Well done to Jack McGlone, Tom McCarthy, Colm O’Neill and Emma Wylie who competed in the National XC Championships recently in Abbottstown and Dunboyne.
Hugh congratulations to Brian Geraghty who led the Irish M45 team to silver medals in the Home Counties XC in Ainfield recently. Brian finished 5th overall in the M45 section, a fantastic performance particularly for someone so new to XC!
Well done to Joe Dowd running 16.29 in the Jingle Bells 5K on Dec. 7th ,where he improved on last year’s time by 32 secs. Great running guys!
ATTENDANCE AT TRAINING
Attendance at training has been very poor for the past 5-6 weeks and we remind athletes & parents that when members join Greystones AC they agree to attend regularly, especially the 7-8.30pm groups who make a commitment to attend a minimum of two sessions each week. While we don’t expect to be notified every time a session is missed, we remind you that if we don’t see or hear from you for up to 3 weeks we will presume that you are no longer interested in training with the club and will offer the place to someone on our waiting list who does want to come & train. Please note that attending once every 3 weeks does not fulfil an athlete’s commitment. Those who have not attended for a number of weeks but who wish to return in January need to let us know asap via ‘Contact Us’ on our website. Those we don’t hear from may not have a place in January.
XMAS TRAINING
Training will continue at the usual times this coming week finishing up for Xmas on Fri 20th Dec. The 7-8.30pm session on Fri 20th will be the ‘Solstice Mile’ which is a fundraiser for one of our young athletes who is going abroad with his school in 2020 to help disadvantaged children. He is a committed athlete and also one of out junior coaches, who helps with coaching the younger groups each week. The event will start at 7pm and will be a series of graded 1 mile races (4 laps of the track), to mark the winter solstice. Entry donation €5 for Adults, €3 for U12’s – U16’s. Refreshments afterwards in the Party Room. Open to everyone from U12 up!
GAC will hold a Solstice Mile relay for our younger athletes at our 6-7pm session!
The track will close at 6pm on Mon 23rd Dec and will be closed all day on Dec 24th, 25th, 26th & 31st & also on Jan 1st. As the track closes at 6pm during Xmas week, athletes should complete the sessions on their training programmes during opening hours. The 7-8.30pm groups will return to normal training on Fri 3rd Jan, with all younger groups returning on Tues 7th Jan.
WICKLOW INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS
Athletics Wicklow is organising an Indoor event to allow athletes start their Indoor season with a more relaxed fun competition
All events are finials - no heats - where numbers dictate, races will be run in sections with times deciding places. Competition will be for 2020 ages, ie U9 born 2012, U10 born 2011 etc.
Under 9, 10, 11 will be offered an Awards Scheme - 60m, 600m and Long Jump. These events will start at 1-00pm sharp and should be completed by 3-00pm latest.
Events for all other Age Groups, including Senior & Masters :
60m, 200m, 800m, 1500m, Long Jump, Shop Putt, High Jump
Other events could be added if there is a demand.
Athletes may compete in a max. of 3 events. If numbers are too big, this may be restricted to 2 so when entering, declare your events in order of preference.
The entry form is currently on our website and will close on Thurs. 19th , as entry must be with the organisers by Fri 20th latest.
After this date any additions will be accepted only if there are spaces available.
GOOD ATTENDANCE DAY TRIP
Our annual Attendance Trips for those with good attendance during 2019, are currently being arranged & we look forward to fun days again this year. Athletes need to have a 60% attendance at training during the year to qualify for these trips. November attendances are now being added to the lists & the final list of athletes who qualify to go on the trip will be notified at the end of Dec.
UPCOMING EVENTS
SOLSTICE MILE Fri 20th Dec at 7pm at Greystones Track.
STREETS OF WICKLOW 5K, Thurs. 26th Dec. Always a great way to run off the turkey!
WICKLOW CO. INDOORS, Abbottstown Sat. 4th Jan 1-5pm. All ages from U8 up.
COUNTY MASTERS XC, Shanganagh Park Sun Jan. 5th. 11am.
NATIONAL INDOOR LEAGUE R1, Sat 11th Jan, Abbottstown
NATIONAL COMBINED EVENTS Sat 18th Jan, Athlone
NATIONAL JUNIOR/U23’s, Sat 25th Jan, Athlone
SUITABLE CLOTHING
Please ensure all athletes bring a coat, hat & gloves to all training sessions, as we are out in all weathers. It is far too cold to be turning up in shorts & t-shirt or hoodies at this stage. It’s easy to take something off when you get too hot, but miserable if you have nothing to put on when you’re cold or don’t have a jacket when it’s raining. Athletes also need to wear suitable runners and not street shoes or Astro Turf shoes, which are unsuitable for athletics.
WISHING ALL OF OUR ATHLETES & COACHES & THEIR FAMILIES A VERY HAPPY CHRISTMAS!