Viva Espana for Carraig na bhFear AC
Over sixty members of Carraig na bhFear AC took to the skies over the Easter weekend to converge on Nerja on the southern coast of Spain for our long-awaited warm-weather training camp. The inaugural trip was to Malta in 2019 but Covid interrupted the laying of any further plans until this year. The trip surpassed all expectations, the weather playing its part with constant sunshine and temperatures in the mid-twenties.
The recently resurfaced track in Nerja contained all the necessary infrastructure to support a technical track and field camp. The mornings were spent with the coaches’ putting athletes through their paces in warm-up drills, followed by a detailed training program. The track was buzzing with diverse groups from Latvia, Sweden, The Netherlands, and neighbouring countries and gave coaches and athletes an insight in to other approaches to training.
The all-important social element was also present with walking, trail-running, cycling, kayaking and beach volleyball added in for the die-hards who wanted to maximise the opportunity to be active as well as an opportunity to relax in the various pools in the locality. Our juveniles, juniors and adults all mixing was fantastic to see. A sincere thanks to everyone who planned and supported the event which will live long in the memory and set the path for the next event which will surely continue to grow.
RACES
The 25k Great Railway run is becoming a ‘must-do’ race for anyone preparing for the Cork City Marathon, an excellent opportunity to take the grind out of the long-runs.
We had two athletes taking part, Darragh O’Keeffe came home in 56th place out of a field of 396 finishers in a great time of 1:53:02. Rachael O’Callaghan, fresh from her training update on the ‘Runners Diary Podcast’ put in another excellent shift with a finishing time of 2:24:14. Well done to both athletes!
BHAA
Michael Mulcahy continued his great form with a 50th place finish in the PwC 5k in 18:20, excellent running from Michael in very windy conditions.
TRIP TO TIPP
Two athletes who look primed and ready for the upcoming track season are Isabelle Walsh and Caoimhe Hughes. They made the ‘Trip to Tipp’ for the Moyne AC open sports day and were rewarded with gold for Isabelle in the U10 300m and Caoimhe picking up the silver medal in the U9 60m, congratulations to both!
IMRA
Dave and Bobby O’Riordan swapped the blue skies of Spain for mud and fog in Gougane Barra for the 9.70km second race in the ‘Whiskey in the Jar’ series. A tough race with many athletes losing their way to different extents. The O’Riordans are well at home in the mountains however, results are still pending but Dave managed to keep the distance to 11.22km in a great time of 1hr 30mins, no doubt pushed all the way by Bobby!
PRO Tadhg Crowley got some valuable hills in at the Glen River Parkrun in preparation for the upcoming East Cork Roads Championship. Tadhg covered the course in an impressive 18:34 mins, not easy given that he was on his own almost 3 minutes ahead of the next finisher.
LOOK AHEAD
The summer evening races are starting to ramp up this week with several athletes heading to Ballintotis but the big focus for our club will be the East Cork Juvenile Track and Field Championships in UCC on Sunday morning, 23rd April commencing at 10.30am. We hope to have as many juvenile athletes as possible competing in what is always a relaxed and excellent event.