HIGHLIGHTS: Strong performances by Gavin Curtin, Barbara Cleary, and Louis O’Loughlin in the NATIONAL SENIOR & JUNIOR XC CHAMPIONSHIPS. Men’s team 5th. Gold and silver for Emily Bolton and Lorraine O’Connor respectively in the NATIONAL JUVENILE EVEN-AGES XC. Another solid run by Eric Keogh in the NCAA DIV II XC CHAMPIONSHIPS in Florida. Josh O’Sullivan-Hourihan retained NATIONAL DEFENSE FORCES XC CHAMPIONSHIP title.

REPORT: The sun glistened with a chill in the air. The crowds gathered and the very best in Irish sport was about to unfold. In the opening race of the day the Renton twins (Westport AC) front-ran the Under 12 girls race to a one-two photo finish in the NATIONAL JUVENILE EVEN-AGES CROSS-COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS at Santry Demesne. A great day of athletics still lay ahead!
First into action for Donore Harriers was Emily Bolton in the Under 14 Girls over 3,000m. The Under 12 champion from 2 years ago was locked in a mid-race battle with Emer McKee from Willowfield Harriers. Emily used her experience and conditioning to bide her time until the final few hundred metres when she edged to the front to record a deserved victory.
The club had 4 athletes on the start line of the Under 14 Boys (3km) race, all competing at this level for the first time. Liam Blair led the team home in 98th place, followed by Daniel Hughes in 112th, Eoin Mooney in 139th and James Murphy in 161st. The team placed 16th. Their coach Graham Hopkins said: “Today was about experience. They now know about competing at this level and they will learn from today’s race”.
Lorraine O’Connor and Eva Crowe stepped-up in age group to compete in the Under 16 Girls race over 3.5km. An in-form O’Connor made a conservative start before gradually making her way towards the front of the field. As the race progressed, she found herself in a clear 2nd position behind eventual winner Lucy Foster of Willowfield Harriers. Eva Crowe put in a sterling effort to place 33rd of 152 finishers.
Thomas Bolton was the club’s lone competitor in the Under 16 Boys race over 4km. He was near the front group in the early part of the race but having just recovered from a week-long illness he struggled to stay with the pace and had to settle for 45th position in a field of 129.
Gavin Curtin ran a super race in a “stacked” NATIONAL JUNIOR MEN’S RACE race over 6 kilometres. With selection to next month’s European Cross-Country Championships at Abbotstown on offer it was a keenly contested race with 2 European Under 20 champions and a previous winner of the Celtic XC on the start line. The Donore Harriers athlete ran a fine tactical race. He settled into 14th position early on with a large lead group just in front. At the half-way point he gained to 9th, just 30 metres back from the 6th placed runner. Curtin gained to 8th on the final lap but was pipped on the finish line by Dylan Casey of Ennis Track and had to settle for 9th in a field of 175 finishers. 17 years-old James Bolton came 49th in the junior men’s race, and 19th out of 104 competitors in the incorporated Under 18 competition. The race was won by Nicholas Griggs of Mid-Ulster AC, with Dean Casey of Ennis Track in 2nd and Scott Fagan of MSB AC in 3rd.
Barbara Cleary (29.25) came 26th out of 109 finishers in the IRISH SENIOR WOMEN’S XC CHAMPIONSHIP race over 8 kilometres. It was another outstanding run by the Clare native who finished well in the mix with some of Ireland’s best women athletes.
The much-anticipated NATIONAL SENIOR MEN’S RACE over 10km came down to an exciting finishing duel between Hiko Tonosa (30.22) of DSD AC and Daragh McIlhenny (30.25) of UCD AC after they had opened a gap on the field. Louis O’Loughlin put in the stand-out performance for Donore Harriers. A surge on the final lap saw him move up about a dozen places to finish in 19th place in a time of 31.48. On a day when the young-guns came to the fore, O’Loughlin was 8th in the Under 23s category – and therefore out of contention for selection on the Irish team for the Euro X. It was still an outstanding performance with several top-ranked athletes trailing behind. Three DH athletes finished in close order to close out the scoring team in 5th position. Robert Murphy (33.14) came 63rd with Daragh Fitzgibbon (33.20) just one place behind. Josh O’Sullivan-Hourihan (33.24) was 67th. The non-scoring athletes were Kane Collins (33.51) in 78th, Ken Nugent (33.59) in 83rd and Matthew Fabbro (36.40) in 152nd. There were 192 finishers. DSD AC with 3 athletes in the top 4 won the team prize ahead of Clonliffe Harriers.
On the previous Wednesday (17.11.2021) Josh O’Sullivan-Hourihan won the DEFENSE FORCES CROSS-COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS at Kilkenny Castle. In a keenly contested race over 8km the Donore Harriers athlete “covered every single move” at the front of the race before opening a winning gap on a downhill section of the course.
Eric Keogh (31.54) put in a stellar effort in the NCAA DIVISION II MEN’S CROSS-COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIP over 10km at the Abbey Golf Club course at St. Leo in Florida on Saturday afternoon (20.11.2021) to place 55th out of 245 finishers. He was 2nd scorer on the Queen’s Charlotte (North Carolina) team that placed 20th of 34 teams. The highly competitive US national race took place over 2 laps of a picturesque golf course surrounding by trees in warm, humid conditions. Indeed, the humidity readings of more that 80% meant that running conditions were extremely difficult. The race was won by 23 years-old American international Isaac Harding (29.58) running in the colours of Grand Valley State University.
In the RUN THE LINE 26KM MOUNTAIN RACE (20.11.2021) that started and finished at Glencullen Park in Co. Wicklow Colm Kennedy placed (2.31.56) placed 42nd and Aideen Burke (2.51.56) came 132nd and 14th woman. 351 athletes completed the arduous course in aid of the Dublin and Wicklow Mountain Rescue organisation.
Ann Ryan (2.05.22) ran a personal best in the LISBON HALF-MARATHON on Sunday.
The Donore Harriers team of Daragh Keegan, Kevin Nolan, Craig Scott and Donal Iremonger were confirmed as bronze medallist in the DUBLIN NOVICE 5KM ROAD RACE at Tallaght last week.
Leading finishers in the PARKRUN series were Fergal Whitty (17.36) first home at Hartstown, Lee Chambers (24.56) first woman at Navan, and Neil Hand (18.13) 2nd at Porterstown. Juvenile athlete Dylan McKenna (19.29) came 8th at Griffeen Park. Other parkrun results below.
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NCAA DIV. II CROSS-COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS at Abbey Golf Course, St. Leo, FL. (20.11.2021)
MEN’S 10KM XC: 55th Eric Keogh (31.54)
245 finishers
NATIONAL SENIOR & JUNIOR CROSS-COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS at Santry Demesne (21.11.2021)
JUNIOR MEN’S 6KM: 9th Gavin Curtin, 49th & 18th U/18 James Bolton
175 finishers
SENIOR WOMEN’S 8KM: 26th Barbara Cleary W45 (29.25)
109 finishers
SENIOR MEN’S 10KM: 19th & 8th U/23 Louis O’Loughlin (31.48), 63rd Robert Murphy (33.14), 64th Daragh Fitzgibbon (33.20), 67th Josh O’Sullivan-Hourihan (33.24), 78th Kane Collins (33.51), 83rd Ken Nugent (33.59), 152nd Matthew Fabbro (36.40)
192 finishers
TEAM: 1st DSDAC 23, 2nd Clonliffe Harriers 92, 3rd Leevale AC 170, 5th Donore Harriers <O’Loughlin, Murphy, Fitzgibbon, O’Sullivan-Hourihan> 213. 18 teams closed.
NATIONAL JUVENILE EVEN-AGES CROSS-COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS at Santry Demesne (21.11.2021)
U/14 GIRLS 3,000m: 1st Emily Bolton – 163 finishers
U/14 BOYS 3,000m: 98th Liam Blair, 112nd Daniel Hughes, 139th Eoin Mooney, 161st James Murphy – 162 finishers
TEAM: 16th Donore Harriers
U/16 GIRLS 4,000m: 2nd Lorraine O’Connor (step-up), 33rd Eva Crowe (step-up) – 152 finishers
U/16 BOYS 4,000m: 46th Thomas Bolton – 129 finishers
U/18 BOYS 6,000m: 19th James Bolton – 104 finishers
DEFENCE FORCES CROSS-COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS at Kilkenny Castle (17.11.2021)
MEN’s 8KM: 1st Josh O’Sullivan-Hourihan (Team 1 CIS)
LISBON HALF-MARATHON (21.11.2021)
3,608th Ann Ryan (2.05.22 PB)
5,377 finishers
RUN THE LINE 26km MOUNTAIN RACE at Glencullen Adventure Park, Co. Wicklow (20.11.2021)
42nd Colm Kennedy M40 (2.31.56)
132nd & 14th woman Aideen Burke W35 (2.51.56)
351 finishers
PARKRUNS 5km (20.11.21)
BUSHY: 130th Thomas Halton M65 (34.28)
GRIFFEEN: 8th Dylan McKenna M15-17 (19.29)
HARTSTOWN: 1st Fergal Whitty M45 (17.36)
NAAS: 37th Frank McNally M55 (23.24)
NAVAN: 32nd & 1st woman Lee Chambers W35 (24.56), 54th and 9th woman Sarah Ni Ruairc W40 (28.19)
PORTERSTOWN: 2nd Neil Hand M35 (18.13), 6th Owen Robinson M35 (20.13)
RUSSBOROUGH: 14th & 6th woman Mary McDermott W50 (24.40)
Earlier results:
MEN’S DUBLIN NOVICE TEAM (14.11.21): 1st Tallaght AC 18, 2nd Crusaders AC 61, 3rd Donore Harriers <9 Keegan, 13 Nolan, 17 Scott, 30 Iremonger> 69.
WOMEN’S DUBLIN NOVICE TEAM (14.11.21): 1st Dublin City Harriers 17, 2nd Crusaders AC 36, 3rd Bros. Pearse AC 41, 4th Donore Harriers <24 Boylan, 25 Kelly, 31 Henley-Willis, 33 Eustace> 113.