HIGHLIGHTS: M50 team silver, senior men’s team 4th in the NATIONAL ROAD RELAY CHAMPIONSHIPS. Ide & Sorcha Loughnane and Kane Collins ran track PBs in the NORTH BELFAST HARRIERS 5,000m RACES. Audrey Gahan 1st woman in the WEXFORD 10KM ROAD RACE. Joan McTernan 1st W60 plus PBs for Louise Kelly & Suzie Henley-Willis in the WEXFORD HALF-MARATHON. David McConn 4th & 1st M40 in the RUN THROUGH 10KM at Regent’s Park in London. Juvenile Liam Morris scored wins in the FIRMUS FAB5 JUVENILE MEET in Belfast and the DUBLIN JUVENILE T&F LEAGUE 2 at Santry. There were wins also for Zion Osawe and Ruby Blake at Santry.
REPORT: <by Gerry Naughton, Leonie Newman & Florence Curley>
It was a stellar performance by the senior men’s team in the NATIONAL ROAD RELAY CHAMPIONSHIPS at Raheny on Sunday – albeit to finish in 4th place. The overall team time was less that half-a-minute short of the club’s best time for the course when winning the silver medal in 2019. Indeed, it took a course record of 37.11 by Raheny Shamrocks AC on that day to beat the Donore quartet by just 4 seconds. Moving forward to 2022 and it proved to be a day of records. Clonliffe Harriers won for the first time in 14 years with a new course record of 36.45 relegating a strong UCD AC (37.13) team to 2nd place. These two teams came to the forefront on the 3rd leg as Daragh McIlhenny (13.30) of UCD AC and Efrem Gidey (13.37) of Clonliffe both broke the 3-laps stage record set by John Travers (13.55) in 2019. That, together with a strong young Ennis Track team (37.32) containing the talented Casey brothers Dylan and Dean meant that Donore Harriers (37.43) had to settle for a gallant 4th for a consecutive season. This was arguably the strongest ever field for the senior men’s race, with teams from DSD AC (5th in 37.50), defending champions Raheny Shamrocks AC (6th in 37.57) and Kilkenny City Harriers (7th in 38.00) running times that would have contested for victory in previous seasons. Daragh Fitzgibbon (9.22) got himself into a lead group of 6 athletes in the opening 2-mile leg and handed over to Louis O’Loughlin in 2nd place as Raheny Shamrocks AC took an early lead thru Cillian Kirwan. O’Loughlin (4.28) lost only one-second to Juan Ignacius Pena of Raheny on the 2nd leg over one-mile. Donore were 5 seconds down at this point with Ennis Track 2 seconds further back and UCD AC 5 seconds behind Donore. Eventual winners Clonliffe Harriers were in 5th. John Travers, who has been carrying a foot injury for several months now, ran a tenacious 3-lap leg in 14.20 – but slipped back 2 places as the big-hitters laid siege! Travers, a wonderful clubman, limped from the handover area buoyed by the fact that he gave a 100% effort. “I’m happy with that time considering the amount of training I’ve missed in recent months” he said afterwards. Josh O’Sullivan-Hourihan, who was called up to the team on Wednesday following Gavin Curtin’s injury diagnosis, probably ran his finest race in a Donore Harriers singlet in the final 2-lap leg. The expectation was that seasoned Irish internationals like Mick Clohissy of Raheny Shamrocks and Eoin Everard of Kilkenny City Harriers would reel him in, but the Cork native was having none of it! Indeed, he gained 15-seconds on 2nd placed Luke McCann of UCD AC and ran an equal time as that of Niall Murphy of the 3rd placed team Ennis Track. Thus, O’Sullivan-Hourihan kept the team in fourth place to the finish line by returned a leg time of 9.33. He described his effort afterwards with just one word – “hard!”.
The Donore Harriers senior B team came 19th out of 25 closing teams in 43.29. The quartet consisted of Simon O’Toole (11.07), Michael Ryan (5.02), Ryan Aikins (16.12), and Harry Vaughan (11.08). O’Toole, Aikins, and Vaughan are all first season athletes who were making their debut in this event.
There was some medal ware for Donore Harriers in the M50 relay (one-mile, 2-mile, one-mile) as Ciaran O’Flaherty (5.23) tapped on to the second leg athlete in 2nd place behind a very strong Inishowen AC team. Niall Lynch (11.18) consolidated 2nd place with a strong run over 2 laps as Pauric McKinney pushed the North Donegal club into a bigger lead. Des Tremble (5.24) ran the fastest 3rd leg over the one lap route to bag the silver medals. Inishowen AC (21.20) took the gold, Donore Harriers (22.05) the silver – with Metro St. Brigid AC (22.40) in 3rd place. 15 teams closed.
The Donore Harriers M35 team came 5th of 20 closing teams. Ray Hynes (4.42) gave the team an early lead in the opening one-lap leg. Eoin Durkan (10.21), lacking in race sharpness, conceded ground on the 2-mile leg slipping back to 5th position. The team was closed by Craig Scott (5.11) who held on to 5th place in the final one-lap leg. The grade was won by East Cork AC (19.28) with Donore Harriers having an overall time of 20.14.
Three Donore Harriers athletes competed in the 2nd annual NORTH BELFAST HARRIERS AFTERNOON OF 5,000M RACES at the Mary Peters Track in Belfast on Saturday. The event, which is gaining in popularity, attracted a good selection of top-class athletes from both Ireland and the other home countries. Kane Collins, who has a best time of 14.57 for the 5km distance on the road from last December, was hoping to break the 15 minutes barrier on the track in the Men’s B race. He passed the 1km mark in 2.59, the 2km in 6.01 and the 3km in 9.03. Thereafter, the hot and windy conditions coupled with fatigue following his 69.15 half-marathon effort in Barcelona less than 3 weeks ago caused the Donore man to lose pace – and he finished 10th of the 13 starters in a time of 15.22.16. His race was won by Owen Miller of Fife AC in a time of 14.41.67. Ide and Sorcha NicDhomhnaill lined up in a competitive Women’s A race that was won by Scottish athlete Annabel Simpson in a time of 15.44.87. The sisters ran together thru the opening 1km in a time of 3.12. Ide then moved forward to 10th position with Sorcha in a close order 14th as they reached the 2km point in about 6.25. The Donore Harriers duo then moved up to 8th and 10th places as the pace dipped slightly. They maintained those positions to the finish line with Ide recording a time of 16.20.86 and Sorcha 16.26.43. Both achieved track PBs.
Audrey Gahan (44.06) won the women’s race in the SUPERVALU WEXFORD 10KM ROAD RACE on Sunday morning. She finished more than 3-minutes ahead of her nearest rival and came 20th overall out of 114 finishers. She also won the W40 category.
In the SUPERVALU WEXFORD HALF-MARATHON Joan McTernan (2.00.37) came 619th of 764 finishers and won the W60 class. Louise Kelly improved her PB to 1.40.59 to place 157th overall and 16th woman. Suzie Henley-Willis (1.47.05) placed 279th overall and was 19th of 92 in the W40 category. The first Donore Harriers athlete home was Owen Robinson (1.34.34) in 97th position.
David McConn came 5th in the RUN THROUGH REGENT’S PARK 10KM ROAD RACE in London on Saturday. McConn came 1st in the M40 category and posted a time of 35.56. The race was won by Samuel Gebreselassie (32.21) of Belgrave Harriers. There were 394 finishers.
On Wednesday evening (20.04.2022) Niall Lynch, an M50 athlete, came 2nd of 148 finishers in the IRISH MOUNTAIN RUNNING ASSOCIATION BELMONT & LITTLE SUGAR LOAF mountain race over an 8.6km route with a 360m elevation. Lynch recorded a time of 41.00 to finish just 24 seconds behind Conor Grennan of TT Racers. 147 finished the course.
Four aspiring club athletes competed in the Under 15 Boys 800m race at the FIRMUS FAB5 JUVENILE T&F MEETING at Mary Peters Track Belfaston Thursday evening. They dominated the race with 4 finishers in the top 5 from the 9 starters. Liam Morris (2.07.16) took first place, with promising newcomer Reuben McCormick (2.12.37) the runner-up. Other new members Daire McCarthy (2.22.10) came 4th and Adam Mulhall (2.29.04) 5th.
The second event in the DUBLIN JUVENILE TRACK & FIELD LEAGUE took place on Saturday at Santry Stadium. The main highlight for Donore Harriers came in the Under 15 Boys 800m race with Liam Morris (2.08), Reuben McCormick (2.14) and Daire McCarthy (2.20) occupying the first 3 places. Zion Osawe won the Under 15 Girls High Jump and came 3rd in the 100 metres. Ruby Blake won the Under 13 Girls Shot Putt. More results to follow.
In the Saturday morning 5km PARKRUN events Patrick Moriarty (18.47) was 6th at Marlay Park and juvenile member Katie Delaney (25.01) was 11th overall and 3rd woman at Waterstown. Other results below.
Results in brief:
NORTH BELFAST HARRIERS AFTERNOON OF 5,000M at Mary Peters Track Belfast (23.04.2022)
MEN’S 5,000m B RACE: 10th Kane Collins (15.22.16 PB)
WOMEN’S 5,000m A RACE: 8th Ide NicDhomhnaill (16.20.86 PB), 10th Sorcha NicDhomhnaill (16.26.43 PB)
FIRMUS FAB5 JUVENILE T&F MEETING at Mary Peters Track Belfast (21.04.2022)
U/15 BOYS 800m: 1st Liam Morris (2.07.16), 2nd Reuben McCormick (2.12.37), 4th Daire McCarthy (2.22.10), 5th Adam Mulhall (2.29.04). 9 finishers
DUBLIN JUVENILE T&F LEAGUE FIXTURE 2 at Santry (23.04.2022)
U/13 Girls Shot Putt: 1st Ruby Blake
U/13 Girls 80m Sprint: 8th Ruby Blake (won heat, 4th in semi-final)
U/14 Boys 800m: Eoin Mooney (2.40 h-t)
U/15 Girls 100m: 3rd Zion Osawe
U/15 Girls High Jump: 1st Zion Osawe
U/15 Boys 800m: 1st Liam Morris (2.09 h-t), 2nd Reuben McCormick (2.14 h-t), 3rd Daire McCarthy (2.20 h-t). Also, Adam Mulhall (2.31 h-t)
U/16 Boys 800m: 6th Lucas Collender (2.26 h-t)
The following club athletes also competed – U/10 Boys = Bobby Farrell, Cadel Senyk, Eli Henley-Willis & Seamus McCluskey; U/11 Girls = Cliodhna McMahon, Anna Whelan, Robyn McCluskey; U/11 Boys = Daniel Maddox, Alan Maddox; U/12 Boys = Max Henley-Willis; U/13 Girls = Lily Clarke
The events held were – 60m/80m/100m, 500m/600m/800m, Long Jump, High Jump, Shot Putt, Discus & Javelin.
DUBLIN JUVENILE T&F LEAGUE FIXTURE 1 POINT SCORERS (Tallaght 09.04.2022)
U/11 GIRLS: Anna Whelan 2nd in 600m, 4th in Long Jump (8 points)
U/12 GIRLS: Anabella Omozee 6th in 600m (1 point)
U/13 GIRLS: Ruby Blake 1st in Javelin (7 points)
U/14 GIRLS: Zion Osawe 3rd in Long Jump (4 points), Melody Omozee 5th in Long Jump (2 points)
U/14 BOYS: Elliot Whelan 3rd in Long Jump (4 points)
U/15 BOYS: Liam Morris 1st in 1,500m (7 points), Daire 5th in 1,500m (2 points)
FIRMUS FAB5 JUVENILE T&F MEETING at Mary Peters Track Belfast (21.04.2022)
U/15 BOYS 800m: 1st Liam Morris (2.07.16), 2nd Reuben McCormick (2.12.37), 4th Daire McCarthy (2.22.10), 5th Adam Mulhall (2.29.04). 9 finishers
RUN THROUGH REGENT’S PARK (LONDON) 10KM ROAD RACE (23.04.2022)
5th & 1st M40 David McConn (35.56)
394 finishers
NATIONAL ROAD RELAY CHAMPIONSHIPS at Raheny (24.04.2022)
MASTERS MEN W35-49 = 1 mile – 2 miles – 1 mile <NOTE: laps are about 60m over one-mile>
5th Donore Harriers (20.14) = Ray Hynes (04.42), Eoin Durkan (10.21), Craig Scott (05.11)
20 teams closed
MASTER MEN M50+ = 1 mile – 2 miles – 1 mile
2nd Donore Harriers (22.05) = Ciaran O’Flaherty (05.23), Niall Lynch (11.18), Des Tremble (05.24)
15 teams closed
SENIOR MEN = 2 miles – 1 mile – 3 miles – 2 miles
4th Donore Harriers A (37.43) = Daragh Fitzgibbon (09.22), Louis O’Loughlin (4.28), John Travers (14.20), Josh O’Sullivan-Hourihan (09.33)
19th Donore Harriers B (43.29) = Simon O’Toole (11.07), Michael Ryan (5.02), Ryan Aikins (16.12), Harry Vaughan (11.08)
25 teams closed
SUPERVALU WEXFORD HALF-MARATHON at Wexford (24.04.2022)
97th Owen Robinson (1.34.34)
157th & 16th woman Louise Kelly (1.40.59 PB)
279th & 19th W40 Suzie Henley-Willis (1.47.05 PB)
619th & 1st W60 Joan McTernan (2.00.37)
764 finishers
SUPERVALU WEXFORD 10KM ROAD RACE at Wexford (24.04.2022)
20th, 1st Woman & 1st W40 Audrey Gahan (44.06)
114 finishers
IMRA BELMONT & LITTLE SUGAR LOAF (8.6KM) RACE (20.04.2022)
2nd Niall Lynch M50 (41.00)
147 finishers
PARKRUNS 5km (23.04.2022)
BUSHY: 123rd Thomas Halton M65 (32.34)
CASTLETOWN: 84th Joan McTernan W60 (22.05), 138th Anna McMahon W35 (38.07)
CORKAGH: 32nd & 5th woman Nicola Dowdall W45 (25.27)
MARLAY: 6th Patrick Moriarty M35 (18.47)
NEW ROSS: 12th Eugene McCurtain M55 (24.37), 20th & 4th woman Liz McCurtain W55 (28.20)
TOLKA VALLEY: 7th Owen Robinson M45 (18.47)
WATERSTOWN: 11th & 3rd woman Katie Delaney W15-17 (25.01), 66th Andie Maguire W20 (49.09), 67th Andrew Maguire M55 (49.12)
