Storm Darragh Challenges, But Moyne Athletes Shine Bright

Kilkenny Medieval Mile.

As storm Darragh battered parts of the country a number of our brave road runners made their way to Kilkenny city to take part in the annual Medieval Mile organised by Kilkenny City Harriers. 

The course was fast and on the main flat. Athletes started at the Kilkenny Army barracks and made their way through Wolfe Tone Street, into Irishtown and onto High Street before finishing with a climb at the Parade adjacent to Kilkenny Castle. A scenic route glistened with the sparkle of Christmas lights. Despite this lovely route storm Darragh also played its part hitting the close to 300 runners with a strong head wind throughout the one mile course. 

Dylan McLaughlin led the way for the green and gold, finding himself in the mix with the leading pack, Dylan dug deep in the second half of the race and finished strongly to knock 5 seconds off of his previous personal best time for the mile in 04:47 to finish in 11th position overall. 

Jake Bowe joined the chasing pack shortly into the race and finished strongly to smash 10 seconds off of his previous personal best time to finish in 05.02 for 20th position. The sub 5 minutes is well in sight for Jake. 

Caroline Fogarty made her mile debut after a great cross-country season to finish in 128th position with an impressive new personal best time of 06:56. 

Mindy Doyle and Triona Murphy worked together through the one mile course finishing together with great times in 08:11 for 183rd and 184th respectively. A personal best set for Mindy over the mile distance. 

Juvenile members Doireann and Caoimhe Quinlan both ran impressive races finishing in 08:19 and 08:23 for 189th and 193rd respectively. Well done girls. 

Sandie Byrne continued her fine form on the road on Friday night to finish with a great time of 09:37, a personal best time for the distance. Well done, Sandie. 

Well done to Faye Murphy, Isabelle Murphy, and Abbie Delaney who also raced but times were not recorded. Super running from everyone on Friday night in far from ideal conditions. Well done. Thanks to Kilkenny City Harriers and Pop-Up Races for hosting the excellent event. 

Newmarket 5k.

Well done to Sharon Cantwell who took part in the Newmarket 5k on Sunday morning. Sharon ran a great time of 18:36 to finish 153rd overall and 13th lady across the line. Well done Sharon. 

Munster Juvenile B XC Championships. Ennis.

The final outing for the 2024 cross country season took place in Ennis on Sunday December 8th. A wet and windy weekend with storm Darragh saw changes to the course right up until the day before, but none of this phased our athletes.

First up on the morning was the girls u9. These girls have taken to competition across the province this year and they ended their first year of competitive athletics with a bang! The girls u9 team ran close together on this outing with Harriet Ely leading the team home (27th, 3:05) followed by Caoimhe Quinlan (28th, 3:06), Molly Hackett (30th, 3:07), Molly Dempsey (31st, 3:07). Working together paid off for these brave young athletes as their combined efforts saw them earn a bronze team medal! Well done girls. When the results were tallied, Harriet, Caoimhe and Molly H were also scoring members of the Tipperary team that finished 2nd! 

Next to toe the line in the Moyne colours were the pair of Daisy Lyons and Orla Campion. Running out of age, the girls put in a fine performance, finishing close together with Orla in 56th (4:18) and Disy in 58th (4:24). Well done girls on a great cross country season!

Just one Moyne athlete took to the starting line in the girls u13 race. Doireann Quinlan took on the 1500m long course, with the added challenge of running out of her age. Doireann finished in 67th in a time of 7:38. Great work Doireann. There were two boys competing at this age. Tom Renehan and James Ryan both put in strong performances with Tom finishing 28th (6:11) and James 43rd (6:35). Tom was also a scoring member of the Tipperary team that finished 3rd on the day.

In the girls u15 2500m, Caoimhe Slevin put in an incredible performance out of age, finishing 4th overall in a time of 8:45 and picking up an individual medal. She was also the second scorer of the Tipperary team that claimed Munster gold. A brilliant, and well deserved, end to the cross country season for a hard working athlete. 

Finally in the girls u17 3000m, Kate Delaney took to the course and finished the juvenile day in style. A superb 5th place finish in 10:22 saw Kate earn an individual medal. Kate was also the 4th scorer on the Tipperary team that won gold medals on the day. Well done Kate - a great finish to the 2024 season.

Well done to all the athletes and parents who braved the elements today and over the course of the cross country season. We look forward now to continued success and enjoyment as the 2025 indoor season shortly gets underway, with the Tipperary championships taking place on February 2nd for all juvenile athletes. 

Munster Intermediate XC Championship. 

Once the juvenile action was complete it was time for our sole representative, Eileen Ely to take to the course in Ennis. What a performance Eileen put together. Eileen finished in the silver medal position in a competitive field. Well done Eileen on a great result. 
 

2024 Celebration Night. 

We are delighted to announce that the club will be hosting a 2024 Celebration night to honour the outstanding achievements of our athletes during the 2024 indoor, track and field, road and cross country seasons. The celebration night will take place on Friday the 3rd of January at 7:30pm in Moyne Community Hall. All are welcome to join us in this night of celebration. Please spread the word. Light refreshments to be served before celebration ceremony.

Return of Munster and All Ireland medals won in 2024 for Celebration Night.

Please return all Munster / All Ireland medals A or B won in the 2024 indoor, track or XC season to your coaches by Friday 20th December. Please put your medal (s) in an envelope with the competition and result of event it was won in for presentation at club celebration night. Please also include if it was a PB performance. 
 

"Winter Time Trial" Indoor T&F Nenagh, Sun. 15th. Dec.

On Sunday next the indoor season will open for many of our track and field athletes, with 115 athletes entered in the event from U/13 girls and boys to senior its a great opportunity to get a race under their belt before the real competition starts the first weekend in January. Entries for this event close Thursday 11th. Dec. at 5pm. on entry4sports.
 

National Indoor Women's T&F League. 5th. Jan. 2025.

For the first time in the clubs history we will have a team in The National Indoor Women's League which will be held in the National Indoor Arena, Abbottstown, Dublin. Round 1 will be held on Sun. 5th. January and Round 2 on Sun. 19th. January and the top eight teams go through to the final in Athlone on Sat. 8th. February. More details to follow.

County Senior XC Championship. 

Please get your entries in ASAP if interested in taking part in the County Senior XC Championship which takes place in Cashel on Sunday the 15th of December. Women will have 6k to complete and the men will have 10k to complete. Best of luck to all of our athletes taking part.