2013 In Review.

lHere are some of the highlights from 2013, a very successful year for our club.

                                                       JANUARY.

Wicklow Masters Cross Country. Team Gold for both Men and Womens team, Gold for men 50 plus team. In the womens individual events there was Gold for Suzanne Foot, Denise O'Leary and Noelle Thopre, Silver for Siobhan Butler and Mary Hourihan and Bronze for Grainne Cunningham. In the mens section, Gold for Finbar Kirwan, Martin Francis, Sean Clifford and Richard Kavanagh. Joe Cawley, Dominic Horan and Bernard Quinn all picked up silver medals.

At the Wicklow Star Awards, a number of our athletes picked up awards. Junior Men, Lorcan Murphy, Master Men, Martin Francis and Master Women, Noelle Thorpe.

At the Athletics Leinster Star Awards held in the Seven Oaks Hotel, Carlow on 5th January, 2013, Cyril Smyth, Chairman of DUCAC, was honoured with an Outstanding Service Award to Athletics by Athletics Leinster in recognition of his services to the sport at local, county, provincial and national levels as an official, starter, committee member and executive officer over 28 years.

At the Dungarvan 10 mile, Gary Condon ran a fine 58.37 and Dominic Horan also put in a fine run of 64.37.

Raheny 5 mile; Still no sign of the course record of 22.39, set by Gerry Curtis in 1987, being touched. This years winner, Joe Sweeney, ran 23.53. Over 20 Bray Runners took part, with almost half setting new Pb's.

                                                             February.

A very popular race with Bray Runners is the Enniscorthy 10k, Neil Wiktorski ran an excellent 33.38 for 13th place, plus there was also Pb's for Robert Quinn, Suzanne Foot and Leanne Geraghty.

Also in February Mary Dawson ran 1.32.41 in the Barcelona Half Marathon.

Richard Owens reaches his first National Senior final, indoors 1,500mtrs, in Athlone. He finished 5th in 3.59.88.

                                                             March.

24 of our athletes (plus a number of supporters) took part in the Ballycotton 10mile Road Race. Despite stiff competition Sean Clifford retained his 0/65 title. There was numerous Pb's recorded on the day, Finbar Kirwan, Gary Condon, Joe Kelly, Bill Stanley, Suzanne Foot, Robert Quinn, Helen Barry, Diarmuid Potts, Des O'Hare, Noelle Thorpe, Georgina Devlin, Jason O'Connor, Emer Hynes, Denis Pattterson, Andrea Murphy, Leanne Geraghty and Siobhan Butler. Fine performances also from Pat McCourt, Tony Brannigan, Marc Kierans, Edel Woods, Grainne Cunningham and Richard Kavanagh.

Also in March we had the St. Patricks Festival 5k, in which Neil Wiktorski ran a brilliant 15.55 to finish in 9th place, Charlotte Stevens ran a new Pb of 23.13 to win the 0/50 section, and Emer HHynes also set a new Pb of 26.54.

Des O.Hare ran  1.42.10, a new Pb, in the Dune Cross Border, Half Marathon. In the Wicklow Half Marathon, Joe Cawley, 1.17.18, finished 3rd and Dominic Horan, 1.23.48, finished 9th. 

                                                             April.

Wicklow 5k Road C/ships. We had a great turn out for this event and took home a large collection of medals. Neil Wiktorski was 1st athlete home and took Senior Gold. He was closely followed by Gary Condon who took Gold in the O/40 Cat. Dominic was 2nd O/45, Richard Kavanagh 1st O/55, Tom Cavanagh 2nd O/55, Pat McCourt 2nd O/60, Sean Clifford 1st O/65. Our mens team took Senior Gold and our 50 Plus team also took Gold. In the Womens race Suzanne Foot was 1st home and took Gold in the O/40 Cat. Helen Barry, 3rd home, took silver in the O/40 Cat. Siobhan Butler 3rd O/45, Charlotte Stevens 2nd O/50. Our ladies also took Masters Team Gold. There were many more fine performances on the night.

The Fit4life 3k, hosted by us, and held in Shanganagh was a great success. Lots of Pb's and fine runs from all, but one which caught the eye was Colette Mason's 14.03 almost 4 minutes off her time over the same course 12 months previous. It was also the first of 3 pbs in 10 days for Colette.

The London Marathon is where Gary Condon posted an excellent Pb of 2hr 38.50. The K Club 10k is where Suzanne Foot dipped under the 40min barrier for the first time, Joe Kelly and Helen Barry also posted Pbs there.

                                                             MAY.

In the Kildare Marathon, Dominic Horan recorded a great time of 2hr. 57.50. In the Kildare Half Marathon, Joe Cawley finished in 3rd place in 1hr. 18.37 and in the Kildare 10k, Neil Wiktorski ran 34.29 to finish in 4th place.

 Our Annual Awards night was held in May, with Athlete of the year going to Gary Condon. Master Athlete went to Noelle Thorpe, Most Improved to Charlotte Stevens and Special Merit Award to Mary Hourihan.

                                                           JUNE.

IN June we had some great performances from our athletes in a number of events. Dunshaughlin 10k saw Chris Morgan make his debut for the club, he ran an excellent 37.43, a time he will no doubt knock chunks off in the months ahead. Dunshaughlin is always well supported by our members as it is one of the very best 10ks around.

In the Kilcock 5k, Neil Wiktorski ran a very impressive 15.51, Bernard Quinn also showing he was in top form, with a 19.57.

The Irish Runner 5ml in the Park saw Des O'Hare post a Pb of 33.46 and Susan Dowd also  posted a pb of 40.51.

At the Belfast International Meet, Mary Peters Track, Richard Owens finishes 3rd and sets a new 800mtrs Pb of 1min 53. 65.

                                                           JULY.

in July we had the very popular Powerscourt 7k.  Neil Wiktorski was first home in 24.39, Noelle Thorpe was 3rd lady in 32.15, there was also some fine runs from Tony Brannigan, Mary Dawson and Diana Doll.

In the Clontarf Half Marathon Joe Kelly ran a solid 1.27.18 and Dominic Horan ran 1.34.14.

A new race in 2013 was the Greystones 10k in which Neil Wiktorski continued his brilliant season by winning in 34.00. Charlotte Stevens posted a new Pb of 48.30, Jason O'Connor, Susan Dowd, Tony Brannigan and Katie Salmon all ran very good times.

Another Pb for Richard Owens, this time finishing 5th in the 1,500 mtrs at the GV Ryan Trophy in Santry, in a time of 3. 52.33.

Another first for Richard Owens as he reaches his first outdoor National final, finishing 9th in the 1,500 mtrs, in a time of 3.54.00.

                                                            AUGUST.

The DLR Bay 10k, although run over a very tough course, is always well supported by Bray Runners. Neil Wiktorski, 34.21, finished 4th., closely followed by Gary Condon, 5th and 1st O/40. Bill Stanley, 39.52, Tom Cavanagh, 44.13 and 2nd O/50, Charlotte Stevens, 48.27 and 3rd O/50, Dolores Gilliland, 52.17, Susan Dowd, Ana Molina, 62.11 and Elaine Nuzun 64.42 completed the B.R line up.

In the Celbridge 5k Diana Doll continued to set new Pb's by running 23.38, almost 2minutes off her previous best.

Our Club 5k C/ship was held in August, a good turnout of over 30 athletes took part. Dominic Horan, 17.44, was first man home, with Joe Kelly the runner up in 18.25 and Tom Cavanagh, 21.04 3rd man home. In the ladies section Noelle Thorpe was 1st in 21.11, Charlotte Stevens 2nd in 22.55 and Dolores Gilliland 3rd in a new Pb of 24.06. In the Juvenile girls Sadbh O'Loan, 12.30, just held off the challenge of Shauna Galligan, 12.34, with Eimear Martin,13.49, in 3rd place. Juvenile boys was won by Jordan Hynes,12.21, Cian Galligan, 12.29, 2nd. and Jack Parker, 12.35, 3rd.

At the Frank Duffy 10 mile, Des O'Hare continued to set new Pb's by running 69.59, Chris Morgan, 62.14, Susan Dowd, 86.25 and Liam Casey 83.15 also impressed.

In the National League finals in Tullamore, Richard Owens wins the 800mtrs in a time of 1.55.03.

                                                               SEPTEMBER.

The Athlone Half Marathon was a target for some of those training for Dublin. Gary Condon, 1.16.04, Joe Kelly, 1.22.48, Diarmuid Potts, 1.33.04, Suzanne Foot, 1.32.12, Helen Barry, 1.32.12 and Emer Hynes, 1.53.51 all recording Pbs.

In Amsterdam, the Almere Triathlon Challenge was held. 

The Challenge Almere-Amsterdam starts with two swim laps of 1.9 kilometers in the Weerwater. The bike course is two laps of 90 kilometers. The running course consists of four laps, 10.5k per lap, which have to be conquered before finishing on the Esplanade.

Joe Cawley put in a magnificent performance to finish in 56th place, from almost 600 athletes,  in a brilliant time of 10hrs 24mins.

The Dublin Half Marathon saw more Pbs for Des O'Hare, 1.36.31, and Dave Carraher, 1.48.09.

September also saw Hope Staunton return to racing, running a very impressive 22.58 in the Marley 5k Parkrun.

A new race for some of our members in 2013 was the Tipperary Womens 10k. Over 1,000 athletes took part and we had 4 in the first 25.  Noelle Thorpe finishing in 9th place in a new Pb of 43.43 (50 sec off previous Pb). Next home was Louise Nolan, running her first race as a B/R and her first race after a break from running, Louise finished 11th in 46.03, next came Diana Doll in 46.30, 13th place, and smashing her previous Pb by 5mins 22sec, Siobhan Butler finished in 25th place also in a new Pb of 48.41, 1min 6sec off her previous best. Not to be outdone Dolores Gilliland also smashed her Pb by 2mins 26sec, finishing 37th in 49.51. Next came Emer Hynes, Susan Dowd and Andrea Murphy, Emer running 51.37, Susan 52.13 and Andrea also 52.13. Elaine Nuzun ran 64.05, just seconds away from a pb, and Jackie O'Neill 64.20, in her first 10k for the club, was delighted with her performance. Well done to all and one to note for 2014.

                                                           October.

Cross country season begins; In the Wicklow Novice C/c Louise Nolan, in her first season with us, ran a magnificent race to finish 2nd,  a mere second behind. Noelle Thorpe finished 3rd and with the help of Elaine Nuzun and Mary Hourihan the team took the bronze medal.

In the mens race Joe Cawley finished 2nd, Chris Morgan 5th and Dominic Horan 8th. With the backing of Bill Stanley, Jason O'Connnor, Bernard Quinn, Tom Cavanagh, Denis Patterson and Paddy Ryan the team took the silver medal.

In the Wicklow Inter C/C, Noelle Thorpe won Gold to add to her amazing collection of C/ship medals. She was well supported by Diana Doll, Charlotte Stevens, Grainne Cunningham, Siobhan Butler and Andrea Murphy. The team won the bronze medal.

No medals for the men but fine performances from Joe Cawley 4th, Chris Morgan 5th, Bill Stanley 26th, Jason O'Connor 27th and Denis Patterson 28th.

At the Leinster Novice and Masters C/C our athletes were again to the fore. Noelle Thorpe took Silver in O/50, Charlotte Stevens 4th O/50, Dolores Gilliland won Silver O/55 and Chris Morgan finished 34th in the mens Novice race.

At the Dublin Marathon, Martin Francis won the gold medal in the National Marathon C/ships, O/55 category, and Gary Condon won the bronze medal in the O/40 category. Martin ran an excellent 2hrs. 57. 25 and Gary set a new PB of 2.38.33. Joe Kelly also set a new PB of 3.00.48, not far behind was Helen Barry, who ran 3.13.11, PB. Suzanne Foot also set a Pb, 3.13.34. Helen finished 5th in the National C/ship, O/40, with Suzanne one place behind in 6th place. Des O'Hare ran 3.28.54, Pb; Dave Carraher 3.39.50, Pb; Leanne Geraghty, 3.48.26, PB; Emer Hynes, 3.58.59, PB; Susan Dowd, 4.09.09; Colette Mason, 4.17.17; Andrea Murphy, 4.19.01; Siobhan Butler, 4.45.20.

Finally in Oct., Dolores Gilliland achieved one her main goals for 2013, to break 24 minutes for 5k. She ran 23.40 in Marley Park 5k.

                                                                  November.

Richard Owens won the Movember 5k in an excellent time of 15.12  as he continues his preparation for the Senior C/C.

In Gowran the Stook Hill 10mile Challenge is in it's 2nd year. Gary Condon finished 5th and 1st O/40 in 58.58, while Dominic Horan was 31st in 66.27.

                                                                 December.

One of the highlights of the year is always the Wicklow Senior C/C C/ships. This year they were held over an excellent course in Avondale. 2013 was one of our most successful years ever, we took individual gold and silver in the mens race, individual gold in the womens race and team gold in both. Richard Owens, giving one of the best displays ever seen at these C/ships, took gold with Neil Wiktorski in silver medal position. Richard ran 32.10 and Neil ran 33.11, excellent times over the 10k course. Chris Morgan 7th, Gary Condon 8th, Dominic Horan 16th and Joe Kelly 22nd helped the team to win Gold.

Suzanne Foot, 3rd in 2012 behind Fionnuala Britton, went 2 places better this year to take Gold. Noelle Thorpe was just run out of the medals as she finished 4th, Helen Barry 7th, Diana Doll 10th and Grainne Cunningham 13th ensured the team took Gold.

Our Winter League was won by the ever improving Diana Doll, with Jason O,Connor runner up.

Our annual club h/cap was also won by Diana Doll, running a new 5k Pb of 21.59.