Fine European Run by Curley

Almost 500 runners from 30 countries contested the 14th European Cross Country Championships at Toro in Spain on Sunday last. Bright sunshine, strong wind and an ultra flat course awaited the competitors at the Monte La Reina circuit located about 11k outside the city of Toro. In the Senior Ladies race over 8k Pauline Curley put in a fine run to finish in 43rd position and was 3rd scorer on the Irish team. Pauline had the honour of captaining the team to 5th place on 122 points with Fionnula Britton 7th, Deirdre Byrne 18th, Pauline 43rd and Jolene Byrne 44th.

CATCH GRENNAN WINS WINTER LEAGUE   
The final leg of the Club Winter League was held in Charleville last Sunday morning with a 5k cross-country race. With the recent change in the weather this was a real cross-country race with rain, wind and plenty of mud for the brave athletics who lined up for the start. Conditions did not deter Catch Grennan who led from start to finish to come home 41 seconds ahead of the field. John Harkin and John Donegan had a great battle for the runner up spot with Harkin finishing the stronger. Ronan Duffy and Luke Mitchell also had a neck and neck battle for the fourth and fifth place. With all the points calculated Catch Grennan was declared the individual winner and Luke Mitchell captaining his team in a very close contest for the team title.    

Winner – Catch Grennan 18.12

Full Result : 1 – Catch Grennan 18.12, 2 – John Harkin 18.53, 3 – John Donegan 18.58, 4 – Ronan Duffy 19.38, 5 – Luke Mitchell 19.41, 6 – Johnny Feery 19.57, 7 – Jody O’Reilly 20.14, 8 – Barry Lambe 20.27, 9 – Joe Wrafter 20.48, 10 – Maire-Triona Keane 21.25, 11 – John O’Connell 21.44, 12 – Pauline Lambe 21.52, 13 – Ann Carroll 21.57, 14 – Deirdre Lambe 22.52, 15 – James Grogan 23.35, 16 – Larry Rigney 23.48, 17 – Mary Daly 24.49, 18 – Andy O’Grady 26.55, 19 – Jim Langan 27.06, 20 – Sharon Leonard 27.21, 21 – Jim Dolan 27.57, 22 – Georgina Touhey 28.42, 23 – Mary Walsh 30.43, 24 – Mick Hayden 33.50, 25 – John Cronin 44.15Overall Results : Individual 1 – Catch Grennan, 2 – John Donegan, 3 – John Harkin. Team 1 – Team C Luke Mitchell 441 points, 2 – Team A Ronan Duffy 435 points, 3 – Team B Mike Murphy 355 points

WINTER LEAGUE WIN FOR BUCKLEY
The second round of the Club Winter League took place last Tuesday night with a 3k held over the track and tarmac circuit. On a windy night nobody was prepared to lead out the field and a group of 10 ran together until Paul Buckley injected some pace on the tarmac to break up the race. Although Catch Grennan, John Grennan and Declan Fahey gave chase Buckley ran on strong to win by 16 seconds. Catch Grennan took second place with John Donegan holding off Declan Fahey for third place. 

Winter League Round 2 Catch Grennan 2nd, Paul Buckley winner, John Donegan 3rd

Full Result : 1 – Paul Buckley (Guest) 9.24, 2 – Catch Grennan 9.40, 3 – John Donegan 9.52, 4 – Declan Fahey 9.59, 5 – John Harkin 10.05, 6 – Ronan Duffy 10.14, 7 – Jody O’Reilly 10.15, 8 – Mike Murphy 10.23, 9 – Luke Mitchell 10.32, 10 – Johnny Feery 10.34, 11 – Pauline Curley 10.44, 12 – Richie Falkiner 10.49, 13 – John O’Connell 10.56, 14 – Joe Wrafter 10.56, 15 – Pauline Lambe 11.05, 16 – Maire-Triona Keane 11.08, 17 – Anne Carroll 11.17, 18 – Deirdre Lambe 11.53, 19 – Andy O’Grady 12.15, 20 – Larry Rigney 12.24, 21 – Mary Daly 12.26, 22 – Brendan Carroll 12.37, 23 – Adrian Martin 12.40, 24 – Brendan Kennedy 12.41, 25 – James Grogan 12.46, 26 – Katie Vance 12.47, 27 – Elizabeth Cuskelly 12.48, 28 – Jim Langan 13.35, 29 – Jim Dolan 14.18, 30 – Mary Walsh 15.08, 31 – John Cronin 21.15

Fixtures :
Sunday 16th December, AAI Novice Cross Country Dungarvan.
Tuesday 18th December, 43rd Annual Club Grand National at 7pm. This event over 5,060 metres is run on a handicap basis with festive prizes on offer. Followed by celebrations in Eugene’s.
Christmas Morning 21st Annual Goal Mile 10am to 12noon with competitive mile at 11am. Everyone is welcome to the track to Run, Jog or Walk a mile to support the work of GOAL in the third world. You can contribute to this worthy cause through our Goal sponsorship cards which are available in the clubhouse.Monday 31st December, 50th Annual Club Midnight Shield at 12noon. All past winners and competitors are invited to the clubhouse to celebrate the 50th anniversary of this traditional “Around the Houses” event. 

Training : Tuesday and Thursday at 6.30pm, Sunday morning at 8.30am (except on a race day) all are welcome.

Circuit training led by Adrian Brennan every Wednesday at 7pm.  

A reminder to all club athletes training on the roads, with the arrival of the dark evenings it is important to be seen on our busy roads. So remember to light up, wear a reflective vest or belt and flashing armbands.