Sligo Athletic Club AGM 2010

Sligo AC's AGM will take place on Monday 1st February 2010 @ 8.30pm in the Southern Hotel, Sligo. Club Registration will be collected prior to the meeting at 8pm. All members are required to attend in order to discuss developments for the year ahead. Agenda as follows: Opening Address, Election of Officers, Forthcoming events, Club Road Race, AOB.

AAI Coaching Course & Finn Valley Race Series

An athletics assistant club course is being run on Sat 23rd January in Donegal Town. The content of the course --completely practical - aims to up skill PE teachers/schools athletics teachers and club coaches on the various methods of introducing and developing the basics of sprinting/middle distance/shot putt/long jump and relays in a school/club setting. For more information please contact Eamon Harvey, Regional Development Officer, Athletics Ireland, Drimark,Donegal Town,Co Donegal. email eamon@athleticsireland.ie
Finn Valley 5K Spring Series. Dates: February 5th & 26th. March 12th & 26th. Finn Valley A.C. are hosting a series of 4 x 5k road events through February/ March at 7pm on a February evening. For more information log onto www.finnvalleyac.com

Running Shoes: Sligo Athletic Club News

The Antrim IAAF International cross country which takes place on Saturday next in Greenmount campus Antrim this year takes on added significance. Among the star studded field in the women’s international race is the recent surprise winner of the European cross country Hayley Yelling from England, Kate Avery a medallist in the junior girls race in Dublin and Ana Dule-Felix a class Portuguese athlete. Throw in North Sligo athlete Mary Cullen who goes into the race with revenge on her mind for her below par performance in Dublin and you have a fascinating race in prospect. Mary has spent the last couple of weeks away from the snow and ice warm weather training in Portugal and all reports coming from there indicate that she’s in flying form and I would expect her to turn the tables on Yelling and record a famous victory.
The first national medal of 2010 to come to Sligo was won by Anna Reddin on Saturday last when she won a brilliant silver medal in the AAI indoor championships in Nenagh. Anna recorded a time of 5mins7secs to win a silver medal behind Tara Jameson of Wicklow. I would confidently expect that this will only be the first of many medals that Anna will win in 2010. Martin Conroy’s 5th position and Emmett Dunleaveys 6th position in their respective races in the AAI games in Nenagh on Sunday probably did not reflect their good performances. Emmett ran 2mins30secs for 1000mts some 5secs faster than in the corresponding race last year. Martin Conroy posted a respectable 8mins38secs in the 3000mts.
Also next Weekend we have to go back to Nenagh for the AAI masters championships and the AAI indoor relay championships. Sligo masters will be out in force for the championships while Sligo Athletic Club have entered strong teams in the 3X800mts and 3000mts team race. Last year Martin Conroy won that team individual title and he will be aiming to do the same this year in his build up to the senior indoor championships.
Finally this week I want to say that my running shoes article last week about weak athletes resorting to running on treadmills in bad weather conditions caused a bit of controversy. Coincidently Ian O’Riordan writing his athletics column in the Irish Times wrote on the same subject. Ian posed the question “Has anybody seen a Kenyan athlete on a treadmill?” Think about it!!

Sligo Athletic Club News

The Annual General Meeting of Sligo Athletic Club will take place on Monday 1st February 2010 at 8.30 pm. All members are requested to attend. The venue for the meeting will be announced in due course.
Mayo AC have refixed the Westport 5k run and walk for Sunday February 7th starting at 2pm. This is the final race in the 2009 Mayo AC Vodafone C&C Cellular Road Race League. The schedule is the same as for original event.
The inaugural Craughwell 10 mile Road race is scheduled for 14th March 2010 and there are roughly 250 places left. It would especially suit anyone who has missed out on Ballycotton being only one week later. This race is also the county Galway 10 mile championship.
To enter online click: http://www.runireland.com/events/2010-03-14/craughwell-10-mile

Dunleavy wins Weekender Sports Award!

Congratulations to Sligo A.C. athlete Emmett Dunleavey who has been nominated as the Sligo Weekender male athlete of the year. This award is well deserved as Emmett won a Silver medal in the A.A.I. National championships in the 3000Mt's steeplechase and also helped the Sligo County team win team bronze in the Inter Counties cross country. National athletics resumes after the Christmas break with the staging of the A.A.I. junior indoor championships in Nenagh on Saturday next and the A.A.I. games for Seniors on Sunday. Sligo A.C have entered 4 athletes. Anna Reddin in the 1500 Mt's and Tommy Casey in the 3000 Mt's juniors. Emmett Dunleavey runs the 1000Mt's and Martin Conroy lines out in the 3000 Mt's. Team manager Ray Flynn says" Anna and Tommy are quality athletes and I expect big performances from them both. Emmett and Martin are getting ready for the National indoors in Belfast and will be using those races as preparation. I'm looking forward to a good weekend."

Running Shoes: Sligo Athletic Club News

Snow, cold biting winds, freezing fog. We have had it all over the past three weeks. How are athletes bearing up to those conditions? Well show me an athlete that has missed even one days training because of those conditions and I will show you a weak athlete. Last weekend RTE sport were in a bit of a dilemma. On a Saturday evening at the end of the news at 6 they dedicate about ten minutes to sport. Last weekend virtually all of the premiership was called off. RTE’s favourite sport Gaelic and hurling has not returned yet from its winter hibernation, not even for their usual twice weekly training sessions. Where did RTE turn to? Of course athletics. They followed athlete Mark Kenneally as he ran in the snow around Dublin. Mark who recently finished eighth in the European Championships told them how he continued to train and had ran up to 100 mile for the week on the snow covered slopes around Dublin. Of course he hadn’t been able to train to the intensity he would have liked but he did train. Mark epitomises all good athletes in this country. It proves that his eight place finish in Santry last month was no fluke. He is prepared to go out and train whatever the conditions are. About ten years ago in the company of Sligo AC head coach Terry Hayes I was driving to Ballinamore to a cross country race. It was the depths of winter and the weather was cold and wet. In the rear seat of the car was a young Sligo athlete. We asked him about his training over the past couple of weeks. He told us that most of his training was on the treadmill due to the inclement weather. Of course I told him the folly of his ways and told him it was a sign of weakness. When we got to Ballinamore the three of us walked around the course. Needless to say we were knee deep in mud. As we finished the lap, Terry turned to the young athlete and said “Now young man, your treadmill training will stand you in good stead today in those conditions.” The athlete got the message. Scarves, gloves, thermal underwear, treadmills, ok maybe in a warm up but the real work must be done outdoors whatever the weather throws up. In Sligo we are lucky to have places like Sligo race course and the trails around Hazelwood to run on.

Big Freeze seems to be coming to an end!

With numerous races over the Christmas period cancelled due to the icy roads and athletes unable to partake in their usual sessions because of hazardous conditions, it will come as a welcome relief if the apparent thaw continues and allows all to return to normal training programmes. A couple of races have been rescheduled including the Tuam 8k on Sunday 17th January @ 2.30pm and the Fields of Athenry 10k on Sunday 24th January @ 1.30pm. Please email club officials at slyouthfootball@eircom.net if you are aware of any other rescheduled races and we will post on the website.

Bad Weather continues to disturb Races!

The Bundoran 8k was cancelled today due to freezing conditions in the North-West. More news in relation to this race will be posted on the Tir Connaill website. Regarding both the Athenry 10k and Westport 5k please log onto relevant club websites (found on the website links on this page) for more information. The Calry 6k "trolley dash" is still scheduled to go ahead tomorrow starting from the marian hall, Calry. However if conditions deteriorate information will be posted here to let all athletes know as soon as possible. Happy New Year to all, heres hoping that you all achieve your personal goals and stay injury free!