Huge congrats to GCH athlete Jonathan McGrath on playing a big part in Galway’s wonderful u20 All Ireland final win today against Dublin.
Jonathan’s family are significant members of the club, with John a long-standing coach & siblings Gillian & Richard still training at juvenile level. Jonathan had a prolific time as an excellent sprinter & all-around athlete during his juvenile years which have only recently elapsed. Many congrats to Jonathan and family on this great achievement which will make Christmas 2020 extra special for them & Galway.
As though last night’s breaking news re Seren O’Toole wasn’t great enough, additional info received this morning is that two additional juvenile athletes have also been named on the Irish relay squads for those major international championships in 2021.
Eimear Rowe was a national champion in 2019 for both 400m and Relay – and medalled over 200m also. This outstanding form made her an obvious selection candidate and we are delighted for her, her family and the coaches involved. Like Seren, she has already represented Ireland internationally.
Robert McDonnell has been making waves internationally for quite some time; his selection for both 4×100 and 4x400m was not a surprise! Robert took the National 400m title this year following multiple titles, records & accolades for 2019.He has also brought his 100m time down significantly to count himself among the country’s leading sprinters – as well as being among the nation’s most promising 1 lap athletes.
The coaches who helped make this happen deserve applause also – notably PJ Coyle, Brendan Glynn and Dave Shaughnessy – among many juvenile coaches past and present.
After we pause to take a deep breath from this ultra-exciting news we will add further details; for now, we acclaim & celebrate this history-making trio in creating one of our club’s best ever moments.
Massive Congratulations to GCH Juvenile, Seren O’Toole who has received a richly-deserved international call-up to the Irish squad for the Women’s and Mixed 4x400m Squads for the European u20 Championships in Estonia and the World U20 Championships in Kenya.
This is the culmination of many outstanding years in the club and testimony to her dedication & talent. In August, Seren won National Junior gold over 400m Hurdles; she has won numerous national titles as an individual and (relay) team player, and has already represented Ireland (pictured).
We are thrilled for Seren, her family and club coach Dave Shaughnessy. Already there’s a big reason for GCH to look forward to 2021! Wishing you the very best in your preparation, Seren – we are all behind you!
For those of you that like night running there are two bits of news from Galway City Council. The installation of lights at the Swamp and on the walkway beyond Blackrock will be complete by the end of January 2021, making those paths much safer for running after dark.
And at today’s Galway City Council meeting, funding was approved to put lights on the Westside running track. That work will be completed during 2021.
We greatly encourage members to take a few minutes out to take part in the Strategic Planning survey for Athletics Ireland. The input of members on this will influence the future direction of our sport into the 2020s.
The current Athletics Ireland strategic plan concludes at the end of 2020. Covid-19 has delayed the progression of the strategic plan development and we are now initiating this survey to give all our members an opportunity to contribute to the future of Athletics Ireland. We welcome your input on this planning process.
Given the weekend just past where we re-lived some of our country’s history and enjoyed the remarkable symmetry of Mayo, Tipp, Dublin and Cavan re-emerging as All-Ireland semi-finallists, here’s a list of GCH National Outdoor champions that helps us as a club to remember some heroes past and present from our own club’s history.
These are athletes from 1899 to 2020 who have won national titles for the club.
In total, the titles won seem as follows:
Sprints (to 400m inclusive): 32
Middle Distance (600 to 2km): 27
Long Distance (3k to Marathon): 33
Cross Country: 24
Hurdles: 18
Jumps: 11
Throws: 54
Relays: 58
Notably Sean Breathnach – with 22 – has the joint highest number of National Juvenile titles for males.He has amassed 37 additional national titles (according to these lists) since.Please contact us if there are any omissions you know of.
Many thanks to Pierce O’Callaghan of Tuam AC and Athletics Ireland who has assembled the source national data for this & to Brendan Glynn (pictured) for some additional data.
This list and many others are available at the Club Records section of this website.
The times & results from yesterday’s races are attached among the photos below…thanks to PJ Coyle for the times, Eamonn O’Donnell for starting all races and to Michelle Van Kampen, Conor Murray and other volunteers for ensuring the data collection and medal giving went so smoothly.
Firstly, these distances are new and arduous for many. Congratulations to each & every competitor who soldiered to the finish line in adverse conditions. Many athletes might have liked to call it a day with a lap (or two) to go, but made the effort to complete the really tough final lap(s).
Secondly, there were just 3 individual medallists yesterday, but cross country involves 6 for a team, so the first 6 from each category count in that regard. All athletes from yesterday should be encouraged that ordinarily they would be part of (or challenging closely to be part of) a GCH team given their performances and completion of the full course.
Definite firsts were achieved by our under 8s Reidin O’Driscoll, Emma Barry & Matisse Vaux who all completed their 500m so well. Well done to these new members on their first competitive races in club colours!
Under 9 girls top 3 were Anna Cavellleri, Cliona Ward & Pauline Navicke.
In Boys under 9, Rory Tauchen, Darcy Noel and Tom O’Connor were 1-2-3 while Louis Jean Hounkponou, Benas Navicke, Tony Browne and Setanta Gibbons completed.
Rory & Darcy dipped under 2 minutes.
Lucy O’Connor, Aisling Tauchen & Emily Maloney were first 3 under 10 Girls with Ella Heavey, Easkey Duggan, Natalia Jaime-Stapleton and Mary Yonas completing.
The first 2 went under 2 minutes.
In the Under 10 Boys category, Keelan Keady, Conor Barwell & Henry Glynn scooped the medals with Zachary Geraghty, Theo Vaux, Dara Jacobson, Cillian Cawley, Aodán Breathnach and Myles Concannon next home.
No fewer than the top 5 went under 2 minutes.
The first 3 Under 11 girls were Lauren Foley, Orna Dunne & Alannah Joyce with Aoibhe Lydon, Sarah Donald, Emilia Feeney & Emma Hounkponou also finishing both of the two 500m laps.
Seamus Hayes was an impressive winner of u11 boys with Dara Breathnach and Ciaran O’Driscoll taking the other medals.
Luke Barry, James Lydon, Noah Gibbons, Fionn Cavelleri and Nathan Podmore also completed.
Jennifer McCarthy and Keilah Murray were two of the day’s standout runners in the u12 race with Jennifer well under 6 minutes – no mean feat! In the first of a treble medal haul for the Phelan family, Siofra took bronze behind them.
Emily Podmore was pipped for 3rd, also just ahead of Muireann Elliman, Lauren Ward, Rachel Whyte, Laura Campion, Katie O’Haire, Rachel Francis, Saoirse Clancy & Jessica Burke.
Justin McCarthy was a clear winner in u12 Boys, ahead of Hugo Lynagh and Tom Gill. Soon after, Joseph Lord, Fionn Seoighe, James O’Connor and Sam Jacobson completed their 3 laps.
Caoimhe Phelan led from gun to tape in the u13 girls race, pipping Juno Hayes with Elisa Jaine-Stapleton & Isobelle Doorly only separated by 0.03s of a second being them.
Ava Bradley, Isobel Kelly, Katie McGeehan, Amalia Heinz-Ward & Tilly Howard all successfully completed the course.
Oisin Maher ran an excellent 5:26 for the boys 1500m with Odhran O’Driscoll and Cathal Heavy both dipping below 6 minutes.
Oisin’s brother Jack is a well-known senior cross country runner in the club and was among the generous volunteers on the day.
Caitlin Podmore, Sophie Foley and Jane Fahy were first 3 home in the Girls under 14 race, with Caitlin below 6 minutes.Sophie O’Haire, Emma Tannion and Abbie Flaherty also finished the 3 laps.
Shane Meagher, Fionn Dahler and Harry Keaney made up the under 14 boys medallists. Ronan Duggan, Dara Comer, Richard McGrath, Eoin Cunningham & Eoin King were next over the finish line.
Keela Loomes, Saoirse Coleman and Eve Kelly took the u15 girls 1-2-3.In the Boys version, Oisin Phelan made it a 2nd gold for the Phelans ahead of Conor Burke and Senan McDonnell.
One of the highlights of the morning was to see Isabella Burke back to her best when winning the under 16 race, just ahead of top middle distance athletes Fauve Aylmer and Aoibhe Joyce. Leanna Nic Donnacha finished the 4 laps well as did Gillian McGrath who was the sole under 17 in the field.
Sean Duggan was the only under 16 Boy present and ran well.
There were 5 under 17 boys involved and William McDonnell, Eoin Killeen and Robert Urquhart secured the medals, with Luke Dahler & Daithi Kilcommins next home.
William’s time of 6:38 for 2km was very impressive.
Overall, the consensus was that it was a great day and a taste of things to come, with a corresponding track & field event already being touted for early Spring!
Dave is starting the next batch of his excellent Strength and Conditioning sessions, starting on Monday 16th November for five weeks until 16th December. They which include a Monday and Wednesday session. People have the option of signing up for one of the days or both. If you haven’t tried these before why not give them a go. You can contact Dave david.fitzpatrick@outlook.ie if you have any questions.
Galway City Harriers are very disappointed that we cannot hold training sessions for our adult members under Level 5 Restrictions. We have all been very grateful for the opportunity to train together over the past few weeks and months. Thank you to everyone who came along to the sessions in Dangan.
Juvenile Training is continuing, with details of sessions being posted on the GCH Juvenile facebook page and usual channels.
There is also an exemption for Elite Runners and we are currently getting clarification on athletes who will be included in this.
New Members
We have over sixty members who have renewed or joined us in the past two months and you are all very welcome.
The Club had very much hoped that we could have continued to hold sessions as permitted under Level 3 and Level 4, but as you are aware it is not possible under the current restrictions.
Training Plans
Coaches Brian and Jerome will continue to post training plans and sessions over the coming weeks to keep you motivated and on track. This will start with a 3km Time Trial in the next few days which will be repeated later so you can be amazed by the improvements in your times.
There is a WhatsApp group for members following Jerome’s Marathon Training programme and another one for those Brian’s Training Group, if you would like to be included in either of those please let us know. galwaycityharriersac@gmail.com
Fit4Life Challenge
We have over 190 members signed up Fit4Life and booking their sessions on Team App. It has been fantastic to see all the High Viz jackets back on the road. While we would much rather train as a group we are encouraging everyone to “keep it going’ over the next six weeks. Your future self will thank you!
To keep you motivated and on track over the next six weeks, we are setting up a Fit4Life Challenge. We want you to sign up to this Event on Team App today.
Sign up for Six Week Challenge on Team App today – “Challenge Accepted!”
Sign up for every run/workout you complete, three per week
To complete the six week challenge, We want you to continue to run on Mondays and Thursdays, as you have been doing, and we are adding in a Strength and Conditioning/Core Workout (S&C) or a walk for you to complete over the weekend.
The S&C/Core workouts are guided by Miriam Wall, GCH Club member who did a six week series for Salthill Knocknacarra during the last lockdown. They are 45/60 minutes in duration. Miriam is happy for us to share them with GCH Members, and now seems like a perfect time.
If this session does not suit you, just go for a 45/60 minutes walk instead.
This is the weekly schedule with a new workout each weekend.
Group
Monday
Thursday
Weekend
Runners
12K
10K
Workout or Walk
Fast Joggers
10K
8K
Workout or Walk
Intermediates
8K
6K
Workout or Walk
Improvers
6K
5K
Workout or Walk
Beginners
5K/45 mins
5K/45 mins
Workout or Walk
There will be session set up for on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays at 7pm and you sign up as “I am going” when you commit to each run.
You can, of course, complete the run and workout whenever it suits you and run a different distance but this will give you some accountability as we can all see who is doing them!
Take this opportunity to make an commitment to yourself and your physical and mental health and get up and keep going during the lockdown.
You can run solo within 5 km of your home and within Government guidelines.
“It is possible to meet with 1 other household in an outdoor setting which is not a home or garden, such as a park, including for exercise.” –gov.ie
Any help/advice regarding training feel free to contact Bernie Kelly by email berniepkelly@hotmail.com or phone 086 8253661
The ‘comment’ option has been turned on for all sessions on Team App so please feel free to add any comments, motivational tips and advice for your fellow Fit4Lifers to keep them going.
Run Safe
These are challenging times, but as runners we are so lucky to be able to continue to get out there to go for a run, it is so important to keep moving and stay fit for the body and mind.
You can join or renew your membership here: https://membership.athleticsireland.ie/
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