Galway Athletics Report (13th December 2021)

European Cross Country Championships

The European Cross Country Championships returned to Ireland this year after a 12-year gap, and Sundays event at Abbottstown was a great success on all fronts, with medals aplenty for the squads of talented Irish athletes, dry but demanding conditions and a capacity crowd in attendance at the well-appointed Dublin venue.

Donal Devane of NUI Galway AC and Ennis Track helped the Irish U23 squad to a superb gold team medal winning performance in their 8km event, placing fourth of the six-man team with a 40^th place finish overall. The Irish team also delivered a superb individual silver medal win via an heroic performance by Corks DarraghMcIlhenny in the sameU23 race

As is common in sport, there was both glory and disappointment among the Galway duo selected for the Irish U 23 team at the events, as Thomas Mcstay of GCH unfortunately had to miss out through illness and was forced to withdraw from the squad early in the week.

Athletics Irelands management team on the day, who were led by Galway duo Paul McNamara of Athenry AC, High Performance Director of Athletics Ireland and National Endurance Coordinator Matt Lockett of GCH, will be delighted with the three medals achieved, with the two U23 team and individual medals complemented by a bronze team medal for the U23 Irish Men’s squad.

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Fields of Athenry 10k

The 20^th anniversary of the famous Fields of Athenry 10k race takes place St Stephen’s Day, 26^th December next in the town at 11 am. Hosted by Athenry AC, this year’s event will attract an entry of circa 1500 athletes and is always a very competitive affair as well as a great day out for the running community over the Christmas period. Entry is available on www.athenry10k.com/ . There is also a Kids race on the programme at 10.15 am.

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Goal Mile on Christmas Day

Galway City will host two Goal Miles on Christmas Day, December 25^th next, with the traditional Dangan event at the NUI Galway track being held at 10 am to 12 noon, hosted by GCH. The second event will start at 11 am at Merlin College in Doughiska, hosted by Castlegar AC and Sean McDermott. The fundraiser for the renowned charity can be registered for online at this link https://eventmaster.ie/event/MvvrcbdiBz or a donation is welcome on the day at either venue.