2022 BHAA Chairman Report

BHAA Admin • December 19, 2022

Welcome to our BHAA AGM which covers 2022 following the Covid-19 Pandemic and the restricted times we lived in for 2 years.

Let us remember our past colleagues who died during 2022. May they Rest In Pace 

Normal service was resumed in January 2022 with the staging of the Bank of Ireland cc race in Tymon Park. Our new Covid signs encouraged Social Distancing and Sanitisation!

We were back in Tymon Park with Eir two weeks later – this time there was a marked change in attitude as the Covid Restrictions were eased at mid-night!

And our Covid signs were redundant after 2 outings! At last we were free to race and Indoor Refreshments were available again. Everyone was delighted to be back racing and meeting old friends and foes!

We completed our Spring cc races with Garda in a very windy Phoenix Park, with Central Bank in Wesley College, with Dublin Airport in ALSAA and with AIB/NUIM in ideal conditions in Maynooth College.

BHAA noticed that numbers had not returned as per pre-Covid. There was still an element of fear in people mixing and getting infected by Covid. BHAA was not alone in seeing this trend.

The BHAA Road Racing season began with a well-supported DCC event in St Annes Park which included a contra-flow due to the Farmers Market in the Park. This included the final race in the Lord Mayors Series in which she ran. Well done Alderman Caroline Conroy! I am not sure if she stayed for the Quiz?

With the loss of the K-Club and BMS races in 2022, our summer calendar suffered.

ESB Beach race was cancelled at the 11th hour due to inclement weather on the East Coast in mid-May – another sign of Global Warming????

Government Services staged their annual excellent 5-mile race in Dunboyne. Unfortunately Paul Gorey has stepped away from Race Promoting and BHAA are actively trying to recruit his successor – there is no mad rush with offers!!!

DCC kept the flag flying with a well-supported 5k in Irishtown on a warm July day!
Pfizer brought the curtain down on our road season with a 5k around their Grange Castle Complex. Well done to Marius McNicholas on an excellent promotion. It was comforting to hear that our Pfizer Vaccines were manufactured in this Centre.

The Irish Life Dublin Marathon was staged on the last Sunday in Oct and Jim Aughney and his teams did an excellent job in attracting over 25,000 entries.

Unfortunately, our Irish Life cc race in Nov could not go ahead due to Track Upgrading in Santry but we hope normal service will resume in 2023.

BHAA attended the Marathon Expo in RDS at the end of Oct. We used it to promote both our and the Cork BHAA 2022/23 calendars. Two new Race Promoters intimated their desire to host BHAA races – this was music to our ears!

John Sheridan and BNP Paribas promoted a new 6k cc race in Kiltipper Park on 10th Dec in snow-covered fields. SDCC refused permission to race in Dodder Valley Park but with the help of Alan Merriman (TallaghtTown AFC), we were able to re-locate to Kiltipper Park. This has the potential to become one of our Signature events! 

Challenges – New members, New Promoters, Park Runs, Calendar

Committee members – new people are always welcome, Sinead Lyons, Colm Murray and Mary Rigney made very valuable contributions to this BHAA committee. Kathleen Horgan and Jim Dwyer made welcome comebacks to this Committee. 

Recently, Irish Life Sports & Social made a very generous donation to BHAA – this was a major surprise and a Big Thank You to Mary, Kathleen and Irish Life. 

Thank you to all BHAA members for your continued support and loyalty.

Unfortunately for BHAA, Stephen Naughton is stepping away from the Committee after many years in different roles as Chairman, Secretary and Race Organiser. After a tough personal year, he has been a tremendous supporter of BHAA over 40 years. I will miss his sound advice and support but I expect to see him racing more often. Thank you, Stephen.

Thank you to all the other committee members who ensure that every race maintains a high standard with their input. Frank Wade, with his relentless pursuit of perfection ensures that I cannot drop my guard or make any school-boy errors around Timing! His attention to detail is frightening but it is extremely beneficial to BHAA.

The Committee covers many areas, Admin, Finance, Web, Communications, Calendar, Registration, Results, Promoters, Venues and other Stakeholders – this Committee has ensured that all these areas are covered adequately.

It is great to be back to Normal and we have a reasonable BHAA Calendar prepared for 2023. If BNP Paribas can put on a race within weeks of engaging with us, there must be more brave Promoters out there? Please come forward.

Your input is important. New faces and new ideas are always welcomed by BHAA.

Merry Christmas and have a great, sporting 2023

Charlie Cronin
Chairman 2022

DCC 6k Road Race, St. Anne's Park, Raheny

By Gerry Flaherty • April 15, 2026
St. Anne’s Park provided the perfect setting for the BHAA Dublin City Council 6km on a cool, bright, and breezy morning. The race followed a meandering route around the lower end of the park, offering a mostly flat course with a few gentle hills to test participants’ fitness. Over 130 runners took part, with many participating as part of the Lord Mayor’s 5 Alive Challenge. The race was officially started by the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Cllr Ray McAdam. A big thank you to everyone who supported the event, and well done to all the Dublin City Council volunteers who turned out to help on the day.  The men’s race came down to a thrilling sprint finish, with Patrick Joseph MacGabhann narrowly edging out Sean Doran by just one second, finishing in 19:32. Edel McCreery was the first female home, crossing the line in an impressive 22:42. Gerry Flaherty

Third time lucky for Central Bank Cross-Country Race

By Sinead Lyons • March 15, 2026
At the third attempt, Robbie Beggs and his tenacious crew from Central Bank of Ireland staged their Cross-Country race in Jobstown Park, Tallaght on Saturday 14 th March. A cool breeze from the mountains kept temperatures down, but aside from that, running conditions were almost perfect. The course route was as interesting as the park could be made, with a nice incline included for good measure. The winner was Paul Fleming who lead the race from very early on. The first lady home, in 4 th position overall was Laura McDonnell. There were great performances throughout the field, with all runners across the line within 40 minutes. Well done to everyone. When all participants had crossed the line, it was back to the Tallaght Leisure Centre for refreshments and prizes. The male and female winners were presented with commemorative coins as an extra memento of the race. Well done to all of the stewards and volunteers from BHAA and from Central Bank and fair play to Robbie and the team for not giving up and for keeping this race on the BHAA calendar for another year. Photos and footage from the race and the prize-giving can be found on facebook and on Instagram. 

Teacher’s Cross-Country Race at Clonkeen College

By Diarmuid Doyle • February 23, 2026
The Spring is sprung,  The grass is riz I wonder where the BHAA is... After the disappointment of recent race cancellations, it was great to be back! We were warmly welcomed at Clonkeen College, Deangrange by an enthusiastic and efficient crew of volunteer muinteoiri and School staff. The mild, sunny weather on race-day was a welcome change after the wet conditions of recent weeks. Surprisingly, the underfoot conditions were fairly dry and the flat, zig-zag course, skirting the playing fields was well grassed with little or no mud and just a few thistles here and there. 81 runners toed the line for the 6k combined race. KPMG’s Conor Burke was an impressive winner in the men’s division, while Niall Sherlock in 2 nd place had the honour of being the 1 st teacher. Sheila Nolan was the 1 st woman home with Vanessa Sallier 2 nd . The facilities were excellent - It was great to get a hot shower after racing, and the sun shone throughout the presentation of prizes. Those of us who missed out on glory were consoled with tea coffee biscuits and copious slices of cake and brack. With luck, we’ll have this super venue for “Teacher’s race “ for many future years. Thanks to Darren Egan, Jim Lynch and all who organised, volunteered and supported. Thank you to Harry Teehan for the photos capturing a great race.

BHAA Race of the Year 2025

By Stephen Naughton • January 27, 2026
The Race of the Year 2025 was awarded to BCM Global for their 5k trail race in the Phoenix Park. As a first time race organiser, Sinead Lyons (race director) and her team from BCM Global put in a lot of work into the race and it has been duly rewarded. The trophy was presented to Sinead Lyons (BCM Global) by Stephen Naughton, BHAA Chairman.

2025 Summer League Presentation of Team Prizes

By Stephen Naughton • January 27, 2026
The prizes and trophies for the BHAA Summer League 2026 were presented at the AGM. There were 30 cash prizes totalling over €1600 for the individual winners of the various categories. The team winners in the leagues were presented with their much sought after trophies by BHAA President Jim Kelly - Men’s team winners were ESB (Mick Quirke accepting) and Women’s team winners were Bank of Ireland (Eamon O’Neill on behalf of Women’s team). 

BHAA AGM 2025

By Stephen Naughton • January 27, 2026
The BHAA held its 2025 AGM in Sportsco on Monday 26 January 2026. The date of the AGM was changed from December to January to facilitate easier meeting preparations and allow more time for the annual accounts to be completed. This was agreed through a motion at the 2024 AGM. The BHAA financial accounts for 2025 were presented at the meeting. The accounts were audited by the BHAA auditors and were deemed to be a fair and reasonable representation. The BHAA and Irish Life Dublin City Marathon team continue to work closely on common matters and Jim Aughney from DCM gave a very interesting review of the Dublin City Marathon & Half Marathon as well as the Summer Race Series in 2025 A new committee was elected for 2026, see below; - President; Jim Kelly - Chairperson; Stephen Naughton - Vice-Chairperson; Mary Rigney - Treasurer; Enda Currid - Registrar; Kathleen Horgan - Secretary; Sinead Lyons - Webmaster; Colm Murray - PRO; Charlie Cronin

AIB/NUI & 2 Mile & 4 Mile Cross Country Race

By Jim Kelly • October 30, 2025
Nice setting and weather for Maynooth cross country race

DCC BHAA Race Report 2025 Irishtown 5K

By Jim Kelly • July 23, 2025
Leafy balmy Dublin 4’s Sean Moore Park was the venue for a BHAA race that started in its original form in 2005 at Irishtown Stadium and Ringsend Park. So for twenty years except for the Covid hiatus, Dublin City Council runners continue to deliver two BHAA races annually. The 2025 version had a race course in Sean Moore Park and the Poolbeg peninsula with beautiful views of Dublin bay. Before the race, dark clouds threatened rain. However it t was pleasing to see 167 entrants line up and finish without a drop of rain.

BHAA BCMGlobal 5km Trail Race Report

By Sinead Lyons • July 7, 2025
On a warm Summer’s evening….

That Was The League That Was

By Sinead Lyons • April 26, 2025
From Terra “Feirme” to Terra Firma and everything in between. The Winter League prize presentation will be held at the Irish Life race on 27th May in Dunboyne. It is fitting that the prize-giving for the Winter League 2024-25 takes place in Meath, because that’s where the league began in November on Ledwith Farm in Batterstown. The townies were delighted with their day out down on the farm, complete with a real live bull and all the sights and sounds and smells of agriculture to accompany the race. Revenue pulled a race out of the bag in record time and presented us with a new race in a new venue on 1st December. Santa arrived a little early with plenty spot prizes and treats. BHAA Stalwarts Bank of Ireland were back in Tymon Park for the annual race that wakes us all up after Christmas. A little earlier than usual, the Garda Cross country race took place in Phoenix Park. As ever, a popular race on a tough cross country course. We were disappointed when the Eir race had to be cancelled. Teachers and Central Bank of Ireland hosted their races in two new locations. The Teachers, (back on the BHAA Calendar after a sabbatical) in St. Columba’s College and CBI in Jobstown Park. The Central Bank race has been nomadic for the last few years, but hopefully it has found a new home and will continue to host this very popular race for years to come. In a new venture, BHAA and AIB teamed up with the Women’s Meet & Train League to host the 2 and 4 mile races in Abbottstown in March. An unprecedented statistic from this race, there were more running the 2 mile women’s race than the men’s. Normally a no-no in BHAA races, Athletic club singlets abounded for the 2 mile race! We ended the league with another constant on the BHAA calendar. ALSAA hosted the 2 and 5 mile races on an unseasonably warm day. We thought warm weather training had started early! Kudos to all of the Race Promoters and to the BHAA volunteers who turn up week after week (and in February there were 4 races in as many weeks!); and Kudos to all of the athletes, without whom Business Houses Athletics would not happen. The BHAA committee continues to work away behind the scenes planning and arranging races. If your company would like to participate in our races, or would like to host a race, please email us at info@bhaa.ie. We have the knowledge and will help you, all you need is the enthusiasm.
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