Tuam Athletic Club

Connemara Rough Diamond 2012

brendan — Thu, 17 May 2012 21:33:39 +0000

This year the Connemara Rough Diamond Adventure Race has a new category which is 17km and is a mix of running and cycling:

·starts with the assualt course 1km (more fun than military)

·cycle to Letterfrack 8km on a flat route,

·run or trek the Diamond Summit Trail 8km

·then finish in Letterfrack with a hot meal iin Letterfrack

All participants will receive a tech t-shirt, hot meal, free water and free bulmers at the end of the race, free entry & free pint of Heineklen at the after party in Mullarkeys Bar in Clifden at 9pm on Saturday night.

Foe more details go to www.roughdiamond.ie http://www.roughdiamond.ie

Balla 8k Sat 19 May 2012

brendan — Thu, 17 May 2012 21:26:56 +0000

The Balla 8k takes place on Saturday at 12 Noon. This race is part of the Mayo Road Race League and has a wide range of category prizes. You can be sure of a top class event as always. Entries … Continue reading →

Winner All Right – Martin Hynes in Limerick

michael — Tue, 15 May 2012 09:14:18 +0000

We are delighted to confirm that Tuam AC stalwart Martin Hynes did win his category in the recent Limerick Half Marathon. We were fairly confident last week that his superb time of 1hr 38 mins would not be beaten but … Continue reading →

2012 5K Series – Claregalway

brendan — Mon, 14 May 2012 23:24:42 +0000

The 5k series juggernaut rolled into Claregalway last Tuesday evening with almost 700 runners on board. One or two of the Tuam regulars were sidelined by injury but that didn’t affect a fantastic team performance, and we are delighted to report that every Tuam runner finished in under the 30 minute mark.

Enda Mannion led the way for Tuam AC when he finished in 6th place in 16mins 30 secs. It was a great run from the off and Enda was with the lead group all the way round. The race was won by Matt Bidwell from GCH in 15:45 who is in great form after his recent fine achievment of running the London Marathon in 2hrs 30mins where he was 4th in his category. A major result in one of the World’s biggest races. Enda was followed by a host of Tuam runners who all made significant improvements on their times the previous week in Athenry but it must be noted that conditions in Claregalway were almost perfect for running and they were far from ideal in Athenry. Tommy Joe Whyte finished in 18.44 followed by Dave Mullins 19.05 and the fast improving Alan Thompson who finished in 20.01 (over a minute faster than his time in Athenry) and is sure to break the magic 20 minute mark before the end of this series. David Watts also went very close finishing in 20.13 and Padraic Burke was just a few seconds behind him in 20.39. Sean O’Rourke ran a stormer to finish in 22.23 and he also improved by over a minute on his Athenry time. Sean was followed by Aidan Brady in 23.06 and Michael McLoughlin in 23.22 whilst the Iron man himself John Mongan ran a magnificent 23.31. The legend that is Roger Rushe showed that you’re never too old to get better. Roger ran another great race as expected and finished in 24.24 – 20 seconds ahead of his time in Athenry. We in Tuam AC were all delighted to see John Brinn back in action again, and John finished in 24:26.

The first lady home for Tuam AC was Rachel Conlon in 24:41, bettering her Athenry time by 46 seconds. Maura Meenaghan was next in 24:37 – an improvement of almost a minute on her Athenry time. Maura was followed by Lorraine Steede in 25:03, Claire Murphy in 26:56 was fourth for Tuam and Kathryn Antweiler was 5th in 27 mins. A special mention must go to two runners who ran extremely well on the night. “Chairman of the boards” Paddy Gilmore made a return to the 5k series last year after a long absence through injury. Paddy has continued to improve and after a very good run in Athenry last week he was hoping to eventually get back to sub 30 minute running by the end of the series. He will have to re-set his targets as he smashed the 30 minute mark by almost 30 seconds last Tuesday bettering his time in Athenry by an astonishing one and a half minutes. Paddy was joined in the sub 30 minute club by newcomer Ursula Brady who finished in 29:58. Ursula probably didn’t realise a few months ago when she took up running for fun that she would soon be a competitive athlete and we all hope she has a great season ahead of her.

Thanks for flag day support

michael — Mon, 07 May 2012 09:30:46 +0000

Everybody in Tuam AC would like to say a sincere Thank You to the people of Tuam who supported us so generously on Friday when we had our annual flag day. All of the money raised goes towards the Juvenile section of the club which is thriving at the moment and we have a brilliant group of almost 60 youngsters turning up to training every week and they are a credit to their families and the town.

Limerick: Marathon and Half-Marathon

michael — Mon, 07 May 2012 09:28:44 +0000

Tuam AC was very well represented at The Limerick Marathon and Half Marathon on Sunday. Ger Hartnett made the brave decision to tackle the ultimate endurance test for most runners when he took part in the full marathon and finished in under 4 hours which is a great personal achievement. 26.2 miles is an awful long way to run and Ger proved that hard training and dedication pays off and everybody in the club would like to congratulate him. We would also like to congratulate Martin Hynes a longtime stalwart of Tuam AC who ran a blistering half marathon to finish in 1hr 38mins. We are still waiting on the official results, but we are all hoping that Martin will win his category. He recently finished 3rd in the Masters All Ireland Cross Country Championships.

2012 5K Series: Athenry Report

brendan — Sun, 06 May 2012 22:06:45 +0000

The running season really burst into life last week with the start of the 2012 5K Road Race series. The first race was in Newcastle, Athenry and a record crowd of 630 runners lined up in very unseasonal weather for the first day of summer. Tuam AC were very well represented and we had a few members making their debut in Tuam colours and also welcomed back runners returning from injury lay offs. The Newcastle course is tough but fair and the wind was very strong between 3 and 4km so times were expected to be a bit slower than previous years but that didn’t stop the Tuam runners from giving maximum effort all the way round.

Tommy Joe Whyte was the first Tuam AC runner home and he was followed by Tom Connelly who we were all absolutely delighted to see back running for Tuam again. Brendan Monaghan was the third Tuam AC runner and he was closely followed by three club mates who are improving all the time – David Watts making his debut in the green vest, Padraic Burke who was only one second behind him and Alan Thompson. All three ran extremely well and will surely get faster as the series goes on. There was also a very close battle between Sean O’Rourke, Aidan Brady and Michael McLoughlin with only 20 seconds between them and they were closely followed by the one and only Roger Rushe who has been running for Tuam AC for over 50 years and is an absolute legend in the running fraternity.

Tuam AC was also very well represented in the ladies race with Lorraine Steed making a fantastic comeback to serious racing, Maura Meenaghan proving that she is as good a runner as she is a cyclist only 3 days after completing the Croi 75 mile cycle around Lough Corrib. Maura was followed by Rachel Conlon who helped her Dublin Marathon preparations by posting a very good time. Claire Murphy who was also making her debut for Tuam AC ran an inspired race and is a great addition to the club and Ursula Brady was also in great form and was very happy with her time.

A special mention must go to Paddy Gilmore who is back in great form and ran a fantastic race and his time was over 5 minutes quicker than last year.

The action moves to Claregalway this week with a promise of better weather.

Another year, another 5K series

brendan — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 22:53:27 +0000

It is hard to believe that another year has passed but the first race of this years 5K series starts this evening in Athenry. With a record entry of just over 800 participants we are sure to see some spectacular races and the grand finale will be in Tuam on Tues 5th June at 8pm. The final race of the series will be followed by the 5k series after party which will take place in our very own Ard Ri Hotel. Tuam AC will have at least 30 members taking part in this years series and we wish them all well. There has been some serious training in recent weeks and two of our members, Maura and Assumpta Meenaghan were even spotted cycling with one of Ireland’s greatest ever sportsmen Sean Kelly at the 75 mile Croi cycle on Sunday last. There will be a full report next week and results will also be available at www.redtagtiming.com

Tuam AC Notes 02 April 2012

brendan — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 23:06:12 +0000

The now World famous Connemaramarathon took place on Sunday. It is in fact three different races held on the same day starting at different points at different times and whichever race you are in you have to be incredibly brave and super fit. At least four members of Tuam AC took part (and possibly more as results keep coming in) and they all fit the bill. The first Tuam runner home was Enda Mannion who recorded one of the best results for many years for the club when he took 2nd place in the Half Marathon. We all knew that Enda would do well on Sunday as he is in fantastic form at the moment and he certainly lived up to our expectations. It was a very strong field of well over 2000 runners and well known Galway City Harriers runner Matt Bidwell won the race but he was closely followed by Enda who finished this incredibly tough race in 1hr 18 mins. It was a memorable result for the modest Dunmore man and well deserved. Anybody who has ever ran the course in Connemara will know just how difficult it is over the last four miles and that makes the result even more satisfying. Enda wasn’t the only Tuam runner who had a great race on Sunday. Padraic Burke had a spectacular run to finish in 1:40 and he was closely followed by Mark Dinkin in 1:43 and the Ironman himself John Mongan who smashed his previous best time by miles to finish in 1:49.

We also had a full team representing Tuam AC in the Berlin Half Marathon on Sunday and they were all in superb form. Steven Brady led the way finishing in 1:41, Michael McLoughlin was next in 1:47. Aiden Brady made a brilliant half marathon debut to finish in 1:51 and the Ladies team was also in great form with Katherine Antweiler running on home soil to finish in 2:02, followed by Andrea Ridge in 2:14 and Kathleen Hogan and Anne Brady who ran together to finish in just over two and a half hours. As we go to press the Tuam AC team is enjoying a well earned rest and plenty of sight-seeing.

Just when you think things can’t get much better news reached Tuam on Sunday afternoon that Dan O’Rourke finished 2nd in the Four Roads 10k race and just in case the adults were thinking they had the weekend to themselves two of our stars of the future Abdul Wahab and Rory Monaghan were representing Tuam AC at the All Irelands Indoor Championships in Nenagh. The two St Jarlath’s students were taking part in the Boys U16 Shot Putt event and considering the standards have increased dramatically in this Olympic year and many longstanding National records were smashed in Nenagh, especially in the Shot Putt. It was very satisfying to see Abdul finish in 5th place and Rory just one place behind him in 6th. Everybody in Tuam AC is proud of these two lads and all of our athletes who made it such a memorable weekend for the club.

Good Luck in Connemara and Berlin

michael — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 09:11:28 +0000

Good Luck to all of our members taking part in the Connemara Marathon on Sunday and to our full Men’s and Ladies Teams who will be representing Tuam AC in the Berlin Half Marathon on Sunday. Kommen auf Tuam.