All posts by Medbh Peavoy

National Road Relays, Spring Marathons and Weekend Round Up

Club News, Meet & Train, Results, Senior

It was close order from start to finish with Raheny Shamrocks edging out Donore Harriers over the final 400 metres whilst Newbridge AC were always hot on the heels of the two more fancied Dublin teams.

At the National Road relay championships at Raheny last Sunday (13.04.14) Donore Harriers ‘put all their eggs in one basket’ with all four competing teams entered in the Masters M35 category. Thus there was a sense of expectation, but relay running is very much about pace judgement; giving it your all and ultimately fine margins!

Emmet O’Briain (4.46) ran a fantastic first leg, recording the fastest mile stage in the race, to give Donore ‘A’ an early lead ahead of Crusaders and Newbridge. Over the 2 mile stage Mick Traynor of Raheny used his familiarity of the course to bring Raheny level with Donore despite another very fine race from John Dunne (10.11).  Henry English (4.54) “gave it all out there” in the final one-mile leg (the circuit is a little over one mile), but the strength and experience of Brian Leahy of the home club proved decisive in the latter few hundred metres. The final team times of: 1. Raheny 19.46; 2. Donore Harriers 19.51 and 3. Newbridge 19.54 showed that this had been an excellent contest.

Crusaders AC (20.01) came 4th with Donore Harriers ‘B’ an excellent 5th. The ‘B’ team was led out by Fergal Swaine (4.53) who tapped on to Niall Lynch in 6th position. Niall (10.14) maintained the team’s outside chance of getting into the medals by closing his 2-mile leg in equal 5th. Will Morris (4.59) kept the tempo going to consolidate 5th place. The Donore Harriers B team finished just 12 seconds behind 3rd placed Newbridge indicating the strength in depth of the squad.

The Donore Harriers ‘C’ team (21.24) held 14th position at the end of each stage having been led out by newcomer Garvan Smith (5.09). Fergal Whitty (10.51) ran an even-paced 2-mile leg with Des Tremble (5.24) closing strongly on the final mile stage.

The ‘D’ team (23.15) came 18th. Tom Fagan opened with 5.43; with Gerard McDonald recording 11.30 for the 2-mile stage; and Des Gill (6.02) closing a great squad effort from Donore Harriers.

Meanwhile at the Intervarsities Track & Field championships at Waterford IT John Travers (Athlone IT) ran out an easy winner in the 5000m with a time of 14.54.90. Killian O’Hora (Blanchardstown IT) placed 7th in the 800m Semi-Final in a time of 2.12.20

Another two of the big marathons took place at the weekend.  In Rotterdam we had 4 competitors.  First home was Conor McCauley in 2.59.09 – he had been aiming for a faster time but struggled with hydration issues throughout on a warm day – a brave run and Conor will bounce back in his next marathon in Autumn.  A trio of the ladies were next – Marianne Dunlevy made a super marathon debut finishing in 3.37.13, Angela Eustace is becoming one of the most seasoned marathoners in the club and she got yet another PB in 3.40.26 with Kim Strickland less than 20 seconds behind in 3.40.43 – congrats to all.  Kim’s sisters Janette and Olivia kept her company by racing the 10k event doing 44.19 and 51.59 respectively.  Over in London Phil Hennessy (76th in M40 category) put behind him the disappointment of a DNF in Dublin last October and ran an excellent 2.47 having gone through the half-way mark in 1.20.55. At the recent Connemara marathon Hugh Brosnan recorded a time of 3.04.52 to place 14th over a very demanding course.

 

The ever popular BHAA Kclub 10k took place in Straffan on a course which has always produced some very fast times – Lee van Haeften was 3rd and there were PBs from Stephen Dawson and Alma Hanevy – full details below

Lee Van Haeften 3rd 32.39

Tony Barry 37.31

Stephen Dawson 38.33

Joe Murphy 39.57

Alma Hanevy 40.36

Frank McNally 43.24

Ken Cronin 44.05

Nicola Dowdall 45.12

Jill Dempsey 45.29

Terry Mee 46.12

Ann Woodlock 55.30

Round 1 of the Meet and Train series took place over 2 mile on the paths of Griffeen Park Lucan and 10 runners took part – Ashling Swaine and Lorraine O’Shea made the top 10

Ashling Swaine 5th

Lorraine O’Shea 8th

Sian O’Connor 12th

Mary Murphy 29th

Ruth Chambers 30th

Mary Kingston 38th

Dana Mackey 50th

Ann Woodlock 64th

Deborah Duffy 68th

Sue Lynch 75th

Earlier in the week, new member Karla Doran was 1st woman at the Campus 5k around the grounds of Trinity College in a time of 20.50.

 

Michael McMahon had 47 seconds to spare when winning the Leinster Society Aware 10km Road Race at the Phoenix Park on Saturday last with a time of 35.05 and Florence Curley was 1st lady in the 5k in 19.34

Road Season Kicks Off At National 10K

Club News, Juvenile, Results, Senior

The high profile Great Ireland Run, which incorporated the National 10 kilometres road championships, proved big in organisation and poor in its results service! If Dunboyne AC had set the bar in displaying all results minutes after the finish of their race in the previous week then the AAI fell far short in their showcase road running championship. It is simply not good enough that results are delayed so as to appear first in a national newspaper on the following day – and then we face, yet again, problems with the team scores! This unprofessionalism does nothing to promote our wonderful sport at club level!

The correct team result in the M35-50 category should read: – 1. Donore Harriers 1.43.06; 2. Raheny Shamrocks 1.44.35 and 3. Sligo AC 1.44.52. Please note that this result is yet to be confirmed.

The strong winds and change of temperatures during the race made conditions difficult, not to mention the undulations of the testing Phoenix Park course. The ever consistent John Dunne was first Donore Harriers man home in 33.28, placing 25th overall and winning the silver medal in the M35 category (also waiting confirmation); Ken Nugent continues his return to form and ran a very fine 33.57 and placed 35th overall; Aogan MacDomhnaill (34.10), a transfer pending athlete, was 38th; Niall Lynch 34.19 and Gavin Keogh 34.27 ran stride to stride until the final kilometre before finishing 42nd and 46th respectively; Niall came 4th in the M40 age group. Eoin Durkan (56th in 34.38) was another with a very encouraging run and a return to form after missing a lot of training due to injury. Graham Hopkins (35.13) completed the scoring trio for the successful Donore Harriers masters team when placing 68th overall and 9th in the M40 category.

The other Donore Harriers to finish were: – Andy Kinane 35.27;  Des Tremble 36.14 (14th in M40); George Brady 37.38; Tony Barry 38.08; Niall O’Reilly 40.38; Tom Fagan 41.02; Ian Redican 42.08; Des Gill 44.20; Jim McNamara 45.38 (1st in M70) and Terry Mee 48.52 (2nd in M70)

The race was won by Japhet Korir of Kenya in 28.12, ahead of Andy Vernon (GB) 29.19 and Michael Shelley (Australia) 29.33. The Irish 10km championship result was: – 1st. Mark Hanrahan (Leevale AC) 30.20; 2nd Mick Clohissy (Raheny) 30.46 and 3rd Thomas Fitzpatrick (Tallaght AC) 30.47.

The ladies race produced a high quality field where Fionnula Britton fought it out with regular Cross Country rival Sophie Duarte. Fionnula finishe just outside the podium places in 4th but won the National 10K with veteran Catherina McKiernan showing great form to finish second.

First home for Donore ladies producing another fantastic run following injury was Aislinn Nic Dhomhnaill with 39.08, not far behind was Anne Curley (39.16), Florence Curley (41.46), Breda Mahony (42.45), Karen Behan (42.54), Emer Rattigan (43.24), Sinead Graham (43.51), Lorrain O’Shea (46.26),  Sian O’Connor (47.24), Mary Murphy (51.12), Dana Mackey (53.29) and Laura Murray (58.58).

In the Great Ireland Mile Race John Travers (4.04) again proved that he is a class act when finishing second behind Paul Robinson (4.02). From the AAI website: – ‘After an up and down indoor season a resurgent John Travers (Donore Harriers) finished in second place in a time of 4.04, impressive performances by both athletes in wet and windy conditions’.

Britain’s Ross Murray who came third in 4.06

In a very wet and windswept Connemara, two brave Donore runners tackled the half marathon; Bronagh Elliott was 5th lady in a highly impressive 98.09 on what is a very tough course and Liagh Miller ran 1.58.11

The Spring marathon season has started and we had a trio of runners in the Paris Marathon – in her first marathon Rachel Burke finished in 4.04.27, also making her marathon debut Eilish Joyce finished in 4.33.30 and Hilary O’Connor finished in 4.40.34 – well done girls.

Some of our track runners got their outdoor season off to a good start at the Leevale Open Sports at CIT track in Bishopstown Cork – results as follows:

Sean Lawlor 3rd – section 1 200m 23.07

Lynda Ngakam 2nd – section 2 100m 12.96

Lynda Ngakam 4th – section2 200m 27,26

David Campbell 7th – section 1 400m 53.45

Ailise Keating 8th 100m heats – 14.00

In the BHAA Dublin City Council 4 mile race at St. Anne’s Park on Saturday it became a battle of the two Fergals! Fergal Whitty placed 6th in 21.53 with Fergal Swaine just one second and one place behind.  Frank McNally was 65th in 26.46 and Tommy Halton ran 30.59.

World Masters, Dunboyne 4 mile and National Indoors

Club News, Juvenile, Results, Senior

Long an inspirational figure for Donore and the ladies in particular – Ann Woodlock turned 75 late last year and competed in this age group for Ireland on the world stage for the first time at last week’s World Master Indoors in Budapest.  Firstly she won silver in the 3000m in 16.03.58 and clocked a faster time than many of the W70 competitors.  A few days later was the 1500m and she won bronze in a time of 7.31 in a closely fought contest where the 3 medallists were only separated by little over 2 seconds.  Congratulations Ann, a great achievement.  Despite missing a block of training in the run up to the championship due to a car crash, racewalker Anne Gormley finished 11th W50 in the 3k walk and 9th in the 10k road walk.

The cold winds finally ceased and the rain stayed away on Sunday 30th March as the town of Dunboyne celebrated its fine athletics club as the 45th annual edition of their 4 mile road race proved as popular as ever. More than one thousand runners made their way to the start line and it was great to see the black and white singlets of Donore Harriers out in force.At the business end of the race Thomas Fitzpatrick of Tallaght AC gave a commanding performance to front run from gun to tape and win in a time of 18.55. With prizes for the first 6 men finishers the competition behind Fitzpatrick was fierce! But Lee Van Haeften (19.44) rose to the challenge and climbed from 6th to 4th in the latter half of the race. After his recent excellent performance in the National Inter-Clubs cross country race the Irish athletics community is taking note of Donore’s much improved athlete. Darragh Rennicks (19.36) of Bohermeen AC was 2nd and Paul Stephenson (19.42) of Rathfarnham 3rd.

Lee was well supported in the early stages of the race by Ray Hynes. Ray (19.55) ran a very consistent race maintaining 7th place throughout. With two in the top 10 Donore Harriers had a chance of winning the team trophy! Rathfarnham had 3 in the top 12, whilst Raheny packed 5 runners between positions 18 and 22. Host club Dunboyne were also showing their colours at the finish line. But strong running from Graham Hopkins (29th in 21.41) and Will Morris (32nd in 22.01) ensured the team prize for Donore. The final team score read: – 1. Donore Harriers 66; 2. Raheny Shamrocks 78; and 3. Dunboyne AC 78.

Graham placed second in the M40 age group, whilst the ever improving Des Tremble (37th in 22.07) was 3rd and Garvan Smith (43rd in 22.28) 4th in the same category. This was Garvan’s debut race for Donore Harriers and he is already proving to be a fine addition to a vibrant master’s squad.

Tony Barry (23.10) was next Donore man home in 59th place. Sixteen years-old Sam Gallagher, another debutante, also gave indication of a promising future in the sport when placing 66th overall in a time of 23.25.

The other Donore Harriers finishers included: – Bob Blake M40 (23.55) 73rd; Tom Fagan M45(24.49) 95th; Joe Murphy (25.23) 108th; Des Gill M45 (25.52) 109th; Ian Redican M40 (25.36); Bernard Byrne (26.04) 130th; and Thomas Halton M55 (31.20) 359th.

The ladies were also out in force in Dunboyne and ran well again to help Donore to the double also taking first team. In a strong field led home by Catherina McKienan (21.22) and DSD’s Sarah Mulligan (21.42), First lady home was Anne Curley in a solid 24.12 a little slower than she hoped but she is in marathon training and was 6th lady overall in a quality field. Karen Behan continued her recent blistering form with a fantastic 26.10 and and it was great to see Ashling Swaine score on the team with a time of 27.04.

Also running for the ladies, Sam Conroy (27.14), Lorraine O’Shea (27.28), Eva Campion (28.22), Michelle Dawson (30.49), Sarah Ni Ruairc (32.49) and Pauline Fagan (35.21)

In the One Mile Juvenile Race for athletes aged 15 and under (also at Dunboyne) Lucy McCann came an excellent second in the girl’s race in a time of 5.36. Ruairi Fitzgibbon 5.47 and 13 years-old Niamh Clarke 6.24 both ran well in the same race. Oliver Hopkins came 10th in the under 9’s race. Lauren Kennedy and Ava Clarke, aged 15, ran the 4 mile race and recorded times of 34.53 and 34.57. Well done to all!

We sent 5 relay teams to the last day of the the National Indoors. Well done to all of our relay teams who competed in Athlone over the weekend. The boys under 15 won their heat and went on to the final where they took home the silver medal, Jack Rafferty did brilliantly to step up an age group to compete with the under 15s.

The boys under 16 made it to the finals where they were unlucky to finish in 5th, Kalade who had run in the earlier race with the under 15’s stepped in as a sub to race again. The under 19s performed well and were very unlucky not to make their final.

Our girls teams of under 15 and 16 unfortunately did not progress to the finals both teams ran exceptionally well under difficult circumstances with Katie Coombes taking a hard fall and bravely picking herself up to get the baton around to her team mate. Well done to all the teams and again the supporters and subs who travelled and not forgetting the coaches.

On Wednesday evening 26th March Will Morris (17.53) and Graham Hopkins (18.04) came 2nd and 4th respectively in the North County Farmers Business Houses AA race. Fred Kiernan (19.33), returning after injury, came 24th and Ian Redican placed 49th.

 

National Indoor Track and Field Championships

Club News, Juvenile, Results, Senior
19 of our best young athletes competed in these high level championships, having qualified from the Dublin Championships.They all performed brilliantly, getting personal bests, reaching finals and gaining hard won National medals.
In the hurdles, all 6 of our competitors made their finals. Kalade Abidun won gold in a blanket finish with his brilliant dip on the line in the boys U15 hurdles with a huge PB of 8.98. Candidate for “Dip of the Year”, Jack Rudden – Kelly followed this up with a silver medal performance in the boys U16 hurdles, with another PB for a Donore athlete in 8.68.
Elsewhere in the high jump Gabhan O’Tighernaigh won his first ever National Championship medal when jumping 1m65 to take bronze in the boys U16 high jump. Jack Rudden -Kelly showed his all round talent by taking bronze in the Boys U16 shot.
The boys U18 200m attracted a huge entry resulting in heat winners only qualifying. Unfortunately for Sean Lawler he was drawn in the most difficult lane No. 1. However defying the odds he stormed around to win his heat in the 2nd fastest time from the heats. In the final Sean ran brilliantly coming through to take gold in a huge personal best of 22.2.
That was the climax to a fantastic weekend of great performances from our dedicated, talented young athletes. Congratulations to all of them and to our equally dedicated and talented coaches. Many thanks to all the parents and supporters who came to shout our athletes on  and this did did with gusto. We had brilliant support there. This has been our most successful National Indoor Juvenile championships ever. It was a wonderful weekend for the club and one to make you proud of our young athletes. Let’s keep it progressing.

Congrats to Martina Nolan who was the 5th woman home at the gruelling Wicklow Way 52k ultra at the weekend in less than ideal conditions. Well done to Conor McCauley PB (58:48), Breda Mahony PB (68:28) and Jim Mc Namara 1st M70 (1:14:47) at the Mallow 10 mile and Michael Ryan at the Wicklow Jailbreak 10k (49:36)

The club would like to wish Ann Woodlock and Anne Gormley the best of luck at the World Masters Indoors in Budapest.

St. Patricks Festival 5K

Club News, Results, Senior

John Travers excellent win in the St. Patrick’s Festival 5km Road Race was marred by suspicion that the route was about 100 metres short. The race usually starts and finishes on Dawson Street, but due to road works this year’s version had the gantry on St. Stephen’s Green North.

On a bright and breezy morning Travers (14.07) was always in command at the front opening up a gap of 30 metres on Colm Rooney (Clonliffe Harriers 2nd in 14.23) and Kevin Maunsell (Clonmel AC 3rd in 14.43) as the race hit the half-way mark along the Grand Canal (Herbert Place). Thereafter he stretched out his lead and won comfortably with almost 100 metres to spare at the finish line.

Ray Hynes (15.02) came an excellent 5th and can be encouraged by his return to form after several months out with injury. Next to finish for Donore Harriers was Aogan MacDhomhnaill (15.17) in 9th place, with Michael McMahon (15.42) finishing strongly to hold off the challenge of Bernard Roe of Raheny to gain 17th spot.

With 3 in the top 10 and the fourth finisher in the top 20 the team prize was ‘won by Donore Harriers on the road’. However, as Aogan MacDhomhnaill is a transfer pending athlete he was not eligible in the team competition, thus Raheny Shamrocks were declared as team winners. The consolation is that the fine running of Ray, Aogan and Michael – all relatively new to the club – augurs well for team going forward…

Further down the field there were some very encouraging early season results from the other Donore athletes: – Tomas Griffin (18.17) 89th; Niall O’Reilly (18.34) 108th; Joe Murphy (18.46) 117th; Des Gill M45 (19.10) 133rd; Gary Fitzgerald M40 (20.42) 225th; and Tom Halton M55 (22.45) in 353rd.

Forthcoming races for the men’s section are: – the Dunboyne 4 mile on the 30th March; the Great Ireland Run/National 10km on the 6th April; and the National Road Relay (primary target) at Raheny on the 13th April.

The Donore ladies also produced some great results in this race with plenty of talk of PB’s after the race. The Nic Dhomhnaill’s Aislinn was 9th overall with 17.19, Ide (18.18) and Sorcha (17.42) were the first 3 home for the ladies. Rhona Duane put her fantastic recent training to the test with a huge PB, breaking 20 minutes for the first time with 19.28.
Janette Strickland shook of a recent illness to run 20.10, Sinead Graham 20.29, Lorraine O’Shea 20.35, Eva Campion 20.34, Sian O’Conor 20.46, Kim Strickland 21.37 and Michelle Dawson 23.08 rounded off the PB’s for the day.

John Travers had another fine race in the National Inter-Varsities Cross Country championships at Cork on Saturday the 8th March 2014. John (27.12) finished a fine 3rd and led the Athlone IT team to place 3rd in the team category. Eric Keogh (28.50) came 15th and was a scoring member of the UCD team that placed 2nd. Cathal McCarron, also representing Athlone IT, came 68th in 32.23.

Meanwhile, at the BHAA cross country meeting on the 8th at Maynooth University Ray Hynes showed a return to form by winning the race in 21.13. Other Donore Harriers to compete were: – 3rd Niall Lynch 21.44; 5th Will Morris 22.14; 10th Graham Hopkins 22.50; 69 Ian Redican 26.06; 97th Fred English 29.00

A round up of recent results from February and March are listed below.

National Masters XC Championships at Dunboyne on 23/02/2014.

Team: 3rd on 109 points, behind Raheny Shamrocks 66 and Rathfarnham 76.
Scoring team: – 3rd (1st in M1 o/35 category) John Dunne 24.33; Niall Lynch
23rd 25.40; 38th Phil Hennessy 26.23; 45th Fergal Swaine 26.30.
Non-scoring runners: 66th Des Tremble 27.13; 78th Fergal Whitty 27.28;
81st Will Morris 27.23; 96th Henry English 28.10; 168th Bob Blake 30.19;
179th Peter Nugent 30.53; 193rd Ian Redican 31.35; 200th Barry Potts 31.55; 205th Des Gill 32.29;
o/65 4km championship: 5th (1st in M8 o/70 category) Terry Mee 19.51

Ladies 5th team: Anne Curley 13th 16.53, Breda Mahony 32nd 17.51, Florence Curley 33rd 17.52, Karen Behan 38th 18.10

National Intermediate XC Championships at Dunboyne on 23/02/2014.
Team: 6th on 163, behind winners Finn Valley 33 and r/up East Cork 48.
Scoring team: – 26th Michael McMahon (debut) 30.56; 38th Eoin Durkan 31.56;
47th Darren Hand 32.48; 52nd Eoin Hannon 33.33
Non-scoring: 74th Joe Murphy 36.48

Ladies 9th team: Emer Rattigan 40th 23.30, Bronagh Elliot 48th 24.20, Ashling Swaine 51st 24.39, Eva Campion 57th 25.14

Inter-Varsities XC Championships at Cork on 8/03/2014.
3rd John Travers (AIT) 27.12; 15th Eric Keogh (UCD) 28.50; 68th Cathal McCarron (AIT) 32.23. NOTE: UCD 2nd team & AIT 3rd team.

National Senior Indoor Championships at Athlone on 16/02/ 2014.
Men’s 3000m: 3rd John Travers 8.14.73

BHAA races – leading Donore results:

North County Farmers BHAA XC on 1/2/14: – 4th Gavin Keogh 27.27; 6th Niall Lynch 27.52; 8th Ken Nugent 28.48; 10th Will Morris 28.59; 15th Patrick Moriarty 29.09

Garda BHAA XC on 15/2/14: – 15th Ken Nugent 23.26; 20th Will Morris 23.58;
23rd Patrick Moriarty 24.04
Dublin Airport BHAA XC on 1/3/14: – 3rd Will Morris 30.00; 11th Patrick Moriarty 31.04
AIB /NUI Maynooth BHAA XC on 8/3/14: – 1st Ray Hynes 21.13; 3rd Niall Lynch 21.44; 5th Will Morris 22.14; 10th Graham Hopkins 22.50; 69 Ian Redican 26.06; 97th Fred English 29.00

 

National Inter-Club CC Championships and Weekend Round-Up

Club News, Juvenile, Results, Senior

After 3 laps or 6000m of the Men’s Inter-Club Cross Country Championship race at Dundalk IT on Sunday March 2nd, the team placings were very much in the mix. Clonliffe Harriers, the reigning champions, were coming under pressure from Dundrum South Dublin for the team prize. Raheny Shamrocks 59 (2, 13, 20, 24) were holding a slender 4 point advantage over Donore Harriers 63 (4, 11, 21, 27) in the competition for the bronze team position.

Another lap further on, at 8000m, the race for bronze was nip and tuck! John Travers had consolidated 4th position behind Mick Clohisey, who was not only leading the race – but was spearheading the Raheny team. An in-form Lee Van Haeften had marginally slipped back from 11th to 13th, whilst Eric Keogh had gained 3 places to lie 18th. John Dunne, who had placed 3rd overall in the National Master’s cross-country championship a week earlier, was running gutsy to hold onto 27th spot. The 3rd place team score with 2 laps remaining was Raheny 61(1, 16, 20 & 24) and Donore 62 (4, 13, 18, 27).

At the start of the penultimate lap the two teams were tied on 62 points. Raheny’s 3rd man had slipped two places, whilst their 4th man had gained one. It was all down to the last lap! 2000 more metres of mud and undulations and Donore supporters screaming the team scores from the side-line: “keep digging, every point counts”. This was the great sport of cross-country at its very best!

Mick Clohisey of Raheny Shamrocks maintained his lead and won his first National XC Championship in a time of 39.09s – ahead of Gary Thornton of Galway City Harriers (39.18s). John Travers held onto 4th position in the time of 40.12s. Lee Van Haeften (41.07s) ran a brilliant race to place 13th, 3 places ahead of the second Raheny finisher. Eric Keogh (42.00s) gained to 17th position with a fast finish. In the points marker Donore held an advantage, but it was all down to the 4th and final man for each team.

And there he was! Digging deep into his reserves of human endeavours, John Dunne (42.40s) rounded the final bend and fought for each place with a gritty determination! The ‘Dunner the Runner’ had done good! He gained to 25th (although he was really 24th after diving over the finish line and losing a place or two in the funnel), whilst the last scorer for Raheny had slipped back to 29th. The final teams scores were:
1. DSD 34
2. Clonliffe Harriers 35
3. Donore Harriers 59
4. Raheny Shamrocks 68
5. East Cork 84
6. Rathfarnham 105
This was Donore’s first team medal in the Men’s National Inter-Club XC since 1993.

The scoring 4 runners were well complimented by the other members of the team. Ken Nugent (44.09s), who is still getting back after a long lay-off through injury, had a fine run to place 37th. Gavin Keogh (44.37s), having lost weeks of training due to illness, dug deep to come home in 42nd spot. Michael McMahon (44.45s), a newcomer to the team and running in only his second race for the club following last week’s National Intermediate XC, came a more than creditable 45th. Colm Hill placed 59th in 47.08s in only his second race of the season.

The ladies also sent a team to Dundalk, the 3 NicDhomhnaill sisters, the Curley sisters and Breda Mahony took to the line in a high quality field which saw Clonliffe’s Sarah McCormack, Michelle McGee of Brothers Pearse and DSD’s Maria McCambridge sprinting it out for top honours.

In a tough 8000m course, the Donore ladies worked well together with Ide NicDhomhnaill first home in 33:06, right behind Ide was Anne Curley 33:12, Aisling NicDhomhnaill ran brilliantly as she continues to rebuild following injury in 33:55. Florence Curley and Sorcha NicDhomhnaill came home close together again with 34:36 and 34:43 and Breda Mahony followed up a strong run after last weeks National Masters Championships with another great run in 36:01.

The Bohermeen half marathon is growing in popularity, especially for those building towards Spring marathons and Donore didn’t disappoint with the numbers turning up to battle it out on a wet morning in Meath. Niall Lynch and Philip Hennessy battled it out for club honours finishing just 4 seconds apart in 1:15:37 and 1:15:41 respectively. Barry Potts took to the road and pulled out a strong run to finish in a very impressing 1:33:24 which was enough for second male place in his category.

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Over in Kinvara, Deirdre Healy and Des Tremble donned their Donore vests. Des ran a great time of 1:18:27 to finish in 6th place, while Deirdre ran 1:54:23, while Maura Kearns battled it out in the BHAA Cross Country at Dublin Airport, continuing her good form just missing out on a 3rd place finish.

Leinster Indoor Championships

Club News, Juvenile, Results, Senior

In a week that saw Eric Keogh, John Travers and Eamon Fahey perform brilliantly in the Inter Varsities in the wonderful indoor stadium in Athlone, more of our young athletes and not so young headed for the Leinster Track and Field championships at the same venue.

The Performance of the day came from the renewed Sean Lawlor who having won his heat impressively ran a magnificent final to take the Junior title in a personal best time of 22.30. Sean later teamed up with juniors Adam, Conor and Senior captain Dave to take silver in the Senior men’s 4×100 m relay. For the ladies seniors, Linda celebrated her 21st birthday with bronze medals in the Senior ladies triple jump and 60m, both Personal bests. Alesia finished 4th in her heat in the semi final of the Junior girls 60m, receiving a shoulder injury in the process. Cathal O’Brien jumped 1.80 in the Junior High jump finishing in 4th place. Both Terry Mee and Henry kept the flag flying for the men’s masters. David Campbell finished third in the men’s senior 400m championship in a pb of 51.7.

A good days work by all and a lovely birthday cake from Jennifer o’Keeffe to surprise ” Lovely Linda

Leinster Senior Cross Country Championships and Weekend Round-Up

Club News, Meet & Train, Results, Senior

John Travers kicked off a fantastic weekend of racing on Saturday evening in Athlone indoor arena winning the mile in the fastest time ever run in Ireland for the indoor mile. Recording a time of 4.1 mins , John ran the second half of the race on his own and narrowly failed to dip under 4 minutes for the mile. This was a fantastic run by John with a new PB of 4:01:47s, it’s only a matter of time until he dips under the magical 4 minute barrier. Congratulations John.

John’s race can be found online Travers Mile AIT Arena 18-01-14

At the Leinster Senior Cross Country Championships on Sunday a five-man Donore Harriers’ team competed in mucky conditions over a 10,000m course in Co. Laois. A team of familiar names turned out as Ken Nugent, Colm Hill and Jonathon Daly returned to action following various lay offs, finishing in 4th place on 78 points, just one point and one place in front of Tullamore Harriers and behind winners Raheny Shamrocks. Gavin Keogh (36:41) was our first man home in 12th place. Ken  Nugent made a welcome return to racing following a very long period out of action due to an injury, Ken Had a very encouraging run finishing in 17th place (36:57). Likewise Colm Hill made a return to racing following a long lay off and also had a good run finishing up in 20th place (37:13). Darren Hand completed our scoring four, finishing in 29th place (37:53). Also, returning to competition was Jonathan Daly who completed the race in 50th place(40:34). Welcome back to racing lads and best of luck in getting back.

Raheny Shamrocks with 5 runners in the top 6 easily won the team event on 12 points, with St. Abban’s second on 52 and Liffey Valley third on 70.

In the BHAA 5 miles cross-country race on Saturday Phil Hennessy showed good form ahead of next month’s National Masters championship. In a highly competitive field Phil placed a fine 16th in a time of 29.20s for the tough 5 miles route at Cherryfield Park. The other members of Donore Harriers who competed despite the persistent rain were: Patrick Moriarty (29:39) 21st, Will Morris (29:44) 22nd, Joe Murphy (32:57) 62nd, Peter Nugent (33:27) 69th, Ian Redican (33:45) 75th, Terry Mee (38:26) 142nd and Conor McCarthy (40:50) 165th.

The Womens Meet and Train CC league continued with the third race of the year in Griffeen Park, Lucan. Once again, the ladies turned out in big numbers to compete in this ever popular women’s league with a fantastic 23 ladies taking to the start line. First home for Donore in second place, continuing her fantastic run of form was Karen Behan just 2 seconds behind Hollie Gelson of Lakeshore Striders. Sinéad Graham 6th, Rhona Duane 9th, Eva Campion 13th and Aisling Swaine 16th also competed. Also competing was Lorraine O’Shea, Mary Murphy, Christina Gonzalez, Michelle Murphy, Lee Chambers, Michelle Dawson, Ann Woodlock, Deborah Duffy, Rachel Burke, Linda Curtin, Sarah Ní Ruairc, Sian O’Connor, Mary Kingston, Sue Lynch, Angela Eustace and Julia Hackett. Full results not available yet but congratulations to all the ladies, always great to see so much black and white dominating the field.

Best of luck to our young athletes taking place on Thursday next in the West Leinster Schools cross-country championships in the Phoenix Park.

Get well soon to Gerry Carroll who is in hospital fighting an illness and good wishes also to Albert Prenderville recovering from a freak accident.

All members are reminded of our Annual Awards night in the Spa Hotel on Friday night at 7.30 pm sharp. Tickets will be available at the door. We have had a fantastic year of competition at all levels. Let’s celebrate the great performances and those individuals, teams, coaches and back room people who made it such a memorable year for the club in its 120th year.

Masters Success in Raheny

Club News, Juvenile, Results, Senior

Well done to Alex Clarkin who got his season off to a fantastic start in the Under 16 All Ireland indoor Pentathlon in Athlone on Saturday. A strong performance saw Alex earn a silver medal & achieving 3 personal bests in the hurdle sprint, shot putt & 800m.

Our Masters men performed brilliantly in the Dublin Masters Cross Country championship in a record and very competitive field in Raheny on Sunday. All of our men were up to the challenge in tough conditions and continued the great stream of success emanating from our men this winter. Lead brilliantly by John Dunne, the spirit of the team was unquenchable with each man working his socks off for the team. Up front John Dunne bided his time in the top 6 until eventually there were only two vying for the gold medal. With only 600 yards to go John was still 30 yards down on the leader. But John unleashed a killer sprint on Paul Fleming to reel him in and recorded a magnificent victory-his first Dublin title. Not far behind, the team were packing like wolves. Niall Lynch lead the charge finishing in 5th place, closely followed by the brilliant Dave Heffernan in 9th place. Another great run from the fast improving Fergal Swaine in 19th place completed the 4 scoring athletes. Dark horse Willie Morris put in a big run in 28th place, closely followed by the flying Philip Hennessy and Fergal Whitty in 30th and 34th places. Next came vice-captain Henry English in 41st position, Des Trimble 49th, Gerry Mc Donald 82nd, Barry Potts 101st, Ian Redican 106th , Des Gill109th and the indefatigable Terry Mee kept it all together in 143rd place.

The team position was very impressive, what an effort!.
1st Donore 1, 5, 9,19 Total 34 points
2nd Clonliffe 4,11,15, 25 Total 55 points
3rd Rathfarnham 2, 8, 16, 32, Total 58 points

Category medalists were;
John Dunne 1st M35
Niall Lynch 2nd M.40
Barry Potts 2nd M60
Terry Mee ist M70

Donore had a record 10 competitors in the ladies 3k masters race over 2 laps in St Anne’s Park. There was a very fast start with the Donore ladies taking out the pace with the rest of the 82 strong field. Anne Curley twice a silver medallist in this race didn’t run to her usual form and a misjudgement on the second lap gave her competitors the advantage in the closing stages so she finished 8th but still 2nd W40. Our next finishers packed very well throughout and in a storming race first time master Alma Hanevy finished 11th with some seconds to spare on Breda Mahony in 13th. The ever improving Janette Strickland was a super 15th and Karen Behan a few seconds behind in 16th. Bronagh Elliott had a strong finish in 19th and Sam Conroy worked through the field to 22nd. Florence Curley had a bad start but managed to finish 28th. Next was Eva Campion in 38th and Ann Woodlock now in the W75 category finished 89th. The team won bronze and just missed the silver by 2 points, this was a great result from a new look Masters Team and well done Alma and Janette on first time cross country medals.

With the ladies in third place, it was a great day of cross-country for the club. A huge thank you goes out to the fab supporters who turned up in great numbers. It was appreciated by all our athletes. It was a day for the tent. Many thanks to those who put it up. It’s all about team effort.

Members are reminded that the awards night takes place on January 24th in the Lucan Spa Hotel. Details on the night can be found http://www.donoreharriers.com/2014/01/donore-harriers-awards-night/

Donore Harriers Awards Night

Club News, Events

The 24th of January sees this years awards night in the Lucan Spa Hotel to celebrate all the success we saw during 2013. There are awards for Most Improved Athlete and Athlete of the Year accross all categories.

The night will kick off at 7pm with the awards ceremony starting at 7:30pm, the awards will be followed by food and a DJ for those who want to dance the night away.

The night is strictly ticket only, it will not be possible to pay on the door and tickets are on sale in the club shop and club commitee members are all selling tickets. Tickets are priced at €12 for over 12’s, €5 for under 12’s and €29 for a family of 2 adults and 2 under 12’s.

Rooms are also available in the Lucan Spa Hotel with a special bed and breakfast rate for those attending the awards night €40 for a single room, €50 for a double room and €80 for a family. Contact the Lucan Spa Hotel to book.

If you’ve any questions contact Linda mcdonnelllinda3@gmail.com or a member of the commitee.
 

Awards Night