Dangan Track Now Closed

The Running Track at Dangan is now closed until further notice.  Anyone using the track is not covered by AAI Insurance.  Hopefully the closure will only be a number of weeks. Stay safe. Run s

Galway County 10 Mile Championships

The 2019 Galway AAI 10 Mile Road Race Championship will take place in conjunction with the excellently organised Craughwell AC 10 Mile road race this Sunday, 24 March 2019 at 11AM. 

The results of these championships will be based on the race’s official result and it is incumbent on all local athletes to be correctly registered in the race, both club and category.  Galway AAI will produce the Galway AAI Championship results separately to the official race result.

See on-line entry form here [https://www.njuko.net/craughwell-10mile-10k/select_competition].

(Athletes must be registered (for 2019) with AAI to be validly included in the Galway AAI Championship results)

​​Championship Medals will be assigned for the following:

1st/2nd/3rd Male/Female in Senior, O35, O50 and O65 individual categories.

1st/2nd/3rd Male/Female teams of four finishers from the same club.

Great event, club athletes encouraged to support.

All Club Training Sessions Cancelled until Further Notice

On the recommendation of Athletics Ireland (https://www.athleticsireland.ie/news/statement-from-athletics-ireland-regarding-the-coronavirus-covid-19 ) all club training sessions are cancelled until further notice.

Updates on when training sessions will resume will be posted on the club’s social media outlets. We hope that everybody stays safe during this period.

Weekend Round up 9th/10th March

A busy and productive weekend with GCH Master athletes competing at the National Master Indoor Championships while some of our Juveniles were competing for their respective schools at the All Ireland Schools Cross Country Championships.

Schools Cross Country

The All Ireland Schools Cross Country Championships were held on Saturday last in Clongowes College in Kildare, on a flat and fast course. A number of GCH athletes represented their respective Schools in the Junior, Intermediate and Senior Boys races. Many of Ireland’s most talented young athletes were racing, with some superb performances seen across the competitive eight race programme.

In the Senior boy’s race, Aaron Brennan representing Claregalway was best for Galway in 26th place. In the Inter Boys there were solid runs for Barry Murphy representing St Enda’s, and Eoghan Jennings representing Carraroe. Daragh Jennings, competing in the Junior Boys race was an excellent 13th place for Carraroe, and William McDonnell of St Joseph’s Galway was 29th. Full results link: https://www.athleticsireland.ie/schools/results

National Masters Indoors Championships

A terrific National Masters Indoors Championships were held last Sunday in Athlone IT. A number of GCH master athletes competed across many Track and Field events.

Majella Loftus continued her good run, as she struck gold in the Ladies O45 60m sprint with a pb of 8.82 seconds and won silver in the 200m with a pb of 29.17 seconds.  Niamh Hennelly took gold and bronze in the O35 1500 metres and 800m respectively, while Sinéad Foran won silver in 1500m and bronze at 800m in the O40 section. Jean O Connor took silver in the O35 800m behind Hennelly.  All four ladies made up the GCH 4x200m relay team which took bronze. Grainne Ni Uallachain finished just outside the v40 medals in fourth place in very a competitive women’s 3000 metres, with Mags Sheridan also finishing fourth in the 050 1500m.

The evergreen Martin McEvilly of GCH was on top form, as he claimed triple Gold at O70 level in the 800m, 1500m, and 3000m races, in an amazing display of stamina. Gerry Carty finished just outside the medals when finishing fourth in the men’s 045 3000 metres.

Jim Phelan surged to victory in the 400m, running a personal best of 55.21 in winning the O45 category, and took bronze in the 200m. Leo Brule and Killian Dooley had good run outs in the 200m and together with Jim Phelan and Seamus Lynch took well-deserved bronze in the 4×200 relay race, with Joe Hoade as sub completing the team.

In the Field events our throwers were in great form.  Brendan Staunton, Sean Breathnach and Linas Mitkas won triple Shot Putt gold for Galway City Harriers in the Over 35, 40 and 45 categories respectively. Breathnach was the top thrower on the day with a best throw of 16.74 metres, and later added Gold in the Senior Weight for distance event held alongside the Masters. Staunton and Mitkas also picked up silver medals in their Weight for distance categories. Richard O’Hanlon was also on form as he took Shot Putt silver and sprint bronze in the 60m, at 060 level. Great day out for GCH !

Full results link: http://live.athleticsireland.ie/menu.html

Road race results

Jane Ann Meehan of GCH placed third in the Bohermeen half marathon held in Meath on Sunday last in windy conditions. Meehan clocked 1 hour 22 minutes, a solid run as she continues her marathon build up. At the Carra Classic over 8km in Mayo, Regina Casey had a convincing win, in a time of 29.26 minutes.

Upcoming Galway 5km Series

The 2019 Galway 5km series will open for entries online on Active. com at 8pm on Friday 22nd March.  There will be 700 online entries available for general sale and the price will remain at €30 for entry. The series will kick off in on April 30th in Caltra at 7.45pm, and as usual will be held over six consecutive Tuesdays with the grand finale in Kilcornan, Clarenbridge on June 4th.

Covid-19 Update

We would like to remind all our athletes about the importance of hand and face hygiene at the start and during any training sessions.Please do not not share water bottles or gear. https://www.athleticsireland.ie/news/covid-19-update  has a brief statement.

Galway Athletics awards POSTPONED

PLEASE NOTE that the Galway Athletics Awards event scheduled for this Friday 13th March has been POSTPONED.

A new date will be announced in due course.

GCH at the National Masters Indoors

A number of GCH athletes competed in the terrific Irish Life Health National Masters Indoor Championships on Sunday in Athlone. Outstanding performances all round in a Championships which has grown in terms of numbers and competitiveness over the years. GCH were represented in the throwing events and six track events plus the relays.

The inspirational Martin McEvilly took o70 gold in the 800m and 3000m events and silver in the 1500m. Brendan Staunton took master o35 shot putt gold with a throw of 12.62 and took gold in the o35 WFD competition. Sean Breathnach took gold in the master o40 shot putt throwing a distance of 13.56 and claimed gold in the Senior WFD competition (8.60), which was held on the day along with the master’s competition. Richard O’ Hanlon claimed bronze in the o60 shot putt with a throw of 10.61.

Kathryn Casserly took well deserved silver in the o40 master women’s  800m and 1500m while Niamh Hennelly took bronze in the master 35 1500m with Mags Sheridan third in the o55 800m category.  In the competitive men’s sprints, Jim Phelan took master 45 silver in the 400m clocking 53.46 secs and bronze in the 200m (24.70). The exciting 4x200m relays were the final event of the day. The GCH women’s A team of Sinead Foran, Majella Loftus, Niamh Hennelly and Kathryn Casserly took National master gold in 1:59.46. Stepping up for the GCH men’s relay team was sprint coach Brendan Glynn. The team gave their all and took a terrific bronze clocking 1:54.88. (the team are now eagerly awaiting a permanent comeback by Brendan!).

The women’s B relay team finished in fourth position ( Sonja King, Jean O’Connor, Mags Sheridan, Karen Quirke).

Our lone individual female sprinter, Karen Quirke, raced with gusto in the 60m and 200m races, while there were fourth placed finishes in their categories for Jean O’Connor (1500), Brian Heavey (800m), Eamon Hornibrook (1500m) and Gerry Carty (3000m). The GCH B women’s relay team finished in fourth (Sonya King, Jean, Mags, Karen). Great days competition. Well done everyone!

Link to full results here: http://live.athleticsireland.ie/menu.html

Weekend Road Race results catch up

Kinvara races. David Bohan  was the first man home in the Kinvara Half Marathon in 1:15:34. Jane Ann Meehan was the first woman in 1:23:12 followed closely by Gráinne Ní Uallacháin who came in second in 1:23:58. Néill Keane was second in the 10K in 36:44, with Diarmuid Hennessy third in 37:12. Well done to all the GCH competitors and our Fit4Life crew out in force in Kinvara. Link to Kinvara results:

https://www.sportsplits.com/races/kinvara-half-marathon-2020

Carra Classic 8k. Regina Casey was first female home and sixth place overall in the Carra Classic 8k in Mayo. Excellent time of 30minutes 9 seconds over a hilly course in windy conditions.

Gaelforce. Well done to Naoise Ó Gibne who came 8th in a strong field of over 300 runners in the Skyrunner UK and Ireland 23km mountain running race Gaelforce Skyline at the weekend.

Simon Home Run 5mile. Laura Shaughnessy finished first female and second overall in 27.33 at the Simon 5 mile in the Phoenix Park.

Weekend Road Race results catch up

Kinvara races. David Bohan  was the first man home in the Kinvara Half Marathon in 1:15:34. Jane Ann Meehan was the first woman in 1:23:12 followed closely by Gráinne Ní Uallacháin who came in second in 1:23:58. Néill Keane was second in the 10K in 36:44, with Diarmuid Hennessy third in 37:12. Well done to all the GCH competitors and our Fit4Life crew out in force in Kinvara. Link to Kinvara results:

https://www.sportsplits.com/races/kinvara-half-marathon-2020

Carra Classic 8k. Regina Casey was first female home and sixth place overall in the Carra Classic 8k in Mayo. Excellent time of 30minutes 9 seconds over a hilly course in windy conditions.

Gaelforce. Well done to Naoise Ó Gibne who came 8th in a strong field of over 300 runners in the Skyrunner UK and Ireland 23km mountain running race Gaelforce Skyline at the weekend.

Simon Home Run 5mile. Laura Shaughnessy finished first female and second overall in 27.33 at the Simon 5 mile in the Phoenix Park.

Late February round up & Senior Indoors

GCH at the Senior Indoors. A terrific two days of competition ended with two bronze individual medals and bronze relay team medals.  In the Senior men’s 200m Robert McDonnell ran a terrific 22.06 in the final to take National bronze. Terrific achievement for Robert who ran 21.9 seconds in his heat to qualify for the final. In the highly competitive Senior women’s 400m, Nicole Walsh battled bravely to claim bronze in the final posting a season’s best time of 55.20. Super finish for team GCH claiming bronze in The GCH Men’s 4 x 200m relay team raced superbly to claim National bronze with Robert Meagher, Robert McDonnell, Jack Dempsey and Owen Scully. There were fine performances from GCH athletes on the day: Owen Scully and Alex Lee competed in the competitive 60m and 200m heats while Laura Nally battled on strongly in her competitive 200m heat. Kathryn Casserly had a strong run over the 1500m in the senior women’s race while Jack Maher and Keith Fallon also raced admirably in the highly competitive Senior men’s 1500m.

Gort 5km. A fine third place finish for David Bohan in 16.23.

Maree 8k. First female was Tara Whyte in 33.06 with clubmate Sinead Kelly taking third place.

Irish Universities Indoors. A number of GCH athletes competed at the Universities Indoors. Individual silver for Nicole Walsh in the 400m and gold as part of NUIG Ladies relay team, while there was Individual bronze for Thomas McStay in the 3000m.

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