HISTORIC TEAM GOLD FOR U13 BOYS

SUPERB RUN FOR CLARA DOHERTY IN U13 GIRLS RACE

Congratulations to our small but hardy band of athletes who made the journey to Ballina for a superbly organised Connacht Uneven Ages Cross-country at the Belleek Park - they may have been small in number but they were mighty in performance!

Leading the way was a superb team gold medal for our U13 Boys team who were crowned Connacht Champions with a great display. Declan Kennedy again led the team home in third place, showing great racing skills to ensure he got the individual bronze while his brother Patrick put in a great showing to finish seventh overall.

Close behind and defying his lack of racing, Cathal Enright literally ran himself into the ground to finish ninth, his first time in the top ten. Behind him, both Riaghan Guckian and Oran Butler made conservative starts but started coming through the field at pace, Riaghan eventually finishing 26th with Oran a matter of paces behind in 34th place.

With such a brilliant display, Carrick claimed gold in the team race with 46 points ahead of Tuam with 66 and hosts Moy Valley. Even better for Declan, Patrick, Cathal and Riaghan were in Leitrim's scoring six who took third in the inter-county race. Well done guys on a superb performance and great running for the team.

Clara Doherty followed up her 13th place from the U14 race with a brilliant sixth in her own age group, the U13 Girls. Clara hung back off the pace but showed great pace judgement to come through at pace and she held off a succession of runners, showing some brilliant in-built racing smarts, to take sixth and a place at the All-Irelands. A brilliant run for a girl in her first year at cross-country.

We had an international flavour in the U17 Boys when our Belgian import Justin Cornélis ran his first ever cross-country race in a pair of football boots but still managed to finished 13th, just one place off the Connacht team. It was a superb run from Justin who has really made himself part of his group during his team here with us in Carrick-on-Shannon.

Brendan Kennedy finished a good 21st in the U15 Boys race while Hugh McGovern was fourth scorer on the Leitrim team as he finished a good 63rd in a race with over one hundred finishers.

Many thanks to the parents who travelled over today and special thanks for the way they all supported each other during the races, particularly the Kennedys who waited for Justin's race after a long day.

The Qualifiers will run in the All-Irelands in Dunboyne on Sunday, December 15.

CONNACHT EVEN AGES CROSS-COUNTRY IN BALLINA

The Connacht Uneven Ages and Adult League Cross Country Championships (under 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, Seniors, Master’s) will take place in Belleek, Ballina this Sunday, November 10, with the first race to start at 12:00.

We have a small number of athletes travelling to the beautiful North Mayo town to take on the beautiful but challenging parkland course.

In the U11 Boys, we have Hugh McGovern in action while Clara Doherty will be in action in the U13 Girls. In the U13 Boys, Declan and Patrick Kennedy will lead teammates Riaghan Guckian, Oran Butler, Kyle Lannon and Cathal Enright while Brendan Kennedy (U14 Boys) and Justin Cornélis (U17 Boys) complete our line-up.

Moy Valley Athletic Club, in consultation with Ballina Municipal District, are encouraging all who will travel to the event to use the Council owned parking facilities in Ballina (especially at (1) the Market Square; (2) adjacent to Dunne’s Stores and LIDL; and (3) Bachelor’s Walk) and then make the relatively short walk to Belleek. 

The cross country course is best accessed via the historic Belleek Gatehouse (https://goo.gl/maps/soKb35e4vSN2 ). There will be both Garda and club stewards in the area to minimise traffic delays so please observe their directions.

REGISTRATION

The race Headquarters will be Ballina Town Football Club (https://goo.gl/maps/FwAMjpvH7hm)  but please note that race numbers will be given out in a designated tent on the cross country course itself until 11:30 am.

COURSE

The course will be laid out in two laps as detailed below. The small lap is 400m long and the blue lap is almost 1000m long with a run to the finish line of almost 100m. Where the 400m lap is required, athletes will run the shorter lap first. Therefore, the race distances will be covered as follows:

1500m = 1 small loop; 1 large loop

2500m = 1 small loop; 2 large loops

3500m = 1 small loop; 3 large loops

4000m = 4 large loops

5000m = 5 large loops

6000m = 6 large loops

8000m = 8 large loops

CLUB GEAR NIGHT - TUESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2019

Club Gear Sizing & Ordering Night on Tuesday October 8, 2019, in Carrick Sports Complex from 5.30 to 7.30 pm

Due to the popularity of the last event and the fact that a few people missed out, the Club are holding a Club gear sizing night in the Sports Complex next Tuesday, October 9, from 5.30pm to 7.30pm in association with Teamwear Ireland.

This is a great chance for members to get gear before Christmas and next year's Indoor season.

We'd also like to point out ordering Club is open to all members, their families and parents and indeed former club members if they wish - we'e all one big family and it's great to see Carrick AC gear on display around the country!

We have added a Race Rainjacket to the selection which proved very popular.

Members are encouraged to come before or after their usual training on Tuesday.

If you are unable to attend next Tuesday, why not check out sizes with a clubmate who has already ordered gear, then simply download the form below, print it out and return with the correct amount of cash to any club official before next Tuesday evening.

Cash only, payable on the night for any gear ordered.

Nobody is obliged to purchase any items

Please note, the club takes no responsibility for orders and sizes

All transactions are between the buyer and the seller

The club is only facilitating the sale

Prices of items as follows:

1. Crew III Shirt                     Kids: €15            Adults: €17

2. Crew III Half-Zip                Kids: €22            Adults: €25

3. Crew III Full-Zip                 Kids: €27            Adults: €32

4. Hobby II Polo                     Kids: €19            Adults: €23

5. Elba Skinny Pants               Kids: €20            Adults: €23

6. Diamond II backpack          €22

7. Travel Bag                         €22
8. Race Rainjacket                 Kids: €25             Adults: €30

Initials Embroidered on Top: €4.25 extra

A NIGHT TO REMEMBER

Thanks to everyone who turned up last Friday evening for our first ever Club Event and Presentation in The Bush Hotel. The event was a great success and judging from the feedback we've been getting since, everyone seemed to really enjoy the occasion.

Special thanks to Philip Howard for his excellent talk on nutrition for sport, correct eating habits and fuelling for sport. It really was very informative and I know a lot of athletes, young and old, will have taken a lot from it. If anyone would like to contact Philip for further advice, he is contactable on Twitter at @philiphowardfit

We followed up with a wonderful Q&A session with our two Senior internationals Gerard O'Donnell and Eanna Madden and our special guest, 2016 Olympian Breege Connolly. It was a fascinating insight into the work that goes into reaching the top in our sport but the message from all three, from three very different events, is that there is no secret to performing your best, it takes lots and lots of hard work and dedication.

The Club would like to especially thank Breege Connolly for attending the event and giving us an insight in the life of a top class marathon runner. Breege took time off work to attend the event and we were delighted and privilaged to have her at our event.

The main reason for the event of course was to honour our five members who represented Ireland, a huge honour for our club and real privilage for us. The five members were:

Michelle Lannon - British & Irish Masters Cross-country International Swansea Wales 2018

Clive Glancy - European Police Marathon Championships Dublin 2018

Gerard O'Donnell - European Olympic Team Finals Minsk Belarus 2019, European Athletics Team Championships First Division Sandnes Norway 2019

Eanna Madden - European Athletics Team Championships First Division Sandnes Norway 2019

Alannah McGuinness - European U20 T&F Championships Boras Sweden, Youth Nations Cup Dublin 2019 & Youth International Mannheim Germany 2019

Congrats to all five athletes, we're extremely proud of your achievements.

Also it was a great thrill for club founder Michael O'Brien to be present with us on the night, none of us would have been in the Bush Hotel last Friday without Michael's great work down through the years.

See our Facebook page for more photos

WE'RE BACK! GET THOSE TRAINING SHOES ON!

We hope you've all enjoyed your break because Carrick-on-Shannon Athletic Club is delighted to announce that our Juvenile groups are returning to training next Tuesday, October 1, 2019.

Training for the Primary and Post Primary School groups will both return to action next Tuesday, October 1, at the following times:

PRIMARY SCHOOL GROUPSTuesday: 5 to 6 pm: Athletes aged 9 & 10 in 2019Tuesday: 6 to 7 pm: Athletes aged 11, 12 & over in 2019

POST PRIMARY SCHOOL GROUPTuesday: Outdoor session, meet at 6 pm at the Sports Complex (Session last 75-80 minutes)Wednesday: Gym & circuits session in Sports Complex at 6 pmFriday: Meet at 4 pm at Sports Complex

There is a weekly fee of €3 per week

New members, boys and girls of any age, are welcome for the Post Primary group provided they are Post Primary students. A membership fee of €15 (to cover Athletics Ireland registration costs) applies. 

However, we must stress that the Primary School groups nights are for existing 2019 members only as we are greatly restricted with the amount of space we have to accommodate our members.

Some space may become available at a later date but that will depend on how many members return to training.

Just to reiterate, we are not taking any new members in our Primary School Group until January 2020 when we will have a registration night. New members are welcome for the Post Primary (Secondary) School group.

TRAINING FOR EXISTING MEMBERS ONLY WILL RESUME ON TUESDAY OCTOBER 1, 2019 AT CARRICK SPORTS COMPLEX

REMEMBER THERE IS A €3 WEEKLY FEE

CLUB CELEBRATION/NUTRITION & Q&A -FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 27, 2019

Carrick-on-Shannon Athletic Club are delighted to announce details of a special event in the Bush Hotel on Friday, September 27, at which they will honour the club's five internationals from the past 12 months.

The event, which starts at 7 pm sharp, is chance for the club to recognise the achievements of Gerard O'Donnell, Eanna Madden, Clive Glancy, Michelle Lannon and Alannah McGuinness in representing Ireland.

Leitrim senior team nutritionist Philip Howard will give a talk to the club's post primary and senior athletes on nutrition and healthy eating and we would encourge the parents of our post primary athletes to also attend.

After the presentations, the evening will conclude with a chat followed by a Question & Answer sesssion with our own Irish Senior internationals Eanna Madden and Gerard O'Donnell with 2016 Olympian Breege Connolly joining us a special guest on the night.

This event is free of charge to all our members and we'd urge all our Post Primary members and Adult group members to attend the event.

We look forward to seeing everyone there!

Fast times in Waterford and Claremorris

Busy day for the club at two very different venues with our two Senior national champions in action in Waterford and Claremorris today.

Down in Waterford, Eanna Madden & Gerard O'Donnell flew the Carrick AC flag in the excellent Ton Le Gaoithe meeting at Waterford IT track. Eanna won the 200m with a superb 21.65 win in the 200m with a plus 0.3 m/s wind while he clocked 10.70 to finish second over 100m.

Gerard twice finished second in the 110m Hurdles to Crusaders Matthew Behan, clocking 14.11 in his second race at the end of a very busy week.

In Claremorris, we had a small crew in action in the North Connacht Schools Qualifiers and everybody made it through to next Thursday's Connacht Schools in Athlone. We don't have full results or times to hand yet but Carrick Community School won both Intermediate relay races with some superb sprinting.

Toyosi Fagbo left nobody in doubt of his talent when, in his first year as an intermediate, he won the 100m and 200m and running two exceptional races. Ellis Conway was a convincing winner in the Senior Girls 800m to follow up on her 2.16 clocking in Greystones last week while Oliver Kearney won his Minor Boys 200m event.

Alannah McGuinness, for Mohill Community College, made the best of a bad situation to finish a close second in the Senior 100m despite getting hit by cramp in the last 20 metres while Sophie McCabe (Inter 200m) was a strong third in her event.

Lauren Reynolds finished a good second in a rare outing over the Inter 800m while we had two debutants over 800m in Sean Brennan and Cian McKiernan who both qualified in the Inter event and will have learned so much from the experience.

Oisin Kearney qualified in both the Inter 200m and 400m,finishing third behind Toyosi and joined by Cian Mollohan in fourth in the longer sprint. Alanna Murray battled an hamstring strain to finish third in the Inter Girls 300m.

Fionn O'Brien dropped down to the Senior 1,500m for a workout and ran a new personal best so more congrats there.

Jack Keenehan was our sole field eventer and finished second in the Inter boys with a new personal best of 5.13m, congrats Jack.

The two relay teams were, for the girls, Aine McGwynne, Alanna Murray, Lauren Reynolds and Sophie McCabe with Oisin Kearney, Cian Mollohan, Sean Brennan and Toyosi Fagbo in action for the lads.

A few pictures will appear on Facebook.