John Travers brought glory to Donore Harriers with an excellent victory in the Dublin Senior Men’s Cross-Country Championship at St. Anne’s Park in Raheny last Sunday.

John was always to the fore and at the halfway point of the 6 laps, 10.000m course it was down to just 3 runners in the leading group. John still had the close attention of Clonliffe duo Stephen Scullion and Brian McMahon. As McMahon begin to slip back Travers moved up a gear on the 5th lap to open a gap on Scullion. And John held his pace to the finish line to record a time of 30.50s with Scullion 2nd on 30.56s and McMahon 3rd on 31.28s.

There was 3rd place team medals for Donore as 4 other black and white singlets finished in the top 20. Lee Van Haeften came an excellent 13th in 32.31s; Mark Dooley had a strong last lap to gain to 14th in 32.41s; Ray Hynes, on his Donore debut, came 19th in 32.53s having recently recovered from injury; and team captain Eric Keogh finished 20th in 33.01s having been 10th in the early stages of the race. With six-to-score it was left to the ever consistent Gavin Keogh to close the team as he finished 35th in 34.17s.

Clonliffe Harriers 55 points were 19 points ahead of Raheny Shamrocks with Donore Harriers (102) a clear 3rd ahead of Rathfarnham (133), Liffey Valley (271) and Crusaders (284). This was the first Dublin Championship XC team medals won by Donore Harriers senior men since the mid 90s. And the team was beaten by arguably the two best teams in the country for men’s distance running. Incidentally, just 3 teams had 15 athletes in the top 20. Clonliffe had 6, Raheny had 4 and Donore 5.

The non-scoring finishers for Donore Harriers were Dave Heffernan 38th in 34.52s and Andrew Ledwith 42nd in 35.21s. Andrew was also making his Donore debut and was clearly feeling the worst of being in the recovery stages of a chest infection.  There are better days ahead for both Andrew and the team!

The ladies team of Sorcha and Ide NicDhomhnaill, Sinead Lambe, Grace Kennedy and Samantha Conroy pulled out another great team effort for Donore. First home for the ladies was Sinead, finishing strong in 12th place, Sorcha (14th), Ide (17th), Grace (19th) and Samantha (28th) to make it a Donore double and bring back the ladies bronze. This is a great start to the season for this team who performed so well together last year.

The junior men’s team finished in 5th place (95 points) behind winners DSD (22). The team was led home by Sam Allen who slipped back in the later stages of the 6,000m race to come home in 17th position in a time of 21.03s. Just one place further back was Oisin Fitzgibbon (21.14s) who placed 10th in the incorporated u/18s championship. Stephen Gavin (21.50s) placed 26th overall and 16th in the u/18s, whilst Ryan Kiernan came 34th in 22.41s. It should be noted that both Oisin and Stephen were stepping-up in age group as both are eligible to run in next month’s u17s Dublin XC championship.

Big congratulations also to Alma Hanevy who completed the New York marathon in tough, windy conditions with a fantastic 7 minute PB in 3:26:37 and Teresa Brophy 4:30:24.

After months of training and nervous anticipation, 35 Donore members toed the line for the Dublin marathon, some seasoned regulars, many first timers and from all parts of the club from senior to Fit4life.  Mercifully, the predicted storms didn’t materialise on the day, it was sunny with a stiff headwind on parts of the course.  Fergal Whitty was first home in an excellent 2.34.51 and was 2nd M35 in the national championship.  John  Dunne PB, Niall lynch and Darren Hand finished next close together and this teamwork saw Fergal, John and Niall claim national Masters team gold.  In the 2.50s were Hugh, Graham (despite a misjudgment at the start which put him a different wave), Sean (who ran Berlin a month ago) George and Tony (also ran Berlin).  Philip Hennessy unfortunately pulled out injured. First Lady home was Anne Curley who ran her 8th sub-three hour marathon despite suffering from a cold and was 2nd W40, sister Florrie was next in her marathon debut. Between 3.10 and 3.37 we had Stephen, Tom, Liam, Gerard, Charlie Liam, Ian (another Berliner!)and Lisa.

The 5 woman band of Angela, Kim, Lorraine, Suzanne and Lee who trained diligently together the past few months did fantastically well and helped each other along the way, Angela knocked spots off her PB again as did Kim.  Lorraine and Suzanne did great debuts.   Nicola’s race was hampered by a fall but she finished well as did Elaine and Liagh.  Happily, the ladies also claimed the masters team gold making it a Donore Double with Angela Eustace getting her first national medal as 3rd scorer.  Great runs too from Fit4life members Elaine, Emily, Sandra, Eimear, Andrew , Laura and Ivan many who ran their first marathon.

Again, big thanks to all the many many supporters who popped out everywhere on the course, Jenny and all the gang at the Donore water station who worked so hard to feed the 14,500!.  Full results below

On Sunday, in perfect cross country conditions for the first time this season we sent 4 teams to the Leinster Novice and Masters Cross Country in Dunboyne. On a relatively flat, but technical course the novice ladies were first up in their 4k race. First home for the ladies was Aisling Swaine who is returning to form and ran well on the second lap to make up places, finishing 40th, right behind Aisling finishing in an almost identical time was Eva Campion in 41st , next in was Rhona Duane 45th who was disappointed with her race but is adapting well in her first championship season, following Rhona was was Medbh Peavoy in 51st and Cristina Gonzalez in 67th. Despite the team running well together it wasn’t enough to grab a medal following some strong runs from other teams.

The Masters ladies put in a fantastic team run with 16th, 19th, 21st and 23rd falling just short of a medal. Karen Behan ran a fantastic second lap to move through the field and was first home for the masters ladies in 16th place in a great time of 17:09, next in was Sam Conroy 19th in 17:13, Breda Mahony on her way back from injury was 21st in 17:22 and Janette Strickland rounded off the team with yet another brilliant run finishing 23rd in 17:26.

Eric Keogh and Lee Van Haeften gave indication of good form for the forthcoming Dublin Senior Cross-Country championships when they placed 1^st and 3^rd respectively in the Leinster Novice Cross Country championships at Dunboyne on Sunday. The Donore duo formed a part of a breakaway trio together with Karol Cronin of Sportsworld. Eric had to recover from a fall on the second lap to gain victory in a time of 20 minutes and 18 seconds. Lee covered the 6km race in 21.24s to place 3^rd.  The Men’s Novice team placed 4^th on 81 points with Eoin Hannon 35^th in 22.28s and Luke Boland 42^nd in 23.06s making up the scoring 4 finishers. Crusaders 39 points, Raheny 69 and Dunboyne also on 69 were the first 3 teams. Niall O’Reilly on his Cross-Country debut came 60^th in 24.12s.

The Donore Men’s Masters team placed 3^rd on 93 points in what proved a tight call on team placings. Tullamore were clean winners on 34 points, with Donore sandwiched between Drogheda & District 90 and Raheny 95. John Downes 9^th in 21.37s led the team home, with Fergal Swaine 21^st in 22.02s, Emmet O’Briain 30^th in 22.40s and Fred Kiernan 33^rd in 22.50s making up the scoring 4. Padraig McGreal came 58^th in 24.04s with Terry Mee placing 1^st in the over 70s category after completing the rain-swept 6 kilometres course in 29.35s.

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The Gerry Farnan CC race held in honour of the Eamonn Coghlan’s late coach on the traditional “Munich” hill loop in the Phoenix Park is always an exciting prospect, representing the first cross country outing of the season for many.

It was a fine sunny day but blustery at times and the deceptively energy-sapping mile-long lap was tackled three times in the ladies race.  Sinead Lambe was our first lady home and she had an excellent race against seasoned senior runners in a top field who are aiming at European and Masters selection.  She moved well through the field to finish 30th and 9 seconds behind was Sorcha Nic Dhomhnaill in 36th place – boding well for the Dublin Seniors in a fornight’s time.  Janette Strickland will be well pleased with her 63rd place in only her 3rd ever cross country race and it will set her up for next week’s Leinster Masters CC.

In the men’s race, Niall Lynch’s marathon training paid off in the 5 mile race where he finished 45th and also gained selection on the M40 team for the British and Irish Masters CC in Cardiff as did Terry Mee in the M70 category.  Well done too to Andy Kinane 77th, Des Tremble and Gerry McDonald 101st.

On the roads, Ian Redican came 10th in the Clane GAA 5k in 19.49 while Tom Fagan ran 41.49 in the 10k event on the same day.  George Brady warmed up for the Dublin marathon in the Defib for Kidz Laurels 10k in Corkagh Park in very wet conditions finishing 2nd man in 35.51.  Grace Kennedy continued her impressive racing comeback in 38.50 which made her the first lady home.

At the World Masters Track and Field in Porto Alegre Brazil, Anne Gormley representing Ireland was 8th in the W50 5k race walk in 34.36.31 in hot conditions and she will be competing again during the week

Staplestown, County Kildare was the venue for the 6th running of the Donadea 10km road race held on Saturday last. In the bright clear crisp autumn morning over 300 runners completed the course with the final 7km being run over a 2 lap trail inside the Donadea Forest.

 Eric Keogh put the disappointment of finishing 4th in the Dublin Novice cross-country championship behind him when racing to an excellent 2nd place. Brian McMahon of Clonliffe Harriers, recently 3rd in the Dublin half-marathon, won the race by about 100 metres in a time of 31.46s. Eric (32.05) always maintained his form and held off the challenge of third-placed John Frazer (32.09s) of St. Malachy’s AC.

Lee Van Haeften (32.55) continues to show a return to form by placing 5th, only 4 seconds behind Gary O’Hanlon. Lee can feel satisfied with matching O’Hanlon, as the Clonliffe man has chalked up a 2.28.05s PB when winning the Waterford Viking marathon earlier this year. Next to cross the line was Dave Heffernan (33.11s), who had 13 seconds to spare over 6th placed finisher David Fitzpatrick of Tallaght AC.

The cross country season is now in full swing and the first BHAA fixture took place at Castleknock College.  In the men’s 4 mile race, Feargal Swaine was 9th and 2nd M40, Fred Kiernan was 14th and Willie Morris 24th.  Only a fortnight after doing the Berlin marathon, Ian Redican ran too, and Terry Mee was 1st M70.  In the women’s 2 mile race   we had Cliodhna Carthy, Susan Walsh, Jenny O’keeffe and Ann Woodlock 1st W70.

Across the city in Santry, Clonliffe Harriers hosted a ladies 5k CC race to celebrate 50 years of the club’s ladies team; Rhona Duane had a fine race and came 8th with Eilish Joyce 21st.  At the Simon 5 in the Phoenix Park Rene Kilraine finished in 30.07

This year’s Dublin Novice cross country moved from its traditional Phoenix Park venue to St Anne’s Park Raheny.  It was a mild day and quite dry underfoot, earlier the Donore juvenile runners showed the way with some great runs in the juvenile league.

After a 20 minute delay the ladies 3k race got underway, and it was a debut championship cross country outing for some of our 8-strong team.  With 71 finishers and 12 teams it was a particularly competitive race this year.  Janette Strickland had the race of her life in only her 2nd championship outing moving steadily through to finish 18th overall, Marianne Dunlevy held off a number of runners at the finish in 29th place and not far behind was Rhona Duane in 33rd.  Bronagh Elliott did her first ever cross country race and was a solid 35th, Eva Campion had a fine run and was 37th with Ashling Swaine next in 40th.  Medbh Peavoy was further down the field than she would have liked in 42nd but she will bounce back as always and Cristina Gonzalez was 50th.  The girls finished 8th team so no medals this time but this team will gain in strength and experience as the season continues.

The men’s 6k race had 87 runners and 13 teams in the mix, Donore had 12 men competing. A last lap rush by Niall Lynch (8th in 19.26), Graham Hopkins (17th in 19.58) and Emmet O’Briain (22nd in 20.10) saw the Donore Harriers men’s team climb into a medal position.

The team was lying 4th at the end of lap 3 (at 4.500m), but the trio all gained places over the final 1,500 metres loop to gain bronze medals in the team competition. An independent counter had Donore on 65 points after lap 3 with Raheny Shamrocks on 60. However, Donore gained to 51 points at the end, whilst Raheny slipped to 62. The team competition went to Clonliffe Harriers on 29 points with Crusaders second on 47 points.

The Donore team was led home by Eric Keogh (4th in 19.08), who was 4th in this race last year and was aiming for a medal this time – after 2 strong laps at the top of the race Eric was in contention, the eventual winner Clonliffe’s Ian Guiden however started to stretch the field out and Eric dropped back, hampered perhaps by the effects of a cold during the week, and he finished 4th once again but still an excellent run. The other Donore team members to finish the flat 6km route in the dry and humid conditions were: – Fred Kiernan (29th in 20.25); Eoin Hannon (39th in 20.48); Fergal Swaine (46th in 21.09);  Luke Boland (51st in 21.26); Bob Blake (55th in 21.33); Padraig McGreal (60th in 22.05); and Stephen Dawson (66th in 22.33).

There was great support for the teams out there too so thanks to all who made the journey out to spectate.

On the roads, some of those training for Autumn marathons tested themselves on the Athlone 3/4 marathon and had great success.  Kim Hickey was 2nd lady in a super 2.30.29, NY marathon-bound Alma Hanevy was 3rd in 2.31.06  – and new member Liagh Miller did 3.12.53.

It was a busy weekend of races ranging from 5k to the marathon.  Anne and Florence Curley made the trip to Moone Kildare for the Jim Roche race festival 26.2k Kilomarathon event.  On a warm day and an undulating course with an uphill finish Anne showed her customary flair over the distance to finish 1st woman and 11th overall in 1.47.48 , sister Florrie finished 3rd woman in 1.54.47.

Another runner preparing for the marathon is Nicola Dowdall and she ran a very good 2.47.40 at the Eco 2 run 20 mile at Eastpoint.  Amandine Devine ran 1.48.46 in the 10 mile run simultaneously.

The big race of the weekend in Dublin was the Rathfarnham 5k with 1300 participants.  Donore had some great performances, PBs and 2nd team placing for the ladies and 3rd for the men.  Dave Heffernan was 1st home in a super 15.33, Feargal Swaine was 2nd M40 in 16.23 and Fred Kiernan next in 16.44.  Sinead Lambe probably suffered a little from an early fast pace but still ran 18.30 and finished 7th woman.  Barbara Murray is making a great comeback and will be well pleased with 19.11 and 1st W40 place.  Sinead Graham was delighted with her 20.17 PB and Karen Behan and Rhona Duane finished practically together not long after- results in full are listed below.

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Over in Berlin, 5 of our runners did us proud in one of the world’s biggest and fastest marathons with Ken Norgrove leading the way with an excellent 2:37:05, all results below.

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