Dublin to Sligo..

Sligo AC Members Declan Foley and Ciaran Donnellan are embarking on a sponsored cycle from Dublin to Sligo on June 09th and 10th, the 2 lads are doing this Marathon cycle to raise much needed funds for the Sligo Cancer support centre, these 2 lads are no strangers to endurance events having participated in Marathons and half Marathons as well as the odd "Leisure" cycle. On behalf of all in Sligo AC best of luck to the two lads and above all stay safe.

Legend of Athletics...

Haile Gebrselassie recorded the fastest 10,000m time in the world this year this morning

to win his fifth Bupa Great Manchester Run. The Ethiopian, 39, clocked 27 minutes and 29 seconds to beat compatriots Tsegae Kebede and Ayele Abshero, and secure a fourth win in a row. Gebrselassie missed out on selection for the London 2012 marathon, but may compete in the 10,000m event in which he has won two Olympic golds. Gebrselassie will now run in Hengelo, Holland, next Sunday in a race which will double as the Ethiopian trials, with the top three set to be selected for the London Games. I for one sincerely hope we get the chance to see this legend of athletics compete on the big stage one more time.

A big well done to Sligo AC trio Killian O'Connor finished 5th in 3,000m in 9.10, Aishan Patil ran 2.04 in the 800m and Zak Irwin who smashed his 200m pb by over 1/2 a second running 22.26 when winning his race and then later running a close 5th in a very hot 100m in a time of 11.13 into a -0.7 wind, some running for a 15 year old, all today in santry for the AAI Games, Folks I have no doubt in Zak we are watching a future star who I firmly believe will be another Sligo AC athlete who will answer "Irelands Call". Well Done all.

Are ye Runners or Cyclists......

A great turn out of Sligo AC athletes descended on the village of Grange this Sunday morning to partake in the Tour of Eagles Rock, a 55K leisure cycle organised by local Grange Resident and well known gentleman Barry O' Flynn, Once again Barry put on a fantastic event and as was seen by all the smiling faces at the end it was enjoyed by all, the scenery was absolutely breath taking and the weather really shone for all on the day, the safety crew, marshalling, company and catering again was first class which is a credit to all and it was great to see Sligo AC there in such numbers, So again thank you very much to all connected with organising and holding the cycle and no doubt we will see you again very soon, Regards Sligo AC.

God loves a "Tri"er...

Well done to Sligo AC Athletes Ciara Donnelan, Jacinta Walsh, and Cora Mulligan who competed in the Lough Key Triathlon Club annual Try A Tri on Sunday morning, all 3 athletes are making massive improvements to their times in all 3 disciplines and all your club colleagues are very proud of you so keep up the hard work and above all enjoy it.

Youngsters Show the way...

Well done to Sligo AC athletes in Dublin Graded meet Last Thursday. First Rachael Kilgallen comming second in the 1500m in a new PB of 4min 53seconds and then Emmett Dunleavy with a solid opener in the 3,000m steeple finishing 3rd in 9min 14seconds. 2.) Brilliant day at the Connaught schools Track & Field also last Thursday with some unreal performances by Sligo Athletes through the region, On the Sligo AC front we had a massive amount of qualifiers, Zak Irwin doubled in the 100m & 200m, Emily Burns doubled up to win the long jump & 400m, Stacey Kerr won the 100m & 2nd in 300m, james McGeough was 3rd in 5000m & 1500m, Caelainn McGonigle took nearly 2 seconds off the Connaught minor record in the 800m when winning comfortably, Aishin Patil & John Bourke were 3rd & 4th in the Inter boys 800m, Orlaith Delahunt in the walk, Claire Conlon 3rd in the 800m, lOUISE Mulvanney-Kelly won the 300m hurdles. Sligo AC Athletes also finished third in the Senior Relay, Graham Kerr had a great win in the Junior boys 100metres, There was unlucky stories too for Colm Bourke in long jump & Dylan Carty in the walk both forced out with injuries. Well done to all and our Neighbours in North Sligo too with Cian McBride, William Crowe & Kieran Elliot winning all their races quite convincingly... Congratulations to athletes and coaches from all in Sligo AC.

School Kid's clean up....

Sligo AC had a lot of representatives at the Co Sligo Track and Field Championships 2012, and some excellent performances by these youngsters shows the the future for Sligo AC and athletics looks bright. Well done to all who competed and to all the coaches. RESULTS U12 Girls 60m Hurdles U12 Boys 60m Hurdles 1st Ellen Kilcoyne Sth Sligo 1st Declan Foy Sligo AC 2nd Nadine Deering Sligo AC 2nd Noel Burke Sligo AC 3rd Nancy Mae Leech Sth Sligo AC 3rd Ronan Walsh Sth Sligo AC U13 Girls 60m Hurdles U13 Boys 60m Hurdles 1st Lauren Cadden Sligo AC 1st Leo Doherty Sligo AC 2nd Ciara Mooney Tireragh AC 2nd Liam Kerrigan Sth Sligo 3rd Josh Fairbrother Tireragh U14 Boys 75m Hurdles 1st Joseph McMunn Tireragh U15 Girls 80m Hurdles U15 Boys 80m Hurdles 1st Tara Leech Tireragh AC 1st Thomas Keaveney Tireragh 2nd Leah McCarthy Sligo AC U16 Girls 80m Hurdles 1st Naoimi Higgins Tireragh AC U12 Girls 60m U12 Boys 60m 1st Tara Walsh Sth Sligo 9.04 1st Noel Burke Sligo AC 9.00 2nd Ellen Kilcoyne Sth Sligo 2nd Declan Foy Sligo AC 3rd Eva Delahunt Sligo AC 3rd Jason McMunn Tireragh U13 Girls 60m U13 Boys 60m 1st Lauren Cadden Sligo AC 8.76 1st Eoin Hallinan Tireragh AC 2nd Aoife Morris Sligo AC 2nd Liam Kerrigan Sligo AC 3rd Ciara Mooney Tireragh AC 3rd Leo Doherty Sligo AC U14 Girls 80m U14 Boys 80m 1st Mairead Surlis Sth Sligo AC 1st Kieran McGlone Sligo AC 11.00 2nd Adam Lynch Sligo AC 3rd Joseph McMunn Tireragh AC U15 Girls 100m U15 Boys 100m 1st Tara Leech Tireragh 14.00 1st Graham Kerr Sligo AC 12.79 2nd Keeley Greene Nth Sligo AC 2nd David Rutledge Sligo AC 3rd Isobel McPhilips 3rd Aaron Keaveney Tireragh AC U16 Girls 100m U16 Boys 100m 1st Stacey Kerr Sligo AC 12.94 1st Aaron Cadden Sligo AC 2nd Naomi Higgins Tireragh AC U17 Boys 100m 1st Ben Roberts Nth Sligo AC 2nd Oisin Harney Sligo AC U19 Boys 100m 1st Colm Burke Sligo AC U12 Girls 600m U12 Boys 600m 1st Tara Walsh Sth Sligo 1st Noel Bourke Sligo AC 2nd Nadine Deering Sligo AC 2nd Michael Kerins Nth Sligo AC 3rd Emma Walsh Sth Sligo 3rd Jason McMunn Tireragh AC U13 Girls 600m U13 Boys 600m 1st Aoife Morris Sligo AC 1.59 1st Leo Doherty Sligo AC 2nd Lauren Cadden Sligo AC 2nd James McDonagh Nth Sligo AC 3rd Lillian Casey Sligo AC 3rd Brian West U14 Boys 800m 1st Luke Brown U15 Girls 800m U15 Boys 800m 1st Caoileann McGonigle Sligo AC 2.27 1st Aaron Keaveney Tireragh AC 2.50 2nd Laura Joyce Sligo AC 2nd Thomas Keaveney Tireragh AC 3rd Kate Carty Sligo AC 3rd Keenan Deering Sligo AC U17 Girls 1500m U17 Boys 1500m 1st Aisling Molloy Sligo AC 5.40 1st Oisin Harney Sligo AC 4.44 2nd Thomas Delahunt Sligo AC 3rd Ben Roberts Nth Sligo AC U18 Girls 1500m U18 Boys 1500m 1st Elan McCarthy Nth Sligo AC 6.58 1st John Bourke Sligo AC 4.40 ` U12 Girls Long Jump U12 Boys Long Jump 1st Ellen Kilcoyne Sth Sligo AC 3.23 1st Noel Bourke Sligo AC 3.44 2nd Tara Walsh Sth Sligo AC 2nd Michael Kerins Nth Sligo AC 3rd Nancy Mae Leech Tireragh AC 3rd Declan Foy Sligo AC U13 Girls Long Jump U13 Boys Long Jump 1st Ciara Mooney Tireragh AC 3.29 1st Eoin Hallinan Tireragh AC 3.80 2nd Lillian Casey Sligo AC 2nd Leo Doherty Sligo AC 3rd Lauren Cdden Sligo AC 3rd Josh Fairbrother Tireragh AC U14 Girls Long Jump U14 Boys Long Jump 1st Adam Lynch Sth Sligo AC 3.93 2nd Joseph McMunn Tireragh U15 Girls Long Jump U15 Boys Long Jump 1st Tara Leech Tireragh AC 4.59 1st Tomas Keavney Tireragh 3.45 2nd Isobel McPhilips Tireragh 2nd Aaron Keaveney Tireragh 3rd Keeley Greene Nth Sligo AC 3rd Keenan Deering Sligo AC U18 Girls Long Jump U17 Boys Long Jump 1st Elan McCarthy Nth Sligo AC 3.0 1st Ben Roberts Nth Sligo AC 5.00 2nd Oisin Harney Sligo AC U19 Boys Long Jump 1st Colm Bourke Sligo AC 6.06 U12 Girls Shot Putt U12 Boys Shot Putt 1st Tara Walsh Sth Sligo AC 5.05 1st Ronan Walsh Sth Sligo AC 5.71 2nd Rachel Keller Sth Sligo 2nd Declan Foy Sligo AC 3rd Chloe Connie Sth Sligo U13 Girls Shot Putt 1st Lillian Casey Sligo AC 5.66 2nd Tara Carty Sligo AC 3rd Lauren Cadden Sligo AC U14 Girls Shot Putt U14 Boys Shot Putt 1st Rachel Walsh Sth Sligo AC 5.36 Adam Lynch Sligo AC 6.44 U15 Girls Shot Putt 1st Kate Carty Sligo AC 4.95

8K Basking in Sunshine.

Sligo AC's annual 8K Road Race was held in the fantastic surroundings of Rosses Point on Saturday afternoon last, A record entry of 263 runners lined up at the start line of this now infamous race which is attracting bigger numbers year after year. The Race was held under perfect weather conditions and the organisation of the event was second to none. The outright winner of the Race was Sligo AC's very own Emmet Dunleavy who cruised across the line in a fine time of 25:15 followed by Sligo AC's up coming young star Killian O'Conner (26:43), T.J. McHugh (26:51) of Mayo AC was third. In the women's race Catherine Conway of Mayo AC was first home in a time of 31:05 followed by North Sligo AC's Aisling Van Rensburg in 31:08 and in third spot was North Sligo AC's Una McCool in 32:12. This race is one of the flattest races in the North West and is race number 3 of 9 in the Sligo Credit union, Amcor Flexibles and Filans Centra Road Racing league where the attention now switches to the next race which is the Maugherow 10K at the beginning of June. A superb after race function was held in The Yacht Club where there was plenty of Tea, Coffee and some exceptional goodies which was all donated by Club Members, Family and Friends, and Sligo AC would like to thank every one for their support, help and advice in staging this very successfully run, we hope everyone enjoyed the event as much as we in Sligo AC enjoyed having you with us and look forward to welcoming you all back in 2013. It was great to see so many happy faces crossing the line as the most important thing is to enjoy yourself so be very proud of what you have achieved and Happy Running. Regards Enda Dineen

Sligo AC PRO Below is a link where a number of photographs can be found. http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=3541571372747&set=a.3541570652729.2139720.1076310900&type=1&theater

Anna The Flyer..

A massive well done to Sligo AC's Anna Reddin finishing 7th in the Sun Belt Championships in Louisianna over 10,000 in 37min 48 in her first ever 10,000m, she is getting stronger and stronger every day and lots more to come for this talented youngster. Congratulations from all your friends in Sligo AC.

Balina Half Marathon PB's all round...

On Saturday Morning a group of Sligo AC Athletes made the Short Journey to Ballina to compete in the River Moy Half Marathon, This excellently organised event is held along the banks of the River Moy incorporating the beautiful surroundings of Beleek Woods and had a field of 380 runners on the morning of the event. It was a great outing for the Sligo contingent as Eamon Dunbar and Enda Dineen crossed the line together in a time of 1:30 both inside the top 25 across the finish line, both these lad's just after completing Marathons in the last few Day's and weeks, Next was Joe Davey who ran a personal best of 1:43 followed by Linda Higgins in a PB of 1:55, Mairead McMorrow in a PB of 1:56, Sarah McCaffrey PB of 1:58, Corina Kiernan was next in her first outing at the Half Marathon distance in a time of 1:59 closely followed by Sharon Dineen in a PB of 2:00. This sets all these endurance runners up nicely for the coming year which will no doubt lead to the start line of The Dublin City Marathon.

8K 2012..Massive success.

Hi To all who participated in today's Sligo AC 8K road race. Please find the link to the complete results attached and well done to one and all, you all should be proud of what you achieved today and thank you for you support. I hope you all enjoyed the event as much as we in Sligo AC enjoyed having you with us in the beautiful surroundings of Sunny Rosses point. Happy Running. :) http://www.precisiontiming.net/result/racetimer?v=%252Fen%252Frace%252Fshow%252F848%253Flayout%253Dprecision_timing

SLIGO AC FLYERS...

Congratulations to all Sligo AC members who competed in the Ballyshannon 5K this evening, Alan Kearins ran PB of 16.22 followed by Mel Casserly in 16:36, Kevin McGloin ran 16:50, Rory Connor 18:41, Mark Burns (Non Sligo AC) 19:24, Jill Connor 24:54. Well Done from all your club Colleagues.

Balla 8K.

The Balla 8k will take place on Saturday May 19th at 12 noon (Note new start time).You can race, jog or walk. It is the second race in Mayo AC 2012 C&C Cellular Road League. It replaces the Carramore 10k which is not being held this year. Entries online at www.runireland.com or at Community Centre Balla from 10.30 on race day, - value for money at €10.00. Prizes (all cash) Men first 3, first 2 over 40, 50, 60. First Junior u19. Women first 3, first 2 over 35, 45, 50. First Junior u19 A contribution from the race will go towards Balla 'No Name Club' - a national organisation catering for the needs of local youth. Dressing facilities at Community Centre. Post race refreshments/prize-giving in Durkans at the Square. 8k course is AAI measured. It is the same course as 10k, except the 8k start is at 2k mark at top of village beyond church. Contacts: Brendan Conwell 087 2941227 or Michael McGrath 086 8534729 (after 7pm).

A Big congratulations to Sligo AC members Eamon Dunbar, Damien Kennedy and Declan Marshall who ran the Belfast City Marathon on Bank Holiday Monday,Conditions were difficult as the Rain poured down but that did not stop these three tough characters who had trained meticulously for the endurance event. Eamon was first home in a super time of 2:57 and is now a member of a very elite sub 3 group, Next was Damien in a time of 3:07 and again it goes to show the commitment and effort that was put in as Damien pushed hard to achieve this excellent time, completing the trio was Declan in a time of 3:18 which was a fantastic outing by Declan and all times the 3 lads should be extremely proud of. It has been a long winter for the 3 seasoned Marathoners so it is now time to relax the tired muscles, "Rehydrate" and then start thinking of Dublin 2012 when it all starts over again. Well done lads from all your club colleagues.

thinking of Dublin 2012 when it all starts over again. Well done lads from all your club colleagues.

"Run Cycle Run"

A massive well done to all Sligo AC members who participated in today’s third Boyle Charity Duathlon. Following on from the success of last years event the 2012 Duathlon proved to be a bigger and better Challenge. Lough Key Forest Park is an ideal location for multi-sport events with its beautiful scenery and full compliment of amenities which is no wonder the crowds just keep getting bigger and bigger each year. The weather really did shine for all and both competitors and supporters made the best of the Bank Holiday Break. Also a big thank you to the organisers of the event as a lot of work went in to the staging of the Duathlon and they deserve all the credit and thanks from all who took part. The Duathlon also raised a lot of money for their chosen charity which this year was "The Ciara Grehan Foundation" in association with Ability West, so again well done to all concerned. The event consisted of a 5K run followed by a 20K Cycle and finishing with a punishing 2.5K run but the weather, scenery and fantastic support made it all the easier. The organisers left nothing to chance and organised a family day out as bouncy castles, children’s obstacle course, face painting and other activities were all planed in conjunction with the duathlon. I have no doubt this event will grow in popularity every single year as it was plain to be seen this afternoon from the competitors faces that this now will be a regular calendar event for all. Also Congratulations to all Sligo AC Members who participated in this weekends Tour Of Sligo events. Again the weather really was on the cyclist’s side and everyone should be proud to have participated in such a challenging event. The Family day proved to be an enjoyable and leisurely cycle on the Saturday before the endurance riders hit the roads in the 60K, 100K and enormous 160K. A well deserved break from the saddle now as the decisions are made to see what is the next challenge that awaits to be tackled.

REMINDER.SLIGO AC 8K - SAT. NEXT MAY 12TH AT 5:30PM, ROSSES POINT - SEE YOU THERE - www.runireland.com

Belfast Bound

All at Sligo AC want to send our wishes to 3 of our club athletes who are competing in this years Belfast City Marathon. The 3 "Hard Men" are Declan "Olly" Marshall, Damien "ebay" Kennedy and Eamon "Red Mist" Dunbar. These 3 lads have covered some serious miles over the past number of months and have even been known to camp out in Union Wood as they have trained so much in the wood since Christmas. All this training will stand them good stead as the line up at the start line outside City Hall on Monday morning. As one legend of the Sligo Long Distance Road running scene once said "Go out hard, and hang on", Best of luck Lad's as you tackle the Marathon distance and remember "The marathon is a charismatic event. It has everything. It has drama. It has competition. It has camaraderie. It has heroism. Every runner can't dream of being an Olympic champion, but he can dream of finishing a marathon." Pictured above is the 3 Belfast Bound Lad's with Marathon Guru and Sligo AC Coach Alan Kearins after one of Alan's Marathon training sessions which seem's to have taken it's toll on Olly by the look in his eye's.

"Happy Running"