HIGHLIGHTS: The club hosted the 30th edition of the JINGLE BELS 5KM with John Travers, Gavin Curtin (junior) and the Men’s Team being winners – and a brilliant 2nd from Sorcha Nic Dhomhnaill in the women’s race. Emily Bolton and Lorraire O’Connor finished 1 and 2 in the NATIONAL UNDER 15s XC with the DH team taking bronze. STATESIDE, Eric Keogh and Abdel Laadjel had strong performances in their season opening Indoor races. Several first-season athletes competed in the NATIONAL NOVICE XC CHAMPIONSHIPS.

The 30th edition of the JINGLE BELLS 5km ROAD RACE held on a bright, fresh Saturday morning had Donore Harriers to the fore with excellent hosting arrangements and good performances from club athletes. <<NOTE that there is a splendid report on the race by Florence Curley on the club’s FB page and also here>>. John Travers (14.22) took first place after an exciting men’s race. Nine athletes, including John Travers and Daragh Fitzgibbon, formed a lead group in the opening kilometre and these runners stayed in close order facing into a breeze and gradual climb along Chesterfield Avenue. About the 3km marker on the Ordnance Survey Road Travers edged to the front, whilst Fitzgibbon lost a little ground. Travers covered the last 2km downhill part of the course in 5.24 to win with 4 seconds to spare over Conor Maguire of Monaghan Phoenix AC. Maguire (14.26) is a talented and committed athlete and this was a break-through result for the 20 years-old. Michell Byrne (14.28) of Rathfarnham AC came 3rd just ahead of middle-distance athlete Mark Milner (14.28) of UCD AC. Daragh Fitzgibbon (14.44) closed out the race in 9th spot, 4 places better and almost half-a-minute faster than his 2019 effort.
Gavin Curtin was the first junior man home in 12th place with a personal best of 15.01. In 2019 Curtin came 65th in 16.47. His progress goes down to his dedication to the sport and the value of training smart and regular. Senior athlete Kane Collins came 15th in a PB time of 15.04. Marathon specialist Robert Murphy (15.17) came 23rd – and Irish Orienteering star Josh O’Sullivan-Hourihan (15.18) placed 24th closing out a busy season with a personal best.
The women’s race was won by Irish international Lizzie Lee (16.14) of Leevale AC. She placed 43rd overall. 48th overall and 2nd woman was Sorcha Nic Dhomhnaill (16.17) who had an outstanding race. Lizzie Lee said afterwards: “I don’t have a sprint finish and when I saw how close Sorcha was, I knew that I would have to dig deep to maintain the lead”. Catherina Mullen of MSB AC was the 3rd woman finisher in 16.29. The next club finishers were David McConn (16.27) in 55th, Kevin O’Boyle (16.57) in 88th and Sean Kinsella (17.30) in 141st and 5th junior. A delighted Sinead O’Reilly (18.30) knocked almost a minute of her personal best time to place 220th overall and 31st woman.
James McLean, an M40 athlete, came 260th in 18.32. He was followed home by Shane Casey (18.55) in 280th position. Casey was happy to get a new personal best after missing a block of training due to illness.
Next home was Aisling Kirby in 417th in a time of 20.35.
Four members of the O’Flaherty family toed the start line, with Aine earning the bragging rights when finishing 638th in 24.22. Siobhan (25.19) placed 676th, Feargus (25.39) 691st and Maureen (33.53) 1,001st.
The other club finishers were Joe Murphy M40 (24.50) in 656th and Thomas Halton M60 (32.09) in 998th.
Donore Harriers easily won the men’s team competition with a score of 22. The scoring trio were John Travers, Daragh Fitzgibbon and Gavin Curtin. Rathfarnham AC 75 came 2nd and Sli Cualann AC 92 were 3rd.
The women’s team came 7th, with Dublin City Harriers the winners.
The club had 7 athletes, most of them first-season runners, compete in the NATIONAL NOVICE CROSS-COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS at Gowran, Kilkenny on Sunday. The undulating course on agricultural lands proved a stern test for the athletes. In the women’s 4km race Louise Murray (15.50) came 35th, with Katherine Marsh (18.27) in 127th, Louise Kelly (18.43) in 133rd and Suzie Henley-Willis (18.46) in 134th. The team came 14th. Among the 221 finishers in the men’s 6km race were Rory Burke (20.46) in 54th, Ryan Aikins (21.36) in 103rd and Matthew Fabbro (18.46) who placed 130th. There was some cheer for team members in that the women’s winner Eavan McLoughlin (14.09) of Sligo AC has been training with the club’s Senior & Academy Group since the summer. McLoughlin graciously said afterwards: “I couldn’t have done it without all the training sessions at Donore and the encouragement from the other athletes in the group. I lost out to Christine Russell <<the runner-up from Letterkenny AC>> in the Intervarsities, but I felt stronger going into the race today”.
The NATIONAL JUVENILE UNEVEN AGES CROSS-COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS were held prior to the novice races. The weather was described as “a beautiful winters morning, cold but sunny and dry” and the course conditions as “hilly with muddy parts but not wet”. An exciting Under 15s race Emily Bolton and Lorraine O’Connor ran together all the way to relegate the challenge of 3rd placed finisher Emer McKee of Willowfield Harriers. In a sprint to the line Bolton (11.57) recording a narrow win and O’Connor (11.58) settling for a close 2nd. Emily was adding to her Under 14 crown won 2 weeks previous, and Lorraine added to the silver she won when stepping up to the Under 16s in the ‘Evens’ at Santry. In the process the duo, coached by Declan Bolton, spearheaded the Under 15 team to bronze medals with the support of Julie Cleary (13.32) in 48th and Eden Branagan-Walsh (13.51) in 68th. Bolton, O’Connor and Cleary were all members of the winning Under 13s team in 2019, but Eva Crowe was missing from the line-up this time due to illness. Cleary went off behind the lead group, but the loss of training due to injury and illness in recent months took its toll in the later stages of the race. A warrior-like performance to finish in the top 50 became crucial to the team score. Branagan-Walsh put in a super effort to close out the team score in only her 3rd race and is an athlete displaying huge potential. The non-scoring club athlete was Eleanor Hopkins (14.36) in 111th position. Willowfield Harriers won the team category with a score of 62. Donore Harriers scored 119.
Four other club athletes competed, with Cillian McCooey (9.23) first into action in the Under 13 Boys race over 2,500m. He placed 94th of 165 finishers. Liam Morris (12.44) stepped up to come home in 87th place in a field of 145 in the Under 15 Boys 3,500m race. Thomas Bolton (16.46) had a fine run to place 27th of 118 when stepping-up to compete in the Under 17 Boys 5km. His brother James (Bolton) also stepped-up to get 18th spot in the Under 19 Boys race after 6km.
Eric Keogh opened his Stateside indoor track season with 3rd place in the 5,000m at the GRAND VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITY HOLIDAY OPEN MEET at Allendale, Michigan on Friday. Keogh was running in the colours of Queen’s University North Carolina and posted a time of 14.32.90. Anthony Farmer (14.22.89) of Lewis University was first home in a field of 27 athletes.
On Saturday afternoon Abdel Laadjel, representing Providence Friars, competed in the BOSTON UNIVERSITY SHARON COLYEAR-DANVILLE SEASON OPENER MEET, using the race as a ‘sharpener’ before next Sunday’s European Cross-Country Under 20s. The young Donore Harriers star led for several laps in the middle of the race but was relegated to 9th over the final 400 metres by more seasoned track athletes. He lowered his personal best for the distance to 8.18.14. The race was won by Nick Soldevere of Iona University in 8.09.57.
Last week Alasdair Brown competed in the GOZO HALF-MARATHON TRAILS RACE on the Gozo Island in Malta. Brown placed 5th of 131 finishers and described the race: ‘A fantastic 21k race on the beautiful island of Gozo. First trail race in years, suffered on the technical parts, but some good efforts on the uphill and flats had me in 3rd for a good bit of race. Unfortunately, a couple detours resulted in 5th overall just a few seconds behind 3rd. Still fantastic experience, super cool spot for a race’.
The 3rd and final DUBLIN JUVENILE CROSS-COUNTRY LEAGUE fixture took place at Tymon Park on Sunday 28th November 2021. Siblings Emily and Thomas Bolton completed clean sweeps with Emily taking her 3rd win in the Under 14 Girls category and Thomas doing likewise in the Under 16 Boys. They competed over 1,500m and 2,000m respectively. In the Under 15 Girls race over 2,000m Lorraine O’Connor came 1st and Eva Crowe 3rd. This ensured that they came 1st and 2nd overall after the 3 fixtures. Liam Morris returned from illness to place 4th in the Under 14 Boys race over 1,500m. With 1st and 2nd placings in his previous efforts he secured top position overall. The other medal winners (top 6) were Dylan McKenna 3rd overall in the Boys Under 16, Laura Nunan 4th in the Under 16 Girls and Lucas Collender 5th in the Under 15 Boys.
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JINGLE BELLS 5KM ROAD RACE at Phoenix Park (04.12.2021)
1st John Travers (14.22)
9th Daragh Fitzgibbon (14.44)
12th & 1st Junior man Gavin Curtin (15.01 PB)
15th Kane Collins (15.04 PB)
23rd & 3rd M40 Robert Murphy (15.17)
24th Josh O’Sullivan-Hourihan (15.18 PB)
48th & 2nd woman Sorcha Nic Dhomhnaill (16.17)
55th David McConn (16.27)
88th Kevin O’Boyle (16.57)
141st & 5th junior man Sean Kinsella (17.30)
220th & 31st woman Sinead O’Reilly W40 (18.30 PB)
260th James McLean M40 (18.32)
280th Shane Casey (18.55 PB)
417th Aisling Kirby (20.35)
638th Aine O’Flaherty (24.22)
656th Joe Murphy M40 (24.50)
676th Siobhan O’Flaherty (25.19)
691st Feargus O’Flaherty (25.39)
998th Thomas Halton M60 (32.09)
1,001st Maureen O’Flaherty W50 (33.53)
1,041 finishers
MEN’S TEAM: 1st Donore Harriers <Travers, Fitzgibbon, Curtin> 22, 2nd Rathfarnham AC 75, 3rd Sli Cualann AC 92. 32 teams closed.
WOMEN’S TEAM: 1st Dublin City Harriers 45, 2nd Raheny Shamrocks 51, 3rd MSB AC 69, 7th Donore Harriers <Nic Dhomhnaill, O’Reilly, Kirby> 115. 29 teams closed.
GVSU HOLIDAY OPEN TRACK MEET at Allendale, MI (03.12.2021)
MEN’s 5,000m: 3rd Eric Keogh (14.32.90)
27 finishers
BU SHARON COLYEAR-DANVILLE SEASON OPENER MEET at Boston, MA (04.12.2021)
MEN’s 3,000M: 9th Abdel Laadjel (8.18.14 PB)
17 finishers
NATIONAL NOVICE CROSS-COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS at Gowran, Co. Kilkenny (05.12.2021)
WOMEN’S 4KM:
35th Louise Murray (15.50)
127th Katherine Marsh (18.27)
133rd Louise Kelly (18.43)
134th Suzie Henley-Willis (18.46)
143 finishers
TEAM: 1st Letterkenny AC 76, 14th Donore Harriers 429. 14 teams closed.
MEN’S 6KM:
54th Rory Burke (20.46)
103rd Ryan Aikins (21.36)
130th Matthew Fabbro (22.09)
221 finishers
TEAM: 1st Leevale AC 52. 22 teams closed. Donore Harriers incomplete.
NATIONAL JUVENILE UNEVEN AGES CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS at Gowran, Co. Kilkenny (05.12.2021)
U/13 BOYS 2,500m: 94th Cillian McCooey (9.23) – 165 finishers
U/15 GIRLS 3,500m: 1st Emily Bolton (11.57 step-up), 2nd Lorraine O’Connor (11.58), 48th Julie Cleary (13.32), 68th Eden Branagan-Walsh (13.51), 111th Eleanor Hopkins (14.36) – 159 finishers
TEAM: 3rd Donore Harriers
U/15 BOYS 3,500m: 87th Liam Morris (12.44 step-up) – 145 finishers
U/17 BOYS 5,000m: 27th Thomas Bolton (16.46 step-up) – 118 finishers
U/19 BOYS 6,000m: 18th James Bolton (20.24 step-up) – 72 finishers
Earlier results:
DUBLIN JUVENILE CROSS-COUNTRY LEAGUE FIXTURE 3 at Tymon Park (28.11.2021)
U/9 GIRLS 600m: 37th Rachel McCarthy, 39th Mae O’Gorman
U/9 BOYS 600m: 8th Olyver Whelan, 11th Bobby Farrell, 25th Michael McCarthy Jnr, 39th Alan Maddox, 54th Daire McConn
U/10 GIRLS 800m: 11th Anna Whelan
U/10 BOYS 800m: 49th Daniel Maddox
U/11 GIRLS: 1,000m 66th Hannah Kelly
U/11 BOYS 1,000m: 9th Mark Nunan
U/13 GIRLS 1,500m: 31st Lily Clarke-Hanrahan
U/13 BOYS 1,500m: 12th Eoin Mooney, 19th Liam Collins
U/14 GIRLS 1,500m: 1st Emily Bolton
U/14 BOYS 1,500m: 4th Liam Morris, 5th Jack Reilly, 11th Daniel Hughes, ?? Aaron Callinan
U/15 GIRLS 2,000m: 1st Lorraine O’Connor, 3rd Eva Crowe, 6th Julie Cleary, 10th Eleanor Hopkins
U/15 BOYS 2,000m: 11th Lucas Collender
U/16 GIRLS 2,000m: 4th Laura Nunan
U/16 BOYS 2,000m: 1st Thomas Bolton, 5th Dylan McKenna
<< some results subject to correction, some results may be missing>>
DUBLIN JUVENILE CROSS-COUNTRY LEAGUE OVERALL RESULTS AFTER 3 FIXTURES
Top 10 listed, medals to top 6 in each age group.
U/11 GIRLS: 9th overall Annabella Omozee – 8th, 1st, DNC (did not compete)
U/14 GIRLS: 1st Emily Bolton – won all 3 of her races
U/15 GIRLS: 1st Lorraine O’Connor – 2nd, 1st, 1st
U/15 GIRLS: 2nd Eva Crowe – 3rd, 2nd, 3rd
U/15 GIRLS: 7th Eleanor Hopkins – 12th, 14th & 10th
U/15 GIRLS: 9th Julie Cleary – DNC, 5th, 6th
U/16 GIRLS: 4th Laura Nunan – 6th, 5th, 4th
U/11 BOYS: 10th Mark Nunan – 18th, 9th, 9th
U/14 BOYS: 1st Liam Morris – 3rd, 1st, 4th
U/14 BOYS: 10th Daniel Hughes – 16th, 13th, 11th
U/15 BOYS: 5th Lucas Collender – 8th, 11th, 11th
U/16 BOYS: 1st Thomas Bolton – won all 3 of his races
U/16 BOYS: 3rd Dylan McKenna – 7th, 5th, 5th
GOZO HALF-MARATHON TRAIL RACE at Ghajnsielem, Malta (28.11.2021)
5th Alasdair Brown (1.44.38)
131 finishers
PARKRUNS 5km (04.12.21)
CASTLETOWN: 74th Joan McTernan W60 (27.36)
MARLAY: 277th Anna McMahon W35 (37.19)
WATERSTOWN: 2nd Dylan McKenna M15-17 (19.35)