FARRANFORE MAINE VALLEY AC

2025 Review

2026-03-31T19:16:00.003+01:00

2025 was a very successful year for the club with 4 athletes representing Ireland. Our athletes

medalled in every major championship Juvenile indoor and Outdoor, Senior and Masters both

Indoors and Outdoors. The club ran a very successful Cross-Country race for the local

National schools and also Track and field championships in May. A lot of our athletes

competed for the first time at the local championships.

Aoife Daly medalled in the Speed Bounce at the county championships

Fionn Murphy, Niamh O Sullivan and Fiadh White performed excellently at the county Track

and Field championships. Neilidh Kennedy won a hard-earned medal at the County Cross

Country Championships. St Stephens day brought out a record crowd for the Road Race with

over 500 registering for the run. Almost 80 runners took the line for the 2k Children’s fun

run. With Oisin Murray and Sorcha Nicdomhnail winning the mens and womens events

respectively.

Below are a list of the many achievements by our club athletes

Roisin Daly

Roisin consistently reached finals at the highest levels. She won county medals, medalled at

Munster level in the 100m and 200m, qualified for national finals, and set personal bests

along the way. She narrowly missed medals at national championships and contributed to

Kerry teams at the All-Ireland Leagues.

Natasha Myers

Natasha impressed across multiple championships, earning podium finishes in long jump at

county, Munster level. She set personal bests at Munster Championships and consistently

placed among the top athletes in her events. She was the clubs sole representative at the Inter-

varsity championships where she set broke the Tralee MTU record.

Niamh O Shea

Niamh won county junior and senior championships in the discus. In the schools

championships she came 1 st in the North Munster Championships and came 2 nd in the

Munsters and 5th in the All-Irelands. She was also part of the Kerry National League team

David Kenny

David delivered another superb year of race walking at national and international level. He

won the Men’s 20km event at the Gran Premio de Marcha Atlética in Spain in 1:22, claiming

his first international victory of the year. Domestically, he made it four consecutive National

Senior Indoor titles in the 5000m walk and later won gold in the National 10,000m Race

Walk, setting a new PB of 39:39.93 and earning his 10th national medal. David also placed

11th in a very strong international field in the Czech Republic despite extreme heat.

Unfortunately, illness forced his withdrawal from the World Athletics Championships in

Tokyo, but his season remained one of the strongest of his career.

Ryan Vickers

Ryan enjoyed an outstanding year across cross country, indoor, schools and national

competitions, establishing himself as one of the club’s leading middle-distance athletes. He

qualified for the Munster Cross Country Championships after competing in the South

Munster event in Cork. Indoors, Ryan played a key role in a hugely successful Munster

Indoor Championships, winning gold in both the 800m and 1500m, adding silver in the

200m, and helping the club relay team to gold alongside Sam, Conor and Isaac.

At national level, Ryan won All-Ireland gold medals in the U16 indoor 800m and 1500m

with dominant front-running performances. His Munster Juvenile Championships were

particularly notable, winning both events and breaking championship records that had stood

for 40 years. He also won the junior 800m at the Munster and All Ireland Schools

Championships and anchored the junior relay team to gold. Ryan represented Munster at

Inter-Provincial Schools and later Ireland at Schools International level in Derby, gaining

valuable experience. To round the year off he medalled in the All-Ireland Cross Country and

Schools Multi-Events Championships

Cathal O’Connor

Cathal made major strides throughout the year. He won county Track medals, took silver in

the Munster Juvenile 800m and followed it with gold in the 1500m, an exceptional

achievement at his first Munster Championships. He later claimed bronze at the National

Track and Field Championships in the U14 1500m and added another national bronze while

representing Currow/Currans at the Community Games in the 800. He also added County and

Munster Cross Country medals finishing 3 rd in the U 14 race rounding of an incredible

successful year.

Kevin O’Shea

Kevin was a standout performer in the throws, breaking records at every level. He won

county, Munster and national medals in both javelin and discus, winning 4 National gold

medals At the Munster Juvenile Championships, he broke the U17 javelin record, and at the

National Championships in Tullamore he smashed the championship record by over two

metres, breaking the 60m barrier for the first time. Kevin represented Munster at Inter-

Provincial Schools, winning the javelin convincingly, and later represented Ireland at Schools

International level, finishing second in challenging conditions. He finished his season by

representing Ireland again at the Scottish National Championships, winning javelin gold and

discus silver.

Isaac Vickers

Isaac’s year was exceptional and culminated in international representation. He qualified for

secure Munster Indoor relay gold. Individually, he won double gold at Munster Indoors in the

800m and 1500m. At the National Indoor Championships, Isaac won the U17 800m in a

superb 1:55, cutting six seconds off his PB and ranking him among the top U18 athletes

worldwide.

Outdoors, Isaac won the Intermediate 800m at the Munster and All-Ireland Schools

Championships and later qualified for the European Youth Olympics by running 1:52 in

Belfast at the British Milers Club meeting. He was selected for Team Ireland at the European

Youth Olympic Festival in Skopje, where he competed strongly. Still only 16, Isaac finished

the year ranked No.1 in Ireland for U18 800m and also won the Tailteann Games 800 metres

beating younger brother Ryan into 2 nd Place

Samuel Scroope

Samuel qualified for Munster schools Cross Country, set indoor PBs, earned county medals,

and later won bronze in the U20 800m at the Munster Championships and was part of the

relay team that won the Munster Championships

Masters Athletes

Harrison Joseph made a very impressive debut as a masters athlete. Winning county and

Munster Championships in the Shot Put and also medalling in the Weight for distance.

Michael O Connor won the 5K and 10K walk at the National Championships. Jim O Shea

won both Long and High jump at the National championships in July. Dermot Dineen broke

the magical 3-hour barrier while running the Frankfurt Marathon

2024 Highlights

2025-01-23T14:33:00.002+00:00

The Farranfore Maine Valley AC enjoyed a highly successful year in 2024, with athletes excelling across various disciplines and age groups.

November saw the launch of Athletic Scribblings :- a history of athletics in the Farranfore area. This was written by 2 club stalwarts Jerome Crowley and Jim O'Shea.

Key Highlights of our athletes:

· Kevin O'Shea: Dominated in throwing events, winning All-Ireland Schools titles in discus and javelin. He also secured gold in the javelin at the All-Ireland Club Championships and the Kerry Community Games.

· Ryan Vickers: Showcased exceptional versatility. He won All-Ireland Schools titles in the 800m and Multi-Events, and secured national club titles in the 800m and in won medals in the National cross country championships. He also won county and Munster medals in Track and Cross Country

· Conor McCarthy: Conor excelled in middle-distance running. He won the Kerry Community Games 7km marathon, placed 3rd in the Munster Schools Mile, and achieved multiple personal bests in the 800m and 1500m. He won National medals in Community games in both Marathon and 1500

· Isaac Vickers: Returned from injury with strong performances, winning the Munster Indoor Schools 600m and placing 5th in the National Indoor 800m. He also won the Munster Schools 800 metres and along with Samuel Scroope, Conor McCarthy and Ryan Vickers won a bronze medal in the 4 x 200 metre relay

· David Kenny: Continued his dominance in race walking, securing another National Indoor 5k Walk title. Injury robbed him of a chance of competing in the Olympics in Paris. He returned to form winning the National 20K race walk title before christmas

· Other Notable Achievements:

o Cathal O'Connor: Won the County Juvenile 600m, earned silver in the Community Games Cross-Country Relay, and achieved strong results in the county and Munster Cross country Championships.

o Roisin Daly: Won medals at the Kerry Community Games and the Kerry Colleges Athletics Championships.

o Natasha Myers: Won 200 metres at the county championship and was 2nd in long jump. Also represented MTU and the Intervarsity championships

o Niamh O'Shea: Excelled in discus and shot put, winning county titles and placing well in national competitions.

o Sean O'Shea: Secured a silver medal in shot put at the National Masters Championships.

o Jerome Foley: Won gold in the 800m at the Munster Masters Championships.

o Jim O'Shea: Earned medals in long jump, high jump, and pentathlon at the European Masters Championships.

o Michael O'Connor: Won gold in the 3k walk at the National Masters Championships and placed well in the European Masters 5k walk.

October 2024

2024-11-06T18:59:00.005+00:00

The club organised a very successful National School Cross Country event at the start of October with large numbers in each race. Many children running a cross country race for the first time.

The Even aged county championships were held in Caherciveen at the start of the month Cathal O Connor and the Vickers brothers all won hard earned medals.

Ryan Vickers was competing in the All-Ireland combined schools event in Athlone. Primarily known as a middle distance and cross country runner, he made light of these extra events making the 60 metre hurdles, long jump and Shot Putt look easy on top of his stronger events the 200. His last event the 800 was his strongest event where he made up a lot of ground on the leaders to take gold. A tremendous achievement for this talented athlete. Hs followed this up the following day with a 2nd placing in the county u 15 cross country championships.

Another very talented athlete won gold at these events. Cathal O’Connor was winner of the u-13 event to add to a very successful year winning medals on the track and Community games.

Isaac Vickers won the U-17 event and Arthur Fitzgerald won silver in the masters category. Well done also to our other athletes who competed Edison and Ethan in the U-9. Hazel and Amelia U 11 and Ethan and Darren U 11 while finishing out of the medals can be very proud of there efforts.

August 2024

2024-11-06T18:47:00.000+00:00

Kevin O'Shea on winning the discus at the community games this weekend. This completes a very successful season for him. He already won discus and javelin titles at the Irish schools in June and repeated this in the all ireland club championships in July. Other medal winners included Roisin Daly in the 100 metres and relay and Tadhg Mannix in the ball throw.

Mike O’Connor was our only representative in the National Masters championships where he won the walk

Well done to all

July 2024

2024-11-06T18:37:00.001+00:00

In July Farranfore Maine Valley athletes showcased impressive talent over recent weeks, competing across multiple events and achieving noteworthy results in national and regional championships. The season remained intense as several athletes took on three competitions last weekend, displaying their dedication and skill.

In Templemore, Conor McCarthy represented the club at the Munster B Championships in the 800 meters. Conor delivered a strong performance, finishing 3rd with a time of 2:11, narrowly missing his personal best. This achievement followed his victory in the 1500 meters two weeks earlier at the Kerry Community Game.

In, the Juvenile National Championships commenced in Tullamore, where Kevin O’Shea excelled in the U-16 discus. After years of placing 2nd and 3rd, Kevin claimed his first All-Ireland club championship title with a powerful first-round throw of 44.50 meters, maintaining the lead through to the final round. Ryan Vickers also defended his national title in the U-15 800 meters with a strong front-running performance, finishing in 2:06 to take gold. In the U-16 800 meters, Isaac Vickers, despite a season marked by injuries, managed a 4th place finish in a time of 2:02 in challenging wet conditions. Isaac also recently earned a bronze medal for Munster in the Tailteann Games 4x400 relay, rounding out a season of success.

Additional recent achievements included Cathal O’Connor, Roisin Daly, and Tadgh Mannix, all of whom earned medals at the Kerry Community Games. At the following Juvenile National Championship events, Ryan Vickers took 5th in the 100 meters, showing his versatility even outside his preferred distance. Niamh O’Shea delivered a solid discus performance, coming close to her personal best and placing 4th in a tough field.

Kevin O’Shea continued his winning streak, capturing gold in the javelin with a dominant throw, while Ryan Vickers achieved 2nd place in the 200 meters despite sustaining a muscle injury, which unfortunately forced him out of the final. Roisin Daly and Niamh O’Shea rounded off their competitions by representing Kerry in the All-Ireland leagues, where Kerry finished 4th overall. Both athletes contributed in multiple events, with Roisin’s relay team placing 2nd and Niamh finishing 5th in both the discus and javelin.

June 2024

2024-11-06T18:25:00.002+00:00

The All-Ireland Schools Championships in Tullamore saw remarkable achievements from several young athletes, each balancing the challenges of rigorous schedules and tough competition. The event took place over Friday and Saturday, with Kevin O’Shea first up on Friday, competing in both the javelin and discus. Due to an unfortunate scheduling overlap, he had to juggle both events simultaneously, leaving little room for record-breaking efforts. Nonetheless, he secured two All-Ireland titles within just 15 minutes, winning the javelin by a commanding 10 meters and the discus by 7 meters—an impressive feat despite the challenges.

On Saturday morning, Ryan Vickers encountered a similar scheduling conflict with only 45 minutes between his 100 and 800-meter races. Despite the time crunch and a strong headwind during the 800 meters, he performed admirably, taking 2nd in the 100 and claiming victory in the 800. Later, he contributed to a bronze medal win with his relay team and led St. Brendan’s Killarney to win the overall Minor Boys team prize. Coach Arthur Fitzgerald, who guided the team, then left to join the Kerry team in Navan the next day, marking an eventful weekend for all.

Conor McCarthy faced stiff competition in the U-16 mile, holding his own in a challenging field despite competing above his age group. He maintained pace until the final lap, an experience that will undoubtedly aid him in future competitions.

The club athletes who competed at the Munster Championships in Castleisland over the weekend also showcased strong performances, gaining valuable experience in a record-breaking turnout of nearly 2,500 athletes. While medals proved elusive, Timothy Madden competed in both the High Jump and Shot Put, and Hazel Culloty and Cathal O’Connor demonstrated resilience in races with large fields. Lauren O’Sullivan and Aoife Daly placed well in the U-10 Long Jump, while Ethan and Jacob Madden each performed strongly in their respective events.

A week later, five athletes traveled to Waterford for the Munster Club Championships, returning with an impressive haul of three gold, two silver, and three bronze medals, along with several personal bests. Ryan Vickers dominated the U-15 category, winning both the 200 and 800 meters on Saturday, and securing 2nd in the 100 on Sunday. Kevin O’Shea set a new U-16 javelin record, surpassing a 2005 milestone, and took bronze in discus. Niamh O’Shea earned silver in the U-18 discus with a near-personal best throw, while Isaac Vickers and Conor McCarthy each set personal bests in their events.

May 2024

2024-11-06T18:19:00.001+00:00

The recent athletics season proved to be a thrilling series of events, marked by impressive performances, personal bests, and record-breaking moments. The County Juvenile Athletics Championships took place in Castleisland on May 5th and 6th, showcasing a very high standard of competition. Medals were hard to come by, yet several athletes secured podium finishes. Notably, Elliot Lyne claimed 2nd in the Long Jump, while Fiadh White earned 3rd in the U-9 Javelin. Cathal O’Connor delivered a standout performance, winning the 600 meters by an impressive five-second margin. Lauren Fleming finished 3rd in the 60 meters, and Timothy Madden achieved 3rd in the Shot Put. Among other notable results, Ryan and Isaac Vickers both took 1st in the 800 meters, Conor McCarthy won the 1500 and finished 2nd in the 800, and Roisin Daly topped the 200 meters and finished 2nd in the 100. Niamh and Kevin O’Shea also shone, each winning their respective discus events. The club’s relay teams competed admirably, with strong performances across various age groups.

On May 12th, the Senior County Championships were also held in Castleisland. Natasha Myers emerged as a key competitor, winning the 200 meters and setting a new personal best to place 2nd in the Long Jump. She additionally secured 4th place in the 400 meters. Niamh O'Shea demonstrated versatility by winning the discus and taking 2nd in the Shot Put, while her father, Sean, placed 2nd in the Shot and 3rd in the discus.

The Munster Schools Championships in Templemore saw five club athletes representing their respective schools with impressive results. Ryan and Isaac Vickers, representing St. Brendan's Killarney, both won their 800-meter races, with Ryan adding a win in the 100 meters and leading the 4x100 relay to victory. Kevin O'Shea broke a 25-year-old record in the javelin by adding four meters to the previous mark and also claimed victory in the discus. Conor McCarthy, running for Tralee CBS, placed 3rd in the U-16 mile, while Niamh O'Shea, competing for Mercy Mounthawk, narrowly missed the podium in the discus.

At the National Community Games in Meath, the club saw two athletes representing Kerry. Cathal O’Connor won silver with his team in the U-14 Cross-Country Relay, adding to his gold in the county championships. Conor McCarthy achieved 4th in the U-16 marathon and led Kerry to team gold. He also earned his first individual gold, finishing the 7 km race in just over 25 minutes. Natasha Myers represented the club in the Munster Championships in Templemore, earning 2nd in the 200 meters, 3rd in the 400, and 4th in the Long Jump.

Cha

April 2024

2024-04-30T20:31:00.003+01:00

The first week of April saw the start of the Outdoor Track and Field season. Natasha Myers representing MTU made the long trip to Belfast to compete in the Intervarsity Championships. She performed brilliantly setting 2 PB’s in both Long Jump and 200 metres in which she set an MTU record.

David Kenny was competing in the world race walking tour in Podebrady in the Czech Republic. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to finish the race despite being up with the leaders at 14K Mark.

The Vickers brothers were competing in the National Championships in Athlone. Ryan competed in the 60 metres on Saturday and ran brilliantly to qualify for the final where he finished 6^th in a new PB. This is a tremendous performance from Ryan showing amazing versatility being able to compete at a National level ranging from 60 metres to 3 Kilometres over cross country.

On Sunday he returned for the 800 where he finished 3^rd in his heat. Unfortunately, he was 1/100 of a second from qualifying for the final where he just eased approaching the line over the last few metres. Isaac making a return from last years lay off qualified for the final in the U-16 category. In a very fast race he finished 5th which was an excellent performance given the circumstances.

Conor McCarthy represented his home parish of Ballymacelligott in the Kerry Community games 7k marathon in Currow. Defending his title from last year he lined up with the hope of again representing his county at national level. The pace was quick from the whistle with a breakaway group of 3 forming at the 2km mark. They went through the 5km mark in just over 18min, with Conor being pushed all the way by C. Duffin from Spa Muckross. They were still neck and neck at the 6k mark and it took a blistering 3min flat last kilometre before Conor gained the advantage and pulled away to take the win by 10m from a determined Duffin in second and Billy Naughton in third. Conor beat his previous best over the Currow course by 3min. He now goes on to run for Kerry in the Nationals in Gormanstown, Co Meath on 25th May.

On Saturday Conor ran in the Tralee Park run and was the first finisher home out of 248 runners in a time of 19mins.

At the county athletics awards in Killarney David Kenny, Jerome Crowley, Ryan Vickers, Roisin Daly and Kevin O’Shea all won awards and former Olympic Athlete Gillian O’Sullivan was inducted into the Hall of Fame.

We had a number of athletes competing at the very popular Kerry Colleges athletics championships on the 23rd. Roisin Daly came 2nd in the Intermediate 100 metres. Well done to Roisin who was part of the U-16 Kerry Team that won the Munster championships the previous weekend.

Conor McCarthy also came 2nd in the intermediate 3000 metres. This was Connor's first run over this distance and looks to have a bright future as he will be underage again next year. This marked a very successful April for him, following up on his impressive win in the Kerry Community Games Marathon in Currow

Samuel Scroope was the final runner in action and he came 2nd in the Intermediate 400 metres and was part of the St. Brendans Killarney team that won the overall shield. Niamh and Kevin O'Shea competed for Mercy Mounthawk but just finished out of the medals.

Congratulations to Michael O Connor on completing his 100th Parkrun recently in Killarney.

March 2024

2024-04-30T20:19:00.000+01:00

After their heavy schedule last weekend in the Munster Indoors on the previous week Conor McCarthy and Ryan Vickers competed in the Munster Schools Cross Country championships in Waterford. Ryan finished 2^nd in the Minor Boys qualified for will for to the All-Irelands. Ryan led the St. Brendans Killarney to 3^rd place in the team competition. Congratulations also to their coach Arthur Fitzgerald for some excellent results in the team competitions where they medalled in 3 out of 4 competitions. Conor despite conceding almost 2 years to some of his competitors finished in 32^nd of almost 80 runners in the Intermediate category.

Michael O Connor competed in the Killarney parkrun walking it in an impressive 31 minutes. Michael who along with Jerome Foley and Jim O’Shea will compete in European Masters Championships at the end of the month. Laura Bradley was the 1^st female across the line.

Our under 16 relay team were in action in the Munster championships in Nenagh on the 2nd. Samuel Scroope started running an excellent 1^st leg against a very strong Leevale team. He handed over to Conor McCarthy who along with Isaac Vickers ran excellent legs that ended with Ryan taking the baton with a 4 metre lead which he held comfortably to the end. They finished in a time over 1 min 40 sec just over a second outside the existing record. They now head to Athlone in 3 weeks’ time for the All-Ireland finals. Well done to the 4 lads and coach Jerome Foley.

At the All-Ireland Schools Cross Country Championships Ryan Vickers came 3^rd in the Minor Boys race

We had a number of medallists at the Munster Indoor Schools championships on the 13^thRyan Vickers won the Minor boys 60 m and followed this up with another gold in the 400 metres. Roisin Daly came 2^nd in the Intermediate 60m and Isaac Vickers won the Intermediate 600 metres. To finish a very successful day off Niamh and Kevin O’Shea both came 2^nd in the Shot Putt.

We had 3 athletes competing in the European Masters Championships in Torun in Poland on the week of the 16th. Jim O’Shea came home with a silver in the Long Jump and Bronze in the High Jump. He narrowly missed out on a medal in the Pentathlon where a stumble at the hurdles cost him valuable points. Michael O’Connor competed in the 3K walk finishing second only 5 seconds behind the winner from Slovenia. He came 3^rd in the 5K walk and along with St. Brendan’s David Kissane was part of the Irish team that won gold ahead of Germany and France. Jerome Foley was the busiest of our athletes competing in the 200, 400 and 800 as well as being part of the 4 x 200 relay team. Jerome’s best performance was in the 400 where he finished 3^rd in his heat but unfortunately only 2 qualified for the semi-final.

The younger generation of athletes were competing in Athlone where our u-16 4 x 200 team were competing the All-Irelands. The team of Samuel Scroope, Conor McCarthy and the 2 Vickers brothers were running in the 2^nd heat. They were pipped for 1^st place by Dublin outfit Mid-Sutton. The final was a very tight affair with the lead changing hands my times during the 4 laps. Any one of 5 teams could have won the race, our lads finished in an excellent 3^rd knocking over 3 seconds off their time from the Munster championships.

February 2024

2024-03-04T20:01:00.003+00:00

The Munster Masters took place on the 5^th. Pirette O’Shea took part in her first championships and performed exceptionally well finishing 3^rd in both 200 and 400 metres. Sean O’Shea won the Shot Put title and Jerome Foley also took home gold in the 800.

David Kenny started the new year on a winning note on the 18th February. He secured yet another National Title in the National Indoor Championships in the 5 K walk in a very quick time of 19 min 30 sec.

The Munster Indoor Athletics championships were held in Nenagh on the 24^th/25^th . We had 4 athletes competing. Conor McCarthy was the only competitor on Saturday running the 1500 metres finishing in 9th place in the U 16 category. On Sunday both Conor and Samuel Scroope lined up in the 200 metres. Both finished 3rd in their respective heats but missed out by less than .2 of a second to make the final.

Both lined up for the 800 metres shortly afterwards along with Isaac Vickers. Samuel finished in 5th place in his heat and Conor 4th with both setting PB's. Isaac, who missed most of last year due to injury made up for lost time winning in another PB of 2.06. Younger brother Ryan continued from last year's heroics winning the U 15 800 in a very quick 2.09 to win comfortably. He later lined up in the 60m and finished 2nd just .03 seconds behind the winner.

Well done to all the athletes who had a very successful outing and also to their coach Jerome Foley.

David Kenny had his first outdoor event in Spain the weekend. Unfortunately he was unable to finish the race, which was unfortunate as he was on course to smash his personal best after 15 K. Hopefully he will manage this in his next race.

David also received a well deserved award from the Killarney Urban Council for his sporting achievements last year.

Conor McCarthy and Ryan Vickers competed in the Munster Schools Cross Country championships in Waterford on the 27^th . Ryan finished 2^nd in the Minor Boys and qualifiedfor the All-Irelands in March. Ryan led the St. Brendans Killarney to 3^rd place in the team competition. Congratulations also to their coach Arthur Fitzgerald for some excellent results in the team competitions where they medalled in 3 out of 4 competitions.

Conor despite conceding almost 2 years to some of his competitors finished in 32^nd of almost 80 runners in the Intermediate category.

January 2024

2024-03-04T19:40:00.000+00:00

Jan 24

The 1^st of January saw our athletes compete in the Annual Beaufort 5 and 10K races. Dermot Dineen ran in the 10K while Sam Scroope, Brendan Lynch and Kevin O’Shea ran the 5K

Four of our athletes took part in the National Masters championships in Athlone on the 13th. Michael O 'Connor was first to compete where he took gold in the 3K walk. Shortly after Sean O'Shea finished 2nd in the Shot Put only 10cm behind the winner. Jerome Foley finished 3rd in his category in the 800 metres. The performance of the day came from Dermot Dineen who rand a storming last 200 metres to take 3rd in the O-45 800 metres in a new personal bet of 2 minutes 11 seconds to get his first National Medal.

At the end of the month Tiernan Lynch on won the 5K run in the Annual Kerins-O Rahillys 5K/10K run last Sunday in a time of 10 Minutes. Conor McCarthy finished an excellent 9th in the North Munster Schools championships in Pallaskenry in the Intermediate category. Conor who is underage again next year qualified for the Munster Schools Cross Country Championships at the end of Feburary.

December 2023

2024-01-02T19:54:00.002+00:00

The finals of the uneven cross county championships were held in Navan on Sunday 3^rd December. The club was privileged to have 2 athletes running in the Boys U-15 both representing Kerry and Munster. A huge field of nearly 150 runners were on the start line. The large crowd meant that both Conor McCarthy and Ryan Vickers had a difficult first 400 metres. After that both picked off the runners ahead of them and moved well up the field. In a strong finish Ryan finished a very impressive 6^th in a time of 12 minutes 11 seconds. In a very bunched field Conor finished in 60^th just 1 minute behind, both recording very fast times over the hilly 3.5 kilometre course.

Munster comfortably won the provincial award with Kerry finishing a very creditable 6^th place. Well done to both athletes who are due a well-deserved break after a long year that started in last February with the Indoor season. Huge thanks to Jerome Foley for all his coaching of these athletes this year in what has been one of the most successful the club has ever had at provincial and National level.

The same day in Killarney Samuel Scroope won the Junior Parkrun in his first run with Tomas Lynch right behind him. Ethan and Amelia O Sullivan along with Liam and Matthew Smyth were in the Tralee run.

On the 17^th December David Kenny had another magnificent performance in the 20K walk in the World Race Walking Tour 2023 which was held in Dublin. This event attracted almost 250 athletes from 27 countries. David finished 4^th and was the first Irishman home. David who currently works as an engineer in Middleton trains every morning at 5.30 AM and a time of 1 hr 21 minutes is exceptional in these circumstances. His mentor Michael O Connor also competed in the National Masters 10K walk and finished first in the O70 category with a very fast time of 63 minutes.

The 62^nd running of our annual St Stephens day road races took place last Tue. Conditions were near perfect as it was calm and dry. The 2K run for children under 12 and their parents took place first. Over 40 children and parents took part in this which was almost double last years entry

A very large crowd of 293 runners took to the start line of the 5K event. Oisin Spillane was the clear favourite and he took the lead early.

Climbing up the hill before the 1 K mark he had Tommy Arthur from Kenmare former winner James Ledingham from Kilkenny, Oisin Murray from An Riocht and local athletes David Kenny, Ryan Vickers and Conor McCarthy all in touch.

Hannah Steeds was in the lead in the ladies section closely tracked by last years winner Niamh O’Mahony. As the race reached the half way stage the race was still in the balance on the hill before the railway crossing Oisin Spillane started to assert his authority and slowly pulled away to win by 40 metres to cross the line in 14 minutes 44 seconds. This is an improvement of 40 seconds from last years time.

With this rate of improvement Mark Hanrahan’s record time of 14.38 will be under serious threat next year. Oisin Murray of An Riocht ran brilliantly to finish 8 seconds behind. Local athlete, Olympic Race Walker David Kenny ran a sensational time of 15.09 to finish in 3^rd. This was David’s first time running a race in over 7 years so his achievement is all the more remarkable. James Ledingham from Kilkenny finished 4^th in a time of 15.18 which would have won last years race. Tommy Arthurs came 5^th and was the first Junior across the line.

In the ladies race Bridget Dennehy ran a storming second half of the race to take the title in 16.42 ahead of Hannah Steads with last years winner Niamh O’Mahony having to settle for 3^rd this time round.

Tomas Kiely from North Cork win the U 17 event in 16.56.

Emma Flynn won the girls U 17 in an exceptionally quick time of 18.32 seconds.

Other category winners were

Ella Murphy ladies U 20

Jan Swiechowicz O 40

Aislinn NiDhomnnaill O 45

Emer McAuliffe O 50

Caroline Murphy O 55

Ann O’Leary O 60

Carmel Mac Domhhnail 0 65

Joe O Connor O 40

Karl Linehan O 45

Gearoid Pierse O 50

Robert Purcell O 55

Kevin Griffin O 60

Michael Mangan O 65

Michael O Connor O 70

November 2023

2023-12-04T19:14:00.002+00:00

The Munster Uneven age Cross-Country championships took place on the 12^th November in 2 Mile Borris, in Tipperary. We had 3 athletes that made the long trip. Fionn Hogan was first to run in the boys U-13 and did very well to finish in the top half of the field of nearly 120 runners despite running out of age. He was also part of the Kerry team that finished 4th.

In the under 15 race Ryan Vickers was always running with the leaders but lost ground with about 500 metres left in the race. He managed to use his superior sprinting speed to win by 20 metres. This completes a very rare double of winning both U-14 and U-15 Munster championships. Conor McCarthy finished in 48th and both were part of the Kerry team that won the bronze medal.

Samuel Scroope came 5th in the Killarney Parkrun on the 11^th November a few minutes ahead of coach Jerome Foley. Roisin Hogan ran a very fast time in the Tralee Junior Parkrun, while in Killarney Tomas Lynch and Ethan O’Sullivan and his sister Amelia also competed.

On Sunday the 19^th Ryan Vickers made the long trip to Gowran in Kilkenny for the All-Ireland even age cross country championships. Ryan was competing in the U-14 3K event. After winning the Munster he was hoping to add to his already substantial collection of championships medals. A field of over 160 runners had qualified from the Provincial championships. Conditions were very difficult and after the initial start Ryan found himself in the leading pack. He settled in around 10th place for the first 2 kilometres before moving through the field. He took the lead with 300 metres to go. It was always going to be difficult for anyone to catch him with his sprinting ability and finished comfortably in first place winning by 15 metres. This is yet another outstanding performance by Ryan as he became the first member of the club to win an All-Ireland juvenile cross country title. He also led the Munster team to the Bronze medal.

On the same day the next generation of athletes were busy in the junior parkruns with Tomas Lynch and Liam and Matthew Smyth running in Killarney and Fionn Hogan running in Tralee

The 26^th saw Conor McCarthy add to his growing collection of provincial and All-Ireland medals with a fine 7th place in the U-15 Munster B Cross Country championships. Conor finished less than 30 seconds behind the eventual winner.

St Stephens Day Road Race

2023-11-23T18:32:00.001+00:00

You can now enter for our St Stephens Day Road Race through the below link
https://eventmaster.ie/event/rk9WiPmS9y

October 2023

2023-11-14T19:40:00.000+00:00

Day 2 of the Kerry Athletics cross country championships took place in Killorglin 1^st . Once again our club was well represented across a spread of age groups.

The rain of the last week made for challenging conditions on a fantastic course.

First up, we have the U-9 girls where Roísín Hogan, who was eager to race again after last weeks cross country debut.

In the U-9 boys Jacob Madden have a fantastic account of himself, with a very strong finish in his first ever cross country race.

The U-11 girls were the next to compete over 1500 metres, Joanne Cronin and Sally Scroope got stuck in amongst the action and both finished very well.

The U-11 boys took to the line for their 1500 metres. We had three athletes representing the club in this race, Tadhg Mannix, Jack Lynch and Gavin Coleman. All three competed with guts and determination as the course slowly because a little more beat up from the races.

Our next representatives were Timothy Madden and Fionn Hogan taking on the 2.5k in the boys U-13, two times up the hill on the main loop took its toll on all competitors. Fionn Hogan finished in 5th to collect a Bronze medal, with Timothy Madden finishing crossing the line a few moments later.

The U-15 boys had 3.5k to race, and we had Ryan Vickers, Conor McCarthy and Samuel Scroope toe the line for the club. Ryan Vickers covered the course fastest to claim gold, with Conor McCarthy finishing 5th to take a bronze home, and Samuel Scroope closing it out for the team to win Gold in the U-15 team prize.

Our final competitor of the day was Brendan Lynch in the masters who revelled in the tough conditions to claim bronze in the over 45 categories.

The final day of the county cross country championships were held in an unseasonably warm Killarney on 8^th with the club relay championships and Novice taking place. The club was represented by 4 teams. The competition was very high especially in the younger age groups. First to run was the girls u-10 team. They were led off by Sophie O'Brien who ran at a steady pace throughout. She was followed by Roisin Hogan and Ameila O'Sullivan who all gained ground on the runners in front before handing off to Sally Scroope who ran a very fast last lap but finished out of the medals. Our boys U-10 followed, this team consisted of Daithí Fleming, Darren Foley, Jacob Madden, Ethan O’Sullivan. Both teams were in contention throughout but despite dome brilliant performances finished outside the medals especially since the majority of them are U-9 athletes. We were very fortunate to have 2 teams in the U-12 boys. Both teams were running together for most of the race in 4th and 5th position but lost out on the medals also. Well done to Jack Lynch, Fionn Hogan, Tadhg Mannix, Cillian Scannell who were in the Orange team and Gavin Coleman, Thomas Ryan, Timothy Madden, Jake Scannell who ran on the Black team.

Brendan Lynch was our only representative in the Novice championships. He finished well inside the top half of a very large field of runners in a race run in extremely hot conditions.

The club has had a very successful cross-country season winning 4 golds, 1 silver and 2 other podium positions.

The Munster Schools combined events were held in Nenagh on the 25^th. The club were well represented with Ryan Vickers coming 3^rd in the Minor Boys section followed by Kevin O’Shea in 5^th In the junior boys section Samuel Scroope finished in 7^th place

AGM

2023-11-09T20:49:00.001+00:00

September 2023

2023-10-17T20:30:00.001+01:00

The start of September was a quieter with the Track and Field season finishing in August. Training for the cross country season had begun in the Mass Rock in Killaclohane wood. Large numbers turned out for training in this lovely and unique setting. The training was put to the test at the 1^st day of the country cross-country championships in very wet Killarney on the 26th

The club had fantastic representation across all age groups, from the U-10 to Senior races.

The day kicked off with Amelia O’Sullivan and Roísín Hogan giving a very good account of themselves in the U-10 race. This was followed quickly by the Boys U-10 race, and conditions began to change for the worse, Ethan O’Sullivan and Daithí Fleming got in amongst the action for the 1000 meters and finished very well.

Our next team was the U-12 girls with Mollie O’Connor, Lauren Fleming and Kate O’Donoghue giving their all over the 2k, as the rain began to take its toll on the course.

The U-12 Boys were up next. We had Jake Scannell, Thomas Ryan, Fionn Hogan, Tadhg Mannix, Timothy Madden, Gavin Coleman and Jack Lynch on the start line and ready for action. The race brought our first Medals of the day with Fionn Hogan winning the race and the team taking silver in the team prize.

In the U-14 Boys race , Ryan Vickers was our sole representative and took home yet another Gold medal to add to his ever growing collection.

We were now in real cross country conditions, as the rain beat down on everyone, as Conor McCarthy ran in the U-16 race and took the win. Our final competitor of the day was Brendan Lynch who took part in the senior race, giving a fantastic performance on a hilly course.

As usual we were well represented in the local parkruns with our athletes running in Tralee and Killarney events in both the junior and Senior version of the events

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August 2023

2023-09-13T10:31:00.001+01:00

In August the 2023 Track and Field season was coming to a close. David Kenny was competing in the world championships in Budapest on the 19^th. Hopes were high he could improve on his performance from last years’ championships in America. Unfortunately, the race didn’t go his way and he was unable to finish. The race which was run in very testing conditions having been delayed for 2 hours due to thunderstorms. This shouldn’t take away from what was a marvellous achievement it was to get selected to represent your country at the world championships. At 24 time is definitely on his side.

The following day at the regional community games in Ennis both Roisin Daly and Ryan Vickers won the 100m and 800m respectively to qualify for the Nationals championships the following weekend in Carlow.

Cross country training started in the new location of the Mass rock in Killaclohane wood at the beginning of the month.

The National Community games were held on the 26th of the month. The club was well represented with 8 of our athletes representing Kerry. Conor McCarthy was part of the Ballymac u 16 relay team. Unfortunately despite running well they did not qualify for the final but Conor still has the consolation of having the medal in the Marathon from earlier in the year.

Fionn Hogan was part of the Tralee team in the 4 x 100 relay but again despite running well they were unable to qualify for the final. Thadg Mannix competed in the U12 ball throw and despite throwing very well just failed to make the final. Kevin O’Shea was in the U 14 Javelin. He was unlucky not to throw well under his best in the windy conditions but he still came home in 2^nd position losing by a few centimetres.

Ryan Vickers was in the U 14 800 metres. He took the lead from the gun and maintained his lead to the finish line. This was a great achievement as he is underage again next year. Niamh O’Shea was in her final year in the community games competing in the U 16 Discus. In a close competition she saved her best for last winning in the final throw. Roisin Daly had a double success winning the girls u 16 100 metres and anchoring the Keel/Kiltallagh relay team to finish 2nd. Also on the team was Rachel Boyle. 3 golds and 2 silvers was a great return from the weekend.

Over the month we were well represented at the local parkrun

Fionn Hogan, Ethan and Amelia O’Sullivan also ran along with Sophie O’Brien in Tralee Junior Parkrun. Tomas Lynch and Liam and Matthew Smyth were regular competitors at the Killarney event

July 2023

2023-08-31T17:57:00.000+01:00

July saw the All-Ireland juvenile championships take place in Tullamore. The first athlete into action was Fionn Hogan on the 1^st who was competing in the National championships for the first time. Fionn finished a very respectable 12^th out of a very large field with very little between most of the competitors. The following wednesday night saw the running of the Tribal Track meeting in An Riocht track in Castleisland. This event allowed athletes to get valuable race time before going to the National Championships without having to travel too far. Dermot Dineen and Ryan Vickers ran the 800 metres. Roisin Daly ran the 100 along with Natasha Myers who also ran the 200. Both ran very fast times in the torrential rain. Hopefully we will see more of these types of events being held in the future.

On Saturday 8th Tiernan Lynch was first across the line in the Inch Parkrun. In Killarney Laura Bradley came home in 1^st place in her category. In Tralee all 3 of the Hogan family ran with Roisin and Fionn setting PB’s

The junior parkrun in Tralee on the following day, Ethan and Amelia O’Sullivan ran along with Sophie O Brien who set yet another PB. The Star of the Laune Sports were on Sunday. Ethan and Amelia made the trip to Killorglin and competed in many events and got to meet special Olympic medal winner Ryan Griffin. In the All-Ireland juvenile championships (U 14-U19) were on in Tullamore. Kevin O’Shea came 3^rd in the Discus. He also finished 6^th in the Javelin which was held in very windy conditions. Ryan Vickers ran storming last 150 metres race in the boys U14 800 where he closed down a 10 metre lead to win smashing the existing record by 3 seconds.

Day 2 and 3 of the All-Ireland juvenile championships were held in a very wet Tullamore on the week of the 22^nd Competition in these events is exceptionally high and getting to compete here is an achievement in its own right. We had 3 athletes competing and all did exceptionally well. On Saturday Roisin Daly lined up in the 2^nd heat of the u-16 100 metres. Despite a slow start she recovered well and closed the gap to the leaders all the way to the line finishing 5^th. Qualifying for the final was going to be difficult with only the first 2 in each heat going through. She was exceptionally unlucky missing the final by a mere 3 1/000ths of a second which is really only the width of her singlet. Had she been in any of the other heat she would have qualified for the final. She still had the consolation of knocking over 3/10ths of a second off her personal best. Here time of 12.82 in her heat would have gotten her 4^th place in the final.

Ryan Vickers competing in the 80 metres won his heat comfortably. In the final a problem with his starting blocks caused him to start poorly. In a frantic finish he came 4^th missing out on bronze by 3/1000ths of 1 second. He can take some satisfaction in knocking ¼ second off his time in the Munster Championships.

On Sunday 23^rd Niamh O Shea was competing in the U 17 Discus in the pouring rain. The standard exceptionally high and she did very well to finish 5^th improving on her throw in the Munster championship by 2 metres.

Ryan Vickers had a chance for redemption in the 200 metres on Sunday. In a tremendous battle with Sean O Riordan of Fanahan McSweeney AC in Cork he came second in 24.72 seconds losing by 5/100ths of a second. These 2 very talented athletes finished well clear of the field. Had this been run in better conditions the record of 24.11 would have been under serious threat. Well done to sprints coach Jerome Foley for all his work with Roisin and Ryan over the last few months.

Back in Kerry Ethan and Amelia O Sullivan ran in the Tralee junior parkrun along with Sophie O Brien who set yet another PB.

In the 5K run Jerome Foley ran in Killarney and Fionn Hogan smashed his PB in Tralee with an very impressive time of 22.24.

June 2023

2023-07-06T20:55:00.002+01:00

On the June bank holiday weekend Kevin and Niamh O’Shea competed in the All-Ireland school’s championships. Both did very well with Kevin finishing 3^rd in the junior discus and 6^th in the Javelin. Niamh O’Shea finished 6^th in the Intermediate girl’s discus. On the bank holiday Monday the Munster championships were held in Templemore in the extreme heat. Michael O Connor won the 5K walk in a very fast 32.43. Sean O Shea won the Discus and Dermot Dineen came 3^rd in the 800m in 2.18. Natasha Myers came 4^th in the 200 metres and 6^th in the long jump.

Castleisland was the venue for the Munster U9-U-13 Munster Championships on the 10^th and 11^th . The crowds were up on last year with many events having over 60 competitors. We had 4 athletes competing. Most were competing at this level for the first time where they all did the club proud. Hazel Culloty competed in the girls U10 long jump and sprint recording an new personal best in the sprint.

Mollie O Connor did exceptionally well to come second in her heat. Unfortunately, this wasn’t enough for a medal in a competition that had 70 competitors. Fionn Hogan was hoping to improve on his 5^th place last year. He came 4^th adding 2 metres on to his PB from the county championships ending up in 4^th just place 70 cm off a medal. He did however qualify for the National Championships in July. Fionn also ran in a very high quality 600m.

Star of the show has to be Roisin Hogan who came 3^rd in the U9 Turbo Javelin out of a very large field. Congratulations to Roisin on this massive achievement from all in the club !

The Munster U 14-U19 championships were also on in Templemore on the 17^th and !8^th. We had 5 athletes competing. Ryan Vickers was the first athlete in action in the 800M. In a great race he came 2nd finishing 2 seconds inside the exiting Munster record.

Shortly afterwards Kevin O Shea came second the U 15 Javelin with very consistent throwing of just under 40 metres. Afterwards he lined up in the discus and with a big throw in the 3^rd round won the competition with a throw of 37 metres. Finally, Ryan Vickers lined up in the 200 metres where he won his heat. Again he came 2^nd in another really quick time of 25 seconds.

On Sunday Niamh O’Shea came 2^nd in the discus missing out on gold by just 15 centimetres. Ryan Vickers ran the 80 metres and for the 3^rd time he brought home silver. This time just losing out by just 3/100ths of a second. Roisin Daly won her heat of the 100 metres and came 4^th in the final just missing out on a medal. However she still qualifies for the National Championships next month. Conor McCarthy was competing in the 1500 metres. Conditions were tough by he still managed to come close to his seasons best.

The final weekend of the month saw Fionn Hogan representing the club in Templemore at the Munster B championships. Fionn competed in the U 12 Javelin and 600 metres. After coming 4th in the A championships, Fionn hoped to medal this time. In an exceptionally close contest he came 3rd with less than 30 cm covering the top 3 athletes. He also added in a PB in the 600m for good measures finishing in 7th position. Niamh O'Shea competed for Munster in the Tailteann Games in Carlow on the 24^th . Niamh added 2 metres on to her personal best where she finished 5th just over 1 metre outside the medals. We also had many athletes competing in Castleisland on the same weekend where many won medals and will now go on to represent Kerry at Munster and All-Ireland level. Over the month we were well represented in the local parkruns.
Ethan and Amelia O Sullivan are regulars in the Tralee junior Parkrun along with Sophie O Brien and Roisin and Fionn Hogan. Tiernan and Jessie Lynch run in the Inch Parkrun, Michael O Connor and the Vickers brothers run the Killarney Parkrun

May 2023

2023-06-11T11:10:00.000+01:00

The first day of the County Juvenile championships took place on the 1^st May in Castleisland. The numbers were much larger than usual and as a result medals were very hard to come by.

We had a number of new athletes competing for the first time and they all did exceptionally well. Jacob Madden competed in the U9 Javelin throwing very well in a large field. Roisin Hogan had a busy day competing in the 60m Long jump and javelin where she was only a metre outside the medals.

Ethan O Sullivan also threw well in the U10 Javelin but again was just short of the medals. Sophie O Brien, Amelia O Sullivan and Sally Scroope all competed admirably in the girls u10 where all competitions had nearly 30 in each event. In the U 11 boys another new comer Tadgh Mannix came 4^th in the Javelin and 5^th in the long jump.

Fionn Hogan qualified for the final of the U12 60m and followed this up with a massive throw in the javelin of nearly 20m to finish 2^nd. Roisin Mannix had a great outing finishing 6^th in the sprint and finishing 2^nd in the High Jump.

Ryan Vickers won both 80m and 800m he had the added bonus of setting a new championship record in both. Older brother Isaac also set a new record in the U15 800. This race was noteworthy as teammates Conor McCarthy and Samuel Scroope completed a clean sweep for the club. Kevin O’Shea also chipped in with a gold in the discus and silver in the 100m.

His older sister Niamh also added gold in the discus and a silver in the Shot Put. Roisin Daly continued her impressive form from last year and was a clear winner of the U16 Girls 100m.

In total the club amassed 6 golds, 5 silvers and 1 bronze medal. This was a great haul and will surely be added to on the 14^th when the second day takes place. The most pleasing thing was the impressive showing of the newer athletes who finished just outside the medals. Success for these athletes is not to far away if they keep up the training.

More international duty for our champion racewalker David Kenny where he was selected on the Irish team for the European Team championships on the 21^st of this month in the Czech Republic.

The second day of the county juvenile championships took place in Castleisland on the 14^th May. Lauren O Sullivan, Maeve Ryan, Rosin O Neill and Amelie O Connor made up our girls under 9 relay team and in a very competitive event they finished strongly. Jacob Madden, Daithi Fleming, Jack O Mahoney and Ethan O Sullivan ran in the boys under 10’s and were a few seconds outside the medals. The gitls U 11 team of Amelia O Sullivan, Joanna Cronin, Mollie O Connor and Saoirse O Neill came 5^th in the girls U 11 relay with Molly and Joanna also running the 600m. In the older age group Ryan and Isaac Vickers both won gold in the 200m Connor McCarthy finished strongly to take 2^nd in the 200 U 15. Isaac and Conor also had another 1-2 in the 1500m. Samuel Scroope completed the relay team that comfortably won the U 15 4 x 100.

Kevin O Shea also was a comfortable winner of the boys u 15 javelin. Roisin Daly was our final competitor on the day winning the 200m to add to her 100m run last week. Well done to all especially to those running for the first time.

The senior and master’s athletes to take centre stage in the county championships held in Castleisland on the 7^th . It was a very enjoyable day and all our athletes were successful. Natasha Myers continued her improvement from last year coming 2^nd in the Senior women’s long jump and also in a very tight race came 3^rd in the 200m. Not to be outdone mother Eileen came second in the Weight for distance. Keeping it in the family James Nagle made a successful return to competition after a few years of a break where he won the weight for distance and came second in the shot. Aidan Cahill and Dermot Dineen both won their categories in the 800m in very impressive times. Finally Niamh O Shea won the discus and came second in the shot with father Sean finishing in 3rd place in the discus.

Elsewhere Ethan and Emelia O Sullivan ran the junior parkrun for the first time in Tralee. Roisin and Fionn Hogan also finished well up the field. The Kerry post primary school’s championships were held in Castleisland last Thursday. Conor Mccarthy Roisin Daly Samuel Scroope and Niamh and Kevin O Shea were all successful.

The last week of May saw David Kenny representing Ireland at the European Race Walking championships in the Czech Republic where was part of a 4-man team. Conditions were tough in the City Park but David stayed in touch with the leaders despite the heat to finish in 16^th position in a seasons best of 1 hour 24 minutes and the first Irishman home. The team finished a very creditable 7^th position overall.

The Munster schools championships were held in Castleisland where the club was represented Aine, Niamh and Kevin O’Shea all whom brought medals home.

At the Kilmoyley 6K Cian, Fionn and Roisin Hogan all competed. Father Cian came 3^rd overall in a time of 18.51 with Fionn finishing in a very quick 23.27. Not to be outdone younger sister Roisin crossed the line in 39 minutes.

Tiernan Lynch came 3^rd in the Inch Parkrun with younger sister Jessie only a few minutes behind, Michael O Connor ran in the Killarney parkrun. Ethan O Sullivan ran in the Tralee junior Parkrun and in Killarney Ryan Vickers led the way.

April 2023

2023-05-21T20:55:00.002+01:00

The final session of the All Ireland indoor championships took place in Athlone on the 1^st and 2^nd April. Ryan Vickers was the club’s sole representative in the 60 metres and 800 metres u-14. After finishing 2^nd in both events in the Munster championships, there was a very good chance of him competing for medals. In the 60 metres he qualified for the final comfortably but a bad start in the final left too much ground to catch up and had to settle for 5^th place in a very fast final.

The following day he also qualified for the final of the 800 metres. In an exceptionally fast race he let the eventual winner build up too much of a lead going into the final lap. He closed the gap all the way to the line but fell short by just under a metre to finish in 2^nd. He had the consolation of beating the existing record by more than 2 seconds with a time of 2 minutes 9 seconds. With the outdoor season around the corner he will surely edge closer to the magical 2-minute mark.

At the end of the month it was time to honour the county’s outstanding athletes at the County Award ceremony in Listowel. 3 club athletes received awards. Niamh O’Shea our first winner won county, Munster and All-Ireland medals in the Shot Put and Discus. Ryan Vickers had an outstanding season winning All-Ireland medals in sprints, middle distance, cross country and relay. His double in winning the All-Ireland championships in the U-13 80m and 600m was an outstanding achievement. David Kenny was our final winners. David already an Olympian, represented Ireland in both European and World Championships.

Juvenile training returned in the middle of the month for the outdoor season in Firies NS. As usual a lot of our members made use of the local park runs, with Fionn Hogan setting a notable PB in the 2K event.

March 2023

2023-05-21T20:42:00.000+01:00

The indoor season was in full flow in march. The Munster indoor relay championships took place in Nenagh on the 4^th. The boys u-15 team were running in the 4 x 200m event where they were hoping to start the year on a successful note following on from their successful outings last year. Running in lane 2 didn’t help at the start but they stayed close to the leaders Middleton AC all around. A brilliant 3^rd leg by Isaac Vickers gave them a narrow lead on handing over to brother Ryan. An unfortunate stumble on the tight turn pushed them back into second place but Ryan closed the gap all the way to the finish line but unfortunately ran out of track losing by an agonising 5/100 of 1 second finishing in 1m 47 sec.

The following week the club had 4 athletes competing in todays Munster Schools Indoor Championships in Nenagh. Pride of place goes to Roisin Daly winner of the junior 60 Metres. Isaac Vickers again won a silver medal in the junior 600. Also competing in the 600 m was Samuel Scroope and Conor McCarthy who both finished just outside the medals.

On the 25^th in Athlone our boys under 15 relay team were hoping to medal in the 4 x 200 m relay. After the provincial championships they were ranked 3^rd fastest of all the teams so it was hoped they would be in the mix for the medals. In the heat a sluggish start left us in last position at the end of the first leg. Conor McCarthy put this right and very strong runs by himself and Isaac Vickers left brother Ryan in front on the final leg which he held comfortably to finish in just under 1 m 44 sec.

The final was a very close affair. A much better start by Kevin O Shea had us in 4^th place at the end of the first leg with very little between all 6 teams Conor McCarthy ran excellently to handover to Isaac in 3^rd place after passing runners on the home straight. After a blistering final 100 m turned he handed over the baton to Ryan with a 4 metre lead. There was still plenty of work to be done but he extended their lead to finish 7-8 metres ahead of the 2^nd place team in a very fast time of 1.43.51. This was an improvement of almost 4 seconds from their provincial time. Their time could have been much faster except for the crowded nature of the race and having to pass runners on the tight bends Congratulations to the boys and to their coach Jerome Foley on the clubs first All Ireland relay championships.

In Slovakia David Kenny was competing in his first outdoor event of the year. This was a World Walking Tour Gold Level event. Competing alongside 3 time Olympian Brendan Boyce, David finished 15^th in a time of 1 hr 24 min 6 seconds ahead of his compatriot. This was a solid opening run for David as he looks to prepare for World Championships that are due to be held in Budapest in August.

We were also well represented in the local park runs throughout the month of March both young and old representing the club.

Feburary 2023

2023-03-27T14:16:00.000+01:00

After the winter break and a quite January on the competitive front, the action started to pick up in February. At the very end of January David Kenny won the 3K event in the AAI games. He won the 3K walk beating fellow Olympian Brendan Boyce and moving into 3^rd in the all-time Irish list. On the 12^th February in Nenagh at the Munster Indoor Championships he set a new Irish Record in the 5K walk knocking a massive 8 seconds the existing record finishing in 18 minutes 42 seconds.

That was the fastest time in the world at the time and was a tremendous return to form for David who has had injury problems that curtailed his performance somewhat last summer

Tiernan Lynch, Isaac Vickers, Conor McCarthy and Kevin O’Shea all won medals at the Kerry Schools cross country championships at the end of January. All 4 of them also qualified for the Munster Cross country championships to be held in Waterford at the end of the month from the regional championships that were held in Pallaskenry and Waterford. Tiernan was also very impressive in coming second in the Kerins O’Rahilly’s 5K road race. Dermot Dineen also showed up well in the 10K event held on the same day. Tiernan’s younger sister Jessie who is slowly coming back from injury also competed in the schools cross country races.

In the weekly parkruns the club is well represented. Cian and Matthew Hogan finished well up the field in the Tralee run. In the Killarney run Brendan Lynch finished second with Pirette Scroope and Michael O Connor both finishing well under 25 minutes.

The National master athletics championships were held in Athlone on the 5^th of February. The clubs lone representative Michael O Connor was a comfortable winner in the 3K walking event.

The National indoor championships were held in Dublin. David was our sole competitor in the 5 K event. He finished a comfortable winner in 19 min 11 sec. in the 5K walk

In the Munster Indoor championships we were represented with 6 athletes performing Fionn Hogan ran in the 60m and 600 finishing a very respectable 5^th and 8^th in both heats. Roisin Daly won her heat in the 60m comfortably. In a very fast final she came home in 6^th place. Shortly afterwards she ran in the 200m qualifying for the semi-final but unfortunately didn’t progress to the final. It was still a 2 brilliant performances from her.

Ryan Vickers continued his winning ways from last year finishing 2^nd in the 60 metres and showing great versatility also finished 2^nd in the 800.

Elder brother Isaac also finished on the podium finishing 2^nd in the 800m in an impressive time of 2 minutes 13 seconds. Nearly as impressive was the performance of Samuel Scroope and Conor McCarthy who in their first indoor championships both ran just over 2 minutes 20 in the same race. Well done to all who competed. Credit also go to their coach Jerome Foley for all his work with the athletes

2023-01-10T21:26:00.001+00:00

The Farranfore Maine Valley AC’s annual St Stephen’s Day road race, took place today in Farranfore for its sixty-first year. The weather was dry and cold and a field of over 230 took to the start line. Last year’s winner, Oisin Spillane, now running for Ennis AC, was the favourite and he lead the field from early on. By the half-way turn, he had a lead of over 50 metres.

On the steep climb at the start of the final kilometre, he stretched his lead to over 100 metres to finish in 15:22, just outside last year’s time but almost a minute ahead of Aodan Mac Domhnaill who finished in 16:14 seconds, first in the over 40 category. In third place was Daragh O’Leary of Killarney Valley A.C with a time of 16:28

Niamh O’Mahony of An Riocht AC, was a comfortable winner of the ladies’ race. She dominated the female race from the start and finished in a very impressive 17:20, some 2 minutes ahead of clubmates Siobhan Daly 18:06 and Sharon Cahill 19:37 who also won the over 40 and 55 age group categories.

Tommy Arthur of Kenmare AC won the boys under 17 event and Ciara Eager of Star of the Laune, winning the girls under 17.

Cian Spillane won the Junior men’s category.

First local athletes were Marie Fitzgerald with brother Arthur (part of the Kerry Senior Football management team).

Other winners in the age group categories were :

Siobhan Daly (O40), Mary O Connell, Gneevguilla AC (O45), Niamh O’Shea (O50), Mary Deane (O65) and Carmel Foran (O70) Born to Run Tralee.

The men’s equivalent age group winners were :

Tim O Connor An Riocht AC (045), Robert Purcell GneevguillaAC (O50), David Kennedy (O55), Kevin Griffin (O60), Michael Mangan Star of the Laune (O65) and MEP Sean Kelly was the winner of the (O70) category.