Victory for Tom in Aherlow Trail Half Marathon

The final long distance races on the IMRA Munster calendar took place last weekend, only a short rumble and tumble from home starting and finishing in the little village of Lisvernane, Co Tipperary.

It was to be another half marathon success for Tom Blackburn as he bounded home across the finish line in 1st position. Also out putting in powerful performance was Aoife Courtney who finished 4th lady, Michelle Carey, Gerard Hanley, Perry Power and John Hayes.

We also had two valiant men take on the 50k ultra with unbelievable performances, Kevin Lenihan finished just short of the podium in 4th position in 4 hours 41 minutes and Jason Collins who finished 6th in 4 hours 47 minutes.

As you all know races wouldn’t happen without the volunteers so those who gave up their day last Saturday to help out were Jane and Ger Griffin, Dariusz Gazdowicz, Willie O’Donoghue, Lynda Hynes, Mary Pyke, Marie O’Shea and Patricia Blackburn.

Last but by no means least we can’t forget RDs Robert Cunningham and Patricia Ryan, I can only commend the work these two have put into IMRA Munster races this year, they have worked tirelessly week on week so these races can go ahead for our pleasure ‘’or punishment’’ - we’ll let you decide that one.

GRGF (GRASS ROUTES GRAN FONDO)

165km, 19 unique sectors, 15 climbs! First ran in 2019 when the organisers had looked to explore the excess of back roads, side roads, boreens, grass routes and ‘sectors’ within the local area of the Glen of Aherlow and East Limerick by knitting together a crazy unconventional route to create the inaugural Grass Routes Gran Fondo.

Humble beginnings of 15 riders met up on a September’s morning proved the concept and encouraged the organisers to establish the oneof-a-kind event.

The cycle self-proclaimed as self-guided “with benefits”, takes you through a criss-cross 165km stage event where you weave a path from rural boreen to boreen, taking in several mix sectors on route to the finish, amazingly all within a 20km radius. Using this self-guided method allows the Gran Fondo to freely roam where it wants.

The cycle primarily keeps to paved rural and boreen (grass routes) roads but frequently detours into 1-2km mixed/gravel/ dirt/limestone “sectors” covering 25km in total, which push the road bike to its limits.

The “with benefits” part is the incredible lengths the small group of volunteers have gone to marking each junction, placing signage at each KOM and Sector, supplying a refuel stop midway and ensuring rescue support, both mechanical and medical is available.

We had two club men who swapped the runners for the wheels for this one last Sunday morning covering the 165kms was Dariusz Gazdowicz and Liam O’Donnell.

ADULT TRAINING

Adult training is back and will continue as long as restrictions allow from 7pm to 8pm on Tuesday and Thursday nights in the Community Field, Halbally. For contact tracing, pre booking is essential through our online booking system for current members. Newbies are always welcome, so should you have an interest in joining us at our training sessions please message us online and we will point your running shoes in the right direction.

COUCH TO 5K

A new Couch to 5k programme has commenced on Monday nights at 7pm in the Community Field in Galbally. If you are starting out or returning to running why not join Tricia’s Chi Running style couch to 5k classes and set yourself up for a lifetime of injury-free running.

There will be a once off fee of €30 to cover AAI membership/ registration and insurance. Due to the current climate situation all members must be registered for contact tracing. If you are interested in joining us send us a message online and we will send you on the registration link.

JUVENILE TRAINING

Juvenile training takes place each Monday night in the Community Field in Galbally from 7pm to 8 pm. If you have a child interested in joining us please contact us online.