West Limerick Athletics Club was established in 1979. We have members from all over the West Limerick area. In past times we had a highly competitive men's team in national cross country and road racing. Current Club President John Scanlon won the National 10 mile title twice (1998,1999).
As a club we cater for athletes of all abilities and in recent years our membership has grown to reflect this with three training groups including juveniles, adult and Fit4Life. Our members take part in county, regional and national events. In 2020 we had just over 230 members with the majority being active members with the club through training, racing and volunteering.
Our club race is our annual Adare 10k and in 2020 it was in it’s 26th year. This coming year due to Covid-19 we will hold it virtually. The Adare 10k has become one of the most popular races in the club race calendar in Munster. The work put in by our volunteers and supporters over the years has made it a really special event for everyone involved.
In December we were delighted to hear the announcement from Limerick Council on the signing of contracts to build the Regional Athletics Hub in Newcastle West. It includes the construction of an athletics track to international World Athletics standard, floodlights and all associated track facilities, which will have disability access.
We would not be at this stage without the massive workload undertaken by Limerick Council, our locally and nationally elected representatives and the steering committee. The steering committee is led by Jim Galvin and was supported by many members including our own Liam Healy and Dan Cahill. West Limerick A.C. thank everyone for their hard work on this project over the last seven years.
With work to be complete in Autumn 2021, the possibilities for us as a club and for the community as a whole are endless. From training to hosting events, our juvenile and adult members are going to have world class facilities to prepare on, to be the best athletes that they can be.
While Covid has put a hold on many parts of our lives in 2020 and 2021 this facility gives hope to everyone and we cannot wait to make the most of this amazing opportunity.
Video preview of the Regional Athletics Hub.
www.westlimerickac.ie club website
info@westlimerickac.ie club email address
Article provided by Kevin O’ Donoghue from West Limerick A.C