Entries Open Friday 8th of April at 10am

You can Enter here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/fota_cheetah_run_2022/4368/details

Eagle AC are delighted to announce that race entries to our Cheetah 5K will open this Friday the 8th of April at 10 am. This is always a hugely popular event and places have sold out within the day in previous years. There will be NO entries available on the night.

Our Olympian Aoife Cooke was in Fota Wildlife Park this week to launch this years ‘Cheetah Run’, together with our race sponsor John Buckley Sports and Brooks running. This promises to be a fantastic event, a rare opportunity to run a 5K race (adults & over 16 years) or a 1 mile race for those aged 11-15 years, through the grounds of Fota Wildlife park. Perhaps you’ll have a chance to race a Giraffe or an Ostrich, you will certainly run past Cheetahs, Lions, Tigers, and so many more of Fota’s famous inhabitants! This is a unique event, one not to be missed.

The entry fee for the 5k event will be €15 (+ processing fee), entry fee for the 1-mile junior race will be €8 (+ processing fee) places for the 1-mile race are limited to 100. Each runner can bring a maximum of four visitors along with them free of charge to watch the race. Access will be controlled on the night and gates open at 6:30pm

The Fota Wildlife Park press launch article can be found on the link below:

https://www.fotawildlife.ie/news/olympian-aoife-cooke-launches-the-eagle-athletic-club-cheetah-run-at-fota-wildlife-park/

Image credits: Darragh Kane

The Eagle AC Cheetah Run Returns To Fota Wildlife Park.

Eagle AC together with Fota Wildlife Park and with the co-operation of the OPW, are delighted to announce the return of the Eagle AC Cheetah Run 5km race for 2022.
We are very grateful to our sponsors John Buckley Sports & Brooks for helping to make this possible.

During the Covid pandemic, last year’s Cheetah run was held as a virtual event. This was hugely successful. So many of you took to the roads and raised much needed funds for Fota Wildlife Park, who had to close their doors to the public during that time. As 100% of the funds raised through the virtual event were donated directly to FOTA we were delighted to raise total of €4,540. Thank you for your unbelievable support.

However, nothing will make us happier than seeing you all back in Fota Wildlife Park to run the 2022 Eagle AC Cheetah Run on the evening of May 19th.

Race Details.

Online entries will open on the 8th of April 2022.

There will be NO entries available on the night, indeed entries usually sell out well in advance of the night.
Options will be available either for number postage or number collection on the night.

There will be 2 events running on the evening of May 19th.
The juvenile 1-mile race is open to 11-15 year olds. Prizes are not awarded in this race, but medals will be presented to all participants. Start time for this race is 7:15pm

The 5k race is open to everyone aged 16 years & older (as per Athletics Ireland permit recommendations). Start time for this race is 8pm. In this event there will be prizes for the first 5 men and women as well as the usual age categories prizes.

The entry fee for the 5k event will be €15 (+ processing fee), entry fee for the 1-mile junior race will be €8 (+ processing fee) places for the 1-mile race are limited to 100. Each runner can bring a maximum of four visitors along with them free of charge to watch the race. Access will be controlled on the night and gates open at 6:30pm

Both the 5K & 1 Mile course are accurately measured by John Quigley AIMS/IAAF Grade ‘A’ Measurer. This event is run under an Athletics Ireland permit.

Both events will be chip timed, and we are happy to once again be working with myrunresults.ie as our chip timing company.

This is always a hugely popular event that sells out quickly, save the date & be ready to click your entry into one of the most unique races in Cork!

Important reminders.

A few important reminders, for your safety & the safety of the animals in the park.

• No children’s bikes or scooters are permitted in the park
• Participants cannot run with buggies or strollers
• No pets are permitted
• No drones or balloons permitted in the park
• No race flyers to be circulated during the race or placed on cars in the carpark.
• No headphones/ air pods etc are permitted, please listen to the stewards.
• Number transfers are not permitted.

Save the date: Entry Link goes live on April 8th, 2022, at 10am!

Entry Link: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/fota_cheetah_run_2022/4368/details

In Partnership with:

Fota Wildlife Park has been listed as one of Ireland’s Top Ten visitor attractions (CSO 2010) and is the most popular tourist destination in Cork. Hundreds of thousands visit the park every year. Fota is a non-profit organisation and is also a registered charity. It is completely self-financing, relying entirely on gate receipts and membership fees for its income, and any financial surpluses generated are reinvested in order improve infrastructure and promote the company’s core objectives of conservation, education, and research. Their website is http://www.fotawildlife.ie/

The club would also like to acknowledge the continuing sponsorship of John Buckley Sports for this year’s race. John Buckley has been a great supporter of road races and athletics in the Cork region over the years and is one of the main shops in Cork for running gear.
Their website can be found at http://johnbuckleysports.com/

The club welcome the continued support of Brooks Running as a sponsor. Brooks Running are one of the major brands for running gear worldwide and have a wide selection of running shoes and apparel for men and women.
Their website for the UK and Ireland is http://brooksrunning.co.uk/

European Masters Indoors Championships, Braga, Portugal 20th-27th February 2022.

Report by Ken Higgs.

Last week I spent several days competing in the European Masters Athletics Indoor Championships in Braga , northern Portugal. I went out there with a mix of excitement and trepidation, as this was my first time on the European stage and a huge step up (well out of my comfort zone). Thankfully, I was in the company of clubmate Hugh McSweeney who had been and done it before. All week, Hugh was great company, quietly composed but with a steely determination. His calmness and focus (not to mention his dry sense of humour) kept me on track.

National Record, Sliver & Gold Medals.

Despite a major disruption to his training (Hugh had Covid in January), he had an incredibly successful week. A silver medal in the M75 400m, 4th place in the 200m with a Irish national record and then the icing on the cake.. a gold medal in the M70+ 4 x 200m relay. It was great to see the very high regard the other Irish team athletes have for Hugh. There is no stopping him now and I suspect he has his eye on the World Masters indoor championships in Canada next year!

Pipped to the post by a Football Legend.

An interesting side story to Hugh’s 400m final is that he was pipped to the gold medal by a Romero, apparently a Spanish football legend who played for Barcelona and Atletico Madrid in the 60’s and 70’s.

A Wonderful Experience.

From a personal point of view I was truly delighted to make the M70 400m final, where I came 5th with a PB. I am so glad I went to Braga to test myself and to learn more about what is needed to compete at this level. It was a real blast. Finally, I believe there are many runners in the club who could have success at both national and International masters track events. So I say …just give it a go!

EXTRACTS FROM THE IRISH MASTERS ATHLETICS ASSOCIATION BRAGA 2022 REPORT

The Irish Masters Team Ireland returned from the European Masters Track & Field Championships in Braga 2022 with a massive total of 59 medals. Ireland finished 7th overall in the medals table out of the 43 participating countries
It is very hard to single out any Individual performances without acknowledging the triple Gold won by Anne Gilshinan over 800, 1500 and 300ms. Double Gold for Denise Toner, 3000m and 1500m plus Annette Quaid (Leevale AC) 400m & 800m. Double Gold also for Sean McMullin over 5km Road Race Walk and 3000m RW. Perennial winner, Joe Gough overturned the tables on 800m winner Paul Forbes when capturing the 1500m title. What made this all the more remarkable is that Joe is just a few months shy of his 70th birthday and Paul had broken Joes 1500m WR just a few weeks beforehand.
A special mention to the 2 oldest team members, Michael Kiely (Rising Sun AC) & Hugh Mc Sweeney (Eagle AC), both 77 returning to the European arena, having last competed in Budapest in the early 90s. Each medalled individually and then dropped down to the M70’s 4 x 200m relay to capture Gold in a very competitive race holding off the Portuguese team by 0.5 of a second. Indeed of the 7 relay Teams, 4 captured gold, 1 silver & 1 bronze, which was a testament to all those who put in the hard work and squad training prior to travelling out to Braga.

Finally in relation to Braga, we would like to acknowledge the generosity of all the athletes from Team Ireland who made a special collection and presented over €2000 plus additional gear & clothing to their Ukrainian compatriots who are still currently stuck out in Portugal, as they are unable to return home due to the Russian invasion. In a very emotional and poignant presentation, the athletes from Ukraine expressed their gratitude to those still present. We can only hope and pray that they can return safely to their families as quickly as possible.

The return of races has certainly brought back a buzz that we have missed over the past two years, with the cancellation of so many events due to Covid-19. The atmosphere on the morning of Sunday 20th of February in Carrigaline was a true testament to this. This could be remembered as the year of the storms, but we managed to find a window and slotted into the alphabet between ‘Dudley’ ‘Eunice’ ‘Eagle Race’ and ‘Franklin’ to hold our 33rd Annual 5 Mile race, a tribute to a former club member Mr Tommy Ryan. This was Ruairi Egan’s 3rd year as race director but the first in-person event that the club has been able to host in those 3 years, & Karen Bevan slotting in as assistant to learn on the job. The race serves as both a club fundraiser and contributes traditionally to 2 charities, Carrigaline Meals on Wheels & Forόige Youth Development Organisation Carrigaline. This year we were delighted to be offered a lead motorbike from the Irish Blood bikes and in thanks added this charity to our race donations. Eagle AC is continually grateful for the ongoing sponsorship of this event by The Edge Sports, Kinsale road.

There was an overwhelming support from the running community with over 400 pre-entries to the race. As Covid still holds a presence over proceedings, the race held as a purely outdoors event. This hampered our ability to host the post-race teas, coffees & chats indoors, but did not take away from the atmosphere. Refreshments were provided at the finish line and the friendly rumble of post-race reviews & congratulations, was lovely to hear. The weather on the other hand served up strong winds and rain, making this year’s event a true test of strength & willpower, and starting numbers were reduced to 289.

We were delighted to have Michael Ryan, Tommy’s brother in attendance and hear stories of some of the racing rivalry that Tommy, it seems, was very fond of. Michael did a fantastic job of giving the runners their starters orders and getting the race underway. Fittingly, the race was a head-to-head battle over the 5 miles by two of Corks talented runners Michael Harty East Cork AC & Paul Moloney Mallow AC. They fought the course, the elements, and the hills together but a powerful finishing kick gave Michael Harty the win at the finish line. The first lady home was St. Finbarr’s Emma Murphy, another talented athlete who led the race throughout. Michael Ryan kindly awarded the trophies on the day and supplied some spot prizes of his own too!

Individual Prize Winners.

Prizes were awarded to the first 5 men and women to cross the finish line, and these were as follows
Top 5 Men:

1. Michael Harty East Cork AC 25:30
2. Paul Moloney Mallow AC 25:34
3. John Meade St. Finbarr’s AC 26:46
4. Damian Kenneally Eagle AC 27:19
5. Donncha Kiely Tracton AC 27:52

Top 5 Ladies:

1. Emma Murphy 31:11
2. Linda O’ Sullivan Watergrasshill AC 31:36
3. Aoife Mahony Eagle AC 32:42
4. Linda O Connor 32:42
5. Gwen Conroy Watergrasshill AC 34:02
   The top 5 cash prize structure is as follows: 1st €100, 2nd €80, 3rd €60, 4th €40, 5th €25.

Team Prize Winners.

Club Prizes were awarded as top 3 finishers as follows:
1st Men’s Team: Mallow AC (Paul Moloney 25:34, Daire O’ Sullivan 29:58, Michael Clancy 31:05)
1st Ladies Team: Watergrasshill AC (Linda O’ Sullivan 31:36, Gwen Conroy 34:02, Lisa Crowley 34:23)
2nd Men’s Team: Leevale AC (Matthew Lee 29:39, Jack Curran 30:18, Alan Harrington 30:24)
2nd Ladies Team: Tracton AC (Fiona O’ Mahony 36:22, Trish O’Sullivan 42:13, Elaine Rodrigues 42:34)
First place team prizes €15 Edge Sports voucher each, 2nd place teams €10 Edge sports voucher each.

There were a whole host of Category Prize winners, and they were awarded outside of the first 5 prize-winners as follows:

Female Category Prize Winners

F35

1. Loveness Hegarty 39:46
2. Rose Fielding 42:41
3. Kiara Tanner 42:41

F40

1. Fiona O Mahony 36:22
2. Clodagh Creedon 36:50
3. Grace Hunter 40:27

F45

1. Lisa Crowley 34:23
2. Siobhan Holland 34:52
3. Paula Mulcahy 39:26

F50

1. Ita Kirwan 38:57
2. Fiona Downey 39:59
3. Jane Power 42:25

F55

1. Kathleen Cronin 38:34
2. Colette Ryan 42:30
3. Angela Harrington 45:06

F60

1. Mary Sweeney 36:00
2. Mary Lee 50:21
3. Kay Birch 51:57

F65

1. Marion Lyons 44:26
2. Fatima Boukerche 50:02
3. Norma Harrington 51:22

F70

1. Maggie Dunne 1:00:51

Male Category Prize Winners

M35

1. Darren McCann 28:45
2. Stephen Lynch 29:37
3. Kevin Corbett 31:28

M40

1. Keith Kelly 27:58
2. Daire O Sullivan 29:58
3. John Lynch 30:15

M45

1. Garry Clerkin 30:21
2. Wieslaw Sosnowski 30:27
3. Michael Clancy 31:05

M50

1. Seamus McSweeney 29:52
2. John Kelly 31:52
3. Joe Coffey 32:29

M55

1. John Cashman 33:52
2. Kieran Twomey 34:47
3. Martin Lynch 35:26

M60

1. Neil Creedon 41:29
2. Paul Cotter 42:01
3. Timothy Leonard 42:49

M65

1. Jj Murphy 34:54
2. Mossy Shanahan 39:45
3. Ger O Connell 49:30

M70

1. Richard Piotrowski 37:14
2. Donie O Connell 44:34
3. Joe Harris 50:39

M75

1. Ian Kohler 47:49

Category prizes are awarded as vouchers for the Edge Sports 1st place €20, 2nd €15, 3rd €10.

Spot prizes

6 free entries to the Cheetah Run at Fota Wildlife Park on May 19th, were awarded on the day at random to the following people:

• Dermot O’ Sullivan Mallow AC
• Kevin Mansfield
• Marie Marshall
• Damian Manning Crosshaven Tri
• Eoin McGettigan
• Colin Jermy
We will be in touch with you to pass on your spot prize.

Lastly, but most importantly we must give thanks to the club members of Eagle AC, along with their families & friends, who can always be relied upon and turned out in force to make today possible. There are too many to mention but each of you played a part in making our 2022 race possible.

We would like to mention a few key members for a special word of thanks

• Elaine Guinane, Chief steward
• Pat Murphy, Start/Finish area management
• Denis Looney, Course Set Up
• Grellan McGrath, Club Chairman
• Derek Costello, Club Photos
• Joe Murphy, Club Photos
• Mick Dooley, Club Photos
• Maressa Mills, Instagram on the day
• Mairead Lonergan, numerous roles!
• Sandra Manning, Post race refreshments
• Daniel Luxton, Lead Car
• Diarmaid O’ Crowley, The Irish Blood Bikes Escort
• Lucy & Vinnie of My Run Results who were very helpful on the day

Thank you all for your support both on the day and in all the messages that have arrived since.

See you again next year!

Ruairi Egan & Karen Bevan
Eagle AC Race Directors 2022