An Riocht rejuvenation right on track
IF you were to script a race against the elements and time itself, where better to stage it than on an athletics track with a hugely important event waiting in the wings.
That very scenario played itself out right here in Castleisland all during last week week and didn’t draw its final breath until the hours just before the big event opening on Saturday morning.
Fractious weather conditions all that week weren’t in the least conducive to the laying of the synthetic materials that went into the two-tone rejuvenation of the near 30 year old track.
And, as the weekend loomed with the Denny Kerry Community Games Finals booked in for Saturday and Sunday, there were very few hours on the clock which didn’t see action on the preparation of the vital facility.
Only on Friday evening did it look home and dry with the promise of a few more hours of good, dry weather as the skips were being filled with the waste of the €140,000 refurbishment job and the grounds being prepared.
Project committee manager, Ger Cremin and An Ríocht AC manager, Kate McSweeney were as pleased as the many locals who came to the facility over the past week to wonder at the transformation of the track.
The opening ceremony and lighting of the flame of the 2017 Kerry Community Games Track and Field Athletics Finals were performed at 10am on Saturday morning in a thick enough mist – but things got much better from there on.
The launch of the 2017 games on May 26th was the last official engagement on the old, red, tartan track.
The new two-tone track, only the third in Europe – the other two are in Finland and PortAventura, hosted the games at the weekend as the first official event on the refurbished surface.
I stood between men from China and America one evening as the final touches were being put to the track. I expressed my admiration for the work and for the uplifted appearance of the place.
The American, who flew in from Florida to have a look at the work, responded: “This is as good as it gets – This is amazing – believe me.” I do – I said.
I looked at the Chinese man and he just smiled and warned me that the white paint on the lines was still wet. I told him I hadn’t taken up running yet. He looked and me and laughed politely.
The children and young athletes who came to Castleisland on Saturday morning were in for a real treat and the local children had to be restrained from using the track. Mainly because its very final touches were being applied and also because of a sense of fairness to those from the rest of the county.
The event, sponsored again this year by Denny, opened at An Ríocht on Saturday morning at 10am and continued all day right up to Sunday evening and the final medal presentations.
The games attracted a host of competitors representing all communities from across the county.
The finals featured a full list of track and field events which attracted competitors from 41 communities right across the county.