Two gold and a silver made it another great day in the park for Donore Harriers! This was the Dublin Novice cross country championships (5/10/14) and in the 4km women’s race an outstanding last lap performance from Aisling Nic Dhomhnaill (14.30) saw her as the runaway winner with 19 seconds to spare over runner-up Niamh Donnelly of Celtic DCH.

An excellent debut run from Michelle Childs (15.26) saw her place 7^thand this put the team in contention for team honours. Celtic DCH further packed places 8, 9 and 10 to win the team competition. However, strong running from Kim Hickey (15.46) in 11^th and Sinead Graham (16.05) in 16^thensured that our women’s team claimed silver.

In the men’s race over 6km the trio of Niall Lynch, Caoimhin Kelly and Daragh Fitzgibbon were always placed near the top end of the field and this set the tone for a strong team challenge. But Dundrum South Dublin with three in the top 10 were also in contention. Ultimately good packing saw the host club win the day with Eoin Durkan making a crucial contribution as the fourth Donore Harrier home. Niall Lynch (19.57) came an excellent 5^th and used his summer mountain running exploits to good use by gaining ground on the undulating sections. Caoimhin Kelly (19.58), who recently transferred in from Glaslough AC, made a very telling debut for Donore by placing 6^th. Daragh Fitzgibbon (20.10) had a very fine run to place 8^th despite losing a little ground in the last of the four 1500 metre laps.

The race was won by John Frazer (19.36) of Crusaders with Wishu Gebreselassie (19.53) of DSD in second place.

Results in brief: –

Women’s 4km race:- 1^st Aisling Nic Dhomhnaill (14.30); 7^th Michelle Childs (15.26) debut; 11^th Kim Hickey (15.46); 16^th Sinead Graham (16.05); 18^th Emer Rathigan (16.16); 21^st Rhona Duane (16.21); 28^th Ruth Cavanagh (16.43); 34^th Lisa Carley (16.52); 43^rd Medbh Peavoy (17.19); 45^th Aisling Swaine (17.21); 46^th Eva Campion (17.25); 51^stAisling Lonergan (17.50); 60^th Sarah Mullins (18.21); 61^st Mary Murphy (18.29)

Team Score: 1^st Celtic DCH 29; 2^nd Donore Harriers 35 (Nic Dhomhnaill; Childs; Hickey; Graham); 3^rd Crusaders; 9^th Donore Harriers ‘B’. Total of 11 teams.

Men’s 6km race:- 5^th Niall Lynch (19.57); 6^th Caoimhin Kelly (19.58) debut; 8^th Daragh Fitzgibbon (20.10); 14^thEoin Durkan (20.36); 25^th Emmet O’Briain (25.10); 54^th Darren Hughes (22.29) debut; 56^th Patrick Byrne (22.31) debut; 72^ndGerard McDonald (23.30); 76^th Tom Fagan (23.38); 79^thNiall J O’Reilly (23.50); 81^st Niall P O’Reilly (23.56); 94^thIan Redican (25.05)

Team Score: 1^st Donore Harriers 34 (Lynch; Kelly; Fitzgibbon; Durkan); 2^ndCrusaders 43; 3^rd DSD 45; 13^th Donore Harriers ‘B’ 258; Total of 15 teams.

Other results: –

Dublin Simon Community 5 mile road race Phoenix Park (4/10/14) – 3^rd Gavin Keogh (27.27); 53^rd Joseph Maguire M75 (35.43)

Tymon Parkrun 5km (4/10/14) –7^th Samantha Conroy F35 (21.25) first in women’s class

Leixlip GAA 10km road race (5/10/14) – 2^nd Darren Hand (35.25)

The Laurels Charity Crew 10km (5/10/14) – 5^th Robert Cogan (38.20); 7^thGrace Kennedy (39.14);