Lee Van Haeften has been one of the club’s leading senior distance athletes over the last decade. He was the 2nd scorer on the Donore Harriers team that won team bronze in the 2014 national senior cross-country championships at Dundalk, and in the following spring he ran the opening leg for the club’s senior team that won the national road relay in Raheny. Among his many career highlights is a 2.28.19 marathon in Frankfurt in October 2019.
In this insightful interview Lee tells us about how he first came to Donore Harriers and talks about the transition from junior to senior grades and the importance to have group training squads with shared goals.
Lee, who has honed his expertise as a physiotherapist at the Performance Clinic in Celbridge and with the St. Patrick’s Athletics Football team, has set up a physio clinic on the 1st floor of the Donore Harriers clubhouse. More details on this important service will follow soon
STANDARD QUESTIONS
PLACE AND YEAR OF BIRTH? Dublin, Ireland, 1990 – so, 30 years young!
WHERE WERE YOU EDUCATED? Salesian College in Celbridge and Physiotherapy at Teeside University in Middlesborough. I also studied a degree in Sports Science & Health
WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR CAREER PATH? I have been back home in Ireland since 2015 working in a physiotherapy clinic in Celbridge. Physiotherapy is such a brilliant diverse profession with many different fields/areas. I have been lucky enough to have worked in a hospital setting, private practise, professional sport, and as a result have developed a real passion for exercise-based treatment for the management of injuries
IN WHAT YEAR DID YOU JOIN DONORE HARRIERS? Not exactly sure, but around 2005/2006
WHY DID YOU CHOOSE DONORE HARRIERS? Joan Mc Tiernan (a club member and former Club Treasurer) does a bit of running with my mam so that is where the connection came from. I always remember my first night at the club. I got the bus down from Celbridge not knowing what to expect. I was told to ask for Willie at the front door and he would be able to guide me from there. Little did I know there was two of them!! Willie Smith and the great Willie Dunne! Colin Moore was the first person that I met that night and he brought me out for a run with the group. It was an 8-mile progression run. Fred Kiernan said to me afterwards “You are not bad, are you”. That was enough for me to get the buzz
WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE ATHLETICS EVENT? Most athletes will pick an event that they are good at. For me, it is the National Road Relays in Raheny. I love the 1-mile lap coming around the straight each time lined up with people giving encouragement. Obviously winning the senior men`s title with Eric (Keogh), Daragh (Fitzgibbon), and John (Travers) gave me some great memories. I am sure the lads will agree. We are glad to have the memories from that day, as there have not been many from that night!
WHO WERE/ARE YOUR SPORTING INSPIRATIONS/INFLUENCES? People who have inspired and influenced me the most are probably people that I have seen first-hand graft and work hard for success. Mark Kenneally (Clonliffe Harriers and 2012 Olympic marathon runner) opened my eyes when I started doing a bit of running with him 5 or 6 years ago. Mark’s running career and achievements speak for themselves. I saw at first-hand the mindset it takes to be an Olympian. No gimmicks! no fancy training! no bullshit! Just pure honest hard work. He coaches me and Eric (Keogh) nowadays and sometimes we think he is mad with the aims and targets, but it is the mindset of demanding more from yourself and pushing the boundaries.
I must also mention Matty Hynes (Gateshead Harriers), a 2:16 marathoner from the UK, who took me under his wing when I lived over in the UK. In those 2 years I had some of the best times training with Matt. He’s the most talented athlete I ever training with
SOCIAL QUESTIONS
WHAT WAS THE LAST BOOK YOU READ? Jim Stynes “My Journey”
WHAT WAS THE LAST CONCERT YOU ATTENDED? Christy Moore
WHAT ARE YOUR 3 FAVOURITE FILMS?
1. 7 Pounds
2. Inside Man
3. Shawshank Redemption
FAVOURITE COUNTRY VISITED? The USA, with New York the best place I’ve visited by a country mile!
IF DISERT ISLAND DISCS ASKED YOU TO PLAY 3 SONGS, WHAT WOULD THEY BE?
1. Beeswing – Christy Moore
2. Into the Mystic – Van Morrison
3. Sweet Sixteen – The Furey`s
ATHLETICS QUESTIONS
WHO IS YOUR COACH? Mark Kenneally
WHAT DO YOU CONSIDER TO BE YOUR BEST ATHLETICS ACHIEVEMENT? Finishing the marathon in Frankfurt last year. It was my 2nd attempt at the marathon distance. I dropped out of Rotterdam the year before at 16 miles. It was a case of not respecting the distance and the event that day. My biggest disappointment in sport. Leading into Frankfurt I was extremely nervous about the race. I remember coming back into the city at 20 mile thinking I’m going to finish here and run a decent time. 5 minutes later I was on my hands and knees getting sick. I remember thinking “not again please!”. But I struggled on and finished. Albeit disappointment with my time (2.28.19!!!), I later sat in the hotel room with Eric (Keogh) and I was never more content. The buzz around the build-up, the morning of the race, knowing that the human body is not designed to run this long and hard is such an excitement. What an event!
WHAT ARE YOUR BEST TIMES/MARKS (PBs)? 14.28 (5km), 31.04 (10km), 24.28 (5 mile), 68.28 (Half marathon). 2.28.19 (Marathon)
WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE COACHED SESSION? TheMoneghetti Fartlek (THE SESSION is 2 × 90 seconds, 4 × 60 seconds, 4 × 30 seconds, 4 × 15 seconds. All efforts are done with a recovery that is the equivalent time of the effort completed (90 seconds on, 90 seconds off and so on). The complete time taken for the session is 20 minutes)
DESCRIBE THE MOST DIFFICULT SESSION THAT YOU HAVE DONE? I remember it as clear as day! It was a wet, dark, cold Friday evening after a long week at work when myself, Eric (Keogh) and Mark (Kenneally) had the joy (!!!) of doing 5 x 5km at marathon pace in a 20-mile run. It is as tough as they come, a pure mental and physical grind
WHAT IS YOUR TYPICAL WEEKLY TRAINING PLAN? Back in March when the pandemic started, I had a great chat with Eric Keogh about how we could keep training going without any races. Eric has such a great mentality around running and challenged me to train harder than ever. So, since March I’ve averaged around 85 miles per week with only a handful of days off. It’s been smart, sensible training and I’m really starting to reap the rewards
WHO ARE YOUR TOP 3 IRISH SPORTSPERSONS OF ALL TIME?
1. Jim Stynes (Australian Rules)
2. John O Shea (Ireland Football)
3. Jonny Doyle (Kildare GAA)
SPECIFIC QUESTIONS
I BELIEVE THAT YOU WON THE Fr. ARCHER CUP (Salesian College, Celbridge Road Race). WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER ABOUT THAT RACE? Some of my best running memories come from this race. It’s one of the oldest school road races in the world if I am not mistaken. It measures around 4.5km and starts on the grass with up to 600 students on the line. If you survive the madness of the first half a mile you generally have a good chance of being up the top. I was lucky enough to win the road race three times in a row and I am sure that Donore Harriers athletes won it 8 out of 9 years on the bounce. <Here is a video on the Fr. Archer Road Race which was part of the 40th anniversary celebration of the Salesian College. Introduction by the legendary PE teacher Paddy McGovern with contributions from Lee and Max Van Haeften This video concludes today’s Salesian… – Salesian College Celbridge (facebook.com) >
HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE TRANSITION FROM BEING A JUNIOR ATHLETE TO A SENIOR ATHLETE? Only a few weeks ago my little brother sent me on some national cross-country results from 2006. He was giving me the large one about finishing in the top 12. His name was not what got my attention, but the fact that most of the names inside the top 30 that day are no longer competing. I showed Eric and we could not spot one name that went on to win a senior title. We could be wrong! It got me thinking what the drop of rate in athletics from junior to senior. Why is it so high? You would think winning national medals, competing at the top end of your age group as a junior would be enough to keep you in the sport. Of course, not everyone, but surely more than 1 or 2 out of 30. It seems to be a trend when you look through old results.
Make no question about it, athletics is such a difficult sport! To be at the very top takes complete discipline and dedication. You see it so often that the athletes winning medals at a junior level athletics that it becomes their personal identity. They are known as ‘the runner’. Maybe that is the problem? Successful junior athletes are often quite talented and that is what brings them their success. Yes, they do some hard graft, but their talent is the key. How often do you see it? Life starts to get more hectic when they become adults! And running no longer feels like a hobby, but more of a chore. It is not as easy as it once was. Talent will only get you so far, but it is the hard training what makes a top senior athlete. I think if more juniors appreciate the positive benefits of what athletics brings other than competing and winning it may help keep them in the game. A healthy balance of sport and general life is important. No one remembers good juniors; they only remember good seniors.
YOU INTRODUCED THE Long-Term Development Plan PROPOSAL TO THE CLUB IN 2013 AND IT PROVED TO BE SUCCESSFUL, ALBEIT TEMPORARILY, WITH THE SENIOR MEN’S TEAM GAINING 2 BRONZE MEDALS IN THE NATIONAL XC AND A GOLD IN THE NATIONAL ROAD RELAY. IS IT YOUR PHILOSOPHY THAT CLUB TRAINING SESSIONS BE PROPERLY STRUCTURED WITH CLEARLY DEFINED RACE TARGETS? I think for success in any club to be sustainable you need structure and a platform for athletes to develop. Take the Melbourne track club as an example, year after year producing athletes who are world class. Paul Robinson who most will be familiar with from Irish athletics is based in this group. I listened to a podcast recently where he spoke about the continued success of the group. He mentions the culture of the group being so important to their continued success. A group of athletes training together, trusting the process, utilizing different strengths of each athlete, all with the same goal of being the best they can be. In my opinion not enough athletes are training together. Not enough are willing to be brave and train with athletes who are better than them. You need the best athletes in the club linking in and working towards a goal. Look, most have different coaches, live in different areas, and work/life commitments make it difficult to train together. If there is a goal within a group, there should not be any reason not to link in every few weeks. It then provides younger athletes with a vision of wanting to be in that process. To be fair, within Donore Harriers there is some great work being done in the younger age groups. When I first joined the club there was not much of a sprint culture. John Geoghegan built and developed a system which gave athletes what they needed to be competing both nationally and internationally. Look how successful the group is now and the culture of sprinting within the club! Good athletes training together, with a good system, all training towards a goal. It’s simple really! John will be greatly missed within the club; a legend who has left a great legacy
YOU NOW HAVE A NEW PHYSIO CLINIC AT THE DONORE HARRIERS CLUBHOUSE, WHAT SERVICES DO YOU PLAN TO OFFER TO CLUB MEMBERS? I am delighted to be given the chance to open a chartered physiotherapy business in the Donore Harriers clubhouse starting in January 2021. The clinic will be based upstairs beside the gym, both of which are currently having a much-needed upgrade. The plan is to provide a top-quality service. There will be a separate side entrance into the clinic which has also been upgraded. My philosophy is honest, simple, practical advice for the treatment and management of acute and long-standing injuries. Watch the space in December for a new website which will provide information about the service and benefits for club athletes.
