Dec 26 MSD Clonmel 4 mile
There were over 300 finishers in this year’s Clonmel 4 Mile Road Race. Peter Lynch took second place in a time of 17.59 – a consequence of being pushed all the way by the winner, local man Sean Tobin who finished in 17.46. Peter’s winning time in 2022 was 18.37.
Dec 26 Stoneyford 5K
Quite a number of KCH members ran this year’s 5k Stoneyford road race. Very much involved were the Richardsons with Grace and Maebh placing first and second females respectively. Their respective times were 17.14 and 17.36. Also
showing good form was mum Niamh finishing in 20.28. Wel done to all the participants.
Dec 25 Christmas Morning Run
A mild morning saw a fine crowd assemble at the gates of Kilkenny Castle for the annual Christmas morning Run around the city streets. This year’s beneficiary of the KCH fun run was Teach Tom for which €1,015 was raised. Many thanks to organiser Graham Bourne.
Dec 10 Eurocross in Brussels
Another good day for Irish athletes at the Eurocross in Brussels today. Our two Juniors Hannah Kehoe and Maebh had good runs finishing 45th and 54th respectively to help the national team into fifth place.
Nick Griggs was the star of the show with an individual bronze in the men’s junior race in addition to leading the team to gold.
The under 23 teams had the ladies in 8th and the men in 10th.
While Griggs was a star Fionnuala McCormack was leading light with a 4th place finish for the senior ladies who placed 8th. The senior men with the six runners who were the first six finishers in the nationals were competitive from the start and after a great battle finished in 4th place. The scorers were 8 Cormac Dalton, 17 Keelan Kilrehill and 20 Hugh Armstrong.
Dec 09 Bright Night in The Light
The lights were on in Thomastown for the final cross country race for 2023. Our athletes relished the night and the competition with many achievements. Jack O’Shea 6th and Adam Murphy 8th represented the club in the under 7s. The u9s were out in force. Winter Rose Molloy won individual silver. Other u9 runners were Alicia Murphy, Summer Nova Molloy, Katlyn Phelan and Sarah Kelly. The u9 boys had Conor Kelly, Sam Greene, Adam Walsh, Jonah Cleere and Dara Walsh.
The u11 boys took first team medals with great running by Tom Hardiman 1st, Charlie Norris 3rd, Jake McGuire 4th and Charlie Brennan 17th. the girls had Casey Cleere 6th, Hannah O’Brien 10th, Grace O’Brien 11th, Caoimhe Malone 12th and Ava Walsh 17th.
The under 13 girls were led by Amelia O’Brien who won individual gold and with Ellie O’Shea 14th and Emma Millea 15th the team won the bronze medals. The boys went a step further with Cillian Croke first home – Aidan Malone 3rd – Noah Flynn 5th and Harry Greene 9th – the team won the gold medals.
Our O/35 ladies were also in on the action and they packed extremely well with the result that they won first and second team medals. Individual placings were – 2 Clare Dermody, 3rd Kate Millea, 4th Lisa Collins, 5th Gretta Beckett, 8th Sheila O’Callaghan, 9th Helen Crowley. The men O/35 under the guidance of Eamon O’Connor also won gold. Andrew Smith took individual gold and Graham Bourne won silver. Then with Mike Cullen in 4th and backup from Andy Hanrahan and Paul Crowley first team medals were secure. Happy Christmas all.
Dec 03 Uneven Nationals in Navan
The national uneven age cross country in Navan today brings our juvenile season to a close. Just one major race to come – The Eurocross in Brussels next weekend with Maebh Richardson and Hannah Kehoe travelling with the Irish ladies Junior team. Today in Navan there were great performances by our juveniles with five individuals claiming individual medals.
One of the outstanding performances was by Kate Kelly in the u11 race. Kate finished third in the Leinster championships after a fab race. Today she went even better to win individual silver. And there was a bonus as she collected gold with the winning Leinster team. Her club mate, Mealla Crowley, also ran well. The boys with a number of u10s on the team finished 15th. Missing Eoin Hoyne through injury was a setback but they gave a good account of themselves. Daniel McIntyre, Tom Hardiman and Tadgh McGuinness, 53, 54 and 126 respectively, scored on the county team which finished in 12thplace. Daniel Quinn and Brandon Maher contributed to the team’s performance.
We had three athletes at u13 level and all ran their hearts out. Daniel Green, 2nd in the u12 in Gowran, made 4th today in the u13 race. Fiach Crowley gave his usual strong performance. Katie Byrne, our sole representative in the u13 girls race, finished a good 27th.
All our u15 athletes scored on the county teams. Kyrell Mtinsi was outstanding to take the individual silver. This was doubled with the Leinster team that placed second in the inter-provincial. And Kyrell wasn’t finished yet as he collected bronze with the county team. Robert Coogan in 54th also won national bronze with the county team. The girls had Sinead Cormack and Ellen Cormack in 21st and 67th respectively with both scoring on the county team that placed 9th.
Pia Langton was the star of the u17 team. Placing 16th she won bronze with the county and silver with Leinster. Another good run from Clodagh saw her finish 24th and scoring with the county she won a bronze All-Ireland medal. The other team members were Eimear Cormack 82, Hazel Coogan 78 and Evelyn McEvoy 114.
Issabelle Burke had a fine run to finish 16th in the u19 girls race. For the u19 boys there were bronze medals for Billy Coogan 6th and Myles Hewlett 7th. Ruairi McEvoy also ran well to finish 18th.
Well done all. Congratulations to all our athletes on their performances. Thanks to the coaches and parents. Best wishes for Christmas and plenty more good news in 2024.