RESULTS: While many were still contemplating new-year resolutions by the light of the Christmas tree, some of our dedicated junior and senior athletes were competing in the first of many 2009 events, namely the Junior and Senior Munster Indoor Championships held in Nenagh on January 4th. These athletes had worked hard over the Christmas break but this event was attended mostly to provide a gauge of times and distances. Emphasis at this time of year has primarily been on conditioning and stamina, so with this in mind, coaches were well impressed by the performances of the athletes. Dearbhail Foley performed extremely well taking a recent spell of illness into consideration. Dearbhail came fifth in the junior womens 60m sprint in a time of      8.44s. Dearbhail is hopefully well on the way to a return to true form. Sinead O’Connor got her first jump of the year in a close triple jump competition. On the last round she was in second place but was unfortunately piped for third by 3cms. Only 35cms from gold, this is a very promising event for this athlete who has been looking very impressive in the jumps of late. The long jump competition was held immediately after, where Sinead, one of only two athletes to compete in both events, jumped 4.52m to put her in 5^th place. Maurice O’Connor, competing in the Harriers singlet for the first time, did very well to take silver in the junior men’s 60m hurdles in a time of 9.14s. The club will be keeping a keen eye on this athlete’s performances in 09. Cian Foley was seventh overall in the junior men’s 60m final with a time of 7.42s. Poor starts proved to be a persistent problem for this normally lightning-fast sprinter, something to work on for the upcoming competitions.  Michael Godley was also disappointed with his 60m performance; recording a time of 7.86s, also well down on last year’s performance. Both sprinters are well assured that these results do not reflect their 60m ability. Michael went on to take silver in the junior men’s triple jump with a jump of 11.44m. Like his clubmate Sinead, Michael had to compete in the long jump immediately after and tired legs managed a disappointing 5.30m. Well done to Andrew Kearney who won a bronze medal in the junior men’s high jump with a jump of 1.70m. Andrew is a great competitor in this event and a constant on the podium. David Boyd competed in the senior men’s 60m and recorded a time of 7.54s. A better performance in the 200m saw David coming in 6^th place with a time of 24.69s. A fine athlete, David’s form was dictated by a badly timed bout of illness on the day. Congratulations to Dara O’Carroll on a fine return to the 800m podium with a silver medal in the senior men’s competition, recording a time of 2.07.05s. Hopefully a lot more to come this year from Dara. David, Dara, Cian and Michael joined forces in the senior men’s 4 X 200m relay to take first place. A fine start to the year also for Patsy O’Connor who won silver in the senior men’s shot competition. Patsy also took bronze in the 56lb for distance with a throw of 6.53ms.Alan O’Connor took fourth place in the senior men’s shot, throwing 12.35m and was just outside the medals in the 56lb for distance with a throw of 6.41ms. Well done to all competitors in this first event of the year.

Jan 10^th Indoor Relays Championship: No rest for the wicked as Patsy and Alan O’Connor teamed up to take silver in the men’s 2x shot putt with a combined total of 24.53ms.the dynamic duo also took silver in the 2 x 56lbs competition (13.48m). Patsy also came fourth in the senior men’s 56lbs with a throw of 6.78ms. The masters competition results not available at time of going to press and report will be available next week

AGM: The club AGM was held on Monday 5^th of January in the Grand Hotel. Despite a very small attendance business was efficiently attended to. Chairman Gene Boyd initially addressed the group, followed by a full report of activities for 2008 by secretary Caroline O’Carroll. Head coach Michael Godley briefly thanked all involved and supporters of the club. The following change to officers was recorded; Martin Fitzgerald has taken over as Chairman, with Carmelita Ryan as vice-chair; Fiona  O’Connor is assistant Treasurer; John O’Carroll has taken up position as child (male) protection officer, all other officers positions remained as for 2008. Congratulations to the newly elected officers. Thanks is due to Ian McGilton, who served as child protection officer for the last few years. A special mention to Gene Boyd who served as chairman for 5 of the past 7 years. Gene gave much of his personal time and effort to the club in his trademark professional manner. A consummate gentleman, he chaired the club efficiently and worked hard to develop it to the current status. All welcomed his assurance to be actively involved with the new development committee. 

FIT4LIFE: The running league continues on Friday evening at 6.30pm from the O’Donnells, Mounthawk and Wednesday evenings at 6.30pm from St. Brendan’s Church. This league is primarily geared towards the casual runner/walker and is intended to be a mass participation event for all standards of athlete. A number of our runners have taken part in 10k and half marathons already and a number of road races are planned for the season. All newcomers are welcome. For information please contact Jerry O’Sullivan at 085-1085735.

TRAINING: Indoor training U9-U12 at 6.30pm to 7.30pm & U13-U20 7.30pm to 9pm in the Green School on Tuesdays. Outdoor training on Thursdays from 7pm to 8.30pm in the ITT. Weights training on Fridays at 6.30pm for selected athletes. Outdoor training on Saturdays at 3pm to 5pm in An Riocht, Castleisland. We would ask athletes to try to attend at least 2 sessions per week as preparations are well underway for the indoor season in February.

FIXTURES: National Juniors, Jan 24^th, Nenagh; AAI Games Jan 25^th, Nenagh; Munster Juvenile U13-U17 Indoors, Feb 7^th/8^th, Nenagh; Munster Masters Indoors, Feb 8^th, Nenagh; Scottish Juvenile Indoor Championships, Feb 14^th/15^th, Kelvin Hall; Munster Juvenile U10-U12 & U18-U19 Indoors and Juvenile U13-U19 Multi Events, Feb 21^st/22^nd, Nenagh 

CONDOLENCES: The club would like to extend sincere condolences to Dara O’Carroll and family on their recent loss.