Win Free Entry to Wexford Half Marathon

Anyone available to do one hour for the flag day on Dec 28th or 29th please contact Deirdre on deirdre@waterfordac.com or 0879983782 and they will be entered into a draw for free entry into the Wexford Half Marathon which is on April 22nd (3 entries up for grabs).

Thanks to all who did and the winners are....

John Guiry, Keith Walsh and Olivia Flynn. Get training for April!!!

Half Marathon 2011 - A Huge Success

Well done to all 1155 finishers of the Waterford AC half marathon which took place on Saturday last. The event went off great and the runners woke up to clear blue skies and a nice crisp morning, perfect for running unlike the terrible weather endured last year. There was a carnival atmosphere outside Woodies from where the race started with runners eyeing up the pacers and deciding which group to attach themselves to. Fintan entertained the runners and supporters with his usual wit and choice of music prior to the 12 noon start. The event got underway promptly and after a 2 mile lap of the city the runners made their way out the main Tramore road where they were greeted at the first water stop by members of our juvenile club who cheered them on and handed out bottles of water. Onto the back road towards Tramore for a few miles then turned back onto the main road where the runners were met with great encouragement from the Tramore posse who were there to cheer on all the runners and support their local family and friends. The pump house was the second water stop and again the juveniles were on hand to hand out the water and cheer on the runners. The sight of the oncoming traffic at an almost standstill made some of the runners glad they were on foot and not heading to Tramore but some of the motorist showed their support by cheering the runners, waving and beeping their horns (think they were encouraging beeps!!). The final water stop was opposite the first one and this gang had a busy day but they did a super job giving the water to the somewhat weary runners. On the last part of the race by the Kingfisher the sound of Fintans voice from the RSC was a welcome sound and there was great encouragement from the stewards around Superquinn heading back into the RSC. The finish was a welcome sight for everyone. The decision to move the post race refreshments to the Kingfisher Club proved a wise and popular move with many of the runners enjoying the great refreshments (and of course the Blaas!) and prize giving before setting off on their journey home. Thanks to all those who helped out with the refreshment in the Kingfisher. The feedback immediately was very positive with many runners posting PB’s and having a very memorable experience.

The race was superbly well organised and a special word of thanks to Michael and all the Stewards and Gardaí along the route.

A special word of thanks also to our sponsors (Click HERE) without who we would be unable to put on a fantastic half marathon at a price that no other half marathon in the country can match.

Thanks to all the supporters along the route who made the journey a little easier and all the Waterford AC members and friends

Further thanks to the 1155 finishers (up from 690 in 2010) who helped to make this the premier half marathon event in 2011. The race was won by Gary O'Hanon, with the very popular local man Brian Murphy in 2nd and Michael Herlihy from North Cork 3rd. The woman’s race was won by Gladys Ganiels from Belfast with Jill Hodgins 2nd followed by Ann Marie Holland who is no stragner to this neck of the woods, 3rd. Well done to all the runners who posted personal bests. The flat(ish) fast course is a great course for runners to improve and the presence of the pacers was a huge attraction for runners hoping to run PB's.

Full Results by clicking HERE

Even though we prepared 1150 finisher goodie bags unfortunately a few finishers did not get a goodie bag so apologies to those runners affected by this. If you are one of those runners and would like us to post on the gift from the goodie bag can you please email Deirdre@waterfordac.com and we will sort it out.

Finally thanks to anyone else who helped out in any way behind the scenes to make such a great day. It’s a real club effort and great to see so many club members assisting in whatever way they could. It is worth remembering that everyone who helped out on the day “volunteered” his or her time and energy in this uniquely well-run event.

Here is looking forward to 2012 !! Waterford to Tramore in May, Woodstown 5 in August and Annual Half on December 1st!!

Also, most prizes have been distributed now but if Billy Tyrell of Parnell AC could contact Deirdre@waterfordac.com with postal details his category prize will be posted.

Silver Medal For Mary Jennings

Congratulations to Mary Jennings from the club who ran in very tough cross country conditions at the British & Irish Masters CC Champs in Glasgow over the weekend and came away with silver in the F55 team.

Picture of Mary in action here

Half Marathon Preparations

Online and Postal entries are going well with over 600 to date and will close on Thursday December 8th. Thereafter late entries will still be taken at the RSC on the Friday Dec 9th between 6:30 and 8:30pm and on Saturday from 9:30am for €30 until shortly before the race which starts at 12 noon.

Number collection will be on Friday Dec 9th between 6:30 and 8:30pm and on Saturday from 9:30am upstairs at the RSC.

Unlike previously the post race refreshments and prize giving will be in the Kingfisher Leisure Centre and all runners are encouraged to attend.

Race HQ is at the RSC and for people arriving by Train or Bus the RSC is on the Cork Road and the local bus from the Clock Tower on the Quay is the 3C and runs every 20mins on a Saturday. For those travelling by car the coordinates are 52° 14′ 41″ N, 7° 7′ 58″ W and there is 700 carpark spaces and changing rooms and toilets there.

Some general race location information is shown here:

The route is the same as previous years and also is the one which was used for the AAI National Half hosted by the Club in September. The route map can be found at ROUTE

Berlin Marathon 2011

Well done all who chased the new world record down and completed the 26.2 miles in very warm conditions.



Above pictured are Trevor Swift (3hr 15min, Brendan Aspel (3 hr),Pat Grant (3 hr 7min) and Phil Carrol (4 hr 27min). Also, running on the day were Joan Mahony, Paul Walsh and Ian Robinson.

Female wrestlers make an appearance at Waterford half marathon.

Thanks for the many captions to our photo and thanks to Mel and Chelly for signing over the rights to the movie.

Options we could publish are;

If you don't mind I think I finished in front of you. Get off my podium!

"I picked the better brother" " no, - I picked the better brother" !!!!

The cream always comes to the top!

Winner Alright!

10k on Sunday in aid of Waterford Hospice - 12noon

Another great annual run comes up this Sunday Sept 11th in aid of the Waterford Hospice and Waterford AC are seeking support from their members and friends to come along and support and help out.

Members who are too tired after their excellent runs in the half marathon last week might want to take a week off and come along and support and/or Steward. Anyone available are asked to be at the RSC for 11:00 and/or contact Thomas Caulfield on 086 2619199 you will be given a job.

For those runnnig it is not too late to enter at the The Munster Express Office right up to Saturday, 10th September from 9:00am to 1:00pm for last minute registrations.

All proceeds go to Waterford Hospice. Entry fee €15.

Successful hosting of the National Half

Waterford AC hosted an excellent Fest of running on a much improved day on Saturday where the weather brightened up nicely for perfect running conditions. Hats off to all our members and friends who made the event a very popular one with the athletes and their supporters. Athletics Ireland were very pleased with the huge participation in both the championship and challenge elements of the race with a total number of 690 runners completing the course and they congratulated Waterford AC on excellent handling of the elements we were responsible for.

Apologies for the delay with the results on the day and shortage of sufficiently sized t shirts. However these two elements were outside the control of Waterford AC on the day.

Thanks are due to the Juvenile club in particular for handling the water-stations ably assisted by Emma, Cait and Noeleen. Very popular with runners in their post race comments.

Well done to the 43 Waterford AC members who ran and in particular National medal winners of Mary Jennings (Gold Ladies O55), Patricia O'Keefe (Silver Ladies O60) Tony O'Brien (Silver M65) and our W50+ team of Mary Jennings, Kathleen Kennedy and Phil Carroll who won Gold.

Well done our senior team in a very competitive race to come 12th out of 26 teams with Frank Quinlan (34th), Brian O'Sullivan (70th) and Brian Swaby (74th).

Also, our M40+ Masters team of Brendan Aspel, Darryl Hale and Paul McManus came a very credible 6th.




Pics include some of our major helpers on the water stations: Orla, Karen and Noeleen, some WAC members after a training run to prepare them for the Waterford AC half marathon on Dec 10th..entries available now on www.runireland.ie and......



...finally for a laugh....what are the girls saying? Answers to tom@waterfordac.com!



Also, thanks for the many emails received congratulating Waterford AC on the hosting of yet another great event and a sample are:

Just a quick note to say thank you and well done for a great event yesterday. I liked the course and the facilities and your club obviously put a huge amount of effort into it.

Looking forward to next year already!

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I ran in the Half Marathon yesterday the hospitality was fantastic and all round I had a great day. I do hope to be back in December.

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Well done today on the organisation of the half marathon. In fairness to you and the team it was ran unbelievably well from the marshals, the good quality t shirt, the volunteers, the water stops, the salad blaas, the price, the communication before, promotion etc

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Thanks of course for all the positive responses and they are always welcome and much appreciated and well done all who helped out with the event...and as always there will be complaints, however Waterford AC were not responsible for ordering and selecting the T shirts sizes, timing the event, preparing the results or Stadium MC.

Full results available on www.athleticsireland.ie

Number Collection for Half Marathon

Number collection for those who pre-registered will be:

Friday Sept 2nd:The Ramada Viking Hotel, Cork Road between 18:00 and 20:00 and
Saturday at the RSC, Cork Road: from 10.30am - 12.30pm.

Route map is on www.waterfordac.com and location of RSC and Woodies shown below



Lots of parking is available at the RSC and also and athlete assembly prior to the race is in the Woodies carpark at the cork road entrance where there will be a special designed area.

Late entries will also be taken during the times listed above and please note any club athletes who wish to compete in the championships need their 2011 AAI reg number to be entered. Of course non club members or lapsed members are very welcome to run in the challenge part of the event.

The route includes a 2 mile start through parts of the city and then a flat route out almost to Tramore and back in as far as the Superquinn roundabout and back around to finish on the track at the RSC. Stwedarding will be provided by volunteers, the Civil Defence and great support from an Garda Siochana. Please abide by all instructions and of course your own common sense.

Waterford AC are delighted to Host this national event and look forward to you coming back for our own annual half marathon in December. Entries available now on runireland.com.

Don't forget also the special concession rate tickets for the Big Street Barbeque gig on Saturday taking place from 3pm to 11pm with The Stunning, o emperor, The Saw doctors and Brass & Co performing. Tickets only €18 or two for 35. Normal price 25 each. Telephone 051 874402 for tickets.

Great support is acknowledged to Athletics Ireland, Waterford City Council, The mayor's office, Waterford County Council, Woodies DIY, Irish Indepenent, the Irish Runner magazine and of course our own Waterford AC members and associates.

National Half Marathon 3rd September 2011

The launch of the Woodies DIY Half Marathon Challenge incorporating the National Championship of Ireland took place on Thursday, August 4th, in the Office of the Mayor of Waterford, Cllr. Pat Hayes. The race will take place in Waterford on Saturday 3rd September at 1pm. When last hosted by our club in 2008, the event was a huge success and Athletics Ireland have asked us to host the event again this year. Waterford is seen as an ideal venue due to the fantastic facilities; a good flat fast course and we are renowned for our excellent organisational skills when hosting such events so hats off to all our members and helpers.

Speaking at the launch The Mayor thanked Mr Dermot Nagle from Athletics Ireland and the local club Waterford AC for bringing the event to Waterford again and remembered fondly the previous event. He said the presence at the launch of the city manager Mr Michael Walsh was an indication of the level of support there for hosting such big events in Waterford. He was delighted to hear that Athletics Ireland through Waterford AC will work with the City Council to make the Half Marathon National Championships a successful mass participation event in Waterford for the next few years.


The event coincides with the start of the Harvest Festival in Waterford and organisers are offering a discounted rate of two tickets for €35 for any participants of the Half marathon who want to attend the concert in Waterford on the night of the half marathon. Among others the line up includes The Stunning and the Saw Doctors.
The race is open to Fun Runners as well as competitive athletes and more information about entering the Half Marathon can be found on www.athleticsireland.ie with more information about things to do and places to stay for the weekend of September 3rd can be found on www.discoverwaterford.ie as well as Harvest festival activities on www.waterfordharvestfestival.ie.

On a much nicer evening this week all standards of milers were active at the RSC with our Tuesday and Thursday session Coach Brian Swaby striding out to show what a sub 5 minute mile looks like and cruising around for a comfortable time of 4 44 showed how easy running fast can look! Best of Luck to Brian as he represents the club on Sunday next in round 2 of the National League in Athlone.

Many others joined in the fun and the results for tonight's run (and also for those who ran both nights) are shown below.

Name	Time week 2	Time week 1
Brian Swaby	4 44
Richard Lucas	5 15
Dermot McCarthy	5 17
Shane Molloy	5 30
Brian Cuddihy	5 31
Darrell Evans	5 35
John Dineen	5 39
Gary Whelan	5 44
Michael Coleman	5 52	6 03
Alan Whelan	5 56	6 05
Barry Phelan	6 00
Damien Kissane	6 14
Gary Kehoe	6 17	6 31
Brian Murphy	6 18	6 37
Chelly Brennan	6 22	6 35
Fergus O'Brien	6 27	6 23
John Lacey	6 37	6 51
Luke O'Brien	6 41
Darragh O'Callaghan	7 17	7 14
Abbie Robinson	7 18	7 21
Clionadh Brennan	7 18	7 21
Roisin Heylin	7 31	7 42
Emma O'Brien	7 39	7 38
David Phelan	7 55	8 06
Helena Coleman	8 03
Tracy Doyle	8 34	8 38
Michale White	8 36	8 39
Clodagh O Callaghan	8 55	9 27
Karl O Callaghan	8 56
Maebh Kenneally	9 06	9 28

As the table of results shows many athletes produce great improvement in their mile times and hopefully this will continue next week for the finale. 15 of the 17 who did both weeks improved their time so well done there!

Tonight, the 2nd event was Shot putt and 13 athletes participated under the guidance of Deirdre Chapman and Brian Swaby with Michael Coleman and Kieran Rowe showed real talent in this event: both promptly invited onto the National League team by Brian!

Next week finishes with a get together in the Vic in Tramore from 9pm till late.

Golden League Week 1

Week 1 of the Golden Mile 2011 kicked off with 4 races and 6 athletes trying out the Long Jump. Below is a summary of the times for the mile showing the Estimate that each athlete thought they might do the mile in and the Actual time they took to do it this week. Nobody predicted exactly but one person was within 2 seconds and 3 were within 3 seconds! Good pacing folks!
Anyone who couldn't make it this week: its not too late..just pop along next thursday and sign up. As well as the Mile again the other event will be the Shot Putt so come along and give it a try.
Also, for those aged 35 and older Masters training for Track & Field starts this Saturday at 12:30 so why not pop down to the RSC for a look and see might it suit you.

Bib No.	Name	M/F	Estimate	Actual Time	Race
808	John McKinley	M	5 52	5 44	D
832	Peter Murphy	M	6 00	5 47	D
819	Ray O'Mahoney	M	6 14	5 57	D
818	Garry Whelan	M	6 15	5 58	D
803	Michael Coleman	M	5 35	6 03	D
804	John Hassett	M	7 15	6 04	B
828	Alan Whelan	M	6 00	6 05	D
820	Stephen Blair	M	6 13	6 10	D
806	Elaine O'Donoghue	F	6 30	6 13	D
802	Cait Caulfield	F	6 50	6 16	C
807	Keith Walsh	M	7 20	6 20	B
801	Fergus O'Brien	M	6 20	6 23	C
817	Garry Geogh	M	6 40	6 31	C
805	Mary Burke	F	7 10	6 34	C
823	Chelly Brennan	F	7 25	6 35	B
815	Brian Murphy	M	7 30	6 37	B
821	Gabrielle Blair	F		6 38	C
826	Melissa Brennan	F	6 43	6 40	C
822	Joyce Walshe	F	8 00	6 50	B
813	John Lacey	M	7 30	6 51	B
829	Niamh Molly	F	7 05	7 12	C
810	Darragh O'Callaghan	M	7 35	7 14	B
824	Cliona Brennan	F	7 45	7 21	B
825	Abbie Robinson	F	7 45	7 21	B
827	Ruth Ahern	F	8 00	7 25	A
920	Emma O'Brien	F	7 40	7 38	B
831	Roisin Heylin	F	8 00	7 42	B
814	David Phelan	M	7 59	8 06	B
830	Tracy Doyle	F	9 00	8 38	A
816	Michael White	M	8 30	8 39	A
812	Clodagh O'Callaghan	F	10 30	9 27	A
809	Meabh Kenneally	F	10 00	9 28	A
811	Maria O'Callaghan	F	10 30	9 51	A

Thanks to those who helped out on the night with registration, starting, timing, raking and tidying and the very important stretching at the end (and before the long jump of course!).

Cork City Sports

Last Saturday some members of the juvenile club travelled to the Cork International Sports and enjoyed the day out hunting for autographs. Some pics shown here

Golden Mile Series

This years golden mile series will take place on 3 Thursdays in July. The dates are July 7th, 14th and 21st. As well as a mile each night there will be another event such as shot, long jump or short sprint for athletes to try out. Each night will conclude with all doing either a 400m or 800m run and of course stretches!!

Our beginner/improver group had a golden mile a couple of weeks ago and we encourage all these runners back to do these three events too. Groups will be arranged as follow

Race A: 8 minute or more

Race B: 7min 15 sec to 8 minute

Race C: 6min 30 sec to 7min 15 sec

Race D: 5min 45 sec to 6min 30 sec

Race E: Sub 5min 45 sec

Races start at 7pm with registration from 6:30, all at the RSC.

Circuits Finishes for the summer

To finish our current set of circuits last night saw the 3 challenges of Press ups in a minute; Burbees and of course the Plank.

After 3 minutes of the plank it was down to just Tom and Anne Fitzgerald and giving Anne was likely to last about 2 hours Tom gave up wobbling at the 4 minute mark!

All good fun and back in 6 weeks!

Trip to The London Grand Prix - August 5th/6th

Since Olympic tickets for next year were hard to come by why not treat yourself to a weekend away to watch premium Athletics as part of the London Gran Prix at Crystal palace. It promises to be two thrilling days of world-class athletics and a real party atmosphere as the world's top athletics stars jet into London.

It is on the Friday night Aug 5th and Saturday Aug 6th. Tickets are only 20 Stg for Adults and 15 Stg for 16yrs and younger each day.

As of today return flights are as low as €60 from Rynair or Aerlingus and tickets are still available on http://www.diamondleague-london.com/Tickets/

People should book their own trip but if you are interested and would like to book tickets in the same area at the event contact tom@waterfordac.com for more info on tickets already booked.

Also, a great day of International athletics will be in Cork CIT track on Saturday July 2nd and the Juvenile club is running a bus and places are available if members would like to travel. more details on http://www.corkcitysports.ie/
or contact tom@waterfordac.com for bus details.

Monday night beginner/improver Golden mile night

In a refreshing rainy evening lots of our Monday night runners gave the golden mile a great effort and with times varying from sub 6 min to 10+ minutes great personal achievements were witnessed and to finish the evening all joined into a 400m sprint!

Thanks to club coaches Jacinta, Deckie and Maire who help every week and other club members who helped out on the night. Watch out for our golden mile series in July, open to all.

National League Round 1

Castleisland in Kerry was the venue last Sunday for Round 1 of the National League and WAC was represented in the Mens division this year. Great to see club chairman James Maguire back competing and winning valuable points in the Hammer, 3K walk and 56 lbs weight for distance.

Multi-county sprint champion Brendan Leahy won great points in the 100m and 400m as well as 4x100m and 4x400m relay legs and threw a Javelin to keep himself busy and not have Tom O'Brien say he did more events than anyone else and could only match Brendan with five events in doing Long Jump, High Jump, 400m Hurdles, and the 100m and 400m relay legs. Masters county champion Kieran Leahy ran the 200m and also squeezed in a discus throw between the 200m and 100m relay leg. John Behan and Gary Cantwell guesting for the club represented the vest in style and won valuable points in the 800m, triple jump, 3k steeple chase as well relay legs.

5 weeks to go to round 2 and hopefully those were not able to make round 1 will be available and a great day out for the club will be had either in Athlone or Santry when that is decided.

Bank Holiday Busy Weekend

Many WAC members were busy on the roads over the bank holiday weekend between the Cork Marathon, half marathon and relay and also in Dublin at the Flora women's mini marathon.

In the Cork full marathon some pictured here we had Ray o'Mahoney running an excellent 3.20, Alan Duke,3.41, and Ger Nolan 3.43. Brendan Aspel ran yet another marathon within weeks of Limerick and the Curragh and Harry Culbert left a PB behind him by deciding midway around to ditch the PB pressure and have a conversational 4.20 chat and Nicola Harte lead our ladies home in 3.34 with the rest doing relay legs such as Martina Fanning, Louise Casey and catriona Gough as well as Kathleen Kennedy, Paula Kavanagh, Caroline Kavanagh, Mary Power and Jacinta Brazil.

Also in the half marathon in Cork on the same day Liz Nolan ran a superb time of 1.33 and won her category of the Ladies O45 and Mary Burke who was too busy recently to fit in the recommended training went out and pulled out a great time of 1.37 and came in as 6th lady O35!

In the other Capital of Ireland many ladies had great runs in the Flora 10K and some include:Claire Fowler 43.20, Jacinta Power 44.33, Gabrielle Blair 46.35, Máire Lawlor 46.57, Laura Doyle 50.21 and Rose Ryan 54.28

Also another great performance was had by Imelda walsh in 64.27 and came in as 3rd visually impaired athlete guided by club member Sonia Dalton.

Well done all and looking forward to great performances by all these athletes in the National Half Marathon being held here in Waterford on Saturday Sept 3rd at 1pm!

Little South Run - Sunday 5th June

Well done to all club runners who competed at the Little South Run on Sunday last.

Andy Linares was the first club member home and won a prize in the Junior Men Category. Silvia Malone was 3rd lady, and Deirdre Chapman, Diane Behan and Kathleen Kennedy were all category winners in 035,040 and O50 respectively. Eoin Palmer won the O45 male category.

Many other members ran in lovely conditions and hats off to St Senans AC for yet another excellent event for all.

Also, on friday night at the 5K in Touraneena Brian Swaby had a great run to finish 2nd overall and category winners were Diane Behan, Liz Nolan and Tommy burns.

Cork Graded Series 1

Pictured are Tom O'Brien, Emma Brent and Pat Breen who competed at the first of the 2011 Cork Graded Series. All three competed in the 200m, Emma and Tom in the Long jump and the three managed to rustle up a cork guest to join them in the 4 x 400m relay and came 3rd.


The event was very professionally run by the Cork Atletics Board and accurate times were assured due to electronic timing on the night.

The next in the series is on Friday, June 10th with 100m, 800m, High Jump, Discus and 4 x 200m relay. All members are encouraged to take in the graded series as they are a great way of gaining experience of competing but done in a very friendly atmosphere. There are no prizes and having missed the first in the series does not mean you are excluded from joining in at any point.

Week 2 of county Championship even better

On another windy day at the RSC Waterford AC were very well represented and many county champions were crowned.

Louise and Emma Brent were our lady champions again this week: Emma in the Long Jump and Louise in the Javelin, Discus and Hammer.


Brendan Leahy added the 200m title to his 100m and 400m from last week and with a severe headwind to sprint against in the homestraight still managed to knock out a credible 23.9sec for the 200m. Tom O'Brien was 2nd to Brendan in 25.4 and added the high jump title (in going very close to a pb at 1:73) to his long jump title last week.

Brian Swaby was very happy with a 9:34 time for a win in the 3000m mens race and was followed home by David Cunningham, both athletes having run great times at the Tom Jordan memorial race in Portlaw on Friday night. Tom being a former member of Waterford AC.


A top class race was witnessed in the mens 800m where Andrew Connick of WIT AC acted as pacer for Niall Tuohy to bring him through in sub 52sec at 400m and as a result everybody in the race was chasing throughout giving club members Frank Quinlan a great time of 2min 9.2sec for 2nd with Pat Breen 3rd in 2min 9.8sec and Dermot McCarthy winning the Masters Category in 2min 20sec.



Video above is the 200m mens final with Brendan Leahy winning and Tom O'Brien 2nd and winning the masters category.

Cork Graded Series
Over the next couple of months Cork County Board will be holding a graded series of track and field over six dates and the first is on Monday 23rd may at 7pm at the CIT track in Cork. Events on the night are 200m, 3000m, Long Jump, Shot and 4X400m Relay. All events are for men and ladies and for those who have not done graded series before these events are arrannged as Grades A,B,C and D so athletes are grouped against athletes who are of similar ability so a good competition is to be expected. Information in terms of entries and travel arangements to tom@waterfordac.com. It is hoped that WAC will have members at each event as we did last year.
Full details of the series coming up can be found by clicking HERE

Sisters (and Brothers) are doing it for the club!

At the Waterford County T&F championships at the RSC on Sunday sisters Emma and Louise Brent both won titles: the ladies 100m for Emma and the shot and triple jump for Louise. Also in the senior mens race Brendan Leahy retained his county 100m and 400m titles and in the masters sprint his brother Kieran also won. Tom O'Brien won the senior men's Long jump with a new PB over 6m and made full advantage of the gentle breeze on his back!



Pat Breen was 3rd in senior 100m, Darren Ryan was 2nd in the masters 100m, Paschal Halley took 2nd in the Long jump and 3rd in the Masters 100m and and Brian Swaby ran an excellent 4th in the 1500m in a very competitive race.


Next week on Sunday with an 11am start we have senior events of

Senior Women- Hurdles, 200m, 800m, 3000m, Walk, 4x100m, LJ, Jav, Discus, Hammer
Senior Men- Hurdles, 200m, 800m, 3000m, Walk, 4x100m, HJ, Shot, Hammer, TJ
Masters Women and Men- 200m, 800m

42nd Waterford to Tramore race

CLICK ON RESULTS IMAGE TO MAKE BIGGER
The 42nd running of the Waterford to Tramore Road Race was held on a lovely evening with a 'Fresh' wind in the face along the full 7.5 mile of the flat course! Many great performances were recorded and Waterford AC were to the fore in the prize winners with Frank Quinlan and Jim Baldwin winning male prizes and the Ladies coming up trumps with prizes for Brea Cooke (back in top form finishing 4th individually), Sarah Lee, Bernadette Power, Catriona Gough and Liz Nolan. Great to see so many WAC singlets in the 351 finishers and so many of our great neighbours West Waterford AC competing as part of the Ger Wyley series. Well done to their Ladies in winning the team prize and much thanks are due to our hospitality crew of Elaine, Betty and Co who served up a winning combination of refreshments for the masses after!

Waterford AC and county PRO Fintan Walsh gave a little history of the race which in its 42nd year is one of the longest running road races in the country. It has included such previous WAC winners as John Treacy, Gerry Deegan and this years Sponsor Derek Tebay who won the race 3 times in his hay day and with Mrs Flannagan on hand to present the Cup in memeory of her husband Paddy, who died 43 years ago, all agreed it was an occasion to appreciate what a great event this really is and to remember such a star athlete. Mrs Flannagan remembered great years of athletics and stated what a great achievement it is for all the 351 athletes to be in a position to run such a distance and still be smiling....well kinda.

Fintan made great praise of all the people who continue to make these events so successful and we need to remember all our WAC members who helped out in the preparation of the event with registrations (our front of house people), stewarding the course (and we had many) our finish helpers with water (including many of our happy Juvenile members), number recyclers, results compilers and our refreshments server uppers! If you are one of these...thanks...if you are not but would like to be...jump on board: let us know and we will assign you a job! Hats off to Michael and Pauline on another great job with their stewarding team and take a well earned break...next road race is not till August for the Woodstown 5!




Hot off the press too: Due to our continued success in running great road races Athletics Ireland have asked WAC to host the National Half Marathon 2011 in September and we have agreed. It will be held on Saturday, Septemeber 3rd, and we as a club, as well as running another efficient event, will be looking to participate in a significant way and win many prizes. This is a major event in the athletics calender and we are looking to ensure big participation but also to have our best athletes in peak shape for this event. This event is only 4 months away so for our distance runners major training starts here! As a start Tuesday and Thursday at 5:45 at the RSC and circuits at 7pm at cillbarra are club sessions you should consider building into your routine. As well as a senior event there are many category prizes so all distance runner members are asked to consider this as a big end of summer event. For anyone planning on doing the Dublin Marathon 2011 this would be a good half to do in preparation.

WAC-ked Munster Masters April 30th

As somebody said (a few times today) "There's no I in this team"!!! No need to mention names in the many medal winning performances at the Munster Masters Track & Field championships in Cork today as suffice to say everyone of the 32 Waterford AC members contributed to a fantastic display of sprinting, distance running, throwing and jumping! While some are regulars, some are new to this game and some were returning to serious competition after many years. Either way a great day, helped by glorious sunshine, was had by all and with a medal haul of 79 it must stand as one of the best days outing for the club in many years.




The National Championships in Tullamore are just 16 weeks away so after an easy week this week full training will start with a target of a large turnout and plenty more medals, so enjoy the easy week.









All those members not competing in the longest running road race in the county (Waterford to Tramore) on Saturday next (May 7th) please Pauline, Michael or Tom on 0863787051 if you are available for helping with Registrations on the night, stewarding along the course or helping to serve the refreshments in Tramore after the race. If everyone stewards a race during the year we don't have to keep going back to the same well...which gets fairly close to dry from time to time! The help is most appreciated.