Welcome. Sunday 13 December Santry Demesne, Dublin, Ireland

Transcription

1 Welcome Sunday 13 December Santry Demesne, Dublin, Ireland

2 A Special Place Preparations are well advanced for the hosting of the 16th Spar European Cross Country Championships in Dublin on the 13th December This, the first European Athletics Championship event ever to be held in Ireland, will be a momentous occasion for the sport. Athletics Ireland is determined to continue the organizational excellence established at previous editions of this prestigious event. The hosting of major events like the Spar European Cross Country Championships is the foremost way for us to develop and foster our great sport within the country. We are indebted to European Athletics for entrusting us with this great honour. Cross country holds a special place in Irish athletics. We have a proud tradition extending back over 100 years in international participation and organisation. As recent as 2002 Dublin staged a successful IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Dublin. At the highest level in the sport, Irish legends like John Treacy, Sonia O Sullivan and Catherina McKiernan have achieved World and European successes. Athletics Ireland is appreciative of the unstinting support given by Minister for Sport Martin Cullen TD, the Irish Sports Council, Fingal Council, RTE and Clonliffe Harriers in the hosting of this event.. A hugely motivated volunteer LOC, completely focused on delivering a world-class event, is in place. Dublin is a great city. A warm welcome awaits you all. Remember to put in your diaries: Dublin 13th December 2009 now! Liam Hennessy President Athletics Ireland Event Director: Administration & Finance: Marketing & Promotion: Media Liasion: Technical: Event Presentation: VIP s/ceremonies: LOCAL ORGANISING COMMITTEE Liam Hennessy I.T.: Mary Coghlan Security/Health & Safety: Clare McCoy Transport/Accommodation: Frank Greally City: Tom Mc Cormack Paddy Marley RTE : Brendan McDaid Medical: Gerry Giblin George Maybury Martin Mulcahy Senan Turnbull Margaret Bennett Dr. Bill Cuddihy

3 Welcome I am delighted that the 16 th Spar European Cross Country Championships will be held in Santry Demesne, Dublin in November I would like to congratulate the Athletics Association of Ireland on their success in winning this bid to host these prestigious championships, particularly against the very high standard of the competing bidders. The opportunity to host the Championships is a great honour for Irish athletics and indeed for Irish sport. I have no doubt that the 2009 Championships will emulate the success of the 2002 World Cross Country Championships which were held here in Ireland and showcase our country as an ideal location for the hosting of such major sporting events. Ireland has a proud tradition in cross country running and has produced major successes in individual and team awards in previous European and World Championships. Catherina McKiernan won the inaugural European Cross Country Championships in 1994 while Sonia O Sullivan won double gold in the World Cross Country Championships in John Treacy won gold in the World Cross Country Championships in both 1978 and It is appropriate that 2009 will celebrate the 30 th anniversary of John s memorable triumph in Limerick back in As Minister for Sport, with responsibility for Tourism, I wish all the participants, officials and supporters, particularly those travelling from abroad, a Céad Míle Fáilte one hundred thousand welcomes. I hope that they enjoy the world famous hospitality for which Ireland is renowned. I can assure you of the Irish Government s commitment and support for the successful hosting of the 2009 SPAR European Cross Country Championships. Finally, I would like to wish everyone involved with the 15 th European Cross Country Championships in Park de Laecken in Brussels in December the very best of luck and I look forward to welcoming you all to Ireland in Martin Cullen TD Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism Pictures: Sportsfile, Getty Images, Dublin City Council Design: Grand Designs

4 LOCATION & HOTEL GUIDE Crowne Plaza Dublin-Northwood Northwood Park Santry Demesne, Dublin T: E: info@crowneplazadublin.ie Located in the mature 85 acre woodlands of Northwood Park, with 204 bedrooms, just minutes from Dublin Airport with complimentary airport shuttle. Radisson SAS Dublin Airport, Co. Dublin T: +353 (0) F: +353 (0) E: info.airport.dublin@radissonsas.com Contemporary 4-star hotel, offering 229 guestrooms and 30 meeting rooms, located within the airport complex at Dublin Airport. Clarion Hotel Dublin Airport Cloghran, Co Dublin T: F: E: info@clarionhoteldublinairport.com 4 star hotel located in Dublin Airport complex, 3 minutes from the Airport Terminal and served by a 24 hour courtesy coach. 248 bedrooms. Carlton Hotel Old Airport Road, Cloghran, Dublin T: E: info.dublin@carlton.ie metres from the airport entrance, the Carlton Hotels offers 100 deluxe rooms, with professionally equipped meeting and dedicated conference centre. Express by Holiday Inn Dublin Airport Northwood Park, Santry Demesne, Santry, Dublin room, 3-star hotel located just 5 minutes drive from Dublin Airport and close to the Crowne Plaza Hotel s Conference Centre; the hotel provides a courtesy coach to and from the airport. Situated in 85 acres of mature parkland. No. Description 1. Start 2. Finish 3. Call Room 4. Warm-up area 5. Changing Tent 6. Athletes WC 7. Video Screen 8. Awards Podium 9. Photographers Bridge 10. Athletes return to Mix Zone 11. VIP/Press Tribune 12. VIP Hospitality 13. Doping Control Centre 14. Mix Zone/Dressing Area 15. LOC Office No

5 VENUE GUIDE Description Media Centre Results Distribution Physio Jury of Appeal TIC Storage LOC Parking VIP Car Park Media Truck & Car Park First Aid Public WC Event Equipment Storage VIP Hotel Media Hotel Spectator Crossing Point Timing (STS)

6 A Timeless City Dublin is a charming city with welcoming people and a laidback culture. It is also a young city approximately half of the one and a half million people living in greater Dublin are under 25. This figure is constantly growing, with many of the countryside s younger generation moving to the capital. Dublin originally began as a Viking trading post called Dubh Linn (Dark Pool), which soon amalgamated with a Celtic settlement called Baile Átha Cliath (Town of the Hurdle Ford) still the Gaelic name for the city. As most of the early city was built of wood, only the two cathedrals, part of the castle and several churches have survived from before the seventeenth century. The fabric of the city dates essentially from the Georgian period, when the Anglo-Irish gentry began to invest their income in new town houses. Membership of the European Union and more recently the Celtic Tiger economic boom has infused money into the city, and you ll see new buildings everywhere. It s the collision of the old, charming Dublin with the new, stylish Dublin that makes it the energetic, cosmopolitan city it is today. Dublin has an illustrious educational and cultural past. Trinity College, or University of Dublin, founded in 1591, has graduated authors Jonathan Swift, Oliver Goldsmith, and Oscar Wilde. Its library houses the 8th-century Book of Kells, the famous decorated gospel book made by Celtic Monks. Famous literary figures to emerge from the city include Richard Brinsley Sheridan, John Millington Synge, James Joyce, Samuel Beckett, William Butler Yeats and George Bernard Shaw. The city played a leading role in the revival of Irish language and literature of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. North of the river and west of the city center is the Phoenix Park, nearly 2,000 acres(800 hectares) in size, the largest enclosed park in Europe.

7 A Valued Tradition Cross country as an organized sport originated from The Crick Run held every year since 1837 at Rugby School in England, and the early 19th century was practiced in all private schools. In 1851, students at Oxford University organised a race to the nearest church steeple, over obstacles such as hedges, fences, and ditches. A two-mile cross country steeplechase formed part of the Oxford University sports from which many of the modern track and field events are derived, in Cross country was introduced into the United States in 1878 as training for track and field athletics. Until 1924 it was included in the Olympic Games. In 1973 the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) inaugurated the annual World Cross Country Championships. Ireland has a long and proud tradition of cross country running at all levels of competition from Schools, - where cross country provides the first competitive experience of athletics for many Irish boys and girls - to the highest international level. Irish athletes have won four World titles; John Treacy took the men s gold in Glasgow (1978) and Limerick (1979), having won the Junior title in 1974 and 75, while Sonia O Sullivan scored a unique long and short-course double win in Marrakesh (1998). Irish teams took silver in the men s event at Limerick and bronze in the women s long course in 1997 and women s short course in Dublin 2002 the most recent of the three occassions on which Ireland has hosted the World Cross Country Championships. Catherina McKiernan, who won four consecutive silvers in the World Cross Country Championships from 1992 to 1995, took gold in the inaugural European Cross Country Championship at Alnwick, England in 1994.

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