National Road Relays 2010

Congratulations to the Sportsworld Masters Ladies Team who came second in this years running of the road relays in raheny. Helan White lead out the team on a one mile leg, passing onto Lucy Darcy on a two mile leg and the final leg being ran by Aideen Downes. The senior women and men also had teams on the day.

Dunboyne 4 Mile

Sunday afternoon was the 41st running of the Annual Dunboyne 4 mile road race. Dunboyne is located just off the N3 about 10 minutes from the Blanchardstown exit of the M50. One of the first major road races after the cross country season it brings out a strong bunch of runners. This year there was a new apparently faster course over the same 4 mile distance but with a strong head wind and a twisty last mile times on Sunday were very similar to last year's race.

The reason so many people turn up at Dunboyne is the solid organisation that many road races cant compete with.This year maybe down to the new course there was a mix up at the end where the road was partitioned with cones to carrel the leaders to the finish (and those with 1.5 miles still to go away from finish). Traffic was allowed to overtake the runners and not enough room was left for the lead car and a few cones were flattened. It cost the leader a few second to overtake the lead car but he was already twenty seconds clear. A good few other athletes were impeded by passing cars. It seemed to be a coordination issues between civil defence and club volunteers.

There was only three people from the club running but three very good performances none the less. First home for the club was Paul Duffy in 21:19 followed by Gareth Murran in 21:34 and Sandra Armstrong in 24:43. The race was well won by Joseph Sweeney from DSD in 18:52 and Ciara Durkan in 21:44. I'll be going back next year it was a very enjoyable race. It would be great to get a few teams out.

Some pictures can be found on racepix

IMRA Wicklow Way Trail and Ultra Races

Saturday the 27th March saw 4 members from Sportsworld heading for the Wicklow way Trail and Ultra Races. The Ultra race started at Johnny Foxes and made its way to Ballinastoe Car park and back to Johnny Foxes, were the Trail race people were collected at Johnny Foxes and Dropped of at Ballinastoe Car park.

First up was Ed McEntee in the Ultra race. What lay ahead of Ed was 51kms of trails, fire roads, open mountains and part of the Wicklow way boardwalk with a total climb of 1950m’s. Ed adapted to this Ultra race excellently and completed the course in 4hours 33 minutes, and with it second place behind Eoin Keith. Congratulations to Ed.

Next up was the Trail race that got under way in Ballinastoe car park at 12 o Clock. On the starting line for Sportsworld were Paul O Connell, Jakub Splawski and Liam Mc fadden. The race got of to a steady start with everybody aware of the 25.5kms that lay ahead, we head up the fire trail from Ballinastoe car park for about 2km climbing all the way and then right on to Djouce Mountain and picked up the Wicklow way board walk trail. After ten minutes or so of climbing we got to probably the third most difficult part of the race trying to run on the boardwalk with a near gale force wind blowing side on to you. Once we managed to get through this it was nice to stretch the legs on the down hill section from Djouce. At this stage Paul O Connell was well clear of Jakub and myself, and was doing battle with the race leaders.

Jabuk and I worked excellently together through out the race. Jabuk pushing it out on the down hills and me doing my best to keep us going on the climbs.

After the fast down hill section off Djouce we came to our first major climb of the Day which reduced the field to doing all sorts of power walking movements to get up the steep climb before powerscourt waterfall. Not having time to admire the waterfall it was full steam ahead to the all to familiar Crones Wood Trail, Jabuk and I managed to over take 3 trail runners on this section of the course and when we arrived at Crones wood car park were glad of the water station there and with knowledge we had half the course complete and just under the hour mark, with no time to waste we kept going, after 2km of flat running we got to what looked like a small climb of about 75metres but once we got to the top of it, it was like we had climbed for hours and our legs were like jelly, At this stage we got a very luck break as we came to a road section just past Knockree hostel and we were looking at a runner in the distance and heading the same way when a Ultra runner started to shout at us that we were going the wrong way, we should have just crossed the road, but thank god for the Ultra runner as Jakub and I could still be running around Wicklow. After that we continued on towards Cutlerstown carpark and the last of the climbs which probably was only about a 1km Climb but seemed to last for ages but to our delight we managed to over take 2 trail runners and at the top of the hill had our next target insight. We took off like greyhounds after our hare on the fast down hill section away from Price Williams Seat and by the bottom of the hill we had him caught or thought we had him caught him, but he took off again on the final road section to Johnny Foxes and was the last we saw of him till we crossed the line. It was then down to the the last 1.5km and from somewhere I got a 30th wind and took off from Jakub and I managed to stay ahead till the end. Revenge for last year in Ballinastoe where Jakub beat me on the line.

Excellent days running and great overall result for Sportsworld taking the team victory.

Final Places
1st Diarmaid Collins 1h 56 min
4th Paul O Connell 2h 00 min
16th Liam Mc Fadden 2h 14 min
17th Jakub Splawski 2h 15 min

Report by Liam Mc Fadden

Sportsworld Quiz Night

There is a Sportsworld quiz night this Friday at 8pm at Faughs GAA Club, Wellington Lane, Templeogue, Dublin 6W. I'm sure there are plenty of people in the club with brains and beauty but there is no minimum IQ requirement needed. The night is to raise money for Temple Street Children's Hospital. Its €10 a head and 4 per table. Participants will be searched for encyclopedia's on arrival with severe punishment for anyone caught using their I Phone for answers.

Ballycotton 2010

Its March and to many runners in Ireland that can only mean the Ballycotton 10, even if it was a couple of weeks later this year due to a clash of dates with other races. A much smaller contingent than usual from Sportsworld made its way down this year, apparently due to a lot of people been caught out by the closing entry date. Margaret in the Bayview Hotel was asking about your whereabouts Tony, Ruth, Trevor and Judith - I promised her you would be back next year !

This race seems to just get better and better. Indeed it was included in a list of the Top 10 races in the world by the Daily Telegraph a couple of weeks ago. Its hard to say what it is that attracts so many people but I suspect it has a lot to do with its unique race day atmosphere as people stroll up and down to the race HQ at the bottom of the village looking over at the spectacular bayside view that extends out from this beautiful village. Along the way one can stop and talk to people that you recognise from previous races - this becomes even more interesting if one is accompanied as I was on my journey to and from the race tent by Lucy Darcy who seems to know and be known by everybody !

The weather was perfect this year, if a little humid. Be warned if you are planning on doing this race that ,while it is a superbly organised race with tremendous local support, that the last 2 miles can be only described as 'savage'. There are few races I have done that have such a tough finish but of course this only adds to the challenge. There were surprise winners in both the mens and ladies races with Greg Robers from City of Derry winning the mens in 50 mins 17 seconds and Barbara Sanchez winning the womens race in 58 mins 45 seconds.

There were some excellent performances from Sportsworld, headed by Lucy who finished 5th in a magnificent time of 62:08 (also winning her age category with ease). Next up was Stephanie Bergin who broke the seventy minute barrier when she finished in a fine 69:08. Not far behind was Edel Madigan in 71:54. The ever consistent Ann Higgins finished in a commendable 73:18 and Ger Carragher finished in 76:49. As for myself I ran 77;42 - significantly slower than last year but faster than each of the two previous years (I think I missed tailing off the back of the brother as I have done here the last few years - Killian was another victim of the missed last entry date malaise that seemed to sweep the club !).

Make sure you all get in before the closing entry date next year - it really is a fine race.

Race Report by
Enda McMorrow