March 2023

 

The indoor season was in full flow in march. The Munster indoor relay championships took place in Nenagh on the 4^th. The boys u-15 team were running in the 4 x 200m event where they were hoping to start the year on a successful note following on from their successful outings last year. Running in lane 2 didn’t help at the start but they stayed close to the leaders Middleton AC all around. A brilliant 3^rd leg by Isaac Vickers gave them a narrow lead on handing over to brother Ryan. An unfortunate stumble on the tight turn pushed them back into second place but Ryan closed the gap all the way to the finish line but unfortunately ran out of track losing by an agonising 5/100 of 1 second finishing in 1m 47 sec.

The following week the club had 4 athletes competing in todays Munster Schools Indoor Championships in Nenagh. Pride of place goes to Roisin Daly winner of the junior 60 Metres. Isaac Vickers again won a silver medal in the junior 600. Also competing in the 600 m was Samuel Scroope and Conor McCarthy who both finished just outside the medals.

On the 25^th in Athlone our boys under 15 relay team were hoping to medal in the 4 x 200 m relay. After the provincial championships they were ranked 3^rd fastest of all the teams so it was hoped they would be in the mix for the medals. In the heat a sluggish start left us in last position at the end of the first leg. Conor McCarthy put this right and very strong runs by himself and Isaac Vickers left brother Ryan in front on the final leg which he held comfortably to finish in just under 1 m 44 sec.

The final was a very close affair. A much better start by Kevin O Shea had us in 4^th place at the end of the first leg with very little between all 6 teams Conor McCarthy ran excellently to handover to Isaac in 3^rd  place after passing runners on the home straight. After a blistering final 100 m turned he handed over the baton to Ryan with a 4 metre lead. There was still plenty of work to be done but he extended their lead to finish 7-8 metres ahead of the 2^nd place team in a very fast time of 1.43.51. This was an improvement of almost 4 seconds from their provincial time. Their time could have been much faster except for the crowded nature of the race and having to pass runners on the tight bends Congratulations to the boys and to their coach Jerome Foley on the clubs first All Ireland relay championships.

In Slovakia David Kenny was competing in his first outdoor event of the year. This was a World Walking Tour Gold Level event. Competing alongside 3 time Olympian Brendan Boyce, David finished 15^th in a time of 1 hr 24 min 6 seconds ahead of his compatriot. This was a solid opening run for David as he looks to prepare for World Championships that are due to be held in Budapest in August.

We were also well represented in the local park runs throughout the month of March both young and old representing the club.