Irish Champs-Keith Kelly

Any results posted yet??? How did Richie Yeates do?

Is Ireland that weak??? I mean that guy has been out of the elite picture for like 10 years. He's gotta atleast be 30 years old. And I'm guessing the best guys didn't run -Fagan, Cragg, Ledwith etc.

The population of ireland is only around 6 million, for its size i would say ireland is a very strong running nation.

The results are on the aai athletics website. Check out the annadale striders website for some pics of the race.

Amazing performance by Keith Kelly

What an amazing performance by Keith Kelly (Drogheda & District) to win his first national inter club cross country title at the age of 31.

Competing in the senior race at Woodie’s DIY cross country championships at Santry Demesne, he imposed his authority on the race from the start, with Mark Kenneally (Clonliffe Harriers), Vinny Mulvey Raheny Shamrock), Gary Murray (St. Malachy’s), Gary Thornton (Galway City Harriers) and Alan McCormack (Dundrum South Dublin) all in close attendance.

Towards the end of the first lap Mulvey pushed to the front, but Kelly was back in front by the end of the lap.

Nothing much changed on the second lap, but by the end of the third lap the lead was down to Kelly and Kenneally. As Kelly said after, “I was really hurting, but pushed hard with three to go”

Kenneally took his turn at leading, but the lead was short lived as Kelly again took pole position and pushed hard to the finish.

Kenneally did close significantly on the last lap, but Kelly was not going to be denied his first senior title, and the expression on his face said it all as he crossed the finish line.

He did have a serious knee problem for weeks before the race but “My plan was to forget about that and concentrate on the pain of the race” he said afterwards.

He also said that “My sole reason for getting back into training and racing was because the European cross country championships are on this course in December and I wan to run it”.

Vinny Mulvey ran on strongly to take third, ahead of Gary Thornton and Mark Hanrahan.

Clonliffe Harriers retained their Inter Club Title with 30 points from Raheny Shamrock 48 and Rathfarnam/WSAF 87.

Maria McCambridge (Letterkenny) and Linda Byrne (Dundrum South Dublin) were together after the first lap of the senior women’s race, with the former pushing hard. As a result she was soon clear of Byrne and the race as a contest was over as McCambridge went on to win convincingly.

Annette Kealy (Raheny Shamrock) took over 3rd spot early on and held this position to the end, while Niamh O’Sullivan (An Riocht) overcame Pauline Curley (Tullamore Harriers) in the closing stages.

Dundrum South Dublin won the team title with 50 points from Donore Harriers, 60 and Raheny Shamrock 67.

Niamh Ryan (Ferrybank) went well clear of the field on the first lap of the junior women’s race, but the Ffrench O’Carroll (Dundrum South Dublin) twins reeled her in and then established themselves at the head of the field. They stayed together for a while, but it was Charlotte who was the stronger and she went on to win from Rebecca, with Laura Shaughnessy (Loughrea) third.

Dundrum South Dublin won the Team event with Raheny Shamrock’s second.

Michael Carmody (Emerald) set the pace from the start of the junior men’s race with Liam tremble (Metro St. Brigid’s) well in touch.

By the end of the second lap it was Tremble, Carmody and Ian Ward (Finn Valley) – 50m behind and closing – who were setting the pace.

A lap later Ward was in the lead and he held that position all the way to the finish to win impressively. Tremble and Carmody fought out a close battle for the minor places with Carmody the stronger to take second and Tremble third, while Cian O’Reilly (Annalee) was fourth.

Clonliffe Harriers won a closely contested team competition with 56 points from St Malachy’s 59 and Finn Valley 70.

Results

Photographs from the race -

http://www.annadalestriders.co.uk/Irish09/

2 things:

1. those guys look very pale.

2. what's with the dude with no shoes?

blarneyrock wrote:

2. what's with the dude with no shoes?

I love running barefoot on Irish grass! Your toes are your "grip".

And he got his job at Reebok back!!

Kelly wins Woodie's Cross country

Sunday, 1 March 2009 20:29

Keith Kelly of Drogheda & District Athletic Club yesterday had good reason to punch the air in triumph when at 31 he won the Woodie's DIY Inter Club Cross Country men's senior title over a 12,000 meters course at Sentry Demesne in Dublin.

Amazingly, this was Kelly's first time to compete in a national cross country championship and his impressive victory came after a decade of harrowing injuries that had severely curtailed his hugely promising athletics career at Providence College in the USA.

It is over ten years now since Drogheda native Kelly turned in a brilliant performance to win the US Inter Collegiate Cross Country Title in Iowa - a performance that promised great days ahead for the Providence College track scholarship student.

That same year Kelly combined with Seamus Power, Peter Matthews and Gareth Turnbull to win bronze medals for Ireland in the European Cross Country Championships in Malmo, Sweden.

A year later Kelly notched up another excellent international performance when finishing 24th in the World Cross Country Championships in Belgium.

However, what followed these brilliant performances was a long period of frustrating injuries and a total of nine stress fractures which derailed Kelly's blossoming career.

However, yesterday's victory in Santry was especially sweet for Kelly and his army of fans who had travelled from Drogheda to cheer on their local hero.

Kelly made his intentions clear from the gun as he raced into an early lead and his only serious challenge came from Clonliffe Harriers runner Mark Kenneally who also led for a short period before Kelly again took control at the front to finish strongly in 38 .19.

'I had been suffering with a sore knee since I finished second in last Sunday's Ras na hEireann cross country race in Drogheda, ' Kelly said.

'However, even though I had missed a few days of training, I still decided that I was going to tough it out and compete in the nationals.

'It was tough out there and I was hurting from half-way but when you go through a lot of injury problems you just get really angry and there was no way I was going to let anyone pass me on those final laps.'

Mark Kenneally, who has also had his own share of injuries, made a gallant effort to contain Kelly on the final two laps but in the end, and just three seconds adrift, he had to settle for the silver medal and the consolation of leading Clonliffe Harriers to another team success with 30 points from Raheny Shamrock A.C, 48 and Rathfarnam/WSAF, 87.

Vinny Mulvey of Raheny Shamrock filled the individual bronze medal position in 38.40. Gary Thornton of Galway City Harriers finished fourth ahead of Mark Hanrahan of Leevale A.C who placed fifth.

Race winner Keith Kelly is unlikely to run in the World Cross Country Championships in Jordan later this month but he is considering competing in the Great Ireland Run road event in the Phoenix Park on Sunday, 5 April.

'My real big ambition going forward is to be part of the Irish men's team that competes here in Santry in the European Cross Country Championships at the end of the year,' Kelly said.

'I believe that we can have a medal winning team for this event and that we could also have a potential winner of the men's championship in Martin Fagan.'

Kelly returns to America this week where he works for sports company Reebok.

'I just recently learned that I was being laid off work, but then came the good news that as part of a restructuring at Reebok I was going to be rehired because that did not want to lose me,' he said. 'Everything seems to be working out well for me in the end.'

Maria McCambridge of Letterkenny A.C led from the start of the senior women's race over 8,000m and coasted to an impressive victory in 29.17, well clear of Linda Byrne of DSD who took second in 30.25 and Annette Kealy of Raheny Shamrock A.C who placed third in 30.52.

Dundrum South Dublin Athletic Club won the team title with 50 points from Donore Harriers, 60 and Raheny Shamrock A.C, 67.

This was an impressive and controlled front running performance by Maria McCambridge who is training for the Paris Marathon just five weeks away.

'I have been logging over 100 miles a week in training up in Donegal and I am getting stronger all the time,' McCambridge said.

'I will be concentrating now on my marathon training and I did not really ease down too much for today's event. It felt really good to win the national title and I am happy with the way things are going right now.'

Ian Ward from Finn Valley A.C in Donegal played a waiting game in the men's junior race over 8,000m and came through in the final laps to win the title in 27.26 from barefoot runner Michael Carmody of Emerald A.C who placed second in 27.29 and early leader Liam Tremble of Metro/St Brogid's A.C who took bronze in 27.42.

Clonliffe Harriers won the team title with 56 points from St Malachy's A.C. 59 and Finn Valley, 70.

The ffrench O'Carroll twins, Charlotte and Rebecca, dominated the junior women's event with Charlotte taking the title in 23.42 from Rebecca, 23.54.

Laura Shaugnessy of Loughrea A.C finished third in 24.13. DSD won the team title with 14 points from Raheny Shamrock A.C, 68.

Both ffrench O'Carroll twins, who are presently studying at UCD, are now hoping to take up athletic scholarships in Providence College, Rhode Island, USA in September.

Great video, nearly 9 years ago. NCAA win over Kimani, Jorge Torres, Blincoe, Jon Riley, Franlyn Sanchez, Luke Watson etc. Some other notables....Ed Moran, Brian Sell, Vinny Mulvey, Bryan Berryhill, Steve Slattery, Tom McCardle, Daniel Lincoln, Jason Hartman, Don Sage.

http://web.mac.com/runprovidence/runprov/Videos/Entries/2007/5/1_Keith_Kelly_Wins_2000_XC_Championship.html

2000 NCAA DIVISION I NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

MEN'S RESULTS

NOVEMBER 20th, 2000

HOSTED BY IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY

AMES, IOWA

Results provided by NCAACHAMPIONSHIPS.COM

MEN'S RESULTS | WOMEN'S RESULTS

PHOTOS & MOVIES

RANK COMP# ATHLETE NAME YR SCHOOL TIME SCORE

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1 181 Keith Kelly SR Providence College 30:14.5 1

2 82 Stephen Ondieki GR Farleigh Dickenson 30:16.3

3 50 Jorge Torres SO Colorado 30:21.4 2

4 11 David Kimani SO Alabama 30:21.6 3

5 86 Franklyn Sanchez FR Georgetown 30:26.9 4

6 165 Ian Connor SR Ohio State 30:29.0 5

7 161 Luke Watson JR Notre Dame 30:29.4 6

8 255 Jason Vanderhoof SR Wisconsin 30:30.2 7

9 218 Adrian Blincoe SO Villanova 30:32.0 8

10 202 Jonathon Riley SR Stanford 30:40.6 9

11 23 James Karanu SR Arkansas 30:42.7 10

12 185 Hamish Thorpe JR Providence College 30:43.8 11

13 25 Sharif Karie SR Arkansas 30:45.4 12

14 40 Fraser Thompson SR Butler 30:46.0

15 51 Bryan Berryhill SR Colorado State 30:46.8 13

16 26 Murry Link SR Arkansas 30:47.9 14

17 119 Mark Pilja JR Michigan 30:48.5

18 240 Steve Bohan SR West Virginia 30:51.6

19 47 Steve Slattery SO Colorado 30:52.1 15

20 180 Dermot Galvin JR Providence College 30:52.3 16

21 249 Jared Cordes SR Wisconsin 30:53.5 17

22 200 Thomas Murley SR Stanford 30:55.4 18

23 85 David Rodriguez SR Georgetown 30:56.3 19

24 29 Daniel Lincoln FR Arkansas 30:56.8 20

25 116 Michael Fox SR James Madison 30:57.1

26 44 Mike Friedberg SR Colorado 30:57.4 21

27 49 Ed Torres SO Colorado 30:57.8 22

28 212 Eliud Njubi JR Texas Christian 30:58.0

29 220 Ryan Hayden FR Villanova 30:59.2 23

30 254 Adam Wallace JR Wisconsin 30:59.5 24

31 149 Kevin Koeper SR Northern Arizona 31:00.1 25

32 247 Ed Moran SO William & Mary 31:00.5 26

33 155 Oliver Bodor FR Northern Iowa 31:02.4

34 28 Ryan Travis JR Arkansas 31:02.8 27

35 177 Jason Hartmann SO Oregon 31:03.5

36 156 Patrick Conway JR Notre Dame 31:04.0 28

37 34 John Hedengren JR Brigham Young 31:04.9 29

38 216 Teren Jameson JR Utah 31:05.1

39 221 Tom Parlapiano SO Villanova 31:05.6 30

40 58 Dan Wilson JR Connecticut 31:07.5

41 110 Vinny Mulvey SR Iona College 31:09.0 31

42 160 Marc Striowski JR Notre Dame 31:10.5 32

43 80 Blake McDowell SR Eastern Michigan 31:12.2 33

44 48 Sean Smith JR Colorado 31:15.0 34

45 138 Andy Smith FR NC State 31:16.0 35

46 195 Brian Sell SR St. Francis 31:17.1

47 102 Aaron Gillen SR Indiana 31:17.8 36

48 201 Donald Sage FR Stanford 31:18.6 37

49 219 Jon Fasulo������ SO Villanova 31:18.7 38

50 140 Ryan Woods JR NC State 31:18.8 39

51 30 William Kemey SO Belmont 31:19.0

52 60 Tom McArdle SO Dartmouth 31:19.1 40

53 199 Louis Luchini FR Stanford 31:19.3 41

54 211 Herbert Mwangi SO Texas Christian 31:21.2

55 194 Curtis Moore SR Southern Utah 31:21.4

56 122 Terrance McComb SO Minnesota 31:21.7 42

57 131 Nick Smith SR Missouri 31:22.5 43

58 115 Daniel Kinyua SR Iowa State 31:23.3

59 198 Seth Hejny SO Stanford 31:23.8 44

60 184 Adam Sutton SO Providence College 31:23.9 45

Talent is underrated.

Congratulations, Keith!

Kelley's win over Kimani and Torres was all about patience and a huge kick. I was at a bar the previous night playing pool with Kimani's coach (Joe something?),and the coach tells me Kimani will make his big move at 6k, and the Kimani is unbeatable. I really didn't know how the race would play out, but it dawned on me after my 3rd beer that staying in a pack might have its advantages in cold weather.

The next day was totally a bear. I mean it was something like 15 degrees for a high and windy. I bet the windchill was 10 below in the open field. The race started and the pace crept along. Nobody wanted to work hard in the cold. I am not sure what the mile split was, but I think it was close to 5 minutes (somebody can chime in). The pack just before the mile at a small hill was huge. I couldn't pick out anyone of significance except Torres, who was running close to the edge, on the left side. All the runners disappeared to a back loop, where Joe told me Kimani would make his move. I waited for the runners to come out of the loop, near a hill just before the entered the big open field. Kimani pops into view and he's way ahead of everybody. He must have had 60 meters on the short Kenyan, Onkieki. There was another guy somewhat close to Ondieki, and that might have been Torres (I'm not sure). The whol pack was strung out at the front!

Into the big open field near the end of the race, a ziz-zag route, it looked like Onkieki was going to win. I saw this big, lanky guy with dark colors (Kelley) hauling butt down a long stretch - the opposite direction of the finish. It was amazing how fast Kelley was eating up the ground with his long, lurching stride.

At the front, Ondieki was holding steady, while Torres seemed to be gaining a little. Around the final turn, maybe 450 meters from the finish, Kelley reaches a kick that I've never seen at the collegiate level before. I'm not sure how far back he was of Ondieki, maybe 55 meters, but within 250m Kelley caught the guy. I was stunned, hollering like mad, and my adrenaline was flowing. Kelley ran that last quarter mile like he was in an 800m open race. What a great finish; one I've never seen a parallel to at the collegiate level.

Tinman

Keith Kelly is the Mic Jagger of running.

And a good storyteller to boot!

Thanks for posting...

Rolling Stone wrote:

Keith Kelly is the Mic Jagger of running.

Keith Kelly is the Thom Yorke of running!

And no he wouldn't have beaten Fagan but he would have hammered Cragg, the course was soft and slippy and suited XC runners like Kelly. Talent never disappears, great to see him back.

Congrats Keith, remind us of the good times at PC. Mark Carroll, Andy Keith, Marie McMahon, Sinead Delahunty, some good times and good teams. Even Eric Murdock in hoops.

Great blog updated alomst daily. What a heroic indivdual

Somewhere Between Pain And Bliss

NO RUN

PM: Yoga, Eyes Of The World

My knee felt better today but I decided to take another day off and just do yoga. A wise decision given the snow and ice that still lines the road. I believe the State of RI has no money left for satisfactory snow removal. Tough times indeed.

It is great to be back in routine and I am looking forward to tomorrow morning when I start running again. I have decided to run World XC. I was opposed to this initially but given the fact that my knee did not worsen after the 12k and given that my opportunity to race at this level is dwindling I thought why not. I can compare myself to the US and UK boys along with some Europeans that I will hopefully have to race in December.

The national champs was a real confidence booster for me. I did not run the three days prior to the race and did very limited running before that too. After Armagh my knee started bugging me and it got significantly worse after the Ras. I knew that I would feel it in the 12k but my tactic was simple. Go out and run hard, get the blood pumping and the head spinning so that knee pain or any other pain would be non-existent. The only pain I would feel is oxygen debt and that is exactly what happened. I went hard from the gun and I was in some discomfort early. Vinny took over the lead after a lap and a half which allowed me to catch my breath. I moved back in front after about 800m of Vin pulling us into lap 3. I then lead for the next 2 laps before Mark Kennelly passed me. Again I sat in for half a lap to gather my thoughts and to prepare for a final long run for home. So with 3 to go I passed Mark and put in my hardest lap opening up about 8-10 seconds. We stayed this far apart for the rest of the race until about 800 to go when Mark really put the moves on. I was hanging on but I knew that I would not allow anyone to pass me. It made for a great race and the crowd was really into it, especially considering Mark is a Clonliffe Harrier and the race was run at their club. I hung on for a 3 second win. Mark ran really tough and is coming into good form under the tutelage of Mark Carroll. He will fly this year.

I know that the Irish champs are not exactly NCAA's but for me it is a real high to run and win at this level. Its a pretty big deal back home and great for my small running club. Obviously if Fagan was there he would have destroyed me. I think Andrew Ledwith would also have taken me down. Cragg is a class act but I am not sure if he likes 12k in mud based on his run last year. Maybe young Dave McCarthy would have posed some problems and Mark Carroll is in great shape but really thats it. I still think that for where I came from 4 months ago I am in a great position to say that had everyone run I still may have hit the podium placing. I have developed the ability to hurt myself more than I used to. I think pent up frustration over years of injury has given me this new found pain barrier.

My next race is the Boston Ras Na hEireann 5k. Myself and Carroll will run it and a nice snappy race 2 weeks out from World XC is perfect. After Jordan I will run a 10k in Dublin before returning to the States for another training block.

Tomorrow I am going back into Reebok for an interview of sorts. I have a Job offer so I am excited to hear more about it. The boys at RTE got it wrong when they said I was back working at Reebok. I told them that I MIGHT be back but with all the good energy and talk coming out of my mouth it was construed as positive and they published that it was a done deal!

Finally, a quick word about the guru, Ray Treacy. I am not bragging about my coach but what a month he had in February. Briefly, here is a list of his athletes accomplishments over the past 30 days,

Ro McGettigan, Mile 4:30, Irish Indoor Record

Mary Cullen, 3k 8:44, Irish Indoor Record

David McCarthy, 3:57 Mile

Hayden McClaren, 3:57 Mile

Dom Channon, 7:58 3k, NZ Junior Record

Kim Smith, 5k 14:39, ridiculously fast time, 4th fastest indoor woman in history

Not to mention my own good running, Danette Dotzel putting together a fantastic Big East and everyone at PC running great. Well Done Ray!

Peace and Love