from BHAA The first cross-country race of the season, the Teachers race at Castleknock College on 10th October 2009, was a very nice race and Kieran Gallagher and his student assistants did a great job. The after-race catering in particular was of a very high standard.
The numbers were somewhat on the low side, presumably due to other races on that weekend and, of course, the impending marathon.
Results are in the attached file. If you have difficulty opening these pdf files, you should update your version of Adobe Acrobat Reader to the latest version from the Adobe website www.adobe.com.
One notable participant in Castleknock was Nick Corish, elder statesman of the BHAA. Nick celebrated his 85th birthday recently and this marked his first outing in the M85 masters category. Congratulations to Nick and we look forward to his presence at all of our races this season.
There were many BHAA runners in the Lifestyle Sports – adidas Dublin Marathon on Monday 26th October 2009. It was a lovely day and conditions were nearly perfect. I saw quite a few of familiar faces, most doing very well, although there were a few who struggled. So, congratulations and commiserations to all as appropriate. I hope you have all recovered well and that you will be fit for our next race on Saturday next.
Next race: The Bank of Ireland 6km Beach Race takes place on Saturday 14th November at Dollymount Strand at 11.30am. Registration (from 10.00am) and race HQ will be at the Sea Scouts Den, Dollymount. The start of the race is about 300 metres away on the beach itself. Ordinary running shoes will be sufficient for this race, I would think, as the ground is actually quite firm along the course.
The entry fee is €10 for BHAA members and €15 for non BHAA members. You can take out full BHAA membership now covering the period to the end of December 2010 (yes 2010) for a mere €15.86 when you sign up online on the BHAA website.
Directions: On the seafront, take the wooden bridge entrance to Bull Island from Clontarf Road (not the causeway entrance from Raheny) to get to the registration area. Car parking is on the beach itself and we are asking people to drive onto the beach to avoid congestion on the approaches.
The next race after that is the much awaited the cross-country race on Saturday 28th November organised by National School of Remedial Therapy (NSRT – Dave Corcoran) and Sports Massage and Remedial Therapy (SMART – Austin Mooney). This is billed as an "Old Style Cross-Country" race and was a great success last year. It is earlier this year and I am told that the ground won’t be as heavy as last year, although the "water feature" will still be included. This will be at The Ward, in North Dublin. More details later but put it in your diary now. You can enter online at runireland.com.
BHAA Annual General Meeting: The AGM for 2009 will be held on Monday 7th December 2009 at the Alexander Hotel in Dublin city centre. All members are urged to attend. If you wish to submit a motion or nominate someone for a position, please submit the details by 23rd November 2009.
Finally, some advance notification of a range of fantastic new features on the results website that will be launched at the Beach race this coming weekend. There will be loads of history for runners and races as well as links to photographs. Paul O’Connell is the database expert behind this. Paul, like everyone else involved in the BHAA, doesn’t get paid for any of his work for the BHAA. (And if you are not already contributing to the organisation in some way, perhaps you might consider how you could help out during the year.)
Dont forget to wrap up well and wear bright clothing when you are out running this winter.
The Editor