Moycarkey Coolcroo and Bracken Defend Their Titles!
July 30, 2024
Wins for Bracken & Moycarkey Coolcroo as both defend their Their Titles in Fethard @ The County 10 Mile Championships
It was another great day for the club early last Sunday morning July 28th when the starting gun went off at 9am sharp from Fethard Town park and The Tipperary 10 Mile Road Championships were underway, The course travailed towards Moyglass the birthplace of Ned Kelly before circling back towards the Finish passing the famous Coolmore before climbing a few hills along the way, many runners finding it a tough course but there's a never an easy course especially over 10 Miles on a warm day. Back to the Men's race now and Mossy Bracken defended his title in style in a time of 54mins even, Great running Mossy. His friend Matty Ryan finished on the podium alongside him running a great run too in 3rd place in a time of 57:21. Conor Keating back in good form finished a creditable 5th place in 58:41 and won Gold in the Mens O/35. The race for 4th scorer on the A team was a tight one with Kevin Shortall having a stormer in 11th place in 63mins&5secs Kevin also won Silver in the Men's O/40. New kid on the block Shane Minogue had a great debut for the club in 63mins & 6 seconds. John Fogarty had a strong run in 21st place in 66mins&3secs. In 26th place we had Paul Bowe also running well in 68mins & 5 seconds, Our 8th scorer of the day was Donie Bergin his first time running in these championships he had a good run in 28th place in 69mins & 2 seconds. After all the points and places were added up Moyarkey Coolcroo were convincing winners in both the A & B Team Competitions A Fantastic Result for the club showing the strength and depth we have at the moment Congrats & Very Well done to All. Thank You to Fethard AC for their hospitality & hosting the event, That closes out the County Road Season for 2024 The next championship event on the road will be the All Ireland Half Marathon which takes place in Charleville Co.Cork on Sunday September 15th. Thanks to Fethard Athletic Club , Susan Parker Laste& Michael Bracken for Photos.
David & Sean help Tipp Men to National Bronze
Congrats to 400m runner David Ryan & Hammer Thrower Sean Mockler who helped the Tipperary County Team to the Bronze medals in the National Track&Field League in sunny Tullamore Last Sunday, a Combined effort from several clubs across Contae Thiobraid Árann based on a points system on where you finished in your event, It has been several years since Tipp featured in this competition so it was a great result to see them on the podium against the best in Ireland, Super Congrats to the Women's Team who won Gold in their team standings a great weekend for the County Well done to All.
Olympic Connections Part 2
Continuing on in our series detailing our club connections with the Olympic Games,in Part 1 we talked about JJ Ryan Our subject for this week is Paddy Fahey who was the first Coolcroo AC athlete to compete at the Olympic Games in which he ran for Ireland in the 10,000m at the 1948 Olympics in London where he ran alongside the famous Emil Zatopek from Czech Republic who won the race in 29mins & 59 seconds. Paddy Fahy was born in Bealacune on the 25th of August 1923 and first competed for his local club Hollyford AC before joining Coolcroo AC in 1947, A physically imposing athlete who liked to run barefoot. He won the Irish cross-country title in 1949 and 1951, and competed in the International Cross-Country Championships between 1948-51, with his best finish being 19th place at the 1949 Championships held in Baldoyle racecourse in Dublin, where he led the Irish team home to third place in the team event alongside fellow Coolcroo athlete Patsy Fitzerald who came in 42nd place, The race winner that day was Alain Mimoun from France. In later years Paddy bought a farm in Graigue, Moycarkey in 1958 and enjoyed his life as a farmer.
Featured Image: 1948 Olympian Paddy Fahy, Top 3 Runners in the County 10 Mile Championships, Moycarkey Coolcroo Men being Presented with the 2024 Team Cup from Tipperary Athletics County Chairman Owen Fanning, Our Full squad of 8 Runners who won Gold in both the Mens A & B team competition and David Ryan and Sean Mockler who helped the Mens Tipperary Team win the Bronze Medals in the National Track & Field League in Tullamore on Sunday July 28th.