None Following the improvement in the weather and the more favourable forecast for the rest of this week, it has been decided to re-schedule the first cross-country race of 2010 to next Saturday 16 January 2010 at Tymon Park, Tallaght.
Michael McCartan at South Dublin County Council is going to give it another go this Saturday.
1. Following the improvement in the weather and the more favourable forecast for the rest of this week, it has been decided to re-schedule the first cross-country race of 2010 to next Saturday 16 January 2010 at Tymon Park, Tallaght.
All other details remain unchanged. It will be the South Dublin County Council cross country races – 2 miles for women at 12.00 noon and 4 miles for men at 12.30 pm. Registration and changing facilities will be at St. Jude’s G.A.A. club.
To get there from the southbound M50, leave the M50 at the Tallaght exit and head left towards Templeogue/Rathfarnham. You will pass the Spawell complex and golf course on the left. Go left at the roundabout and St. Jude’s is a couple of hundred metres down the road on the left.
If you are new to cross-country, you would be well-advised to have a pair of spikes as the ground in the park (i.e. grassy/muddy) is likely to be slippy. Also wear plenty of layers of clothing as well as hats and gloves as it is still likely to be quite chilly and possibly wet.
2. Don’t forget to renew your membership online (or sign up for the first time). Many of you who were members for 2009 will have received automated emails prompting you to renew your membership. This will be the most efficient means of ensuring that the records are updated correctly. You can pay online using your credit card or your PayPal account for a total cost of €15.89 or you can print out the registration form and bring the payment to your next race. If you did not get one of these emails, you can register as a member on the BHAA website at
https://bhaa.ie/staticpages/index.php?page=20090310125712247
Membership entitles you to be included in a company team or an industry sector team at races and to be included in winter and summer leagues which have separate prizes.
3. Not every BHAA runner works for an employer that has enough runners to form a team from that company. A means of dealing with this was industry sector teams – i.e. if you work for a company in the I.T. sector, you were allocated to a team for that sector in each race. For a number of reasons, many people regarded this method as being unfair to company teams who had to pick from a small pool of members. So, there is a new solution to this. If there are not enough people to form a team in your company, you can invite other people working in the same industry sector to form a team together.
Note that unless you arrange to put together a team, the BHAA will not, by default, allocate you to a sector team as was the case in the past. Note also that the BHAA committee is relying on individuals with each sector to register their own teams. Needless to say, a dim view will be taken of any team that includes someone who is not employed within the specified industry sector. If you want to form a team, ask at race registration for a list of possible names and email addresses for your sector or send an email to registrar@bhaa.ie.
4. We are aware that there may be other races on next weekend so apologies to those who will prefer to run the Dublin Masters cross-country – also at Tymon Park – on Sunday next.
We hope that you will enjoy the race on Saturday – it has always been a great race. Get out there and blow out the cobwebs – how long has it been since you ran or raced?
The Editor