All posts by Medbh Peavoy

Masters National Track and Field and Frank Duffy 10 Mile

Club News, Results

The track and field season drew to a close with a number of impressive performances in many age groups at the National Track and Field Masters championships in Tullamore. A number of competitors won multiple medals in both track and field events notably Niall Allen’s gold in the WFD and silver in the discus. Karla Doran had a treble and won W35 400m gold, 800m silver and 1500m bronze. Donal Iremonger was an impressive double silver winner for M45 400m and 800m. Michael McMahon won silver in a very competitive 5000M. Orlaith Read was leading the W45 up til the last round and she won silver. Tony Jenkins won bronze in the M70 shot and Alex Kelly won discus bronze too.
A great end to the season – well done all.

Full results

3k Walk Anne Gormley W50 Gold 20.13.07
5000m Michael McMahon M35 Silver 15.22.50
5000m Ian O’Leary M45 8th 17.40.08
1500m Karla Doran W35 Bronze 5.04.84
800m Donal Iremonger M45 Silver 2.09.68
800m Karla Doran W35 Silver 2.22.54
400m Karla Doran W35 Gold 1.03.37
400m Donal Iremonger M45 Silver 0.57.38

 

Hammer Orlaith Reid W45 Silver 33
WFD Niall Allen M40 Silver 6.68
Discus Niall Allen M40 Silver 30.66
Shot put Niall Allen M40 4th 10.45
Shot put Tony Jenkins M70 Bronze 8.27
Javelin Tony Jenkins M70 Bronze 20.32
Discus Tony Jenkins M70 5h –
Discus Alan Kelly – Bronze –
Shot put Anne Gormley W50 5th 6.16

The day before in the Phoenix Park, over 40 Donore runners took part in the Frank Duffy 10 mile road race which also doubles as the Dublin 10 mile road championship (results of that awaited). Before the race even started, participants got soaked and the benefits of a slightly easier course than last year were cancelled out by the rain and wind that runners had to contend with in the race. Despite that, there were many good runs on the day. First home for the club was Anthony Flannery followed by Phil Hennessy Fergal Whitty. Grace Kennedy finished first of the ladies and was 17th woman overall with Amy Moriarty in 20th position and she got a PB. Well done to Barry Potts who won the M65 agegroup. It was good to see some new members in the singlet for the first time (Audrey Gahan) and a group of the Fit4Life runners. Many are using this as a good buildup to Autumn marathons – well done all, full results below.

Anthony Flannery 57.46 MS
Philip Hennessy 59.06 M45
Fergal Whitty 59.37 M40
Sean Fox 58.44 M40
Des Tremble 59.49 M45
Chris Muldoon 60.14 M40
Shane Russell 62.23 MS
Alan Farrell 62.44 M40
Patrick Byrne 63.24 M35
Neil Hand 64.32 MS
Marc Gibbs 66.36 MS
Grace Kennedy 67.25 FS
Amy Moriarty 67.52 FS
Kevin Odgers 68.58 M40
Giovanni Borza 69.33 MS
Stephen Dawson 70.01 MS
Barry Potts 71.05 M65
Neil Maddox 71.12 MS
Tony Griffin 72.41 M55
Sinead Graham 71.33 F35
Alma Hanevy 74.19 F35
Audrey Grahan 75.18 F35
Ken Cronin 75.11 M55
Grainne Nolan 75.22 F35
Gerard Morris 75.4 MS
Julia Hackett 75.51 F45
Nicola Dowdall 77.25 F40
Elaine Verdon 77.44 F40
Peter Bonnar 81.54 M45
Ariana Ball 82.14 FS
Lee Chambers 83.3 FS
Meadbh Campbell 83.5 FS
Arthur Connick 84.13 M50
Catherine McKeown 86.29 F35
Michelle Dawson 86.55 FS
Dana Mackey 89.51 F45
Deirdre Healy 89.53 F40
Jo Hughes 1.41.24 FS
Anna McMahon 1.43.20 FS

Sinead Jennings returned to Ireland after her Olympic rowing adventure and one of the first things she did was run a half marathon in her native Donegal, she was the first woman by some distance in a time of 83 minutes – inspiring stuff!
Over in the west Aine Mahony was the 2nd woman home in the Gaelforce West event, which is a combination of cycling, kayaking and road and trail running, sister Breda Mahony performed well too.
Well done all!

Cellbridge and Castlepollard 5k – Leinster Squad Announcement

Club News
Donore Harriers runners are continuing to make their presence felt on the road race circuit around Leinster with some impressive performances in the last week.  Chief of these was a Donore 1-2-3 by the men’s team in the Celbridge 5k.  Mark Dooley, now back living in Ireland was the decisive winner in 15.29.  In second place was men’s captain John Dunne in 15.50 and the ever improving Sam Allen in 15.54 to take 3rd.  Ciaran McCarthy finished in 16.33.  The men’s team were the clear winners.  Karen Behan was one of the 2 Donore ladies competing and ran 20.43 knocking 10 seconds off her 5k time in Athboy a week before and well done to
Michael Gibbs 17.33
Colin Moore 21.29
Dave Hudson 24.28
Laura Murray 26,00
Midweek it was the turn of the ladies to have a team win in the Castlepollard 5k in Westmeath.  Sorcha Nic Dhomhnaill was 2nd lady in 18.01 and Ashling Swaine 4th in 18.21.  New member Amy Dodd got another 5k PB in 20.33 and this secured a team win for the ladies.  First man home was Feargal Swaine in 17.05 and well done Henry English 19.21.
At the Duleek 10k in Meath, Shane McAuley secured a PB in 36.43 and 15th place.  Grainne Nolan finished in 43.55, Sinead Finn 45.25, Eilish Joyce 52.57 and Siobhra McCarthy 59.16.
On the track, the last meeting of the Drogheda and District AC graded series took place in Lourdes Stadium and some Donore runners made the journey for the Wednesday night event which saw mixed male and female races for each distance.  Mark Dooley won the 3000m in 9.05.68, Kevin Nolan 9.59.75.  Ide Nic Dhomhnaill was the 2nd female finisher in that race in 10.40.83 and new to the track Colm Mullen ran 5.13.10 to come 8th in the 1500m race 3.
There was more good news for some of our young endurance runners when Athletics Ireland announced its provincial junior endurance squads and making the cut for the Leinster squad are Louis O’Loughlin, Fathi Aden and Sekeyere Ahmed who have had numerous successes over the past year and in Louis’ case have already represented Ireland a few times already.  Well done to all.

National League Final and Celtic Games

Club News
Our ladies senior track and field team made club history on Sunday when the won bronze in the National club track and Field League Division i championships. They are the first ladies senior team to medal in these national club championships. Well done ladies.
Our men competed in the Premier division of the Men’s National track and Field league championship at the same venue. Despite many late injuries and sickness they also performed brilliantly finishing 4th , just 3 points behind third placed Galway A.c A great performance from a very young team. Now they are competing with the big boys and “no fear”.
The club’s track and field performances this summer have been brilliant, so,  much thanks and congratulations to our coaches and back up teams.
In the Celtic Games in Swansea on Saturday Louis O’ Loughlin won the u.16 1500m  in a pb. against teams from England, Scotland and Wales. What an end of season triumph for an athlete who has won 10 straight  All-Ireland championships over cross-country and track in the last year. Congratulations Louis. Also congratulations to Aoife Lynch also competing for Ireland at the Celtic Games who finished second in her 200m race at u18 .
What great young athletes the club is blessed with, not forgetting their coaches.
IMG_6771 IMG_6582

Action Packed June Bank Holiday Weekend

Club News, Results

It was an action packed week for the club on track and road with podium positions aplenty. Going back to the AAI games and national combined events last week now that all results are to hand, belated well done to Rolus Olusa in the Multi Event National Championship where he won silver in a new PB points tally of 6222 points. In the AAI games, kudos to Eamonn Fahey back in good form with 2nd in the 200m and 100m and Caoimhe Mackey on a great win in the 400h

200m Eamonn Fahey 21.99 2nd
100m Eamonn Fahey 11.08 2nd
100m heats Eamonn Fahey 10.82
110h Alex Clarkin 14.18
3000m Michael McMahon 8.58.24 7th
3000m John Dunne 9.01.26 8th
800m Sinéad Lambe 2.24.58 8th
100m Cara Brennan 12.11 3rd
100m heats Cara Brennan 13.26

 

The day before, Lynda Ngakam got to wear the Irish vest for the first in the Celtic international student games where she was narrowly of 3rd in the triple jump with a leap of 10.90

Staying on the track, John Travers had a clear win in the IMC 1500m race at the Bertie Quinn memorial Tullamore in 3.51.19 and at the same meet Sam Allen ran 9.23.95 in the 3000m.

There were many medals won at the Leinster T&F championships, best of the day was the three golds for Niall Allen in the M40 shot (10.46), discus.(28.84) and weight for distance (5.51)

Donal Iremonger won the M45 400m (57.89) and 800m (2.09.52)

Karla Doran won gold in the 1500m (5.04.22)

Anne Gormley W50 3000m walk gold (20.43)and silver in the shot put 6.27

Terry Mee M70 gold 800m 2.59.54 and 3000m 12.57.97

Lynda Ngakam gold 100m 12.92, 4th in triple Jump with best jump of 10.85

Orlaith Read gold in the W45 hammer 32.97

Zak Higgins senior bronze 400m 51.05 with Adam Halpin 6th 54.2 and David Campbell (a day after his charity skydive!) 54.35

Well done all!

On the road, the fast course of the BHAA government services Dunboyne 5 mile on a warm night during the week yielded good result with Fergal Whitty first home there.

12th Fergal Whitty 27.19 1st M40
18th Des Tremble 27.59 2nd M45
19th Eoin Hannon 27.54
26th Fergal Swaine 28.36
37th Tony Barry 29.01
Alan Farrell 29.1
Alasdair Brown 29.14
Fred Kiernan 29.17
Ian Redican 32.52
Barry Potts 33.44 2nd M65
Terry Mee 36.13 1st M70
Ann Woodlock 49.16 1st W75

There were a number of marathons over the weekend, first of those was in Tullaroan in Kilkenny where George Brady, running his 100th marathon, recorded his first ever actual marathon win in 2.56, congrats George.

In Derry on Sunday we had the Walled city marathon, not an easy course with a particularly savage hill at the end, where Laura Murray ran 4.23.21.
The next Day was the Cork marathon and there we had Michael Barry who ran 3.33.29.
In the half marathon event, runners were reportedly sent in the wrong direction so ended up running more than the distance! Nonetheless, taking the long course into account, well done to Noel Davis 1.53.46 and Anthony Flannery, who got sent the wrong way twice, 2.16.03.
On the mountains Niall Lynch came 4th in the latest Leinster league event on Trooperstown hill last Wednesday night.

As usual, a large contingent of Donor ladies ran in the Women’s Mini Marathon on Monday with some great performances on a warm day, first home for Donore was Kim Hickey in 16th position overall with 39.00, followed by Amy Moriarty in 31stwho clocked up a new pb with 41.10 and Grace Kennedy in 32nd with 41.11

Kim Hickey 39.00
Amy Moriarty 41.10
Grace Kennedy 41.11
Florence Curley 41.22
Karen Behan 43.52
Julia Hackett 44.46
Angela Eustace 45.16
Sinéad Graham 46.07
Caren Crowley 46.36
Joan McTernan 48.59
Michelle Rowley 50.46
Michelle Dawson 52.10

Bob Heffernan, Enfield 5k and Weekend Round Up

Club News, Results

The big success of the week for Donore Harriers was at the popular Bob Heffernan 5k in Enfield which is known for some very fast times and once again it didn’t disappoint.  Ashling Swaine continues to blaze a trail on the 5k road scene and knocked another chunk off her PB over the distance to run into 3rd place in 18.29.  She led the ladies team into 3rd place with Amy Moriarty and Bronagh Elliot being the scorers.  First home of the men were Rossa Hurley and Ciaran McCarthy in identical times of 16.05 and 13th place and there was a podium place for the men’s team too with a second placing there – 5 men went well under 17 minutes.  25 Donore runners took part in all – well done everyone.

 

Rossa Hurley 16.05
Ciaran McCarthy 16.05
Fergal Whitty 16.31
Philip Hennessey 16.36
Eoin Hannon 16.38
Fergal Swaine 17.08
Andrew Wilson 17.35
Fred Kiernan 17.44
Alan Farrell 17.45
Shane 17.46
Alasdair Brown 17.48
Aisling Swaine 18.29
Joe Murphy 19.13
Stephen Dawson 19.33
Amy Moriarty 20.06
Bronagh Elliot 20.30
Des Gill 20.40
Aine Mahony 21.36
Ariana Ball 21.42
Noel Davis 21.54
Joan McTernan 23.42
Dave Hudson 24.32
Michell Dawson 25.44
Ann Woodlock 27.52
Grace Sheridan 32.53

 

Staying on the roads, the longstanding charity race the Calcutta Run took place around the Phoenix Park with Julia Hackett coming 4th woman in the 5k in 22.19 and in the 10k Chris Byrne finished in 40.18 Florence Curley was 1st woman in 42.04 and Bronagh Elliott 3rd in 44.35.  Young Oliver Hopkins was 1st junior in the 5k race – he ran the course with his dad and Donore coach Graham Hopkins

 

Peter Bonnar ran 4.16.23 in the Leiden marathon in Belgium just over a month after doing the very tough Connemarathon so well done to him.

Roisin Brady 46.21
Dave Wogan 46.55
Ann Rush 51.15
Laura Murray 51.49
Jo Hughes 57.08

 

On the mountains, Niall Lynch and Colm O’Connell were a key part of the TT Racers team which were victorious in the Wicklow Way Relay at the weekend.  Versatile Niall who also coaches some of the juveniles, competed in the Connemarathon not long ago and last week he won the Leinster IMRA league Scalp race in the same Wicklow mountains.  4th of the ladies that day was Roisin Harkin

 

 

 

Donore Harriers Juvenile Results Round Up for April

Club News, Juvenile, Results

April was a busy month for Donore’s Juvenile athletes who have been competing weekly in various competitions.

On April 3rd Eleanor and Oliver Hopskins braved the bad weather to take on the Dunboyne AC junior races. Eleanor finished in a fantastic 17th place and Oliver was 13th in their age races. On the same weekend Micheal Barry ran the Rush Junior parkrun finishing in 3rd place with a fantastic 8.49 for the 2k distance.

At the Spring Throws meet in Morton Stadium on April 9th, Lauren O’Keeffe won her 3KG hammer event with a PB throw of 58.13m, while Clodagh Read also threw a PB (37.73m) in the 4KG competition, also in the 4KG competition and just returning from injury Orlaith Read threw just short of her PB.

On April 10th, we had the Great Ireland Junior Run, despite the wet and windy weather our juveniles were out in force for these local races. In the 1.6k mini race, Eleanor Hopkins was the 13th girl home with a brilliant 7.52. Meanwhile, in the 2.5k  junior race,  Jack Raftery was 6th in 8.49, Oliver Hopkins was 9th with 10.08, Micheal Barry wasn’t far behind with 10.18 for 12th place, Sean Kinsella 19th in 10.44, Daniel O’Neill 33rd 11.31 and Grace Raftery was 6th female in 11.04 and Ellie Raftery was 27th in 11.37.

April 19th saw the start of the Schools Track and Field season with the West Leinsters,  Lara O’Byrne made a great return to competition taking double gold in the inter hurdles and pole vault, while Sean Lawlor, just back from injury took gold in the senior 100m.
Donore Harriers athletes dominated the inter girls 100m final Cara Brennan won the gold, Suzi O’Farrell silver and Eve Reilly bronze with Robyn O’Keeffe finishing in 4th place. The inter boys 100m hurdles was another Donore dominated event With Alex Clarkin 1st, Jack Rudden 2nd, Kolade Abuidun 3rd and Max Carey 4th.
Aoife Lynch ran brilliantly to win gold in the senior girls 100m and Ailbhe Healy continued her winning form to win the senior pole vault. The inter girls hurdles was another clean sweep for Donore athletes with Lara O’Byrne taking gold, Angie Gonia silver and Ciara O’Donnell bronze.
In the boys under 16 mile, Faithi Aden was first, Jack Raftery was 3rd and Zakariya Ahmed 4th. The senior girls hurdles had Lauren Kennedy 3rd and Róisín Rynn 4th.

On the 20th of April we had some athletes in the North Leinster. Ashline Read took gold with a throw of 28.44m in the  junior hammer and Lauren O’Keeffe threw 50.77m to also take gold and Beth Kirwan silver with a throw of 32.10m and in the senior girls Clodagh Read won silver with 38.46m. Rebecca Power was second in the inter girls javelin and on the track Caoimhe Mackey was second in the 400m running a pb of 61.7 ad Eilis Darby was second in the inter steeplechase.

On the 21st Sean Lawlor and Aoife Lynch both completed the double for the week with gold medals in their respective 200m race, with Paul McDermot finishing 2nd to Sean in the senior 200m. In the inter girls 200m Cara Brennan ran brilliantly again to take silver with Andie Mcguire winning bronze and Robyn O’Keeffe in 4th place. Max Carey made his 400m hurldes debut finishing 2nd and Kolade Abiodun won gold in the boys long jump.
In the inter girls long jump Andie McGuire won gold and Eve Reilly won silver with both of the girls coming away with new pbs. Louis O’Loughlin had a brilliant win in the minor boys 800m and Niamh O’Neill won the senior girls 3k.
A number of Donore athletes also took part in the relays; Lucy Kirwin was on the Mount Sackvill minor girls winning team and Róisín Rynn and Imogen Sweeney were on the St Joseph senior girls team who won gold, while Andie McGuire won on the Kings Hospital bronze winning senior girls team.  The Coláiste Cois Life inter team who finished 3rd had Robyn O’Keeffe and Suzi O’Farrell. There were plenty more athletes who competed for their schools, making finals and posting pbs. Well done to everyone.

 

National Road Relays

Club News
There was a great turn out of Donore athletes graced the roads of Raheny on Sunday, cheered by tremendous support from our enthusiastic supporters. We had teams in all the races and the black ribbon worn by all team members were poignant reminders of two great members Jim Mac and Tommie Hayward gone to their rest in recent weeks. Competitions were of a tremendously high standard, so there were no easy medals on offer.

The ladies Masters teams finished in 8th and 12 the positions. Our senior ladies teams finished in 12th and 13th positions, just 11 seconds separating them. There were some very good individual performances on both teams, which is a positive for the future.
Our Masters men were brilliant taking gold and 8th place from a field of 25 teams. John Dunne got the A team off to the perfect start handing over to Michael McMahon in a close second place. Michael ran a brilliant two mile leg handing over to New Dad Emmet O’Broin , who ran a cool final one mile leg and breasted the tape in first place. A fantastic win. Congrats also to our  B team on a top class performance.
 Our senior men were struck a blow earlier in the week in their effort to retain their title,with the withdrawal of Daragh Fitzgibbon due to having contacting the flu. Nevertheless, they were positive and determined going to the start line.Eric Keogh gave the team the perfect start when finishing in front at the end of the 2 mile leg, handing over to John Dunne who was running for the second time that afternoon. John Travers was next in on the 3 mile leg with a lot of work to do and matched leader Mick Clohesy’s time bringing Donore into second place. The final 2 mile leg  in which Ray Hynes took on was loaded with top class outstanding athletes and in a hectic final mile we were pushed down to 5th place. Not to be Donore’s day!
All in all a proud day for the club.
OnThursday 21st at 7pm National 1500m champion and Olympic bound Ciara Mageen is coming down to the club to run with our ladies in the Phoenix Park. Ciara will attend a question and answer session in the club lounge after. This is a wonderful opportunity to run and listen to such a high quality athlete as Ciara. So ladies of all standards you are all welcome and even any men. So please be ready to run at 7pm. Any peope free might help with preparing some light refreshments

 

March Results Round Up

Club News, Results, Uncategorized

On Saturday night 27th Feb in the Tullamore court hotel we saw the best in Irish juvenile Athletics be awarded for their achievements throughout the year.

The national star award from AAI this year for Dublin was given to Louis O’Loughlin .Louis has been outstanding this year in cross county and later on in the year on the track .He won the minor boys schools cross country , both Dublin titles in cross country , the under 15 cross county title , placing 2nd in the under 16 and in this getting his first Ireland call up for the Celtic games which we are sure will be the first of many more appearances for Ireland . His talent does not stop at cross country in the outdoors after taking the Dublin 800 , 1500 title he also went on to take national titles in both in under 15 and just this past weekend a fantastic win in the SIAB international cross-country championships at Falkirk. Louis is a natural talent and a great team player . His future is looking good, from everyone at Donore harriers, a big  congratulations Louis on your star award.

National Senior Indoors

Ailbhe Healy made another breakthrough by winning Silver in the pole vault at the national senior indoor championships in Athlone.  She had a best vault of 2.70 metres.  Other notable performances were Lynda Tcheudji in the triple jump where she came 5th.  Sinead Lambe got a big PB in the 800m heats and Darragh Fitzgibbon got close to a 4 minutes 1500m which meant he qualified for the final on day 2.
There was no medal for John Travers on this occasion, he finished 6th in the 3000m.  Well done all, several athletes competed in 2 events.Karla Doran gold senior 1500m 4.54.71 and Lynda Ngakam senior bronze 60m 8.02 and the mens 4x200m won silver.



Full results

60m Heats David Campbell 7.46
60m Heats Adam Halpin 7.65
400m Heats David Campbell 55.03
400m Heats Adam Halpin 56.81
800m Heats Sinéad Lambe 2.20.31
800m Heats Karla Doran 2.26.09
200m Heats Adam Halpin 24.46
200m Heats Conor O’Ceallaigh 23.87
200m Heats David Campbell 23.78
1500m Heats Darragh Fitzgibbon 4.02
1500m Final Darragh Fitzgibbon 4.16
60m Heats Lynda Tcheudji 7.98
3000m – John Travers 8.24
Triple Jump – Lynda Tcheudji 11.21
Triple Jump – Lynda Ngakam 10.69
Pole Vault – Ailbhe Healy 2.70
High Jump – Rolus Olusa 1.80
60mH – Rolus Olusa 8.74

 

On the roads, Alma Hanevy had a super run in the Tokyo marathon on February with a PB of 3.14.50 and 1.36.51 in the Mullingar Half Marathon on St. Patricks day a nice warm up for her trip to, Boston to tick off another of the the World Marathon Majors!  Patrick Moriarty also ran in Mullingar, clocking 1.18.04.

On Saturday, February 27th, George Brady completed another marathon – the Lusk marathon in the East of Ireland series – and came 4th in 2.54.55 and new recruit Roisin Harkin was 3rd lady in the Ticknock IMRA winter race . On February 28th, Sorcha Nic Dhomhnaill ran very in the Adare 10k, finishing 3rd lady in 39.44 on a hilly course and Eilish Joyce ran 35.47 in the Stamullen Run 4 Enda 

On March 1st, Amy Moriarty was 1st woman in the Sandymount night run on a blustery evening by the sea in a time of 43.44

In the Lust for life 10km on March 5th, Declan Lynch came home in 39.58 and Florence Curley was 3rd woman in a time of 40.41 while John Dunne won the 5k with 16.20. In the final leg of the Meet and Train cross country league in Cherryfield park Firhouse the following day, Mary Murphy was first of 3 Donore runners home in 37th place with a strong second lap and next were Mary McDermott and Sue Lynch. At the Adamstown College 5k, George Brady finished in first place (17.03).

On the same weekend, BHAA hosted the final cross country race of the season where a number of Donore athletes turned out. In the ladies 2 mile race, Aisling Swaine continued her recent excellent form to finish second in 12.18, we also had Karen Behan (12th) in 13.46 and Ann Woodlock 44th (17.45)
In the men’s 4 mile race Fergal Whitty was first home (6th / 1st M40) 22.16, Phil Hennessey (8th / 1st M45) 22.26, Chris Muldoon (21st) 23.51, Tom fagan (46th) 26.11, Barry Potts (56th / 1st M65) 26.58, Terry Mee (112 / 1st M70) 31.05, Charlie O’Neill (120th) 32.17.

In the Ballycotton 10 on the same weekend, Donore had another good travelling group, with 11 athletes competing in the popular Cork race.

Joe Murphy 1.09.27
Desmond Gill 1.11.45
Nicola Dowdall 1.17.34
Joan McTernan 1.22.20
Mary Kingston 1.27.03
Liz MacCurtain 1.22.46
Lou MacCurtain 1.27.44
David Hudson 1.29.06
Anthony Jenkins 1.34.19
Meadhbh Campbell 1.38.43
Thomas Halton 1.42.02

On March 12th in the Cara Bundoran 10 mile Cariosa Walsh 1.36.33. The following day was the popular Bohermeen Half Marathon and 10k, Kim Hickey was our sole competitor in the 10k and Kim ran a fantastic race to finish as first lady in 39.05, while 8 runners competed in the half marathon.

Andy Kinane 1.13.33
Des Tremble 1.15.13
Anthony Flannery 1.15.27
Sean Fox 1.16.10
Shane McAuley 1.20.20
Niall O’Reilly 1.24.43
Colm Morrissey 1.26.28
Adriana Ball 1.42.35

 

At the National Juvenile Indoor Championships on the same weekend. Louis O’Loughlin won the under 16’s 1500m. Suzanne Masterson, Eliza NiThighearnaigh (both u/18s) and Paul O’Neill (u/19s) all competed in 1,500m finals also. Sekeriye Ahmed (u/17s) ran in the 1,500m semi-final. Caoimhe Mackey and Clodagh Martin (both u/18s) competed in the semi-finals of the 400m.

Donore were well represented in the 60m sprints , with u/17s Kolade, Max and Jordon all running well in their heats, but, unfortunately, not progressing to finals . In u/17 girls suzi and Robyn ran well but missed out on a place in the final. Aoife Lynch made it to final of her event, the under 18 60m final after posting a pb of 7.93. Aoife finished in an excellent 5th place in the final again running 7.96 in a race were a new CBP and youth record was set. Our only male athlete making it to the final was Paul Mc Dermot under 19 finishing in 4th place . On a day when there was 15 championship best performances, it was down to girls under 19 Ailbhe Healy to take our second medal of the day in taking the gold in a pb of 3 metres and a CBP in pole vault.

On Day 2,  we had athletes competing from under 13 to under 19 in various events through out the day . Our youngest was Sean Kinsealla in the 600. In the under 16 Jack Raftery and under 18 Gabhan O’Tighearnaigh competed in high jump.

In the 200 Max Carey, Jordon Dunne, Suzi O’Farrell Robyn O’Keeffe all did well in heats but did not progress to finals. While in the same event Paul Mc Dermot under 19 and under 18 Aoife Lynch made it to their finals. Paul finished an excellent 3rd in his final and Aoife finsihed just outside the medals in 4th place.

In long jump, competing for the first time for the club, Andie McGuire (under 17) posted a pb of 4.65 and finished 6th overall. After a disappointing day 1 for Kolade Abiodun he made up for it in day 2 with a new pb in long jump,  jumping 6.19 to take 3rd place.

Later in the day , in the last dramatic race of the day Kolade took 2nd place in the 60m hurdles. Also in the hurdles, we had Ciara O’Donnell with a pb making her first indoor final . Angie Gonia also made it to under 16 final with a new pb and both Roisín Rynn and Lauren Kennedy made it finals.

In the 800m under 18 girls, Caoimhe , Clodagh and Lucy were all competing. The performance of the day had to go to under 16 Louis O’Loughlin who after winning the 1500m on Saturday, went on to win the 800m in great style and our third gold medal of this championship

In the Balbriggan 10k on St. Patricks Day, Barbara Murray was first lady (40.06).

At last weekends popular MSB 5K, Donore had a fantastic turnout with many athlete returning to racing in honour of our late coach Jim McNamara in one of his favourite races. First home for Donore was Darragh Fitzgibbon finishing in 6th place in 15.16.

 

Place Name Chip Time
6th (MS) Darragh Fitzgibbon 15.16
11th (MS) John Dunne 15.43
12th (MS) Micheal McMahon 15.44
18th (MS) Gavin Keogh 16.09
1st (M40) Fergal Whitty 16.18
5th (MJ) Faithi Aden 16.40
9th (M40) Andrew Wilson 17.11
8th (MJ) Sekeriye Ahmed 17.10
12th (MJ) Paul O’Neill 17.29
44th (MS) Alasdair Brown 17.40
7th (FS) Sorcha NicDhomhnaill 18.14
8th (FS) Karla Doran 18.39
1st (F40) Anne Curley 19.11
78th (MS) Stephen Dawson 19.46
20th (MJ) Daniel Brady 20.07
26th (M40) John Gleeson 20.22
2nd (M65) Barry Potts 20.26
8th (M45) Desmond Gill 20.29
21st (FS) Rhona McHugh 20.27
1st (FJ) Roisin Brady 20.32
23rd (FS) Sindea Graham 20.39
4th (M55) Kenneth Cronin 20.52
31st (FS) Aoife Rickard 21.24
38th (FS) Medbh Peavoy 21.58
5th (F40) Caren Crowley 22.11
6th (F40) Michelle Rowley 22.19
19th (M50) Frank McNally 22.32
5th (F45) Jill Dempsey 22.28
7th (F40) Janette Strickland 22.48
27th (MJ) Keenan McDonnell 23.08
8th (F45) Mary McDermott 23.23
67th (FS) Catherine McKeon 24.10
70th (FS) Kim Strickland 24.31
74th (FS) Michelle Dawson 24.52
23rd (F40) Liagh Miller 25.02
10th (F50) Jennifer O’Keeffe 25.08
84th (FS) Teresa Brophy 25.07
15th (F50) Michele Murphy 25.38
44th (F40) Deirdre Brennan 27.49

 

In the Clongowes 5km at Clane Michael Gibbs (17.34) placed 16th overall and Lucy McCann (20.15) in 41st and 7th female finisher. 

On day 3 of the Juvenile Indoor Championships in Athlone, Oran O’Brien was delighted with his 3rd place in the under 19 shot putt having recently returned from injury, he had two throws over 11 metres.

Up next were our under 19 4 x 200 girls who had a great run to take 2 nd place. Another great run by our under 17 girls saw them qualify for the final with a great last leg from Suzi O’Farrell, unfortunately Suzi picked up an injury and the team was unable to progress. Last up were our under 18 girls 4 x200 who ran a great race but did not progress to the final. I addition to this we had  Paul McDermott silver 200m 22.67, Zak Higgins 53.07 silver 400m, Jordan dunne 200m heats 23.8, Caoimhe Mackey 200m 4th 26.23 and Caoimhe 8th in 400m 64.48.

So another year has ended for the indoor season with a good haul of medals and some great performances.

In the Masters Indoor Championships, Anne Gormley won gold in the 3K walk.  Terry Mee m70 silver 800m (2.57.98) and 3000m (13.06) and Donal Iremonger 5th M45 800m (2.11.44)

Jim McNamara 1939 – 2016

Club News

It is with great sadness that we announce the death of our beloved Jim McNamara. Jim died peacefully last night, surrounded by his family. He joined Donore Harriers in January 1963 and was a great athlete, a great friend, a gentleman and a wonderful clubman.

A true legend of athletics, in 2013 Jim was awarded the IAAF Jubilee Gold Medal medal for his services to the sport he loved so much. To his children James, Shane and Andrea and the rest of his family we offer our deepest condolences and thanks. Jim was predeceased by his loving wife Betty who died in 1981.

May he Rest in Peace.

Removal on Monday morning, 14th March 2016, from his residence to the Church of the Most Precious Blood, Cabra West arriving at 11.15am for Mass at 11.30am. Funeral afterwards to Mount Jerome Cemetery. Family flowers only please. Donations, if desired, to Donore Harriers Running Club. House private.

Anne Curley penned this piece for Jim’s 75th Birthday

Thank you to all those who have paid tribute to Jim today. Here is an article by fellow club member Frank McNally following our ’This is Your Life’ tribute night held for Jim on Saturday 18th May 2013.

The paradox of a running legend
An Irishman’s Diary: A demon to compete against, a pleasure to deal with

If doctors ever get to dissect Jim McNamara’s heart, they may discover that, like that of many great athletes, it’s unusually large. But it would be no surprise if they also find a mysterious black stripe running across it, horizontally.

Throughout his athletics career, but especially in the 1960s and 1970s, McNamara was a big part of the reason the famous black-hooped singlet of Donore Harriers inspired such fear among rivals. He and his team-mates were like the modern-day Kenyans, the mere appearance of their colours enough to intimidate.

Among many other things, they won 16 consecutive national cross-country team titles, an achievement probably unrivalled anywhere. The era passed eventually, as eras do. And the black hoop is not quite so much feared these days. But “Gentleman Jim” remains as committed to the club’s cause as ever, albeit now mainly as coach.

Founded in 1893, Donore is marking a big milestone this year. Among the celebratory events, last weekend, was a “This is Your Life” tribute to the great man. Which was doubly apt, because not only is McNamara the embodiment of all the club’s virtues, he also represents an impressively large part of its history.

The joke was that he too is celebrating 120 years, but that was an exaggeration. In fact, he’s been involved with Donore for only a little over 50. Even so, the collaboration stretches back to what now seems like another age.

It was an age when, for example, the concept of abstention from alcohol as part of a running programme had not yet caught on. McNamara recalled returning from championships on team buses stocked with crates of beer and bottles of vodka and then continuing celebrations in the Black and Amber Inn in Islandbridge, near the humble cottage Donore called home.

That they drank hard is a matter of record. That they trained even harder has been elevated partly into legend. If half of it is true, it was awe-inspiring. And even among the hard men, McNamara was known for masochism. The reputation followed him in races, where it was a given that he would never concede easily. There was no more chilling sound in running once, apparently, than McNamara’s cough, heard behind you, closing in.

Despite this, and all the club glories to which he was central, his senior career nearly ended unfulfilled. A team ethic and general unselfishness had probably cost him on occasion, as did badly-timed injuries and the natural cruelties of his defining distance: the marathon. In any case, approaching 37, he had still never been to the Olympics.

That all changed on one glorious day in 1976. The qualifier for Montreal was a simple equation: the first three would travel. Unfortunately, as McNamara recalls, he was by then “about the 12th best marathon runner” in Ireland.

It must have helped that the race was in Limerick, home of his father’s people, who turned out in great numbers to witness his entry into the last-chance saloon. Whatever the inspiration, it proved the greatest day of his running life. Although beaten in a classic by Danny McDaid (who broke the national record), the Donore man knocked eight minutes off his personal best to finish second in 2.14.57.

Montreal wasn’t one of his best, by contrast. But as the great Maeve Kyle said on his tribute night, just to be an Olympian puts you in an elite club. And few people before or since have deserved the recognition as much as the ultimate club man, Gentleman Jim.

He still had an illustrious masters career ahead then, with a plethora of European and world titles. And in fact, at 74, he continues to win gold medals, most recently from the International Association of Athletics Federations, for a lifetime’s contribution to the sport, the most recent part of which has a certain irony.

Most of McNamara’s running career happened when – Kyle apart – women were still rare in Irish athletics. There were none in Donore then (and not many in the Black and Amber Inn either). But for 20 years now, McNamara has been the coach of an ever-growing Donore women’s section. And not the least impressive thing about the tribute night was the obvious affection he has inspired among a generation of female athletes.

Their latest captain, Florrie Curley, spoke for many when she credited him with transforming her own early experience of sport, which had been mostly negative. She credited his easy-going manner and lack of ego. But she also mentioned his “understated authority” and provided a telling example. A few years ago, McNamara suffered a stroke and was thought seriously ill. In true athletics style, however, his recovery period was short. Within 48 hours, Florrie got a call from the hospital bed, reminding her gently that the Tuesday night session should be “12 x 400 repeats”.

Weekend Round Up

Club News, Results

John Travers finished up his American ‘tour’ of the indoor track season in the best possible way, with a new indoor PB in the 1500m.  John toed the line at the prestigious Millrose games at the New York Armory (scene of many Irish track triumphs in the 80s and 90s).  In the Armory invitational mile in a quality field, John finished 6th in another sub 4 minute time of 3.58.10.  This comes after his impressive 3000m showing the week before where he also PB’d.

Back in Ireland there were impressive runs by two Donore athletes at the popular Armagh international road races which attract many high calibre runners from abroad.  Darragh Fitzgibbon was a super 2nd in the open 3k running 8.50.81 and Sam Allen got a PB in the 5k race with a time of 16.05.51.

Sinead Lambe had another impressive 800m race, she guested in the Connacht indoors at the Athlone arena and came 4th in her race in 2.23

Back on the cross country, Fergal Whitty finished 3rd overall in the BHAA ALSAA 4 mile with Phil Hennessy 8th and 1st M45 followed by Chris Muldoon 16th, Tom fagan 48th, Peter Nugent 51st and Terry Mee 121st and 1st M70.  Ann Woodlock was 37th and 1st W75 in the ladies 2.5

The 3rd leg of the winter women’s meet and train cross country league took place in a wet and windy Dunboyne.  It was true cross country conditions in the aptly named Cowpark; results are not posted yet but first home was Caren Crowley and Mary Murphy not far behind, then Sarah Ni Ruairc and Sue Lynch.