JUVENILE SECTION

Little Athletics

Our Little Athletics had spooky celebrations at their midterm Halloween Party on Oct 27th. There was an amazing atmosphere with Tug of War, Sack Races, Obstacle Courses & Hot Chocolate & Treats for all. There were so many amazing costumes from all the little athletes & some memorable costumes from the coaches including an Emoji Poo & a not so Little Mermaid. Huge well done to all our little members for making such an effort and a massive thank you to all the coaches for making the event so much fun.

Training resumes following the midterm on Thurs 1oth November.

Cross Country Training

A big Shout out to our very dedicated juvenile cross-country heroes and their wonderful coaches who train in Newbridge each Saturday regardless of the weather. Last Saturday was no exception with wind & rain that coach Sarah Minto described as "Real Cross Country conditions". Well done guys!

Exciting New Group Launching Soon...

LAUNCHING OUR NEW GROUP, "FIT FOR YOUTH" on Thursday NOVEMBER 10th at 7pm at the hockey pitches.

Have you got a teen age 14 or older who has left other sports or would like to try something new and keep fit in a fun and social environment?

Well this group is for them!

The cost is €25 which covers their membership to Athletics Ireland, LSA and their insurance til the end of the year.

If they would like to be more competitive or show talent for the sport, we have a pathway for that too!

If interested, please contact our Registrar by email to lambaysportsathletics@gmail.com

ADULT SECTION

Donabate Parkrun

Another fantastic week at Parkrun for LSA with 11 club runners, well done all. Huge thanks, as always to the volunteers! This week we had 10 amazing volunteers, thanks Ali, Amanda, Aoife, Cathal, Charlie, Ciara, Dino, Fintan, Georgean & Ian. Well Done to Aldonza, Cecelia & Claire on your PB performances.

Date for you Diary

LSA will be taking over the Donabate Parkrun on Saturday December 17th!!

Put the date in your diary as we will need lots of help, volunteers, pacers & festive cheer on the day!

Can you Help????

If anyone can donate a prize to our Annual Christmas Raffle, Please Contact Dara Carr.

Athletics Ireland Coaching Courses:-

Message from Dara Carr

LSA coaches are currently busy completing their Athletics Ireland coaching courses over the winter months. We are delighted that these coaches are starting /continuing on the Athletics Ireland Coaching Pathway.

ATHLETICS LEADER

Congrats again to Ben, Kelly, Maura and Wala on obtaining their Athletics Leader course.

ASSISTANT COACH/FIT4Life

Good luck to Eimear, Anna, Alison Louise and Fabiana who are due to complete the practical session of the Assistant Coaches course on 19th November in Lusk AC.

FORERUNNERS

Sarah, Sophie and Ali are all busy taking part in the Forerunners Women Leaders in Sport with Lily Ann O Hora, AI Women in Sport Officer.

LEVEL 1/LEVEL 2

Xavi, Taz and Ruth have another weekend of coaching in November to complete their level 1 in Athlone and two more weekends for Dara at the level two Throws in TUS Athlone also.

All dates for upcoming courses will be circulated through the newsletter and what’s app groups. Please notify any head coaches if you would like to take part.

ATHLETICS IRELAND COACHING PATHWAY

• Athletics Leader
• Assistant Coach/FIT4L
• Endurance running
• Level 1
• Level 2
• Level 3
  Further Details can be found here

💙🏃🏃‍♀️Marathon Special💙🏃🏃‍♀️ ...WARNING ⚠️ readers may require tissues 🤧

Message from Steven Rice - LSA Race Director

The 2022 Dublin City Marathon. Pretty much a watershed moment for LSA. To consider that our adult running group was in its infancy as little as two years ago, to having 40 runners and multiple supporters on marathon day. Quite mind-blowing. And what about the spirit of support and cooperation between every member of the club - regardless of whether they were running on the day or not - all the way through the long marathon build-up right through to race day itself. Seeing our club members all around the course, supporting us, sporting our club colours, being able to see the blue and yellow balloons in the distance, knowing once you reached them, you’d be met with encouragement, support, water and carbs, with shouts of “G’wan LSA” regularly being heard all over the city of Dublin. October 30th, 2022 was a coming of age for our club.

We had runners finish as high up as the top 100, we had walkers who made a monumental effort to complete the course. We had injuries and falls, along with PB’s and sub-three’s. It didn’t matter who did what - everyone played their part magnificently. What was previously our “little” club has now stamped its mark well and truly on the running landscape of both our city and wider community.

“G’wan LSA” indeed.

Inspirational Marathoners

Our Club is filled with inspirational Marathoners and everybody's journey is different. Here are some of their stories...

Adam Lauri - (with his parents Rosina & Stewart after the Race)

-Sue Gore

-Suzanne Dunne -

"The real winners on the day was LSA! Outstanding performance from everyone both athletes taking part and the supporters.  This was my third(&final) marathon but my first as part of a club and it made such a difference. Support and encouragement from LSA during the race was phenomenal, each shout out powering me forward as it provided such a lift. Here starts my medal acceptance speech, I want to thank the FitForLife group for getting me back running consistently, the Monday and Wednesday runs are fantastic for structure on getting at least two runs done and you’re only halfway through the week. The Intermediate group led by Amanda and Fintan every session you come away thinking you are a bit stronger and faster. All the members and the chats and company on the runs, lifts to races and everything in between. Outside the Tuesday Intermediate session, I want to give specific mention to Amanda who led by example, organised other weekly training runs, shared her training plans with us and basically kept a group on track even when there were injury or confidence wobbles. Thank you to each person in the Marathon WhatsApp group who supported and encouraged and at times was guilted into going for a run 😆 Thank you team LSA
P.S also want to give mention to Covid, without you I’d probably never found or joined LSA".
-Carol Croke

"This was my 4th marathon and have never suffered so much, I wanted to give up from 5k in but the unbelievable support every few miles from the club really kept me going. After a fall at 35k a wonderful couple looked after me, fed me made sure I was ok and then seeing my good pal Paudie who waited until I was ready, got me back of my ass and running again. It wasn’t a PB for me but by far my most memorable and emotional marathon thanks to all the wonderful LSA support" - Eimear Caulfield

- Denis

Sensational Supporters

Our Club also has an army of selfless supporters who gave their time & energy to support our amazing Marathoners! Here are some of their stories...

Message From Dara Carr - LSA Chairperson

I’ve never run a marathon myself but felt I actually got to experience the whole excitement, buzz and atmosphere of DCM 2022. It was absolutely magic to see all 39 LSA members along the route. Myself Jen & Heather were flying the flag at the 7 mile mark and again at the finish line. It was an honour to support you all. I have nothing but the highest respect for all those who ran/walked the 26.2km. You are all amazing. Huge thanks to our support team for 2022. You are a credit to your club and your help was invaluable on the day. Big shout out to Jen for rallying the troops. Proudest of days for LSA 💙💛Roll on 2023.

The excitement as we (Dara, Heather and myself), approached our supporters spot in Castleknock. The club flag and cowbells came out and the tracker app was opened to see if any LSA runners had started. The adrenaline started to flow as a garda bike flashed past us and a wheelchair marathoner spinned by. Soon after that the first runners came by including Raheny’s Mick Clohissey. Back to the app we could see Shane and Anthony on the move. With hearts racing and pride levels hitting the roof our runners began to come by. It was like having family run. We were so invested in each and every one of them. So proud that they had got to this stage and willing them on to the finish line. We got big smiles as our guys spotted the flag, laughter at our hyperactivity as we frantically rang out our cowbells with lovely hugs from others. As we watched everyone go through Castleknock we had one athlete missing, Anne was lost in a Bermuda Triangle in the Phoenix Park. Unfortunately, we learned that this legend wasn't going to get her lap of honour today. As soon as we knew she had Mick by her side we decided to move to town to meet as much as we could as they ran through the finish line. That was another adventure…………
It was a day full of belly laughs, hoarse voices, losing and finding Dara in a city of thousands and overall, a huge sense of pride in our wonderful running family, LSA 💙💛💙 Jennifer Tanner

Alarm set for 7am on a bank holiday Sunday and I honestly thought I was killed! But excited too!
Supplies checked, lunch packed, flasks of hot water at the ready and we were off. Sinead was my
Maps assistant so we arrived outside a bingo hall opposite the Crumlin Children’s hospital and found
a great parking spot. After getting directions from a lovely friendly Garda, we made our way down
Crumlin road towards the halfway point, our designated spot for the next few hours. We set
ourselves up and tried to ensure we were easy to spot. We put the balloons out on the road, but
had to move them back onto the path as they were blocking the runners!
The Wheelchair athletes were the first ones past us – we were full of awe for their strength and
determination.
Shortly afterwards, the first runners came through – impressive stuff with a fierce pace that made
running look so effortless. We cheered, clapped and shouted “well done” but honestly, they were
gone in 60 seconds!!
Sarah was on the Irish Life Marathon app and kept us updated with the progress of our LSA club
runners. We screamed and waved to get their attention – some smiled, others waved and more
stopped for supplies and a quick chat or hug. But all were determined to keep going and meet their
own personal goals. The hours and hours of training that went in before Sunday were paying off and
it was fantastic to see the LSA athletes enjoying the experience.
Safe to say it was an honour to be part of the support team, we had craic with each other and with
the runners and it was an inspirational morning. It was the happiest of reasons to get up early on a
Sunday morning and I’d do it again in a heartbeat…not sure I’d do the running though!!
-Anita

What a team! An incredible achievement for all those who did the marathon. After seeing all the hard training, determination and camaraderie amongst the DCMers, it was an utter privilege and joy to support on the day. Each runner had their own personal reason and story for participating. Everyone looked so strong. So brilliant. Even if you didn’t feel it :)
We had a packed lunch, brought our coffee cups thinking we’d be hanging around. We never got the coffee because my God you all just kept coming! The cowbells never left our hands. Nuala and I were on the bikes and some marathoners shouted in jest that they wanted them while we made our way down that wretched drag of a hill from Roebuck Rd to Milltown; ringing our bells to encourage them up it! We won’t lie, we witnessed that Wall, which gives us an even bigger appreciation for your achievement.
There was such spirit. We heard the pacers (with the giant balloons) motivating those around them with words of encouragement to keep going. Every LSA DCMer looked so intent and then with sudden big smiles and a wave running by us. It was an elating moment. Not only that, some marathoners shouted ‘Go LSA’ to us (!), which only emphasised the positive impact that our club is making. What a team! - Siobhan Brown

Siobhan & Nuala - Support on Wheels

And Finally...

It has been a privilege and an honour to compile all the marathon stories. Thanks so much to all who contributed to this special edition of the newsletter. As always keep the stories coming, if you have anything you would like to appear in the weekly newletter or any suggestions for the newsletter please send them to me at 0879853807.