Magnificent Cian: Sport really can be great for lifting the spirits and the incredible performance by Cian McPhillips on Saturday last did just that. Cian’s time of 1:46.13 at the Elite Micro Meet in Dublin elevated him to world class with it being the sixth fastest ever 800m indoor run by an under 20 athlete. A national junior and under 23 record along with a qualifying time for the upcoming European Indoor Senior Championships are fantastic achievements for 18-year-old Moyne CS student Cian. Congratulations also to race winner Mark English (Finn Valley AC), who just edged ahead of Cian at the finish line, on his new national senior record of 1:46.10. It was good to see Cian’s training partner John Fitzsimons (Kildare AC) also achieve the European standard with his third place run. Coach Joe Ryan had the lads prepared superbly and credit to the group for training away so diligently over the winter months in these uncertain times. They showed no race rustiness given that their last outing was back in August. Well done to Athletics Ireland for staging the event and providing our top athletes with the opportunity to perform.
Europeans: The European Indoors will take place in Torun, Poland from March 5-7 and Athletics Ireland will be sending a very strong group of athletes. The women’s 800m has seen numerous recent impressive performances. Among them is Nadia Power (Dublin City Harriers) who is coached by Longford’s Enda Fitzpatrick. Nadia broke the Irish record last week with 2:00.98 and, although her record only lasted four days, she is in very good form ahead of the championships. It is great to see Enda’s work being rewarded and he is firmly established as one of Ireland’s leading coaches.
Bond Sales: Many thanks to all who have so far purchased a bond to help us finance the costs of developing our proposed indoor facility. We have already reached over one-third of the target. We are still a little short of where we need to be and are asking anybody with an interest in athletics and sport in Longford to consider buying one of our €2,000 bonds. These will be repaid over 10 years and bondholders will also be entered in a quarterly prize draw. Bonds will be secure and repaid in full. Please help us if you can. Bond enquiries and requests to purchase can be emailed to bonds.longfordac@gmail.com
Virtual Challenges: Our 6-week athletics challenges continue this week for juvenile members. Updates will be posted on the club Facebook page and the virtual challenge WhatsApp group. The Virtual Ireland Run takes place, for all ages, during the week of St. Patricks Day. Virtual distance options are 5k, 10k and half marathon for adults and a 3k for children. Register on www.myrunresults.com with the choice of purchasing a t-shirt and medal available also.
Membership: 2021 membership is open and registration renewals have been emailed out to last year’s members. Interested new members can register at membership.athleticsireland.ie
Fees are €25 for juveniles and €30 for seniors. For more information, please email pro.longfordac@gmail.com. It is hoped to resume club training immediately once the current restrictions are lifted.
