County Athletic Notes

Sergio and Siobhain – Victorious in Fethard

The Fethard 6k road series took place last Thursday night in glorious sunshine and this race attracted a record entry, with 89 athletes competing. Right from the start Christopher Bracken of Thurles Crokes took up the pace as he was making a comeback to racing after the exams. He set a strong pace and as the athletes came into view for the second lap he was joined by the All Ireland Novice Cross Country Champion Sergio Turea of Clonliffe Harriers as well as Tommy Evans of Gowran with Raivis Zakis of West Waterford in close attention in 4^th place. These athletes maintained a strong pace and as the leaders came into view when going out on their final lap, Sergio, who has competed in a number of local races recently, moved into the lead followed by Tommy with Christopher and Raivis in close attention. So we were witnessing a great race and as the leaders came into view Sergio had held on to win a great race in 19 mins 9 secs, setting a course record for this race when recording his first victory on Tipperary soil. I have no doubt we will be seeing a lot of Sergio over the coming months. Tommy Evans also ran very well to finish 2^nd in 19 mins 23 secs with Raivis getting the better of Christopher over the final stages to finish 3^rd in 19 mins 36 secs with Christopher finishing 4^th in 19 mins 46 secs. I have no doubt that Christopher will feature prominently in the road races during the Summer months now that the exams are out of the way. For the record we had Shane Mullaney of Thurles Crokes coming through the field to finish 5^th in 20 mins 23 secs with Stephen Hunter of Clonmel finishing 6^th in 20 mins 56 secs, a PB for this distance. Tony Fogarty of Thurles Crokes was 7^th in 21 mins 7 secs with Donal Keane of Dundrum 8^th in 21 mins 12 secs. James Ryan of Dundrum won the 0/40 award when finishing 9^th in 21 mins 17 secs with John Shanahan of Dundrum finishing 10^th in 21 mins 38 secs. Vasiliy Neumerzhitskily of Clonmel was 2^nd 0/40 when finishing 13^th overall in 22 mins 22 secs. The 0/45 award was won by Neillie Hall of Ballynonty when finishing 33^rd overall in 24 mins 21 secs. Then we had Jon Marshall of Dundrum finishing 2^nd 0/45 in 24 mins 35 secs.  The 0/50 award was won by Tommy Cahill of Clonmel who was 34^th overall in 24 mins 25 secs. The 0/55 award was won by Joe Gough of West Waterford in 22 mins 47 secs with William O Gorman of St Catherine’s winning the 0/60 award in 26 mins 16 secs. The Junior Man’s prize was won by Colm Nolan in 22 mins 55 secs while the first local man home was Adam O Donnell in 25 mins 55 secs.

The Ladies race was also a great race with Siobhain O Doherty of Borrisokane running very well to win in 22 mins 27 secs when finishing 14^thoverall. Then we had Madeline Loughnane (Dorney) running very well to finish 2^nd in 23 mins 18 secs, married life treating her well. Corina Walsh of West Waterford was 3^rd Senior lady in 23 mins 55 secs when finishing 30^th overall with Angela McCann of Clonmel 4^th Senior Lady in 24 mins 29 secs. The 0/35 award was won by Diane Behan of West Waterford in 25 mins 2 secs with Mary Moloney of Thurles Crokes 2^nd in 25 mins 47 secs . The Junior Ladies prize was won by Grainne Brennan of Carrick on Suir in 28 mins 21 secs. The first local lady to finish was Fiona Harris in 35 mins 42 secs.  The organising committee would like to thank the Gardai for their tremendous help in marshalling the race through the streets of Fethard. The many stewards are to be complimented on their great work and the ladies committee are to be complimented on their after race refreshments, which was appreciated by everyone.

Cork Marathon

Just a brief glimpse through the results and we had some very good performances from County athletes like as follows:

Vasiliy Neumerzhitskily of Clonmel was 7^th in 2 hours 42 mins well inside his time of 2 hours 51 mins 21 secs he set last year and in the process was 2^nd 0/40,  Brian Long of Clonmel was 20^th in 2 hours 55 mins 29 secs with Dick O Gorman of Clonmel also running very well to finishing 25^th in 2 hours  57 mins 28 secs. Then we had Valerin Thzcoin of Clonmel was 31^st  in 3 hours and 37 secs, oh so close to breaking 3 hours, great running. Donal Keane of Dundrum making his marathon debut finished in 3 hours 2 mins 26 secs, Mark Connolly of Carrick on Suir was 145^th in 3 hours 23 mins 44 secs, Keith Barry of Carrick on Suir was 246^th in 3 hours 36 mins 52 secs, Frank Lynch of Clonmel was 251^st in 3 hours 36 minutes  58 secs,  Niall McCarthy of Clonmel was 360^th in 3 hours 47 mins 36 secs. P J Holmes of Dundrum was  389^th in 3 hours  49 mins 55 secs, Michael Walsh of Ballynonty was 461^st in 3 hours 54 mins 32 secs, Miriam O Gorman of Clonmel was  573^rd in 4 hours 1 mins 59 secs. Sonya Heney of Dundrum was 593^rd in 4 hours 3 mins 53 secs, Susan Leen of Clonmel was  624^th in 4 hours 8 mins 3 secs. Elaine O Brien of Clonmel was 716^th in 4 hours 16 mins 28 secs. Barry Horgan of Clonmel was  954^th in 4 hours 39 mins 38 secs.

Tipperary Challenge – brilliant success

Last Thursday night another record was set in the Fethard 6k road race when 89 athletes competed over this course. So in this year’s Tipperary Challenge all four races attracted record entries and well done to Clonmel, Coolquill and Fethard Clubs for organising such a series. Going back to the Tipperary Series we had 47 athletes completing all four races and they were presented as they crossed the finishing line with their special award. The 47 athletes that completed all four races are as follows: Fred Healy, Neillie Hall, Noel O Dwyer, Paddy Shelley and Owen Fanning (all Ballynonty), Siobhain O Doherty (Borrisokane), Paddy O Dwyer (Borrisoleigh), Anne Cronin, Gerard O Loughlin, Jimmy Power, Phil Kelly and Tommy Falconer (all Carrick on Suir), the Clonmel squad of Stephen Hunter, Valerin Thzcoin, Edigitius Sinickar, Angela McCann, Anthony Power, Brendan Kinnane, Eamon Crowley, Jim McHugh, Kealey Tideswell, Mark Boland, Maurice Boland, Martin Walsh, Niall O Ceallaigh, Seamus Brady, Tommy Cahill, the Coolquill squad of Brendan Delaney, Donal Horgan, David Quigley and Matt Alexander as well as the Dundrum team of Martin Keane, Donal Keane, Jon Marshal, Mairead o Connor, Kevin Moore and Tom McGrath, Mark King form Moyne, the Thurles Crokes athletes like Tony Fogarty, Bobby Farrell, Shane Mullaney, Chris Touhy and Mary Moloney and our friends from West Waterford led by Brigid Coffey as well as Diane Behan and Raivis Zakis. Well done to everyone who made this year’s series such a success, to all the Club officials and stewards for ensuring the smooth running of the series. Thanks to the Nationalist and Tipperary Star for giving the Tipperary Series such coverage.  Now that these races have set the trend hopefully the rest of the summer road races in the county will have the same support. I have outlined races over the summer months below and please give these races your support and I can guarantee you will experience the camaraderie and chat and after race refreshments that was a feature in all four of the Tipperary Challenge races at these races as well start with:

The Ballynonty Series

1^st Race – 1 mile – Tuesday 3^rd June 8 pm

2^nd race – 2 Miles – Tuesday 10^th June 8 pm

3^rd Race – 3 Miles – Tuesday 17^th June 8 pm

4^th Race – 4 Miles – Tuesday 24^th June 8 pm

5^th Race – 4 by 1 Mile relay – Tuesday 1^st July 7.30pm

Registration for the 5 race series is 20 Euros but you can also register on the night of any race. For further details please contact Neillie hall – 086 8754161 or Noel o Dwyer at 086 4191832.

The Dave Fogarty 7k road race

This great sporting event honouring one of the County’s top officials over the years will take place on Friday June 13^th in Thurles at 8 pm. Last year’s race was a brilliant success over this new course. The race was won by Christophe bracken of the local Club in 23 mins 15 secs with David Tobin also of Thurles Crokes finishing 2^nd in 23 mins 23 secs. James Ryan of Dundrum won the 0/40 award when finishing 3^rd in 24 mins 11 secs with Shane Mullaney then of Moycarkey Coolcroo, now with Thurles Crokes finishing 4^th in mins secs. What are the odds of Thurles Crokes filling the top 3 places in a race honouring one of their greatest Club officials come along to Thurles on June 13^th and see a great race. Last year Madeline Dorney of Thurles Crokes was the winner in 26 mins 49 secs. I would like to congratulate Madeline on her recent marriage and we will get use to her new name of Madeline Loughnane in the years ahead. Aine Roche of Clonmel was 2^nd Senior Lady in 29 mins 17 secs with Martine Ryan of Thurles Crokes 3^rd Lady in 29 mins 51 secs.

The Dundrum 10K Road race

This very popular event takes place on Wednesday 9^th July

Clonmel 10 Mile road race

This event has now been switched to Monday July 14^th due to a clash of fixtures. Enquiries please contact Niall O Sullivan at 086 1660888. More details next week.