10th August 2009 - Results and Fixtures

Pauline Curley Wins Marathon in World Masters Championships

Pauline Curley added to her long list of athletic achievements when she won a gold medal in the Marathon in the World Masters Athletic Championships which were held in Lahti, Finland last week. On a very warm day for marathon running with temperatures reaching 31 degrees celcius Pauline went into an early lead and came home a clear winner in a time of 2.43.56, well ahead of Italian woman Michela Ipino and Lorna Thomson from the USA.

National League Final
The Woddie’s DIY AAI National League final took place in Tullamore last Saturday. The Tullamore Harriers mens team were competing in the Premier League final and were up Cloniffe Harriers , Crusaders AC., Athletics Meath, North Down AC., St Abbans AC, Raheny Shamrocks and Leevale AC. Weather conditions were good on the day, mostly dry and warm with a following wind favouring the sprinters.

Jim Dolan was first into action in the Hammer where he finished seventh with a throw of 17.90. Paul Kilmartin also finished seventh in the 110 metre hurdles in 22.5. Paul was later to repeat that performance with a seventh place finish in the 400 metre hurdles in 76.35. Larry Rigney picked up valuable points when he finished third in the 3000 metre Walk in a time of 21.09.77.

Daragh Hanlon was fifth in the Pole Vault and in the process set a new club record when he cleared a height of 3.40. This broke the longest standing club record set fifty years ago of 3.30 by the late John Maher and equalled in 1989 by Declan Murphy.

Eoin Hannon finished in third place in the long jump with a leap of 7.13, the same distance as second place finisher but was beaten on countback. Eoin also finished fourth in the triple jump with 13.07. Eoin then teamed up with his brother Fearghus, Gordon Kennedy and Larry O’Reilly in the 4x 100 metre relay and set a new club record of 43.25 when finishing in fourth place. The same quartet also finished fourth in the 4x 400 metre relay in 3.25.37.

Catch Grennan made a welcome return to the track after injury and was happy with his seventh place in the 1500 metres in 4.25.84 and later in the day he finished eight in the 5000 metres in a time of 18.08.21. Gordon Kennedy was the clubs top points scorer on the day with two second place finishes in the 100 metres ( 11.11) and the 200 metres where he clocked 22.41.

Fearghus Hannon looked to be feeling the effects of a long hard season but gave his all when finishing in sixth place in the 400 metres in 50.40. This is an event in which Fearghus has made huge progress this year and no doubt there is a lot more to come.

Richie Faulkner was placed seventh in the gruelling 3000 metre steeplechase in a time of 12.46.54 while Darren Butler clocked 2.10.29 when finishing sixth in the 800 meters.

Back in the field events Tom Rafferty produced his best throw for years in the javelin when he threw a massive 50.23 metres and earned him third place, just over two metres behind the winner. Tom also competed in the discus where he was seventh with 31.94.

Jan Vasil cleared 1.80 metres in the high jump which gave him sixth place. Jan was also sixth in the 56lbs for distance with a throw of 6.43. Joe Mulligan threw the shot putt 9.57 which gave him sixth place.

Clonliffe Harriers were the team winners ahead of Crusaders AC and Raheny AC. Tullamore Harriers finished in seventh place but there is the nucleus of a very strong team here and with strenghtning in some areas and a bit of luck could very well be challenging for overall team honours in the near future.

News Roundup.
Offaly woman Edel Mooney was the winner of the recent National Intercounties Mountain running championships held in Crone Wood , Wicklow. Edel led the whole way and came home the winner in a new course record. This victory has earned Edel her place on the Irish team which will compete in the upcoming Mountain Running World Championships in Italy.

Jim Langan competed in a four mile road race in Kilgoblet, Co. Kerry. Jim was the winner of the over 65 category in a time of 28.54.

Fixtures
Wed August 12th Castlepollard, Co. Westmeath 5K Road Race: Juvenile 7pm, Senior 8pm.
Sun August 16th. Leinster Senior 10k road race, Rathdrum, Wicklow at 10.30am.
Sun August 16th Woodie’s DIY/AAI Masters Track & Field Championships Tullamore

Training: Tuesday and Thursday at 6.30pm, Sunday morning at 8.30am Except on a race day.