Best Irish Long Jump in Decade for Grace Mckenzie at Texas Invitational April 2021

Grace McKenzie Jumps 6.35m for Irish Best in 11 Years

Texas A&M Invitational

EB Cushing Stadium, Bryan-College Station, Texas, USA

Friday April 9th 2021

 Grace Mckenzie, McNeese State University and Belgooly AC

Grace McKenzie, McNeese State and Belgooly AC, produced the best Long Jump in over a decade, when she jumped a 6.35m PB at this weekend's Texas A&M Team Invitational at the EB Cushing Stadium, in Bryan-College Station, Texas.

Grace's jump is a 14cm PB, and improves her All-Time-Irish placing from 4th to 3rd, behind the duo of Terri Horgan and Jackie Stokes, both on 6.48m, set in 1992 and 1994 respectively, with the All-Time lead of 6.62m, from 2010, held by Kelly Proper

 
Long Jump Results

Grace is also in third place on the Irish All-Time Pentathlon Rankings

Related Articles

Heptathlon PB for Grace Mckenzie at Texas Relays 2021

Grace Mckenzie Jumps Big PB for 5th in Irish All-Time Long Jump - March 2021

Grace Mckenzie Regains Irish Pentathlon Record - March 2019

Grace McKenzie Sets New Irish Indoor Pentathlon Record

Grace McKenzie Takes Southland Conference Gold

Grace McKenzie Breaks Pentathlon 4000 Barrier

Grace McKenzie Named Southland Conference Womens Track Athlete of the Week

Sophie O'Sullivan Runs 4:21.91 1500m PB

4:21.91 1500m PB for Sophie O'Sullivan at Stanford Invitational

Stanford, California, USA

Saturday April 3rd 2021

Sophie O'Sullivan

Sophie O'Sullivan, Washington State University and Ballymore Cobh AC, improved her 1500m best, from 4:22.22 to 4:21.91, at Saturday's day 2 of the 3-day Stanford Invitational meet, at at Cobb Track & Angell Field, Stanford, California, USA.

Sophie, in her Freshman year at Washington State, placed 8th in the heat, in which five women went sub 4:20, in a sprint finish, from a field of 20.

Women's 1500m Results

Women's 1500m Spilts

Womens 1500m - Heat 1

Athlete Transfers March 2021

Athletics Ireland Transfers for Approval - March 2021

The Summer Transfer Window closed on Wednesday March 24th.  Transfer forms may be submitted at any time but will not be dealt with until the next Transfer Window closes, on August 24th 2021.


Twenty five (25) athlete transfers within the county will be put forward for approval at a Virtual meeting of the Officers of Cork Athletics County Board, on Wednesday April 2nd.

In case of any issues with these transfers, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 0861713500 BY 6PM on Wednesday next, April 7th, at latest

Transfers for Approval

Inter-County Transfers for Approval

There are ten (10) inter-county transfers, with five coming into Cork, and five going out.

There may be other Inter-County transfers being processed by other Counties that have not yet been presented to Cork Athletics.

Covid-19 Level 5 Update - March 31st 2021

Athletics Ireland / Sport Ireland Covid-19 Level 5 Update

March 31st 2021

Full details of the updated (March 31st) Government Level 5 restrictions can be found on Gov.ie

Arising from this Government release, Athletics Ireland issued its own updated guidance

Excerpts from these documents

From 12 April

Activity & Guidance

     Meeting other households: You can meet 1 other household outside but not in your garden or theirs
Travel:   You can travel within your county or within 20km of your home if crossing county boundaries

From 19 April

Activity & Guidance

    Elite sport: High performing athletes, as approved by Sport Ireland, can resume. (AAI elites are high-performance athletes who have an exemption to continue to train. These athletes have a letter of exemption from the AAI High Performance Director). [Cork Athletics note: Letters/documents from any other body/person/coach have NIL validity]

From 26 April (subject to prevailing public health situation)

Activity & Guidance

    Outdoor sport: Outdoor sports facilities can reopen (for example: pitches, golf courses and tennis courts, other facilities as appropriate)

Underage sport: Underage non-contact outdoor training in pods of 15 or fewer can restart

Travel & Races

From April 12th, people may travel within their own county, or up to a radius of 20km from their homes, if that brings them across a county boundary. 

Wrexham Elite Marathon - Sunday April 25th

There are no races permitted in Ireland for the foreseeable future, however with the May 31st Olympic Marathon Qualification deadline looming, several elite Irish athletes will be attempting to achieve the qualification times, at an event in England, on Sunday April 24th. The event was originally planned for Wrexham, in Wales, however as Wales is still under lockdown, and England has lifted its restrictions, the event has been moved approx. 20 miles away, into England.

As of now, six Irish elites are running, two men; Hugh Armstrong and Mick Clohissey, and four women; Breege Connolly, Ann-Marie McGlynn, and two athletes with Cork Clubs; Aoife Cooke (Eagle AC) and Dylan Hassett (Leevale AC).

Over 50 other Irish athletes from the Republic, along with several more from Northern Ireland, are entered.  While those from Northern Ireland are free to travel freely within the UK, those from the Republic, who likely entered, probably some time ago, in the hope/expectation that restrictions would have been relaxed by the time the race is scheduled to take place. 

Included are 22 athletes from Cork, who, reportedly, have hired several buses, and several for other Munster counties. Reportedly, a few plan to travel via Northern Ireland [Please don't do this - there will be plenty of media & social media coverage of the event, and the results will be published, and risks grave repercussions for athletics]

It appears that even the six Elite athletes are faced with, severe travel difficulties. Word on the 'grapevine' is that accomodation in the region around the event is proving difficult to get.

Travel out of the country is easier than returning, but those travelling, except those in posession of legitimate documentation from Sport Ireland/Athletics Ireland High Performance Director, are liable to fines.

Returning is more restrictive:
ALL persons MUST have a negative / not detected result from a pre-departure COVID-19 PCR test, taken within 72 hours before their arrival in Ireland
They must complete an online Passenger Locator Form with information about where they are living/staying in Ireland.
They must self-isolate for 14 days upon arrival in Ireland.

In addition, ferry and airline websites state that no passengers will be allowed to travel without the necessary documentation.

 Hamburg Elite Marathon Postponed

Elsewhere, in the past 24 hours, Covid has scuppered the Hamburg Elite Marathon, scheduled for April 11th, as an Olympic Qualifier for Germany's Olympic hopefuls

Athletics Ireland FAQs - July 8th 2020

Return to Activity Guidelines (Previously Issued):

Road Race Event Organiser Guidelines

Road Race Volunteer, Staff and Marshalls Guidelines

Road Race Participant Guidelines

Racing - The Shape of Things to Come?

Racing Is Resuming in Some Parts of the World - Is this How It Will Be?

With all the World Marathon Majors now postponed until the autumn, in the expectation that, by that stage, Covid vaccination across the world will have changed the pandemic landscape enough to for health, travel, accommodation and race protocols to have been relaxed sufficiently to enable the events to go ahead.

US Races Go Ahead

Races are already happening in the U.S., with varying degrees of Covid protocols. Time will see how the various Covid protocols pan out. The feedback will be of great interest to race organisers and participants alike. 

Glass City Marathon to Require Vaccination or Negative Test

The Glass City Marathon, in Toledo, Ohio, USA, on April 25th, with 10,000 entrants, and a waiting list of 500, recently emailed all entrants, to say that they MUST have a negative Covid test, within 72 hours of the marathon, or else they MUST provide proof of full Covid vaccination, completed at least two weeks before the marathon.

However, for other upcoming large events, it is likely that similar requirements to those being implemented in Toledo will be required for all the components in the majors; travel, accommodation and the race itself.

Gate River Run, Jacksonville, Florida, USA

Saturday March 20th 2021

Last weekend, the 44th Annual Gate River Run, doubling as the US National 15k Championship, took place in Jacksonville, Florida, with a significantly reduced field on previous years.  6,733 finished, from a 2021 cap of 8,000, compared to approx. 12,500 every other year. There were also several hundred in a 5k section of the race.  

Race Director's Take on Covid Changes to the Event

Covid brought several changes to the event, including the use of two different starts, with several waves going from each wave.

Speaking in the lead up to the event, Race director Doug Allred said that this year’s race would be a little different due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“We intend to put in place a number of social distance guidelines,”  This field is limited to 8,000 runners at 15K. There are also two different starting lines

“You’ll actually experience the course. Most water stations are still there, they run a little differently, and the finish lines will look exactly the same,” Alred said. “As long as people work together and wear the mask for its intended purpose, I think it will work. It’s a safe event for everyone and most people who come will find it a traditional run. Probably. “

A mask is required except when it is running.

“It needs more,” Alred explained the preparation. “We’re doing some small races and we’re using some of the guidelines we use at River Run to see how they go, so they really worked.”

Probably the key lesson is in the last sentence: “We’re doing some small races and we’re using some of the guidelines we use at River Run to see how they go".  For race directors here, get involved with the organisation of smaller events, and see what goes right, what went right and what to improve. All race organisers should be doing that, but now, with Covid hee, we need to share our lessons learnt.

Gate River Run 2021

Will similar requirements be the norm for other races? Probably, but time will tell.  Large race or small, such requirements would introduce a large burden of administration -  Larger events may be able to absorb the workload, or build in scanner systems into their registration, but smaller events probably won't have such luxuries, or the manpower to work them ...time will tell

For the vast majority of us, the past year has been frustrating – and that’s definitely understating things!  Everyone is, literally, ‘chomping at the bit’, hoping that racing, as we knew it, will resume again soon.  However, even among runners, like the population at large on opening up society in general, opinion is divided as to how to organize races safely. Some people will run in races no matter what, while others remain very apprehensive, with the majority somewhere in the middle.

When it comes to virus transmission, races can be both safe and unsafe. Normally, runners aren’t in large groups, except before the start, and after the finish. Road races are entirely outdoors, with complete ventilation and fresh air.  ....But Covid loves social mixing, as do runners and spectators.

Health Protocols in Races

Participants & Volunteers

In the short to medium term, everyone attending an event will, at the very least, need to complete a Covid questionnaire. Another possibility is that Covid vaccination passports, or proof of immunity, will be required.

Vaccine Passport

Feed Stations

In many races, you will have water stations along the course, where volunteers dispense water, sports drinks, energy gels, fruit, and more. You'll certainly have them after the finish.

No race could function without these volunteers. But, there is always some degree of contact as drinks and other material is passed to the runner, and the water stations are often congested areas, with runners gasping and breathing heavily as they get their hydration drinks, gels, bananas and other goodies.

Then there are, particularly in the longer distances, the inevitable few who finish (or not) in distress. Voluntary first aiders must deal with these. Covid has brought a major source of risk for these invaluable first-aiders.

Clearly the return to racing will bring many headaches for organisers, and, while keeping participants and volunteers safe, the control measures and systems, are probably not going to make the race experience more enjoyable for all. It's certainly going to be a learning experience for everyone involved.

Remember ... We all need to look out for each other if we're going to progress in the short/medium term.

Event Calendar

Recently, Athletics Ireland published a draft calendar for 2021, including Munster Athletics events.

Following the AAI release, Cork Athletics County Board has provisionally booked the MTU (CIT) Track for the last Sunday in August, and the first two Sundays in September.  No events or Age-Groups have yet been assigned to these days, and more dates may be needed.

The format for each day is, as yet, unclear. It would be great - but probably unlikely - if we could have "Normal" T&F days. It may be that we will need to run them similar to the Cross-Country Day held in Riverstick last October, with the site being cleared after each event, hopefully with bigger numbers - we were limited to 200 people on site on that day in October.

Download Draft Athletics Ireland / Cork Athletics Calendar (PDF File)

35k Win for Alex Wright at Dudince 50 2021

Win for Alex Wright Highlight for Irish Contingent at Dudince 50 2021

Dudince, Slovakia

Saturday March 20th 2021

Mens 35k

Alex Wright, Leevale AC, won today's Men's 35km racewalk, at the Dudince 50 racewalk meet, in Dudince, Slovakia, covering the distance in 2:36:29

Alex Wright

Men's 35k Racewalk Results

Womens 20k

Kate Veale, Brataslava, 2018

 
Kate Veale, West Waterford AC, walked 1:38:40, in a top-quality womens field, for 22nd place.

Women's 20k Racewalk Results

Mens 20k

David Kenny, Brataslava, 2019

David Kenny, Farranfore Maine Valley AC, walked a 1 second PB for 1:23:06, for 12th place in a very competitive Men's 10k.

Men's 20k Racewalk Results

Women's 10k

Emily McHugh, Podebrady, 2019

Emily McHugh, Naas AC, walked 50:33, for fourth place in the women's 10k, just 3 seconds off her own 50:30 vest, set in Altyus last September.

Women's 10k Racewalk Results

Results

Dudince 50 Video

Covid-19 Level 5 Update - April 8th 2021

Athletics Ireland Covid-19 Level 5 Update

April 8th 2021

Full details of the recent (March 31st) Government Level 5 restrictions can be found on Gov.ie

Athletics Ireland Release April 8th 2021

Excerpt from Release:

Athletics Ireland reminds all affiliated members that only elite athletes in receipt of official exemption letters from Athletics Ireland High Performance department can travel to events within and outside the island of Ireland.

All elite exempted athletes that plan to travel outside Ireland should inform the Athletics Ireland High Performance Director of their travel plans and details of the event or camp they are planning to travel to.

Related Articles

Covid-19 Level 5 Update - March 31st 2021

Athletics Ireland FAQs - July 8th 2020

Return to Activity Guidelines (Previously Issued):

Road Race Event Organiser Guidelines

Road Race Volunteer, Staff and Marshalls Guidelines

Road Race Participant Guidelines

69th Cork City Sports 2021 Postponed

Cork City Sports Postponed Until 2022

 This morning brings the sad news that this years Cork City Sports has been postponed - the second year in a row. The Morton Games, normally held in the same week, has also been deferred.  

The Cork City Sports is the highlight of the year for athletics in Cork, bringing European and World class athletics stars to Cork, and is a testament to the year-round hard work put in by the Cork City Sports committee and their many 'back-room' aides and contacts.  In addition to the elite events, the sports also provides quality opportunities for up-and-coming local athletes, both on track and in field events.

This years 'Sports' will be sorely missed by all athletics - and sports - followers.

Athletics Ireland Release

BAM Cork City Sports and Morton Games postponed until 2022

"After assessing all scenarios available, it has been confirmed that the 2021 editions of the BAM Cork Sports International Athletics Meet and the Morton Games have been postponed until 2022.

The two high profile international track and field meets which were postponed in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic were rescheduled and set to take place on the 6th and 9th of July 2021 respectively. Organisers have taken the difficult decision to again postpone both events due to the ongoing uncertainty surrounding current Covid-19 restrictions.

Joe Hartnett, Meeting Director, Cork City Sports commented: “After due consideration of the many issues surrounding COVID-19 we have decided to postpone for another year. It is our hope that 2022 will allow us to bring back International Athletics to Cork”.

Tony O'Connell, Chairman, Cork City Sports added: “We regret having to cancel this year’s meeting. We thank our sponsors and other partners for being patient during these difficult times and look forward to working together again in 2022.”

2021 would have been the 69th edition of the Cork City Sports International Athletics Meet and there is no doubt athletics fans will look forward to it’s return on the back of a tremendously successful event in 2019.

The Morton Games which commenced in 2008 has also become one of the most high-class athletics events in the country and will be undoubtedly leave a hole in this summer’s athletics calendar.

Morton Games Meet Director, Noel Guiden said: " Although we are very disappointed to have to announce the cancellation of Morton Games for the second successive year, really there was no other option as with so many uncertainties it made the hosting of an international meet in 2021 an impossibility. There is no doubt that better times lie ahead and with that in the forefront of our thoughts we look forward to the return of international athletics and the " Santry Roar" at Morton Games in the Summer of '22."

Athletics Ireland CEO Hamish Adams echoed these sentiments and acknowledged the importance of seeing the return of both events in 2022.

He said, “Athletics Ireland have long been supporters of both the Cork City Sports International Meet and the Morton Games, and we were all looking forward to what have become two unmissable dates on the athletics summer calendar. The news will come as a disappointment, but we are in no doubt that both the Bam Cork City Sports International and Morton Games will be back and showcasing our sport at its best 2022”.

The team behind the BAM Cork City Sports International and Morton Games would like to extend their best wishes and thanks to all athletes, coaches, fans, and sponsors for their unwavering support over the the last year."

March 2021 Athlete Transfer Window has Closed

March 2021 - Deadline Passed

The March 2021 transfer deadline for the return of fully completed transfer forms, Wednesday March 24th, has passed.  Any further Transfer Forms that have been received after that date will NOT be accepted, except, only, Inter-County transfers which will have already been processed by the outgoing county.

The next transfer window will close on August 24th 2021

Late Forms

Late Forms are .....Late...and will NOT be accepted for this transfer window - NO EXCEPTIONS
 

August 2021 Transfers

Transfer forms may be downloaded from the Athletics Ireland website.

The Procedure on the form MUST be followed.

Completed forms should be give/posted to Cork AAI County Board Registrar, John Copithorne, Belgooley, Co. Cork.

• Do NOT call to John Copithorne's house or workplace.
• Do NOT send your form by Registered Post, Courier or other form of delivery, except the regular Post
• Do NOT send your completed form to Athletics Ireland HQ (Dublin), as this will severely affect delivery time, likely missing the deadline.

The Transfer Form must be signed in the following order

By the:
•   Member (in the case of a minor by the parent or guardian)
•   New Club
•   Outgoing Club
•   County Board (outgoing club)
•   County Boards (out of county club transfer)
•   County Boards (inter county transfer)

Incomplete, improperly or incorrectly completed forms will be rejected.

Notes:

• Athletes must be in good stead with the outgoing club, i.e. they must not owe any membership fee, or other arrears, and all club property in their possession must have been returned

• Athletes whose membership of the outgoing club has lapsed by more than three years, i.e. last registered in 2017 (NOT registered in any of the years 2020, 2019 or 2018) do NOT require a transfer, i.e. they are free to change clubs without going through the formal transfer process - they can be simply registered by the incoming club.

Heptathlon PB for Grace Mckenzie at Texas Relays 2021

5,734 Point Pentathlon PB for Grace McKenzie

93rd Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays

Mike A. Myers Stadium, Austin, Texas, USA

Thursday/Friday March 25th/26th 2021

 Grace Mckenzie, McNeese State University and Belgooly AC in action at Texas Relays

Grace McKenzie, McNeese State and Belgooly AC multi-event athlete consolidated her position on the Irish All-Time Pentathlete Tables and, as written in Lake Charle media "one of the greatest in Cowgirl track and field history", when she broke her own McNeese State heptathlon record, scoring 5,734 points, eclipsing her previous record 5,619 by 115 points the 93rd Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays.

McKenzie’s 5,734 total gave her third position, and second college athlete. Overall winner was Taliyah Brooks, Asics, on 6,252 points, with Kristine Blazevica, Texas, second on 5,813.

Grace remains in third place on the Irish All-Time Pentathlete Tables

Grace started with third place in the 100mH, in 13.77 sec, for 1011 points. Next up was the High Jump, in 1.7m, 5th place and 855 points, followed by eight place in the Shot Put, with 11.36m and 6199 points.

On Day 2, Friday 26th, McKenzie was third in the 200-meters, in 24.98 sec, for 889 points. She followed this with second in the long jump, jumping 6.15m (20-2.25), adding 896 points to her score. McKenzie capped off her meet by scoring 577 points in the javelin where she threw 35.26m (115-8)

110m

High Jump

Shot Put

200m

Long Jump

Javelin Throw

Final Overall Position

Death of Paddy Coleman - Youghal AC

Paddy Coleman R.I.P. - Condolences

March 20th 2021

Paddy Coleman, R.I.P.

The Officers and Officials of Cork Athletics County Board extend their condolences and deepest sympathy to the Coleman family; his wife Ann, sons and daughters Claire, Jack, Deirdre and Robert, and his extended family, on the death of our esteemed colleague Paddy Coleman, former Chairman of Youghal AC, and member of several Cork National Senior Cross-Country Championship winning teams.

Paddy's  contribution to athletics leaves a lasting legacy

 
Notice on RIP.ie

The death has occurred of Paddy Coleman,

Summerfield, Youghal, Cork / Aghabullogue, Cork

Paddy passed away, suddenly, but peacefully, at the Mercy University Hospital Cork. He will be sadly missed by his wife Ann, sons and daughters Claire, Jack, Deirdre and Robert, grandchildren, sons-in-law, daughters-in-law, brothers, sisters-in-law, nieces, nephews, extended family and friends.

Paddy's funeral will take place privately in keeping with current Government guidelines on Covid 19.

Funeral Mass will be live-streamed on the Church Services website from Our Lady of Lourdes Church, The Strand, Youghal, from 11am Tuesday morning. Alternatively the Youghal Parish website.

Please leave your messages of support for Paddy's family in the condolences section.

Tribute by John Walshe

DEATH OF PADDY COLEMAN, R.I.P.

The death has taken place of Paddy Coleman from Youghal, one of Cork’s outstanding middle-distance runners of the 1960s. Although his career was cut short due to injury, his performances as a 21-year-old during the summer of 1965 are still recalled today.

At the Cork City Sports, one of the finest fields seen in NACA competition assembled for the 1500m.  The line-up featured Dick Hodgins of UCC, along with Bobby Buckley (Grange), Denis Buckley (St Finbarr’s) and Mick Heery from Dublin.

At the bell, Hodgins had a slight lead from Heery, Coleman and the two Buckleys. Down the back straight, Coleman made his move and despite the best efforts of Bobby Buckley he held on for victory in 3:53.0, just outside the then Irish NACA record of 3:52.3.

Coleman’s performance won him the prestigious John O Jagoe Memorial Trophy (later known as the American Trophy) for the most outstanding performance at the City Sports.

Four days later, he won the Munster mile title at Cobh in 4:20.0 and then at the NACA championships in Banteer he won his second Irish title, this time again over the classic one mile distance. The time was a slow 4:21.5 (compared to his best of 4:12) but, as he explained a half-century later, “it was all about the winning.”

After such a successful track season in 1965, Paddy was offered a scholarship to East Tennessee State University which he didn’t take up. A problem with deep seated varicose veins would signal a premature end to his all-too short athletics career.

Paddy later became chairman of Youghal GAA and was one of the driving forces behind the wonderful facilities now enjoyed by the seaside club.

Related Articles

Paddy Coleman, Former Youghal Athlete Honoured

Presentation to Cork's Winning National Cross-Country Team 1964-65 (Awards Night 2018)

Bandon AC Announce New Track Development - March 2021

Bandon AC Driving Ahead with New Track and Indoor Facilities

March 17th 2021

Bandon AC Facility Schematic by Sadbh Ní Fhlaitheartaigh


Bandon AC is to develop it's own 6 lane all-weather track, complete with filed event areas, along with combined clubhouse and indoor facility, at Clancoolbeg, Bandon, on the Bandon-Kilbrittain Road, approx. 2km from the Bandon Bypass.

The venue will have parking for over 150 cars, along with several buses

Planning Schematic


Track Location - Clancoolbeg, Bandon

The development is a very welcome addition to athletics in Cork, and West Cork in particular, and comes quickly following news of the Mallow track development. Several other clubs have 'works' in the pipeline, so it's an exciting time for athletics in Cork.

Bandon AC chose today, St Patrick's Day, to announce details of their new development, in recognition of the club's original name, St Patrick's AC, under which it competed for it's first two years, from 1964 to 1966.

The delevopment, which has seen many year's of planning and attention to detail, has passed all stages of planning, will start shortly, and is expected to be complete by next year, 2022. 

Congratulations, Best wishes and well done to Bandon AC on this tremendous news.

Bandon AC Release

Billy Good and Phil Healy, pictured at Catherine Duggan Memorial Sports 2018

Bandon AC’s Phil Healy summed it up well recently after her fantastic 4th place in the 400m final at the European Indoor Championships:

“Explore so many events, because you never know which is the best for you. Don’t be afraid, and the main thing is have fun. If you know you’ve done your best then you can be delighted with your performance. It is not all about winning and it needs to move away from that mentality and thinking. If you give it your all, and walk off the track happy, then you’re winning for you. If you think you can do better then the next day is another opportunity to try that. I didn’t make finals or win anything until I was 17/18. You’re never too old. Just enjoy it, make new friends and most of all have fun.”

Bandon Athletic club and the coaches have always had the long term development of the athlete as the primary driving force and it is with that same commitment we are about to embark on a new journey.

Bandon Athletic Club are extremely excited and proud to announce that it has recently concluded the purchase of an 8 acre site, just outside Bandon. Full planning permission has been granted for the development of a 400m all-weather track, field event area’s and an indoor training facility.

This is a huge step forward for the club, and massive vote of confidence by the club in the talent within Bandon and the wider West Cork athletics community.

The site which is located at Clancoolbeg will see work commence shortly with the expectations that the all-weather track will be installed in 2022. The timeline for the development of the indoor training area will be determined by various fund-raising activities the club will be undertaking as well as grant allocations received. The indoor area, as well as having space for sprints and long distance, will also include jumps and throws areas.

This development, unlike majority of other all-weather tracks in this country, will be owned and controlled by the club. Bandon AC, for the last numbers of years, has been one of the largest Juvenile clubs affiliated to Athletics Ireland, but, due to lack of access to our own facilities, it has not always been able to accept members, and we frequently have a waiting list.

Once this development is complete, the club expects that it will eliminate waiting lists. Currently athletes frequently travel to Cork, and even further afield, to avail of tartan track facilities. Providing top class facilities close at hand, will enable athletes to focus on training and recovery, and not on travelling time.

Our club also caters for recreational sport, which is called Fit4Youth. This aspect of the club is vital to ensuring athletes have opportunities to partake in athletics in a friendly social environment and progress at their own pace while getting all the health benefits from athletics.

Bandon AC which already has great working relationships with local schools and organisations, such as Bandon Special Olympics and West Cork Athletics, and is looking forward to working even more closely with these schools and groups once the development is ready. This is a development which will greatly enhance the wider community and the athletics scene in West Cork.

It has been a long road to get the club to where it is now, with a lot of time and commitment from a large number of club members, but some people do deserve special mention. One of the founding members, Mr Billy Good, has played a large part in obtaining this site and the associated planning permissions.

A dedicated Track Development sub-committee put in a huge amount of work in recent years trying to find a suitable site, and get the planning permission.

Current members of the sub-committee include Michael Weldon, Paul Kingston, Michael McKeon, David Gibson and Una Hutchinson. Landowner Liam Crowley has been very helpful to the club throughout the long planning process.

As a tribute to all past members, the club decided to make this announcement on St Patrick’s Day, as the club was known as St Patrick’s AC for the first two years following its formation in 1964.

The club will shortly announce exciting fundraising activities to ensure this development is completed as soon as possible. We will be hoping that the community of Bandon and the wider athletics community will respond in a positive manner.

This is truly an exciting time for the athletics fraternity in Bandon and West Cork.