What Can We Do?

So peeps the Running Man is back up and running again after some ridiculous negotiations and head banging we're back in business. So down to what matters most....the running. Now before we start our blogs here we want our readers to remember one thing....anything we write is our opinion of things...what we say is not always how things are merely our slant on the way we see Irish Athletics and Athletics around the world.

So we may as well begin here with a recap and our opinion on the European Team Championships. Ireland as a team placed 7th which as we were reminded on the AAI recap was our highest placing at these championships ever. Now, while this is all well and good are we really happy with 7th? Just because AAI likes to remind us that we placed higher this year than ever before does that mean we did well as a team overall!? People here at Running Man HQ beg to differ. Now for the individuals who competed we are proud of course of what you have achieved and we do not want to take anything away from anybody, we know as athletes ourselves that no matter what as an Irish athlete once you toe that line you'll give it everything you have, hence the name we earned ourselves "the fighting Irish", but as we continuously follow  results here in Ireland and around the world and we see the talent and amazing performances by Irish athletes are we really ready to be happy with 7th at a home European meet? It often amazes us how politics can get in the way of athletes being selected for certain teams and that has a lot to say when it's all supposed to be about the athletes and the running!! Overall, yes it was a great accomplishment for Ireland to place 7th but at the same time we feel Ireland should be finishing in the top 3 of any European event...we have the talent.

This brings me onto another topic...is AAI distributing it's funding equally and honestly!? Is the funding going to the athletes that need it the most? Are the athletes with shoe sponsors and other sources of Income sweeping all the funding that could be given to young aspiring athletes still in school!? I fell across a short but interesting article which has Eamonn Coughlan's opinion on this question. Those of ye who know or know of Eamonn, yes we agree, what a boss, those who don't know "the king of the boards", take it from us he's a boss and google him!!  Eamonn raises the point that yes athletes complain about not getting funding in Ireland, and yes we agree funding is very slack in Ireland, but when you look on the grand scheme of things the athletes that do get funding has reached what finals? and won what medals? Eamonn calls athletes out and says, and I quote ,"I’m looking right across the board. If an athlete is getting 40 grand a year for four years that’s a lot of money. And if they don’t even make it to the Olympic Games that’s got to be questioned." We bow our heads to the Big C Man for calling this to our attention. We at Running Man HQ don't like to complain about a thing without a solution.

 Why does AAI not pull their resources together and create a professional set up for aspiring athletes with standards to qualify!? We all know many of the best talents in the US do this! We know this as Ciaran O' Lioniard is part of one (Oregon Track Club) and he has everything an athlete could ever want at his finger tips. A top notch coach, great training partners that all has a common goal, ideal locations to train, facilities to work on strength and conditioning and such luxuries. Standards should be set so that the athletes that qualify are receiving funding from not just the sports council but from a sporting brand such as Nike or Adidas or the new Irish team sponsors New Balance. We need to set up a Professional team located somewhere in Ireland (probably the country of the jackeens) and allow these athletes to come together train together and thrive on each other. I have heard so many stories of aspiring athletes with buckets of potential and without good coaching advice are constantly injured and shagged up and can never get their head in the game. Don't believe us? Take a look at the only other country in the world challenging the dominant east africans today. The Americanos!! Their system as any is not without its flaws but damn do they produce some quality athletes. Yes we know Americas a big ass place but sure shag it Ireland has a ridiculous amount of talent that if nurtured properly and take the long term approach on things will start churning out athletes of a ridiculous calibre!!  Imagine having the cream of the spuds back home training and setting examples for younger athletes. We feel it would definitely open up the eyes of younger athletes who don't know alot about athletics in Ireland.
Last but not least we want to make a shout out to our athlete of the week. It will have to go to good ole Paul Robinson. Ladies and gentleladies what a bheast this guy is this season. Won the mile in San Diego, won his heat in Oxy in 3.37, just placed 2nd behind Collis afro jack Birmingham in 3.37 again. Has been running with the best in the world and still has a lot more to show we feel. Wild card to make worlds......Is feidir leat Paul agus is feidir linn Eire. Congrats to some great performances at the Mary Peters International as well, those guys were rocking the 1500m!!
Anybody wants to leave any comments or ideas post it as a comment on our facebook page! We want people to bring good constructive ideas...not tossing about with ripping people off. If you've got a complaint bring a solution!!

The Return of Running Man

Hello lads and lassies,

You're probably wondering if Running Man is making a comeback and what happened to his website? Well, I can tell you now that RM is back in business and the previous administrators kindly opted to hand over the rights of the RM Facebook page so that we can keep you up to date with news and our latest blogs via Facebook.

My aim here is to provide news and opinionated stories about the current and future state of Irish Athletics. This year's major international events include:
European Team Championships (22-23 June),
IAAF World Youth Championships (10-14 July),
European U23 Championships (11-14 July),
World University Games (6-17 July),
European Youth Olympic Festival (14-19 July),
European Junior Championships (18-21 July),
IAAF World Championships (10-18 August

These championships will no doubt be the highlight of Irish athletics for the 2013 year. As athletics in Ireland seems to be ever improving there is no reason why we won't see national records set both at the senior level and the juvenile level. As spectators, we always wanted our athletes to win medals at the World and European Championships. In the past we have struggled to even make finals never mind win medals. But, recently, confidence within the public has been redefined within Irish athletics. Can we win medals this year? Sure we can! We have major talent coming up through the ranks such as Kate Veale, Mark English, Marcus Lawlor, Sarah Lavin, Siofra Cleirigh-Buttner, Ruairi Finnegan and so on. I could list so many names that fall under the category of names just mentioned which means only one thing - A bright future for Irish Athletics.

I look forward to giving my opinions and hearing from you!

RM