Kilcoole Athletic Club Put Their Heart And Soles Into It

Slow and steady wins the odd race… WEDS27MAY26

atest press release from Kilcoole Athletic Club, issued on Saturday, June 6th 2026…

Kilcoole AC, the largest athletic club in County Wicklow, has a long history (56 years) of training some of the finest athletes to come out of the county.

The club trains at Charlesland running track, and its senior members are trained by Emmett Dunleavy, one of Ireland’s premier running coaches. The club encourages members to compete in competitions at all levels, but it’s an all-inclusive sports club, and welcomes members of all abilities and ambitions.

Recently, some senior members of the club, driven by its track and field leaders Will Brosnahan, Lena Staniszewska and Darragh Page, set their sights on winning the County Wicklow Track and Field Championship, a title which the club had never captured before.

The Championship was held over four days in May, with the final events taking place on Wednesday 27th of May. This year, an all-out club effort was made to encourage members to help secure this elusive title. Club captains Dúnlaith Ward and Brian Gurrin were called in to rally the troops, and encourage members to ‘have a go’ at some of the wide range of events in the 4-Day calendar. All members were prompted and nudged to sign up for events and play a part.

Members were even asked to move outside their comfort zones and have a try at events that they had never considered before, including taking a pot at jumping and throwing field events, which have rarely featured on members’ radars.

By good fortune, the voluntary services of the renowned throwing coach, Kerryman Willy Murphy, became available at the right time, and some members, more comfortable with running than throwing, jumped at the chance to throw the shot put, javelin, discus and hammer. Because of this, the club had more members in throwing field events than ever before.

Over the four May days, Kilcoole AC’s juvenile and senior members competed with athletes from the other clubs in the county. They competed in sprint, hurdles, middle distance, relays, long jump and high jump, shot put, javelin, discus and hammer racking up point after point on the scoreboard.

With the scores finally totted up after 10 whole days, the local club was delighted to finally come out on top in the seniors-masters competition and the Junior Awards Scheme. County Wicklow Track and Field seniors champions, 2026 – Kilcoole Athletic Club. A job well done.

Club captains Dúnlaith Ward and Brian Gurrin said of the win, “We called on all members to jump into the competitions and make one big push to secure the title, and we were delighted with the response.

“We are also extremely grateful to Athletics Wicklow and all the volunteers without whom the competition could not have taken place…”

We are extremely grateful to John McGowan for capturing all the action – full gallery in hi-res (free to download) is right about here.

Once again, full hi-res gallery is here. You can find out more about the Kilcoole Athletic Club here, follow on Instagram here or Ye Olde Facebook here, and get in touch on email here. And brace yourself for their Family Fun Day on July 25th.