St Senans AGM
The 28^th St Senans AC AGM took place at the Parish Hall in Kilmacow last Wenesday with a large crowd in attendance. 

Thanks James
Our head coach James Aylward is taking a well deserved break from his coaching duties this year and on behalf of all the athletes and club members I would like to pay a huge tribute to James for his hard work, dedication and good humour over so many years. It would be impossible to even begin to detail the enormous amount of work, whether in coaching, travelling to races, committee work, or maintaining the facilities in the Sports Complex, that James has done selflessly in that time. Added to this is his marvellous rapport with athletes from seven to seventy and his ability to instill confidence and self belief in his young charges, which has over the years seen numerous young athletes achieve success well beyond their expectations. It’s going to be a hard act to follow and all we can say is thanks a million James.

Bees will be Buzzin’
Several St Senans athletes will be heading to Athlone next Sunday to take part in the All Ireland ‘B’ cross country championships including Luke and Hugh Morgan, David Walsh, Rosanne Kennedy, Chloe Laffan, Sarah Dollard and Eimear Breathnach. Kilkenny will have several teams in action and we wish all our young juveniles every success on the day.

Leinster Senior CC
Adele Walsh will be looking for a good run in the forthcoming Leinster Senior cross country championship, which takes place at the ALSAA complex near Santry on Sunday 29^th Jan. It will be a good run out for the current Kilkenny senior champion who is training hard with a view to a high finish in the National Intermediate CC in Cork later in Feb. Senior men’s champion Brian Maher will lead a strong Kilkenny men’s team which also includes Mick Kelly and Niall Sheehan. St Senans strong man Owen Gahan is another athlete who is getting back into shape and will be a big addition if he is available on the day, while Aidan Lanigan is also currently in good form. Should be a good day’s racing.

County Board AGM
The Kilkenny County Board AGM takes place in the Clubhouse Hotel, Kilkenny on Friday 27^th Jan and all clubs should be well represented to ensure that athletics in the county continues to thrive. The county is fortunate to have an excellent team of officers led by Chairman John Walsh, who dedicate a huge amount of time and effort into the organisation over the course of the year.

Out of Africa
Or maybe out of this world might be a better way to describe Ethiopian runner Kenenisa Bekele, who won a thrilling cross country race in Edinburgh last Saturday. With the women’s winner also from the same country it looked odds on that African nations will once again dominate the forthcoming World cross country series. Nice to see Sonia O’Sullivan back in racing mode again too, while in the short race there was a fine run by Joe McAllister in 8^th position. Joe was a former team mate of Waterford runner Joe Hendry when both attended St Malachys in Belfast a few years ago.

TV Celebrity Runners
There was a very nice piece on the success of West Waterford’s Winter League series on RTE’s Newsround last Friday evening. The programme highlighted the excellent work done by the club in promoting athletics to a wide range of participants in the Dungarvan area and showed what is possible for other clubs around the country. The club’s booklet on how to run a similar series is available from them at a nominal five euro fee and is packed with useful facts and information on all aspects of the organization. The programme featured James Veale and Tony Ryan, two of the driving forces behind the club’s success and while they looked very much at home in front of the cameras, both have strongly denied that they will shortly be appearing in the current Big Brother series on Channel 4. You never know, just keep watching!!

Damien gets Leinster Star Award
Damien Walsh of St Senans was a recipient of the Leinster Senior Star Award for 2005, presented at a function in the Seven Oaks Carlow, attending by among others AAI President Michael Heary and incoming CEO Brendan Hackett. Damien won three U/23 titles and also a senior silver and bronze in last years Leinster championships and is a talented all rounder. Other Kilkenny winners in the juvenile section were shot and discus specialist Yvonne Hickey of Gowran, who also took this title last year and KCH triple jump star Dean Brennan. There was also a special presentation to Liam Kealy of Gowran AC for his tremendous contribution to athletics over many years. Listing his achievements MC and friend Pat Kelly spoke warmly of Liam’s career with a few well chosen humorous comments thrown in for good measure. Finally to cap the evening lucky number 90 came out in the raffle to give our illustrious PO a new kit bag. The devil as they say takes care of his own!!

Silver Lining for O'35s & Juveniles
The St Senan’s O/35 men’s team picked up the team silver medals with an excellent run in the first county championship race of 2006, held over a demanding five lap course at Bramblestown on Sunday January 8. 

A sort of Christmas Carol
Not quite Dicken's, well maybe Dicken's without the 'en' before the 's'. Read an adapted version of the famous Christmas story.

Duggans, Men of Steel
The three Duggan brothers Peter, David and Niall all of St Josephs AC along with Pauric Aspel were team winners in last October’s Washington Marine Corps Marathon in the US. Running his first marathon Peter was first home in 2.47, followed by David in 2.54, Niall 3.03 and Pauric 3.12. Well done lads, tough men up there in Tullogher.

Vets on Call
James Sullivan of Waterford AC was officially inaugurated as the newest O/40 vet at an official ceremony in the Tower Hotel on Saturday night last. Unfortunately yours truly and sidekick Bill Lacey were in Carlow for the Leinster Awards and had to forego the occasion but we would like on behalf of the St Senans club to welcome James to this new milestone in his career. One of the most popular and talented runners to run in the blue and white, James will be a threat to all in this age group and no doubt a few current internationals in this category will now be under serious threat. Good luck oldtimer!!!