All posts by Conor McCauley

Busy St. Patrick’s Weekend of Road Racing

Club News, Events, Results, Senior

We had a very busy weekend of road racing over St Patrick’s weekend and first off was the St Patrick’s Festival 5k in the city centre where we had a huge number of members running, the day saw perfect conditions and multiple pbs gained:

First Donore man home was Kevin English in 16.04 followed by Fergal Whitty 16.18, John Dunne 16.20, Lee Van Haeften 16.25, Max Van Haeften 17.34, Stephen Gavin 17.39, Tomas Griffin 17.55, Dervila Holmes (10th woman) 18.14 (pb), Aoife Rickard 18.53 (pb), Niall O’Reilly 18.58, Desmond Gill 19.05 (pb), Richard Beades 19.09, Joe Murphy 19.23, Dave Wogan, Tom Fagan 19.30, Ryan Van Haeften 19.45, Gerard Morris 19.48, Breda Mahony 20.04, John Gleeson 20.16, Rhona Duane 20.32, Michelle O’Hagan 20.39, Lisa Carley 20.40, Sean O’Connor 21.14, Sinead Graham 21.15, Eva Campion 21.57, Caren Crowley 22.16, Sarah Ni Ruairc 23.18, Linda Curtin 25.30, Deborah Duffy 25.47, Tony Jenkins, Anna Van Haeften 29.00. Well done all!

We had 4 athletes in the Street Of Portlaoise 5km on the same day: John Downes (2nd o/45) 16.44 followed by Daragh Fitzgibbon (2nd Jnr) 17.00, George Brady 17.00 and Oisin Fitzgibbon (3rd Jnr) 17.23

In the Barcelona Marathon we had Conor McCauley running a big pb of 2.54.46, In the Rome marathon we had Jonathan Daly running 2.49.30 and Cristina Gonzalez running 4.24.11, well done Conor, Jono and Cristina!

In The Mallow 10 we had Anne Curley 3rd woman 60.41 followed by Florence Curley 7th woman (1st O35) 65.28, Kim Hickey 69.56, Maedbh Peavoy 70.31 (pb), Peter Duggan 72.49, Jim McNamara 1st O70 73.00.

Weekend Roundup

Club News, Events, Results, Senior

Very well done to John Travers who was 2nd in the IUAA (Intravarsities) cross country championships in Jordanstown, he competed for Athlone Institute of Technology and he was followed in by Eric Keogh (running for UCD) in a brilliant 11th place. Jona Kalemi competed for DCU in the women’s race to finish in 42nd  place.

On the road Eoin Durkan easily won the Malahide Parkrun 5k in 17.06 and Dervila Holmes continued her great racing form to finish second woman in the Enniscrone 10k on a very tough course (no times available).
In the BHAA Maynooth the last cross country race of the season we had Ian Redican, Terry Mee 1st O65 and Ann Woodlock 1st O70.

From Gothenburg to Ballycotton

Club News, Results, Senior

Well done to John Travers on a brave run in the 3000m in the European Indoors in Gothenburg, it is great to see John represent Ireland at this level and while he must be disappointed with not making the final his brave front running style is fastly becoming his trademark. John always gives 100% and he races from the heart which guarantees an eventful race every time so watch this space for more from John in the near future, very well done John and we are proud of you. A big congrats to Ciaran O’Lionard and Fionnuala Britton on their bronze medals in this event from Donore Harriers.

Meanwhile back on home turf we had a very busy weekend of road racing in Cork, Meath and Dublin which saw some great performances with a good few pb’s thrown in.  There were some great performances in the Ballycotton 10 where we had a large contingent who made a weekend away of it.  Twenty four of our athletes braved the chilly conditions and were faced with a strong headwind on the final one and a half mile uphill climb to the finish.  The ever improving Dervila Holmes was our first finisher in 62.45 taking a large slice of her previous best and earned herself a brilliant 6th overall placing in the women’s race, she was followed in by Joe Murphy 67:18 and Des Gill 67.19 both slicing huge chunks off their pb’s, the rest of the club finishers were St John Walsh 70.16, Breda Mahoney 70.45 (pb), Nicola Dowdall 73.42 (pb), Joe Rankin 74, Joan McTernan 76.14, Frank McNally 78.35, Dave Hudson 80.48, Colm Nugent 81.05, Sarah Ni Ruairc 81.01 (pb), Mary Kingston 82.03, Niamh O’ Brien 83.00, Liz Mc Curtain 83.27, Jennifer O’Keefe 83.38, Tom Halton 86.19, Michelle Murphy 86.23, Linda Curtin 88.19, Lou McCurtain 90.57, Barbara Riddell 91.39, Tony Jenkins 91.56, Michael Brophy 92.14 and  Deborah Duffy 92.08.  Unfortunately Cliodhna Carthy had to pull out at mile 7 due to a knee injury.  Very well done to all!
In the Bohermeen Half Marathon, we saw some great runs from Graham Hopkins 76.18 (pb) and 2nd O40 followed by Fred Kiernan who also got a pb in 77.54 followed  in by Derek O Neill in 83.17, all three are training for spring marathons so their form is looking good for fast times over the big distance, next in was Shane McAuley in 84.42 (pb?), Florence Curley was next in in a pb of 85.18 and was 2nd woman overall, this is a great return to form for Florence who now seems to be back to her old self on the roads, next in was Andrew Rodger who is making a welcome return to road racing in 97.57, followed by the unstoppable Jim McNamara who was using the race as a warm up for an upcoming ten miler in Mallow, unfortunately his hamstring went at 11 miles and he hobbled in in 140.19, nevertheless he was delighted with his effort  as he still ended up being the first O65 and no doubt will keep running on one leg till he gets better! John Gleeson was next in 142.23 followed by Terry Mee in 142.49 2nd O65, Alma Hanevy was our second lady to finish in 144.41 and she was followed in by Peter Daly in 151.33. Michelle McCabe ran 24.34 in the 5k race. Well done all.
In the Carlingford Half Marathon in Louth we had one representative Lee Chambers who ran 151.28.
Aoife Rickard was first woman in the Malahide Parkrun in a pb of 1859. Well done Aoife!

National Senior Cross Country Championships Tullamore

Club News, Events, Results, Senior

A crisp cold but very pleasant bright day saw some great racing in Charleville Estate in Tullamore. The course was tough with a steady uphill start and some tough climbs throughout but conditions underfoot overall were quite dry with some nice downhill stretches.

First off were the women and Barbara Cleary and Sinead Jennings were dominant in the first lap of the 4 lap undulating course. As the race settled down Barbara pushed on and mixed it with the elite group which earned her a fantastic 9th place, she is continuing to return to her best form after a recent break from racing but there is lots more to come from Barbara and no doubt she will show her true form on the road in the months to come. Next in was Sinead Jennings who had a powerful run to finish in 20th place. She went out fast and never gave up holding off fierce competition from far more experienced runners.  This was her first cross country race since the National Intermediate in 2007 but it was no surprise that she could pull out such a gutsy run as giving it 120% is Sinead’s known trademark, it is great to have her back as part of the team and we hope to see more of her if she can find the time with her very busy rowing schedule not to mention being a mother to two young children.  Not far behind Sinead was Anne Curley in 25th place who was running very strongly for most of the race before hitting a bad patch and losing a few places but it was a good run coming off a tough marathon schedule. She was followed in by the ever improving Dervila Holmes who had a fine run in 29th, there was probably  a few more places there for the taking but Dervila will show her recent great form again in the months ahead and is fastly making a name for herself in senior women’s running.  Íde NicDhomhnaill ran brilliantly in her first ever outing over 8k in 31st, it was probably a baptism of fire for Íde over the longer 8k distance but it was a fine end to what was a superb cross country season for her.  Sinead McCauley was next in and probably paid for her very fast and brave earlier pace to finish in a very decent 40th but Sinead and Íde will be the backbone of senior teams in the future when they get more experience of senior cross country running under their belts.  Not far behind was Florence Curley who was delighted to be back running on a national senior team after a long spell of below par running, she is definitely coming back to her old self and ran around with a smile on her face to finish in a solid 43th , hopefully there is a good road season ahead for Florence.  The stalwart experienced Samantha Conroy completed the team in 53rd place and found the going tough on the day. It wasn’t a good day for Samantha who has scored on previous silver and bronze medal teams in this race in 2008 and 2009 but no doubt she will be back showing her true form on the road in the next few months. This was a superb team effort from everybody with our strongest ever team  of 8 women running, unfortunately it wasn’t enough to secure a medal on the day where the competition was white hot but 4th place wasn’t bad on a day that saw the most competitive women’s Interclubs race in years.
Next off were the men who had 6 gruelling laps and we just had the bare four brave souls Darren Hand, John Downes, Fergal Whitty and Jonathon Daly who put themselves on the battle line. All had superb performances and 6th place was excellent considering the team was sorely depleted. Darren had a superb run in 36th and is continuing to improve on his recent great form, he was followed in by the evergreen John Downes whose teak toughness and years of experience got him around in 40th place, he looked to be enjoying himself on the tough course as he left much younger competitors struggling behind him, closing him down was the teak tough Fergal Whitty who seemed to struggle early on but rallied brilliantly in the second half of the race to push through the field finishing in 46th, He was followed closely by Jonathon Daly who had been been ahead for much of the race but tired a little in the latter stages probably due the effects of his  recent marathon training, nevertheless he rallied to finish strongly in  49th. Less than a minute separated our four finishers who packed brilliantly in a what was a solid team effort. This is superb running in one of the toughest days in the racing calender and well done to all who turned out. A big thanks to everybody who came down to support us and to Maurice Ahern, Tom Byrne and John Geogheghan who got down to Charleville Estate early to get the tent set up on a bitter cold day!

Weekend Round Up

Club News, Results, Senior
John Travers had another terrific run over the weekend in a special 1500m race that took place in conjunction with the junior and U23 national indoor championships in the Athlone arena which is fast becoming the site of some record breaking runs in recent weeks.  He had an great win in 3.44.53 holding off second placed Darren McBrearty and a host of stellar middle distance talent.
In the junior competition, Sean Lawlor competing against some much older runners placed 6th in 23.76, Cian O’Doherty 5th in the 60m hurdles in 8.70 and Emily Geoghegan was 8th in the 60m in 8.34
In the U23 section, Eamonn Fahey won gold in the long jump with a leap of 6.95,  David Campbell was 6th in the 400m in 53.47, Lynda Ngakam was 6th in the 60m in 7.96, Eric Keogh was 4th in the 1500m in 4.14.
A day earlier our Master athletes competed in the same arena.  Anne Gormley was 1st over the line and gold W45 in the 3k walk in 19.08.58.  Terry Mee did the 800m/3000m double in 2.49.61 and 12.49.07 respectively and was awarded with double M65 silver.  Ian O’Leary ran the 3000m – time not available.
Barbara Cleary made her 2013 comeback to racing in her home county of Clare to finish 1st lady in the John Minogue memorial 8k in 28.28 where she also placed 5th overall

Donore girls take gold at National Intemediates in Derry

Club News, Meet & Train, Results, Senior
A very busy racing weekend for the club in Athlone, Derry and Dublin saw some great results for the club with medals of all colours being won and records being set.
First off was a very impressive showing from the club at the Irish Universities National Indoor Championships in Athlone with John Travers (representing Athlone IT) winning the 1500m in new IUAA record of 3:44.24 and Eamonn Fahey (TCD) winning the long jump. Emily Geoghegan (UCD) won bronze on the 4 x200 relay and was 7th in 60m with 8.07.  Lynda Ngankam (DCU) finished 7th with 9m 24 in the triple jump and Eric Keogh (UCD) 6th in the 3000m with 9:36.28. The Leinster Indoor championships were also held in Athlone at the weekend and David Campbell was 5th in the 400m in 52.61 seconds. Masters stalwart Terry Mee picked up two medals in the V65 category – silver for the 3k in 13.02 and gold in the 800m in a time of 2.57.
The big cross country event of the weekend, National Masters and Intermediates in Derry saw a big contingent from the club travel north to fly the flag. The infamous snow of the 2010 Intercounties on the Gransha course at the foot of the Foyle Bridge was replaced by an abundance of muck and surface water. Yet again the women brought back the goods with another team gold in the Intermediate 5000m.
Íde Nic Dhomhnail ran herself to a standstill in her persuit of an individual medal. In the end her massive effort was rewarded by 5th place. She was followed closely by her sister Sorcha 9th who magnificently strode around the course giving every ounce of her energy resources to have her finest run yet in the black and white singlet of Donore. Sinead McCauley was next in for the team. From the off she was aggressive in her approach and showed her tremendous strength to hold her quick start throughout the race. Next in for the team was Aoife Rickard who completed the team scoring. Just eleven months after breaking a bone in her foot in the National Senior XCs, there was no-one more deserving of this invaluable gold medal after all her hard work and commitment to get back to full fitness which culminated in a magnificent race. The four scorers were aided every step of the way by very strong runs from Breda Mahoney and Marianne Dunleavy who had her best race yet. Brilliant running girls and a great team effort. Our master women were unlucky to finish just out of the medals but it was a great result on a team that was arguably not at full strength. Anne Curley ran strongly from the start and finished in 5th overall. A busy racing schedule of late probably kept her out of the overall top-three but no doubt she can achieve top-three next year. An added bonus was the fact that Anne helped Mayo county to silver medal. Anne was followed in by her sister and great team captain Florence who re-found her pep to have a great race. The new master on the block Sharon Moore and Michelle O’Hagan completed the team scoring with strong runs. Well done girls- medals await next year.
Our Intermediate men were unlucky to finish out of the medals by a mere 5 points. Aside from the fact that they missed out on the medals, all can be proud of their performances on the increasingly tough 8000m course as the lovely Northern rain eventually arrived. Darren Hand is continuing to show his latest sparkling form by being our first man home. Gavin Keogh was nest scorer. Gavin Keogh had led the way for the men for most of the race an really dug deep to hang on to Darren over the last lap. Both are showing they are in great shape for the upcoming National Senior XC. Jonathon Daly was next in after a great run that made up for his disappointment at the Leinster Senior XC. Jonathan was followed closely by Fergal Whitty who gave his characteristic battling performance. Next in was Gerry MacDonald who ran a great race and is showing very good recent form. New member Rene Kilrane was next in for the team. This was a great introduction to cross-country running for Rene as this sort of course is a little different to what he is used to in his native Canada. Unfortunately Lee Van Haeften who had been sick during the week was unable to finish the race which was a big disappointment to him after making the long journey up. The fact that he even tried to race is a mark of the man and no doubt he will be back next fitter, stronger and healthier to show us what he is capable of. Well done lads on a great team effort and also to Gavin and Jonathan who were on the gold medal winning Dublin team. Dave Wogan and Des Gill were our only representatives in the masters men’s race and both ran brilliantly with Des getting spiked and losing half a shoe mid race! It was a pity that they didn’t have a team to back them up on this occasion but with two teams in the Dublin Masters, it is clear that Masters running is strong in the club and hopefully this is the last time for many a year that we won’t field a team.
Thanks to the organisers of the event including our own Athletics Ireland Officials Harry Gorman and Charlie O’Neill. Harry’s cheering and Charlie’s warm words and hand-shake were very much appreciated by the teams at the finish line.
A nice surprise at the presentation afterwards was when Jim McNamara was presented with the IMAA Tadgh Lynch Master of the Year award by Mick Fennell of the Irish Masters Athletics Association. Well done Jim and its long overdue! The only award now overdue is a coaching one!
Meanwhile back in Dublin the girls continued to keep the flag flying when a big group of 16 Donore ladies ran the  final leg of the Meet and Train league in Lucan with Karen Behan in a brilliant 8th followed by Rhona Duane 11th, Alma Hanevy 12th, Mary McDermott 18th, Rachel Burke 22nd, Caren Crowley 26th,  Lee Chambers 31st, Angela Eustace  35th , Michelle Dawson  48th, Linda Curtin 51st, Eilish Joyce  58th, Deborah Duffy 60th, Sheila  Casey 63rd, Ann Woodlock 79th, Sue Lynch 82nd, Roz O’Connor 84th. Great running girls. Thanks also to Ger Lynch, Medbh Peavoy and Tom Byrne for the great support.

AAI Indoor Open Games from Athlone and Weekend Round Up

Club News, Results, Senior

The AAI Games were held over the weekend in the brilliant new indoor track facilities in Athlone and we had John Travers, David Campbell, Lynda Ngankam and Simon Taggart flying the flag for the club: David was 3rd in his 60m heat in 7.55, Lynda was also 5th in her 60m heat in a time of 8.05 and Simon was 6th in his heat with 7.21. David finished 5th in his 200m race in 24.11. Simon won the 60m hurdles in 8.38 and posted 7.35 in a second 60m race later in the day. John Travers ran a pb in the 3000m in 8.02.58 which was won by Juan Higuero of Spain in 7.5214. John was just a second outside the qualification time for the European U23 Indoor Chmapionships and although posting a PB was a little disappointed with his performance. Earlier in the week however, John ran a superb 3.42.53 for 1500m which did secure him a qualifying time for the European U23 championships. That time was achieved on Tuesday evening, also at AIT, during an inter colleges trial which opened the new Athlone arena.

Jack Rudden Kelly was 4th in his age group at the National Juvenile combined events indoors and got 4 PBs in his events. Darragh Fitzgibbon ran in the West Leinsters schools CC.

It was also a busy week on the roads in Raheny and Dungarvan but windy conditions might have dented a few potential pbs.

In the Raheny 5 we had a large contingent of runners and first in was Fergal Whitty in a brilliant 27.06 followed by John Dunne 28.00, Gerard McDonald 29.22, Conor McCauley 29.48, Dervila Holmes 30.24 (10th woman), Donal Iremonger 31.06, Tomas Griffin 31.15, Shane McAuley 31.12, David Wogan 32.45, Breda Mahoney 33.51, John Gleeson 33.50, Tony Griffin 34.19, Karen Behan 35.42, Rhona Dunne 35.43, Tony Dunne 36.30, Caren Crowley 37.10, Janette Strickland 37.14, Terry Mee 37.24, Alma Hanevy 38.34, Kim Strickland 39.51, Tom Halton 40.15, Betty Kehoe 45.39, Nicola Dowdall 47.00.

In the Dungarvan 10 we just had two Donore runners who made the journey south.

Anne Curley finished 4th woman in a PB time of 60.15 and Florence Curley ran 66.53.

In the IMRA Ticknock Winter race Rob Scanlon had a great run to finish in 2nd place.

Awards Night Kicks off Donore Harriers’ 120th Celebrations

Club News, Events

The first event of the Clubs 120th year celebrations took place in the West County Hotel on Friday night. The club’s first Annual Awards night was a brilliant success as all the various sections of the club came together to celebrate a host of magnificent athletes and athletic performances over the last 12 months.  A  packed venue was treated to a brilliant display of photographs, an exhibition of articles and photos from 50 years ago, and a slide show of recent photographs all added to the vibrant atmosphere. The expectation when the nominations for the various awards heightened the atmosphere, with the phrase “And the winner is” releasing a raucous roar of approval. M.C. Albert Prendiville to kept  the show rolling along until the final award ” Club Person of the Year” was Presented to Joan McTernan by former President Tommy Hayward. Senior team of the year was won by the Ladies national half marathon champions, who included Barbara Cleary,who was awarded Female Athlete of the Year. Dervila Holmes took the award for most improved lady athlete.  The Juvenile Team of the Year was won by the 4x100m u13 girls relay team-  Dublin champions and national bronze medalists. Included in this team was Suzi O Farrell, National champion over 100m. Emily Geoghegan,  Sean Lawler and Adam Halpin were popular winners of the u18 category in track and field , while Senior National champions Eamon Fahey – Long jump and Simon Taggart 110 hurdles were joint men’s senior athletes of the year. The middle distance c/c.c awards went to Enya Ritchie, Oisin Fitzgibbon and Stephen Gavin. Masters winners were Ann Curley and Ian O’ Leary. Nicola Dowdall took the honours in the Fit 4 life category while Karen Behan won the Meet and Train award. Others winners included Sean Kinsella, Alan Reid, Brian Barry, Kaladay Abidon and Jack Rudden-Kelly.  What a wonderful set of winners and nominees. The club is so proud of them.

Following the awards and photographs, very welcome food was devoured. Then onto the disco, where the energy levels soared to heavenly heights. The packed floor was bombarded and punished as never before as an army of fit athletes let loose all their pent up energy. Can Donore dance! The night was very enjoyable and succeeded in bringing the various strands of the club into one impressive whole. The organising committee under the leadership of Linda Mc Donnell did a fantastic job, so thanks very much to them for their hard work. Take a bow Leonie, Linda, Jennifer, Natalie and Maurice.

The following Tuesday night Fergal Whitty was a late but deserved recipient of the award for most improved male athlete of the year. It was overlooked on the night and the presentation was made in the clubhouse prior to training.

More celebratory events are being planned for the near future and they will be announced in the coming weeks. In this year of our 120 celebrations, we hope that all our teams and individuals will make a special effort to perform even better this year.