Fintan Walsh's weekly blog

Woodstown 5 miles won by Wexford athlete


The Annual Alan Everett Memorial 5 miles Road Race was held in
Woodstown in glorious weather on
Friday evening last and it attracted an entry of 170 and the walk had
30 participating. and many spectators watched all around the course
The run  from early on  was dominated by two athletes Niall Sheil St
Killians Wexford and Frank Quinlan Waterford and they were neck and
neck for the first two miles but Sheil then upped the pace to go away
and eventually finish the comfortable winner in a time of 26 minutes
41 seconds, Quinlan finished second in 27.13 and Patrick Roche Carrick
on Suir was third in 28.04. Clare Annan Clonmel was an impressive
winner of the ladies race in 30.35 Martina O'Dwyer Carrick on Suir was
second in 30 55 and Maria O'Keeffe/Mc Carthy Farranfore Co Kerry was
third in 32.03. Members of the Everett family were present on the
night including the late Alan's wife Annette and her  daughters his
brother Pat and sister Norma Kenneally who started the race. Pat
presented the prizes to the winners and thanked all who participated
and those that organised the race .He said his late brother Alan had
competed for years and while he never figured too often in the winners
enclosure he loved the sport. The race was organised by Waterford
Athletic Club and the many stewards and Gardai around the route made
it a very successful event and the refreshments afterwards in The
Saratoga were superb as usual thanks to Eileen Power, Kay  Mackey,
Addie Coghlan and Norma Kenneally. A Defibillator was presented to the
Coast Guard by Waterford AC the proceeds from the 2012 Alan Everett
Race. Full race details; 1 Niall Sheil St Killians, Wexford 26.41, 2
Frank Quinlan Waterford 27.13, 3 Patrick Roche Carrick on Suir 28.34,
4 Sean Caulfield St Senan's 29.07, 5 PJ Scollard Waterford.29.08.
Women 1 Clare Annan Clonmel 30.35, 2 Martina O'Dwyer Carrick on Suir
30.55, 3 Maria O'Keeffe/Mc Carthy Farranfore Co Kerry 32.03, 4 Sally
Forristal St Joseph's 33.13, 5 Joan Mahony Waterford 33.27 The age
category winners were as follows Men; over 40 David Drohan Waterford,
o 45 Bill Egan do, o 50 Walter Keane do, o 55 Joe Gough West/
Waterford Junior Mark Condon ( ind ) Women; o 35 Katherine Grant
Balance Fitness, o 40 Caitriona Gough Waterford, o 45 Sharon  Flynn
do, o 50 Ann Fitzgerald do

Kelly's Park Hotel Award


The Park Hotel Award for July has gone to Kelly Proper and it was
richly deserved after her brilliant performances at the All Ireland
Senior Championships winning three individual titles and a relay gold
as well. Last week she figured on the front page of FIT magazine and
on an article inside.

Gensyme 5 Miles and Faithlegg Race

This Friday August 30 th the Annual Gensyme 5 Miles Road Race has a 7
pm start at the Gensyme Factory on the old Kilmeaden Road and it will
be preceded by a walk at 6.30 pm all proceeds to MS Society.,entries
will be taken from 5.30 pm at Gensyme. On Sunday  next September 1 st
with a 1 pm start there's a race in the Faithlegg/ Cheekpoint area and
entries will be taken outside Faithlegg House Hotel from 12 noon,
prior to the run a walk begins at 12.45 pm. The Munster Half Marathon
Championship is in Blarney Co Cork on Sunday September 8 th at 11 am
and on Sunday September 15 th the Munster Express/Hartley People 10 km
is in the City at the RSC at 12 noon..


Season Ends

The Track and Field season has now ended and it was a very successful
one for Waterford at every level juvenile, junior, senior and masters.
Many of our athletes figured prominently at International level
including  Major Championships again in various categories. Medals
were won by Irish athletes at Major Championships. In the European
junior Championships a silver, European Youth Olympics  two gold  two
silver and a bronze one of the gold was in the relay and Niamh Mc
Nicol Ferrybank AC was a member and then of course came the  gold
medal by Robert Heffernan in the 50 km walk at the World senior
Championships, one of the finest performances by any Irish
sportsperson for years. Of the six medals won by Irish athletes at the
World Championships three have been won by walkers, Gillian O'Sullivan
silver in 2003 in the 20 km , Olive Lougnane 2009 again silver in the
same event and then Robert Heffernan this year gold in the 50 km.
While in Ireland athletics is regarded as a minority sport on the
World stage it is probably the most widespread, the IAAF has 212
Federations registered.  Its rarely that Irish athletes come home from
major championships without a medal or two as readers of this column
over the years will know so Irish athletics punches away above its
weight on the International stage,shortly the cross country season
begins.

Training Resumes

Training resumes at the RSC on Monday September 2nd at 6.15pm and continues each Monday & Wednesday after that. Younger athletes age 5-11 finish at 7.15pm. Older athletes age 12- senior finish at 7.30pm.

Fintan Walsh's weekly blog

Alan Everett Memorial Road Race on Friday

Woodstown Co Waterford is the venue on Friday next August 23 rd for the Annual Alan Everett Memorial 5 miles Road Race which starts at 7 pm preceded by a walk at 6.30 pm. Entries have been taken online (see Waterford AC website ) and  there is a cut off number of 300 on entries  so on the evening  at The Saratoga in Woodstown from 5.45 pm  entries may be limited. After the event the Summer Night Out for Waterford AC is in The Saratoga. Coming up on Friday August 30 th again at 7 pm is the Gensyme 5 miles from the Gensyme Factory Old Kilmeaden Road Waterford,.on Sunday September 1 st there is a 5 miles at 1 pm in the Faithlegg area and on Saturday September 6 th at 6 pm there's a 6 km Fun Run and walk in the city in Ballybeg, entries online at Run Ireland

Ferrybank AC Fourth

The last major event of the Track and Field season the National League finals were in Tullamre on Sunday last and Ferrybank AC ladies finished fourth overall.They had individual wins by Kelly Proper in the long jump with 6.25 metres and 100 metres hurdles in 14.37 seconds and Cara Kennedy won the hammer with 50.71 metres.

Kelly Athlete of Month

Kelly Proper Ferrybank AC has  been named The Irish Times and Irish Sports Council Sportswoman of the Month for July. Kelly won three individual medals and one relay gold medal at the Irish Senior Championships in July as well as victories abroad.Later this year the Overall Sportswoman of the Year will be chosen from the monthly winners.

National Community Games Finals 

Last week end in Athlone the National Community Games Athletic finals were staged. Waterford won three individual medals and these were Emily O'Mahoney  Ballymacarbry 2 nd 600 m under 12, Dylan Conway  Lismore 2 nd hurdles u 10 and Shane Monagle Tramore 3 rd u 14 hurdles and the boys under 14 relay team was 4 th.the team was Jamie stone,Shane Monagle, Ian and Mark Hartery all Tramore.

These are the only results that came through despite many phone calls. 

Liz Hayes Memorial  Race

Over 100 competed in the second Annual Liz Hayes Memorial 5 miles Road Race in Ballyduff Lower on Friday last over a very demanding course.Tom Bennett from Lismore set a brisk pace from the start and held a comfortable lead until a mile or so from the finish but in the last half mile or so he was passed by Tony Quinlan from Waterford AC the eventual winner in 28 minutes 57 seconds and another Waterford AC athlete PJ Scollard snatched second place close home in 29.09 with Bennett third in 29.12. and David Cunningham Waterford Ac was fourth in 30.21 Joan Mahony Waterford AC was the easy winner of the ladies section in 33.03, Keely Tideswell Clonmel was second in 34.44 and Una UiMhuirthe was third in 35.00 and  Caitriona Gough Waterford AC fourth in  34.44. Many of those that had competed with the late Liz Hayes in races were among the entries including a contingent from Thomastown Co Kilkenny and Mrs Hayes mother of the late Liz was present, It was a very well organised event 

Clonmel win for Zakis 

Ravis Zakis West Waterford won the Boston Scientific Half Marathon in Clonmel on Sunday last in 70 minutes 49 seconds, Brian Murphy Carrick on Suir was third  in 72.34 and Trevor Power Waterford  fifth in 74.15, Walter Keane Waterford AC was first over 50 and Sarah Lee do second over 35. For West Waterford Ann Dunford was first over 45 and Gerry Cantwell second over 50

All Ireland masters titles Galore for Waterford AC

Several athletes from Waterford had wins at the All Ireland Masters Track and field championships in various age groups in Tullamore on Saturday last with athletes from Waterford AC bringing home 22 medals The following had wins; Tom O'Brien in the high jump and long jump, Mary Ryan Jennings in javelin and long jump and a silver in the discus. Brendan Leahy in the 200 metres , Nicola Hayes high jump, silver in 100 and 200 metres and bronze in discus,  Gabriel Blair 100 metres,  and  silver in 200 and 400 metres, John Hodge 400 metres and silver in 800 metres, Susan Dullaghan silver in 200 and 400 metres, Paschal Halley bronze in high jump, the women's relay teams winning silver in  both the 4 x 100  and 4 x 400 metres  For West Waterford AC Joe Gough won the 1500 metres and like Mary B Ryan Jennings this was his umpteenth Irish masters medal. Athletes who compete with WIT also had good results with Bryan Murphy who runs with  Carrick on Suir winning the 5000 metres and Ken Deevy  who runs with KCH  won the 200 and 400 metres the 200 in record time of 25.30 

National League Team fourth

Well done to ourladies who were fourth in the National League Final on Sunday just missing the bronze medals by two points.  Great spirit shown by each team member....we will be back on the rostrum next year! For now....have a well earned break everyone!

Kelly Wins National Senior Heptathlon

Competing in the All Ireland Pentathlon Championships in Tullamore on
Saturday and Sunday last Kelly Proper had another win with a total of
5418 points some 24 points short of her Irish record , she ran a
personal best of 14.31 seconds in the 100 metres hurdles and had a
long jump of 6.28 metres..Over the two days she completely
p-outclassed the opposition to win her fifth Irish Gold medal in two
weeks

Fintan Walsh's blog

Ferrybank ladies contest League Final

The last big event of the track and field season in Ireland the
National League Finals will be in Tullamore on Sunday next and
Ferrybank AC will have a very strong team in the Women's Premier Final
aiming to make a bold bid  for honours. With athletes like Kelly
Proper, Niamh Whelan, Cara Kennedy, Neasa and Sorcha Murphy and Niamh
Ryan they have a very strong hand, the will however be without Jessie
Barr and Niamh Mc Nicol, both are unavailable.

All Ireland Masters

Saturday next in Tullamore is a very big day for the Master's athletes
in Ireland men and women in many age groups as their All Ireland Track
and Field Championships will be decided. There will be many from the
Waterford area competing and the programme begins at 11 am and the
full timetable is available on Athletics Ireland Website

Community Games Finals

On Saturday and Sunday next  the National Community Games Athletic
finals will be in Athlone and Waterford will have a big representation
and we we wish all every success.

Kelly wins another Irish title

Competing in the All Ireland Pentathlon Championships in Tullamore on
Saturday and Sunday last Kelly Proper had another win with a total of
5418 points some 24 points short of her Irish record , she ran a
personal best of 14.31 seconds in the 100 metres hurdles and had a
long jump of 6.28 metres..Over the two days she completely
p-outclassed the opposition to win her fifth Irish Gold medal in two
weeks. Last week also at a meeting in Morton Stadium in Dublin she ran
her fastest 200 metres ever clocking 23.45 seconds and she also won
the long jump with 6.18 metres.Also in Tullamore  last week end
Paschal Halley Waterford AC had a great result as he finished third in
the  All Ireland over 35 Pentathlon, his late father Martin was a top
sprinter and all rounder in the nineteen fifties. In the National
Juvenile development Games West Waterford AC had two wins under 12
Cormac Mahony and Lucy Holmes while Emily O'Mahony was second in the
600 metres u 13.

Harty sets record in Ardmore

!60 competed in the 18 th Annual An Tobar 5 miles road race in Ardmore
on Friday last the final race in the Ger Wyley Sports Skins Series. A
course record of 24 minutes and 30 seconds was set by Philip Harty in
winning the event, Ravis Zakis was second in 25.16 and James Ledingham
third in 25.34 all three from West Waterford AC, Brian Murphy Carrick
on Suir was fourth in 25.36. Nollaig O'Neill Leevale was first lady
home in 30.40, Corina Walsh West Waterford was second in 31.27 and
Joan Mahony Waterford was third in 32.16 with Liz Nolan do fourth in
34.56.The junior winners were Alan Slattery Waterford and Sarah Wyley
West Waterford The overall winners of the series were Ravis Kakis and
Nollaig O'Neill.

Island 5 km win for Cork athlete

Alan O'Shea from Bantry won the Island 5 km on Sunday last , Paul
Stephenson was second  and Eoin Lyons third. First lady home was Orna
Murray Ferrybank ahead of Sylvia Malone Waterford and Eileen
Griffin,over 300 competed..

Hayley's World Javelin Medal was gold.

Last week we stated that 18 years old Hayley Fitzsimmons from Portlaw
had won a silver medal in the World Dwarf Games in the javelin in
Michigan on August 3 rd  and this was taken from the official results
on the website of the games on the day after.  People close to Hayley
here at home however insisted that she in fact won the event and this
was confirmed on Thursday last when an amendment was posted on  the
website with her in first position in Upper Class 2,.the athlete
listed as winning Hayley's event on the official result on the day did
in fact win in Upper Class 1  in the same event so obviously human
error prevailed as it can and will no doubt do in the future on rare
occasions for those of us in the real world. So congratulations to
Hayley on her victory and her bronze medal in the discus also.

Ballyduff Road Race

On  Friday  next August 16 th Second Annual Lis Hayes ( Eiblis ni
hAodha) Memorial  5 miles  is in
Ballyduff Lower  at 7 pm, preceded by a walk  at 6.30 pm.

Road Races to come

 Friday August 23 rd Annual Alan Everett 5 miles in Woodstown at 7.00
pm, Friday August 30 th
Gensyme 5 miles Road Race 7 pm at Gensyme Factory Old Kilmeaden Road
Waterford, Sunday September 1 st The Altitude Hurthill 5 mile
challenge in Faithlegg and Cheekpoint area. Registration from 12 noon
outside Faithlegg House Hotel. Run begins at 1 pm and walkers will
leave at 12.45 pm.

Fastest ever 200m for an Irish lady for Kelly!

Kelly Proper has just run the fastest ever 200m by an Irish lady ...22.96s in Ghent. it's wind assisted (3.7) but speedy nonetheless! She finished the day with a long jump win of 6.40m a seasons best. Well done Kelly!

Celtic Games medals for Niamh & Paul

Well done to Paul Murphy who ran a new pb of 48.5 finishing second in the Celtic International. Niamh McNichol also had a great run finishing 3rd in the 100m.

World Javelin Gold for Hayley

brilliant news from America.....Hayley Fitzsimons has won the javelin at the World Dwarf Games and she also finished third in the discus. Well done Hayley....we are all very proud in Ferrybank AC. Well done also to her Coach Tom Prendergast who has put in endless hours of work on the way to this performance.

Kelly wins National Heptathlon

Kelly Proper had an outstanding weekend in Tullamore winning the National Senior Heptathlon Championship with a marvelous score of 5418 points which is just 24 points off her National Record set earlier this Summer . Her scores were...14.31 hurdles, 1.61 HJ, 10.33 shot, 24.00 200m, 6.26 Lj, 32.01 Jav, 2.24.80 800. Well done Kelly! Eight national golds this year!

Fintan Walsh's weekly blog

Kelly's great performances in Belgium

Competing in the Flanders Cup meeting in Ghent in Belgium on Saturday
last Kelly Proper put in two outstanding performances. She won the
long jump competition with one of her best efforts for some time, her
jump was 6.40 metres and fully legal with regard to wind.. Earlier in
the day in very windy conditions she finished second in the 200 metres
in a time of 22.96 seconds which was inside the Irish record of 23.03
but due to the fact that the following wind was plus 3.7 it will not
be ratified the acceptable mark is plus 2.00, the race was won by Dee
Dee Trotter USA in 22.87

Celtic Games

Three Waterford athletes competed for Ireland in the Celtic Games
under 16 and under 18 event in Colwyn Bay in Wales on Saturday last
and all did well under 18. Paul Murphy Ferrybank AC was second in a
very close 400 metres race in 48.50. the winning time where the photo
finish camera had to decide it , it was won in 48.36 and Seamie
Fennell West Waterford was also second in the pole vault with 3.41
metres, the event was won in 4.01 metres  and Niamh Mc Nicol Ferrybank
was third in the 100 metres. in 12.32 the event was won in 12.00

Ciobanu wins last race in Series

170 competed in the Morris Oil 10 km road race on Friday last in
Piltown the final race in the Outfield Sports Three County Challenge
organised by Carrick on Suir Road Runners, Sergei Ciobanu Clonliffe
Harriers was the emphatic winner of the race in a time of 31 minutes
26 seconds, Ravis Zakis West Waterford was second in 31.58 and Niall
Sheill St Killian's Wexford was third in 33.00. First lady home was
Martina O'Dwyer Carrick on Suir in 37.47 Angela Mc Cann Clonmel was
second in  38.08 and Jacqui Carthy Kilmore Co Wexford was third in
38.43. The category winners were Men O/40 : Daragh Byrne Carrick
AC,O/45  Niall O'Ceallaigh do, O/50  Walter Keane Waterford AC, O/55 :
Larry Lacey St. Joseph's, O/60  Pascal Proctor West Waterford, Junior
Aaron Fenlon St. Joseph's, Wheelchair Participant Sean Connick New
Ross. Team : Waterford AC  Brian Swaby, PJ Scollard and John Nolan.
Ladies O/35: Karen Ryan West Waterford AC , O/40: Diane Behan
(Waterford AC, O/45: Ann Dunford West Waterford, O/50: Bernie
Prendergast do, O/55: Kathleen Kennedy Waterford AC ,Junior: Alina
Neumerzhitskaya Clonmel AC. Team :St. Joseph's  Breda Hennessy, Verena
Fenlon and Anila Barry

Two medals for Hayley

18 years old Hayley Fitzsimmons from Portlaw won two medals at the
World Dwarf Games in Michigan USA last week . With a throw of 17.04
metres she was second in the javelin and she also collected a bronze
medal in the discus with 14.26 metres and  she finished sixth in the
shot  putt with 4.57 metres


18th Annual An Tobar Bar Ardmore 5

The final  road race in the Ger Wyley Skins Sports Series  the Ardmore
5 miles is  on this Friday August 9 th at 7 pm in Ardmore, and it is a
big night as the overall prizes are also presented for the sees.
Entries will be taken at the Ardmore G.A.A. Club Pavilion,the entry
fee is € 5 . On Sunday next the Annual Island 5 km run is in Waterford
Castle Grounds at 1 pm.

Busy week end

The coming week end is a busy one in Tullamore with the  Woodies DIY
All Ireland Combined Events on Saturday and Sunday and Woodie’s DIY
AAI Juvenile Development Track and Field Events on Sunday there will
be a small entry from Waterford

 Other August Track and Field Fixtures

Sat 17 th Woodie's AAI Masters T & F Championships Tullamore, Sun 18 t
h Woodie's AAI National League Final Tullamore  Sat 17th and Sunday
18th National Community Games Finals Athlone.

Road Races coming up

 Friday August 16 th Second Annual Lis Hayes Memorial  5 miles in
Ballyduff Lower 7 pm, preceded by a walk . Friday August 23 rd Annual
Alan Everett 5miles in Woodstown at 7.00 pm, Friday August 30 th
Gensyme 5 miles Road Race 7 pm at Gensyme Factory Old Kilmeaden Road
Waterford, Sunday September 1 st The Altitude Hurthill 5 mile
challenge in Faithlegg and Cheekpoint area. Registration from 12 noon
outside Faithlegg House Hotel. Run begins at 1 pm and walkers will
leave at 12.45 pm.