Archives 2021 April - June
Kildare 1500m Championship - Celbridge - Monday 28th June 2021
Report by Carmel Kelly
The Kildare 1500m championship took place in sun soaked Celbridge tonight. There were some top class races and great results for the club all round.
Katy Hayes and Roisin Beggan were up first in u14 with Katy winning a silver medal in a very close finish. Harry Cahill followed up with a silver medal too in the boys race. Saoirse O'Toole put in a great performance u15 as did Daniel Geraghty who picked up a bronze medal. In the girls u16 Sadhbh Buckley and Aoife Carroll finished 2nd and 3rd while Conor McNerney and Alexander Broome ran well in the boys equivalent. With four St Coca's runners in girls u17 a slow tactical race ensued with Ruby Olivier and Niamh McDonald sprinting it out over the final 80m and Ruby taking the title. Kate Carroll 4th and Nessa Stagg also running well.
The final two races saw Conan Lennon win the u17 and Thomas Richards 2nd in the o17/senior race. Cliodhna O'Toole put in a storming finish to claim a bronze in the women's event and Orla Reidy also having a great run.
Well done to all the athletes and to their coaches who have kept them going over the last year. Great to be back racing.
Aoife O'Cuill selected for Irish U23 European Championships team in Tallinn - Monday 28th June 2021
Athletics Ireland have announced that Aoife O’Cuill has been selected as part of the 30 strong team to represent Ireland in the European U23 Championships due to take place in Tallinn, Estonia July 8th - 11th 2021. She will compete in the 10,000M (with Orla O’Connor from Waterford) having met the qualification standard in Cork in May with a time of 34:41.36.
Best of luck Aoife from all at St Cocas.
Full announcement here.
Kildare Track and Field Championships - Celbridge - 26th & 27th June 2021
Well done to all our competitors in the sprints, long jump and turbo javelin at the Kildare County Juvenile Track and Field Championships in Celbridge on Saturday and a great showing by our u9/10 and 11 athletes on Sunday at the 300m/400m and 500m events. The races were all very competitive with Patrick Nolan winning silver in the u9 event and Eoin Kelly silver in u10. Great to see all the happy faces. Well done to you all.
Kevin Kelly takes bronze in thrilling 1500M National Senior final - Santry - 26th June 2021
Kevin Kelly gave it everything this afternoon, leaving it all on the track, making a brave move to the front in the last 200M racing for the line only to be overtaken on the final straight by race favourite Andrew Coscoran and an amazing sprint by Cathal Doyle for 2nd, leaving him with a well deserved bronze in an edge of the seat race to the finish of the National Senior Men 1500M at the Morton Stadium in Santry. Well done Kevin.
Aoife O'Cuill places 5th in the National Senior Women 5K in Santry - Saturday 26th June 2021
An amazing performance by Aoife O'Cuill once again to place 5th in a field of 21 in the National Senior Women 5K at Morton Stadium this morning on the back of her U23 1500M crown last Sunday and qualification for the European 10,000M at CIT last May. Superb running Aoife.
St Coca's 5K Race Night - Friday 25th June 2021
What a great night, thank you to all runners for taking on our 5K tonight and congratulations to all our winners pictured below with Club President Bobby King who presented their awards.
2021 Winners
1st Male - Evan Fitzgerald - Clonmel AC
2nd Male Mick Fogarty - Ferbane AC
3rd Male - Neil Wiktorski - Bray Runners
1st Female - Lizzie Lee - Leevale AC
2nd Female - Maria McCambridge - DSD AC
3rd Female - Noreen Brouder - Sportsworld RC
1st Male Junior - Eoin Richards - St Coca's AC
1st Female Junior - Ava Costello - Trim AC
Our thanks to Frank Greally for taking on the job of MC tonight at the finish line and to our Race Director Karen O'Hanlon, David Walsh, Fiona and Bobby King for their usual massive organisation of the details behind the scenes, all of the volunteers and marshals on the night, the Civil Defence and Gardaí, our sponsors, the team at MyRunResults and to everyone who supported the race. Thank you for making it such a great night with a tremendous positive response.
As expected there were an incredible number of fast times and personal bests.
Aoife O'Cuill has runaway win in National Junior U23 1500M final - Sunday 20th June 2021
At the National Junior U23 Championships in Morton Stadium, Santry, Aoife O'Cuill had an unbelievable runaway win to claim the National U23 1500M title in a time of 4:29.96 where she lead from the gun. Beating her personal best by about 9 seconds, what a fantastic race Aoife, congratulations.
Kildare Thoroughbred Half Marathon sees smashing PB performances - Sunday 20th June 2021
Well done to all our athletes who took on the Thoroughbred Half Marathon this morning through the streets of Kildare, some amazing times and PBs. (Photos by Dónal Harrison)
Kildare 600/800M Championships ages 15 and under - Sunday 20th June 2021
Report by Carmel Kelly
There were some more great performances by the younger age group athletes in Naas for u12 to u14 600m/800m races.
Deirbhile Nolan was first up and put in a marvellous last 100m to make the girls u12 final where she had another great run. Luke McKeon and Colm Cahill ran the boys u12 with Luke winning a great bronze medal after in a great final.
All three of the girls u13 made the final Juliet Olivier 5th, Aisling Nolan 6th and Aoibhin Beggan 7th. Harry Cahill and Robert Murphy won silver and bronze in the boys u14 800m. The last race of the day was the girls u14 and Katy Hayes and Roisin Beggan were very strong finishing 4th and 7th. Well done to everyone and to the coaches on the day.
New PBs for Bernard and Marianne at the Kildare Thoroughbred 10K - Saturday 19th June 2021
Massive congrats to these two legends at the Kildare Thoroughbred 2021 10k this morning.
Two huge PBs by Bernard Phelan 39.37 and Marianne Mulreid 43.21 through the streets of Kildare town and the beautiful National Stud.
A lot of training behind those hard earned numbers, well done to both of you.
Shout out also to Deirdre Phelan who had a great run 23:31 in the 5K yesterday.
Kildare 800M Championships ages U15 and over - Saturday 19th June 2021
Report by Carmel Kelly
Kildare 800m championship took place in Naas this morning and St Cocas were well represented in all the age groups.
Saoirse O'Toole was out first and just missed the final of girls u15 by one spot. Daniel Geraghty had a storming run in the boys u15 to claim a bronze medal. Conor Murphy also ran a super race in the boys u16 to claim a silver.. Not far behind was Alexander Broome in his first race for the club and Joseph Richards. Another athlete to impress was Ruby Olivier silver in the girls u17. Niamh McDonald and Cliona O'Toole were just outside the medals in the open women's race and Nessa Stagg and Orla Reidy both running well.
Well done to Kildare on getting championship events on this year and compliments to Naas AC on the great condition of the track.
New PB for Kevin Kelly in 1500m - Saturday 12th June 2021
Kevin Kelly continues his amazing performance streak with a new PB of 3:39.08 to win the 1500m in New York. The time is less than 4 seconds off the St Coca's male record of 3:35.22 set by Paul Robinson in Rieti, Italy in 2013.
Kildare 100M Sprint Championships - Saturday June 12th 2021
The long awaited return to inter club competition ended on Saturday with the Kildare 100M U15-U17 Sprint Championships taking place in Celbridge. St Coca's AC was represented by Orla Flynn, Olivia Chracol, Grace Maher, Claire Kelly and Layla Mathias. All girls ran well with Orla Flynn easily winning her heat and taking 2nd place in the U17 final. Layla Mathias also won her heat and went on to take 3rd place in the U15 final. In the U16 category Grace Maher and Claire Kelly reached the final, with Grace coming 4th and Claire 6th. Well done to Kildare County Board for organising the event and to Celbridge AC for hosting and to all competitors.
Condolences for the family of Will Bermingham - Friday 28th May 2021
On behalf of St Coca's Athletics Club, we would like to express our great sadness on the tragic passing of Willy Bermingham, a true friend and supporter of the club and the local community, and remembered fondly as a gentleman with a ready smile for all.
We offer our sincere condolences to his heartbroken wife Libby, and their beautiful daughters Victoria, Georgia and Alicia as well as to his extended family and friends.
Will's funeral takes place on Friday morning, June 4th, with Mass at 12 noon in St Coca’s Church, Kilcock.
Some members of St Coca’s AC will form a Guard of Honour for Will and anybody taking part is asked to wear a club jacket or jersey and meet in the church yard on Friday morning before mass.
Further details of the funeral arrangements and book of condolences are available on rip.ie
Kildare County Board 3K & 5K Time Trials - Saturday 22nd May 2021
Report by Bernard Phelan
The Kildare County Board held a training event at Le Céile track in Leixlip this morning and offered 3k and 5k time trials for women and 5k time trial for men. St Coca's AC was well represented in the various fields:
Women’s 3K:
Marianne Mulreid 11:35
Fiona King 12:12
Women’s 5K:
Olivia Bermingham 20:41
Men’s 5K:
Colin O’Neill 18:29
Brian Kerrigan 18:36
Henry Cahill 18:37
Michael Malone Jnr 19:00
Bernard Phelan 19:23
John Murray 19:47
Gary Cahill 19:48
Larry Kelly 20:12
Well done everyone and credit to Kildare County Board for holding this event, Le Céile for hosting it and Brian Conroy and team at Popup races for organization and chip timing.
Aoife O'Cuill qualifies for European U23 10K Championship - Saturday 15th May 2021
News just emerging from Cork CIT that Aoife O'Cuill has smashed the standard for this summers European u23 championship in Norway. In her first 10k on the track she ran an amazing 34.41.30 in wet and windy conditions. Fantastic performance.
Pic and article shown are from the Liffey Champion, June 2021.
World class athletics with Irish Stars on TG4 next week - Thursday 13th May 2021
The next leg of the Continental Tour Gold in Ostrava, Czech Republic will be LIVE on Sport TG4 on Wednesday 19th May from 5-7pm.
One of the top meets in the world includes significant Irish interest with:-
Mark English 800m
Paul Robinson 1500m (St Cocas AC)
Nadia Power 800m
Luke McCann 1500m
Sean Tobin 3000m
Aoife O'Cuill in action in Northern Ireland - Saturday 8th May 2021
Aoife O’Cuill was in action today in the North Belfast Harriers afternoon of 5Ks where she competed in a top class field in wet underfoot conditions at Mary Peters track, posting a time of about 16:53 from the video. Well done Aoife and great to see the club vest out racing.
Return of Adult Training from Tuesday May 11th - Tuesday 4th May 2021
So at last we have some good news. From May 10th adult training may resume in groups of 15 people outdoors.
As our track remains unavailable we have secured access to the North Kildare Club from 7-8 pm on Tuesday evenings from Tuesday May 11th. Training will resume that evening for all adult groups and sessions will be prepared for that evening for all abilities. We will mark out loops/route to suit all abilities. Once we are up and running we will look at what other options are available until we can back to our track.
As some of you will have noticed work has also resumed at our track beginning last week. Although the delays have been most unfortunate it is great that work is now underway again and when we have confirmation of a completion date I will update you but provisionally we expect work to take 8 – 10 weeks.
If you have not already done so we would encourage you to renew your membership of the club.
Easter Juvenile Team Challenge - Week 2 - Friday 9th April 2021
This weeks challenge will see teams organised under county names with points scored for completing given activities rather than distance alone.
Starting Tuesday 6th March, there are two choices of challenge, each involves three goals to be completed over four days:-
Week 2 Results
This weeks results are in and ... after very stiff competition... the winner is County Clare - Up The Banners.
Well done everyone who participated in this week's challenge and sorry about Mayo Larry!
Easter Juvenile Team Challenge - Week 1 - Friday 2nd April 2021
With the resumption of some level of juvenile training on the horizon a few of the coaches have devised a challenge to get us all into the active mode.
A 100k challenge
Sounds like a lot. But don't worry. We will organise people into teams of 10 or more to create a bit of competition.
A team member can do anything from a half a k to 2k (u10's) older athletes can so distance from a half k to 4k (if you do more than this you will only be credited for 4k).
This can be done from one day a week up to 5 days.
It is submitted to Carmel Kelly and she will add this to the chart and whatever team reaches 100k will be the winner.
We will have a prize for the first team which we will reveal during the week.
You may submit up to 5 runs a week but must do at least one. The longest run that we allow is 4k (if you run further that's great but we won't score it😊)
If you are not feeling great start with a short run - 500m to get you going. We will add blocks of 500m to the spreadsheet. For example 1.5k or 3.5k.
Updates will be added on Tuesday and Thursday evenings and Sunday.
It is possible for a team to do the 100k in a week but its more likely it will go into week 2.
Don't rush at it. Aim for 2 or 3 times a week at least.
Week 1
This week's RESULTS are in:-
Leaping Lizards 101.5k
Laughing Llamas 81.5k
Speedy Snakes 69k
Galloping Gazelles 76.5k
Racing Rhino's 59.5k
Crazy Cats 76k
Mighty Monkeys 74k
Diving Dolphins 75.5k
Swift Swans 87k
Elegant Elephants 82. 5
CONGRATS TO THE LIZARDS BUT A SPECIAL MENTION TO THE ELEPHANTS WHO LOST A RUNNER THROUGH INJURY BEFORE WE STARTED.
Spot prizes
LEENA O'Connor
SIOFRA O'Cuill
And most enthusiastic morning runner SENAN Traynor