Here we are at the start of another season . Another winter has come and gone and yes we’ve all aged another year but we’re at the begining of another fantastic season. Another day has dawned on Irish 400m running. Last year we had the privillage of seeing Brian Gregan make the Final of the World juniors and also a promising junior 4*400m relay team . The Leaps and bounds have being massive in 12 months.

This weekend coming is the Schools All Ireland which will see a fantastic senior boys 400m packed full of young talented juniors, looking for there own qualifiers and also breaking down the door of 48 seconds. Billy Ryan had a fantastic indoors recording 48.17sec and will definitely be one to watch.

David Gillick has being out in flying form recording 45.80 so far this season. As has, Antoine Burke in Australia running 47.92. Myself, Brian Murphy and Brian Gregan will be out over the next 10 days proving fitness for the upcoming Europa Cup. As the hunt begins for all important European cup selection getting the times will be of the upmost importance for selection.

Racing Dates:

Gordon Kennedy Races in:

• Ljubljana 1st June
• Helsinki 5th June
• Tullamore 7th June
• Gothenberg 9th June

Brian Murphy races in:

• Helsinki 5th June

By Gordon Kennedy

It has been a while since any of us posted anything on the site. With the European Indoors next weekend and our double European champion, David Gillick, taking to the boards it seems like the perfect time to kick things off again.

Last year was a tough pill for us to swallow and it took a lot of time to sink in that we were not going to be competing in the Olympics, for some of us it was our last shot and for others only the beginning.

All is not lost however, in fact there is a lot to be hopeful about. Last year saw a new National Senior Record by David Gillick while Brian Greagan equalled the 8 year old National Junior Record. We also saw a new Schools record by Curtis Woods the newest member and sensation on the Irish circuit. This good form has continued into 2009 as we saw Billy Ryan win the AAA Championships in a time of 48.13, although he was unfortunately disqualified a little later, but will definitely be someone to watch this summer.

For the year ahead everyone will be doing there own preparations for various championships be it Junior, U23 or the World Championshps in Berlin. The target for the 4*4 in Berlin is tough but with the list of athletes under the 48 seconds mark growing all the time we have high hopes of translating this into more athletes under the crucial 47 seconds mark. One thing is for sure, there will be a relay team at the Europa cup come the 22 of june. Who will form the team will be decided over the coming months and I personally hope to challenge once again for my place and give it everything on the day.

For now best of luck to David. I wish him look in the next few days.

Gordon Kennedy
Project 400

Gordon Kennedy took his and club Tullamore Harrier’s first gold medal at the National Track and Field Championships on Sunday.

(Image from www.athleticsireland.ie)

Running an agressive race from lane 3, Kennedy lead all the way to the line, taking the victory in 46.90 on a very windy day in Santry. Gordon was pushed closely by the 3 Brians (Brian Doyle, 47.17; Brian Gregan, 47.43, Brian Murphy 47.52). Project 400’s newest member Nick Hogan finished 5th in 48.90.

Video coverage of the Woodies DIY National Athletics Championships, which was broadcast live is available on the RTE Website

In other action this weekend, Paul McKee recorded an excellent season’s best of 46.17 while placing 2nd in Barcelona on Saturday night. David Gillick had to withdraw from his chosen 200m with a slight injury.

The IAAF have rejected the Irish team’s request to sanction a last-minute 4×400m relay at the Lucerne Grand Prix in Switzerland this coming Wednesday. Following the cancellation of the last sanctioned race, this was the last and only possibility of the team meeting the required standard to qualify for the Olympics in the team event.

With the hopes of the team competition now faded, the project400 members concentration will return to their individual efforts. David Gillick has already achieved the A qualification standard for Beijing and continued his good form with a 45.52 second run at the Golden League meet in Rome last Friday.

Paul McKee is currently one second off the A qualification standard and has lined up several races over the coming week in the hopes of achieving the time before the deadline expires. For further details on his competitions please visit the BBC Sports page to read more.

Elsewhere, Brian Doyle ran an excellent 47.14 at the Cork city sports on Saturday. Brian Murphy and Gordon Kennedy were competing in Uden, Netherland and Ghent, Belgium over the weekend and a report on their results will be up in the next few days.

The AAI National Senior Track and Field Championships will be held next weekend at Santry in Dublin and project400 members will be out in force over the two days. There will also be live coverage on the Sunday by RTE, more details to follow during the week.

Flying high in Sweden

Gordon Kennedy and Brian Murphy were both in action today in the Folksham GP in Sollentuna, Sweden. Ranked fourth and sixth respectively on the Irish rankings this year, the boys battled well. Taking on a top class field, Gordon led most of the way to be just pipped on the line, coming second in a time of 47.04. Brian, running on the outside lane, ran a brave race and came back to grab third place in a time of 47.73 which was a little outside his SB (47.45) that he set in Wicklow last week.

Brian Gregan through to semi final

Running in the World Juniors Championships today, Brian excelled himself winning his heat in 47.32. This was a crucial move in terms of the lane draw as Brian will now have the enviable position of lane 3 when he takes to the line for his semi-final in the morning. The very best of luck to him in his semi-final.

Gordon Kennedy was racing in the Lugano GP in Switzerland on Friday evening. Running on the outside lane he got off to a sluggish start which cost him dearly in the home straight but still managed to finish strong, claiming fourth in a time of 46.91, his second fastest time this year.

This was the first of 4 races lined up over the next 8 days for Gordon.

Next race will be in Sollentuna Sweden on Tuesday night.

In Lapua yesterday, Gordon was drawn in the highly favorable lane 3 inside the fastest in the field . Despite running a sluggish first 200m, his top bend really brought him into the race and after taking the lead at the 80m mark it was a fight all the way home to hold this lead. Gordon crossed the line finishing in a seasons best of 46.81 and a new track record!

This rounds up Gordon’s first round of races and places him 3rd on the Irish rankings this year.

The Mens 4 * 4 team will meet in Namur where they will attempt to qualify for this year’s Olympics.

Irish Team for Namur

David Gillick
Paul Mckee
Gordon Kennedy
Brian Doyle
Brian Gregan

24th May

Barcelona

I started the racing season in Spain on the 24th in Pallafrugal. While I had a good lane draw, the conditions were not ideal and my first race was all over at the 350m mark as I tied up badly to finish 4th in a time of 47.64 . It was however, my fastest opener ever but still not as good as I would have liked.

31st May

Geneva

The Following weekend saw me in Geneva, the Mecca of 400m running. Almost 60 400m runners from around Europe were there. As one said to me, it was like a European championships without a few Polish and one or two French. I was drawn in lane 7 and had a reasonable start and got in to a nice position on the back straight. Between the 150m and 200m mark the inside field were making moves on me and from 200 to 300 I really kicked it up a gear and coming into the home straight I was in 4th but closing the field down . The last fifty was superb and I got up for 2nd with a time of 47.06 . It felt like it was all going in the right direction for me now.

3rd June

Malmo

I decided to drop to a 200m race this time to work on top-end speed . The Folksam GP are perfect, good standard races and well organised meets. It was set up to be a tough race and being drawn in lane seven, I knew everything was going to be happening on my inside. The race got under way after several false starts and a disqualification. My first 40 was not the best but the following 60m, I really blistered the track and to everyones surprise was in the lead coming into the home straight . Battling -3 headwinds, I held on to the lead and won the race in a time of 22.49 with a wind reading of -2.7!

Next stop on the tour, Lapua Finland Sunday and a return to the 400m.

Gordon.

22nd of March – 2nd of May

I have being away from Ireland for the past 6 weeks in Portugal. I decided after my last trip to the states in November (where I spent 12 days training), that if I was going to go warm weather training that I would make a considerable effort to stay as long as possible. After looking at a few options I decided on Monte Gordo in the south of Portugal.

Good points
1. No distractions
2. Facilities and location are second to none.
3. Costs are low.
4. Very close to home in case it’s needed

Bad Points
1. No Distractions

I started my trip with good weather and in good spirits. Paul Opperman and Fiona O’Freill, fellow Irish sprinters, were over for the first two weeks and this was a huge help to me in terms of training and on a personal level having someone in the evenings for cooking and getting away from the track.

Brian Murphy, my fellow project400 member, was out on two occasions during my stay, first for 19 days and then again for 10 days a week later, As myself and Brian have the same Coach (John Coughlan) it was really good to have the opportunity to train with him. We live 150 miles apart at home so intense training in Ireland is just not an option for us. I was joined by another friend and training partner Ray Lennon for 3 weeks, so I was never bored out there.

So what is the life of an athlete on a warm weather training trip like? Well to give you an idea this is the schedule that most of my days took. Normally, the day would start around 9am with breakfast. After this, I would head to the track for about 10.30am and would finish training around 1.30-2pm. (I should note that it wasn’t that we did much more training here than we would do at home but we could do the extra bit of stretching and recovery work that our schedules at home often don’t permit.).

I would go for some physio/massage most afternoons at around 4 and would only have time to grab a recovery snack after this before heading back to the track for my evening workout. My physiotherapist was a Portuguese man called David, who was a very interesting character and I think I had paid for a few instalments on his car loan by the time I had left. He is a good physio and gave me an extra confidence in what I was doing. He had some great sayings.”I think this so” Make strong” and he worked hard on me and kept me in one piece for my entire trip, which any sprinter knows is no easy task.

In the evening I chilled out at the Apartment, which felt more like a home after a while. The staff in the hotel couldn’t have been any nicer. My diet also changed while there as I was nearly overweight going over and I had to make some drastic changes to lose some of these excess pounds. I brought my diet right back to the basics and it really helped to shed the excess pounds. The most annoying thing at mealtimes was waiting for the others to be finished their starters before we were served the main course, I was lucky to have any fingers left by the time we were finished.

Going over, I was worried that I would get bored by the lack of distractions. At home, I work full time and train in the evenings so it is rare to have a quiet moment to myself. However, the days in MonteGordo were pretty full and any extra time I had was spent recovering. We also chilled out from time to time in the local hot spot Bar 42. It’s not really a pub but more like an internet café and as long as you are drinking juice or water they left us be. It was also the best place in town for meeting people and having a chat and this kept me sane off the track. I could go down and mingle with other athletes from across Europe who were also doing their warm weather training here and it was a great opportunity to learn a bit about their approaches to training. Seeing the way in which other nations train can sometimes be a great eye-opener and from chatting to a few of the coach’s I have learnt a few new tricks to apply to my own training.

Over-all warm weather training is not about doubling your training just because you can, it’s about getting the sessions in and the little extras that just get left out at home because of time restrictions. I have seen some groups who went from training 4 times a week to training 10 times a week, they have a great first week but by the middle of the second week, they’re complaining of shin splints and other over-use injuries. So remember, just because you might have the time doesn’t mean you have to over-train.

Over-all it was a great 6 weeks and I had some very good training sessions. I really kicked it up another gear. The season is here now and it’s starting to come together, a few little niggles but we all have them.

Chat soon,

Gordon Kennedy

Gordon’s race schedule is as follows, keep an eye out for news and reports over the coming weeks.

Races Coming up:

On Monday Brian Murphy will return to Montegordo for another warm weather training stay, after a full week back in Ireland. This time however, Brian will be joined by his fellow project400 members, Paul McKee and Brian Doyle.

At Montegordo, they will rejoin Gordon Kennedy, who had stayed on while Brian flew home last week. However, they will not be the only Irish athletes this time at the renowned training facility, as the AAI have organized a special training camp and there will be many other athletes in attendance for the 2 week stay.

Among those expected to attend will be fellow project400 member David Gillick who will fly out later in the week as well as Paul Hession and many other stars of the Irish athletics team.

Stay tuned for even more reports, photos and stories from the training camp.