I let the 10th anniversary of the formation of the senior section of Athenry AC go, much to my chagrin due to work and other commitments, without making mention of it specifically here.

This little article may redress that balance a little bit!

Mick Rice, Peter Delmer and myself had been knocking around Athenry for at least 18/24 months, each doing a bit of running; the other two moreso than me, of course.

We eventually got together and formulated the idea of a small club, so that we could then go to races in our own singlets and properly represent the place we were all living in.

We knew of the existence of the juvenile club in the parish, made contact with Dermot McNamara and decided to bang out the idea of a club in Peter Delmer's house on the evening of Wednesday, 9 October 2002.

The full and unexpurgated minutes of the meeting are outlined below:

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09/10/02

Present: James, Mick, Peter & Dermot McNamara

* James, Mick and Peter all registered as members of Athenry AC.

* Dermot agreed to support senior club, by giving memberships, registering members for AAI meets etc.

* Senior club members agreed to organise themselves, train, advertise, grow the club, race etc...

* Dermot supplied five Athenry AC signlets for senior use.

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From such small acorns do...<complete the saying yourself>...

We organised our first race less than three months later and will celebrate the 11th running and 10th anniversary of the Fields 10KM this St. Stephen's Day!

One other thing that deserves some mention.  The club has its over variation of "Google employee numbers", namely the early Athenry AC (Senior) Membership Register:

01 - Peter Delmer

02 - James Lundon

03 - Mick Rice

04 - James Corbett

05 - Ray O'Connor

06 - Johnny O'Connor

07 - Terry Redmond

08 - Paul Hehir

09 - Colm Rowe

10 - Liam Mycroft

11 - Philip Magnier

12 - Deirdre McGrath

13 - Mark Mitchell

14 - Bridget Anne Walsh

15 - Eileen Donoghue

16 - Sebastian Locteau

17 - Dave Dunne

18 - Jeff Noone

19 - Paul Keane

20 - Gary Doherty

21 - Tony Harrington

22 - Paul McNamara

23 - Gary Raftery

24 - Tony Daley

Other people mentioned in the minutes book at the time, who may or may not have become early members include:

Joe Kemple

Gerry Masterson

Alan Burke

Gary Begley

Mark Flannery

Michael McMahon

Joe Morrissey

Paul Kilkelly

Michael Duane

Marie Caulfield

Maggie Whytre

Michael Rooney

Brian O'Connor

Owen Curran

Enough!

JAL.