The annual British & Irish Masters International Cross Country Championship was held in Dublin last weekend in what were very wet and muddy conditions. Among a host of Cork athletes taking part, Richard Piotrowski of Eagle AC was representing his native England in the M65 category.

M65
1. 2805 6505 Martin McEvilly m M65 Ireland 23:21
2. 2806 6506 J.J.Murphy m M65 Ireland 23:40
3. 2845 6545 Richard Marks m M65 Wales 24:10
4. 2825 6525 Terry Eakin m M65 Northern Ireland 24:24
5. 2815 6515 Mark McNally m M65 England 24:44
6. 2818 6518 Peter Whitcomb m M65 England 24:53
7. 2837 6537 Alex Sunderland m M65 Scotland 24:54
8. 2808 6508 Pat O’Shea m M65 Ireland 25:02
9. 2816 6516 Richard Piotrowski m M65 England 25:11
10. 2807 6507 Barry Potts m M65 Ireland 25:32
11. 2836 6536 Robert Marshall m M65 Scotland 25:33
12. 2817 6517 Roy Treadwell m M65 England 25:38
13. 2828 6528 Charles Meban m M65 Northern Ireland 26:32
14. 2838 6538 Colin Youngson m M65 Scotland 26:39
15. 2826 6526 Barry Morris m M65 Northern Ireland 26:56
16. 2848 6548 Paul Allen m M65 Wales 27:06
17. 2847 6547 Mike Davies m M65 Wales 27:33
18. 2846 6546 Dic Evans m M65 Wales 27:45

As can be seen from the team results below, Richard was the third scoring member of the English team that won a team Silver medal behind Ireland.

British & Irish XC 2015
Men 65
Place 1 2 3 Total
1 Ireland 1 2 8 …11 pts
2 England 5 6 9 …20 pts
3 Scotland 7 11 14 …32 pts
4 Northern Ireland 4 13 15 …32 pts
5 Wales 3 16 17 …36 pts

Link to Results & Photos

The club will be starting a 16 week training programme for members starting on Monday the 16th of November.

There is a choice of four programmes…

1. Novice. Based on running less than 20 miles per week and on 3 days. (Mentor – Ed Fitzgerald)
2. Improvers. Based on running between 20 to 30 miles per week and on 3 days. (Mentor – Grellan McGrath)
3. Intermediate. Based on running between 30-40 miles per week and on 4 days. (Mentor – Elaine Guinane)
4. Performance. Based on running between 40-50 miles per week and on 5 days. (Mentor – John Desmond)

Over the 16 weeks, those following each programme will be doing a variety of track sessions and weekend runs to get ready for the Ballycotton 10 race on the 6th of March 2016. Provision is also made for those who might wish to do the Dungarvan 10 mile or the Mallow 10 mile.

The programme will also give members a good foundation for the 2016 season be it for the Cork City Marathon or local road races.

For any non-members wishing to join the programme then have a look at our membership page. Joining now will cover your membership up until the end of 2016.

Please note that the programmes are not suitable for absolute beginners. If you’ve recently completed a Couch to 5k programme and are running on a regular basis then consider a basic 12 week programme as outlined HERE

Well done to club member Alan O’Brien who won the annual Rebel Run 10k race in Bishopstown, Cork. While conditions were wet and windy, Alan managed a time of 35:52.

1 Alan O’BRIEN (400) 00:35:52 00:35:51 Senior (1) Male (1)
8 Pat O’CONNOR (97) 00:40:09 00:40:07 Over 40 (4) Male (8)
13 Michael FORDE (166) 00:41:14 00:41:09 Senior (6) Male (13)
19 Neil MACKAY (381) 00:42:10 00:42:06 Over 40 (9) Male (19)
67 Martin O LEARY (490) 00:47:22 00:47:15 Senior (27) Male (64)
74 Cathal TWOMEY (297) 00:47:50 00:47:48 Senior (30) Male (71)
167 Karen BEVAN (379) 00:55:22 00:55:13 Senior (18) Female (30)

Full results HERE

Athletics Ireland have just released the latest membership statistics for all the clubs in Ireland as of the end of October 2015. They show that Eagle AC now has a record 194 members, the largest ever in the history of the club. The previous peak of 192 was reached at the end of December 2014.

Top 10 Clubs in Cork by number of adult members…

Ballymore Cobh AC 229, Midleton AC 199, Eagle AC 194, St. Finbarrs AC 188, Ballintotis Fit4Life 175, Bandon AC 172, Leevale AC 170, Mallow AC 148, Youghal AC 132, Watergrasshill AC 119

Cork County Masters Cross Country : The County Masters Cross Country Championships were held in Conna last Sunday the 1st of November. Alan O’Brien was in cracking form finishing second overall in the race after avoiding the mad rush at the start. He subsequently moved up through the field once the first lap was out of the way to secure a M35 Silver medal. Another notable performance was that of Vivian Foley who won M45 Bronze just six days after completing the Dublin Marathon in 2h 57m.

Masters Men – Over 35 – 2 Alan O’Brien
Masters Men – Over 45 – 3 Vivian Foley, 5 John O’Callaghan, 9 Denis Looney, 13 Richard Hawkins
Masters Men – Over 50 – 9 John Desmond
Masters Men – Over 55 – 4 Pat Murphy
Masters Men – Over 60 – 1 Joe Murphy, 2 John Quigley
Masters Men – Over 65 – 1 Pat Twomey

Masters Men – Over 35 Teams – 4th Eagle AC (AOB) 2, (VF) 9, (JOC) 19, (DL) 65…..95 pts
Masters Men – Over 50 Teams – 4th Eagle AC (JD) 50, (JM) 55, (PT) 57, (PM) 69 ….231 pts

Masters Women – Over 45 – 6 Ber Looney

Well done to the following 4 members who took part in this years New York City Marathon…
Finbarr Lehane who took 84 seconds off his Barcelona PB…3:46:20
Charlie Byrd who opted for the shorter distance of 26.2 miles this time out…3:55:29
Jonathan Kenneally who completed his 2nd marathon with a 33 minute improvement…4:12:02
Derek Costello who was suffering from a bad cold just before the marathon and battled it out until the end…4:39:44