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.