Tag Archives: Gerry Hayes

Ivan Smyth catches up with Dean and Dylan Casey who along with Niall Murphy and Mark Hanrahan brought home team gold from the European U20 Cross Country Championships BACK home after their gold medal heroics in Portugal on Sunday the twin brothers who led Ennis Track to European glory have been reflecting on their feat. Dean and Dylan Casey ran first and second as Ennis Track secured team gold in the Junior Men’s grade at the ECCC Cross Country Championships. Niall Murphy produced a gritty display of racing as he crossed the line in 11th place on a morning where Ennis Track simply obliterated the field. Murphy was fourth inside the opening kilometre but despite falling back slightly, he displayed admirable heart to hold on and help his team win gold. Mark Hanrahan finished in 18th as Ennis Track were the only club to have four athletes finish inside the top 20. The Casey brothers ran an aggressive race in …

A STALWART of the Clare athletics scene received a congratulatory phone call from Olympic hero Kellie Harrington after receiving a national award for his work. Ennis Track AC’s Gerry Hayes recently received a SPAR Ireland Mentor Award for his unselfish hard work with the club. The president of the club was one of 10 people to receive this award as each winner scooped €1,000 for their club. The phone call from Harrington came after Hayes expressed his hope some of the young talent coming through can represent the club and their country at an Olympic Games. “I was overjoyed when I got the news. I never expected it. I do what I love. I’ve done volunteer work all my life and all my family have volunteered too so it is unexpected. It’s a huge honour.” He states his love of athletics was something he possessed from an early age. “I have a love of sport especially athletics. I found running …

IN 1991, Ennis Track AC was a fledgling club. Last year saw the club celebrate its 25th anniversary and, to mark the occasion, a commemorative book, charting the club’s progress over 25 years, was launched and is on sale at various locations throughout Ennis. The Inside Track captures some of the highlights over the past two and a half decades of the club. The brainchild of Gerry Hayes and Tom Casey, the club was founded in O’Keeffe’s Bar, Lifford, in February 1991. Since then, it has grown and achieved great success at county, provincial and national level. Two of the founder members, Gerry Hayes and Vera Dullaghan, are still active on the committee. The current membership totals more than 100 senior and 150 juvenile athletes, from age seven upwards. The senior ladies have been well represented in All-Ireland Cross-country Championships, winning the All-Ireland novice, intermediate and the B section of the inter-clubs within the past seven years. In 2013, the …