Blackrock Athletic Club

Set up in 1944 and now proudly in its 77th year, Blackrock Athletic Club continues to fulfil the athletic ambition of everyone in the community. We respect our history and heritage and place equal emphasis on fun and performance excellence. Blackrock Athletic Club is a welcoming, all-inclusive club which encourages all members of the community regardless of their age or fitness level to join and get involved in the variety of events which take place throughout the year both in Ireland and abroad.

Blackrock Athletic Club plays a key role in the promotion of health and wellbeing in our community, by giving people of all ages and abilities an opportunity to partake in athletics in a safe and enjoyable environment. We also give talented athletes the opportunity to realise their full potential.

We are proud of the safe, respectful, trusted and friendly environment we maintain for everyone involved with the club. Today, Blackrock Athletic Club is home to over 600 members, making it one of the largest athletic clubs in Ireland.

The ethos of this section of the club is for the athletes to train in a fun and social environment while still allowing them to reach their competitive potential and compete for the club should they wish to do so.  We hope to foster a lifelong love for athletics and a long term connection with the club.

Athletes train in their age group which is based on the calendar year January to December.  This works well for team competition and for social reasons.  As the athletes get older and more competitive or specialised, they can join development squad groups that span age groups but still maintain training contact with their own age group.

Coaching is structured by age group with a head coach and team of coaches for each group.  Almost all of the coaching training is voluntary by parents or club members, many of whom are or were athletes themselves.  All our coaches are Garda vetted and have completed child welfare training. The club encourages and pays for ongoing athletic training of our coaches with Athletics Ireland or equivalent coaching courses.  Parents interested in getting involved in coaching are always welcome but should understand it is a commitment for a number of years rather than months. Learn more about Academy, Juvenile and Junior groups.

The BAC Men's section is intended for all adult runners who have some existing running experience. We cater to various running abilities up to and including elite level; as a rule of thumb, most of our group are able to run at least 10k. We train together twice per week, meeting in Blackrock village, on a Tuesday evening (training run) and a Sunday morning (long run). We have a friendly and relaxed atmosphere at our sessions, with the aim that everyone enjoys it, but also have an opportunity to push themselves and help achieve their running goals. Our sessions are not exclusively for men – runners of any gender are welcome!

At our Tuesday training, we do some form of intervals, speed work, hill reps or other workouts. Many of our members much prefer to do such a session as a group, not just for the social aspect but also for motivation! The vast majority of these sessions are done in a park or a short circuit such that runners of various speeds can train together while also remaining in one group.

Our Sunday long run is normally done on a coastal route around Dublin bay, usually at about 5 minutes/km pace and typically 15k – with options for shorter or longer routes as we see fit (for example, we often increase the distance in the run-up to the Dublin City Marathon which is one of our biggest target events each year). Learn more about the Men's section...