Fintan Walsh's weekly blog

McCarthy wins in record time

David McCarthy was in sparkling form over the festive period when he
had an emphatic win on  Sunday December 23 rd  in Newmarket Co. Cork,
he also led a West Waterford men’s team to victory on the day. The
race was the Newmarket 5k organised by Duhallow AC with David’s superb
time of 14.15 he set a new course beating the old mark of 15.01 by.
With 4 to count on the team along with David there was three other
great times recorded by club members, Philip Harty finished 4th in
15.03 followed by Raivis Zakis 9 th in 15.59 and Brian Byrne finished
21st in 17.04 to round off a great team effort with a tally of 35
points second team prize  went to Bridge Milers-Olympic Harriers  and
Leevale AC third .The Ladies race was won by Leevale’s Michelle Finn
in 17.05. On St Stephen's Day 400 competed in the annual 4 Miles in
Clonmel including a small number from Waterford AC and West Waterford
AC.Sergiu Ciobanu Clonliffe Hrs won the men's section in 19.17 and
Angela McCann Clonmel  the ladies in 23.30. and in a Charity run on
the same day in Dungarvan  organised by West Waterford AC, 1800 Euro
was raised for S.E.R.T.

Munster Fixture in Nenagh.

On the first Sunday of the New year Sunday January 6 th lots of
athletes from Waterford will compete at the Munster Junior, under 23,
Senior and Masters Indoor Championships in Nenagh. It will be a long
day of competitions with the fixture getting under way at 11 am, full
programme of events on Munster Athletics Website.

 Other January Fixtures.

 Sun 13 th Munster Juvenile Cross Country Relays, Junior & Senior
Cross Country Championships Limerick Racecourse. Thurs 24 th East
Munster Schools Cross Country Championships at 12 noon WIT Waterford,
Saturday 26 th AAI National Senior, Junior, Master & Juvenile Indoor
Combined Event Championships Athlone, Sunday January 27 th AAI Games
Athlone.

Changes

Athletics Ireland would like to inform all its members of the
important date changes to the 2013 Woodie’s DIY National Indoor
Competitions. The Masters and Junior/U 23 Championships originally
scheduled for the 19 th and 20 th of January has now been moved to the
9 th and 10 th of February. This decision was made in order to
facilitate the testing of equipment and procedures ahead of the
Combined Event Championships on the 26 th of January and the Athletics
Ireland Open Indoor Games on the 27th of January.The Woodie’s DIY
Senior Indoor Championships will move to the weekend of the 16 th and
17th of February. The reason for the move of the Senior Championships
is in order to facilitate television schedules.All of these events
will be at the new Indoor arena in Athlone.

Munster Awards

The following are the Waterford athletes and clubs who have won
Munster Awards for performances in 2012. Juvenile Track and Field
Niamh Giles Doran Ferrybank and Emmanuel Ogbonna Tramore, Indoor Track
and Field Masters Club Award Waterford AC, Cross Country: Intermediate
Women Laura Behan KCK AC, Men Andrew Connick Ferrybank AC, Masters
Frank Quinlan Waterford AC,  Juvenile  Club Award West Waterford AC,
Masters Cross Country and Road West Waterford AC. The Awards will be
presented at a Banquet in on Saturday January 26 th 2013.in Rathkeale
House Hotel Co Limerick, full details re tickets on Munster Athletics
Website.

Another fine run by Britton.

Double European Cross Country Champion Fionnuala Britton Kilcoole AC
finished an impressive second place at the Iris Lotto Cross Cup in
Brussels on Sunday 23rd of December. Britton faced a number of top
class athletes from Kenya and Ethiopia. The line up also included
European U23 champion Jess Coulson of Great Britain, who had beaten
Britton at the IAAF Cross Country race in Burgos, Spain on the 11th of
November. Ethiopian athlete Ruti Aga constantly pushed the pace
throughout the race, with only Britton able to stay with her. Both
athletes easily moved away from the chasing pack which included
Coulson, Belgium’s Almensch Belete and defending champion Caroline
Chepkwony of Kenyan. Aga then made the decisive move, breaking clear
of Britton and securing the victory..Britton’s next race will be the
Bupa Great Edinburgh Cross Country on the 5th of January, followed by
the Antrim IAAF Cross Country on January 12th.