a gaggle of athletes, some cheekily seeking shelter from the breeze behind him…. In the final shake-out, Nicky wound up in 16th position. At this stage, East Cork had a two point advantage over old rivals Leevale for the teams’ title, both with three athletes over the line. Team glory all hinged upon who the next finishers for both clubs would be… And it was Matt Horrigan, next up in 23rd place, who sealed the deal, showing further improvement over his run in the county novices. He was comfortably clear of Leevale's fourth man, Heywood Richardson, who finished in 29th. Stephen O’Brien rounded out the club representation, taking notes on his way to a 33rd place finish, no doubt grateful that the race distance fell a few hundred metres short of the advertised 7.5km. Munster Intermediate and County Novice ‘B’ – Riverstick and the Showgrounds: The Munster Intermediate XC Championships were held on Sunday the 16th November at county HQ in Riverstick. Given the bucketloads of rain that had fallen in Cork over the previous fortnight, this was not a pleasant place to run with muck and corruption aplenty all the way down the hill, along the bottom and all the way up the hill at the other side! Nicky O’Donoghue was the only East Cork soul brave enough to pit themselves against the conditions and he acquitted himself well, albeit in a diminished field. In the end he finished in the runner-up spot, just 16 seconds adrift of West Limerick’s Killian Lynch, the silver medal ensuring that he is now limited to senior XC at both County and Munster levels. In addition to his Masters duties, of course. Nicky was also a scorer on the County gold medal winning team. The County Novice ‘B’ Championships were held a week earlier around a hairpin-infested course in the Cork Showgrounds. We had two participants but unfortunately only one finisher. Despite taking the lead early on, Ciarán McNamee succumbed to injury. This left Eoin Hartnett as our sole finisher in 50th spot, having been reminded of all those things he used love about cross-country since he last plied the fields of Cork. Extracurricular activities – perhaps literally in some instances… - Both John Spelman and Ciarán McNamee represented UCC and MTU respectively with distinction at both the intervarsity cross country championships in Tallaght and road relays in Maynooth. - Christine Kelly took F40 victory in the Beat the Line 10mile road race on the Waterford Greenway in November. - A bumper field of 345 runners and riders took part in the opening event of the Cloyne 4k winter series last weekend with plenty of East Cork participants amongst the masses. But none on the podium. Hopefully this will be rectified at the next opportunity on 21st December. - The club AGM was held in Ballintotis on Tuesday 11th November. Minutes have been distributed to all club members but the big news was the appointment of Lavinia and Graham Swords as women’s and men’s club captains for the coming year. Market Green and Walshtown sessions are back up and running, the nights are closing in and the weather’s taking a turn for the worse. It must be time to run around a field again so… East Cork Senior & Masters Cross-Country The good folk of Ballynoe certainly had the best of both worlds on the second Sunday in September. In the morning rain they could head to the shelter of the Community Centre to gaze upon the delights of the Miniature Model Show. Then, as the rains cleared and the sunshine broke through, they could simply stroll down the road to sample the more mobile delights of the East Cork Senior & Masters Cross Country Championships – the traditional curtain-raiser of the cross-country season. The field, prepared by St. Catherine’s AC, showed no signs of the morning’s deluge, and all was set for a good day’s racing with the under-10s kicking proceedings off at 11.30 sharp. In the senior ladies race our sole representative was Niamh O’Connor. A newly-reduced race distance of 3k ensured that action would be frenetic and Niamh was in the mix during the initial stages. It was the youth of Carraig na bhFear that came to fore in the end though and Niamh finished up in 5th place overall, picking up the bronze F35 medal in the process. Though numbers were looking low in the run-up to Sunday, in the end we had enough on hand to field both senior and masters teams in the men’s race. As usual, both junior and senior events were run off together with the young bucks completing three 1500m laps with the world-weary seniors made to suffer a fourth. Ballymore Cobh junior, Gabriel Le Donne took up the early running but was soon dispatched by Frank O’Brien and Nicky O’Donoghue who led the way for East Cork. Frank, as one might expect, went on to retain the crown he earned in 2024. Nicky, somewhat hot and bothered having tried, and failed, to squeeze himself into his good wife’s slightly more petite singlet ahead of the race (much to his clubmates’ amusement), had a very solid run to second, just under 40 seconds behind Frank. Matt Horrigan, making a return to racing, put in a typical Matt-like performance - starting sensibly, then gliding by the opposition on his way to a 3rd place finish. Stephen O’Brien was next up in 4th place with Ciarán McNamee 5th, these two citing rib and back discomfort as their excuses for losing out to the race-rusty Limerick man. A week later, and official results are yet to be published, but reports suggest that Martin Hennessy and Ollie Smiddy finished inside the top-10 with Martin one spot ahead of the Mogeely man. Denis McCarthy, attending the East Corks for the umpteenth time, did not have too far to travel and completed the club representation on the day. Thanks to St. Catherine’s for hosting a well-organised event as always. County Senior XC Championships West Muskerry will host the County Senior Cross-Country Championships in Carrigadrohid on this coming Sunday – September 28th. Races are due to commence at 12 noon and beware that the senior races opened proceedings last year so get there early to avoid disappointment. At this stage it looks like we will have a strong contingent representing the club. Best of luck to all! Road racing – the long and short of it A couple of half marathons On the same day as the cross country, we had East Cork representation at two international half marathons. Annelise Hutch got to enjoy the worst of the weather in Charleville, completing the course in just over 97 minutes. Mike Harty ventured further afield to Copenhagen. Though not quite at the level he hit on the Antrim coast a few weeks ago, he still ran a very impressive 66m 10s on his way to a 68th place finish in the Danish capital. A past member of the wider training group was making his own headlines at the half marathon in Copenhagen. Congratulations to Youghal AC’s Fearghal Curtin who finished 8th in 60 minutes 22 seconds, breaking the national record set by Efrem Gidey a year earlier. Passing the baton in the UK Fresh from his exploits in a field in East Cork, Frank found himself in the Hampshire town of Aldershot a week later. He was there representing his English club, Newham & Essex Beagles at the SEAA 6/4/3 Stage Road Relays. At senior men’s level this was a 6-leg (or stage) road relay race, with each leg measuring 6 kilometres in length – a distance familiar to Frank from the previous week. The Beagles finished 12th out of 113 entrants with Frank running the 5th leg in a handy 19m 17s. This was followed by an even handier dash to the airport to catch the last flight home. A single mile Friday 12th September saw the inaugural running of the Reb Heffernan Mile along the Marina in Cork. Tim Mahony represented the club coming in at 5 mins 38s. Tim’s primary responsibility on the night, of course, was to be a taxi driver for his son, Matt. Fed up with following Donal’s reps around Market Green, Matt let loose to record a 4m 35s mile, finishing 7th in the U18 race. Matt has a bit more in the tank and we will all be following his progress over the coming years with interest.   As usual, August was a chance to recharge the batteries with the summer season coming to a close and cross-country season up ahead. Some, however, went searching far and wide for a slice of personal achievement. Antrim Coast Half Marathon – a national M40 record for Mike Harty! Mike Harty made the long trip to Larne for the Antrim Coast Half Marathon on Sunday 24th August – an event which attracts a top-class field and, only 5 years since its inception, has earned Elite status from World Athletics. It was Mike’s second attempt at the distance following on from his 2023 victory at the Charleville Half. At ease with the fact that he would not be in contention for overall honours this time, the Cloyne man set out to battle against the clock with a national M40 record on his mind. And with another clock ticking on Mike’s stay in this age bracket this would be his last chance to do so. Anything under 65m 55s would do – this being the record set by Brian Maher of Kilkenny City Harriers in The Hague back in 2018. In what was a battle against body and mind as much as against the clock, things were very much on track with the 10-mile mark being reached in under 50 minutes, with Mike feeling strong at that point, and after a further mile feeling that the record was on. Passing Paul O’Donnell with around a kilometre to go, he crossed the line after 65 minutes and 34 seconds, averaging 5-minute miles and shaving over 20 seconds off Maher’s record. Overall, this was good enough for 12th place and second Irishman home behind Leevale’s Ryan Creech (8th – 64m 48s). It’s also the fastest half marathon run by an Irish M40 on Irish soil so the record has been brought back home! This is a rich reward for Mike’s dedication and focus and surely more records will be there for the taking, should he wish, as he moves up into the M45 bracket soon, aging like the finest of East Cork’s whiskies! For the record, the race was won by Kenya’s Geoffrey Kamworor, a previous World Half Marathon and World Cross Country champion, in 59 minutes 51 seconds. Track season’s Indian summer: Trafford Grand Prix - Fresh from his performance at the nationals, Frank O’Brien headed to Manchester for the second time this summer, this time for the BMC Trafford Grand Prix, part of World Athletics’ Continental Tour. Action took place at the Longford Park Stadium, the home of Trafford AC and just a mile or so from an ageing football stadium in the Older part of Trafford. It was a busy evening with a packed schedule of 32 mainly middle-distance races ranging from 800m to 5000m. Frank ran the 1500m and was drawn in the C race. It was a tight race with 2 seconds covering the top 6 in the end. Frank carried his form through from the previous weekend, finishing a strong 4th in 3m 48s, taking a full second off his previous PB which he set 2 months earlier at the same track. Frank also kept the Irish flag flying in the race as he finished just ahead of Bohermeen’s Kevin McGrath. This was a great way to close out on the season and Frank could head home to enjoy a well-earned break! East Cork Track & Field Championships 5k & 3k - Meanwhile, Wednesday 27th August saw the latest instalment of the venerable institution that is the East Cork T&F 5000m & 3000m Championships, held at MTU. Unfortunately, turnout was somewhat low on the night with just 14 athletes present for the evening’s racing. The club had two participants in the men’s 5k with Donal Giltinan and Stephen O’Brien taking the gun. Donal was determined to write his name into the annals of East Cork athletics history as he controlled the race from the start and dominated proceedings, taking a 16 second victory over Carraig na bhFear’s Tadhg Crowley. Stephen found himself down in 4th place after 8 laps but a spurt over the final mile saw him overhaul Midleton’s Rod Scanlon to take the bronze medal. The women’s 3000m race was run alongside the men’s race and we had Eibhlin Cleary flying the flag for our ladies, finishing in 6th place. Fair play to those who participated on the night, as well as to the organizers and administrators for giving up their time to run the event. A round-up of racing on the roads: Tony Forristal kept up his good form on the roads with victory in the Youghal Bay 10k on a murky Sunday morning by the seaside. The winning time was 32m 27s, Tony crossing the line with 27 seconds to spare over Carrick-on-Suir’s Dermot Gorman. Ex Youghal AC-man Ciarán McNamee also put in a very strong shift, finishing 6th in an impressive 34m 45s. Meanwhile, Paul Hartnett dusted off the cobwebs in the north of the county, winning the Rathcormac four-miler in a time of 20m 06s, 26 seconds ahead of West Waterford’s Pat Hennessy. Christine Kelly battled the elements in Kilmacthomas for the Waterford Greenway Half Marathon. Dodging the odd torrential downpour, she finished 18th overall in the women’s race and 2nd F35 - another strong performance. Christine, along with Avril Crowley and Martin Hennessy participated in several BHAA races during the month, picking up various category prizes along the way. They are surely not short of vouchers for John Buckley Sports at this stage… Finally, a mention for Michael Furlong who has run a whopping 6 road races in the past few weeks as he sharpens his racing nous ahead of the winter. He is also doing an excellent job marketing East Cork in his adopted Kerry home having run three of those races in the Kingdom. Summer Sports & Social The great and good of the club descended on The Thatch in Killeagh on 22nd August for a fine feed and an evening of chat, reminiscences and plan-hatching. Thanks to our Sports & Social Officer, Lorna, for taking on the task of organizing! Winter has come - the return to training As the evenings close in, the winter training schedule has now resumed with the usual sessions at Market Green (Tues 6pm - intervals) and Walshtown Woods (Sat 10am – hills). Looking forward to seeing everyone there over the next few months. July has come to a close and it has certainly been an action-packed month. Where to start…? National Senior Track & Field Championships & AAI Games: We’ll start with the most significant achievement of the month. Last weekend was the high point of the country’s track calendar – the National Senior Championships at Morton Stadium, Santry. Frank O’Brien made the annual pilgrimage to the Capital and for the first time he got full bang for his buck. In the hotly-contested 800m heats, Frank lined up in the first race of three on Saturday alongside the Finn Valley great, Mark English, who has been setting PBs and national records for fun over the past few months. With only the top two from each race guaranteed a place in the final, along with the fastest four losers, the pressure was on. Frank acquitted himself well, stayed in the mix and finished 5th with a 1:53.64 – his second fastest time this season. The first heat proved to be the fastest of the three and that time was enough to see Frank through to Sunday’s National Final for the first time. Although Mark English and UCD’s Cian McPhillips stole the show in the final, Frank pinned his ears back and stayed competitive throughout. He finished 9th in 1:52.06 – easily his fastest time this season and his second fastest ever. It was great to see the East Cork singlet lining up in a national final, and on national TV, and hopefully we will see it many more times in the future. Well done, Frank! Two weeks earlier, Tony Forristal found himself at SETU in Carlow for the AAI Games 10,000m with the race also doubling-up as the national championships. Despite some last-gasp marketing from Athletics Ireland, turnout was low, but – as a wise man once said – it only takes two to make a race. That man couldn’t believe his luck when four showed up at the start line! It does only take two to make a race however, and Tony battled with Clonliffe Harriers’ Sean Doran throughout, overturning an early deficit so that they were neck and neck with around 600m to go. Doran then put the afterburners on and Tony was just unable to respond, finishing up 2nd in 32m 45s, picking up a silver national senior medal for his troubles. National Masters Track & Field Championships: Tullamore was the venue for the National Masters T&F Championships on Saturday 26th July and we had three participants making the trek along the bog road to Offaly this year. Early in the afternoon Nicky O’Donoghue placed 7th overall in the 5000m in 16.17. Brian Harty and Stephen O’Brien were entered in the 1500m a few hours later. Stephen is an old hand at this distance but Brian lined-up a nervous first-timer… M35s and M40s were drawn together and there was a bit more strength in depth in the race this year compared to the previous few years. Brian would have to call on all his training form in order to fulfil his medal ambitions. He eased himself into the race and ran strongly throughout, crossing the line as 3rd M40 in an impressive 4m 20s. The national medal was a well-deserved reward for all the work that has been put in throughout the summer. It’s also the third year in succession that East Cork has claimed the bronze here. Stephen finished up as 5th M40 in 4m 35s. National League Final: The next day saw the National League finals taking place in Tullamore and we had three younger representatives making the same trek along the bog road to Offaly to tog out for the East Cork Division. Frank O’Brien and Tony Forristal took maximum points for the side by winning the county 800m and 5000m races respectively while John Spelman got his feet wet on the way to a 2nd place finish in the 3000m steeplechase. This all contributed to an overall 4th placed finish for the men in the County League. The women of the Division were also 4th, just one point behind County Louth. Meanwhile, a rivalry is brewing on the roads of East Cork... Corkbeg 4: It was a busy month on the roads to the east of the Dunkettle Interchange. We started off on the 3rd July in Whitegate for the club’s Corkbeg 4 miler where 214 runners and riders took the starting gun in glorious evening sunshine. And it was our own Tony Forristal who mastered the rolling course coming home in 1st position with an 11 second gap back to Leevale’s Conor McAuley. Fiona Santry, returning to road racing for the first time in a little while, and Tamzin Muldowney battled throughout the race with Fiona just edging it towards the end. They both had to play second fiddle to Lizzie Lee on the night though with Fiona 2nd and Tamzin 3rd. Congratulations to race director, Eibhlin Cleary, for overseeing the organization and running of the event and thanks to all club members who donned the hi-viz vests for stewarding and administrative duties on the night. Churchtown South: The next big race took place on the scenic roads around Churchtown South with the third running of the 4-mile event in the modern era. Here, Tony was going for the threepeat but got a bit more than he bargained for as Conor McAuley came back out to play. The two set a scorching pace early on and Tony sat in behind the Leevale-man for the first 3 miles. He then made a bid for glory on the last climb, however the preceding day’s session of 600s appeared to catch up with him on the dash to the line as McAuley came breezing past to take the honours. Only three seconds separated the duo at the line. As an illustration of the pace, Tony took victory in 2024 in 20m 52s. This year’s wining time was a full 45 seconds faster. Fiona Santry finished 2nd in the ladies’ race, runner-up to Lizzie Lee for the second time this month. A notable performance was put in by local lad James Furlong who finished up 11th in 22m 50s. His brother, and East Cork AC man, Michael, however disputes this result, claiming that this performance was the result of an administrative error whereby the Furlongs’ race numbers were somehow switched in advance of the race. The official results show Michael down in 26th spot just over two minutes behind his big brother. St. Catherine’s 5k: A week later and the roads around Ballynoe saw the next instalment in the Forristal/McAuley saga at the St. Catherine’s 5k. After proceeding gingerly for the first two thirds of the race the two exploded into life over the final mile. This time they were separated by a hair’s breadth at the line – Tony given the nod for victory as the two of them clocked 15m 47s. Fiona Santry was runner-up – yet again – in the ladies’ race, while Nicky O’Donoghue and Brian Harty finished in close formation in 5th and 6th places. All this ensured that East Cork was just one spot short of securing the team title. Other matters on the track: Cork City Sports: Tony Forristal, John Spelman and Nicky O’Donoghue secured golden tickets for the Open 3k at the Cork City Sports on 9th July finishing 13th, 18th and 19th respectively in what is always a popular and competitive event. Tony’s 8m 54s was only just shy of his PB which he set at this event in 2024. Graded Leagues: The Graded League season finished up on 14th July. Donal Giltinan and Stephen O’Brien lined out in the B race while Nicky and John entered the A race which also acted as the county championship. John was our star of the show as he took the A race by the scruff of the neck with about 600 metres to go. He had built a nice gap back to Midleton’s Dinny McLean going into the final bend but just tied up in the last 100 metres and he was overtaken within sight of the line. Still, a silver county senior medal was his reward after 4m 08s of hard effort – yet another PB for the Ladysbridge man. Nicky had a competitive outing at the shorter distance, battling with Cork Track Club’s James Hayes throughout to finish 9th. Donal was to the fore in the B race, leading into the final lap. In the end though he had to settle for second place behind Togher’s Ethan Wyse having been passed in the final 200m. Stephen wound up 11th. MTU Track Night: Cork Track Club held a track night in conjunction with MTU on Friday July 18th with some very competitive fields lining out on what was a very pleasant night for racing. Participants in the distance events faced the novelty of starting their races from the opposite side of the track - the result being that there was no bell available with which to ring in that last lap adrenaline rush. Stephen O’Brien put that distraction aside and returned to the 800m dash. He finished 9th with rather uneven splits, but it was enough to see him break into the 2:11s for the first time. Nicky O’Donoghue and Donal Giltinan placed 8th and 10th in the 3000m. Elsewhere on the roads: A couple of days after running the Open 3k in the Cork City Sports, Nicky O’Donoghue braved the heat and humidity in the Tracton 4 miler – taking 3rd spot on the night behind the Leevale duo of Nathan O’Leary and Conor McAuley. The previous report neglected to mention Mike Harty’s strong 4th place finish in the Dunshoughlin 10k (30m 14s). And two weeks later, Mike was on his local roads winning the Cloyne Summer 4k which was run in aid of Marymount Hospice. We had several participants in the Gas Networks 5k on a muggy Wednesday night along the Blackrock loop in Cork. Brian Harty ran a very strong 16m 07s personal best on his way to a 13th place finish. Tamzin Muldowney also had a really strong run – 17m 58s and 5th lady across the line. Christine Kelly and Avril Crowley picked up 3rd place category prizes on the night. Dave O'Dwyer rolled back the years to win the Mary Courcey Memorial 5k in Cleggan in Galway too. Well done Dave. Whoever sits next to him at the club social will surely get a blow by blow account. And finally….. The curtain has come down on training at the CBS now that the national championships are out of the way. It is now time for all athletes to enjoy a break for a couple of weeks before training resumes in mid-to-late August on Tuesday evenings at Market Green and Saturday mornings in Walshtown Woods. More details will be communicated in due course. 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  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.   The first half of May has seen our athletes competing across a wide variety of events from track to trail and with some success. Limerick Marathon – hard work pays off The Great Limerick Run was held over the May bank holiday weekend and we have two excellent performances to report. Christine Kelly took 4 minutes off her marathon PB, set in Rotterdam last year, to finish as 13th female overall in 3:15.26. Avril Crowley took a whopping 30 minutes off her previous best, finishing 25th overall in 3:25.38. These are two smashing performances and the results are very well deserved considering all the hard miles put in over the last while – new tracks have been worn out along the Greenway…. Well done ladies. The race also doubled up as the Munster marathon championships. Somewhat surprisingly, official results are hard to come by, but one suspects that Christine and Avril may be due a medal or two once the non-Munster affiliated athletes are eliminated. We wait with baited breath. On track – some championship action: MTU hosted the second Graded League meet of the season last Thursday. Tony Forristal lined up in the 5000m race which doubled up as the County Senior Championship. In a race which started out fast, he bided his time and picked off the opposition as they ran themselves out of contention, finishing 3rd in 15.19 – and satisfied with a 15 second track PB. On the night, John Spelman, entered under East Cork membership, running on a Clonmel team and sporting AC Milan colours participated in the mixed distance relay race. No official results are available but he ran the mile leg in around 4.40. Tony and Frank O’Brien had made the trip to Clonmel the previous weekend to participate in the Fethard Irish Milers Meet. These are high-quality meets and Tony, freed from the shackles of racing John, ran an 8.54 PB in the 3k, finishing 2nd in the B race. Frank was 8th in the 800m A race in 1.54. On the road: The 1st May saw the annual running of the Midleton 5 Mile. This one will live in the memory as the race was won outright by Leevale’s Niamh Allen – the reigning national 10k road running champion. Nicky O’Donoghue, left questioning what all the effort is for, was East Cork’s highest finisher in 4th. Tamzin Muldowney took a strong 3rd spot in the female race. She backed that up a week later with a fine run to win the Killeagh 4 Miler. It was a double success for the club on the night as Mike Harty comfortably won the men’s race in a swift solo 19.33 from Togher’s Gavin Sweeney. Wicklow Way Relay – into the unknown: Last weekend saw the annual pilgrimage to the Garden County and the fabled Wicklow Way Relay. Without the presence of the talismanic Tim O’Donoghue, the big question going in to the event was whether East Cork had enough strength in depth to succeed in his absence. A close contest was expected and so everyone needed to be on their game. Like the rest of the country, Wicklow (& south County Dublin) was basking in late Spring sunshine and warm temperatures come 7am on Saturday morning as Graham Swords lined up at the start in Kilmashogue. The pace was hot from the off as the usual suspects of East Cork, Rathfarnham and TT Racers separated themselves from the pack along with Belpark Triathlon Club – who took the early lead. Graham did his usual reliable job on trails he knows well, laying solid foundations for the day ahead and handing the tracker to Tony Forristal after just over an hour’s hard effort. Fresh from a championship 5k on Thursday, Tony landed the first serious punch for the club and by the time he handed over to Fiona Santry by Lough Tay the early deficit had morphed into a 3 minute advantage over TT Racers with Rathfarnham and Belpark a further 4 minutes back. Fiona, making a welcome return to competitive action after a long lay-off, added another half a minute to that advantage with a very strong run over Leg 3 handing over to Donal Giltinan in Oldbridge. With an overall course length of over 100 kilometres and nearly 11,000 feet of climbing, a three-and-a-half-minute advantage can disappear very quickly along the Wicklow Way, especially given the energy-sapping conditions experienced on the day. One slip or missed turn can cost a lot of time – a lesson learned the hard way over the years by this club. Donal and Matt Horrigan kept their heads down holding the chasing pack at bay on Legs 4 and 5 through Glendalough and on to Glenmalure with Matt handing a two-and-a-half-minute lead over to Kevin O’Brien for the run up to Drumgoff. TT Racers were still in 2nd place at this stage but mis-steps and mishaps had caught up with Rathfarnham and Belpark at this stage and it was turning into a two-horse race. Kevin, making his by now annual appearance in an East Cork singlet (one hopes his membership fee has been paid), set out hard on the newly-extended Leg 6, having recce’d it a week earlier on two wheels. After 10 miles of blood, sweat and tears the lead had extended by a whole 1 second by the time he reached the Iron Bridge and handed over to Nicky O’Donoghue, running the captain’s leg this time. With Matt and the O’Brien clan out on course on water duties, Nicky dutifully gave his all and twisted the knife on Leg 6 stretching the lead out to a healthy 5 minutes by the time he reached Tamzin Muldowney at Crossbridge. With that, Tamzin set off and, given her recent form, was not going to let this one slip. She crossed the line in Shilelagh to seal the threepeat! The winning time this year was 7hrs 33m 35s – excellent going. TT Racers finished second, three and a half minutes behind, with Rathfarnham a further 48 minutes back. Well done to everyone involved again this year. And big thanks to the support crew of Lavinia, Ava, Zach, Eadaoin, Sarah, Lorna, Daniel, Robyn, Holly, Cian, Saoirse, Ailbhe……. In 2025 East Cork gave a resounding answer to the most vexing question of the year. Yes, we can win it without the Big Man. We wouldn’t mind seeing him back next year though as an Over 40…. Summer training: While the lads and ladies were up in Wicklow a smattering of serious athletes were present at the opening training session of the summer season on Saturday morning. Training sessions have now moved to the CBS, gathering for warm-up at 6pm on Wednesdays and 10am on Saturdays. Looking forward to seeing you all there.  The summer road racing season has begun in earnest and in the past two weeks have seen the familiar combination of the Ballintotis 4 followed by the East Cork Roads in Ballynoe. And, with the pandemic a distant memory and the MTU track fully back in use, Ballynoe was followed swiftly by Graded League action to whet the appetites for the upcoming long evenings. Ballintotis 4 Mile – County Road Championships: For the second year running the Ballintotis 4 Miler doubled up as the county championships and, as is usually the case, the weather gods were smiling on East Cork on Holy Wednesday. An earlier than usual start and blazing sunshine ensured that everyone was over the finish line before dark – just about… Superbly organized as always, over 1200 runners (athletes?) took part and East Cork had its customary strong presence with over a quarter of the top 40 finishers wearing the maroon singlet. Although it is now three years since we last won the event we still had some notable performances and plenty of county medals in the bag. On a day when the course record was reset by Leevale’s Ryan Creech, Mike Harty led the club home in 3rd place overall (19:29). Frank O’Brien kept his powder dry at the start and waited in the long grass before pouncing on Paul Hartnett in the final stages to finish 4th with Paul 2 seconds behind in 5th place. Frank’s 19:45 was a new PB over the distance and it also secured individual novice gold. After a busy few weeks, and returning from all types of injury and intrigue, Tony rocked up to give his customary Ballintotis performance, finishing 7th in 20:24 to complete the gold medal-winning senior club team. Novice club silver was secured with a team made up of Frank, Nicky O’Donoghue, Diarmaid Collins and Brian Harty. Following a late dash to the shoe shop, Diarmaid used this race to re-introduce himself to the East Cork running public, streaking away from training partners Brian and Donal Giltinan over the final mile to finish in 21:53 – just rewards for strong recent training form. On the masters side of things, Mike and James McCarthy, who was returning from hibernation, secured an M40 one-two with Kenneth Kelleher winning M45 gold. As things stand, the club has the M35 club silver with a team comprising Mike, James, Kenneth and Diarmaid but this result is subject to scrutiny as Nicky is older than the County Board seem to have given him credit for. Tamzin Muldowney ran a stormer of a PB (23:41) to finish 4th overall in the ladies’ race. She was second novice and also picked up senior club bronze and silver club novice medals on East Cork teams which also included Annelise Hutch, Niamh O’Connor and Norah O’Brien. There was plenty further representation from the club and full results are detailed below. Well done to all who brought home the bacon! East Cork Road Championships - Ballynoe: Club bacon was not on the menu last Thursday night with servings more of the individual variety. On a damp and murky evening, the ladies and gentlemen of the East Cork Athletics Division descended on Ballynoe for the East Cork Road Championships – the annual battle against gravity on the notorious Ballynoe Hill. In the 3k women’s race, Tamzin commanded the field to retain her title, winning by nearly 50 seconds over Midleton’s Sinead Falvey. Tony Forristal also retained his title leading Nicky O’Donoghue and Diarmaid Collins (backing up his Ballintotis form) to an East Cork 1-2-3 over the testing 5 mile course. Brian Harty and Donal Giltinan were 4th and 5th to ensure a clean sweep of the top-5 positions. Despite this dominance, and with the top 3 excluded from scoring, there was not enough club representation to secure a team medal of any colour this year. No doubt this will be debated at length at the next AGM. Return of the Graded Leagues: Regular graded league events made a long-awaited return to the MTU track last Friday evening and attendance was strong on the night. The leagues, incorporating the county championships, will be held over 5 nights from April to July and will be a valuable proving ground for those hoping to participate in track championships at Munster and National level (and beyond….) over the summer. The headline event was the 3k where Tony and John ‘Speldog’ Spelman squared off against each other for the first time proper since a legendary 3x1k CBS session last summer. John nearly upset a jet-lagged Tony on that evening and on Friday he got one over on the Kilkenny-man. Tony played it safe through the first 2k or so, perhaps minding himself after his Ballynoe efforts the night before. John was having none of that however as he clinically dispatched his clubmate over the last 500m or so, storming home for the win in a highly impressive 8:55. Tony, no doubt plotting how to sharpen up his sprint finishing, trailed home 2nd in 8:57 with only 3 seconds covering the top three. Ciarán McNamee came home 6th in a none-too-shabby 9:35 while Norah O’Brien made a return to track action in the opening 3k race finishing 12th in 12:20. In the 800m, Frank easily won his race in 1m 55s over Leevale’s Daniel Buckley and Eoghan O’Connor of Belgooly AC. The next night out is on 15th May with the mile and 5k on the menu. The 5k will double up as the county championship so will be a competitive one. Other news: There has been a lot more racing over the past few weeks and detailed results are below. Let me know if anything was missed. Of note were: - Nicky taking the overall 2024-2025 Cloyne 4k series win with victory in the March edition - University track action for the usual suspects - Frank running a handy 5-and-a-bit mile leg while representing his other club, Newham & Essex Beagles, in the SEAA 12-stage road relays in Milton Keynes. As the name suggests this is a road relay race with 12 legs – 6 long legs (5+ miles) and 6 short legs (c. 5k). Frank took the 9th leg helping his club to an 18th place finish after a combined 4 hours and 33 minutes of hard running. - Brian Harty also went international by winning the Granard Easter Festival 5k in Longford - A club debut for Eoin Hartnett in Ballintotis - Olwyn Reidy completing her second marathon in Manchester on Sunday and hastily announcing her retirement from marathon-running afterwards. Until the next one… Munster Road Championships: The first Sunday in March can only mean one thing – the Munster Road Championships. This year’s event was held over a 4 mile course in Ballinameela, Co. Waterford on a calm, dry day. In an event in which it has excelled in the past, East Cork athletes (or rather the Hartnett family wagon) came home with heavy pockets on the day with 18 medals in the collective pockets. Paul Hartnett led the charge, breaking free from the pack on the hill at the 3-mile mark to collect his first Munster senior roads title, winning with 8 seconds to spare over North Cork’s Jeremiah Sheehan and Bilboa AC’s Declan Moore. In doing so, Paul also secured the novice title. Nicky O’Donoghue was next up in 15th, collecting novice silver in the process. Ciarán McNamee, trying out a bright new pair of Vaporfly 3s for the first time, flew around the course, coming home 23rd with a 21m 09s personal best. John Spelman was next up in 33rd creeping home in just under 22 minutes. Stephen O’Brien soldiered home 42nd. Aaron McEvoy put in a great shift coming home 58th in a tight finish (23m 24s) and Ollie Smiddy was 72nd (24m 23s) – a mirror image of Aaron’s time. In terms of team medals there was club senior silver and club novice gold (Paul, Nicky, Ciarán & John), county senior gold (Paul, Nicky & Ciarán), county novice gold (Paul & Nicky) and county M35 gold (Nicky & Stephen). In summary – a successful day for the club. Road Races: Ballycotton 5: We also saw the return of a Ballycotton 5 mile race for the first time since 2017, held this year as a fundraiser in aid of Scoil Realt na Mara. East Cork representation was blunted by the clashing championship event in Waterford but the local boy, Michael Furlong, couldn’t resist the opportunity to impress the neighbours on his home roads. Unfortunately he also could not resist the chance of playing a match for Ballinacurra the day beforehand, but on tired legs he still bagged a podium spot, finishing a rueful 2nd to Watergrasshill’s Paul Cashman. Tamzin Muldowney was our other podium representative, finishing up as 3rd female. Midleton 5 and Seville: Michael who also was in Seville a few weeks ago coming 5th in a 5k there in 14.49 took the win in Midleton having a strong battle with Sean Doyle of Cork City AC the whole way. Michael pulled away in the final mile to record a very fast 50.16. They turned at the halfway point in 25.35 into a solid headwind and let loose on the way back to run a sub 25 min 5 mile in the second half of the race. Stephen O'Brien broke the 60 minute barrier for the first time so recorded a PB of 59.24, with no sign of a t-shirt on the start line everyone knew he was taking it seriously. Michael Furlong had a strong run to also run sub 60 in 59.39. Ollie Smiddy ran a good 67.12 with Tamzin pacing Norah to a 73.05 in preparation for her half marathon debut in a few weeks. Denis was next home in 89.30. Well done to all the East Cork pacers as well on the day - Matt, Chris, Brian, Diarmaid, Avril, Christine all did a super job to help so many people to run as fast as they could.   Cross-Country winds-up – county and national masters/intermediate: The 2024/2025 cross-country season has drawn to a close with further successes for the club at county and national levels. County Masters: On the 12th January, Bweeng played host to their first ever County Masters and Intermediate championships. The course lay hidden under a foot of snow in the days preceding the race but by Sunday all traces of the white stuff were gone and the athletes were greeted with surprisingly firm underfoot conditions for racing. The never-ending climbs into a stiff southerly breeze more than made up for the lack of muck though. A lack of intermediate entries meant that both masters and intermediate men set-off together for a 7k battle against the elements. Nicky O’Donoghue led the charge for East Cork, and gained valuable insight into Donal Coakley’s ability to use gravity to devastating effect on the downhill sections, finishing 2nd overall to his Leevale adversary. That translated to 2nd M35 and a county intermediate gold medal. Brian Harty used his Walshtown experience to great effect on the hills, coming home a strong 5th (3rd M40). Donal Giltinan just came up short in his efforts to beat Bandon’s Naoise O’ Flatheartaigh and finished up 7th overall. Matt Horrigan finished was next up in 8th following a race-long and ding-dong battle with Grange/Fermoy’s Liam O’Connor, picking up a bronze M35 medal. Stephen O’Brien was one place behind that duo in 10th while Denis McCarthy finished up in 73rd, earning a bronze M60 medal in the process. All this was good enough to earn the East Cork men M35 club gold, our third such title in four years. In the ladies’ race, Niamh O’Connor finished up in 20th spot with Eibhlin Cleary continuing her cross-country adventures for the season in 50th. Unfortunately, on this occasion we did not have a full complement to compete for club honours on the day. All credit to Bweeng Trailblazers who put on a great day’s activities despite the adverse weather conditions over the week. National Masters: All roads then led to Westport in County Mayo for the National Masters & Intermediate Championships on 9th February where, after a couple of intermediate withdrawals, we had a team of six lining up in the masters race. The course, laid out in the grounds of Westport House and under the watchful eye of Croagh Patrick, was firm in places and soft in others, featured a lot of tight turns, off-camber running, and a couple of short climbs to keep the athletes honest. The course, as originally designed, had to be re-routed to avoid a giant tree which had been brought down by Storm Eowyn thus depriving the athletes of a grueling uphill section. Our experienced masters however dealt with the cards handed them by Mother Nature with aplomb, securing M35 bronze for the club. Unsurprisingly, Mike Harty was the flagbearer, finishing up 4th overall and 3rd M40. Nicky O’Donoghue, released from the pressure of facing (the rear of) Donal Coakley, glided home in 17th. After his customary relaxed start, Matt Horrigan rose up the order throughout the race, ghosting past Donal Giltinan on the final lap to finish 27th, one place and five seconds up on his clubmate. Brian Harty finished up in 36th with Stephen O’Brien 43rd of the 160-strong field. Due to some confusion over the entries, some post-race haggling was required to ensure that all our athletes were included in the masters results, thus securing the club the bronze medal – making the long trip up the N17 very much worthwhile. Mike, Nicky and Matt also picked up silver medals for their county. Congratulations to all! Indoor season begins: While the old folk were busy ploughing through the fields over the past couple of months the club’s younger speed merchants were busy keeping out of the rain and muck and enjoying some indoor track action. Representing the club in Nenagh at Munster level, John Spelman picked up silver and bronze medals respectively in the U23 800m (2:14.5) and 1500m (4:26.7). John, Frank O’Brien and Ciarán McNamee then represented their colleges at the IUAA Indoor Championships in Dublin. Frank placed 6th in the 800m final with a 1:57.6 having won his heat in 1:56.7. John and Ciarán lined up in the 1500m placing 19th and 23rd respectively with John setting an indoor PB of 4:17.9 in the process. John also lined up in the 2k race walk having spent a significant chunk of his weekdays practicing his technique on lunchtime strolls between Brookfield and The Main in UCC. Sadly, he was disqualified after just 100m, allegedly for walking, not race-walking. On the roads: As always there was plenty of East Cork representation on the roads in the past few weeks and detailed results are below. The first big 10-miler of the season took place in Dungarvan in early. Tony Forristal, returning from injury, hobbled around to a ‘modest’ 53m 24s PB. There were also PBs for Nicky O’Donoghue (54m 14s) and Christine Kelly, who sat comfortably between the 65- and 70-minute balloons to finish in 67m 30s. The club also placed second in the men’s team event (Tony, Nicky and Donal). Nicky O’Donoghue picked up a Cloyne double – winning the January and February editions. Extra-curricular activities: The 1st February was the dawn of a new era in Midleton with the inaugural Midleton Greenway Parkrun taking place on the former railway line that runs between Midleton and Youghal – aka The Greenway. As they are not officially ‘races’, parkruns do not normally feature on this site but this one deserves special mention as the Midleton area has been crying out for something like this for quite some time. To prove the point, a whopping 636 participants turned out on St. Brigid’s Day and numbers have been strong for the subsequent couple of events. Hopefully that level of interest will be maintained over the coming weeks, months, and years. Determined to make a mark on home turf, local lad Frank O’Brien was first to cross the finish line in that first event in 15m 34s – a respectable time for a parkrun - unless you go by the names Griggs and Mageean. Frank returned home, course record safely in the pocket. Records are there to be broken however, and just two weeks later, Mike Harty waltzed around in 15m 01s possibly keeping a couple of seconds in reserve for a future visit. The gauntlet has been well and truly thrown down….    European Cross Country: A little bit late with the reports! We had a big achievement in December where our very own Paul Hartnett the local lad from East Cork was selected for the Irish team, to compete in the European cross country, held in Asia!! It was held in Antalya, Türkiye and marked the 30th edition of a championships. Paul proudly donned the green singlet and ran on the Irish U23 team, he had a great run in a very competitive field to finish 63rd overall. It was great to see Pauls perseverance pay off as in the previous two years he just missed out on selection by the finest of margins. Well done Paul a fine achievement that hopefully be an inspiration to our Senior mens teams for the next few years. Here is a summary of Pauls 2024 with some great results along the way leading to the Euros. Road Races: We had four top 10's on the roads in December. Nicky won the second Cloyne 4k in 12.53 and was 6th in the Grange Fermoy 10k in 33.12. Tony was 4th in the Stoneyford 5k in Kilkenny in 15.47 and Frank was 7th in the competitive Newmarket 5k and broke the 15 minute barrier in an excellent 14.58. We had plenty of others competing on the roads, Paul Cleary was 26th in the BHAA Turkey trot but guessed his finish time in advance to the exact second of 19.49.   Championship Races: National Senior XC: The National Senior XC went north again this year and was held in Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh. This year saw another change to the course distance down from 9k last year to 7.5k. We had a team of 5 competing on the day with some excellent results! Paul was 14th overall and importantly 5th U23 which booked him a plane ticket to Turkey and an Irish cap for the European XC championships in December. I think this is the first time an East Cork athlete will run in these championships, congrats Paul it is richly deserved after a few near misses the past two years. His experience running the European Club XC race in 2023 in Spain and the Cross Cup XC in Belgium will be valuable. Frank was next home with a strong showing in 36th, Tony was next in 59th with Nicky and John in 132nd and 139th. Overall we were 10th team and the only Cork team in the race so fair play to everyone who made the effort to go and compete. National Novice XC: The National Novice was in Tramore Racecourse and we had 5 on the start line for everyones favourite race of the year. 217 athletes and not a lot separating them leads to chaos and an action packed race. However we did not have anyone in the top 100, some soul searching and deep questions must be asked to understand what sort of training has actually been happening in Market Green and Welchtown the past few months... A debrief can be had at the Club social on December 19th! Saying that the team packed very well, there was only 4 seconds separating Ciaran (106th), John (107th) and Stephen (110th) at the finish. With 10 seconds between Graham and Chris in 155th and 161st. Well done for flying the East Cork colours at another National Championships. Munster Masters XC: The Munster Masters were held in the usual XC course Twomileborris. Nicky led the team home valiantly for 3rd overall and 2nd M35. Stephen was next in 15th with Matt, taking a break from his Tik Tok career after being catapulted to overnight fame during the Coast to Coast in the summer, running his first race of the year in a competitive 18th. Chris was 23rd and Ollie 38th. With this we won the M35 team title and Nicky and Stephen also scored on the Country gold team for Cork. Well done lads! County Novice B XC: Aaron and Karl continued their cross country exploits this year with strong runs in the Novice B race. Aaron was 16th and Karl 23rd. These are excellent races for building experience and racing nuance. Road Races: Catching up on last month well done to Michael Furlong who ran the Chicago marathon in 3.05. There have been lots of races in the past few weeks, we have had 4 in the top 10. Michael won the Cloyne 4k in 11.58, Kenneth was 5th in 13.09. Tamzin was 5th in the Glenville 4 mile in 25.40 and Nicky ran his first half marathon and was 7th in Waterford in 74.04. Next Up: Paul running in Turkey at the Europeans. It will be live streamed on European Athletics HERE and also on RTE. Pauls U23 mens race starts at 1pm local time so 10am Irish time. Also the Christmas dinner is on in the Rock Cloyne December 19th. If you have not let Lorna know by now please do, to confirm your place.   County Senior XC: Another great day in Conna at the County Seniors for the club. It was the 101st county senior championship and the course was in great condition considering the rain the day before. In a twist from the past two years and perhaps the changing of the guard Paul took the win and lead the team to gold. Paul went to the front from the very start and kept the pace honest throughout the 7.5km race. A group of four developed with the ever present Michael and Charlie O'Donovan right on Paul's heels. Paul didn't worry too much and kept churning out the laps and with the proverbial bell ringing in his ears on the last lap he must have felt some deja vu. The whole field was dropped and were playing for the bronze medal, except for the man from Cloyne again. To Paul's testament he did not panic and made a decisive move with about 600m to go and finally get a gap to cross the line in 24.18 and his first county senior title. He is now the 6th man in the clubs history to win this race along with Donnacha (x6), Tim (x3), Michael (x2), Liam and Garreth (x1). The team packed well after that to take a comfortable win over Leevale. Michael 2nd, Frank 4th, Tony 5th, Timmy 8th, Nicky 16th, John 19th, Karl 38th, Denis 49th. Paul also won the U23 gold with John getting silver. Munster Senior XC: This was in Tramore racecourse and the going was good but with little flat. Michael took the honor's and dismantled the field to claim the win and led the team to a gold. Tony got himself on the podium too with a super run for 3rd. Nicky and John completed the team in 22nd and 25th. Stephen and Donal did well to keep them on hteir toes in 29th and 30th. John visited the ambulance after the race after consuming a can of Monster energy drink beforehand looking for marginal gains. Michael and Tony also scored on the gold Cork team. Munster Novice XC: The girls took on the Munster Noice and bagged bronze medals for their troubles! Tamzin led the team home in 6th, Annelise on her comeback from illness ran a great effort for 16th, Christine was next in 26th with Niamh in 29th. Well done all. County Novice XC: No medals in the county Novice this year but we had some good runs. Tamzin was 5th in the womens race with Christine in 23rd. In the mens John was 7th, Stephen 12th and Donal 13th. East Cork Novice: We had a bumper haul at the East Cork Novice in Carrignabhear. Stephen won the mens race and Tamzin won the womens! And also Chris Kelly was second in the mens and Annelise was second in the womens! We won the womens team title. Well done to Tamzin, Annelise, Niamh and Christine! Ollie was 5th in the mens race too but we were one short for the team. Autumn Open XC: We had three make the way to Abbotstown for the quality XC race that is now known as the Autumn Open. Michael showed again he is the top masters athlete in the country with a win in the masters race. Nicky was 25th with another good run. Tony was in the senior category and was 20th in a very competitive field. Road Races Well done to Chris McGrath in the Dublin Marathon. He had a cracker of a run to finish in 3.08. Kenneth took a trip to Germany to run the Munich half and ran very strong to post 74.59. Olwyn ran 27.13 in the BHAA Defense Forces 5k with the IUAA Road relays on too and we had Frank, John and Ciaran all running them for their colleges. Congrats to Chris Kelly too on a brilliant Ironman in Portugal finishing in 10.5 hours! AGM: The AGM is on next Tuesday 12th after training at 8pm in Ballintotis.   Championship Races: County T&F: Due to the lack of availablility of tracks in Cork this summer, the county senior and masters T&F was held on the first day of September this year. We had 5 athletes running. In the 800m James was 3rd overall in 2.08 with John 5th in 2.11. Stephen was just behind John in 2.12 but was 1st M35. Ollie was 2nd M45 in 2.17. John raced again in the 1500m and finished 2nd with Denis grabbing a gold in the M60 in 7.21. East Cork XC: More traditionally the cross county season kicks off in September and two weeks after the county T&F we had 13 race in the East Corks in Ballynoe. First up in the ladies race, Tamzin gave it a good rattle and finished 2nd leading the ladies team to a silver medal. In a close team tussle with Midleton AC Christine ran well to finish 4th, Siobhan was 9th one ahead of teammate Avril and Eibhlin just behind them in 12th. On the masters side Christine was 2nd in F35 with Siobhan 2nd in F45 and Avril 3rd F45. The three also were 2nd F35 team. Well done all! The mens race was a pleasing clean sweep. With Tony and Frank showing a gulf in class to the rest of the field battling it out for the full 6000m before Franko finally pulled clear with a strong sprint finish in the home straight and take the title. Tony despite doing all the front running settled for 2nd (for the 2nd year in a row). Stephen O'Brien broke clear from the chasing pack early on and had a comfortable run for 3rd (1st M35). With John completing the team in 4th. Ollie Smiddy was 8th (and 1st M45), with rookies Aaron and Karl finishing commendably in 12th and 13th. Denis finished in 22nd. The mens M35 team were credited as silver team but only had 3 athletes counting so this one can be left as a footnote in the record books! Other Races: The Womens Mini Marathon which is a 5k (don't get Dave Dwyer started!) was on last week and as usual the turnout is massive for the event. We had Tamzin running who was pacing her sister and finished 226th in 26.46 with Siobhan finishing 260th in 27.32. Tony's 8.53 in the Cork City Sports was omitted last month as well. He was 8th in the Open race (The Cork City Sports organisation committee if they see this should look at the link for the 2024 results, it seems to be a bit like Tim O'Donoghue this summer and gone missing) Also a big welcome to Olwyn Reidy who has transferred to the club and will officially be a member on October 1st (just in time to boost the ladies team for the county seniors XC). Next Up: The county senior cross county is next Sunday in Ballynoe hosted by St Catherines. There is no timetable up but the juveniles start at 12pm so womens race should start approx 2pm and mens at 2.45pm. Please get your entry to Eadaoin before the deadline on Tuesday October 1st.    Championship Races National Masters and East Cork T&F: National Masters: We had two competing at the National Masters T&F this year. Donal and Stephen made the trip to Tullamore to compete in the 1500m. Both were in the M40 category and Donal bagged a national medal for his troubles, made all the sweeter no doubt as he also secured the bragging rights with Stephen just behind in 4th. Donal ran 4.29 and Stephen ran 4.31. Both very strong runs at the end of a long summer season. East Cork T&F: The East Corks were split in two this year with the main events held in Carrignavar on their 300m grass track and the 5000m races held separately in MTU a few weeks later. In the Tour De France there is a most combative rider award and this most certainly would have went to John Spelman. He competed in 5 different events ranging from 100m to 5000m and took two Golds and two silvers away for his troubles too! Perhaps the decathlon is where he will specialise in the future! Not too far off him was another prolific racer, Tony ran three events and took home a gold, a silver and a bronze. Ollie proved he is the top M45 around taking gold in the 800m and 3000m and also competing in the 5k on the track. Other golds were in the masters 800m Eibhlin Cleary (F35) and James Mc (M35). In the masters 3000m Nicky took M35 gold. Frank won a tactical 5000m over Tony up in MTU with a blistering last lap to reclaim his title from 2022, winning in 15.30. Tony as mentioned was 2nd in 15.35 and James (2023 winner) was 3rd in 16.19. Denis raced in the 3k and 5k and Michael Furlong was 8th in the 5k. Well done to everyone who took part and helped organise. National League and Cork City Sports: Well done to John, Frank and Paul who all admirably represented East Cork AC competing with the "East Cork Athletics Division" in the National League over the summer. Paul and Frank scored high points for the team in the Finals, both coming 2nd. Frank ran 3.59 in the 1500m behind Sean Tobin and Paul ran a strong 5k in 15.15. Special mention again to John and Frank who both doubled up in the preliminary round. Cork City Sports - Nicky and John both ran in the Cork City Sports in the Open 3k. Thanks as well for all club members who helped out on the night and all the prep work for weeks and months prior with the many jobs that were needed to make the event such a success. Other Races July - Top 5's: Well done to Tony for winning two road races in July, Corkbeg 4 mile (20.29) and Churchtown South 4 mile (20.52). And hard luck to James for coming second in both! Tamzin was 2nd in Corkbeg in 24.47 and 3rd in Churchtown South in 24.38. Nicky was 5th in Churchtown in 21.22. Tony also came 5th in Fermoy 4 mile in 20.43. There were 17 others racing in July. Details below. Bravo too for our Race Directors Eibhlin in Corkbeg and Conor in Churchtown South for putting on two wonderful races to keep the flame lit in East Cork. Other Races August - Top 5's: We had three winners on the roads in August. First up was Tony again winning the Conna 5k in 15.48. Frank ran on the Stryker 4 Mile passing his Grandparents house on route to taking down the win in his trademark style with a big kick for home in 20.23. And finally Michael Harty made a return to the racing after a block of training to win the Amazon 5k in a a swift 15.11. James was 2nd in Rathcormac and 5th in Conna. Tamzin was 3rd in Conna and Paul Hartnett was 4th in a competitive Cork City 10k in 31.17. Championship Races National Senior T&F: We had four competing at the National T&F this year up in Morton Stadium. With Olympic qualification on the line all was to play for. First up we had Paul and John in the 1500m heats. It was top four to qualify automatically and both gave it a good go but were just outside this target. In a tactical race with a burn up at the end Paul was 6th in 4.02 and John 13th in 4.17. Next up was nearly man Frank. He has been 3rd in his 800m heat the past 3 years (with top 2 to auto Q) and despite giving it a right crack and taking the pace on right from the gun we was just pipped in the home straight and finished in 3rd again in a swift 1.53. Tony took on the longer 5000m and ran a solid 15.36 for 4th in the C race. Well done all. The National Seniors is the ultimate test for us as club runners and fair play for keeping the East Cork flag flying up in Dublin. Other Races - Top 10's: Catch up race for Paul who ran in the Dublin Graded League in Morton Stadium earlier in the summer and was 3rd in 3.58. Donal and Stephen travelled to DSD's new track to run in ht e5th round of the Dublin Graded League and acquitted themselves well in the 3000 B race, Donal was 4th in 9.32 and Stephen ran 9.44 for 9th. was Frank was 4th in the Watford Grand Prix 800m in 1.54, Nicky continued his comeback in the Coolagown 10k with a 4th in 33.43. Tamzin had a smashing run in the Musgrave 5k with a 5th place finish in 18.27. Frank also ran in the Bracknell BMC 800m in Birmingham during the month and was 5th in 1.53. Donal went across the county bounds and was 6th in the Killarney 10k in 35.26. Well done to everyone else too for the other races in June. Coast to Coast Relay: The Coast to Coast Relay was another slightly alternative race that we participated in over the weekend of June 23rd-June 25th. But we had a bumper turnout with 20 club members racing, pacing or driving. The race started in Bray Head in Wicklow at 12am Saturday morning and we finished it on Monday morning at 6.46am at Bray head signal tower on Valentia Island Kerry, a monster 570km with approx 13,000m of elevation gain and loss. The route was devised 20 years ago as a means to link up all the national trails "ways" through the country. These include Wicklow Way, South Leinster Way, East Munster Way, Avondhu Way, Duhallow Way and the Kerry Way. There were 4 relay teams and 13 ,ad individuals at the start line. Stephen O'Brien took responsibility to start us off on the right foot and apart from a little bit of trouble at Bray Head Cross he didn't put a foot wrong (until later that night when he fell and bashed his ribs up somewhat) as he navigated the large network of trails and roads to pass to Donal shortly before the Wicklow Way and the relative safety of the yellow men! Donal, Stephen, Matt and John continued through the night running, driving, pacing and creating mildly humorous What App videos until they reached The Dying Cow Pub (halfway point of leg 8 on hte Wicklow Way) where they passed the tracker to Elaine, Avril, Siobhan and Tamzin. The girls took on the next 70km or so with one or two wrong turns quickly corrected by the diligent crew before finishing at the picturesque Graiguenamanagh and passing to Eibhlin and Ger who did a team effort to run around Brandon Hill and pass to Tim, Ollie and Kenneth at Inistoige. The lads put in a solid shift and had no issues apart from Tim driving away from Ollie with the keys of the second car with him! All was resolved quickly with the use of the mandatory mobile phone and as the night was drawing in they passed on to Tony, Kevin and Diarmaid. Tony didn't get the memo that it was to be an enjoyable run at a leisurely pace and took off like he was in the 5000m A race at the National Seniors and blitzed his first section with some difficult navigation in the mist at night up on the Commeragh hills south of Clonmel. The lads continued though the night before finding Diarmaid asleep under a tree in a sleeping bag at Glenseskin Woods near Kilworth. The motley crew of Donal. Matt and John were back again Sunday morning with Chris McGrath in for Stephen for this section. Albeit a little tired, a few cramps and a bit sore they soldered on throughout the morning till mid afternoon before Eadaoin, Lorna and a hungover Annelise took up the mantle for the difficult Duhallow Way to Shrone Lake. Tony, Ollie and Stephen waited patiently admiring the view on the other side of the Derrynasaggart Mountains for the tracker to reach them. Stephen now out of action due to injury took pictures and offered words of support to Ollie and Tony who covered a lot of distance as the evening turned to night and pushed through the Black Valley and far into the extremely remote Bridia Valley to hand over to Tim, Paul C and Kevin. After some wild overgrown trail, open mountain and blustery misty conditions dawn finally broke as Paul arrived in Cahersiveen to no hype whatsoever. Tim did a few stretches and felt quite at home on the 10 mile road section to Portmagee. After crossing the bridge from the mainland the final 2km up to the signal tower beckoned. All keen for glory Tim, Paul, Stephen, Kevin, Lorna and baby Robyn trekked the final part together and dutifully touched the tower as per the race instructions to complete the epic trip across Ireland. Stephen E was there to greet the team (2 days earlier than he had anticipated) and gave a warm welcome and some encouraging words. In the end it took 54 hours 46 minutes and 30 seconds to be the first relay finishers of the inaugural Coast to Coast race. Well done to all who helped out on with logistics, planning and organising. Also a big thanks to the Race Directors for putting the event on and to the 13 brave individuals who set out to complete it all on their own. In the end 6 finished the full course with sore feet but a lot of personal achievement. Next Up: Corkbeg 4 Mile Race - July 4th with a 8pm start time. If you are not racing please come along and Race Director Eibhlin will find a job for you to help with.  Championship Races Munster Senior and Masters T&F: On the championship trail we had a solid Munster Senior and Masters T&F in Templemore in May. Paul won silver in the senior (and U23) 1500m in 3.57. John also won siler in the 3000m S/C (Sen and U23) in 11.18. Frank took the bronze in the 400m in 51.90 seconds. In the Masters races Donal was 2nd overall in the race and first M40 in 9.43, Stephen took 2nd M40 in a time of 10.10. Well done all Frank was also racing in the University National T&F in the UK in May and reached the semi final after winning his heat in 1.56 in the 800m. He improved to 1.52 in the semi final but just missed out in the final by 1 position after having a storming finish. Other Road Races - Top 10's: There were plenty of other road races on, the biggest result of the month was Michael winning the Midleton 5 in 25.30, Tony was 2nd in 25.54 and Nicky also getting in the top 10 with a good comeback race in 26.47. Tamzin was 5th in the ladies in 31.50 with Annelise also cracking the top 10 in 33.14. James had a trip to the beach for himself over the border to Ardmore and was 6th in the Ardmore 5 Mile in 26.49. All the other results are below as well. Congrats to any PB's and and personal duels won. Wicklow Way Relay: Well done to everyone who participated and helped out to retain our Wicklow Way crown. On the 21st anniversary, it was another monumental effort to get 8 people fit to the start line and all acquitted themselves admirably. Graham had the selectors worried earlier on in the year but put all doubts aside in Ballynoe and backed up that performance with a cracker of a leg 1, breaking the 60 min barrier in 59.37 and importantly also handing it over to Tony in 1st place with a slender 12 second lead, a lead we did not relinquish. Tony an experienced mountain runner with some impressive wins in the past year or two was our trump card for 2024 and he did not disappoint running an extemely strong 62.23. Unfortunatly Tony's Strava did not upload after the race. Annelise was on leg 3 with a point to prove and she certainly did running a great 40.14 and passing to Donal at Oldbridge with a 42 second lead on fierce rivals Rathfarnham AC. Donal, a little uncertain what to do at the front of a race, put his head down and powered up the steep hills at the start of his leg and decended well throught he tricky single track forest section to run 40.44 and pass to Kevin in Glendalough with the specter of "Matt 2023" hovering over him. After a bit of a wardrobe malfunction Kevin got to work on leg 5 and ran a solid 57.21 (and importantly banished the pesky specter once and for all). In Glenmalure Kevin tagged Nicky, whose baton changeover was inspired from Irelands recent success at the World Relay championships, still in first place but only 1.10 up on Rathfarnham. Nicky's 5 star preparation turned into a 5 star performance with a gutsy run in 57.03 to increase our lead out to 5 minutes and pass over to Tim in Ironbridge for leg 7. Tim produced an improved performance on last year and opened up a another 12 minutes on 2nd with a 74.09 for the 20km route (with 600m of climbing). TT Racers had slipped into 2nd at this point after Rathfarnham took a wrong turn on this long leg and ran an extra 1km or so. Tamzin was well warmed up after leap frogging through the legs for the day and knew what was ahead of her. Annelise had filled her in on the finer points of leg 8 on the trip up in the car too. Tamzin showed her good form again and ran a very impressive 43.01 for the hilly 10k route. She crossed the line in Shilleagh village at 2.14pm giving us an overall time of 7.14. Thanks to everyone else who helped out behind the scenes and on the day, Lavinia, Zack, Ava, Lorna, Eadaoin, Fiona, Kenneth and Matt. And while not strictly a pure athletics event it is one of the great team events each year that brings the club together with a common purpose to to round it off with a win is a bonus. All Ireland Schools: Special mention to Mathew Mahony was ran a really well run race in the Junior Boys 1500m in Tullamore as well to come second in a PB of 4.16. Mathew was not afraid to take the race to the field and let loose with 500m to go and showed great strength and composure to hold onto second with a fast charging pack in the home straight bearing down on him.    Championship Races County Roads: Firstly well done to all who competed in the County and East Cork Roads the past number of weeks. We have had some great success individually and teamwise. First up was the special Ballintotis 4 mile held on April 18th on a lovely balmy spring evening. For the first time the County Road championships were held in conjunction with Ballintotis and it added an extra element of spice with medals up for grabs. Paul blazed a trail for the first few miles leaving all but Sean Doyle in his wake but unfortunately for Paul, Sean pulled away becoming the 5th ever winner of the race putting his name on the trophy with esteemed company. Paul ended up 2nd in a great time of 19.26 so took the silver senior and gold novice medals home. Next home was Tim in 5th and 2nd M35 in 19.36. Kenneth who will always be competitive in any age category was 2nd M45 in 21.40 as he returns from injury. Donal was 3rd M40 and just dipped under the 22 minutes. Tamzin had a great run for 6th lady overall and earned her first medal for East Cork with 2nd Novice in 25.08. Avril like a fine wine keeps on showing she is one of the best F50's in the county with 2nd in F50 category in 27.12. We also had a bumper team haul (the home advantage might have helped) with team wins in Senior Men (Paul, Tim, Tony and James), Senior and Novice Women (Tamzin, Niamh, Avril and Sarah), Novice Men (Paul, Nicky, Donal and Graham), and M35+ Men (Tim, James, Nicky and Kenneth) Others who ran but did not medal were Michael in 22.51, Stephen 23.00, Ollie 23.58, Martin 24.45, Denis 32.02 and Claire 31.48. This group has two options for next year 1) Either train harder or 2) Hope they move into a new age category. Championship Races East Cork Roads: Also on were the East Cork roads in their usual spot in Ballynoe, the place with "the hill". Tony turned the tables on James from last year and took the win in 26.34 with James in a comfortable 2nd in 27.46. Graham was a very uncomfortable 3rd battling all the way with youngster Timmy Hawkings and Donal with only 2 seconds separating the three of them at the finish line. With the top three not included for the team results Donal, Michael, Ollie and Denis combined to take 3rd team and the bronze medals. Well done all. In a dominant performance Tamzin blitzed the womens field to take the gold in the Senior womens race in a great time of 11.51. Niamh had a gutsy run to finish 6th in 12.44 with Christine in 9th in 12.54 and Avril 12th in 12.59. With Tamzin excluded they were the scoring three for the gold winning team. Backing them up was Sarah in 19th in 13.33 and Eibhlin in 17.23. Well done all. Other Road Races: There were plenty of other road races on some notable results were Tim winning the Cobh 10 miler in 51.37. John Spelman was 2nd in Cloyne 4k Race 5 and wrapped up the overall series win, importantly winning the trophy back from Leevale hands. Niamh O'Connor was 3rd lady in the same race. Christine Kelly and Chris McGrath took to the roads of Rotterdam for a big hit at a fast flat big European marathon. Christine stormed home in an amazing 3:19, this great time was richly deserved after getting through a 'savage' training block. Chris McGrath ran a solid 3:34 but will be looking forward already to his 25 marathon later in the year to get back down to his PB level. Frank ran a decent 15.12 in the Podium 5k race in the UK, showing the high standard of races there this was good enough for 177th! A full list of all others racing is below, if anyone was missed please let me know. Track and Field: John Spelman was our sole representative in the IUAA T&F Championships running the 3000m S/C in 11.05. He was also on the UCC 4X400m team that reached the final.   Cross Country: A little late in reporting but none the less a huge congratulations goes out to National Cross Country winners Tim and Paul in the Masters and the Intermediate races in Dundalk in February. For such a small club to win both these races on the same day is monumental achievement. Tim in fact has now won the masters XC the past 3 years in a row and is showing even as the hair goes greyer he is still as prolific as ever over the mud. Paul added to his National Novice title to bag the intermediate title so we will all be keen to see the Senior title too in the years to come! Tim took the masters race by storm and in similar fashion to how he disposed of Mick Clohessy in Gowran last year he did the same in Dundalk. He took the lead after about 1k from the Dublin masters winner Colm Rooney and never looked back opening up a sizable gap all the way to the finish line in 24.50. Paul took control in the intermediate race too from early on but did have a sizable chasing pack hot on his heels the first few laps, Paul made a strong push at the 5k mark to open a solid gap of about 15 seconds that he help all the way to the end cross the tape in 29:03. Paul also led our Intermediate team to a brilliant silver medal in the team results. Paul was ably back up by a great run from Tony Forristal, who came through the field like a train in the final lap to finish 6th, John Spelman who is have a real breakthrough season close behind in 14th and Stephen O'Brien who upset the form book to bag 4th on the team in 25th overall. Donal was next in 30th. Well done all another national team medal to add to the lists! Paul is our 4th ever winner of this race and it is the 4th time we have teams in the podium. Details below in the pictures. Munster Road Championships: Well done to all who travelled to the Munster Roads in Dundrum. Eadaoin had the best run of the day overall to finish 21st in 27:00. Stephen forgot he was in a race until the final 100m where he decided to put the after burners on and pip the unfortunate Donal by 1 second for 22nd place in 22.08, Donal was 23rd in 22.09 both won county Gold medal in the Novice and Masters M40 teams. Ciaran McNamee was next home in 28th and 22.32 after a blistering opening mile! Michael Furlong completed the team with 35th in 22.46. Intervasrsities: Indoor: Paul, Ciaran and John all competed in the National Intervarsity indoors the day before the Intermediates. Pual was 4th int he 3k in 8.35, John 6th in this 400m heat in 58 seconds and Ciaran was 21st in the 3k in 10.00. Cross Country: Paul, Ciaran and John also travelled to Queens in Belfast for the Intervarsity XC. Paul was 9th, John had a fine run for 45th and Ciaran was 71st. Well done all. Other Road Races: Tim followed up his Master victory with another win the Kinsale 10 milers. In very tough conditions Tim cruised to a 52.05. John Spelman won the 4th Cloyne race in another good time of 12.51 and puts himself in pole position to win the overall series. Tony ran the Stook 10 mile in Killkenny with an infamous hill and reportedly the fastest mile (all severely downhill) in all of Ireland, he was 2nd in the race in 54.39 and had a split for mile 9 of 4.34! Other Podiums were Donal gaining revenge on Stephen in his local Killeagh 4 mile coming 3rd and newest member of the club bagged 3rd as well in the ladies section. She needs no introduction, welcome Tamzin to East Cork. Hopefully it will be the first of many podiums! Well done for all the other races done in the past few weeks. All should be captured below A quite enough January on the racing front. Although this weekend we will see our Intermediate team in action in Dundalk on Sunday. Best of luck to them and also Tim, who is looking to retain his title in the Masters race. Indoors: Paul Hartnett competed in the National U23 indoors in January in the 1500m. He finished 6th in a time of 3.59. Cross Country: Frank ran in the Bucs XC intervarsity and finished in 33rd place in 35.50. This time he hopefully enjoyed a warm down instead of dashing across Europe to another race the next day. Road Races: Michael Furlong kicked off the year finishing 12th in the Beaufort 10k in 36.09. Siobhan, Niamh and Avril all ran in the IFF BHAA 5k and all broke 21 minutes, with Siobhan pipping Niamh by 2 seconds to take club bragging rights. Donal travelled to Dublin for the high quality Raheny 5 mile and ran a PB of 27.15. The third Cloyne 5k race was also on. John Spelman recorded his second victory of the series to keep his hopes of overall series winner very much alive. On a very windy Sunday morning John ran 13.05 for the win. Michael Furlong is also still in the hunt after winning the first race of the series, he was 4th in 13.51. Ollie Smiddy had a good run chasing down Rebecca McEvoy running 15.09, Martin Hennessy had a strong run to break 16 mins in 15.55. Denis was 49th overall in 19.04 and Eibhlin is continuing her journey back with another solid 22.04.  Firstly well done to everybody who ran in 2023 for the club, especially those who won medals, got PB's and filled up teams when you were needed. There have been 52 individual results since the last update so I will just give the highlights in the report and hopefully every result is captured in the detailed list below. If not please let me know. Championship Medals: The best place to start is as always the medal table. Tony followed up his County Intermediate title with the Munster title in Riverstick on November 26th. He also led the Cork county team to gold. The other individual medal winners in the past 6 weeks were Eadaoin and Siobhan in the County Masters in Glanmire. Eadaoin won the bronze F35 medal with Siobhan running very nicely for the bronze in a competitive F50 category. The team were 2nd then in the F35 team event with Niamh O'Connor and Christine Kelly scoring on the team too. Well done all. Club Records (Super Shoe): 2 records, one man! Big congrats to Paul Harrnett on two very big results in the past few weeks. Firstly he knocked 1 second off Michael Hartys super shoe club record by 1 second when he came 3rd in the Newmarket Classic in 14.19. To prove it was not just a lucky run Paul reckoned he better back it up so on St Stephens Day he headed to Clonmel and became the first person in the clubs history to ever run under 19 minutes for a 4 mile race. Timmy and Liam have both ran 19.02 in different decades (even millenniums!). Paul was again 3rd in the race behind Sean Tobin and Peter Lynch and clocked 18.51. Congrats Paul it is well deserved. National Senior XC: While we did not scale the heights of 2022, we did have a competitive team competing at the national senior XC in Gowran this year. The team packed well in the 40's but just a bit too far back to be in contention for medals. Well done to Michael, Timmy, Paul, Tony and Frank for racing on the day. Cloyne Commons 4k: Well done to all who have raced in the series so far. We have had great turn outs to support this great local race. And on top of that we have had the overall winners in both races so far. Michael Furlong won the first race in 13.19 and John Spelman the second in a great PB and sub 13 performance for the first time in 12.57. Other Events: The Captains Christmas Run was held at Youghal Parkrun this year. We had a good turnout and some handy performances as well to justify the coffee and cake afterwards. Also on was the annual training trip to Inch beach in Kerry. It was also well attended and good to see some youth on the dunes again to build for the next generation. Club membership is now due for the year. Can you please arrange this with Liam or Nicky. It is €40. Munster Senior XC: We had a very successful medal haul at the Munster Senior XC Championships this year held in Two Mile Borris. Oddly enough the race was held the weekend before the National Senior XC but this didn't deter 6 of our dedicated athletes. Michael had another stormer of a race sitting on defending champion Jake O'Regan for the majority of the race making him feel very uncomfortable before releasing his inevitable trademark kick with a few hundred meters to go and taking a decisive win. This was Michaels second individual win last claiming the title in 2015. Michael lead the the team to golden glory with John Spelman, Ciaran McNamee and Donal Giltinan having their own individual battles against each other. John came out on top finishing 11th with Ciaran just behind in 12th and Donal completed the scoring 4 in 13th, his first race after Berlin marathon in September. Fergus Meade was 19th overall as well. Congrats to the team on winning another Munster title. Michael, John, Ciaran and Donal also scored on the Cork team who finished 2nd behind Tipperary. Eadaoin was our sole lady representative in the womens 6k race where she finished a strong 11th overall. Road Running: The Thomas Kent 10 was on Sunday in Castlelyons . Michael Furlong was 29th in 38.45 and Christine Kelly had a great run to finish 8th lady in 42.42. John and Ciaran also raced in the University Road Relays in Maynooth on Friday. Both ran mile legs, John ran in the first leg for UCC in 5.27 with Ciaran on the anchor leg for MTU in 5.16. Munster Championship XC History: - Overall since the club first competed in the Munster Senior XC championship we have won an impressive 24 out of 38 runnings of the event. - We have won the individual title 10 times by five men: Donnacha O'Mahoney (x4), Liam O'Brien (x2), Michael Harty (x2), James McCarthy (x1), and Tim O'Donoghue (x1). - Donnacha on his own has won 4 times with an unprecedented 14 team titles along the way stretching over 20 years from 1987 to his final team title in 2010. - Our longest streak was 9 wins from 2004 to 2012 until St Johns won in Limerick Racecourse in 2013. - Of the 24 titles won 25 men have contributed directly to the team by scoring in the top four (see table below). - As mentioned Donnacha tops this list with 14. Right on his tail is Sean now with 12 and James on 11, both are soley responsible for the consistent run of team results in the mid 00's. - Note: Traditionally the Munster Senior XC was held in January which fitted naturally in the XC calander a number of weeks before the Interclub All Irelands. However with the merging of the intercounties and interclubs to one race in December the Munsters changed to a November date in 2015. Which is why there were two races in that year. Up Next: The National Senior XC is on in Gowran Park on Sunday the 19th. We have our Silver medal winning team from last year on the start line again looking to repeat their success so promises to be another great day of racing. AGM: The club AGM is on Tuesday November 21st in Ballintotis Hall at 8pm sharp. Everyone is welcome to attend and participate. Christmas Night Out: The Christmas night out is on in Rosies in Aghada on December 14th at 7pm . If you/your partner would like to attend please let Lorna or Kevin know asap so the booking can be finalised.    County Novice, Intermediate, Munster Novice and Autumn Open XC: We had two individual medal winners in in the past few weeks. Tony is now the county intermediate XC champion after his win in Ballynoe at the weekend and John Spelman took the Munster U23 bronze in Cooraclare. Well done lads. We were fourth in a few team events missing out by small margins but the Novice men did take Silver medals at the Munsters. Well done to John, Ciaran, Michael and Matt. Stephen supervised the proceedings in his capacity as club captain. In the Autumn Open XC held in Abbotstown Michael Harty had a great race to finish a close second behind Eoin Everard, showing again he is in great shape for the upcoming Munster Seniors and Nationals. Paul Hartnett was 11th overall in the Senior race with Tony not far behind in 18th. Ciaran got some great big race exposure finishing 35th. Dublin Marathon: Tim had a tough day in the office in Dublin. Despite running 2:26.50 Tim had ran a race of two halves. After going through in just over 68 mins for the 13.1 miles and right on track for a strong PB, the wheels came off (similar to his support crew!) and it was a struggle home from there. On the positive side there were no injuries so hopefully he will be able to reload for the National Seniors in a few weeks on fresher legs. Up Next: Nov 12th: Munster Senior and Junior XC in Two Mile Borris Nov 19th: National Senior XC in Gowran  County Senior XC: The 100th county senior XC was held in Carrigadrohid last Sunday and again the weather was glorious, warm and sunny in start contrast to the rain from the day before. The course was in great condition and the organising committee had a different course set up again which keeps the venue interesting every time a XC race is held there. High level it was a carbon copy of the 2022 race. Michael wins, Paul battles valiantly for 2nd, Tim settles for bronze and we win the team from Leevale. The 2023 race did have Tony Forristal stepping in for Frank to match his 5th from last year. The race started slowly with a large pack together for the first two of six 1500m laps. This year notably the race was reduced to 9000m to be in line with new National and European XC distances. Tim felt the pace was too slack at 3k and went to the front to push things along. Michael, Paul and Gavin O'Rourke went with him and a large chasing pack formed. Tim grinded the pace along for the middle part of the race and dropped Gavin leaving the three main protagonists together again. Paul took a turn at the front but they lads stayed together until 7k, where Michael put a fierce burst on that sealed the race. He opened up a 20 second lead on Paul and cruised home to retain his title from 2022. Not bad for a recently turned 43 year old. Tim was about 15 seconds behind Paul for a comfortable 3rd place. Paul was also first U23 finisher. Tony lead the chasing pack for a while before putting the foot down and putting a substantial gap on them in the middle of the race which he held right to the end for a very good 5th place and sealed the team title once again for East Cork. James was next home in 16th. John, the East Cork Novice champ, was 30th and 2nd U-23 with the great man Denis completing his 41st County Senior championship in 40th. Well done to all. History: This was the clubs 22nd county Senior title since our first in 1985. We have had 26 different club member contribute to scoring teams in the 22 wins (Up till 1995 it was 6 to count on a team). Donnacha leading the way with an enormous haul of 15. On the other end of the spectrum Tony has now joined club heavyweights such as Kevin and Frank O'Brien and Paul Mulholland on 1! Michael retain his title to move ahead of Liam and Garreth Barry on individual wins. Tim is still ahead of him with 3 and Donnacha again is the class apart on 6. More detail in the chart below. Radisson Blu BHAA: Well done to Elaine, Niamh and Avril who all ran the BHAA 5k on Sunday morning. Elaine was 3rd overall in 19.32, Niamh just behind in 5th in 19.53 with Avril in 7th with 21.03. Up Next: Up on Sunday is the County Novice XC in Bandon. We have teams entered in both the mens and womens so best of luck to all.     |
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