18 December 2022

Tom Kelly 8K 2023 - INFO


Register HERE

St Brendan’s AC will host the Tom Kelly 8K on Sunday 15th January 2023 in memory of one of St Brendan’s AC founding members, Tom Kelly. This is the second year of this event.

Tom was coach and club dynamo for the first 10 years and inspired both adults and juveniles with his exemplary work. His work helped to make St Brendan’s AC the top club in Kerry for 10 years in a row. Tom passed away in 2020 and his family gratefully allowed this run to be promoted in his memory.

Start time 9.30am. Online Registrations.  

Cost is €17 for adults, €12 for participants aged 19 or under on the day of the event. 

Non athletics Ireland participants taking part in this permitted event will incur a €2 charge for a one day licence. This €2 charge is paid directly to Athletics Ireland. 

Medals for all participants. Walkers are also very welcome.


Start of the race is adjacent to Ardfert Cathedral in Ardfert Village. To compete in the 8k, participants have to be aged 15 or older on the day of the event as per Athletics Ireland guidelines. This is a permitted event.

30 October 2022

We Who Are About to Suffer, Salute You By David Kissane



“Well done on all the hard work” my wife says as I leave the house to head off to the Dublin Marathon on Friday.
“Ah, sure, I have a bit of training done anyway”, I says with great humility, sitting into my van.
“No, well done for all the work around the house you’re going to do next week!” she shoots “now that all the running will be over!”
Gulp!
Very funny she is. Sometimes.
After changing the oil in my van and WhatsApping club business (while under the van) and packing all known items of running gear (all neatly washed for me, I might add!,) off I drive past Tubrid Cross and stop to fill up with the diesel in Dillane’s in Abbeydorney. The owner is outside sweeping away the October leaves. A fair athlete himself and he quips “I think ye are mad taking on the 26 miles 385 yards” but adds “but I envy ye all”. I tell him that the nine of us from St Brendan’s AC will do our best and that I will act as sweeper at the back. Hoping to be back south of the Liffey before the gantry is taken down and the Sunday evening silence envelops the city.
As I head towards Lixnaw, I recall the uneasy road of 2022 to Dublin.
It could all have finished for me a few weeks ago.
It was the second week in October and no long runs had been done. I watched in awe as our colleagues in St Brendan’s rattled off the 25Ks and the 30Ks, and over, in single runs. All way ahead of my humble efforts. So I had to up my game. A run of 30K was planned for Ardfert Recreational Centre, a place we’ve grown to love over the year. The perimeter of the magnificent Astro pitch and the pristine grass pitch is around 650 metres. About 60 laps of it would put my marathon train back on the tracks and it would be full steam ahead.
Great place to train. Smooth concrete, no noise pollution, no traffic coming at you, level as a runway, clean as a whistle. “Fair play to you!” says John Kelly, a club founder member who loves walking in the ARC as I have lift off with water nearby on my van (another advantage of the ARC) and my Garmen is purring and the sun is shining and life is good. Earphones pumping “Wild Montana Skies” by John Denver on the Ronan Collins Show on RTE Radio 1 at 12 noon.
Give him a fire in his heart, give him a light in his eyes
Give him the wild wind for a brother and the wild Montana skies
No phone to bother the head and the total freedom of the run. Lengths of the pitches to use for fartleky dashes or closed-mouth-and-breathe-through-the-nose inserts or little Irish dancing steps to add variety for the legs.
I like to absorb the hinterland as I run. Ardfert Cathedral roof could be seen to the north west and the green and manicured undulations of Ardfert Pitch and Putt course were over the fence on the north side of the ARC. A cropped cornfield next door tells the story of a good summer and a rich harvest. The children in Ardfert National School had audibly been let out to play. Their energy flew across the houses to my ears. “Mankind made the school, but God made the schoolyard” said Walter Bagehot, he English social scientist. The energy that would drive the country ahead and secure the future of Ireland and the world. The undeniable energy of the school yard.
Then suddenly a flock of swallows landed on the top of the nets behind the goals in the GAA grass field. Twittering and excited and no doubt the last of the swallows to head off to the sunny climes of Spain and Africa. Their summer done in Ireland. A few took off and came back as if testing the flightpath. Then suddenly they all took off, except one lone swallow who resisted the urge to follow. The rest headed over Station Road
I used to give my Leaving Cert Irish students a homework scéal to do when I was teaching in Tarbert Comprehensive. “Bhí an lá ag dul ar aghaidh go hiontach go dti gur…” The day was flying until… and they were to create a plot and a title. Well, soon the title for me became “The day the music died” as I lost interest in the run after a mere fifteen laps, my legs seized up and the battery went in my radio. And in my heart.
Pointless, I decided. Making a fool of myself going to Dublin. As Mohammed Ali said once about an opponent, “I’m so bad I make medicine sick!”
I restarted, as I had never failed to finish a training session during the year. I tried to think like a coach and encourage myself to keep going as I have done with athletes over many years. I rehydrated and ate a few more grapes and tried to camouflage the pain and mental plonk with thoughts of how lucky I was to have good health and to be still alive at 69 years of age. After all, a brother and a sister didn’t live to be the age I am now. I though of others I could run for also. It worked for a while and I plodded on but then, full stop again! Back into the van and home and goodbye to the marathon. Too slow to keep up with my eight club colleagues who are in a different league. Mentally kicking myself in the backside and worse, admitting that I wouldn’t be physically able to do another marathon ever.
And I didn’t want to emulate the marathon-end of the first man to run a marathon. Poor old Pheidippides dropped dead after bringing news of the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC! His last words were “Joy to you!” Fair play to him.
But the sun set and the sun rose and two days later I was back in action on the soft sand in Barrow. Plan? To give up on the long runs and do shorter, more intensive ones. Fartlek, soft sand, hills, twin runs some days, fast walks…not checking the Garmin too often. Survival mode. The culture of the effort is fundamental. Take the chance and you will never regret it. Arthur Lydiard, whose book Run To The Top Con Dennehy lent me recently, proposed that one should do a module of speedwork the week of the marathon.
That and more got me on the road to Dublin yesterday.
Autumn leaves dancing in Adare and russet trees getting russeter and streams of traffic coming against me on their way to a long weekend or mid-term break in Kerry. The Silvermines resplendent in the setting sun and then bacon and spuds in the Obama Plaza in Moneygall – great place – and soon autumnal Dublin wraps its arms around the mind. I love Dublin and always have done from All Irelands as a child with my father and later as a resident for eight years and from the early marathon days in the 1980s where I ran 3:12 in my second one. But I had trained for that, and oh yeah, I was a younger man!
I hear the news that Ballydonoghue’s Jason Foley has got his well-earned All Star as the best full back in the country. A great honour for my other parish and Jason is a fine example to all, both young and old. His grandfather was a founder member of the Ballydonoghe Parish Magazine which is entering its 37 year. I have to edit some items in the current upcoming issue before I sleep tonight! Jason will feature much in it.
Then the alarm rings this Saturday morning – I am already awake - and it’s out to the RDS to register. A wettish morning and would be ideal if it was like that on Sunday. Pre-hydrated air. Parked in a nice place near the RDS but the parking meter wasn’t working so had to circle. The usual buzz in the RDS and very efficient in the registration hall and friendly as well. Loads of stalls selling their stuff and of course I couldn’t resist. On duty at his post is Frank Greally, the Irish Runner inspiration whose book, Running Full Circle I finished last night. He exudes passion for athletics. And life. Then to Blackrock where I spent years of weekends at my craft outlet and headed for a lunch of pancakes and syrup – lots of syrup - with extra crispy bacon in The Yellow Fig. Tried to keep my feet on the heels as an hour passed in perfect relaxation.
As I drank a few cups of sweet tea, I sought positivity in the year gone by. A few miles covered in non-marathon-style training. Munster masters indoor walk, national indoor walk (in the beautiful Athlone Arena), British Masters walk in Lee Valley in north east London, a lovely arena also. Then outdoors in Kerry, Munster and Derby for the British masters outdoor walks championships. And then the Athletics Ireland national masters championships. Ah yes, the national championships in a hot hot hot Tullamore in August where three St Brendan’s AC walkers made their national walks debut along with Con Dennehy of An Ríocht AC. With Michael O’Connor (Farranfore Maine Valley AC) and Pat Murphy (Castleisland Walking Club) Kerry masters kept walking to the forefront that beautiful day.
A regular summer chat with John Griffin, Dublin Marathon winner supreme, was always inspiring when I often bumped into him near my favourite Lesotho bookshop in Tralee.
So back through heavy Saturday evening traffic and here I am at 10pm on the Saturday night before the big event. “Not young and not renewable, but human” to misquote the poet Thomas Kinsella who was born a few doors away from the house where I will sleep for a few hours tonight. Then up in the Dublin Sunday morning and across the city to the leafy streets around the Grand Canal to Fitzwilliam Square. The first and second and third waves with the well-prepared pistoleros will be well on their way when we start in the fourth wave. The Purple Wave. The last wave.
Then at 9.45am we will join the river of runners going north over the Liffey and through the Phoenix Park and back to the southside and…who knows.
By the time I might reach the last Purple Mile and the finish in Merrion Square North, the other waves will have reached home, hotel or wherever and will have well started the after-marathon-heaven-is-here level. So will my St Brendan’s AC colleagues. Let the celebrations then begin.
The marathon is a noble thing and deserves respect. It is a strategic ennabler if you treat it right. The runners will meet a part of ourselves that lies beneath and is rarely visited. We will question our very core. If the training didn’t go to plan, we will question ourselves even more in the excursion into something different. It ain’t no way to treat a marathon if we don’t prepare properly and we have to pay the price. That is the terrible beauty of the great run. The journey may be the destination for many with the experience of emotional and physical diversity.
We finish and some of us say never again. Then we start training in May. We know the soul-rinsing experience that is there for the taking.
Sure anyway, comfort is the enemy of progress. Let’s make the magic and believe for a while that the myth is the only reality.
The line from Gladiator comes to mind at this moment. It has to be paraphrased.

“We, who are about to suffer, salute you.”

26 September 2022

Banna 10K & 5K: 2022 - RESULTS

                                                        


                                                      RESULTS - 10km


                RESULTS - 5km



08 August 2022

Come Back to Banna, Susan!

 


Susan Glennon, winner of the Energywise Ireland Banna Run women's 10K for the second year in a row on Sunday, July 31st running with her father, Matthew with 100m to go in the run. Now read her story.
Come Back to Banna, Susan!
A Tribute to Susan and the Amazing Glennon Family
By David Kissane
The winner of the women’s Energywise Ireland Banna Run 10K was today relaxing in Banna. Enjoying quietly the after-glow of the locally choreographed 12th annual event.
Susan Glennon of Mullingar Harriers AC is a 21 year old primary teacher who has just graduated from St Pat’s and comes from a family deeply-rooted in athletics. She was the first woman over the MyRunResults finish line near the Banna Beach Sea Rescue HQ yesterday, clocking a fast time of 41:40 as she passed the radar.
Susan looked most comfortable in the field of the 237 participants who lined up for the 10K and 5K as the sun came out and the previous day’s rain went into the sandy soil of Ardfert. She sailed smoothly past the Casement Monument just after 9.30am, past the wild and beautiful inlet of Carrahane, past Rathoneen Castle and on by the rath where Roger Casement found shelter in 1916, past the Land League house and through the magical Ardfert Village on to Banna Beach Resort and home to huge applause at the new finish near the Banna Sea Rescue HQ. Then a cup of tea near that HQ, kindly lent by the Sea Rescue for the morning, a chat with fellow competitors and then Susan was presented with the Chris O’Shea Memorial Shield. The shield commemorates a St Brendan’s AC officer and coach who passed away at a young age in 2019 and her sister, Mary was present to present the shield. These moments often make an event.
The amazing point about Susan’s inspiring run yesterday was that she was winning the Chris O’Shea Shield for the second year in a row. She also won the Banna 10K last year when the Shield was first on offer and was therefore the inaugural Chris O’Shea Shield winner.
So what’s the attraction to the Banna Run for the primary school teacher?
“Well, we have a holiday chalet at the Banna Beach resort!” she says and the family has been staying there for many years.
And the Banna Run thing is a family affair too for the Glennons. Incidentally, they are one of the largest families in Ireland. “There are twelve of us!” Susan calmly says. Did you say twelve? “Yes, I have six brothers and I am one of four sisters, and Mum and Dad. That’s twelve!”
The youngest is nine and the oldest is twenty seven. Susan is fourth in the family.
Yesterday Susan’s Dad and coach, Matthew, a founder member of Coralstown Kinnegad AC in Westmeath, ran the 10K with her and they both finished close to each other. Dad was in fact a second behind Susan. A coaching skill. Obviously a good Dad also! But while father and daughter were leaving Ardfert Village on the road home to Banna in that 10K heading west, brother Matthew (there are two Matthews in the family), was fighting it out with Darragh O’Leary of Killarney Valley AC in the out-and-back 5K heading east. And that titanic struggle was decided only on the line as both contoured their potential on the day. Matthew nodded over the MyRunResults ground-saddle and was given the verdict by the technology…both athletes timed at 16:14, delighting the huge crowd that witnessed the event in the last-day-of-July sunshine.
And that’s not the full story. Another brother Andrew, also a member of Mullingar Harriers AC, finished fourth in the 5K in the fast time of 18:32. Awsomesauce!
When Susan crossed the line in the 10K a short time later, the Glennons could quietly celebrate the unique success. A Glennon Banna Run success.
Susan trains six days a week and her ambition is to reduce her times over 5K (pb is 18:30) and the 10K (pb of 39:40). She has been lucky not to have been injured too often and the last time she had an issue was two years ago when shin splints and a stress fracture side-lined her for a while. She didn’t like that! Hindsight that provides insight.
She will start her primary teaching career in St Mary’s Primary School in Mullingar in September. Why teaching? “My mother is a retired teacher and a load of my aunts and uncles were teachers too!” If you hear about St Mary’s athletes doing well in the next few years, then you will know why.
The Glennons love Banna and North Kerry. Part of the hidden Ireland. There’s no need to travel beyond Banna Strand for that heavenly beach experience but a trip to Ballyheigue and Ballybunion is an option if required. “And there are more races in Kerry than in Westmeath!” Susan affirms. She warmed up for this weekend’s Banna Run by taking on the Ballyheigue Half of the Head and the Brandon Bay beach runs recently.
Take a bow Kerry race organisers. Deep and wise are the Kingdom’s race-planners.
What run has she got the most satisfaction from in her life? Without thinking too long, Susan says “The Banna Run!” Why? Sure the start of the Run is only five minutes down the road from their chalet in Banna Beach Resort! No long travel on the day and after the race the whole family can hop into the water in the Blue Flag beach and recover in the Atlantic waves. Perfect!
Susan Glennon has articulated the core raison d’etre of the Banna Run: family, people, the course, the location, the strand, the atmosphere and the after-run cuppa.
When all twelve members of the family go for a run together next Christmas, they may be thinking of a sunny July day near Banna Strand. A day everything rhymed. A day borrowed from family dreams. Frantic days for the organisers of the Banna Run who may be thinking of the family too and saying…
Come back to Banna again Susan and all the Glennons. Go for three-in-a-row! Beidh fáilte romhaibh!

18 June 2022

Banna Run 10K/5K - 2022 INFO

 


St Brendan’s AC will host the Energywise Ireland Banna Run 2022 5/10K road race on Sunday 31st July in Banna, Ardfert, Co. Kerry
St Brendan’s AC is a vibrant club in the rural North Kerry area, the club caters for athletes of all ages from juveniles through to masters. The club has a proud history with many club, county and national medals won throughout the years at all age levels. However it’s not all about the medals, it’s also about keeping fit, being healthy, providing a social outlet and encouraging participation. Relatively flat route, great for a PB and all finishers will get a bespoke medal. Tasty home cooked treats will be available after.
The event is being sponsored by Energywise Ireland
The price of the event is as follows:
10k - €22.50
5k - €12
Juvenile 5K Entry (13 -19yrs) - €7

Limited number of entries available on Sunday morning from 8:00 - 8:30am.
Option to purchase event t-shirt.
The men's winner of the 10K race will be presented with the Tom O'Riordan Perpetual Shield.
The women's winner of the 10K race will be presented with the Chris O'Shea Memorial Shield.
Both routes are AAI certified and this is an AAI permitted road race. Chip timing will be provided by myrunresults.com

Parking available at Finish Line location V92 AXN6 and Banna Beach.

09 June 2022

Munster Senior & Masters Track & Field Championships - Cork, May/June 2022

 A very successful Munster Masters Championships for our club athletes over two weekends in May and June.

First bunch of medals came curtesy of race walkers on 29 May in MTU track in Cork


Serena Griffin (W35) 3km - Gold medal

Denis Foley (M45) 5km - Gold medal

David Kissane (M65) 5km - Gold medal

Moira Horgan (W50) 3km - Gold medal

Tina O Connell (W45) 3km - Gold medal




Full results HERE.

On the same date Artur Nowak (M50) won gold medal in multievents (100m, long jump, shot putt, 1500m) with total of 2047 points.



Full results HERE.

More success came the following week, on 6 June at the same MTU Cork track were our club was represented by Ursula Barrett, David Kissane, David Butler and Artur Nowak.

Ursula Barrett (W45):100m - Silver medal, 200m - Gold medal (CBP), long jump - Gold medal


David Kissane (M65): 200M - Silver medal, discus - Bronze medal


David Butler (M40): WTD(56lbs) - Silver medal, shot putt - Silver medal


Artur Nowak (M50): high jump - Gold medal, javelin - Silver medal, shot putt - Bronze medal

                                   Full results HERE.

26 May 2022

St.Brendan's AC Primary Schools' Sports 2022 - Area Final Results

 


St. Brendan's AC - 2022 Primary Schools' Sports - Area Final Results

 

 

Class

Name

School

1st Class

 

 

 

Girls 60m

 

 

1st

Saoirse Russell

Treasa Naofa, Kilflynn

2nd

Emma Joy

Baile An Chrosaigh, Ballyduff

3rd

Ella Hogan

Mainistir O dTorna, Abbeydorney

 

Girls - 300m

 

 

1st

Saorise Russell

Treasa Naofa, Kilflynn

2nd

Roísín Diggin

Treasa Naofa, Kilflynn

3rd

Nessa Carney

Cill Lúraigh, Causeway

 

Boys - 60m

 

 

1st

Iarla McKenna

Cill Lúraigh, Causeway

2nd

Luke Mc Cann

Spá NS

3rd

Jack Sheehy

Sliabh a Mhadra, Ballyduff

 

Boys 300m

 

 

1st

Luke Mc Cann

Spá NS

2nd

Iarla McKenna

Cill Lúraigh, Causeway

3rd

Owen Gilligan

Spá NS

 

2nd Class

 

 

Girls  -

60m

 

1st

Lacie Boylan

Scoil Náisiúnta Árd Fhearta

2nd

Gráinne Donegan

Scoil Chríost Rí, Drumacurra

3rd

Saoirse Reen

Spá NS

 

Girls - 300m

 

 

1st

Gráinne Donegan

Drumnacurra

2nd

Saoirse Reen

Spá NS

3rd

Fia Mc Elligott

Spá NS

 

Boys 60m

 

 

1st

Cody Mc Kenna

Treasa Naofa, Kilflynn

2nd

Fionn Mc Carthy

Scoil Náisiúnta Árd Fhearta

3rd

Luke Doherty

Spá NS

 

Boys - 300m

 

 

1st

Aaron Keating

Spá NS

2nd

Fionn Mc Carthy

Scoil Náisiúnta Árd Fhearta

3rd

Garrett Lovett

Spá NS


3rd Class

 

Girls  

 

80m

 

1st

Hanna Riordan

Spá NS

2nd

Siabh O Donnell

Spá NS

3rd

Chloe Stephenson

Spá NS

 

Girls - 500m

 

 

1st

Hanna Redicon

Spá NS

2nd

Chloe Stephenson

Spá NS

3rd

Lauren Godley

Scoil Naomh Erc., Glenderry

 

Boys 80m

 

 

1st

Tadhg Gilligan

Spá NS

2nd

William Duggan

Scoil Naomh Erc., Glenderry

3rd

Darragh Flahive

Scoil Naomh Erc., Glenderry

 

Boys 500m

 

 

1st

William Duggan

Scoil Naomh Erc., Glenderry

2nd

Tadhg Gilligan

Spá NS

3rd

Darragh Flahive

Scoil Naomh Erc., Glenderry

 

4th Class

 

 

Girls  

100m

 

1st

Clodagh Buckley

Spá NS

2nd

Tia Falvey

Treasa Naofa, Kilflynn

3rd

Ruby Boyle

Sliabh a Mhadra

 

Girls 500m

 

 

1st

Tia Falvey

Treasa Naofa, Kilflynn

2nd

Clodagh Buckley

Spá NS

3rd

Muireann Wiseman

Scoil Náisiúnta Árd Fhearta

Boys 100m

 

 

1st

Zac Kearney

Spá NS

2nd

Daniel O Leary

Cill Lúraigh, Causeway

3rd

Simon Russell

Treasa Naofa, Kilflynn


Boys 500m

 

 

1st

Eamonn Óg Mc

Spá NS

2nd

Simon Russell

Treasa Naofa, Kilflynn

3rd

Cian Slattery

Spá NS


5th Class

 

Girls  

 

100m

 

1st

Aoibhinn O Driscoll

Scoil Naomh Erc., Kilmoyley

2nd

Saibh Dowling

Spá NS

3rd

Louise Gaynor

Spá NS

 

Girls - 600m

 

 

1st

Evie O Sullivan

Spá NS

2nd

Aoibhinn O Driscoll

Scoil Naomh Erc., Kilmoyley

3rd

Sadhbh Dowling

Spá NS

 

Boys 100m

 

 

1st

Stephen Harty

Scoil Naomh Erc., Glenderry

2nd

Conor O Sullivan

Scoil Náisiúnta Árd Fhearta

3rd

Jamie Parker

Fenit

 

Boys 600m

 

 

1st

Stephen Harty

Scoil Naomh Erc., Glenderry

2nd

Cameron Quirke

Spá NS

3rd

Declan Pierse

Fenit

 

6th Class

 

 

Girls  

100m

 

1st

Ashlyn Falvey

Treasa Naofa, Kilflynn

2nd

Emma Gaynor

Spá NS

3rd

Eilisha Hanafin

Spá NS

 

600m

 

 

1st

Emma Gaynor

Spá NS

2nd

Elisha Hannafin

Spá NS

3rd

Abbie Crowley

Spá NS

 

6th Class

Boys 100m

 

 

1st

Dara Harty

Spá NS

2nd

Billy Naughton

Spá NS

3rd

Kevin Horgan

Scoil Naomh Erc., Glenderry NS


600m

 

 

1st

Dara Harty

Spá NS

2nd

Billy Naughton

Spá NS

3rd

Luke O Carroll

Spá NS


Turbo Javelin 2nd and 3rd Classes

 

Girls

 

 

1st

Keely Flaherty

Scoil Náisiúnta Árd Fhearta

2nd

Lacie Boylan

Scoil Náisiúnta Árd Fhearta

3rd

Erin Roche

Scoil Náisiúnta Árd Fhearta

 

Boys

 

 

1st

Seán Collins

Bouleenshere

2nd

Oran Flaherty

Spá NS

3rd

Adam O Leary

Cill Lúraigh, Causeway

 

Shot Put

6th Class

 

Girls

 

 

1st

Abbey Crowley

Spá NS

2nd

Ashlyn Falvey

Treasa Naofa, Kilflynn

3rd

Alicia Hanafin

Spá NS

 

Boys

 

 

1st

Luke O Carroll

Spá NS

2nd

Dara Harty

Spá NS

3rd

Danny Gazi

Spá NS

 

Long Jump

Girls

 

 

1st

Aoibinn O Driscoll

Scoil Naomh Erc., Kilmoyley

2nd

Maddison O Connor

Scoil Naomh Erc., Kilmoyley

3rd

Kelly Flaherty

Scoil Naomh Erc., Kilmoyley

 

Boys

 

 

1st

Conor O Sullivan

Scoil Náisiúnta Árd Fhearta

2nd

Stephen Harty

Scoil Naomh Erc., Glenderry

3rd

Evan Neary

Scoil Náisiúnta Árd Fhearta



 
Relay Teams 

1st/2nd Classes

GIRLS                        

1. Ardfert

2.Spa

3. Kilflynn

BOYS

1.Spa

2. Kilflynn

3. Causeway

3rd/4th Classes

GIRLS 

1. Spa

2. Kilflynn

3. Glenderry

BOYS

1. Spa

2. Glenderry

3. Kilflynn

5th/6th Classes

GIRLS 

1. Spa

2. Kilmoyley

3. Ardfert

BOYS

1. Spa

2. Glenderry

3. Kilflynn