Sligo AC 8k a huge success!

Sligo AC's inaugural 8k road race took place on Saturday 15th May in Rosses Point with 277 competitors taking part. Although the weather took a slight turn for the worst, the quality of the course and organisation ensured that all went smoothly. All athletes were well catered for before and after the race in Sligo Yacht Club where changing facilities and a huge spread of food and drink were laid on. Tribute should be paid in particular to Michael O'Connell and Rory Connor for the amount of work that was put into making the event such a success. Sligo AC officials and members such as Terry Hayes, Ann McHugh, Tom Meehan to name but a few also ensured that help was not found wanting. In relation to the race itself Sligo AC's Emmett Dunleavy (pictured) took off in furious fashion straight from the start line. By the 1st kilometre mark the race was as good as over as a contest with Dunleavy powering ahead leaving the rest of the field in his wake. Letterkenny AC's Brian Phelham kept his recent form with solid running also pulling away from pursuing Sligo AC athletes by the 5k mark. By this stage Dunleavy was only running against himself and the clock hoping to make the course record a difficult one to beat in the years ahead. He achieved this goal crossing the finish line in an impressive 24.20 with second place Phelham coming in at 26.29. Sligo AC's Ultan McNasser took 3rd position in 27.05 with clubmates Alan Kearins (4th), Seamus Somers (5th), Shane Hayes (7th), Steve Finnegan (8th) and Eamonn Dunbar (9th) all running solid races. Unattached runner E McEllen from Sligo finished in 6th place. Sligo AC's Lucy Brennan took 10th position overall and was, as per usual, first lady to finish. Post race refreshments were served in the Yacht Club, once again being served by volunteers and Sligo AC atheletes, where Club Secretary Terry Hayes distributed the prizes. With such a positive reaction from all who took part it seems likely that this race will become a firm fixture on the racing calendar. Well done to all who took part and we should have results available by email on monday 18th May. To request, please email sligoac@gmail.com. Please remember that the second last race in the current Fit4Life series is on tuesday (approx 2.25 miles) starting across from Smyths toys, Cleveragh at 6.30pm

All set for Sligo 8k: 15th May @ 6pm!

Entries for next saturdays Sligo AC 8k have topped 150 mark online so a large crowd is expected to toe the line at 6pm. Any interested walkers and runners can still register on the day from 4.30pm in Sligo Yacht Club. The course is sure to produce fast times with virtually no hills included, just a straight out-and-back course starting from Rosses Point Yacht club, turning at the Cregg road and ending back at the promenade. There are numerous prize categories and refreshments for all participants afterwards in Sligo Yacht Club. It promises to be a great day out for all so please support with your involvement to ensure that the inaugural Sligo 8k is one to remember!

Large numbers of Sligo AC turn out for Ballyshannon 5k!

The evening remained bright and slightly breezy as the field of 116 athletes toed the line on the outskirts of Ballyshannon town for race two in the Donegal Athletic Board grand prix. From the off the pace was fast with Letterkenny AC atheletes quickly taking the lead. Hardy veterans, the like's of Neil Faulkner, were quickly dropped as the eventual winner, Ciaran Doherty, kept the furious momentum going. 15 Sligo AC athletes made the trip up to compete & host club Tir Conaill AC made sure that all went home content (some with pb's) once again organising a quality course, stewarding and mammoth refreshments afterwards! The winner, ciaran doherty (letterkenny AC) finished in a pacey 15:11 with 2nd place going to clubmate ivan toner in 15:46 whilst 3rd went to brian thursby-phelm in 16:06 also of letterkenny AC. Sligo AC athletes finished as follows, 7th: ultan mcnasser - 16:31. 8th: alan kearins - 16:41. 12th: michael gilroy - 17:17. 14th: mel casserly - 17:21. 16th: stevie finnegan - 17:23. 19th: christy mcpartland - 17:52. 25th: rory connor - 18:27. 26th: mark burns - 18:27. 39th: declan byrne - 19:25. 43rd: john foy - 19:53. 45th: cindy mcarthy - 19:55. 69th: bernadette gilroy - 22:04. 88th: laura o'shea - 24:49. 93rd: martina sherlock - 25:27. 94th: jill connor - 25:36. Well done to all athletes who took part, this will set them up nicely for the Sligo 8k which takes place on Saturday 15th May at 6pm in Rosses Point. Registration is on http://www.runireland.com/ and all can also register from 4pm on the day at RossesPoint Yacht Club.

Sligo athletes shine on graded debuts in Dublin!

5 Sligo athletes made the trip to Dublin for the 2nd series of Graded meetings held by Dublin County Board. The night started with Kaitlin Edwards putting the 4kg shot out to 6.09m twice to record a nice benchmark for her to work off in future competitions whilst also picking up some valuble tips from more experienced athletes which will stand to her over the summer. The 3 participants in the Mens grade C 1,500m were James McGeough, Shane Kilcawley and Aisham Patil. James (pictured) looked the best of the field throughout the race and just got checked at a crucial time as he was making his move, he still finished well to claim 3rd place in a new pb of 4.31. While this was going on up front, Shane and Aisham were moving through the field, again 2 more pb's with Shane running 4.36 and Aisham running 4.38, both lads previous pb's were 4.45 so all moving in the right direction. Aisham qualifies as a Junior for the schools competition and looks as though he will be very competitive at Nationals in the next 4 weeks. Next up was the triple jump and here we had 2 athletes, Annia Bednor and Kaitlin Edwards. Kaitlin jumped 7.26 in her first ever competition and Annia jumping an amazing 10m 49cm to claim 2nd spot behind National Senior Champion Mary McLoone. Annia just misses out by 3 days to qualify as a junior for the schools AllIreland which is a pity given that it was won in a new record last year of 10m 69cm a mark Annia is well capable of achieving if not betterig if all goes right. All 5 athletes have a bright future ahead, especially this summer on the track when they look to lower those pb's and reel in the silverware.

Sligo Athletic Club: Fit4Life Series

The fourth leg of the fit4life league , a 2mile run in Hazelwood produced a shock result with three debutants , Anthony Kinane, Deirdre Deering and Una Mc Partlan filling the top three positions on the evening. Seamus Somers (pictured) ran the fastest time of the evening, covering the 2 mile loop in 10.41. The next race , a 2 miler starting at Smyths Toys will be the second last in the series and is on Tuesday 18th May at 6.30pm. Training continues each tuesday in Sligo IT at 6.30pm and on Thursdays at the racecourse at 6.30pm. All are welcome.
Overall top ten positions are as follows,
finnegan, sharon 75
higgins, linda 96
foley, vanessa 112
gillen, aisling 115
ryan, yvonne 116l
affey, maureen 120
gorman, anna 120
walsh, ruth 120
ryan, michael 122
maloney, liam 123
The overall table after four races shows Sharon Finnegan leading from Linda Higgins and Vanessa Foley with Aisling Gillen in hot pursuit.With two races remaining there is still all to play for to see who is the winner of the Spring Series.

Sligo Athletic Club: News Update

Congrats to Sligo AC's Lucy Brennan (pictured) on winning the inaugural West Of Ireland Women's mini marathon in Castlebar on Sunday last. Over 3,000 women took part so well done to all the Sligo girls who took part. Also well done to Alan, Rory and the boys in the Duathlon in Boyle Forest Park and a special mention to Trevor Hunter for winning the Vets prize as he changed disciplines from marathons to duathlons just 3 weeks after running in the Rotterdam marathon. A crew from Sligo AC also travelled to Belfast for the Belfast City Marathon in which Karl Boyce became part of the Sub-three hour club clocking 2.59. A hearty congrats also to Eamon 3.01, Enda 3.19, Damien 3.24 and Declan 3.39. Lucy Brennan was at it again 24 hours after winning in Castlebar she won the womens event in the Carer's association 10k in Ballincar. Neil Faulkner (Letterkenny AC) won the overall race with Desi Foley finishing second and Thomas Kelly (North Sligo AC) taking third spot. Seamus Somers continued his rich vein of form with another pb for the 10k distance, well done to all who took part. For full results please email sligoac@gmail.com and we'll endeavour to have them out to you as soon as possible. A reminder to all that Sligo AC's 8k Road Race is on Saturday 15th May at 6pm. We encourage all athletes, fun runners and walkers to take part and support this local event. Race four in the current Fit4Life series takes place this evening in Hazelwood with first runners off at 6.30 sharp over the 2 mile circuit. See you all there!