BALLYMORE COBH A.C. 2016 YEAR IN REVIEW

Waterford Half Marathon:

We had 14 members competing.
13.1 mile debuts were made by Anne Burke and Kathryn Farrell.
Of 1,300 finishers – 

We’d a big gang down Waterford way, the pick of the bunch being Orla O’Rourke, who placed 4th in her category in a smashing time of 68:48.

Clonakilty Waterfront Half Marathon & 10k:

A baker’s dozen travelled by private coach to west Cork, with Ken Hickey taking part in the H.M. event and the dozen ladies he had the pleasure of traveling with all putting in fine performances in the 10k event.

Cloyne Commons 4k Challenge (1):

A motley crew of assorted athletes, vagabonds and chancers ran for us in this one. The pick of the bunch on the podium were – 
1st Male Junior Tomasz Krawczyk 14:30
1st Female Junior Maggie Sillett 17:58
3rd Female Junior Emily Sheridan 19:18
1st in category Mary Histon-De Barra 18:22
4th in category Stephen Ryan 16:06
New personal best (pb) for Heike Von Heyne

•January also marked the start of our Fit4Life programme, whereby we guide newbies (and lapsed runners) to complete 5k by the end of their programme.

FEBRUARY

BHAA Gas Networks 5k @ the Marina:

2nd in category Orla O’Rourke 
3rd in C Team category Shane Meyler 
Leilia Pender also grabbed a pb

Eagle A.C. 5 Mile in Carrigaline:

Orla O’Rourke 1st in category
Our ladies won a coveted 2nd place in the team category

BHAA Jansenn 6k in Little Island:

3rd place Female Orla O’Rourke 
Her sister, Una French, also won an age category prize

MARCH

National Juvenile 1,500m Indoor Championships Final:

Tomasz Krawczyk 4:40:34
A beast of a run by an outstanding talent.
Tomasz is also the current Munster Indoor Champion u/18 1,500m & 800m

Cloyne Commons 4k Challenge (2):

We scored a 1-2-3 in the Female Junior’s race, courtesy of Emily Sheridan, Maggie Sillett and Caoimhe Gilmartin respectively.
1st Male Junior Josh Kelly
1st in category Ruth Phelan
2nd in category Alma Worrall
3rd in category Stephen Ryan

Tralee International Marathon:
Shane Meyler 3:35
Tom O’Riordan 3:55 (pb)

Killeagh 4 Mile Race:

4th in category Barry Breen

Ballycotton 10 Race:

We entered 24 of our finest. Amongst them were Trevor Cummins clocking an excellent 1:01 and a pb for all of the following – Ber Navin, Heike Von Heyne, Trish Doherty, Karen Geasley and Angela Leahy.

Beruit Elite Racing Club 10k:

While on a U.N. mandated peace keeping mission in the Golan Heights, our very own Sgt. Damien Whelan proudly wore the black and amber singlet in savage heat to record a not to be sniffed at 47:16.

• Also in March, our Fit4Life programme successfully concluded, we held a cake sale, quiz night and marched in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade. One busy month!

APRIL

Crosshaven 8k Race:

3rd in category Leilia Pender

BHAA Stryker 4 Mile:

1st in category Orla O’Rourke
3rd in category Lynne Doherty

Ballintotis 4 Mile Race:

We had over 30 members taking part, with several winning individual prizes and a large amount of people making their debuts for us too.

BHAA UCC 10k:

3rd in B Team category Shane Meyler

• April also marked the laying down of our new juvenile running track and a very informative talk by leading dietician, Billy Murphy.

MAY

Hillfest 5k Road Race in Watergrasshill:

1st place Female Jennifer Goggin-Walsh

BHAA John Buckley Sports 5k:

1st in category Orla O’Rourke
2nd in category Una French

John Buckley Sports Graded League Mile @ C.I.T.:

Trevor Cummins 5:10
Jennifer Goggin-Walsh 5:42

Big 25 Berlin:

Heike Von Heyne returned to her hometown to run the 10k event.
Stephen Ryan took part in the 25k event, with both athletes finishing inside the famous Olympic Stadium.

Searlait Tywang 10 Mile Memorial Run:

4th place female Lynne Doherty

Emer Casey 10k in Youghal:

3rd in category Fergal Quinlan

Ballyandreen 5 Mile Race:

1st in category Orla O’Rourke 

3rd place female Mary Histon-De Barra

BHAA Pfizers 6 Mile Road Race:

4th female Orla O’Rourke
2nd in category Lynne Doherty

Great Island 10 & 4 Mile Races:

A humongous amount of Ballymore Cobh athletes took part in this fantastic race here on the Great Island. Thank you to our pacers who timed their runs to a tee – Ber Rowe & Kevin Jones (100 mins), Deirdre Meyler & Shane Meyler (90 mins).
1st o/35 Eimear Taft
1st o/45 Orla O’Rourke
2nd o/45 Una French
3rd o/45 Lynne Doherty

Cork County Masters T&F o/45:

Gold 1,500 metres Liam Hurley
Silver 800 metres Liam Hurley

• The West of Ireland Women’s Mini Marathon had the honour of the humble and great Sonia O’Sullivan taking part in their race sporting, of course, a Ballymore Cobh A.C. singlet.

JUNE

Cork City Marathon:

Fergal Quinlan 3:37 (marathon no. 18!)
Tony O’Sullivan 3:49 (debut marathon)
Will Dunne 4:00 (debut marathon)
Leilia Pender 4:23 (pb)

Waterford Viking Marathon:

Leilia and Stephen Pender completed this 26.2 mile race, it being Leilia’s 2nd marathon in 3 weeks. Stephen, having had to retire at mile 25 3 weeks previously in Cork due to injury, displayed great determination to power on and complete the 26.2 in Waterford.

Cork City Half Marathon:

5th of 940 in category Orla O’Rourke
Yvonne Davidson (debut half marathon)

Cloughduv 5k:

5th overall Shane Meyler

BHAA Merck 6k:

1st place Female Orla O’Rourke
3rd place Female Jennifer Goggin-Walsh
1st in category Una French

BHAA VMware 5k Race:

3rd in B Team category Shane Meyler

Glanmire G.A.A. 4 Mile Race:

4th in category Deirdre Meyler

East Ferry 5 Mile Race:

4th in category Stephen Ryan

Doneraile 5k Park Run:

3rd in category Stephen Ryan

Ballinacurra 4 Mile Race:

2nd in category Stephen Ryan

• This month also began the Noel Berkeley sessions. The former Irish Olympian each week imparting his knowledge to our athletes at the Track who were eager to absorb his tried and trusted training methods.
We also had a club stall at the Vitality Cobh open day held on a beautiful summers afternoon at the Promenade in Cobh.

JULY

Run Killarney Half Marathon:

We rounded up a posse and conducted a small scale Rebel invasion of the Kingdom. Amongst the riches plundered were a pair of personal bests –

Tom O’Riordan 1:35
Claire Holland 2:00

John Buckley Sports Graded League 3,000m B Race:

1st place Trevor Cummins 10:26

Carrigtwohill A.C. 5k Race:

2nd place Female Jennifer Goggin-Walsh (including a fantastic sprint finish with Cork City Marathon winner 2015, Nollaig O’Neill)

BHAA I.P.S./Garda 5k Race:

1st in C Team category Shane Meyler 19:19

• Also in July, we had Ruth Farrell of Effortless Running conduct a Chi-Running course for several of our members at the Mardyke U.C.C. Arena.

AUGUST

Clonakilty 10 Mile Race:

3rd place Female/1st in category Orla  O’Rourke

4th in category Jennifer Montague

Berliner Vollmond Marathon:

26.2 miles completed by die-hard Ballymore Cobher Heike Von Heyne

East Cork 10k in Aghada:

2nd place Female Jennifer Goggin-Walsh 42:11
3rd o/40 Shane Meyler 42:49
3rd o/50 Ann Kelleher 53:52
Mary Murphy-Jones attained a well earned pb. 
Many of our Fit4Life graduates stepped up in distance with their first 10k.

BHAA Musgrave 5k Race:

2nd o/45 Lynne Doherty 22:11
3rd o/45 & 2nd in C Team category Mary Histon-De Barra
Shane Meyler 18:55 (pb)
Peter Howie 19:36 (pb)
Tony O’Sullivan 20:45 (pb)

• We held our 2nd annual 4 Mile Road Race, which attracted several hundred runners and was, yet again, very well received.

SEPTEMBER

Events Against Suicide Run For A Life 5k:

3rd place Peter Howie 19:51

Spike Island Jailbreak Triathlon:

Relay event was won outright by our club team of –
Louise Dunne (swim)
Stephen Pender (bike)
Orla O’Rourke (run)

John Buckley Cork City 10 Mile Race:

Tony O’Sullivan 70:00 (pb)

East Cork Cross Country Championships:

2nd place in Masters class Fiona Downey
3rd place in Masters class Mary Histon-De Barra

Charleville International Half Marathon:

2nd in category Orla O’Rourke
Stephen Ryan (pb)
Maria Coffey (pb)
Sarah Ahern (pb)
Jan Verwey (pb)

• Another Fit4Life group began under the watchful eyes of Damien Whelan.

OCTOBER

Run Galway Bay Marathon:

Heike Von Heyne completed her 2nd marathon in 2 months.

Airtricity Dublin Marathon:

We had 9 athletes participating, including some eye catching runs from the following –
Tony O’Sullivan 3:32 (pb)
Stephen Pender 3:36 (pb)
Sinead Daly (pb)
Natasha Durity 3:51 (pb)

Cork to Cobh 15 Mile Race:

1st home for club Brendan Ryan 1:40
1st place in category Orla O’Rourke
Prize in C Team category Fergal Quinlan

VHI Lust For Life Cork Airport 5k:

1,003 participants ran on the airport tarmac at 3 a.m. Several club members took part. Stand out performances in the early hours were
4th place Niall Kavanagh 18:52
13th place Lucas Keating 19:58

Leisureworld Rebel Run 5k:

2nd place Peter Howie (pb)
4th place Lucas Keating

Cork Co. Novice Cross Country:

Bronze medals for our fantastic ladies team of – 
Alma Worrall
Fiona Downey
Ruth Phelan
Anne McKeown

• October also saw us conduct another fun-filled quiz night and bore witness to a very happy group who completed our Fit4Life programme that had begun in September.

NOVEMBER

New York City Marathon:

Out of 1,983 in their category, superb from –
6th place Orla O’Rourke 3:19 (pb)
20th place Kathryn Carruthers 3:30

Ballincollig Park Run 5k:

3rd place Trevor Cummins

Munster Novice B/Master’s Championships:

Gold u/9 Ava Chandler
Bronze in Seniors Jennifer Goggin-Walsh

• Our winter spinning classes began this month with Fiona Downey and have proved an enormous hit with our members.
Suzanne Ryan and Ruth Phelan completed an Assistant Coach course in C.I.T.

DECEMBER

Clonakilty Waterfront Marathon VII:

Lynne Doherty and Tony O’Sullivan both took part in their 2nd and 3rd marathons of the year respectively.

Waterford A.C. Half Marathon:

Out of 700-800 female athletes, one club member stood out –
9th place Female and 1st place in category Orla O’Rourke