Sunday, February 28, 2016

Reminder Meath Community Games Cross Country Finals

Meath Community Games Cross Country Finals

The Meath Community Games Cross Country Finals will be held on Sunday February 28th commencing at 11am sharp.
Venue: is St Bridgets AC, Ballinacrea.
It is advised to be at the venue no later than 10.30 to register.
Entry fee for all competitors is €2.
Please note all competitors must be under age on or before 31/7/2016.

More details in blog below

Sunday, February 21, 2016

Leinster Individual Indoor Championships Day 1 & 2



Our athletes put in some terrific performances in the Individual events over day 1 & 2 of the Leinster indoor championships which were held last weekend in Athlone, the u12 girls brought home 3 medals with Laura Kelly finishing 3rd in the U12 girls 60m hurdles, Sophie Quinn won the u12 girls 600m and Aishling Strarford placed 3rd in the same race with some great running from both girls. Sophie Greene, Niamh Murray also competed well for the club in the girls 60m Hurdles. The u12 girls also competed well in the long jump, Sophie Quinn finishing 4th with good jumping also from Sophie Greene and Aishling Strarford.
Aimee Doherty was up against it in very competitive u13 girls 600m event but did enough to hang on for the Gold with a confident gun to tape run. Amelia Campbell put in a great run also in her heat to make it through to the girls final where she finished 12th. Fionn Drummond had a good run in the boys u13 600m finishing 2nd in his heat and running a new pb to finish 7th in the final. Fionn also finished 7th in the high jump and 11thth in the shot putt.
Lili O’ Connor was in good form finishing 2nd in the girls U14 60 Hurdles in a great time of 9.53s in a very tight finish. Oisin Kelly, Killian Strarford, Ciaran Rogers, Stephen Kiernan and Matthew Hayes all ran well in the boys u14 800m, Oisin qualifying for the final with a p.b. of 2:25s where he finished 8th. Karen Hayes ran a new pb also in the girls u16 800m finishing 7th.
Well done to all of our athletes and best of luck to all who have qualified for Nationals in March.





 






Friday, February 19, 2016

Meath Interclub League Day 1 (a) next Wednesday 24th Feb

The first day of the Meath League takes place next Wednesday the 24th of Feb. Indoors in Cushinstown AC , just off N2 north of Ashbourne at Kilmoon Cross
Day 1(a) is for all even age athletes and Junior, Senior & Masters only, see event list below. (uneven event March 23rd)
All Ratoath AC members in the even age groups are encouraged to take part in this fun event.


Meath Athletics
InterClub Track & Field League

Wednesday February 24th - 7.15 p.m. - Cushinstown AC

Program: Day 1(a) - Sprints


Boys & Girls


Born
U9


2008
U10
60m
Long Jump
2007
U11

 
2006
U12
60m
Long Jump
2005
U13


2004
U14
60m
High Jump
2003
U15
60m
High Jump
2002
U16


2001

Junior, Senior & Masters Events 60m & Long Jump


Rules:
1. Juveniles can only compete in their own age group.

2. Max. 2 events per athlete.

3. Club’s best 20 scores to count from each leg.

4. First 3 Clubs to medal in Section A, next 3 to medal in Section B, and so on in Sections C, D, E etc. until all Clubs classified.

5. Maximum two attempts at each height in high jump.

6. Club entry fee to League - €20.00

7. Junior, Senior & Masters Field events take place after the juveniles

Further League Dates: March 23rd, April 27th, May 25th, June 15th

Notes:

Places on Meath AAI T&F League Team will be based on performances in Meath Championships & Inter Club League

For More Information Contact:

Maggie Higgins 087-2866815 or email marguerittehiggins@eircom.net

Thursday, February 18, 2016

Leinster Indoor Relay Championships

The Club had some great results from Day 1 of the Leinster indoor championships which were held in Athlone over the weekend bringing home 5 medals, 2 gold, 2 silver and 1bronze.
Day 1 saw our sprint relay teams in action with our u13 boys and girl’s teams many of whom were running for their first time in competition. They all did themselves proud finishing 9th and 10th overall in the 4 x 100m relay, well done to Kyle Witter, Fionn Drummond, Rickoy Murphy, Callum Whitbread, Amelia Campbell, Eno Okome, Blessing Duruanyawn and Elizabeth Buckley.

Our u15 boys Rafa McCaffery, Matthew Buckley, Tom Kilgannon and Kevin Dat Conway put in a powerful sprinting performance in the 4 x 200m relay, the lads had a comfortable win clocking 1mn 46s  and  just missed out on the Leinster record by 1s.

Our u19 boys team of Brian Kiernan, Eoin Clayton, Philip Marron and Peter Kilgannon clocked a new club junior record of 135.5s in their 4 x 200m relay and finished a very close 2nd to our neighbouring club Cushinstown with only 2 tents of a second separating the teams.
We had two teams competing in the u12 girls 4 x 100m relay, our development team of Ciara Coroner, Sophie Greene, Caoimhe Fitzsimons and Lily Nannery put in a great performance and really enjoyed their experience finishing 16th overall. Our A team of Laura Kelly, Aobh Forde, Aishling Strarford and Cara O’ Sullivan had a very tough heat finishing 3rd and only qualified as fastest losers for the final. The girls took their chance and put in a storming run in the final taking 3rd and qualifying for Nationals in the process.

Our u14 girls competing in 4 x 200m for the first time looked very good over the longer distance and won both heat and final with ease recording an impressive time of 1:54.95, well done to Lili O’ Connor, Emma O’ Connell, Ella Healy, Aoife Rutherford and Aimee Doherty.

The race of the day came in the u16 girls final, after a comfortable qualification heat our girls team of Aine Cooney, Ivie Okome, Emma Coroner and Maria Rogers all ran out of their skin to push SLOT Ac all the way to the finish line and only missed out on gold by .2 of a second, the girls set yet another 4 x 200m Senior club record of 150.70s in the process.






Friday, February 12, 2016

Conor Duncan wins Varsity indoor 800m title

Conor Dincan, running in the colours of DCU, won the  Irish inter-varsity 800m indoor title today with a withering surge over the last lap of a tactical race. The final was less than 3 hours after the qualifying heats, so the first half of the race was covered in a modest 61 sec. Conor was content to bide his time but when he made his move at the 600m mark nobody could respond and he won convincingly in the end in a time of 1 min 59.7 sec.









Thursday, February 11, 2016

Trim 10 mile race report

I woke up early Sunday morning feeling the usual feelings before a race, nervous but excited!! I had my club singlet, race gear, number, drink etc all ready from the night before and after a good breakfast, I headed off to meet the girls at 10am at the track.
I was driving, so the girls hopped in (we were leaving a bit early for Simon! Lol!) and off we went! 
We had good fun chatting away in the car and 30 mins later, we were pulling up in Trim....
There was a great buzz at the race headquarters. There were lots of stewarts advising people, and answering their questions...
Inside the HQ, there were people who were registering on the day and there was tea on the go also, for anyone who wanted a quick pre- race cuppa!  The atmosphere was really warm (unlike the weather 😉) and friendly...
Then we were off to the race start! A short jog from HQ. Luckily the rain held off, so apart from it being windy, conditions were good! There were 'pacers' heading to the start also, which I thought was a great option for anyone who wanted 'guidance' with their race pace....
We all limbered up and of course took the obligatory photos 😉, and before we knew it, we were wishing each other good luck! I was thinking, it's so nice to be part of a local running club, the camaraderie and buzz you get from being with like- minded people, is so much nicer than arriving at the race on your own! It makes for a much more fun and pleasant experience 😊
Wearing my club singlet not only makes me feel proud, it also makes me feel like part of a team. We are representing Ratoath Athletic Club around the country!  
The race started. It had been years since I last did a 10 mile road race. I settled into a pace that I was comfortable with, and took in all the amazing supporters along the way, as they called out words of encouragement to us all. Many people called out, 'come on Ratoath', because I was wearing my club singlet..This made me smile....
The race stewarts on the course were so friendly and encouraging also! ' great stuff' 'lovely running' 'keep it going' were words that were ringing in my ears! The people at the water stations were beaming and were flying around,  trying to make sure that anyone who wanted a drink of water, got one! Not easy in blustery, chilly conditions!  
The course had a few climbs but a few nice downhills too and it was out on country roads! The traffic was kept to a minimum, credit again to the race organisers! There were clear mile markers throughout!  
The finish was a 300 metre stretch and all I could hear was the excited, booming voice of one of the race organisers, over the tannoy, saying 'Well done Ratoath'...I was gaining on a girl and I thought, maybe just maybe, if I put my head down for a final surge,  I might just catch her! I did, and it was like a little cherry on the cake! We high- fived each other when we crossed the finish line. Next race, she'll catch me I'm sure, but it's all a bit of fun, and part of challenging yourself!
I crossed the line, feeling very happy and satisfied and I felt proud to be part of such a great race...
The girls, Simon and I all met back up at Headquarters! I heard afterwards that Diarmuid and Joe (other club members) were there also. Sorry we missed you both!  
There was an array of hot drinks, soup, cold drinks, sandwiches, rolls and cakes, and plenty of banter!! 



It felt great to be lovely and snug post race, having a mug of soup, chatting to the guys (taking more photos!😉), dissecting the race, talking about the next one and also general chit chat! Of course there were familiar faces that I only see at races (had been quite some time for me!), but it was like it was only last week since we last saw each other,  as we chatted....
After about an hour or so, we took our weary but happy legs back to the car and we drove back to Ratoath after a thoroughly enjoyable, satisfying and sociable few hours in Trim! 
I definitely hope to return to do it all over again next February!! 




Noelle  😊🏃👍