TRAINING IS AT THE USUAL TIMES ALL THIS WEEK

LEINSTER XC CHAMPIONSHIPS

A very disappointing turn out of just 15 athletes for the first of the Leinster XC Championships on Saturday last, with only 9 girls & 6 boys from the club taking part. This is hugely disappointing for the athletes who do take part as we fail to fill teams for them and for the coaches who put in so much time and effort in preparing the athletes for these events.

Congratulations to those who did take part as we had some fantastic running on the day. A first outing for Cian Smyth in the boys U12 saw him finish 97^th, with Chase Scully 108^th. In the boys U14 Joe Prendergast finished in 5^th place to qualify as an individual and also as part of the Leinster team for the Nationals. Paul Delahunty (U13) stepping up an age, also had a great run to finish 38^th. In the girls U14 Ella Shanley finished 25^th, Louise O’Riordan (U13) 37th, Eimear Ryan (U13) 51^st, Enya Conroy 65^th, Salley Shanley (U13) 78^th & Erin Howard 90^th. Ella, Louise, Eimear, Enya & Salley qualify for Nationals as part of the Wicklow team. A great run from Abbie Tyrrell (U15) stepping up in the girls U16 where she finished 18^th and a 21^st place finish for Ben Jones in the boys U16, with Joe Dowd (U15) taking 61^st. Richael Browne had a terrific race to take 6^th in the girls U18, also qualifying as an individual and as part of the Leinster team and Rachel Casey (U17) finishing 32nd. A terrific race also in the U18 boys from Troy Scully, (U17) who finished just out of the medals in 13^th, with Cormac Gilnagh (U17) 45^th. Well done to all and here’s hoping for a much better turn out for the Uneven Ages.

Form for Uneven Ages is now on our website and will close on Fri. 4^th Nov.

URGENT-------- UPCOMING COMPETITIONS

The uneven ages event for U11-19 and the Juniors & Senior adults will take place on Sun. 13^th Nov. It will be on the same course as the Even Ages, in New Forest Golf Club, Tyrrellspass, Co. Westmeath. We hope that lots & lots of our athletes will make an effort and turn out for this one to run for Club & County. First race is at 12 o’clock, so athletes will need to arrive at 11am for check-in & warm up, as numbers will be big. Entry form is now on the website and closing date is this Friday 4^th Nov. There are absolutely no late entries accepted by Leinster, so get your names down right away and don’t wait until the last minute, as you might miss out.

XC LEAGUE ROUND 5: Thursday 17^th Nov. in Rathdrum Rugby Club. Registration 6.30pm. First race 7 pm. This one is uneven Ages U/ 7, 9, 11, 13 & 15, but athletes can move up one age group. Entry form will be on our website and will close on Tues. 15^th Nov. Certs to all finishers. Medals are awarded at the end of the League to athletes who accumulate sufficient points by attending regularly. Athletes who compete in all 6 events get Gold, in 5 events get silver & in 4 events get bronze medals.

COACHING DAY

We had a relatively small attendance at the club coaching session on Saturday 22^nd Oct. but coaches & athletes present all agree that it was a really worthwhile session. Those who turned up really enjoyed the morning and got a lot out of it. We hope to run one of these sessions each month to help prepare for the Indoor season and they are open to all club athletes from U11–U16 (Born 2001-2006).

TEAM MEDALS

We have not yet received team medals from the County Champs, but should get them at Tuesday’s meeting this week and will give them out on Wed/Fri.

ATTENDANCE AT TRAINING

All athletes are expected to attend training regularly and need to bring water with them to all sessions. They should wear proper runners and tracksuit, shorts or leggings please. If wearing shorts, please bring tracksuit bottoms to wear over them for warm-up & cool down as the evenings are getting very cold now. Always bring a light rain jacket to all training sessions, as we do not have indoor facilities if it rains!

NB: Groups 1 & 2 are required to attend a minimum of two sessions per week to enable them to keep up with the training level and stay with their group. This has been agreed by all athletes/parents before joining this group. Training sessions take place on Tues/Wed/Fri from 7-8.30pm. While we hope you can do all three, if only doing two nights, it is better to do Tues/Fri or Wed/Fri if at all possible, rather than two nights together with 5 off.

We also have an organised Sunday morning run at 9.15am, which is a very important part of the training week, particularly from U12 up. If you cannot make this, you really need to do the run yourself later in the day. Venue varies from week to week and is posted on our website & FB page each week. This long, easy run can be very enjoyable and lays the base for everything we do.

So far this season the attendance on Sunday mornings & also on Fri nights is poor and we really need to see a huge improvement from here out. All athletes & parents are welcome to join us on these Sunday runs, however young children need to be accompanied.

Parents and brothers/sisters are not allowed inside the track during training sessions, but are welcome to watch from outside the fence. Please note that the Outdoor Gym Equipment is for age 14 up only and children should not be allowed to play on this! (Health & Safety)