One of the biggest road racing events in the west, the Galway Bay series, takes place in Salthill on Saturday.
Three events are on the card - a full marathon over 26.2 miles, which starts at 8.30am; the 10k which commences at 10.30am, and the half marathon which kicks off at 12.15pm.
Some 3,000 entrants are expected to compete in the popular annual event.
There is also action in the Palace Grounds in Tuam where day one of the 2019 Galway Cross Country championships take place on Sunday.
Adult senior and Masters championships will be held alongside the uneven ages at juvenile level for U9 to U19 athletes.
Among the favourites in the senior races are Rob Lennon of Castlegar, and Mark Davis and Jack Miskella of Craughwell, while Kathryn Casserly and Niamh Hennelly of GCH, along with Aine O'Farrell and Edel Kelly of Athenry, are all likely to challenge for honours in the women's section.
The Galway Combined Events championships took place last Saturday in Dangan, with athletes competing over four events at U12 and U13 level, and five events from U14 level upwards.
In the girls' events at U12 level, Juno Hayes of Galway City Harriers took the honours in the quadrathlon, while in the U13 event, Danielle Moynihan of Tuam AC emerged victorious. Caoimhe Farrell of Loughrea AC won the U15 pentathlon, with Aoife Waldron of GCH winning at U16 level. Aoibhin Farrell of Loughrea claimed the U17 title, while Eilis Keogh of Corrib AC won the U18 title.
In the boys' events, the multi-talented Darragh Fahy of Loughrea won the U13 quadrathlon over four events, while at U14 level, Oisin Phelan of Tuam AC claimed gold. In the U15 competition Liam Shaw of Athenry AC pipped Matthieu Madden of GCH to gold after a very competitive pentathlon, while Samuel Madden of GCH won the U18 pentathlon.
Loughrea Grey Lake 10k
Local athlete Cathal O'Reilly took the honours at the Loughrea AC hosted Grey Lake 10k held on Sunday. O'Reilly stormed home to victory in a great time of 34.51 on the testing 10k circuit, continuing his great run of form this season.
Second place went to Arkadius Skupin, with Ian Killy of West Limerick AC third. The first woman over the line was Denise Barrett in 43.11, with Yvonne Fehilly of Athenry AC second, and Nicola Egan third .
Marathon
Ciaran Faherty of GCH put in another hugely impressive performance last Sunday at the famed Berlin Marathon. Faherty, who is now based in New Zealand, ran a superb time of 2:19:05.
There were other strong performances from Galway athletes, with David Keaney of GCH clocking 2.53, and the evergreen Martin Kearney of GCH breaking three hours yet again with a super time of 2.59.40
