28 CLONDALKIN GAZETTE 26 January 2012
in association with
GazetteSport Sport FastSport
Joy on the road as Ava makes grade After disappointment in Dublin, Dundrum athlete AVA HUTCHINSON is revelling in the glow of qualification for the London Olympics 2012
Clondalkin gymnasts take silver at Nationals THE WINTER Championships ATT National gymnastics finals were held in Carlow recently, and Clondalkin Gymnastics Clubfielded a team of 16 gymnasts at the prestigious All-Ireland event. These same gymnasts had, a month earlier, competed in the South Dublin regional competition in order to qualify for National Finals. There were 160 competitors from all over Ireland, who had each had to qualify through their own regions, gathered in Carlow for an intense day of competition. The standard at all levels of the competition was very high throughout the day and the results at the top were all very close, with only a fraction of a point separating the medal winners. With Clondalkin’s head coach, Emer Kavanagh, giving last-minute instructions during the warm-ups, the teams were eager to get onto the competition floor. First up for Clondalkin, and proving to be the most successful team for the club on the day was the Grade 2 Team consisting of Sophie Toomey, Fiona Tapley and Zoe Taylor, who were performing in a women’s trio, followed by Toomey and Taylor taking to the floor again to perform as a women’s pair. The combined scores of these two routines earned them the silver medal. Next up was the Grade 3 team of mixed pair, Barry Gouldsbury and Beatrice Fagan, and women’s pair, Yvonne Kavanagh and Emma O’Brien. Both pairs produced clean routines and were unlucky not to bring home a medal, ending up in fourth place in their division. The Grade 1 team of women’s pair, Aine Sheehan and Katie White, with women’s trio comprising Grace Carey, Grace Kavanagh and Brianna Sheehan, along with the Prep B team of men’s pair, Sasha Jackson and Jason Doyle, and women’s pair, Vicky Gallagher and Laura Brophy, all placed fifth in their respective groups on what was a very successful day all round for the club.
MARATHON runners rarely describe what they do as fun. Tales abound of hitting the wall and hours toiled overcoming inner demons on the road. Ava Hutchinson, though, cannot think of anything more enjoyable. Her first effort at the distance ended in disappointment in Dublin last October. Running well on course for an Olympic qualifying time, cramps set in after eight miles, and became severe enough by the half-way point to leave her stretching against road-side kerbs. The DSDAC runner ended five minutes outside the Olympic A standard. The result proved to spur her on and, last week, she made the qualifying time in Houston in brilliant fashion. “I finished Dublin in two minds – I was devastated with the result but I did think about having
broken 2:42 with all those problems. I’m was adamant that if I could keep the body in control, then I could qualify,” she told GazetteSport. Bouncing back, she approached last week’s Houston marathon with the same plan formulated by legendary coach, Ray
going to do it, you have to embrace being tired, the long miles, the bad weather. “If you go into it with that attitude, you do get a lot of enjoyment out of it. It is hard, there’s no doubt. The training can be tedious with the repetition but there’s so much
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‘The rewards of running a marathon are even better than on the track. It’s a different feeling to anything I’ve done before’
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Treacy, her mentor and the head coach at Providence College in the US. He was the man to impress on Hutchinson the value of fun to cope with the most rigorous physical challenge in athletics during her formative training sessions. “That was the first thing Ray said to me. If you’re
Ava Hutchinson in action for DSDAC
enjoyment to be had. “I’ve always wanted to go up to marathon level, but didn’t know when the right time was. Obviously, this season is a great opportunity. “The rewards are even better than on the track, and the feeling I had after the weekend was just so good. It’s a huge sense of achievement for anyone to finish a marathon. It’s a different feeling to anything I’ve experienced before.” The 28-year-old’s step up to the iconic distance was always in her longterm plans, but was accelerated by Marathon Mission’s support. The Mission was formed in 2009 to raise Ireland’s performance in the 26-mile event and has since provided Hutchinson with the funding to travel to Providence for five weeks away from her Loughborough base in England. Similarly, nutritionists, blood-testers and other
supports offered her the chance to commit quickly to the new regime, and it has borne instant fruit. Learning the ropes came naturally after an international background in middle-distance and cross-country running. Ava won her first halfmarathon in Waterford last September. Dublin followed a month later, a painful experience that provided the vital lessons for her stunning fourth-place finish in Houston, running 2.35.33 in a remarkably consistent performance, passing halfway just past the one hour and 17 minute mark. “I really enjoyed it. The actual atmosphere was absolutely brilliant. It was so much, the crowds were huge – I’d suggest if anyone was doing an American marathon, it is the one to do! “We had a strict plan. The first couple of miles were quite slow as I hadn’t much time to warm up. “But then I got into a really nice rhythm, got a really good group of about six. For about 18 miles, I felt really good and thought, I shouldn’t have a problem here. “From 20 on, I had a few issues with cramps in my calves but pretty much felt good the whole way. It was a big relief coming down the home straight when I saw the clock.” The success of Marathon Mission, however, means that while Hutchinson has gone well under the Olympic standard,
there is a possibility she could miss out on the Games. Indeed, it may even be a full set of clubmates could steal her dream. Fellow DSDAC runner Linda Byrne won the national title in Dublin – albeit a minute slower – which could place her higher in the pecking order. Gladys Ganiel finished eighth in Houston but intends another qualifying run in Rotterdam, while the experienced Maria McCambridge will have a go in Seville. It is a far cry from 2008 when just one B standard runner ran in Beijing. It is a remarkable turnaround but one which lost out in the publicity stakes as Martin Fagan’s admission of taking EPO took the athletics limelight. Hutchinson says it does not unduly affect her glee at running inside the qualification time, but hopes it will not cast a black cloud overwhat has been serious success for the women’s long-distance runners. “There are so many aspects of it that are so sad. It’s sad for Irish athletics and sad for the athletic world as a whole. There are two sides to it. It’s great that the drug testers are doing the job and the sport has been kept clean. “I’ve met Martin but I wouldn’t know him well so I don’t know about his personal situation but you have to take each individual case as it is and it’s nothing else to do with any other Irish athlete.”