A new running trail has just opened in Blarney with a choice of 1.5km and 3km off road loops. Mike McGrath had a look at this new facility and wrote this short report…

New Castleview Running Trail at Blarney Driving Range

Whilst I normally go to Blarney to hit balls at the range , recently I have been able to pursue both my love of running and golf with the opening of the Castleview Running Trail alongside the Driving Range on the Cork side of the village. Set in stunning rolling terrain amongst beautiful trees and grassy fields this purpose built trail is a must see and will prove to be extremely popular with runners and walkers.

As probably the first person to run the course ( there are two laps of varying distances, the large lap is 3km and the smaller one is 1.5km ) I marvelled at the lovely grassy turf under foot and the rolling hills that lay before me. Not happy with doing one loop I quickly set out and did another one enjoying the second one even more than the first knowing that whatever time I ran would be the course record at least for a few weeks !!!

Running some cross country events here in time would be awesome, not to mention doing your Sunday morning long run ! The course is marked every 100m and also has mile markers so perfect for tempo or Fartlek sessions also, and with ” The Tea Box” at the entrance no better place than to enjoy a coffee afterwards.

For €3 this is great value and will bring a whole new dimension to your running diary should you decide to try it !!

…Golfer & runner, Mike McGrath…Eagle AC

More info about the new range can be found HERE

The inaugural Glen of Aherlow Trail Race was held on Saturday the 20th of September in Tipperary. The course consisted of a 13.1 mile loop through paths in the mountains with contestants doing one, two or three laps.

Two Eagle AC members took part. In the 26.2 mile event, Gerard Down completed the two hilly laps in an impressive 4h 10m finishing 9th out of 39 finishers. In the 39.3 mile 3 lap ultra event, Grellan McGrath finished in 6h 25m taking two tumbles in the process….see the legs in the photo! Grellan finished 9th out of 28 finishers.

39.3 mile Ultra…9 Grellan McGrath 336 M40 6:25:44 Eagle AC
26.2 mile marathon…9 Gerard Down 1814 M50 4:10:40 Eagle AC Cork

At least 28 Eagle AC members took part in the 2014 Charleville Half-Marathon on Sunday the 21st of September 2014. Organised by North Cork AC, this half has gained a well deserved reputation for being a fast course and several members recorded new personal bests for the half on it today.

The race also doubled up as the Munster Half-Marathon Championships. In the mens team event, the Eagle team finished in 4th place, just one point outside the medals.

Men’s Club Team Name
1) Leevale A.C…13
2) St Finbarr’s AC…32
3) Clonmel Ac…55
4) Eagle AC…56
5) West Limerick AC…103
6) BMOH AC…117
7) An Bru Ac…137
8) West Waterford AC…142
9) Mallow AC…145
10) Kilmallock Ac…161
11) Midleton AC…168
12) Grange Fermoy AC…180
13) Templemore Ac…217
14) North Cork Ac…221
15) Watergrasshill Ac…221
16) Bilboa Ac…255
17) Dooneen Ac…276

In the womens competition, the Eagle AC team of Sandra Manning, Elaine Guinane and Adelle O’Connor finished in second place to take silver!

Silver medalists in the Munster Half-Marathon Championships…Sandra Manning, Elaine Guinane & Adelle O’Connor

Women’s Club Team
1) St Finbarrs Ac…13
2) Eagle AC…37
3) West Limerick AC…56
4) Mallow AC…73
5) Watergrasshill AC…79
6) An Bru AC…115
7) North Cork AC…134
8) Kilmallock AC…142
9) Clonmel AC…144

It’s also important to note that while the first 3 are the medal winners, all the members of the team play a part. Those that were 4th, 5th, 6th and so on on the team help push the members of other clubs further back. It’s all about a combined team effort to help the club secure medals.

Overall Eagle results…

L-R Eric Browne, Donnacha Lehane, Pat O’Connor, Kieran Mulcahy & Don Keohane

33 Alan O’BRIEN (671) 01:16:44 01:16:41 Ages 18-39 (27) Male (31)
45 Don KEOHANE (509) 01:18:40 01:18:37 Ages 45 – 49 (3) Male (42)
59 Eric BROWNE (239) 01:19:50 01:19:48 Ages 18-39 (41) Male (55)
81 Donnacha LEHANE (318) 01:23:49 01:23:44 Ages 18-39 (50) Male (76)
90 Pat O’CONNOR (564) 01:24:42 01:24:37 Ages 45 – 49 (8) Male (84)
134 Kieran MULCAHY (502) 01:28:03 01:27:55 Ages 45 – 49 (18) Male (124)
144 Roger O’MAHONY (465) 01:29:01 01:28:54 Ages 40 – 44 (32) Male (133)
166 Denis CARROLL (197) 01:30:41 01:30:34 Ages 55 – 59 (5) Male (150)
179 John SCANNELL (341) 01:31:28 01:31:22 Ages 45 – 49 (23) Male (161)
202 Sandra MANNING (331) 01:33:33 01:33:25 Ages 18-39 (15) Female (21)
211 Elaine GUINANE (261) 01:34:27 01:34:19 Ages 18-39 (16) Female (22)
216 Gearoid O’LEARY (50) 01:34:41 01:34:33 Ages 18-39 (103) Male (194)
283 Keith SEXTON (51) 01:39:49 01:39:36 Ages 45 – 49 (34) Male (248)
284 Adelle O’CONNOR (84) 01:39:50 01:39:41 Ages 40 – 44 (3) Female (36)
322 June O’SHEA (777) 01:43:57 01:43:43 Ages 18-39 (36) Female (48)
329 Cathal TWOMEY (667) 01:44:18 01:44:01 Ages 18-39 (151) Male (280)
336 Frances O’CONNOR (496) 01:44:35 01:44:20 Ages 55 – 59 (1) Female (52)…1st F55
343 John DESMOND (715) 01:44:51 01:44:35 Ages 50 – 54 (11) Male (288)…Pacer
376 Trish BRUTON (599) 01:48:39 01:48:18 Ages 45 – 49 (9) Female (62)
401 Paul SCANNELL (716) 01:49:49 01:49:30 Ages 18-39 (171) Male (325)
403 Tracy COTTER (287) 01:49:53 01:49:36 Ages 18-39 (52) Female (77)
470 Seamus BRUTON (598) 01:55:14 01:54:53 Ages 45 – 49 (52) Male (367)
514 Karen BEVAN (718) 01:59:15 01:58:48 Ages 18-39 (77) Female (129)
521 Fiona O’RIORDAN (342) 01:59:42 01:59:21 Ages 45 – 49 (23) Female (135)

Noella Carroll pacing 2:00 hours

536 Noella CARROLL (712) 02:00:15 01:59:49 Ages 40 – 44 (27) Female (145)…Pacer
579 Joe MURPHY (64) 02:04:37 02:04:07 Ages 55 – 59 (14) Male (405)…Pacer
582 Ed FITZGERALD (713) 02:04:41 02:04:11 Ages 40 – 44 (102) Male (408)…Pacer

Ed Fitzgerald & Joe Murphy of Eagle AC…2:05 pacers

657 Sarah DUFFY (717) 02:22:14 02:21:35 Ages 18-39 (141) Female (234)

Overall Results      Munster Half-Marathon Results     Photos of Eagle AC members

A total of 31 Eagle AC members took part in the inaugural John Buckley Sports Cork City 10 Miler on Sunday the 14th of Sept 2014.

20 Ciaran Bouse Eagle AC MSenior (1:00:41) 1:00:44
28 Eric Browne Eagle AC MSenior (1:01:29) 1:01:32
29 Ronan BOLAND Eagle AC M50+ (1:01:42) 1:01:43…1st M50

Ronan Boland…1st M50

57 Killian OCONNOR Eagle AC MSenior (1:04:49) 1:04:52
58 Pat OCONNOR Eagle AC M45+ (1:04:51) 1:04:55
65 Paul COTTER Eagle AC M35+ (1:05:34) 1:05:37
75 David O Callaghan Eagle ACM45+ (1:07:16) 1:07:20
87 Kevin GEARY Eagle ACM35+ (1:08:32) 1:08:39
99 John SCANNELL Eagle AC M45+ (1:09:28) 1:09:33
118 Shane OSHAUGHNESSY Eagle AC M35+ (1:11:20) 1:11:25
130 Charlie BYRD Eagle A.C. M50+ (1:12:35) 1:12:40
144 Trevor O Sullivan Eagle AC M40+ (1:13:47) 1:14:01
151 Linda CUSSEN Eagle AC FSenior (1:14:34) 1:14:41
193 John DUNLEAVY Eagle AC M45+ (1:17:22) 1:17:36
210 Laurence COURTNEY Eagle AC M50+ (1:18:10) 1:18:17
218 John QUIGLEY Eagle AC M60+ (1:18:42) 1:18:50
230 Cathal TWOMEY Eagle AC MSenior (1:19:08) 1:19:16
232 Elaine GUINANE Eagle AC F35+ (1:19:11) 1:19:23
233 Frances OCONNOR Eagle AC F55+ (1:19:24) 1:19:24…1st F55

Frances O’Connor…1st in the F55 category

255 Patrick OGORMAN Eagle AC M40+ (1:21:00) 1:21:15
255 Paul Scannell Eagle AC MSenior (1:21:01) 1:21:15
272 Yvonne BENNETT Eagle F50+ (1:22:08) 1:22:32
278 Dympna Connolly Eagle AC F35+ (1:22:44) 1:22:55
285 Donal Mc Grath Eagle A.C M50+ (1:23:06) 1:23:27
342 Nora CORCORAN Eagle A.C F35+ (1:26:43) 1:27:04
379 Fiona ORIORDAN Eagle AC F45+ (1:28:53) 1:29:13
391 Sunita Corcoran Eagle AC F40+ (1:29:17) 1:29:48
418 Karen Bevan Eagle A.C F35+ (1:32:26) 1:32:55
420 Jane Mc Grath Eagle AC F50+ (1:33:10) 1:33:31
440 Grace O Leary Eagle AC F35+ (1:36:30) 1:36:30
486 Ann Hayes Eagle AC F55+ (1:42:29) 1:42:56
Full Results

Photos on the club Flickr page

As the evenings begin to close in, the midweek races are beginning to thin out. Here are some of the races that Eagle AC members were in over the last week…

Glounthaune Community 4 mile race: This was held on Wed 3rd Sept 2014
10 Ciaran Bouse Eagle ac M MS 57 23:57
20 Roger O’Mahony Eagle ac M M40 136 25:07
31 Denis Carroll Eagle AC M M50 167 26:30
34 Eddie Byrne Eagle AC M M40 133 26:37

Eddie Byrne #133

83 Philip Corcoran Eagle ac M M40 187 28:58
104 Frances O Connor Eagle ac F F50 186 30:10
219 Ann Hayes Eagle ac F F50 257 37:14
242 Sunita Corcoran eagle F F40 180 38:41
Full Results

Kinsale 5m road race: This was on Sunday 7th September on what was a lovely sunny morning.

Gregg Moore #691 at the Kinsale 5 mile

10 775 00:29:29 Ciaran Bouse M Open Eagle AC
47 691 00:36:31 Greg Moore M40 Eagle Ath
79 536 00:39:23 Donal Kelleher M40 Eagles AC
Full results   Photos

Great North Run Half-Marathon: Well done to Mike McGrath who went to the UK last weekend to take part in the famous Great North Run Half-Marathon in the North-East of England. In a field of over 57,000 participants, Mike completed the race in 1:33:50 and was 70th in his category, 1309th overall. Mike’s opinion on the race: ‘A great event and highly recommended for all, would be a great weekend away for Eagles in the future!’

Dingle Half-Marathon: This was on Sat 6th Sept and we had two Eagle finishers…
37 Shane OSHAUGHNESSY Eagle AC M35 (1:29:03) 1:31:27
149 John MCCARTHY Eagle AC M35 (1:41:22) 1:42:43