National Road Relays - Raheny - 19.04.15 - 2pm

Sacksian

One of the great races on the Irish athletics calendar takes place this Sunday in the suburbs of northside Dublin. This year, Sligo AC senior men are going for three in a row, as are Raheny’s O35 women’s team.

Format for senior men is four legs of 2 miles / 1 mile / 3 miles / 2miles.

All other races are three legs of 1 mile / 2 miles / 1 mile.

Really good atmosphere and a great afternoon's racing, well worth a watch if you're in the area...

TIMETABLE
2.00PM Master Women W35+
Master Women W50+

2.30PM Master Men M35+
Master Men M50+

3.00PM Senior Women

3.30PM Senior Men

Results from last two years below...

2014

Senior Men
1. Sligo
2. Ennis
3. Clonliffe

Senior Women
1. Leevale
2. Crusaders
3. DSD

M35
1. Raheny
2. Donore
3. Newbridge

W35
1. Raheny
2. Finn Valley
3. Rathfarnham

M50
1. Rathfarnham
2. Drogheda & District
3. Slí Cualann

W50
1. Raheny
2. Drogheda & D
3. Finn Valley

2013

Senior Men
1. Sligo
2. Raheny
3. Clonliffe

Senior Women
1. DSD
2. Raheny
3. Crusaders

M35
1. Rathfarnham
2. Raheny
3. Craughwell

W35
1. Raheny
2. Dunboyne AC
3. Mullingar Harriers

M50
1. Tallaght
2. Rathfarnham
3. Finn Valley

W50
1. Finn Valley
2. Tallaght

HelenAnne

It's SO EXCITING to watch. I've been watching or marshalling the last few years and it's really fun. Come one, come all :-)

ETA: are the team lists up yet?

youngrun

On Sunday - anyone know where exactly in Raheny??! coming up with a couple of teams from far out west....

RayCun

youngrun wrote: »

On Sunday - anyone know where exactly in Raheny??! coming up with a couple of teams from far out west....

check-in at the GAA club

Sacksian

I think entry closes today, so no team lists are up yet - and I'm not sure they actually publish the entries beforehand, which is a shame. It would be good to have an idea of who'll be challenging for the various titles!

It's always a bit of a lottery on the day - the unavailability of a 2 mile leg or 3 mile leg runner can make a huge difference to a team's competitiveness. Sometimes, a club just can't get a team together. Rathfarnham didn't enter a M35 team last year and they probably would have been favourites.

All the races should be pretty open - can't see Sligo winning the senior men's by half a minute this year.

Sacksian

In the spirit of completeness, I just went back and checked that Raheny's master women were actually going for 3 in a row.

As well as 2014 and 2013, they also won in 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, and 2008 (earlier wins were as W40).

So, unless I've gone blind, they're actually going for 8 in a row!

MisterDrak

Should be down around 1:30pm for the warm-ups and general chit-chat.

Always a great spectacle alright, a team could have a massive lead after the second runners, to then see it eroded as their weaker lads run against the other teams top guys...

Great stuff...

Timmaay

Running also, I got one goal in mind only, which is not to finish in the position we finished in last yr ha!

davedanon

Always look forward to this race. Coming back onto home turf is nice too. Not running this year though, think I'm 1st sub on the 0-50s.

Sacksian

AI actually did publish an entry list for the races along with a preview.

I'm sure not everyone listed will run but it still looks like a really good line-up.

pconn062

Was meant to be running this, sick.

Tom Joad

pconn062 wrote: »

Was meant to be running this, sick.

Me too but our 2 mile guy is unavailable

youngrun

Sacksian wrote: »

AI actually did publish an entry list for the races along with a preview.

I'm sure not everyone listed will run but it still looks like a really good line-up.

Bound to lose a lot off the list , its one of the disappointing things about athletics here, the dropoff rate is 30-40% I reckon off entries made, same thing with cross country.

youngrun

RayCun wrote: »

check-in at the GAA club

Ok thanks, what exit is Raheny M50 ? Am very confused reading google maps . is the course near the GAA club and is there parking there ???! thanks

RayCun

youngrun wrote: »

Ok thanks, what exit is Raheny M50 ? Am very confused reading google maps . is the course near the GAA club and is there parking there ???! thanks

keep driving north on the M50, until there isn't any more M50
The course is nearby, don't know about parking though, you'd want to leave yourself some time to find parking on a street fairly nearby

MisterDrak

youngrun wrote: »

Ok thanks, what exit is Raheny M50 ? Am very confused reading google maps . is the course near the GAA club and is there parking there ???! thanks

The end of the M50, which then turns into the R139, all the way to Donaghmede roundabout, then Killbarrack road to Raheny village.

Should be parking at the tennis courts just off the wade Ave loop.

davedanon

The route I find the handiest, that is if you must take the M50: Take the Finglas exit, head for Finglas village, left off the ramp, follow that road all the way until you come to Killester, take a left onto the Howth Rd. The first major junction is at Sybil Hill Rd. Just after the garage take a right, then immediate left and you're on the actual course. If the marshals are there already and don't want you to go on the course (depends what time you get there) just continue on down Howth Rd. into Raheny village and take a right at Super Valu.

davedanon

Right, looks like I've put me head on the block. 0-35s have been hit by two key withdrawals, so I've foolishly volunteered. Why do I do these things?

pconn062

Senior women:

1st: Leevale
2nd: Letterkenny
3rd: Crusaders

pconn062

Senior men:

1st: Donore

Not sure about 2nd and 3rd although Raheny and Ennis track were chasing.

davedanon

Raheny in 2nd, I think. Freddy Sittuk ran a super 3 mile leg to put them back in the medals.

caseyjones1

Really enjoyed this event today. Can anyone tell me when the results are usually out.

davedanon

caseyjones1 wrote: »

Really enjoyed this event today. Can anyone tell me when the results are usually out.

Tomorrow, according to their website. The AAI aren't the quickest getting results up online, I find. In fact tomorrow would be good, for them. They could take a leaf out of parkrun's book when it comes to results.

Really enjoyed it too, btw.

Birdsong

Headed out to have a look at this, was a super event, great organisation & great to be able to see so many good runners right in front of you.

Marthastew

This was my second year running this and despite a fairly abysmal run from me I still really enjoyed the day.
Fantastic organisation from the good folks in Raheny AC (as always) with lots of super support along the route and conditions were really great.
Congrats to all who ran, there were some amazing performances and it was a wonderful opportunity to see some truly spectacular running.
A great day for Crusaders with our senior ladies team coming 3rd and our masters men's team winning silver.

Dubgal72

Fantastic day today and the sun played ball too. Really proud to be a part of the Sli Cualann team, fourth masters ladies o/35.
Thanks Raheny Shamrocks and all the volunteers for a superbly organised championships!

Marthastew

Dubgal72 wrote: »

Fantastic day today and the sun played ball too. Really proud to be a part of the Sli Cualann team, fourth masters ladies o/35.
Thanks Raheny Shamrocks and all the volunteers for a superbly organised championships!

Well done! I thought you might be running but I don't know what you look like. I was smiling at the Sli Cualann ladies before we started but I'm pretty sure they(you?) were thinking "who is that crazy lady and what is she doing on the start line? ;-)"


Laura, it was great to chat to you and I'm hoping you've been inspired to join a club after spectating today, thanks for the shout-outs :-)

laura_ac3

Dubgal72 wrote: »

Fantastic day today and the sun played ball too. Really proud to be a part of the Sli Cualann team, fourth masters ladies o/35.
Thanks Raheny Shamrocks and all the volunteers for a superbly organised championships!

Marthastew wrote: »

Well done! I thought you might be running but I don't know what you look like. I was smiling at the Sli Cualann ladies before we started but I'm pretty sure they(you?) were thinking "who is that crazy lady and what is she doing on the start line? ;-)"


Laura, it was great to chat to you and I'm hoping you've been inspired to join a club after spectating today, thanks for the shout-outs :-)

Well done ladies and to everyone else out there today. I went up to take a look for a while and ended up spending over 2 hours captivated by the whole thing! It was great to watch everyone in action and even getting to see the start lines up close with everyone getting in position and jostled in ready for the gun was a great experience.

Definitely Marthastew, it's been on my to-do list for a while - I think I'll bump it up and look into that more soon!

Dubgal72

Marthastew wrote: »

Well done! I thought you might be running but I don't know what you look like. I was smiling at the Sli Cualann ladies before we started but I'm pretty sure they(you?) were thinking "who is that crazy lady and what is she doing on the start line? ;-)"


Laura, it was great to chat to you and I'm hoping you've been inspired to join a club after spectating today, thanks for the shout-outs :-)

Thanks Marthastew That is funny, it would have been great to say hello. Apparently, right before the start, I walked past my sister several times, *ignoring her* each time and the final time even looked straight at her and blanked her so I didn't spot any (other) crazy ladies pre-race Will you be at the Leinster 3k in a couple of weeks?

laura_ac3 wrote: »

Well done ladies and to everyone else out there today. I went up to take a look for a while and ended up spending over 2 hours captivated by the whole thing! It was great to watch everyone in action and even getting to see the start lines up close with everyone getting in position and jostled in ready for the gun was a great experience.

Definitely Marthastew, it's been on my to-do list for a while - I think I'll bump it up and look into that more soon!

Thanks for the support Laura, glad to see your priorities are lined up in the correct order Lovely to see you today.

eldiva

Men's result was Donore in first with Ennis Track second and Raheny third. Couldn't hold off Mulcaire from Ennis on the last leg for the silver. Was great depth this year and a great atmosphere across the day. Well done all that ran

menoscemo

eldiva wrote: »

Men's result was Donore in first with Ennis Track second and Raheny third. Couldn't hold off Mulcaire from Ennis on the last leg for the silver. Was great depth this year and a great atmosphere across the day. Well done all that ran

Congrats on the national medal all the same. Not every day you win one of those!!

eldiva

menoscemo wrote: »

Congrats on the national medal all the same. Not every day you win one of those!!

Cheers meno, even better when it was on home turf. Some very impressive individual performances on the road though. John Travers running 14:07 was something else. Lizzie Lee looked very strong over the 2mile while Michelle Finn was class over the mile

HelenAnne

Dubgal72 wrote: »

Fantastic day today and the sun played ball too. Really proud to be a part of the Sli Cualann team, fourth masters ladies o/35.
Thanks Raheny Shamrocks and all the volunteers for a superbly organised championships!

We missed each other again! Think we were 5th O35 (6th overall)! Which leg did you run? I ran the third - maybe we were lining up together!

HelenAnne

Marthastew wrote: »

Well done! I thought you might be running but I don't know what you look like. I was smiling at the Sli Cualann ladies before we started but I'm pretty sure they(you?) were thinking "who is that crazy lady and what is she doing on the start line? ;-)"


Laura, it was great to chat to you and I'm hoping you've been inspired to join a club after spectating today, thanks for the shout-outs :-)

Yes, really nice to meet you, Laura!

Dubgal72

HelenAnne wrote: »

We missed each other again! Think we were 5th O35 (6th overall)! Which leg did you run? I ran the third - maybe we were lining up together!

We did and we were! (Lining up together) I can't believe it Will you be at the Leinster 3k in Gowran? That's my next target race. Congrats on your result and Raheny had a great day overall!

Tom Joad

Results are up on Athletics Ireland website

MisterDrak

A great days running by all concerned. As usual a lovely sunny and (mostly) warm day.

Some of the highlights for me:-

1. John Travers "gliding" around for 3 miles in 14:07, and handing over to Erik Keogh and continuing the "glide" for a fantastic Donore win.

2. Raheny ladies O35 getting gold, and Jennies first national medal.

3. Raheny men's O50 gold, with Damien Martin Achilles injury in the first mile seeing him limp home and hand over to Mick Traynor in last place, then seeing Mick, pull back 5-6 places over the 2 miles and collapsing on the line.

Sorry for the Raheny bias.

eoinín

MisterDrak wrote: »

3. Raheny men's O50 gold, with Damien Martin Achilles injury in the first mile seeing him limp home and hand over to Mick Traynor in last place, then seeing Mick, pull back 5-6 places over the 2 miles and collapsing on the line.

The stuff of legends!

laura_ac3

HelenAnne wrote: »

Yes, really nice to meet you, Laura!

Lovely to meet you too Helen, great to finally put a face to the name. Thanks again for the advice etc!