December '24 Round Up

Valencia Marathon - 1st December 2024

Great news from Valencia Spain with Keith Kelly and Warren Terry flying under the magical 3 hours at the València Marathon.

Keith - 2:41:23

Warren 2:48:10

Also outstanding runs from

Anthony Mason - 3:08:20

Dee Ansboro - 3:26:44

Brendan Coleman 3:34:12

Liz Terry 3:35:43

All six had tremendous performances in the sun. Congratulations to all. Over 36 thousand runners from all over the world. The Green and White of Youghal AC did outstandingly well

Breaking News from the Cayman Islands Marathon - a 5th place finish for @herlz09 David Herlihy 3:21:50

National Cross Country Uneven Age in Tramore; 01st December 2024

Well done to all of our juvenile athletes who competed in yesterdays National Cross Country championships uneven age in Tramore. Each and every one of them ran superbly. Special mention to Diarmuid who came in fourth for Munster U13 helping them secure the silver provincial medal and to Ruby who came in second for Cork U15 securing a silver medal for the county team. 👏👏👏

202412038 Weekend Review

A good morning’s work for many of our athletes, near and far yesterday

Well done to Avril Millerick on a massively courageous performance at Eurocross in Turkey, representing Ireland in the U20 race. Avril had been very ill for a couple of days leading up to the race but still went into the race with a positive attitude and ran her heart out

Well done to our juvenile’s who travelled to Ennis for the Munster B’s Uneven Age - great performances, topped off by Ruby Devereaux and Tadhg Rochford who were 2nd and 3rd respectively in the U15 Boys race, also securing gold for Cork in the process. Well done to Conor Sheahan and Tomas McGrath also collecting some silverware

Well done also to our more experienced (older) runners who took part at the Turkey Trot in Dungarvan (a great mornings entertainment) and to The O’ Connell’s who travelled to Newmarket for the 5km road race

Malaga Marathon 15th December 2024

Well done to The O’ Halloran Family, who went on a sightseeing trip around Malaga earlier today

Des had a great marathon finishing in 3:39:03 with Joanne and Alicia running the 1/2 marathon in 2:03:58

Enjoy the rest of the holiday and R&R

* Reeling in the Years at Youghal Athletic Club *

50 years on from the 1974 BLOE All-Ireland Cross-Country Championships, Youghal Athletic Club would like to commemorate the achievements of esteemed runner and friend Martin Drake on the anniversary of his U13 success and our U15 girls team.

Newspaper articles from the time, record the following:

“A round trip of well over 500 miles from Youghal to Donegal and back ended at 8 o’clock on Monday, December 23, when amid loud cheers, waving banners and green and white flags our juvenile athletes and supporters arrived home in triumph from the national juvenile championships. It was a night to remember as they were bringing home two national titles, our first ever in cross-country competition.”

On Martin’s U13 win: “In previous occasions in this column Martin has been described as ‘the mighty atom, small in size but big in heart.’ It was this never-say-die spirit that brought him the highest award of his career. On a course of mud and water Martin was always in front, and though he was passed a few hundred yards from the finish he came again and was a clear winner at the tape.”

Martin led a strong team including Ger Flanagan, John Dempsey (RIP), Charlie O’Sullivan, Robyn Buckley, Denis Cahalane and Seamus Gardiner to fourth overall in the country. The team also won the Cork and Munster titles that season.

The report continues: “Our girls under 15 took inspiration from Martin’s great run and showed what a talented team they are with a convincing win. Mary Dempsey led them home by taking fourth place and she was followed in close order by Martina Smiddy, Aileen Murphy and Mary Hickey to secure the club title by 20 points. These four, plus Bernadette Malone, achieved the wonderful distinction of being five of six scorers on the Cork team which also took first place in the regional contest and so secured between them a total of nine gold medals.”

In the girls U13, Betty Murphy scored on the Cork team who finished third. The Youghal team including Barbara Kirby were fourth, just three points from third.

RIP - Jerry Russell

Youghal Athletic Club extend their condolences and deepest sympathies to the Russell family, on the passing of their dad Jerry, a founding member of the Youghal Athletic Club.

Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends during this difficult time.

We hope you find peace, solace and comfort in the days ahead.

https://rip.ie/death.../jerry-russell-cork-youghal-578843

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a h-anam

Well done to Keith Kelly who made the journey to Clonmel on Stephen’s Day for the MSD 4 mile road race. Keith was 13th overall in a field of 581 runners, taking first M40 in a time of 21:24 👌🏃‍♂️

Grange Fermoy 10km New Years Eve Run

A lovely morning’s entertainment at Grange Fermoy AC New Year’s Eve 10K Road Race 2024, and the green and white singlets were out in force. Well done to Keith Kelly 2nd M45, club Chairperson Dee Ansbro 1st F45 who had a PB performance and Eddie O’ Regan 2nd M65 securing category prizes for their efforts.

14 Keith Kelly 35:26

81 Deirdre Ansbro 42:56

151 Ted Kelly 47:38

152 Eddie O’ Regan 47:38

165 Anthony Sheehan 48:28

197 Maurice O’ Mahony 50:02

305 Lisa O’ Connell 56:40

357 Celia O’ Regan 1:00:21

414 Geraldine Sheehan 1:12:57

Further afield, well done to Fearghal Curtin who wore the green and white of Youghal AC at the Amadora 10k outside Lisbon this evening. Fearghal came a fantastic second place on a hilly course in 29:30.

A race that slipped the net over the weekend – well done to Eddie and Celia O’ Regan who made the trip to take part in the Togher 5km. Eddie raced well to come home in 22:51 and Celia broke the 30 minute mark in 29:48

Happy New Year to all our members, family and friends. Here’s looking forward to many more miles on the road in 2025