What a difference a year makes.  Last year we were fighting the elements delivered by Storm Desmond but yesterday saw ideal racing conditions for the 26th Jingle Bells 5k.  It proved to be a great success all round with just under 800 chipped competitors and over 200 kids taking part.  At 11am, on the Acres road, official race starter Cyril Symthe set them on their way over the fast course which provided many with new PBs.  First to reach the finish line on St. Mary’s road, for the third year in a row, was our own John Travers in a quick time of 14.08 (14.07 chip) which needs to be confirmed as a possible course record.  He was followed in by Conor Dooney (Raheny Shamrock) in 14:30 (14:29 chip) and Thomas Moran (Dunshaughlin AC) third in 14:37 (14:36 chip).  Winning the Women’s title in a very competitive field was Rio Olympian, Ciara Mageean (UCDAC) in 15:58 (15:57 chip) taking the title for the second consecutive year.  In second place was Sinead O’Connor (Leevale AC) in 16:25 (16:23 chip) followed by Sarah MacMahon (DSDAC) in third place in 16:45 (16:43 chip).

The Women’s team competition was a tight affair with Leevale AC prevailing as narrow winners over UCDAC with Carol Finn their third place athlete splitting the difference. First; Leevale (23); Sinead O’Connor (2), Lizzie Lee (10) and Carol Finn (11).  Second; UCDAC (23); Ciara Mageean (1), Ellie Hartnett (4) and Ciara Rooney (18).  In the Men’s team placings Raheny Shamrock AC came out on top from St. Abban’s second.  Scores were as follows; Raheny with (23); Conor Dooney (2), Eoin Strutt (9), Brian Fay (12) and St. Abban’s (39); Stephen Lawlor (7), John Fenlon (13), Stephen Hunter (19).

Thank you to our main sponsor; Bill Griffin Motors and our sponsors; The Runhub and Dunnes Stores.  A big thank you to the OPW and the park rangers from the Phoenix Park; the Civil Defence; An Garda Siochana; Blanchardstown Brass Band; BHAA, Championchip Ireland and Timing Ireland; Last lap cafe and official starter Cyril Smythe.

A special big thank you to all who took part; Olympic athletes; future Olympic athletes; fellow clubs and club athletes; runners; joggers; walkers, festive fancy dressers and spectators.  Also a massive thank you to all Donore helpers and friends of Donore who made the Jingle Bells 2016 a great success.

The National half marathon is incorporated into the annual Rocknroll half marathon, a tough course which starts on Dublin’s North Wall, goes out to Kilmainham, Chapelizod and then an extended loop in the Phoenix Park. This year runners also had to contend with strong winds on the course.

The Donore contingent this year was not as big as some previous years but 10th man home in 74.04 was Michael McMahon.  Barry Potts won the M65 age group in 95.38Grace Kennedy made a late decision to compete so was not on the AAI list but was first home in 90.54  Sinead Graham was delighted with her 96. 40 PB, Alma Hanevy had a tough day so not as far up as she would have wished in 98.32 but her run and Angela Eustace’s excellent 1.40 meant that the ladies masters team won silver and Angela was just outside the W45 medals to be 4th in her age group.
And well done 
Alan Farrell 85.10
Ken Mckeown 94.56
Ken Cronin 1.45.25
Michelle Dawson 1.58.02
Kim Strickland 2.02.38
Laura Murray 2.03
Arthur Connick 2.03.09
This year the Rocknroll event also had a 5k and 10k race.  Luke Boland ran 16.56 in the 5k and Laura Murray warmed up for the half marathon the day after in 34 minutes.
Back from injury Barbara Murray had an impressive run in the 10k where she was 2nd woman in 41.04.

Other Highlights of the past few weeks included the Fingal 10k, kinnegad 5k, Docklands 5k and BHAA road races

There were some very fast times at the Fingal 10k in Swords on 24 July which has become one of the most popular 10ks in the country in recent years.
John Dunne came 10th in a super 32.49 with Rossa Hurley in 33.47.  First of the ladies was Grace Kennedy in 40.19 with the ever improving Amy Moriarty not far behind in 40.23 and Alma Hanevy 40.48.  well done to
Chris Muldoon 34.52
Alasdair Brown 36.44
Declan Lynch 37.59
Niall O’Reilly 39.02
Kevin Odgers 40.50
Stephen Dawson 41.35
Giovanni Borza 42.47
Terry mee 1st M70 45.57
Caren Crowley 45.59
Leonie Barry 46.51
Ariana ball 47.26
Peter Bonnar 47.58
Daryl Clement 48.08
Lee chambers 49.02
Michelle Dawson 50.27

There was a big Donore turnout at the Coralstown Kinnegad 5k,, another fast course where the Donore men finished as first team.  Fergal Whitty came 5th in 16.34, Fergal swaine 8th in 16.45, des tremble 8th in 16.47.  Alan Farrell finished in 17.29 and Tom Fagan in 18.43.  Aisling Swaine was 5th lady in 18.37 in another impressive 5k for her to add to her recent successes and new member Amy Dodd ran 21.54.

Lee Van Haeften had a fine win at the BHAA 5k road race in Irishtown where he finished in 15.45.  Full results
Eoin Durkan 4th 16.16
Anthony Flannery 7th 17.01
Alasdair Brown 19.01
Ian redican 20.03
Alma Hanevy 20.09
Karen behan 21.18
Julia Hackett 21.23

At the Docklands 5k, Anthony Flannery had another good 5k finishing in 16.22 and Sorcha Nic Dhomhnaill smashed her PB to finish in 17.39.  Well done alasdair brown 17.16, Shane McAuley 17.26, Angela Eustace 20.59 and Colin Moore 22.05 

Other results

Streets of Galway 8k
Sam Allen 11th 27.19

Streets of Athboy 5k
Michael Gibbs 13th 17.47
Karen behan 20.58 10th and 2nd W35
Ann Woodlock 28.09

Carton 6k trail race
Eoin Durkan 20.18 6th

DLR Bay 10k
Anthony Flannery 6th 35.05

Roscommon 10 mile
Kim Hickey 5th woman 65.49

BHAA Fire brigade 5k

Ian Redican 20.17
Terry Mee 22.43

Clontarf Half marathon 
George Brady 5th 81.58
Declan Lynch 87.51
Des Gill 1.41.45

Clontarf 5 miles
Amy Moriarty 33.07 3rd
Giovanni Borza 35.04

Ahead of the final tomorrow. Here is a long delayed report on the 2nd round of the national league and some of the other track fixtures in the past weeks!
I’ll do the road separately.

On August 7th for the first time in the club’s history, the men’s and women’s teams have reached the national track and field league final in Tullamore.
The teams secured their passage to the final in the second round of the league on a glorious day on the Mary Peters Track in Belfast on July 17th.
The ladies team had their best ever performance in the history of this event topping the pool in Belfast which has never happened. This was made possible by a super collective effort and high points in a number of events with only one event not covered. Lara O’Byrne won the 100mH and the pole Vault. Maximum points were also achieved by Lynda Tcheudji in the triple jump and the 4x100m team (Lynda, Andie Maguire, Robyn Okeeffe, Suzi) won their event with ease. There were impressive 2nd place finishes by Lynda again in the 100m, Caoimhe Mackey in the 400mH and Anne Gormley in the 1500k walk. In the throws and jumps we were strong throughout with the versatile Lara 3rd in the high jump, Clodagh Read was 2nd in the discus and 3rd in the hammer. Lauren O’keeffe was 4th in the shot and 6th in javelin. Andie Maguire was a late callup for the long jump and did really well to come 4th. Sinead Lambe had a great race in the 800m finishing 2nd and Karla Doran came 3rd in a competitive 1500m. With Suzi OFarrell 5th in the 200m and Maura Kearns 6th in the 400m, the last track event was the 4x400m and this was the true marker of how far this team has come. Traditionally this was an event in which we often finished a distant last but this time our team (Caoimhe, Clodagh Martin, Maura, Sinead) were a brilliant 2nd.
112 points was the total, and combined with the first round points was more than enough to reach the division 1 final.

The men’s team were missing many key people on the day but thankfully the team did enough to qualify for the Final. One of the key partipants was multieventer Rolus Olusa who was 2nd in the 110mH, 4th in the 400mH and 4th in the triple jump. Eamonn Fahey too gained valuable points with his 3rd in the 200m and 2nd in the 100m. There was an excellent 2nd place in the 4x100m relay and 3rd in the 4x400m. After some fouls, Kolade Abidoun had a super final jump of 6.05 to get 3rd in that event. Jako Oosthuizen gained valuable points by winning the 56lb weight event and coming 3rd in the javelin. Alex Kelly was 4th in the discus and 5th in the hammer and also bravely filled in for the 1500m when we were missing out runner on the day. Sam Allen came 5th in the 5000m and master runner Donal Iremonger was 7th in a tough 800m and David Campbell 7th in the 400m. Max Carey did very well for 5th place in the pole vault, not his usual event. There was an anxious wait over the next 24 hours as the points were totted up from both pools, thankfully the 92 points added to the first round total got the men through.
Thanks to Leonie Newman for all the coordination of the team, David Campbell too, all the coaches and Iain Morrison also for the informal awards handed out on the journey home!

Elsewhere on the track, the Morton Games, IMC and 3 graded meets saw the track season reaching its final stages.
John Travers finished 5th in the Albie Thomas 3000m at the Morton Games in 8.02.25. Eric Keogh had an excellent run in the 1500m IMC v BMC Race at the games where he finished 2nd in 3.47.08. A week earlier he ran 3.48.65 at the BMC meet in Watford. Eamonn Fahey reached the 100m final and got a time of 10.98.

Other notable performances on the track over the past few weeks were in the Dublin graded 6 meet where 8 Donore men competed in the 5000m events. First home was a back on form Mark Dooley in 15.20.67. Lauren Okeeffe topped the hammer event in the graded 7 meet and in the 8th and final graded meet, Ide Nic Dhomhnaill won the ladies 3000m in 10.40.58

Full results of IMC And graded meets as follows

Graded 6
800mA Darragh Fitzgibbon 2.00.93 5th
800mC Kevin nolan 2.11.94 2nd
800mD Michael Rickard 2.12.53 4th
5000m C Joe Murphy 19.24.9-
Terry mee 22.36.28
5000m A Mark Dooley 15.20.67
Michael McMahon 15.23.63
John Dunne 15.37.51
Rossa Hurley 16.16.06
Eoin Hannon 16.40.80
Sean fox 16.51.12

Graded 7
200mC Sean OBroinn 26.27 5th
800mA Sinead Lambe 2.25.01 7th
800mB Karla doran 2.27.41 1st
1 mile Luke Boland 4.48.76
Hammer women
Lauren Okeeffe 58.26 1st
Clodagh read 41.36
Orlaith read 32.5
Men
Ian Darroch 43.25

Graded 8
100m Suzi OFarrell 1st 13.8
Robyn Okeeffe 2nd 14.18
400mC Donal Iremonger 59.27 3rd
3000m Ide nicdhomhnaill 10.40.58 winner
3000m men Sam Allen 8th 9.21.92
Luke Boland 9.41.21 12th
George Brady 9.54.58 17th
3000mC Kevin Nolan 2nd 10.10.86
Discus Oran obrien 29.33 2nd
Shot put 9.91
Womens shot Faith Hopkins 6.28

le cheile international meet Leixlip

Long jump Rolus Olusa 6.71 2nd
200mC Adam Halpin 23.89
David Campbell 24.33
3000m Mark Dooley 8.54.25 9th
Luke Boland 9.25.88

Fantastic news from Tbilisi as Alex Clarkin has qualified for the final of the 110m hurdles tomorrow at 3.05pm. In doing so he broke the Irish National youth record twice in his two runs. First running 14:09 to place third in his heat and following up with a sub 14 second 4th place in his semi final to qualify for the final in 13:97.

Aoife lynch has also qualified for the semi finals in the 200m finishing just outside her pb in 25:00. Aoife finished 4th in heat 4. Her semi is at 1.45pm tomorrow.

It’s a terrific achievement for both athletes, their coaches John and Paul and the Club. We wish them the very best in their races tomorrow.

After all the action last weekend in Amsterdam at the European Track and Field Championships the next four days sees the holding of the 1st ever European Athletics Youth Championships in Tbilisi, Georgia from 14-17 July.  We are delighted to have two athletes taking park in the Championships and we wish them both very well.  Alex Clarkin will be taking part in the Boys 110m hurdles.  Alex is first on the track on Friday 15th in Heat 3 of Round 1 which starts at 12pm local time.  Aoife Lynch will take to the track in Heat 4 of the Girls 200m Round 1 which will start at 17.55, also on Friday 15th.  The very best of luck to you both.  While on the subject of the Euros, a massive congratulations to Ciara Mageean on her terrific run in the European 1,500m final to clinch the bronze medal last Sunday.  A report of last weekends success at Tullamore also will follow soon along with a round up of results.

It was a terrific weekend for the our junior and juvenile athletes with the announcement that Alex Clarkin (110h) and Aoife Lynch (200m) had both been selected to represent Ireland in the European Youth Championships in Tbilisi, Georgia (July 14 – 17). Hopefully this will be their first of many Irish caps. In Tullamore Sean Lawlor continued on his winning ways when he added another National title to his list with winning the Junior mens 100m in 10.84 also getting selected for the World Under Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland as part of the 4×100 mens relay team. Zak Higgins had a great run in the junior mens 400m placing 3rd with Paul McDermot placing 2nd in the 200m and Oran O’Brien placing 3rd in the 35lb weight. Well done to all and best of luck to our 3 athletes who will represent Ireland later in the month, we are all very proud of your achievements. Well done also to coaches coaches John Geoghan, Paul Clarkin and Gerry Ronan.

John Travers made the trip to the Danny McDaid Athletics Track in Letterkenny, Co. Donegal. The race was won by Englishman Lee Emanuel in a time of 3:59:66 with John running 4:05:79 to finish 6th.

Elsewhere, Fergal Whitty had a great run at the Achill Half Marathon where he finished 2nd in 01:16:41. Also running were some of our Fit4life athletes who are coached under the guidance of Barry Potts. Neil Maddox was first home in 01:42:24 with Anne Rushe 01:55:16, Cariosa Walsh 02:13:11 and Anna MacMahon 02:24:11. Anne’s husband Rory Campbell also ran a fine race when he finished 5th in 01:22:37.

In the Clonee 10K last Friday night Donore were well represented. Anthony Flannery (34:20) and Sean Fox (34:22) lead the charge for the club and finished in 7th and 8th respectively. Other results were as follows: 32nd Alastire Brown 37:31, 33rd Shane Russell 37:33, 38th Declan Lynch 38:09, 73rd Ken McKeown 41:22 and 109th Jill Dempsey 44:53. Well done to all.

On Saturday in the Irish Runner Paced Miles (Phoenix Park) Oliver Hopkins ran 06:33 with Dad Graham on his shoulder also running 06:33 with Barbara Hopkins running 09:03. Terry Mee ran 06:37.

Earlier in the week Alma Hanevy was a close 2nd woman in the very wet 5k BHAA trail race in the Phoenix park in a time of 20.16 and she was 28th overall. Terry Mee won the m70 class in 23.52.

Saturday also saw the staging of the Inaugural Donore Pub Run which started out from the club at 4pm, taking in the Villager, Myos, The Hole in the Wall and finished in The Mullingar House. It was a great event and about 40 Donore members took part. A big thank you to those that hatched the plan (Ken and Joe, I think) also a big thank you to Alan who organised it and thank you to Ash from Run Logic and Peter who along with Ash cycled forth and got the beers in. Looking forward to next years event already!

John Travers was in action again on the track just two days are winning the National 1,500m in Santry. This time the venue was the Cork Institute of Technology Stadium on Tuesday June 28th. This was the staging of the 65th annual Cork City Sports which has seen some great athletics over the years and is always a crowd puller. One of the main events is the Men’s mile and Travers made the trip to take part. John finished 4th in a time of 4:04:12. The race was won by Ryan Gregson of Australia in a time of 4:01:37. Full results can be found HERE

Some late results to announce from the most recent Dublin graded meet staged mid last week include the Dublin 3000m championship for men and women. Congratulations to Ide Nic Dhomhnaill the new Dublin women’s champion after winning the race in a new PB of 10.21. In the men’s race John Dunne won bronze in a time of 9.02.34, clubmate Michael McMahon wasn’t far behind in 9.03.15 and Luke Boland finished in a time of 9.45.31.

Morton Stadium, Santry hosted all the action in the National Senior Track and Field Championships over the weekend. Day one secured the first of two medals from the championships for Donore. Eamonn Fahey ran 21:95 in the final of the 200m and took the bronze medal. On Saturday John Travers took to the track after securing his spot from Saturday’s heats of the 1500m. The race became a battle of tactics as it slowed down to a pedestrian pace by 200m with no one prepared to go early. Most probably expected Travers to twitch and kick on but he held back until a break was made from 300m out. By 150m out Travers was on the shoulders of Cormac Kelly (St. Abban’s) and Eoin Everard (KCH) and passed Everard in the home straight to clinch his first National outdoor title in a conservative time of 4:01.19. congratulations to both John and Eamonn.

Earlier in the day Eric Keogh, Ray Hynes and Daragh Fitzgibbon competed in the 5,000m final and finished in 5th (14:37.28) and 7th (14:50.76) and 2nd (15:21.30)respectively.

There was a great showing of Donore athletes over both days, a number of them were competing at the National Seniors for the first time, some moving up from the Junior ranks. On Saturday Lynda Ngankam, who recently became a senior, finished 5th in the triple jump with 11.18. Having progressed from Saturday’s heats Caoimhe Mackay placed 7th in the 400m hurdles (1:10.72) and Ailbhe Healy finished 4th in the polevault on count back.

Sinead Lambe who has enjoyed the season at the 800m distance made Sunday’s final with a fastest losers qualification from Saturday. Sinead finished in 8th position in a time of 2:20.13. Unfortunately Karla Doran didn’t qualify from her heat on Day 1 in the 400m. Karla finished 4th in 1:06.53. Similarly David Campbell didn’t progress from his heat when he finished 7th in 53:86. Kenneth Nugent was our sole entrant in the 10,000 which was a straight final on Saturday afternoon and finished 8th in a time of 31:52.22. Sunday morning heats in the Men’s 110m hurdles saw Rolus Olusa through to the afternoon final where he finished in a time of 15:48. Eamonn Fahey also clinched the Men’s B final in 11:17. Well done to all.

Elsewhere, Desmond Gill finished in 20.45 at the Portmarnock 5k with Michelle Rowley coming in at 22.32.  In the SouthEast Michael Barry ran the Waterford Viking Marathon just dipping under the 4 hour mark in 3.59.41.  Sean Browne finished in 1.52.54 in the half marathon event the same day.

Meanwhile Sean Lawlor was competing in Mannheim in Germany over the weekend. Update to follow.