While most people in towns and cities have few problems finding areas to run on dark Winter evenings, it's a different story for those in the countryside. Unlit country roads are often too dangerous especially when running in groups.
Some clubs and communities have built special facilities for walkers and runners so that they can exercise in safety. During the Summer, there was a new pathway opened in Bweeng and now, Tracton AC near Carrigaline have developed one. It is located at the Tracton Community and Arts Centre just to the south on Minane Bridge.
Last Saturday the 12th Dec saw the official opening of its latest venture , a new running area for its 90 adult members. The opening was performed by some of the clubs founding members Jimmy O Reilly , Sean Ryan and Pa Fennell.
When asked about the project, Deputy Chairperson Breda Good said that this was a great day for the club...."With the growth in popularity of running country wide, Tracton AC, like many other athletic clubs experienced a regeneration. As a result of this we made the decision to recruit a new coach early in 2012 (Ian Dorgan) and we have never looked back. With Ian’s guidance we focused on meeting the needs of all running levels , running numerous couch to 5 k sessions , and moving up into all race distances."
Over the last few years we have tried to build on this by introducing different activities , Coaching talks , nutrition advice and lately introduced some Strength and conditioning sessions at the Arts centre.
This running area is the next step in our development.
The Running area is 380 m in length and constructed in a figure of 8 shape allowing for members to train on the flat or include some hill-work. The surface is terrain and fine stone and the area is flood lit and is operated through a token system so it can be used by anyone at any time.
Club chairperson Elton Chambers said that this would not have been possible without the support of our local community , the athletic club is partly funded by the Tracton lotto which is of great assistance to us as a club. When the decision was made to build the running area , it was met with a lot of encouragement. It was important to us that we used the resources available locally when completing this project so we called in the support of local landscaper Kevin Cooney and electrician Killian Ashcroft.
The opening of the training area by its founding members was a great honour , without them we would not have a club today , with 106 juvenile members in the club at present it is exciting to see where the club is going
Elton Chambers
1 comment:
Great initiative by Tracton - may it bear dividends for many years to come !
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