European Championships
Team Ireland enjoyed a superb European Athletics Championships in Munich, Germany, over the last week, with the team coming home with two well deserved medals, silver for Ciara Mageean and bronze for Mark English, as well as a host of top 8 finishes across a range of events. Key elements to this success were two Galway men, Athletics Ireland High Performance Director Paul McNamara of Athenry (pictured), and Matt Lockett, National Endurance Coordinator and a key coach for NUIG and GCH in the city. Both deserve great credit for the upsurge in Irish athletics fortunes, with European Cross Country Championships next up in Turin in December which will be a main focus for further success
Fixtures
The local athletics season is set to kick off in earnest again in early September, with all clubs resuming training over the coming weeks, and new members welcome across the board at Juvenile and Adult level
East Galway AC will host a 5km race on Saturday 3rd September at 6pm, in Skehana from the Community centre, with entry now open on PopUpRaces.ie.
Castlegar AC will launch the county cross country season on Saturday 17th September next in Galway Racecourse at Ballybrit with both Juvenile and some top-class adult races on a packed card. Entry is also on Popupraces.ie
Athletics Ireland and Grant Thornton have teamed up to promote a series of 5km races around the country. The Galway leg will take place on Wednesday 14th September in Salthill, with a two-lap race including South Park and Grattan Road, finishing back in the park. The event kicks off at 7.45 pm and entry is available on www.grantthornton.ie/GT5k
And finally the Galway Primary Schools Cross Country will take centre stage again this year over two days on 20th and 27th September in Renmore, with all Primary Schools in the County invited to send teams and athletes. Galway Athletics will announce entry details by August 31st next
