AI Congress; Road Relays

AAI Congress was held in Tullamore last Saturday & this saw a number of major role changes. Having served 2 full terms, outgoing AAI President John Cronin made an emotional speech, thanking all Delegates & Athletes for their support during his Presidency On behalf of all Master Athletes, we would like thank John for all his assistance & support down through the years. He was always very accommodating & with his support, helped to facilitate more events at Master Champs. We would like to wish John & his family all the best for the years ahead & am sure he will continue to officiate at future events. We would also like to extend a warm welcome to incoming President Brid Golden & look forward to working with her during her tenure. A warm thank you also to outgoing Chair of Competition Andrew Lynam who had also served his full term & who was also very helpful to Master Athletes. Georgina Drumm was elected to this role & we are once again fortunate to have such an outstanding Official chairing this Committee.

One motion which will be of particular interest to Master Athletes applied to shoes & the max depth allowed at future Champs. I would like to thank my own club Civil Service Hrs who put this motion forward to Dublin Board, who then passed it & was sent forward to Congress where it was passed without dissent. This will allow Athletes to wear shoes up to a max depth of 40mm, overturning existing rules, in which AAI abided y World Athletic rule with max depth of 20mm. However this rule will only apply in Master Champ events. Should a Master compete in Senior Champs, then they will have to abide with the rules of that event.

National Road Relays returned to Dublin on Sunday, with Raheny Shamrock once again hosting the Championship. It was great o see a good spread of Provincial clubs compete in the master’s & they were duly rewarded with a number of wins, taking 3 of the 4 titles on offer. First off was the Women’s with the F35s & F50s combined with a total of 17 teams. All Master legs were 1 mile, 2 mile & 1 mile. Longford A.C led the field home, winning their first title in this event, with a time of 22.00, followed by Sportsworld in 22.57 & Dunboyne A.C 3rd in 23.19. In the F50s Ennis Track Club won Gold with a time of 24.02 followed by host club Raheny Shamrock, 24.39 & Drogheda & Dist. 3rd in a time of 24.59.

Next race saw 24 teams face the starter for the M35s, with Letterkenny A.C leading the field home in a new course record, stopping the clock @ 18.53. Host club Raheny Shamrock were second in a time of 19.13 with Clonliffe Hrs 3rd in 19.30. Final Masters race M50s saw 14 teams on the start line, with Rathfarnham W.S.A.F. crossing the line first in a time of 20.53, with City of Derry Spartans 2nd, 21.08 & Inishowen A.C 3rd in 21.42.

Interesting to note that just 14 teams competed in the Senior Women’s & 26 teams in the Senior Men’s races. Full results available via myrunresults.com

Michael Fennell

IMAA Comm