A packed weekend of fixtures with the great news that Donore has a set of new national champions. Our U14 boys 4×200 team of Kolade Abidon, Max Carey, Louis mcdonagh, James McDonagh and Jack Rafferty stormed to gold at the National juvenile relays in Athlone. The U18 team of Sean Lawlor, Rolus Olusa, Adam Halpin, Connor? and Aidan won bronze. Great runs too from our U15 boys and U14 girls teams. Congrats all round.
A day later in Raheny, it was great to see 5 Donore teams contest the National senior and Master road relays. Unfortunately there were no ladies teams on this occasion but they will regroup next week for the national 10k. The Donore A team of Eric Keogh, Lee Van Haeften, John Travers and Mark Dooley finished 5th in the senior with Our B team of Darragh Fitzgibbon, Rob Scanlon, Darren Hand and Ken Norgrove in 13th. 3 teams contested the Masters. John Dunne, fergal Whitty and Dave Heffernan were 7th, Donal Iremonger, Gerry McDonald and Tom Fagan were 14th and Des Gill, Dave Wogan and Ian Redican were 18th.
Over in the west, a contingent of Donore runners contested the gruelling Connemarathon races. Kudos in particular to Stephen Dawson who ran the 39 mile ultra event in a fantastic 5.23.86 and was 17th overall. In the marathon the constantly improving Angela Eustace did a super 4.08, Hilary O’Connor 4.26 and Michelle Dawson knocked 17 minutes off her time from last year to run 4.29. Fergal Swaine came an impressive 6th in the half in 86.19 and Deborah Duffy ran 2.30.
The first round of the Summer Meet and Train road league took place in Lucan over 3 miles and the Donore ladies aim to replicate the great team turnout of the winter league with many new members coming on board. First home was Cliodhna Carthy in 4th, Sharon Moore 5th, Karen Behan 6th and Rhona Duane 8th and well done Joan McTernan, Lee Chambers, Ann Woodlock, Laura Murray, Sue Lynch, Eilish Joyce, Lorraine, Suzanne, Jennifer O’Keeffe, Cristina Gonzalez, Aisling McDonagh.
Elsewhere, John Downes was the winner of the Doneraile 5k in 16.31; Brian O’Riordan flew the flag for Donore in the Paris marathon in a time of 2.58. At the BHAA 2 mile, Rhona Duane was 8th in 13.09 and Ann Woodlock was 1st W70. In the 4 mile Anne Curley ran 23.48, Donal Iremonger 23.58, Dave Wogan 24.39, Ian Redican 26.11 and Terry Mee 29.29 (3rd M65)