Welcome to our first newsletter of the new year...
JUVENILE NEWS
Little Athletics & Juvenile Thursday Training
Our Little Athletics & Juvenile training resumes this Thursday at the All Weather Hockey Pitches. We are looking forward to welcoming everyone back and have great plans for the new year.
Please Note: Fees for 2023 are now due and can be paid through Clubzap. Any queries, please contact Club Registrar Heather at lambaysportsathletics@gmail.com
Cross Country Training
Saturday training is back!
A great turn out for our first session of 2023. It’s fantastic to see everyone back and a very warm welcome to Sadhbh, Rhys, Cassian , Josh and Anna Mai.
This session is open to athletes from 2013 and older (and some 2014s who competed last year) but you must notify in advance if your child is planning to attend to make sure that we have the correct athlete/coach ratio. On some occasions we might ask parents to help out by staying for the duration of the session.
Dublin Juvenile Indoor Championship
The Dublin Juvenile Indoor Championships take place over 5 days in February in the NIA (National Indoor Arena, Abbotstown).
You can find details of which events are available and timetables in ClubZap news.
Closing dates for entries will be notified shortly and there will be more information at training on Thursday. Please make sure that you have renewed your child’s membership if they are planning to compete.
Malahide Junior Parkrun
Fantastic start to the new year for Juvenile Mark Kelly who was first across finishline in this weeks Malahide Castle junior Parkrun in a PB time of 7.13. Congratulations Mark.
Donabate Junior Parkrun
IT'S OFFICIAL
The highly anticipated Donabate Junior Parkrun will start on Sunday 29th January 2023. The free, fun weekly 2k event suitable for juniors ages 4-14 year will take place in the stunning surrounds of Newbridge House. More details can be found HERE. Sign your child up for their barcode now so they are ready to run!!
ADULT SECTION
Welcome
A big LSA Welcome to all our new members. It is so exciting to have new members in all our groups from C25k to Advanced. Whether running competitively or just for fun there is a group for you in LSA.
Donabate Parkrun
We had a great turn out at the first Donabate Parkrun of the New Year with 17 members running including our current C25k Group lead by Andrew Forde who used the park run as their Week 6 Day 3 training. Well done all.
Track & Field
Report by Enda Gavigan
A busy start to 2023 for the Track and Field athletes.
As the New Year kicks off the Dublin Juvenile Indoor Championships (2015-2005 age group), National Junior Indoor Championships (U20) and National Masters Indoor Championships are now just around the corner.
The National Indoor League 2023 commenced this weekend past at the National Indoor Arena NIA. Unfortunately we were unable to field a team on this occasion but it nonetheless afforded some of our track athletes the opportunity to guest at the competition and get an early season blast on the track and set down a baseline to work off prior to the above championship competitions.
On a chilly Sunday afternoon, it was a blessing to use the fabulous National Indoor Arena.
The National Indoor league is a wonderful opportunity to see close up, some of our top national athletes in action and then line up on track right after them! Sunday was no exception with the likes of Joan Healy, Sarah Leahy, Israel Olatunde and Bori Akinola to mention but a few, showing off their amazing talents.
Three of our track and field athletes were in action. It was left to the girls to fly the LSA flag this weekend with yours truly here out with a back niggle (lame excuse I know) and Xavi Hubert sidelined with a very nasty bug. We wish Xavi a speedy recovery and hope to see him back on track very soon. (As for yours truly here – ‘get over it!” J )
Master athlete Dara Carr was on a tough mission to break 9 seconds in the 60m! She competed in two 60m races and came very close to her goal with a fine 9.07 followed by a 9.14 in race 2. Hopefully she will get into the ‘eights’ very soon!
Juvenile track and field athlete, Eabha O’Farrell was in action on December 28th, competing in Hammer at the Templemore Christmas Throws competition. Eabha has made great progress under the watchful eye of coach Gerry Ronan and had a great 38.15m PB with the 3K hammer. But today was her 400m indoor track debut! Being an open event, Eabha was in at the deep end up against a field of senior athletes! Eabha was unfazed by this and ran an excellent, well paced race in a time of 1:06:61.
We are delighted to welcome Zuzanna (Suzie) Linkiewicz, a recent joiner, to the track and field team (and to Gerry Ronan’s Multi Club Technical Development Squad). Suzie watched her brother Max competing in the Dublin Cross Country League and was bitten by the bug. Suzie, who is a fast forward for the Dublin GAA team is anxious to see how speedy she is on track!, so no better place than the indoor league to get started. And a great start is was too for Suzie with an excellent 8.21s in the 60m sprint with plenty more to come from her!
Our photo footage is a little blurred – these ladies were moving very fast. Yours truly here, who was hardly moving at all, was keeping a watchful eye out for any celebs and was rewarded with a selfie with none other than 60m and 100m Hurdle star and multiple Irish record holder, Derval O’Rourke! (Also on the telly as an Ireland’s Fittest Family Coach!)
Meanwhile, away from the chilly weather, Anna Gavigan attended a warm weather training camp last week with the Athletics Ireland Performance Pathway squad in Albufeira, Portugal and sent back a photo just to make us all jealous!
Coming up in the next two weeks…..
On Saturday 14th January, we will be at the National Junior (U20) Championship in the NIA again where Michelle Branigan will try to improve on her recent impressive 2:37 PB in the 800m and Eabha and Suzie will be on track again in the 400 and 60m sprints respectively. We wish the three girls the best of luck for the weekend. The U20 competition will be tough but excellent preparation for the upcoming Dublin Juvenile Championships.
Wednesday evening 18th is the next round of NIA LIVE with entries still open for 60m, 800m, Paced 6min Mile and 400m. A few places are still left for this high octane evening but filling up fast. It’s Event 685 on the entry system (entry.athleticsireland.ie) if you would like an evening blast.
On Sunday 22nd January we have Round 2 of the National League in TUS Athlone. No team, I'm afraid, but it’s another track opportunity for guests with 60m, 200, 400, 800m and 3K on offer. It’s competition number 686 in the entry system or any (over 15, 2007 or older) juveniles can contact either myself of Louise directly if you are interested. This is your final chance to limber up prior to the National Masters and Dublin Juvenile Championships.
Early February……
Dublin Indoor Juvenile Championship, NIA Dublin 4th and 5th Feb, 12th Feb, 25th and 26th Feb. (For u12 upward, these are the qualifiers for the National Indoor Championships in March.)
National Masters Indoors TUS Athlone 5th Feb. All events on offer in the entry system number 698.
Assistance request.
As you can see above, there is a cross over of events and dates at this very intensive period. We will need considerable adult assistance to make the Juvenile Indoors happen for our younger, up and coming athletes. If you are a club member or parent and can spare just one half day on any of the following dates, please let Louise or Dara or any committee member know. Your help is needed, absolutely no knowledge is required, and any offer is very much appreciated. The dates are NIA Dublin February 4th, 5th, 12th, 25th and 26th. A half day on any of these dates please.
Coaching News
Our Intermediate group are delighted to welcome Stephan Bueck as their new coach. Stephan will join the team of Amanda & Fintan - Intermediate Group Coaches. Stephan brings a wealth of knowledge & experience to the team. Here's a little more about him...
When Did you Join LSA: "I joined LSA in January 2021 as soon as I could as I had seen the amazing support for the virtual Dublin marathoners in October and the buzz in front of Newbridge house - there was no question I wanted to be part of that."
What is your Favourite Race: " The Dublin Half Marathon this year - everything felt right during the run, I enjoyed it even though it was tough and got a nice PB out of it."
What is your Running/Coaching Motto: " “Love the process” - we run for personal achievements, for our physical and mental health, to enjoy fellowship, and are meant to have fun!"
Fit4Life News
We have a very exciting new addition to our Fit4life offering. Georgean & Míchael have introduced a Fit4Life 6.30@6.30 session. This exciting new group lead by Georgean & Míchael will meet every Tuesday and Thursday at 6.30pm to run at a pace of 6.30 (approx 10km). They will also meet Saturday mornings for an LSR. If you want to find out more or be added to the whatsApp contact Georgean or Míchael
Our Fit4Life 6.30@6.30 group on their LSR on SaturdayNational Half Marathon Champion
Huge Congratulations to Eimear Caulfield who received a Christmas gift in the post from Athletics Ireland: A gold National Half Marathon medal after she was declared F40 category winner in the final shake up of the Ratoath Half Marathon results. What an Amazing Achievement to end 2022 on.
Breaking News ...
Following the phenomenal success of the LSA inaugural 4 Mile Road Race the Provisional Date for this years event will be 21st May 2023 ... keep this date free and watch this space for further update!!
Club Shop
The RW Sport club shop is currently open for Adult and kids 1/4 zip long sleeved running tops and our fabulous bobble hats which are perfect for this cold weather. The RW Sport shop can be accessed HERE
The Malley Shop is currently closed but can be reopened if there are 10 or more people looking to place an order to purchase club gear. If anyone is looking to place an order please contact Ali Conway
Upcoming Races
A fantastic list of upcoming events and road races updated by Georgean can be found HERE
The Lusk 4 Mile Road Race will take place on March 5th. You can now enter at the reduce price of €21.50 via clubzap
Finally...
If there is anything at all you would like to see in future newsletters, please send me a message WhatsApp 0879583807. Thanks Kelly
