Notice...Three Counties Challenge (Tipperary-Waterford-Kilkenny)...Apri-Aug 2014

The Outfield Sports 3 Counties Challenge is a popular race series which runs from April to August every year. Following the success of last year, the organisers Carrick-on-Suir AC have kept the same format with the same 5 races covering the three counties of Waterford, Tipperary and Kilkenny.

Location of race series.....within easy driving distance of Waterford, Dungarvan, Clonmel, Cashel, Thurles and Kilkenny.

Course previews....Faugheen 5k...Portlaw 5m...Deadmans 5m Carrick-on-Suir...Rathgormack 5m...Piltown 10k

Here is some additional info from Carrick-on-Suir AC.......
Carrick-on-Suir's Three-Counties Challenge has become firmly established in the South-East's running calendar since its inception in 2007. The series has grown from a single race with 100 runners to last year's record five-race series with more than a thousand participants. The eighth running of the series will once again start with a 5km race building up to 10km for the final event. This makes the series ideally suited to those who are new to running while also satisfying more experienced runners.

The 2014 series will start on Friday, 25th April with the second running of the Faugheen 5km road race, kindly sponsored by Bobby Fitzgerald Accountants. This race will be run over the well-known, flat route used for the Faugheen 50 motor bike races over the years and was the scene of many PB times in its very first running last year.

This will be followed closely by the O' Neill Pharmacy Tom Jordan Memorial Portlaw 5-mile road race on Friday, 9th May. This race, organised in conjunction with the Portlaw Red Cross, is run over another fast course and last year saw more than 250 entrants.

The third race in the series will see us return to County Tipperary for the ever-popular 'Deadman's 5' mile road race on Friday, 6th June at 7:30pm. Now in its ninth year, this race starts outside the beautiful Ormond Castle in the centre of Carrick-on-Suir, taking in a scenic route around the Deadman's Boreen (hence the name!) and finishing in a lovely straight stretch along the tree-lined town park.

The penultimate race of the series sees us return to County Waterford and the picturesque village of Rathgormack for the AutoPower Rathgormack 5 on Friday, 11th July. This challenging, undulating course is an ever-popular addition to the series, thanks mainly to the beautiful scenery of the Comeragh Mountains and the superb home cooking in the hiking centre after the race.

Finally, the series will end in County Kilkenny with the Morris Oil Piltown 10km road race on Friday, 1st August at 7:30pm. Another scenic trek, the race starts on the grounds of Kildalton Horticultural College and winds its way by the lake and tree-lined avenue before completing a circuit of the flat roads around Piltown. Another firm favourite in the series, 2014 will be the seventh running of this race.

The club is delighted to welcome back local specialist running store, Outfield Sports of Carrick-on-Suir as series sponsor for the eighth year ( now promoting the store's new website, hence the series title - the outfieldsports.ie 3 Counties Challenge). We are also delighted to announce that running brand Ron Hill are also involved as title sponsors. We are very grateful to our sponsors for their continued support and it is great to see the same businesses supporting our races year after year. As usual, the message from the club is for all series participants to return the support to these businesses who have been good enough to help us, despite the harsh economic climate.

The prize fund for the series will be in excess of €6,000 with prizes in all the usual age categories. There will also be a team prize for each race as well as numerous spot prizes. All races in the series have full AAI permits and are accurately measured. For further information on the series contact Mark (086-1608165) or Alan (051-641826).