Weekly roundup

All Ireland Juvenile Indoors.

On Saturday and Sunday next the first two sections of the All Ireland Juvenile Indoor Championships will be in Nenagh with a large Waterford entry the majority from Ferrybank AC.  Saturdays programme begins at 10 am but check in commences at 9 am and closes at 9.30 am, on Sunday the start is at 10 30 am and check in at 9.30 am closing at 10 am All clubs have the full programme long ago and it is also available on Athletics Ireland Website.

Splashworld 10 Km also on Sunday

 The 4th running of The Splashworld 10k, promoted by Balance fitness, takes place in Tramore on Sunday next March 25th at 12.30pm. Full details at www.balance.ie. Munster Masters Road Championships Sunday March 25 th Waterford Venue.


Ger Wyley Sports Summers Series

Two races in the Ger Wyley Sports Summer Series are coming up in April on two Friday evenings. On Friday April 13 th the Annual Marine Climb
6 Miles starts in in Dungarvan and on Friday April 20 th the Annual Butlerstown 10 km is on at the usual location near "The Holy Cross Lounge" on the main Waterford Cork road a few miles from Waterford City.both start at 7 pm. The full list of races in the series are on the West Waterford AC website



County Championships.

The full programme of events for the two days of the County Championships are now with all clubs. If you are coaching with a club make sure the person who has been emailed the list gives you a copy immediately, no point in having it in the club if it is not shared out to all who should have it, phone 087 6508 307if you can't get one. As always have it available at all training sessions so as athletes know the events they need to train for regardless of what age they are. For technical events make sure athletes are fully aware of them and the training techniques.The two Sunday's are May 13 th and May 20 th at the RSC at 11 am.

Olympic Snippet

Looking back at the London Olympics of 1908 the Marathon race caused a lot of controversy as the man who came home first and well clear eventually lost the race. Pietri Durando from Italy just five feet two inches in height came into the stadium well clear on a sweltering July afternoon and in a very distressed state entering the finishing straight he fell a number of times but got up again and continued, again he fell some 20 yds from the finish but got back on his feet and appeared to be heading the wrong way. Officials standing close to him caught him by the arm including an Irishman named Bulger and walked with him to the finish but this proved to be disastrous for Durando as he was disqualified, the second athlete home some way behind him Johnny Hayes an Irish American was awarded the race after the Americans objected. There was great sympathy towards Durando from all quarters and Queen Alexandria presented him with a special gold tankard. He then went on to run in the World Marathon in Belgium and finished second to one of the Nurmi's from Finland beaten by 2 yards and in the next three years as a professional had several victories.He came to  Waterford for a few weeks in  May 1937 and was a great favourite with all who came in contact with him .He came to do some work and alterations on Hughes's Shop in Michael Street which many older residents of Waterford will remember and his presence caused quite a lot of interest and why wouldn't it as he was one of the most famous Marathon men of all time due to his London Olympic experience and his many major victories, he died of a heart attack aged 56..

Kate wins in Switzerland

On Sunday morning last in Lugano in Switzerland a festival of International Race Walks took place and a number of Irish athletes competed including Kate Veale West Waterford AC in the junior women's 10 Km Race. Kate's main reason for competing was to achieve a qualifying time for the World Junior Championships in Barcelona in July and this she succeeded in doing and in style also. Taking the lead from the gun against 15 athletes from all over Europe she completely outclassed them to win very easily indeed in a fine time of
47 minutes and one second well inside the qualifying standard of 50.50 and not far away from her best time of 46.30, Mellado Coralie from France was second in 49.55 and Heather Lewis, Wales third in 50.26 both of these athletes would be a year older than Kate, another Irish athlete Emma Prenderville was 4th in  51.32. Kate will be very pleased with the qualification bit now out of the way and will no doubt keep a close eye on other top performances by walkers around the World whom she will encounter in Barcelona in July Overall it was a good day for the Irish with Robert Heffernan 6 th in the senior 20 km and Olive Loughnane 10 th in the ladies 20 km and in the junior men's James Treanor was 5th just outside the World standard. .