LSA Newsletter December 5th – December 11th
REMINDER:
Please ensure you use LSA as your Club name when entering any races, events, or competitions.
We have contacted the event organisers (on several occasions now!) asking them to consolidate all our entries under LSA

Donore Harriers Jingle Bells 5km
On a cold bright December morning athletes representing every group of the club climbed aboard the Jingle Bells Express (Leonards Coaches) to the Phoenix Park to participate in the Donore Harriers 30th Jingles Bells 5KM.
To say it was cold was an understatement but that didn’t deter our athletes from achieving new PB’s or simply just take part in their first real race in nearly two years.
Brilliant camaraderie going on, and a very well done to all to took part and attended to support the club. Donore Harriers have been a hugely important part of the LSA story, especially the coaching and mentoring provided by Donal Iremonger (Donore Harriers Secretary) over the years.

If you are interested in giving it a go, please contact Jennifer.
These legends ran in torrential rain but it didn’t dampen the fun they had on the night.
Juvenile news
Alana Graham attended the Leinster Development Academy in Morton Stadium on Saturday morning and Anna Gavigan attended the Leinster Performance Academy at the same venue on Saturday afternoon.
The final morning of the Leinster Development Academy training series is on Saturday 15th January (cost is €10 per athlete, pay on the day). This is for athletes born between 2010 and 2007, who are invited to attend, along with their parents and coaches.
This is a nice session with coaching by Athletics Ireland coaches and an opportunity to try out a different event (hurdles, sprints, high jump, long jump, shot putt, javelin).
For more information, please talk to your child's coach or contact Dara or Louise.
Our final days for Juvenile training for 2021 will be Thursday 9th December and Saturday 11th December.
Park Run – Newbridge House
LSA will be taking over the Donabate Park Run on Saturday December 18th!
Our Juvenile members are encouraged to join in with the festivities! Our older Juveniles (older than 11) are invited to run the 5k if they wish, or to Volunteer.
Younger juveniles might like to run 1 or 2km of the course with their parents.
Remember that under 11s must always be within arm’s reach of an adult and that bikes and scooters aren’t allowed.
Parents if your child is running or volunteering make sure they are registered on Park Run with LSA as their club
https://www.parkrun.ie/register/
Thank you to our volunteers!
For everyone there will be some festive treats afterwards. :)
Cross Country news
Congratulations to Donabate resident James Kelly (Castlecomer AC) on a super 3rd place finish in the Kilkenny County Senior Cross Country Championships last weekend. James also had an excellent 8th place finish in the Leinster Cross Country Championships some weeks back and was competing in the National Novice Cross Country Championships in Gowran today. A busy season!
The LSA juvenile Cross Country competition season has ended, but training continues.
Last day of the Forerunners Leadership Program with Women in Sport Officer Lily Ann O Hora & Janet & Julia from UK based Team You Consultants. Managed to get in some track time with some of the women participants from clubs across Ireland. It was a fantastic learning experience and so glad I got the opportunity to represent LSA and participate in this fantastic initiative. Lily Ann will be running another Forerunners Seminar next year and I would highly recommend it to any of our female club leaders and coaches.
Adult Competition News - NIA LIVE
NIA Live No. 1, takes place this Wednesday 8th December in the National Indoor Arena (NIA)
https://www.athleticsireland.ie/competition/nia-live/
Our Junior, Senior and Master athletes will be competing in 60m, Shot Putt and 1 mile. This will serve as good preparation for the Indoor National and Leinster Championships and is the first Indoor Competition since March 2020 🤞🏻.
There will be more Wednesday evening events in 2022: 19th January, 5th February and 3rd March
International Athletics
Just one week to go until the European Cross-Country Championships which take place on 12th December at the National Sports Campus in Abbottstown.
There’s nothing like attending a live athletics event, with the biggest names in World Athletics all set to race in Fingal. All spectators must purchase a ticket online in advance - tickets are €8 for over 16s, under 16s free of charge. The event will also be televised on RTE and live-streamed. LSA U16 athletes Michelle Branigan and Andrew Minto will be there as flag-bearers/ athlete chaperones on the day.
Get tickets here https://fingal-dublin2021.ie/tickets/
You can read more about the inspirational story of Hiko Tonoso the current Irish National Cross-Country Champion here
Fionnuala McCormack leads the Irish Women’s Senior Team - read about her lifetime best marathon time yesterday in Lisbon
https://twitter.com/EuroAthletics/status/1467430127298658308?s=20
https://twitter.com/EuroAthletics/status/1466816265234882560?s=20
History
Read more about the 65th anniversary of Ronnie Delany’s historic gold medal in the 1500m in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics
https://www.athleticsireland.ie/news/65th-anniversary-of-ronnie-delany-gold-medal/
The 3rd session of the Training Midlife women took place last Wednesday. Jennifer has ideas on women’s training and the importance of recovery and strength training. Also, pelvic floor exercises to share. Keep an eye out for our new Women’s Midlife Hub in the new year with lots of information on perimenopause, menopause, training, running kit, nutrition etc.

Keep an eye out for our daily tips on Instagram and Twitter.

If you are looking for a challenge after Christmas and want to set some running goals, check out the above if you run a 5k in 30 mins or more. https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=DQSIkWdsW0yxEjajBLZtrQAAAAAAAAAAAANAASqn2WtUNDNZWTk2T1JLQ0NSQ08yM0RVNDBKRUJWSS4u
Training…
Reminder:
Please ensure you register for the session in advance on ClubZap. The schedule will be as follows..
Juveniles…
Thursday @ Astro Hockey Pitch
6pm- 7pm: 2012, 2013, 2014
7pm - 8pm: 2011 and older
Saturday @ Newbridge Demense
2:30pm Cross Country/ Middle Distance group (2011+)

Adults...
Monday 7pm - 8pm Suzanne or Ali - Strength & Conditioning (DPCC)
Tuesday 7pm - 8pm Amanda & Heather - Intermediate running group
Tuesday 7.30pm - 8.30pm Social running Intervals
Wednesday 7pm - 8pm Interval Session with Steven
Thursday 7.30pm - 8.30pm Ali, Ian & Sarah with the Social Running group
Saturday 9.30am Intervals in Newbridge

A list of upcoming events and webinars we think you might like can be found on our website here.
Questions? Email lambaysportsathletics@gmail.com
Follow us! Instagram @LSADonabatePortrane || Twitter @LSARunning || Facebook, search LSA
