HIGHLIGHTS: Josh O’Sullivan-Hourihan 2nd overall and Niamh Clifford 3rd woman in the FRANK DUFFY 10 MILE ROAD RACE. They respectively came 1st man and 2nd woman in the incorporated DUBLIN CHAMPIONSHIP. Both Donore Harriers teams claimed gold (unconfirmed)

REPORT: <report/results by Gerry Naughton & Florence Curley> Josh O’Sullivan -Hourihan and Niamh Clifford finished 2nd overall and 3rd woman in the FRANK DUFFY 10 MILE ROAD RACE in the Phoenix Park on a warm and windy Saturday morning.
The race incorporated the DUBLIN CHAMPIONSHIPS with O’Sullivan-Hourihan elevated to winner and Clifford runner-up in the respective men’s and women’s contests. O’Sullivan-Hourihan, a regular member on the Irish orienteering team, was in a front group of 3 through the opening miles together with Peter Somba of Dunboyne AC and Martin Hoare of Celbridge AC. By the half-way mark Hoare lost ground on the leaders, with the Donore man staying on the heels of Kenyan native Somba. The race was decided over the final two miles as Somba (51.14) gradually increased his narrow advantage to seven seconds. It was a tremendous effort by O’Sullivan-Hourihan (51.21), who was competing in his first ever 10-mile race. Hoare came 3rd in 52.10. Josh posted on his strava.com account afterwards: ‘Not entirely sure where that came from, but happy regardless! Given the course and conditions the time is better than the aim was! … Obviously happy with the outcome, a good performance just after starting my season off. 2 good race weekends back-to-back. Big PB. Took 2:30 off my 10-mile split during Charleville (half-marathon) 2 years ago’.
The women’s race was more clear-cut from the opening miles as Kate Purcell (59.31) of Raheny Shamrocks AC opened a gap on Caitlyn Harvey (1.00.09) of Annadale Striders. The race for the bronze medal became a contest between two Donore Harriers athletes – Niamh Clifford and Barbara Cleary. Cleary, returning to competition after a six-month absence due to injury, ran her usual gutsy race and held a clear 3rd place at the 3 miles point. But a lack of race sharpness meant that she was unable to hold form and she was passed by Clifford before the half-way mark and ultimately had to settle for 5th place in a time of 1.01.53. She won the W45 category by almost 7 minutes ahead of Sinead Tighe of Brothers Pearse AC.
Clifford (1.00.20), who recently won the Run Killarney half-marathon, closed the gap on Annadale’s Harvey in the closing stages to just 11 seconds – having been half-a-minute behind at the halfway point.
As Somba and Harvey are members of clubs outside of Dublin County then O’Sullivan-Hourihan and Clifford finished as the men’s winner and women’s runners-up in the incorporated Dublin 10-mile championships.
With the team scores yet to be confirmed a crunching of the numbers suggests that Donore Harriers won both the men’s and women’s titles.
Wayne Waldron (57.45) knocked more than 2 minutes of his personal best time to finish 17th overall and 5th in the M35 category. He was followed home by two Waterhouse Byrne Baird shield winners as Ken Nugent (57.57), the winner in 2021, occupied 18th place and was the 6th M35 – with the 2019 winner Luke Boland (58.43) closing out the scoring 4 in 30th place. Boland, who also missed several months of competition, ran a well-judged race to place 7th in the M35 category.
The women’s scoring team members, behind Clifford and Cleary, were Grace Kennedy-Clarke (1.04.44) 140th overall and Ariana Ball (1.09.28) in 302nd position. Kennedy-Clarke’s time suggests that she has returned to her fine racing form of a few years ago. She was the 8th woman finisher and came 2nd in the W35 category. Ball knocked nearly a minute of her previous best time and was the 20th woman finisher and 5th in the W35 age-group.
Fergal Whitty (1.00.27) came home in 54th spot and placed 6th in the M45 category. Peter Gaffney placed 84th in a time of 1.02.19 and narrowly lost out on 3rd place in the M50 class to John Reilly of Drogheda & District AC.
Chris Muldoon (1.03.56) came 126th and 13th M45 and Declan Lynch was 138th and 46th in the M40 class in a time of 1.04.57. The next clubman home was Kevin Odgers (1.05.17) who placed 156th overall and 19th in the M45 category. He was followed in by Tony Barry (1.05.49), competing for the first time since the 2019 Dublin Marathon, in 170th spot and 53rd in the M40 age-group. Cian Dowdall (1.09.02) was 297th and the 58th senior male finisher.
Pamela White (1.11.33) must be ranked as the most improved club runner this year as she continues to take minutes of her PB times. Despite the windy conditions and the undulating course, she knocked 11 minutes of her previous best time and placed 374th overall. She was the 29th woman finisher and came 9th in the W35 category.
Tony Griffin (1.12.04) came 395th and 6th M60, Owen Robinson (1.12.18) placed 422nd overall and was the 102nd M40 athlete, and Des Gill (1.16.32) was 569th and 22nd in the M55 category.
Barry Potts (1.17.00) added to his impressive medal collection by placing 589th and was the winner of the M70 class.
Also, among a field of more than 2,500 finishers were John Gleeson (1.21.19) in 919th and 79th in the M50 category – and Dana Mackey (1.37.30) who was the 521st woman to cross the line.

Among the PARKRUN competitors this week were W80 athlete Ann Woodlock who came 45th at BRICKFIELDS in a time of 37.17 – and M75 member Terry Mee (31.03) who came 74th at CORKAGH. More results below.

Results in brief:
FRANK DUFFY 10 MILE ROAD RACE, INC THE DUBLIN CHAMPIONSHIPS (20.08.2022)
2nd & 1st in Dublin Championships Josh O’Sullivan-Hourihan (51.21 PB)
17th & 5th M35 Wayne Waldron (57.45 PB)
18th & 6th M35 Ken Nugent (57.57)
30th & 7th M35 Luke Boland (58.43)
54th & 6th M45 Fergal Whitty (1.00.27)
55th, 3rd woman & 2nd in Dublin Championships Niamh Clifford (1.00.20)
72nd, 5th woman & 1st W45 Barbara Cleary (1.01.53)
84th & 4th M50 Peter Gaffney (1.02.19)
126th & 13th M45 Chris Muldoon (1.03.56)
138th & 46th M40 Declan Lynch (1.04.47)
140th, 8th woman & 2nd W35 Grace Kennedy-Clarke (1.04.44)
156th & 19th M45 Kevin Odgers (1.05.17)
170th & 53rd M40 Tony Barry (1.05.49)
297th & 58th MS Cian Dowdall (1.09.02)
302nd, 20th woman & 5th W35 Ariana Ball (1.09.28 PB)
374th, 29th woman & 9th W35 Pamela White (1.11.33 PB)
395th & 6th M60 Tony Griffin (1.12.04)
422nd & 102nd M40 Owen Robinson (1.12.18)
569th & 22nd M55 Des Gill (1.16.32)
589th & 1st M70 Barry Potts (1.17.00)
919th & 79th M50 John Gleeson (1.21.19)
1,805th, 480th woman & 72nd W35 Louise Kelly (1.35.02)
1,918th, 521st woman & 127th W45 Dana Mackey (1.37.30)
DNF Louise Kelly & Ian Fitzgerald
2,559 finishers
INCORPORATED DUBLIN CHAMPIONSHIPS – full results to follow
MEN’S TEAM: 1. Donore Harriers (unconfirmed)
WOMEN’S TEAM: 1. Donore Harriers (unconfirmed)
PARKRUN (20.08.2022)
BRICKFIELDS: 45th Ann Woodlock W80 (37.17)
BUSHY: 95th Thomas Halton M65 (31.39)
CORKAGH: 30th & 8th woman Nicola Dowdall W45 (25.56), 74th Terry Mee M75 (31.03)
HARTSTOWN: 9th Mark Devine M45 (23.23)
MALAHIDE: 2nd Alasdair Brown M35 (17.38)
NEW ROSS: 42nd & 10th woman Liz MacCurtain W55 (28.49), 43rd Eugene MacCurtain M55 (28.50)
TYMON: 30th & 9th woman Sarah NiRuairc W40 (27.16)
WATERSTOWN: 48th Andrew Maguire M55 (48.58)