Ballymore AC News

The holiday season allows us to take a moment to reflect on what was a watershed year for Ballymore Cobh AC.

After a number of years of comparative stagnation, our adult section rose from slumber in April when a number of local runners decided to put their shoulder to the wheel.

Early morning weekend meet ups at Cuskinny soon became the norm, with the summer months providing a great motivation for those taking up running as a regular part of their routine, warmer temperatures even allowing some cooling off time in the salt water afterwards.

The first sighting of the Black and Amber singlets was in Ballyandreen in late May and a regular presence of club members was then seen throughout the Ballycotton 5mile Summer Series which culminated in late August with eight of our athletes completing the set of four races.

It was also around this period of the season that the club staged a well received 3km road race to celebrate the achievements of our most illustrious member Sonia O’Sullivan, who won a European Gold medal over the same distance twenty years ago on a balmy night in Helsinki.

A large amount of unseen preparatory work produced a night we could be proud to stand behind and as well as attracting a good local attendance, the evening also saw us welcome three Olympians on to The Great Island with Sonia being joined by race walker Robert Heffernan and 800m specialist David Matthews.

As the clubs adult membership continued to grow, so to did the ambitions of our athletes and October saw thirteen Ballymore Cobh members line up for the Dublin City Marathon.

As this group were focusing on the job of completing a little over 26miles, our newest members were pushing themselves through out first Fit4Life program.

A nationwide initiative, the program was launched with the help of Cork Local Sports Partnership to encourage all members of the community to lead a more active lifestyle.

It was very rewarding to see the progress of our first Fit4Life participants as they quickly picked up a love of running and being active whilst enjoying the benefits of regular group training sessions. The club will launch another six week Beginner to 5km program in January and anyone interested in registering can email ballymorecobhac@gmail.com for more information.

Elsewhere our Juvenile section continued to enjoy growth throughout the season with athletes regularly taking part in cross country and road races as well as weekly training sessions on The Track at 6pm on Wednesday’s.

Ballymore Cobh A.C.’s Little Athletics programme for children aged between four and nine is also proving to be hugely popular – so much so that we have had to run two sessions on Fridays in the Community Centre.

The emphasis is on having fun while exercising and learning about athletics. Four to seven year olds train from 3.00 p.m. to 3.45 p.m. and seven to nine year olds from 3.50 p.m. to 4.40 p.m. (ten to thirteen year olds from 4.45 p.m. – this may change shortly).

Joining Ballymore Cobh’s Little Athletics programme is a great way to get involved with athletics and make new friends.

Regardless of age, ability or ambition, you will receive a warm and friendly welcome from Ballymore Cobh A.C. and it’s members.

We wish all our athletes and the wider community a very Happy Christmas and look forward to more of you joining us in the New Year as we look to make 2015 another one to remember.