The IAU Trail World Championships will take place in Connemara tomorrow Saturday July 9. The event will be operated in the area of Connemara National Park and its environs, starting at the world famous Kylemore Abbey and finishing in the nearby village of Letterfrack.
Athletes will cover a total distance of 70km on a course that encompasses mountains, grassland trails, compacted gravel trails, hard packed trails, bog, loose rock trails and open countryside. Host nation Ireland will by represented by eight men, The six-person Irish team is captained by John Byrne of Mayo AC, the reigning national 100km champion, and also includes Thomas Maguire, the Irish national 100km and 24-hour record holder. Daniel Doherty, Keith Whyte, Paul Tierney and Barry Murray complete the team, while Eoin Keith and John O'Regan will run as individuals. This will be John Byrne's fourth ultra (beyond the marathon ) race, and it is testament to his success so far that he has been selected to captain the Irish team in Connemara.
Another marathon success in Achill
Conditions were perfect for the sixth staging of the Achill Half-Marathon last Saturday, with a gentle breeze, a smattering of sunshine and a carnival atmosphere. And the event, which was in support of Croí and St Colman’s Care Centre in Achill, was a resounding success with over 1,500 taking part and thousands more turning out in support.
The marathon was officially started in Keel at 11am by managing director of Special Olympics Europe and Eurasia and Irish presidential hopeful Mary Davis.
The competitive side of the race was won by James Doran from the Ríocht club in Castleisland, Co Kerry, who came home in a time of 1.14:06. The first-timer in Achill set the early pace and never relented, finishing with almost three minutes to spare over his closest competitor, Ballina AC’s Roger Barrett, who also finished in second place last year. Fionnuala Doherty from Clonliffe Harriers was the first woman home, in a time of 1.28:42.
Gold for Aaron and Padraig
Aaron Murtagh, Ballina Athletic Club, continued on his winning ways when he won the junior triple jump at the All Ireland junior track and field championships in Tullamore last weekend. This is a great achievement for Aaron who is eligible to compete in this competition again this year.
Padraig Maye, Ballina Athletic Club, travelled to Alexander Stadium, Birmingham last weekend for the British Masters track and field championships and in the process took home two medals - gold in the M70 triple jump and silver in the long jump. Simon Gillespie, Ballina Athletic Club who won a bronze medal in the intermediate 3k Walk at the Tailteann Games in Santry last weekend.
Armstrong performs well in Slovenia
Hugh Armstrong, Ballina Athletic Club finished in 10th place overall in the European International Youth Mountain Running Challenge 2011 which was held in Gorenja Vas in Slovenia. A record 13 countries competed, with Ireland finishing in fifth place overall. Hugh was the first Irish runner home in a very fast competitive race with only a minute separating the top 14 runners. This is a fantastic achievement for Hugh who only took up mountain running at the beginning of the year.
