Home

Club's Fancy Dress Halloween Disco This Friday!

Connacht Secondary Schools Multi-Events

Shauna Tobin and Laura Cunningham pictured in Athlone IT at the Connacht Schools Multi Events
with former National Senior High Jump Champion Cathriona Farrell who now teaches in Coláiste Bhaile Chláir
and was chief official at the high jump for the day

The strength of the club in the teenage age groups was very much in evidence at the Connacht Schools Multi Events which were held in Athlone on Thursday where athletes from the club were representing their schools including Calasanctius Oranmore, Coláiste Bhaile Chláir, Pres Athenry, St Raphael's Loughrea, St Brigid’s Loughrea and Yeats College.

Official results are unavailable as yet other than Laura Cunningham's (Pres Athenry) victory in the Senior Girls grade where she had some fine performances particularly in the high jump where she leaped a new PB of 1.65m and in the hurdles. The high jump provided some of the top moments of the day for athletes from the club with Leanagh Gilligan (St Brigid’s) leaping a PB of 1.55m to take top spot in the Intermediate Girls high jump, Shauna Tobin (Pres Athenry) clearing a PB of 1.40m in the same event, Ellie Cronin (Pres Athenry) leaping an amazing 1.61m to win the Junior Girls high jump, Aíne Kelly (St Brigid’s) 2nd in the same event with a huge PB of 1.58m, Freya Bohan clearing a PB of 1.50m, Emma Jane Moran a huge PB of 1.45m in the Minor Girls and Jade Moorhead clearing 1.40m in the First Year Girls.

I will add official results to this article as soon as they are available.

Freya Bohan, Aíne Kelly, Ellie Cronin and Aoife Kelly pictured in Athlone IT at the Connacht Schools Multi Events

There were many more fine performances across the grades including in the Senior Boys Ben Garrard (Yeats College); in the Intermediate Boys Oisin Lyons (Yeats College), in the Junior Girls Aoife Kelly (Pres Athenry), in the Junior Boys Conor Roberts (Coláiste Bhaile Chláir), Kyle Moorhead (Pres Athenry), Conor Trehy (Pres Athenry), James Furey (Pres Athenry), Oisin Davis (Pres Athenry), Pascal Walsh (Pres Athenry), Sean Cotter (Calasanctius); in the Minor Girls Ava Finn (Pres Athenry), Edel Farrelly (Pres Athenry), Lauren McNally (St Brigid’s), Alisha Larkin (St Raphael’s), Chloe Farragher (St Brigid’s), Triona Furey (Calasanctius), Anna Molloy (Calasanctius), Annie Dehora (Calasanctius), Hannah Hynes (Calasanctius); in Minor Boys, Ludaigh Morgan; in First Year Girls Millie Geraghty and Jade Moorhead (Pres Athenry); in First Year Boys Robert Urquhart and Tom Doran (Pres Athenry).

Ava Finn and Emma Jane Moran getting their high jump marks at the Connacht Schools Multi Events

Ellie Cronin attempting 1.65m at the Connacht Schools Multi Events

Next Clothes Recycling Collection in 2 Weeks Time

Our first cheque from cash4clobber arrived in the post today ... €325 from the recyling appeal we launched at the start of September. Not bad for 1 collection!! The next collection is in 2 weeks time so please continue to leave your unwanted old and new clothes with us ... see here for more details. 

If everyone was to get behind this, with over 300 familes in the club it can generate an ongoing income stream against which we can borrow funds for facility development. For every €100 of predictable income, we can borrow €1000. So if say clothes recycling were to generate an annual income of €3000 every year, we could use that to borrow €30,000 to develop facilities immediately. So get recycling and use your unwanted clothes to help build your facility ... its a win win for everyone.

Magnificent Performances in Kilcornan!

Craughwell AC's massive U9 cross-country team in Kilcornan

The second day of the Galway club cross-country took place today in Kilcornan, Clarinbridge in ideal racing conditions on a challenging course.

Hats off to the County Board and also to neighbouring landowners Ciaran and Gussy on some last minute work to roll parts of the field to reduce the bovine footprint. And just in case the Director of Climate Change in the United Nations is reading this – what I mean is flattening out the cattle hoof marks and recycled grass to make it more comfortable for runners! Well done also to Athenry's Iain Shaw on getting the results out so promptly.

This year’s participation rates in the Galway club cross-country have been at their highest in at least 12 years with close to double the numbers from 2006 taking part. A fabulous day for the club saw its athletes race to individual victory in 7 of the 12 races.

   
Some members of the Craughwell U11 and U9 Boys teams in Kilcornan

The races got underway with the U9 Girls 800m where Craughwell AC had a huge number of participants with 26 girls taking to the field. Saoirse Mullins again showed her super talent for cross country running with a brilliant victory and leading her team to gold with Lauren Morgan 7th, Aisling Lavan 9th, Mia Hollingsworth 11th, Emily Hewitt 15th, Ellen Stenson 20th, Gemma Cloonan 23rd, Alva Horan 25th, Laura Flynn 29th, Erica Coye 30th, Madison Ryan 34th, Abbi Donoghue 35th, Ava Doyle 37th, Melissa O'Connor 41st, Sarah O'Gara 42nd, Leona Coye 45th, Kayleigh Rabbitte 47th, Megan Smith 48th, Caoimhe Moynihan 49th, Caoimhe O'Connor 50th, Rebecca Doyle 54th, Asha Knight 55th, Ava Whyte 56th, Emily Rabbitte 57th, Caoimhe Harrington 58th and Ciara Byrnes 59th.

The U9s boys 800m race was off next with U8 athlete Alan Hallinan (a semi-reluctant participant!) racing to an incredible victory and leading Craughwell AC to team silver and bronze with Eanna Morrissey 5th, Eóin Middleton 9th, Tom Malone 10th, Ethan Whyte 11th, Liam Reilly 12th, Iarlaith Doyle 15th, Leo Molloy 17th, Ethan Horan 19th, Darragh Higgins 25th, Patrick Carr 27th, Darragh Farrell 35th, Jake Barry 36th and Ethan Stace 40th.

Craughwell AC's U11 Girls cross country team on the start line

In the U11 Girls 1500m, the Craughwell team ran brilliantly to place 5th led home by Sara Craven 6th, Claudia McGuinness 15th, Amelie Grogan 22nd, Amelie Bouquet 32nd, Erin Dillon 39th, Aoife O'Meara 40th, Isobel Doyle 41st, Jessica Ross 42nd, Erin Fahy 44th and Ayla Hollingsworth 57th. While in the U11 Boys 1500m the team raced to the silver medals with Fionn Higgins leading them home in 9th place followed by Sean Lavan 10th, Darragh Riedy 16th, Darragh Kelly 17th, Keelan Moorhead 18th, Luke O'Sullivan 22nd, Riley Stenson 29th, Eoin Woods 43rd, Peter Martyn 44th and Rian Middleton 49th.

The U13 Girls 2500m got underway where another brilliant run by Clodagh O’Meara and Fauve Aylmer in 5th and 6th place led the team to silver medals with strong running also from Aoibhe Carr 8th, Siofra Davis 19th, Jade Moorhead 21st, Erin Kelly 33rd, Claire Coulahan 36th, Muireen Leen 37th, Sarah Byrne 38th and Grace Leen 39th. The U13 Boys also raced to silver medals in their 2500m led home by a magnificent individual victory for Mathys Bocquet with Cian Lavan just missing out on the top 3 with a 4th place finish, followed by Luke Flynn with an impressive late surge in 9th, Daniel Galvin 11th, Evan Hallinan 13th, Cormac McFadden 21st and Michael Woods 28th.

Craughwell AC's U13 Girls cross country team prior to race start

Craughwell AC's Ross McGuinness and Oisin Davis
Silver and bronze medallists in the Galway U15 3500m Cross Country in Kilcornan

Aoibheann Keane and Lauren McNally both ran really well in the U15 Girls 3500m.  Aoibheann ran strongly throughout, starting the last lap in bronze position and ran down her oppponent over the last lap to claim a magnificent Silver.  Despite not having done much distance training this year, Lauren McNally showed amazing character to run strongly throughout and finish in 6th place.  Ross McGuinness and Oisin Davis were in the leading group of 3 throughout the U15 Boys 3500m, eventually claiming excellent Silver and Bronze respectively.

Craughwell U17 Boys Galway 4000m Champions 2017 and Luke Evans Galway U19 Champion 2017
Finbarr McFadden, Ben Ryan, Patrick Noonan, Luke Evans, Kyle Moorhead, William Fitzpatrick
(missing from photo - Sean Noonan)

Ailbhe Miskella stormed to victory in the U17 Girls 4000m with Ciara Sheppard in 4th place while Ben Ryan also took an excellent victory in the U17 Boys 5000m with William Fitzgerald taking silver and followed by Patrick Noonan 5th, Kyle Moorhead 6th, Finbarr McFadden 7th and Sean Noonan 8th to take the team victory.

Caron Ryan added the U19 Galway title to the Junior crown that she won last weekend in Tuam and Luke Evans continued his fine progress in cross-country with victory in the U19 Boys 5000m.

Craughwell AC's Ailbhe Miskella (Galway U17 Champion 2017), Ciara Sheppard (4th place) 
and Caron Ryan (Galway U19 Champion 2017)

So another great day out for the club in times of increasing competition from the other clubs as evidenced by the huge increase in participation. Connachts now to look forward to next with the Primary Schools om Saturday 21st October in Roscommon, the club even age groups on Sunday 29th October in Sligo and the club uneven age groups on Sunday 5th November in Longford.

And just a quick note for parents of our younger athletes in U9s and U10s. There are no races in the Connacht club competition for those age groups but U10s may step up to the U11s if they wish.

Full results of the day are here. 

Info for tomorrow's cross country

Timetable for Sunday:

Stewards may park in car park at entrance to swimming pool.  Everyone else to park one of the other car parks. 

Please obey the steward’s instructions.

The course in in Kilcornan, adjoining Clarinbridge village - ref google maps.

Coming from Galway drive through Clarinbridge, after bridge/shops turn left up Kilcornan Avenue.  Continue for about 1km.  Stewards will direct you to car parking.  Please drive very slowly on avenue.  This is not a public road and is used by many pedestrians, cyclists etc.

Races may run ahead of schedule, listen to announcements

Number pick up from noon at the PA box

Please bring any rubbish away with you!

There will be a shop available in swimming pool building serving tea/coffee and snacks.

Clarinbridge Oyster festival is also on this weekend.  There is a free Festival Family Fun Day in the marquee alongside Paddy Burkes that may be of interest after racing around Kilcornan.

Craughwell AC Major Fund-Raising Raffle

Craughwell AC are launching a major fund-raising draw in parallel with our 5k race and inflatable colour run which take place on 16th Sept this month. Tickets/lines will be on sale via our members right through September and October with the draw held on Friday 27 October at the club's halloween disco - please note the change in date.

There are 4 exceptional prizes on offer as shown below including fabulous helicopter trip, priceless jersey signed by the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Champions, hotel weekend away and BT hamper.

With €5 per line or €100 for card if single buyer, it is hoped that our members really get behind promoting the draw. All funds go directly towards Phase 3 of the provision of facilities at Craughwell AC Sports & Recreation Park which will include 400m track, throwing areas, walking pathway, toilets/changing areas and indoor training area. The exact timing of these faciltiies will depend on funds raised, grants and loans.

The 19th September was the 3-year anniversary of the club purchasing its 8-acre grounds and in those 3 years the club has made remarkable progress with Phase 1 purchase of field, development of grass running routes, floodlighting and Phase 2 carpark, jumps areas, sprint track, more floodlighting. The club has spent almost €470,000 in those years through a combination of loans, grants and fundraising.

Detailed plans will be made available to all members once the situation in regard to grants is known later in the autumn. We have approximately 300 families in the club and if each get behind the raffle and sell a card, it will raise an amazing €30,000 for these facilities. So please support it and enjoy the benefits of improved facilities every year.

Largest Juvenile Club in Ireland!

The club retained its status as the largest juvenile club in Ireland confirmed by figures published by Athletics Ireland today.

The fantastic work being done by everyone involved in the club is evidenced by the fact that only 9 clubs in the country have more than 300 juvenile members, with Craughwell AC proudly sitting at the top with 526 juvenile members - more than twice that of most clubs in Ireland. The top 9 clubs and their juvenile membership numbers are as follows - great to see Tuam AC with such large numbers too:

• Craughwell AC 526
• Bandon (Cork) 499
• Leevale (Cork) 482
• Dundrum South Dublin 432
• Fingallians (Dublin) 342
• Letterkenny (Donegal) 333
• Blackrock (Dublin) 323
• Tuam AC 310
• Kilkenny City Harriers 305

Autumn Training Plan.

We are pleased to announce the return of high performance director Sebastien Locteau for a 10 week training module starting Wednesday the 4th of October at 7.30 at the senior track. Suitable for all levels of running, the training is tailored to suit all grades and levels of running and distances.

All Members welcome.

The lights go on at the track at 7 every evening all members welcome. autumn training is as follows.

Monday 7.30 Fit4life

Tuesday 7.30 Meet and Train.

Wednesday 7.30 Seb's Training session.

Thursday 7.30 Fit4life.

Palatial Performances at the Palace Grounds!

Some of the participants in the Galway Senior Men's 8000m Cross Country race
being snapped by the legendary John O'Connor

Day 1 of the Galway club cross country took place today in the Palace Grounds in Tuam on what turned out to be a pleasant day for cross country in somewhat muddy conditions! Well done to Tuam AC on expertly preparing the course to avoid the worst of the wet ground and to South Galway AC and Iain Shaw on coordinating the entries and results. And great to see large numbers from up and coming clubs taking part including Tuam AC and Clare River Harriers. I’ve been keeping stats on number of finishers in Galway juvenile cross country since 2006 and today was the largest participation in those 11 years with 269 finishers, 30 more than last year and over 100 more than in 2007 – so great work being done by all the clubs to promote cross country amongst the juvenile ages. Keep an eye on John O'Connor's flickr page for his customary great set of race photos.

The races got underway at 1pm with the U10 Girls 1000m. New recruit to the club Saoirse Mullins from Ardrahan put in a fantastic run to take the victory and still has the U9s to look forward to next week – an incredible achievement in her first club race to become Galway Champion! Saoirse was followed in by Kelly Hallinan in 5th, Lauren Morgan 11th, Kaelyn Walsh 12th, Ciara O’Connor 14th, Amelie Bocquet 15th, Emma O'Donovan 20th, Erin Dillon 22nd, Caoilin Corban 23rd, Jessica McGlynn 27th, Chloe Keane 28th, Katie Ross 32nd, Lillian Walsh 33rd, Alison Canavan 35th, Shauna Killeen 52nd and Maria Gorman 53rd. A strong team performance saw Craughwell take the silver medals with a total of 29 points.

Craughwell AC's U10 squad prior to their 1000m race

Up next the U10 Boys 1000m where Keelan Moorhead is following in the footsteps of his older siblings Kyle and Jade and proceeded to take 3rd place with a strong finish and led his team to team gold with a score of 33 points. Keelan was followed home by Riley Stenson in 4th, Declan O'Connell 12th, Ben Moran 14th, Iarlaith Leen 15th, Jason Greaney 16th, Paul Barry 17th, Alex Ryan 20th, Gavin Clarke 25th and Cathal Gallagher 30th.

The U12 Girls were in action next in their 2000m and just missed out on a team medal with a 4th place finish and a points’ score of 110. The team were led home by Muireann Leen in 23rd place, followed by Erin Doyle 24th, Jessica Ross 31st, Claudia McGuinness 32nd, Niamh O'Connor 35th, Holly O'Boyle 42nd and Catherine Gorman 44th.

Mathys Bocquet had a stormer of a race in the U12 Boys 2000m, taking an early lead and increasing that throughout the race to take the Galway title in style. Mathys was followed in by Liam O'Connell in 16th, Eamon Corban 18th, Darragh Kelly 21st, Alan Connaughton 22nd, Sean Lavan 25th and Eoin Spellman 26th. The team claimed the bronze medals with a score of 56 points.

Craughwell AC's U14 Girls - Galway silver medallists 2017

A large field of 29 athletes took to the slippery slopes of the Palace Grounds for the U14 Girls 3000m where Clodagh O’Meara and Fauve Aylmer put in super runs to take 5th and 6th place and were followed swiftly by Aoibhinn Keane in 14th, Jade Moorhead 16th, Siofra Davis 19th and Siena Greaney 20th. Great running all around and for most the first time to race over this distance and for Siena, a great debut in her first cross country race. The team raced to the silver medals with a strong score of 41 points.

In the U14 Boys 3000m, Ross McGuinness and Darragh McCartin battled incredibly hard at the front of the race holding 1st and 2nd place at many stages throughout the 2-mile distance and eventually settling for 2nd and 3rd – great running from both athletes. They were followed in by Evan Hallinan and Cian Lavan in 8th and 9th to take the Galway team title with a low score of 22 points.

Craughwell AC'S U14 Boys - Galway Champions 2017

The U16 4000m got underway next with the girls and boys running at the same time. It’s a tough distance – particularly for the girls as it’s the same distance that adult women run. The club had 2 girls in action and both had fine runs with Ailbhe Miskella taking the individual silver and Ciara Sheppard just missing out on silverware with a 4th place finish. In the boys race, Sean Cotter again demonstrated his remarkable talents for distance running with a fine victory to add to his victory last weekend in the Castlegar 3000m. Kyle Moorhead also had a fine run to take individual bronze with Finbar McFadden hot on his heels in 4th place, Liam Leen 6th and Oisin Davis 8th – with the team coasting to team gold with a low score of 14 points.

Craughwell AC'S U16 Boys - Galway Champions 2017
Finbar McFadden, Liam Leen, Kyle Moorhead, Sean Cotter, Oisin Davis

In the U18 Boys 6000m, Ben Ryan had a fine run to take the individual bronze medal and lead his team to the silver medals with 23 points, with William Fitzpatrick 4th, Patrick Noonan 7th and Luke Evans 9th in his first cross country race for the club. Caron Ryan powered to victory in the U20 Women’s 4000m, establishing an early lead and running out a comfortable winner of both the U20 and Senior races. Jack Miskella was also in fine form when taking the silver medal in the U20 Men’s 6000m with a strong run.

Craughwell AC's U18 Boys - Galway silver medallists 2017
Ben Ryan, Luke Evans, Patrick Noonan, William Fitzpatrick

And in the final race of the day, Gavin Cooney was the club’s sole representative in the Senior Men’s 8000m. 800m is Gavin’s forte so this race was 10 times his normal racing distance - but the challenge posed by the 8k cross country race is great for middle-distance runners in the off-season and Gavin rose to the challenge, placing 12th overall and taking the Galway Novice Men’s title.

Next up on the cross-county scene is day 2 of the club championships next Sunday which will be held in Kilcornan. With U9s to U19s in action and a local venue, the club will have a large number of participants who are eagerly looking forward to the day.

Well done to all of the participants today and roll on next week!

Provisional results of day 1 are here:- 2017_Galway_XC_Even_Ages_Results_v2.pdf

Craughwell AC's Jack Miskella - Galway Junior Men's silver medallist 2017
and siblings Ben and Caron Ryan, Galway U18 bronze medallist 2017 and
Galway Junior Women's Champion 2017

Craughwell NS Shine at Schools Finals

Ballymana NS Senior Boys
Galway Primary Schools East Division Cross Country Champions 2017

Coldwood NS Senior Girls
 who qualified for the Galway Primary Schools Cross Country Finals
- a nice achievement and the first time in many years

Craughwell NS Senior Boys
Galway Primary Schools Cross Country Champions 2017

The last 2 Tuesdays has seen the Galway Primary Schools Cross Country Semis and Finals take place in Renmore with all the usual high-octane energy from over 1600 children in the semis and approx. 500 in the finals. Renmore was literally awash with athletes on day 1 for the semis with the highest numbers ever to take part in the event and a great vote of confidence for the organisers.

From the club’s perspective, it was a huge success with Ballymana NS emerging as East Division Champions on day 1 and Coldwood NS qualifying for the finals for the first time in recent history and teams from Craughwell, Clarinbridge, Oranmore, Ardrahan, Ballyglass, Killeeneen and Carrabane also making it into the finals.

In the finals, Craughwell NS shone with team victory in both senior races and team silver in the junior girls race, adding to their fine history in this event.

Craughwell NS Senior Girls
Galway Primary Schools Cross Country Champions 2017

Craughwell NS Junior Girls
Galway Primary Schools Cross Country Silver Medallists 2017

Well done also to individuals from the club placing in the top 15 including in the Junior Girls Ardrahan’s Saoirse Mullins 4th, Craughwell’s Ella Farrelly and Sarah Craven 5th and 9th and Killeeneen’s Ellen Kelleher 14th; in the Junior Boys Carrabane’s Cian Connaughton 3rd and Clarinbridge’s Fionn Higgins 8th; in the Senior Girls Craughwell’s Clodagh O’Meara 4th and Coldwood’s Fauve Aylmer 5th; and in the Senior Boys Ballyglass NS’s Mathys Bocquet 2nd and Craughwell’s Evan Hallinan 5th,

The top 15 athletes and top 3 teams now qualify for the finals which will be held on Saturday 21st October in St Brigids GAA Grounds in Kiltoom Co. Roscommon.

Provisional results from yesterday’s finals are here:- 2017GalwayPrimarySchoolsXC_Final_result.pdf

U13s in form at Castlegar Open Cross Country

Our juveniles took part in the Castlegar Open Cross Country for the first-time ever last weekend and what a great event it was. Structured as a series of 4x500m cross country relay races from U10s upwards on the grounds of Merlin Woods Park in Doughiska, it was a nice change for the athletes from their usual cross country distances. Massive well done to Sean McDermott and his Castlegar AC crew for organising what is becoming a bigger event every year.

The juvenile races were preceded by the adult 4x1500m cross country relay where Craughwell AC blazed to victory with their team of Ciara Sheppard, Luke Evans, Sean Noonan and Patrick Noonan. It was the first time any of the team competed in the senior grade and to come away with team gold was wonderful.

The juvenile races commended with the U10 girls and boys and worked its way up to U14s. Our U13 girls were in action in the U14 races where we had 2 teams take to the field. Both teams ran splendidly taking 1st and 4th place. The team of Fauve Aylmer, Clodagh O’Meara, Siofra Davis and Jade Moorhead ran home to take victory in style ahead of all U14 boys as well as girls while the team of Claire Coulahan, Ella Lyons, Grace Leen and Sarah Byrne ran brilliantly to finish in 4th place out of 10 teams.

Great to see the fledging juvenile sections from Castlegar AC and Clare River Harriers in action in the juvenile races and hopefully just the beginning of major juvenile participation and success for both clubs.

After the juvenile races were done and dusted, the 3000m cross country race got underway where Sean Cotter belied his young age to race to victory amongst a mixed field of adults and juveniles – a fantastic achievement for Sean. See Lisa’s separate report on the race on our website. Well done also to young Darragh Kelly who put in a fine performance in the 3000m race and he just an U11 athlete, racing the last 1500m of the race!

See also John O’Connor’s brilliant photos at https://www.flickr.com/photos/edenhill77

X Country Kicks off to a flying start

Chosen to be part of a Connacht Endurance Squad, 8 eager athletes headed into the "wild west" to spend the weekend in Killary as part of an AAI developmental squad. The beautiful scenery and hills galore provided the perfect setting and opportunity to prepare for the season ahead. Every age group was represented this weekend with Jack Miskella (U20), Caron Ryan (U19), Oisin Lyons (U18), Ben Ryan and William Fitzgerald (U17), Ailbhe Miskella, Kyle Moorhead and Finbarr McFadden all U16. 

Almost every U16 upwards endurance runner were representing the club this weekend with the remainder of the athletes taking part in a X Country Relay (4 x 1500m) and 3k hosted by Castlegar AC.

All athletes put in tremendous effort resulting in strong performances.

                         Mixed X Country Relay Team - Patrick Noonan, Luke Evans, Ciara Sheppard & Sean Noonan

The first race of the day was the mixed relay x country and taking part was our Craughwell AC Quartet; Ciara Sheppard, Sean Noonan, Patrick Noonan and Luke Evans 

Ciara was the first runner to take to the field. Conditions were perfect (no rain) and light winds. The course although mainly flat had a couple of small hills to manoeuvre and add to the excitement of the race. Ciara in one of her finest performances stormed off to a great start and immediately took a clear lead, a lead which she held for the entire leg of this race. Taking over from Ciara and second to run was Luke Evans (who has only recently joined the club) and although he has very little x country racing experience, he raced like a “pro” and managed to keep ahead of the other runners and with a clear margin lead and a sprint to the cross over line, handing over to Sean. There was no stopping Sean who helped fight off any components who thought they had a chance with this group. Patrick running last maintained the momentum with an equally strong run to race to the finish with a 1^st Place victory. This is the first time that this group had run together as a team and each and every runner deserved their place on the podium.

Next to run were the U10-U14 x country relays (which no doubt Mike T. will update you on).

Our X Country runners are made of strong stuff and a 1500m is merely a “warm-up” for them. All 4 relay runners joined by Sean Cotter (U15), prepared for the next race of the day; the 3k Senior Men and Senior Women’s race.

Our Craughwell athletes got off to a great start, aiming to get ahead and then settle down to a strong pace. Sean Cotter put in an exceptional effort and from somewhere around the middle of the pack, managed after around 1k to work his way up through the ranks to take the lead. He continued to fight off a few others attempting to catch him and with only 600m to go, there was a significant distance between him and the next runner (fighting for second place). Despite taking a sharp turn and tumbling over, he managed to pick himself up and pretty much sprint the final 200m. There was little distance between Luke, Sean and Patrick who all with tired legs and fighting against the wind towards the end of the race, finished in fine positions. Next in was Ciara who despite pain in one of her legs that clearly began to affect her after 1.5k, persevered and even managed to sprint the final stretch to the finish line and finishing in 3rd place. 

Exceptional performances from all those who took part and a taste of what to expect from these fine athletes in the upcoming county races over the next few weeks. 

                                                                      Start line of 3k

   Well done also to the Team Gold U13's.