Dublin Marathon report

The headline successes of Sunday’s Dublin marathon were the women’s Senior A team of Anne Curley, Grace Kennedy and Sinéad Graham winning team silver out of 123 teams and Anne Curley’s gold in the W45 age-group in the National Marathon Championships, incorporated into the Dublin marathon.

Conditions were excellent with no wind or rain but the Dublin marathon course is not one to be trifled with – a lot of long drags in the first half can be deceptive and take their toll.

First man home was the now seasoned marathon man Fergal Whitty and he was not that far off his best time in 2.34.45 despite foot problems in the lead up to the race and he left in all on the line here. He was unlucky too to just miss out on an M40 top 3 placing, finishing 4th in his category. Sean Fox was only seconds off the PB he set in Rotterdam earlier this year in 2.47.07. Next in was Tony Barry 2.53.24 and Niall O’Reilly who did an ironman triathlon this year and smashed his PB in 2.55.31. Chris Muldoon ran 2.56.25 and Fergal Roche got a PB of 2.57.11.  Just outside the 3 hours was Declan Lynch in 3.00.45.

It’s great to see Anne Curley back doing what she does best – severely hampered by injury the past 2 years and a virus last week she still pulled out a 3.02.05 here in her 12th marathon, picking up pace in the second half and breezing past dozens in the last few miles.  Paul Cummins and Neil Hand finished in the 3.06 bracket.  Grace Kennedy got a big PB here of 3.08.02 showing the distance running flair and grit she has always had.

Stephen Dawson was next in 3.22.41.  Niall O’Reilly’s fiance Sinead Graham got it tough in the last few miles but still did a PB of 3.24.38 so a double PB going to the O’Reilly/Graham house!  Tony Griffin was well pleased with 3.26.31 and training partner Ken Cronin did really well in his debut in 3.30.33.  Kevin Odgers was next in 3.30.43.

Angela Eustace lowered her PB yet again in 3.31.42 after a great season on the roads.  Paul Graham was next in 3.32.11.  In her first marathon for Donore, Audrey Gahan was delighted with a 3.38.06.  Michael Barry has ran a few marathons this year and did 3.40.33 today and played the good samaritan in the last stages when he and another competitor helped an exhausted fellow runner to the line.  Ariana Ball came up trumps here after a disappointing roads season and aced a PB of 3.43.05.  Giovanni Borza ran 3.48.41.  Elaine Verdon had a nightmare leadup to the marathon needing surgery a few weeks ago so getting to the start line was touch and go but she was delighted with her 3.53

One of the happiest finishers of the day was Michelle Dawson who finally broke the 4 hour mark in 3.57.26.  Peter Bonnar had one of the feats of the day when he also got a PB of 3.58.52.  2 weeks ago he ran the Amsterdam marathon in just seconds over 4 hours so he came back to fix that on the streets of Dublin.  Another marathon debutante was Linda Curtin in 4.12.13.  Laura Murray hoped to break 4 hours today but still got a big PB of 4.12.59. Arthur Connick was next in 4.14.51.  Michele Murphy was well pleased with her 4.39.54 debut.

The Fit 4 life group had a good contingent here today with Andrew Maguire 4.14.28, Anna McMahon 4.35.23, Mark Cullivan 4.45.46 and Orlaith McMahon 5.07.17

Provisional team results show the enormous number of club entries:
123 senior women’s teams with our teams 2nd and 46th.  The women’s masters had 233 teams and we were 31st and 167th. In the men’s senior competition our teams were 49th and 80th out of  215. There was an incredible 433 teams in the master event with our men 9th and 25th.

There were more than 40 Donore people – members, parents, juniors and friends of members working very hard at the Chapelizod water station, another team distributing medals at the finish line and Joan McTernan and Dave Hudson of course who have been working hard for months on the event. Support around the course by members was magnificent – missing this year was of course the late Jim McNamara who always crisscrossed the course and was ever present at the finish.  He inspired a lot of the runners out there today and was remembered in the post-marathon celebrations in O’Donoghues afterwards.

Meanwhile in Frankfurt, George Brady was first home with another sub-3 in 2:58:32, followed by Fred Kiernan in 3:19:14 and John Gleeson in 3:30.54.

Full list of DCM Finishers.

Fergal Whitty 2.34.45
Sean Fox 2.47.07
Tony Barry 2.53.24
Niall O’Reilly 2.55.31 (PB)
Chris Muldoon 2.56.25
Feargal Roche 2.57.11 (PB)
Declan Lynch 3.00.45
Anne Curley 3.02.05
Paul Cummins 3.06.06
Neil Hand 3.06.53
Grace Kennedy 3.08.02 (PB)
Stephen Dawson 3.22.41
Sinead Graham 3.24.38 (PB)
Tony Griffin 3.26.21
Kevin Odgers 3.30.43
Ken Cronin 3.30.33 (debut)
Angela Eustace 3.31.42 (PB)
Paul Graham 3.32.11
Audrey Gahan 3.38.06 (PB)
Ariana Ball 3.43.05 (PB)
Giovanni Borza 3.48.41
Michelle Dawson 3.57.26 (PB)
Peter Bonnar 3.58.52 (PB)
Linda Curtin 4.12.13
Laura Murray 4.12.59 (PB)
Andrew Maguire 4.14.28
Arthur Connick 4.14.51
Declan Raftery 4.17.46
Joe McDonnell 4.24.35
Dana Mackey 4.26.45 (PB)
Anna McMahon 4.35.23
Michele Murphy 4.39.54 (debut)
Mark Cullivan 4.45.46
Ian Redican 5.03.06
Orlaith McMahon 5.07.17

Leinster Novice XC Report

The weekend wasn’t just about the Dublin marathon – we had a large number of competitors in the Leinster Novice cross country championship today at Tyrrellspass Co Westmeath.

The course was at New Forest Golf Club – good underfoot conditions, nice weather but a lot of short sharp hills and big numbers from all corners of the province in both races.

The ladies 4k race (1 small lap, 2 big laps) had 100 finishers.  Alma Hanevy had a super run, working her way through the field with a very strong last lap and she was passing runners right to the end to finish in 9th place – this also earned her county gold on the Dublin team.  Aine Mahony ran her first cross country race and finished in 50th place with Amy Dodd in a solid run in 57th.  Jona Kalemi improved on her run in the Dublin novice to finish in 72nd with Marianne Dunlevy in a good finish in 82nd.  The ladies finished in 8th place out of 12 teams – this was one of the most competitive Leinsters in a long time.

There were 9 Donore runners in the men’s 6k race – 151 finishers.  There was a powerful run from Rossa Hurley in 5th place – just 2 places off the medals and he won a gold on the Dublin team.  Next was Phil Hennessy 40th, Des Tremble 52nd, Fergal Swaine 61st, Patrick Byrne 72nd, Alan Farrell 84th, Andrew wilson 116th, Joe Murphy 143rd, Des Gill 146th, Ken McKeown  148th (he fell ill mid-race but bravely finished).  The team was 8th in a field of 22 teams -like the women’s race, a very competitive day.

The BHAA cross country series of races kicked off in the grounds of Castleknock College on Saturday. The series is a great introduction to cross-country running for many, as well as an opportunity for club athletes looking to test their fitness ahead of the Senior season. Donore dominated both men’s and women’s races, with Ide Nic Dhomhnaill winning the women’s 2 mile race by a big margin from DSD’s Niamh Devlin, and another good run by Aisling Swaine in 6th. It was a Donore 1-2 in the men’s with Eric Keogh taking the win ahead of clubmate Lee Van Haeften and last year’s national novice winner Stephen Lawlor of St. Abban’s in third.

Complete results available here (https://bhaa.ie/events/teachers-cross-country-2016/) with club results as follows:

Men’s 4 mile
Eric Keogh 1st
Lee van Haeften 2nd
Rossa Hurley 12th
Ken Norgrove 23rd
Kevin Nolan 25th
Fergal Swaine 32nd
Tom Fagan 53rd (3rd M45)
Peter Nugent 54th
Joe Murphy 58th
Colm Mullen 59th (xc debut)
Colin Moore 76th
Ken McKeown 80th
Terry Mee 99th (1st M70)

Women’s 2 mile
1st Ide Nic Dhomhnaill
6th Aisling Swaine
26th Mary McDermott
28th Marianne Dunlevy

Ian Redican has a photo gallery of the race here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/red-i/albums/72157671466474544

Results Round-up
With only weeks to go until the Dublin marathon, the 3/4 marathon event in Longwood, Meath attracted nearly 1000 runners. A well-received course and good weather meant that participants were happy with their times. First home for the club in 5th place and just dipping under the 2 hour mark was Anthony Flannery in 1.59.50 with Chris Muldoon not far behind in 7th place 2.01.50. Alma Hanevy isn’t doing an Autumn marathon this year but she had a really good showing today after the novice last week and finished 3rd lady in 2.23.28. Stephen Dawson was next in 2.24.12. Michael Barry crossed the line in 2.37.09. Dublin marathon-bound Michelle Dawson finished in 3.05.06 and despite some cramping in the legs, Laura Murray ran 3.10.17.

Meanwhile, in his native Cavan Niall Lynch came 4th in the 10k Run With Catherina in 34.45, celebrating its most famous sportsperson. In Limerick Olympian Sinead Jennings was 2nd in her rowing club’s St Michael’s Urban Run in 40.58.

Donore are always the traditional hosts of the opening race in the cross country championship season and the tradition is also for sunny weather on this day – this year was no different. It was poignant though that the race did not have the late Jim McNamara on the sidelines – who as Dublin Board chairman Pat Hooper remarked at the presentation afterwards – was never known to miss this race.

There was a mix of new and experienced runners in the ladies 4k novice race which consisted of one small lap and 2 x1.5k longer laps. Marathon runner Alma Hanevy used her endurance to work her way through the 74-strong field really well and finished in 6th. The youngest member of the team 19 year old Niamh O’Neill made her adult cross country debut here and ran a great race, starting off hard but maintaining the pace very well to finish in 11th place. Another two cross country debutantes were Sinead Finn finishing in 21st and Amy Dodd in a close 33rd to the line with two other runners. Jona Kalemi was next in 62nd and will build on this in future races as will Marianne Dunlevy who finished in 64th. The team were at first listed as 5th out of the 9 teams but a mistake was rectified and the team were in fact 4th – just 3 points off the bronze medal.

For the men, the disappointment of narrowly missing out on a team medal (Donore 4th – 58 & Crusaders 3rd – 51) was offset by Rossa Hurley’s tremendous run to secure an individual bronze (20.29), behind Robert Murphy of Rathfarnham AC in second (20.14) and the winner, the classy Cathal Doyle (20.09) of Clonliffe Harriers, a junior international who competed for Ireland at last year’s European Cross Country Championships.

Rossa came through over the first two laps to join the leading group of four athletes, taking the race lead at the midway point before Murphy and Doyle prevailed over the final 2k. The other team scorers Luke Boland in 14th (21.11), Phil Hennessy in 19th (21.27) who paced his race to perfection moving throughout the field over the course of the race and fourth scorer Patrick Byrne in 22nd (21.33). Next in was Ken Norgrove (25th, 21.39), Fergal Roche (34th, 21.56), Des Tremble (39th, 22.08), Kevin Nolan (42nd, 22.21), Alan Farrell (44th, 22.28), Graham Hopkins (60th, 23.05) and Des Gill (91st, 27.00).

Overall, this was a very encouraging opening race that shows Donore have squads capable of competing for Championships medals throughout the cross-country season.

One down, just the Leinster Novice, Dublin Senior, Leinster Senior, National Inter-Clubs, Dublin Intermediate, National Novice, Dublin Masters, Leinster Intermediate, Leinster Masters, National Intermediate, and National Masters left to go!

October 1st at Donore Harriers was the traditional annual opening run and group photo. A little later on and with a great turnout, Donore Harriers celebrated the achievements of its runners 40 years ago in 1976 and 50 years ago in 1966. Club President Iain Morrison introduced and there was a minute’s silence for the Donore members who passed during the year and who had family members present.

A keen custodian of Donore’s rich past, Willie Smith spoke about the 1966 European championships and the Montreal Olympics 1976. He also made a presentation to the family of high jumper Dick Raftery who were present.

Dr Cyril White who joined the club in 1944, has been President of the club and a former coach and is also well know as a race starter . He spoke and paid tribute to the volunteers that have made the club a great one. He also found out this year that he is longest serving starter in athletics in Europe, playing this role for 62 years, congratulations Cyril!

Michael Gygax was there to talk about his excellent new book on Irish Masters Athletics and brought copies of it for sale. It features a number of Donore athletes some of who were present, Willie Dunne, Ann Woodlock and Tony Murphy. There were many extended family members of the late Jim McNamara present, also family of the late Maurice Mullins. Michael read extracts from the book and Jim McNamara’s older brother Maurice paid a a moving tribute to Jim.

Thanks all who attended and helped out, especially the family members of the deceased – great to see faces old and new.

Midweek & Weekend round-up

There were no less than 3 night-time races during the week which featured runners from Donore Harriers. In Sligo was the Ballymote Firefly 5k challenge organised by Corran AC and Dermot McDermott. John Travers won the road mile event in 4.01 seeing off Alberto Sanchez in 4.02. The 5k featured young Sam Allen and he was an excellent 4th in 15.56. Earlier in the week, the Twilight Team Challenge took place around Sandyford Business Park. The winner in 17.21 was back from injury Ian O’Leary; 3rd overall and 1st woman was Ide Nic Dhomhnaill fresh from a great Rathfarnham 5K days before. Karla Doran was 3rd lady in 18.55 and great to Aislinn NiDhomhnaill back in action where she ran 19.20.
The ParkWest 10k and 5K nighttime races took place in the Clondalkin area and the indefatigable George Brady was 3rd in the 10k in 36.30. Luke Boland came 2nd in the 5k race in 17.04 with Peter Nugent running 20.09 There were only two Donore athletes in the Dublin Simon Fun Run, held over 5 miles in the Phoenix Park last Saturday. Anthony Flannery came in 4th in 27:16, while Tony Barry dipped under the 30-minute barrier finishing in 15th place in 29:42.

In Galway, Mark Dooley showed excellent form ahead of the cross-country season with a clear win in the half marathon. His time of 71 minutes is particularly impressive considering his victory was a solo run, with 2nd and 3rd place 7 and 8 minutes behind and bodes well for the important races coming up over the next few months.