HIGHLIGHTS: Niamh Clifford 1st woman home in the RUN KILLARNEY HALF-MARATHON. Ide & Sorcha NicDhomhnaill 1st and 2nd in the STREETS OF GALWAY 8KM. Faith Hopkins threw a Shot Putt PB to take 2nd place in DUBLIN GRADED/CHAMPIONSHIP. Robert Murphy 2nd and 1st M40 in the KILBEGGAN 10 MILE. Daragh Keegan (7th overall) and Pam White were M35 & W35 age category winners in the STREETS OF ATHBOY 5KM.
REPORT: <report/results by Gerry Naughton & Florence Curley> Donore Harriers had 3 members compete in the RUN KILLARNEY HALF-MARATHON on Saturday morning. The race started and finished at the Gleneagles Hotel and took a picturesque out and back route along the N71 which took in views of Lough Leane and Muckross Lake, before turning around at the edge of the Upper Lake.
Niamh Clifford (1.20.01) – who was 16th overall – was the first woman home in a time of 1.20.01, finishing well clear of runner-up Eva Garcia-Morales (1.23.10) from Spain. The time places Clifford 9th in the Irish half-marathon list for 2022.
One place ahead of Clifford in the overall race was Alan Keogh (1.19.33) who ran a PB despite making a last-minute decision to enter the race. He placed 6th in the M40 category.
An improving Katherine Marsh (1.47.59) ran the race despite an ankle niggle and placed 271st overall from the 869 finishers and was the 24th woman home.
The NicDhomhnaill sisters Ide and Sorcha were back to the fore of Irish road running with another impressive one-two finish in the STREETS OF GALWAY 8KM ROAD RACE on Saturday. Ide (26.50) came 15th overall to win the women’s category with Sorcha (26.55) 17th and 2nd woman finisher. The Donore duo were pushed hard, particularly in the early stages of the race, by Providence College student Laura Mooney (27.08) of Tullamore Harriers.
Also, in a field of more than two-thousand runners were Alasdair Brown (27.29) in 23rd place and Simon O’Toole (28.46) in 45th.
An improving Daragh Keegan just missed out on breaking the 16 minutes barrier, but his 16.03 time was a personal best and good enough for 7th place overall and 1st M35 in the STREETS OF ATHBOY 5KM ROAD RACE on Friday evening. Adam Foy recorded a season’s best time of 17.06 when placing 18th, whilst Pamela White (20.30) took 13 seconds off her previous best time when crossing the line in 99th place. She was 16th woman home and 1st in the W35 category. There were 340 finishers
Robert Murphy (52.35) finished a fine 2nd in the KILBEGGAN 10 MILE ROAD RACE on Sunday. The race route followed the old N6 Galway Road to Horseleap Village before passing Clara village and returning to Kilbeggan.
Murphy used the race as part of his preparation for the Berlin Marathon which takes place on the 25th of September. He won the M40 category. The club’s other competitor was Chris Muldoon (1.05.06) who was 37th out of the 181 finishers and 20th M40.
In the 8th and final DUBLIN OPEN GRADED MEETING of the season held at the Lucan track last Wednesday Faith Hopkins threw a personal best in the Women’s Shot Putt of 7.09m to take the silver medal in the incorporated Dublin Championship. Jack Byrne (53.29) came 2nd in the Men’s 400 B grade race, whilst Michael McCarthy (57.70) won the 400m D grade.
Kieran Beausang and Ben Conroy completed the tough IRISH MOUNTAIN RUNNING ASSOCIATION’S LOG NA COILLE race on Sunday 31st of July. The 10.46km race had a total climb of 718 metres, with the event described as “a serious mountain challenge”. Beausang (1.21.28) placed 31st and Conroy (1.29.35) 35th of the 39 finishers. The race was part of the Irish championship league series.
The IMRA SUGAR BOWL race, held on Wednesday evening, included a circuit and a climb at the Sugar Loaf Mountain. Experienced mountain runner Niall Lynch completed the 7.5km route in 40.36 to place 17th of 169 finishers. Deirdre NicCanna (43.37) was 37th overall and 2nd woman finisher, whilst Honor Lynch (53.44) was the 1st junior woman when placing 95th overall. The race was run in pleasant conditions, which helped the athletes who faced a total of 450 metres of climbing.
Best club results in this week’s PARKRUNs were Sinead O’Reilly (20.25) 4th overall and 1st woman at KILCOCK, Florence Curley (21.37) 5th and 1st woman at HARTSTOWN, and Aisling Kirby (23.22) 9th and 1st woman finisher at FAIRVIEW. More results below.
Results in brief:
IMRA LOG NA COILLE, Camara Hill, Co. Wicklow (31.07.2022)
31st Kieran Beausang (1.21.28)
35th Ben Conroy (1.29.35)
39 finishers
IMRA SUGAR BOWL at the Sugar Loaf near Kilmacanogue (03.08.2022)
17th Niall Lynch (40.36)
37th & 2nd woman Deirdre NicCanna (43.27)
95th & 1st Junior woman Honor Lynch (53.44)
169 finishers
DUBLIN OPEN GRADED MEETING NO. 8 inc. DUBLIN CHAMPIONSHIPS at Lucan Track (03.08.2022)
WOMEN’S SHOT PUTT: 2nd Faith Hopkins (7.09m PB) SILVER
MEN’S B GRADE 400M: 2nd Jack Byrne (53.29)
MEN’S D GRADE 400M: 1st Michael McCarthy Snr (57.70)
STREETS OF ATHBOY 5KM ROAD RACE (05.08.2022)
7th & 1st M35 Daragh Keegan (16.03 PB)
18th Adam Foy (17.06)
99th, 16th woman & 1st W35 Pamela White (20.30 PB)
340 finishers
RUN KILLARNEY HALF-MARATHON (06.08.2022)
15th & 6th M40 Alan Keogh (1.19.33)
16th & 1st SW Niamh Clifford (1.20.01)
271st & 24th SW Katherine Marsh (1.47.59)
869 finishers
STREETS OF GALWAY 5KM ROAD RACE (06.08.2022)
15th & 1st woman Ide NicDhomhnaill (26.50)
17th & 2nd woman Sorcha NicDhomhnaill (26.55)
23rd Alasdair Brown (27.29)
45th Simon O’Toole (28.46)
2,034 finishers
KILBEGGAN 10 MILE ROAD RACE (07.08.2022)
2nd & 1st M40 Robert Murphy (52.35)
37th & 20th M40 Chris Muldoon (1.05.06)
181 finishers
PARKRUN (06.08.2022)
BUSHY: 102nd Thomas Halton M65 (33.07)
CASTLETOWN: 93rd Anna McMahon W35 (32.02)
FAIRVIEW: 9th & 1st woman Aisling Kirby WS (23.22)
GRIFFEEN: 51st Charlie O’Neill M65 (26.13)
HARTSTOWN: 5th & 1st woman Florence Curley W45 (21.37)
MARLAY: 4th Patrick Moriarty M45 (18.56)
NEW ROSS: 52nd Liz McCurtain W55 (29.00), 53rd Eugene McCurtain M55 (29.01)
ROYAL CANAL, KILCOCK: 4th & 1st woman Sinead O’Reilly W40 (20.25)
RUSSBOROUGH: 15th & 4th woman Nicola Dowdall W45 (26.13)
WATERSTOWN: 21st & 5th woman Delaney W15-17 (26.27), 78th Andrew Maguire M55 (57.44)