14.10.2019

Race Report: Day 2 County Cross Country Championships

A big well done again to the 18 Bray Runners A.C. juvenile athletes who competed so well at day 2 of the Wicklow county cross country championships in Avondale yesterday.  The heavy rain of the early morning stopped just before the first race began making for good cross-country racing conditions on a challenging course.  All our athletes put in fine performances again, demonstrating their determination and toughness. 

Our first runner of the day was Sophie Mackle who again got the day off to a great start finishing 7th out of a field of 32 U9 athletes. Sophie was followed by the boys U9’s where Feidhlim Harvey followed his day 1 3rd place with yet another 3^rd place finish, well done Feidhlim!!  Oisin Whelan followed close behind having another fine run finishing 10^th.                                                                          

Jenna Daly and Isla Graham both had good runs in a large girls U11 field both finishing well up the pack in 16^th and 23^rd places respectively.  In the boys U11’s Aaron Egan and Samuel Whelan both had excellent runs finishing 3^rd and 5^th respectively, well done boys, super runs!!

The only team from our club competing yesterday was the girls U13’s, where all 4 girls came in the top 10 claiming the team gold medal a long way ahead of their nearest competitors. Roisin Murray (3^rd), Catherine O’Neill (4^th), Eile Kennedy (5^th) and Mia McEntee (10^th) all put in superb performances and demonstrated what cross-country racing is all about – teamwork!! In the boys U13’s James Foot running out of his age followed up his excellent win on day 1 with another superb win yesterday.  Bobby More and Adam Craxton both had fine runs finishing 5^th and 15^th respectively.

In the girls U15’s Hannah Kelly had a superb race taking home the county gold medal.  For all our younger athletes Hannah is a great example of an athlete who has been working away for a number of years and yesterday took her first county cross-country individual gold.  In the boys U15’s Matthew Daly and Finn Campbell both running out of their ages had superb races finishing 4^th and 6^th and Dara McGrandles made an excellent debut performance on the cross-country scene.

Well done to all who took part and a big thanks again to all the mums, dads, brothers and sisters who came along for support.  Looking at these results it again goes to show that all the hard work and dedication put in by your children is paying off and it also shows particularly for the older athletes that the additional training sessions on a Thursday and Sunday are making a huge difference to the athlete’s endurance and stamina.  

Training

Tuesday training will continue in Woodbrook College tomorrow from 6.50 - 8.00pm.

Thursday training will be on the promenade in Bray, meeting at the boathouse coffee shop 7-8pm (Southern end of the prom).  This session is open to all athletes born in 2008 or earlier.

 Details of the Sunday run will be posted on the What’s App groups this week.

Upcoming Events

Following the county champs. we now look forward to the Leinster Cross Country Champs. Details will follow next week of proposed teams for these events.

Saturday 26th of October - Leinster Cross Country (Evens) - Gowran Co. Kilkenny

Saturday 9th of November - Leinster Cross Country (Unevens) - Ferbane, Co. Offaly

Thanks again to the parents who recently volunteered to help out at training.  Without your assistance we would not be able to keep accepting new members.  We will keep the appeal going for parental assistance:  We now have 100 registered juveniles with the club and in order to maintain the smooth running of our training sessions we need help.  You do NOT have to be a runner, all you have to do is provide encouragement and support to our young athletes.  Please feel free to speak to any of our coaches about volunteering.