Our Senior club has grown from just a handful of members a couple of years ago to over 200 members in 2019.  We are one of the few athletics clubs (that we know of) that has a higher % of female members than male.  The emphasis is on participation, health and improvement & we are improving all the time!

The Club is a member of the national athletics body, the Athletic Association of Ireland (AAI). It is run by a committee that is elected each year at the Club’s AGM. The senior club is run by a seperate sub-committe.

Membership and Activities

The membership runs from January to December and must be renewed and paid each year.  Membership forms are available from any comittee member or can be downloaded from the link on the main menu (see “Manual” registration).  You can return the membership form and your payment to any of the senior club committee member. 

For specific details on the fit4life program for 2019 follow us on facebook www.facebook.com/craughwell.ac

Club Singlet

AAI rules require athletes to wear their club’s singlet in official AAI competition. The singlet is available for sh to purchase from the club at a cost of €25.  Please contact any member of the committee if you wish to purchase one. 

Age Groups

Senior athletes are aged 16 or older on the day of competition. Juvenile age groups go up as far as U19 so not many juveniles take part in senior events. There are a number of different age group categories for seniors and typically competitions will be divided into these categories:-

 etc, increasing in increments of 5 years.

Note, the veteran categories referred to above are also commonly referred to as masters. Note also there was an O35 category but that was abolished for 2010.

Competitions

The official athletics year is split into a number of seasons: –
– Indoor track and field competition (December to April)
– Outdoor track and field competition ( May to July).
– Cross-country competition (October to March)

Each season includes competition for senior and masters categories. Indoor competitions are held at the indoor facility in Nenagh. The locations for outdoor competitions vary – there are tracks in Galway, Sligo and Tullamore. The venue for cross-country events varies each year also.

In addition to the above, there are also a number of AAI road races as follows:-
 
– Co. Galway 10 mile championship (inaugural year in 2010 – held as part of Craughwell 10)
– Co. Galway 10k and 5k championships
– National 10k championships in Mar/Apr

There are also many local road races held throughout the year, or which about a dozen of these are located in or convenient to Co. Galway. The club endeavors to have teams participate in these where possible.

The indoor and outdoor track and field seasons consist of
– National senior and masters combined events (i.e. pentathlon, heptathlon, decathlon)
– County, provincial and national senior individual events

The cross-country season consists of county, provincial and national championships. The cross-country races are sub-divided into the following categories:-
– Novice
– Intermediate
– Senior

You can run in any or all of the above categories subject to the following rules:-
– If you finish in the first 3 individual or on the winning team in the novice, intermediate or  senior at County, Connaught or All-Ireland, you are not eligible to run at either that level or a lower level the following year.
– Only exception to above is the senior category – you are always eligible to run senior once you are 16 years of age.
– The rule also applies on the track from 1500m upwards.
– Master events or junior events do not affect eligibility at novice or intermediate level.
– You have to be over 18 to run in the national Novice or Intermediate.

Further Information

For further information follow us on Facebook : www.facebook.com/craughwell.ac or on Twitter @CraughwellAC1