Tralee 50km Ultra Marathon
The Tralee 50k ultra marathon took place on Saturday, 15th May last. The route was five 10k loops from Tralee to Blennerville and back by small country roads and our athlete Pam Kennedy was an avid competitor! We asked her opinion, so here are her feelings about the race:
“It was a nice relaxed race on a lovely 10 km loop that was a mix of walkways and quiet country roads. It was main road back from Blennerville but there was a footpath the whole way so wasn’t an issue. The loop went from Tralee out to Blennerville and back.
I don’t normally like loops but it was nice to have the support as you passed through the start/ finish line and as it was a loop you could set up your own little area for any extra gels/drinks so you didn’t have to carry them. The weather was amazing but it got very hot half way through with very little shade on the second part of the loop. It was a lovely race to do for my first 50km and I’d recommend it.” Congratulations Pam! That is a fabulous achievement and your clubmates are proud of you!
FOTA 5KM WILDLIFE PARK RACE
The popular Fota 5k race was held last Thursday evening in the fabulous Fota Wildlife Park. It was again a brilliant event with a juvenile one mile race before the main 5k event. Thanks to Eagle Athletic AC for a great organisation. Three our juveniles and nine of our senior members competed and they really enjoyed this unusual race around the animal park!
So here are the results: 1 mile race: 16th Henry Bagnall 6.05, 19th Sean O’Connor 6.26, 73rd John Curtin 8.08. The 5km senior race 5k senior race was a well subscribed to event, and our nine athletes put in some great times, and we had prize winners too! Kieran McKeown 16.37 (6th overall- 1st M45), David Buckley 17.06, Mike Lyons 17.10, Johnny O’Sullivan 17.27 (1st M50), Richie O’Brien 18.47, Eileen Finn 21.12 (3rd F35), Des White 24.02, Kayleigh Milward 32.04, Conor McCarthy 38.31. Congratulations to all our runners! Well done Kayleigh on your very first 5k!
JOHN HARTNETT 10KM ROAD RACE, BALLYHOOLY
Hot on the heels of the Fota 5km, our ever active members took the short hop over to Ballyhooly for the John Hartnett 10km Road Race, which is named for the mighty local runner John Hartnett who represented Ireland on the international scene, including the 1972 Olympics. John was in contact with the race committee throughout and was keeping an eye on the results from America where he resides. The medals for the race were modelled on the plaque which is mounted in the village of Ballyhooly.
The course is tough enough with a few pulls but pays back with
a nice decline finish, local support in the village was excellent and greatly added to the atmosphere. It was the first time the race was on the calendar since 2018 and Grange Fermoy AC supported it by having huge numbers of our members running.
Onto the best bits, the results: David Greene 36.23 (4th overall), John Murphy 37.16, John Hartnett 37.36, Róisín McLaughlin 39.46 (2nd female), John Delaney 41.45, Conor McElvaney 41.53, Rachel Walsh 42.17, James Sweeney 42.36, Mike Ennis 42.55, Darren Flynn 43.36, Clotilde Fitzgibbon 43.49, Eileen Finn 44.44, Jo Grumbridge 46.02, Paul Lavoie 46.33, Bernard Kieran 47.16, Ray Kenny 47.12, Ronan McDonald 47.31, John Hanrahan 47.43, Mags Goggin 48.34, Geraldine Hartnett 48.52, Sheila Maggorian 48.53, Joanne O’Callaghan 50.46, Jozef Zoladz 50.51, Sinead Cotter 51.00, Ken Power 51.10, Peter Dineen 51.24, Pam Kennedy 52.15, Ann Marie Sweeney 52.47, Mike Pratt 54.56, Maurice Tobin 55.09, Mary
Clare Healy 57.16, Angela O’Mahony 59.32, Eithne Birmingham 60.24, Sarah O’Connor 61.36, Ellen Hayes 61.42, Caroline McCarthy 62.30, Claire Lomasney 63.25, Brid Murphy 65.59, Bernadette Fitzgerald 67.04, Maggie Dunne 74.08, Conor McCarthy 75.54.
Congratulations to all participants, and thanks to the Ballyhooly race committee for the great organising.
ANNUAL BOB BURKE 4 MILE ROAD RACE
Our annual four mile road race, sponsored this year by Synergy Credit Union, will be held on 24 July. Entrants must be over 15 to compete. But we also have a one mile juvenile race, which is open to U9 (born in 2014) up to U15 (born in 2008). So this is a great time to get the juveniles out and running, to get a taste of this fabulous sport of road running. Entries are now open from popupeaces.ie. The race has an AAI permit, and will start and finish at Grange National School. We look forward to seeing you there.
TRAINING RUNS
Training goes on all through the week, with Tuesday meeting at Coláiste track, Wednesday 7pm speed sessions at Coláiste track, Thursday 7pm also at Coláiste track. Sunday at 9am the training
run commences at Texaco garage. On Monday and Friday our couch to 5k meetings are at Coláiste track also. Details are available from Clotilde Fitzgibbon on 086-3162135.