First off was a very impressive showing from the club at the Irish Universities National Indoor Championships in Athlone with John Travers (representing Athlone IT) winning the 1500m in new IUAA record of 3:44.24 and Eamonn Fahey (TCD) winning the long jump. Emily Geoghegan (UCD) won bronze on the 4 x200 relay and was 7th in 60m with 8.07.  Lynda Ngankam (DCU) finished 7th with 9m 24 in the triple jump and Eric Keogh (UCD) 6th in the 3000m with 9:36.28. The Leinster Indoor championships were also held in Athlone at the weekend and David Campbell was 5th in the 400m in 52.61 seconds. Masters stalwart Terry Mee picked up two medals in the V65 category – silver for the 3k in 13.02 and gold in the 800m in a time of 2.57.

The big cross country event of the weekend, National Masters and Intermediates in Derry saw a big contingent from the club travel north to fly the flag. The infamous snow of the 2010 Intercounties on the Gransha course at the foot of the Foyle Bridge was replaced by an abundance of muck and surface water. Yet again the women brought back the goods with another team gold in the Intermediate 5000m.

Íde Nic Dhomhnail ran herself to a standstill in her persuit of an individual medal. In the end her massive effort was rewarded by 5th place. She was followed closely by her sister Sorcha 9th who magnificently strode around the course giving every ounce of her energy resources to have her finest run yet in the black and white singlet of Donore. Sinead McCauley was next in for the team. From the off she was aggressive in her approach and showed her tremendous strength to hold her quick start throughout the race. Next in for the team was Aoife Rickard who completed the team scoring. Just eleven months after breaking a bone in her foot in the National Senior XCs, there was no-one more deserving of this invaluable gold medal after all her hard work and commitment to get back to full fitness which culminated in a magnificent race. The four scorers were aided every step of the way by very strong runs from Breda Mahoney and Marianne Dunleavy who had her best race yet. Brilliant running girls and a great team effort. Our master women were unlucky to finish just out of the medals but it was a great result on a team that was arguably not at full strength. Anne Curley ran strongly from the start and finished in 5th overall. A busy racing schedule of late probably kept her out of the overall top-three but no doubt she can achieve top-three next year. An added bonus was the fact that Anne helped Mayo county to silver medal. Anne was followed in by her sister and great team captain Florence who re-found her pep to have a great race. The new master on the block Sharon Moore and Michelle O’Hagan completed the team scoring with strong runs. Well done girls- medals await next year.

Our Intermediate men were unlucky to finish out of the medals by a mere 5 points. Aside from the fact that they missed out on the medals, all can be proud of their performances on the increasingly tough 8000m course as the lovely Northern rain eventually arrived. Darren Hand is continuing to show his latest sparkling form by being our first man home. Gavin Keogh was nest scorer. Gavin Keogh had led the way for the men for most of the race an really dug deep to hang on to Darren over the last lap. Both are showing they are in great shape for the upcoming National Senior XC. Jonathon Daly was next in after a great run that made up for his disappointment at the Leinster Senior XC. Jonathan was followed closely by Fergal Whitty who gave his characteristic battling performance. Next in was Gerry MacDonald who ran a great race and is showing very good recent form. New member Rene Kilrane was next in for the team. This was a great introduction to cross-country running for Rene as this sort of course is a little different to what he is used to in his native Canada. Unfortunately Lee Van Haeften who had been sick during the week was unable to finish the race which was a big disappointment to him after making the long journey up. The fact that he even tried to race is a mark of the man and no doubt he will be back next fitter, stronger and healthier to show us what he is capable of. Well done lads on a great team effort and also to Gavin and Jonathan who were on the gold medal winning Dublin team. Dave Wogan and Des Gill were our only representatives in the masters men’s race and both ran brilliantly with Des getting spiked and losing half a shoe mid race! It was a pity that they didn’t have a team to back them up on this occasion but with two teams in the Dublin Masters, it is clear that Masters running is strong in the club and hopefully this is the last time for many a year that we won’t field a team.

Thanks to the organisers of the event including our own Athletics Ireland Officials Harry Gorman and Charlie O’Neill. Harry’s cheering and Charlie’s warm words and hand-shake were very much appreciated by the teams at the finish line.

A nice surprise at the presentation afterwards was when Jim McNamara was presented with the IMAA Tadgh Lynch Master of the Year award by Mick Fennell of the Irish Masters Athletics Association. Well done Jim and its long overdue! The only award now overdue is a coaching one!

Meanwhile back in Dublin the girls continued to keep the flag flying when a big group of 16 Donore ladies ran the  final leg of the Meet and Train league in Lucan with Karen Behan in a brilliant 8th followed by Rhona Duane 11th, Alma Hanevy 12th, Mary McDermott 18th, Rachel Burke 22nd, Caren Crowley 26th,  Lee Chambers 31st, Angela Eustace  35th , Michelle Dawson  48th, Linda Curtin 51st, Eilish Joyce  58th, Deborah Duffy 60th, Sheila  Casey 63rd, Ann Woodlock 79th, Sue Lynch 82nd, Roz O’Connor 84th. Great running girls. Thanks also to Ger Lynch, Medbh Peavoy and Tom Byrne for the great support.