Sligo Athletic Club News

Good luck to all Sligo AC Athletes taking part in the 25th annual "Warriors Run" on Saturday 29th August. The slight change in course on the mountain section will prove to be tricky so care is advised on both the ascent and descent. Also good luck to athletes taking part in the Claremorris Road Race, which is part of the 2009 Mayo League.

Ciaran McDonagh, Irish national record holder - Long Jump, will be visiting Sligo next Wednesday 2nd September 2009 for a Sprint and Long Jump Workshop. This workshop would be an excellent opportunity for both coaches and athletes to gain valuable pointers and techniques over these two disciplines. Participants are advised to bring a notepad and pen with them. Anyone interested in this event please ring Dermot McDermott at 0863593482.

IAAF Athletic Championships, Olympic Stadium, Berlin

In this magnificent sporting arena Irish athletics made its own piece of incredible history. We never had an athlete in the final of a sprint event in the Olympic Games or outdoor world championships and yet within the space of 30minutes one evening last week we had two athletes Derval O’Rourke and David Gillick qualify for finals. Dervals 4th place finish in the 100mts hurdles should go down as one of the great Irish sporting performances of all time. David Gillicks 6th place finish in the 400mts men’s final was also unbelievable. It certainly capped a great week in Berlin for Irish athletics where all of our 14 strong team performed to their absolute maximum. For a tiny country like ours to come back with a silver medal and three other top ten finishers is incredible. It was great to see our Berlin heroes in Croke Park on Sunday to help the GAA in their 125 year celebrations. It was wonderful for the mob who follow that sport to see real international athletes grace the hollowed turf of Croke Park with their presence. However I felt a bit sad that our athletes were paid to be there while the poor players who were playing in the football match were playing for free. (Running shoes)



On the local athletics scene one of the highlights of the year takes place on Saturday with the staging of the annual Warriors Run. This year a second field of nearly 1000 runners will toe the line in Strandhill for the annual race. This year sees a new departure with the race taking place on Saturday. The course is also altered a bit with the athletes making their way to the summit of the mountain via a different route. Most Sligo interest will centre on the performance of local athlete Emmett Dunleavy who will be bidding to win the €1000 winners prize. Emmett fresh from his magnificent silver medal in the steeplechase in the AAI national championships will go into the race as one of the favourites. Good luck to all those who take part.

Sligo FIT4LIFE Autumn League 2009

An event for runners and walkers of all abilities.

WHO: All fitness levels. Races are handicapped so all have an equal chance.
WHEN: Starting Tues 15th Sept 2009
TIME: 6.30 p.m start each evening
Race 1 Tues Sep 15th Sligo Racecourse 2 miles on grass
Race 2 Tues Sep 29th Sligo Racecourse 1 mile on grass
Race 3 Tues Oct 13th Sligo Racecourse 2miles on grass
Race 4 Tues Oct 27th Sligo Racecourse 1mile on grass
Race 5 Tues Nov 10th Riverside 3 miles road (out on main road and back on pedestrian path) Start at Blue Lagoon Pub.
Race 6 Tues Nov 24th Riverside 2 miles road. Start as previous week
Race 7 Tues Dec 1st Sligo IT 4K road
Race 8 Tues Dec 15th Sligo IT 4K road

Well done to all Sligo Athletes who took part in the "Tullan for the township" 5k road race which took place on Saturday 22nd August, Bundoran. The club was well represented and most of our athletes finished well up in table. For sligo results please click on the comments link directly below...

Warriors Run 2009 Blog

For all athletes taking up the challenge of running the 25th Warriors Run in Strandhill on 29th August there is a new blog set up where you can share your experiences. Competitors can share knowledge of the course, past experiences and potential pitfalls as well as training schedules, tapering and proper diet etc. to find out more log onto http://sligowarriorqueen.wordpress.com/

4th Annual "Battle of the Champions"

For the 4th successive year, Sligo AC's "battle of the champions" will take place on Wednesday 26th August at the I.T Racetrack, Ballinode, Sligo. This competition is regarded as the main annual fundraiser for the club so all athletes are urged to try and collect what they can on the official sponsorship card. If various athletes cannot take part it would be appreciated if they could lend their support and help out on the day with registration, stewardship etc. Registration is at 6.30pm sharp and all athletes will partake in four track and field events,

• A Middle Distance Race
• A sprint Race
• The Shot Put
• The Long Jump

Each athletes (in their various groups) will gain points for their positions in each heat. The final decider will be a 800 metre race with each finalist being given a handicap. For further information please contact Sligo AC coach Dermot McDermott at 086 3593482

Sligo Athletic Club Notes 18th August 2009

The National Masters took place in Tullamore on Sunday 16th August. Although Sligo had only a reasonable numerical representation on the track we had some quality performances. Kevin Mc Glone was competing in his first Nationals and produced a sparkling effort to take gold in the 100 and 200 ms and a close fourth over 400ms, probably his best event but coming at the end of a hard day following his two victories. John Mc Dermott, fresh from his fourth in the World Masters the previous week took a silver early in the day over 200ms but ran away with the gold over 400ms. Terry Hayes repeated his 2008 bronze over 1500ms , while Karl Boyce ran his fastest ever 1500 ms of 4mins 47 secs in a high class race and Eamon Reddin also ran his fastest 1500ms in his category.


The Annual Dromahair 4 Mile Road Race also took place on Sunday 16th August on what turned out to be a beautiful sunny afternoon. As usual this race was in the capable hands of Tom Cullen and Danny Hannon and they didn't disappoint with excellent organisation throughout. Over 170 people turned out to take part in both the senior walk and run section whilst a large amount of underage athletes were evident too. Tommy Carroll - pictured -(North Sligo) breezed home as the comfortable winner with Neil Faulkner (North Leitrim) coming second. Full results to follow.


The Tullan for the Township 5k will take place on Tullan Strand Road, Bundoran, Co Donegal on Saturday 22 August 2009 at 2.00pm. The Walkers will set off at 2.00pm and the Runners at 2.30pm. Registration is at the Donegal Adventure Centre, Bundoran, (Directly opposite GAA Park) at 12 noon to 1.45pm sharp. The race start and finish area at the Tullan Strand beach car park at the top of Tullan Strand Road, turn up at KFC. Entry €15 includes Niall Mellon tee shirt. There will be cash and merchandise prizes in all categories. Contact: Paddy on 087 2376389.

Sligo AC claim 5th place in National League Final

After 2 previous weekends of competitive athletics to claim their spot in last weekends final, all team members can hold their heads high after a courageous 5th place finish behind some of the top counties and clubs in the Country. A team mixed with youth and experience it gave the perfect foundation laying tonic to mount a serious challenge for next years competition. First on the track was the youth of David Burke in the 110m hurdles that gave Sligo their first points of the day with a 6th place finish, he later received the same place finish in the 200m. As this was going on Stephen Reynolds, best known for his boxing got massive points with his 2nd place finish in the hammer throw. In the long jump pit, Glen Gannon another new addition to the sport jumped his way to a very credible 5th place position and 4 team points with a massive jump of 5.76metres.Sligo continued to pick up good points with experienced athletes Martin Conroy finishing 2nd in the 3km walk and Tommy Carroll 2nd in the 800m, running his usual gutsy race. Conroy later went on to record a further 9 points for the team with a very intelligent run in the 5,000m out kicking his rivals with a 67 second last lap. Emmett Dunleavey, fresh from his silver medal at the national Championships showed his confidence was sky high when he put Mark Kirwan to the sword early on in the 3km steeple chase for the most impressive performance of the day, this added to Dunleaveys 4th place finish in the 400m hurdles earlier. Tommy Casey also ran a very mature race and did his job for the team picking up a 4th place finish in the 1,500m. Kenneth Lipsett (high jump), Connell Boal (javelin) and Alan Reynolds (shot putt) all recorded very credible 5th place in their events. More youth in Paddy Hazelton(100m), Aaron Murtagh (triple jump) and Donal Rooney(discus) got points on the board in their events as Sligo tussled throughout the day with Ferrybank AC for 4th spot. In the final race of the day, the quintet of Conroy, Dunleavey, McDermott and Carroll produced real excitement as they mixed 8 of the best clubs in the country in the 4 by 400m relay, they finished in a very close 4th place getting more valuable points but not enough to move out of their 5th place finish. Well done to all athletes who took part throughout the 3 weekend competition and no doubt all will be back for another push at what has really been a very exciting competition for all involved.
Finally well done to Michael O’Connell who finished 3rd in the over 40 in Letterkenny 15km at the weekend in a time of 55.35 and lucy Brennan finishing 2nd in the lady’s category in a time of 58.09.

National Championships 2009

A record number of Sligo athletes will rub shoulders with the cream of Irish athletes this coming weekend at the Woodies DIY AAI National track and field athletics championships in Santry Dublin. With the world athletics championships in Berlin only three weeks away world class athletes like Paul Hession, Derval O’Rourke, Olive Loughnane, David Gillick and Robert Heffernan will be having their final races before departure for the final training camp prior to the games. Sligo athletes Martin Conroy, David Kelly, Tommy Carroll, Dermott McDermott, Emmett Dunleavy, Patrick Brennan, Darren Hough, Gary Hynes and David Burke represent the biggest Sligo entry to those championships for many years. If I was to put my neck on the line and predict if any of those athletes will win a medal for Sligo then I would have to say that Emmett Dunleavy represents our best chance. Entered in the 3000mts steeplechase, all Emmett’s training this year has been aimed towards taking a medal home here. If he can go with what is sure will be a strong early pace then he has a great chance. Of the other Sligo contingent David Kelly in the 10,000mts could be the surprise packet here. Free at last of the shackles of exams and injury Kelly has put together a couple of months of impressive training and is sure to be very competitive. Tommy Carroll is in the first year of senior athletics and with a recent personal best in the 800mts looks a good bet to reach the final of the blue ribbon event the 1500mts. His fellow North Sligo athlete Patrick Brennan will contest the same event and after a low key build up will also be hoping to reach the final. Dermott McDermott is well capable of reaching the 800mts final if he runs with the belief that he can achieve this. Martin Conroy won a medal over 3000mts at the AAI indoor championships last January and will be hoping to convert that form to 5000mts outdoors in Santry. Darren Hough is a Sligo athlete who has seen it all before and it’s great to see him return to big time athletics. The opposite is true of young lads Gary Hynes and David Burke who will contest their first senior championships and who will just be happy to be rubbing shoulders with Paul Hession and David Gillick in the 100mts and 400mts. Altogether it looks like one of the most exciting championships in a few years and wonderful that so many Sligo athletes will be taking part.