Kearney Memorial 2 Mile, Santry

Well done to Kathryn Walley and her Clonliffe team on a lovely race on the tarmac path through the grounds of Santry.
As hoped, quite a few Meet & Train groups supported the race as a warm-up for the Winter League which starts on November 30 in Swords.
There was a particularly large group from Fingallians, led home by Cindy Hickey in tenth place, with Bronagh Snow 24th, Siobhan McCarthy 31st, Cathering Bennette 39th, Anne Marie Gargan 40th, and a big gang - Mary Keane, Ciara Lee, Nina Donnelly, Freda Sally, Nuala Walsh - coming in more or less together; plus newcomer Clare Byrne, who finished with the Crusaders crew. Christina McGoldrick and Jennifer Lee from Blackrock were two other familiar faces, plus members of Donore, Tallaght, Rathfarnham WSAF and, of course, Clonliffe.
On the sidelines, Dave Hudson was busily snapping away, so here are a few of his photos. Full results on the Clonliffe Harriers website.

M&T DATES CONFIRMED

This Years Cross Country Winter League Dates......
Sunday November 30th, Swords
Sunday January 11th, Lucan
Sunday February 1st, Tymon Park
Sunday February 15th, Raheny

All races are two miles and start @11am. Any queries contact Sue Lynch 086 2327570 OR visit www.womensmeetandtrain.blogspot.com

WINTER LEAGUE WARM-UP AT SANTRY

Meet and Train groups and individuals are invited to take part in the Ann and Caroline Kearney Memorial two-mile run at Santry on Saturday November 15 (2.0).
The race, in the grounds behind Morton Stadium, is an ideal warm-up for the M&T Winter League which will start on Sunday November 23 (11am) at Swords (Fingallians GAA is HQ) . Other dates are January 11 at Lucan, February 1, Tymon and February 15, Raheny.
Not only does the Santry race remember former members Ann and Caroline Kearney, two of the pioneers of Irish triathlon, but it also celebrates 45 years of women’s running at Clonliffe Harriers. Prizes go to the top ten finishers, plus juniors and masters; all standards are welcome.
Also scheduled is a 800m run for former and current members – so if you’ve ever competed in the black and amber, get in touch now! Details 087-684662/087-2475321; www.clonliffeharriers.com.

Meeting Monday 22 September

M&T meeting Monday September 22 at Donore 8pm. All welcome to discuss format for winter and summer leagues to come and the setting up of small committee of maybe three - secretary, treasurer, race co-ordinator.

See below for interesting comments from Christina of Blackrock AC:

I think that it's a great idea to incorporate the Sportsworld 5 and the
mini-marathon into the series. Also, I've been to some BHAA races
outside Dublin (including one in Maynooth and one in a little town in
Kildare) and don't see any reason not to bring the M&T outside Dublin from time to
time - it's definitely easy to get out early on a weekend morning, I'm sure
there are lots of us who are willing to give lifts to people from our own
clubs & other clubs, and it would add a whole new level of interest to the
races.
(Could be an idea to check with club members & see if our informal
transport arrangements work for everyone involved in the league, or whether a
car pool system organised via the website might be useful? I don't know, as
transport isn't a problem for me...).
It would be fabulous to do the track events again - I absolutely
loved that, and Crusaders were fabulous to organise it. Maybe we could get more
volunteers like yourself/Paddy/Duncan organised in advance so that the
Crusaders girls don't have to miss out so much. I can't be the only
one with a husband/boyfriend/friend able to help out once in a while.
As regards the difficulty of finding suitable roads, could the Summer
league include some cross country or beach runs? The main thing we're all
looking for is a good race - I don't think the surface matters all that much.
Lots of people prefer running on grass anyway... There was a cross country
that we did in Malahide Castle one summer (May, I think), and the ground
was so good it might as well have been a road race.
Duncan suggests Howth summit as a potential race venue - could be
interesting as we never do hill runs - but I'm guessing the league might
have difficulty getting access to it.
Can we piggy-back on some of the charity runs that occur during the
year, too? M&T is one of those things that can be happening in your back
yard & you just don't notice - if teams came out to those races, we would
raise the profile of the M&T and give the charities that organise those races a
boost with the extra runners the M&T would bring out. To be honest, I don't
know much about the non-M&T, non-BHAA races, so I don't know if that's a
viable option...
Thanks,
Christina.