Ballymore AC News

Ballymore Cobh AC, with the support of Cork Sports Partnership, recently launched the GloHealth Fit4lLife program. Irish middle distance running legend Sonia O’Sullivan was on hand to help open the program with Claire Hurley from Cork Sports Partnership also in attendance on the opening night. A total of forty participants have enrolled on the six week long course and every member will have the opportunity to receive one-to-one coaching and encouragement from club members who have volunteered to lead the sessions.

GloHealth Fit4Life is a nationwide initiative which encourages members of the local community to lead an active lifestyle through walking, jogging and running as part of a group enviroment. The club plan to continue running the program throughout the year as the idea of providing a platform for novice athletes seems to be one which is very popular with the people of Cobh.

On the race circuit, the inaugural running of the John Buckley Sports 10miler took place earlier in the month and although the Ballymore Cobh presence may have been relatively low key in terms of numbers, there was no lack of quality in the performances of the trio that lined up.

Leilia Pender (1.39.02) continued her impressive progress with a typically determined effort while Deirdre Meyler (1.28.41) showed her usual high level of consistency to finish strongly.

Shane Meyler (1.10.38) is running into great form of late and this was another very encouraging run ahead of his assault on the Dublin Marathon next month.

Well done to all three athletes who each recorded personal bests and made it yet another day in the sun for Ballymore Cobh AC.

Ken Hickey (1.35.03) continued the good form of the clubs athletes when he recorded a personal best over the half marathon course in Charleville. Ken’s progress since joining the club is testament to his commitment to training and we can expect to see plenty more of his solid running next season.

Meanwhile, our juvenile members recently took their chance to shine when competing in the opening weekend of the Cross Country season when they travelled to Castlelyons. The u12 girls race saw consistent efforts from Vanessa Frawley, Róise Devery and Emily Sheridan while Ciara O’Sullivan will bounce back from an unfortunate injury that sadly ended her participation in the same race.

Olivia Pindelska (u14 girls) and Jack Palmer (u16 boys) also ran with credit while Jaco Bronkhorst produced the performance of the day to finish third in the Junior Men’s event. All those involved should take confidence from their performance and understand that this learning experience contributes greatly to their development as athletes.