HIGHLIGHTS National League final, National 50k, masters cross country, Jack Raftery goes into the all time indoor top 400, Abdel and Louis in the US, Dublin Juveniles, Leinster Schools and more! (Photos AAI, Popupraces, Leonie Newman, Suzie Henley Willis, Ben McShane – Sportsfile, Amy Moriarty)

National Masters Cross Country
(thanks women’s captain Anne Curley for the details)
The women’s masters team was missing some people due to injury and work schedules but we still fielded a team finishing 8th out of 13. The course in Gowran Kilkenny was dry for this time of year but the ground was uneven with some deceptive drags, overall there was some great running on it and the pace was fast from the getgo, Sorcha got her money’s worth out of the trip with two gold medals, she ran strongly from the gun mixing it in the top ten from the start, working her way to the top of the field finishing in an amazing 6th place, holding off a fast finishing Caroline Donnellan all the way to the line. She beat the cream of the country and won her W45 age group taking some serious scalps in her wake, she also led the Dublin county team to gold, showing how good Sorcha is over the short races too! She was followed in by Audrey who ran a solid 51st in a stacked field, she was delighted with her run beating some opponents, Amy wasn’t far behind and finished strongly too, she is slowly coming back to form this year and great to see her racing regularly on the country. She admitted it wasn’t her best day but the marathon strength got her through it. Mary McDermott is showing her old flair on the country lately and brought the team home in a super strong run. It was an enjoyable day out and while there was no team medal today all were happy and high on endorphins post race. In the men’s Master race our sole competitor was club treasurer Des Tremble who finished 5th M50 in a very tough field and he also bagged a Dublin county team M50 medal.

National 50k
(thanks men’s Captain Josh O’Sullivan Hourihan for this report)
The 10 laps in Donadea on Saturday 11th February 2023 was the culmination of weeks and months of hard work for Ian Fitzgerald, Wayne Waldron, Didier Da Costa and Sean Fox where the theme of the day was “win the moment you’re in”. The race conditions were perfect, the ground was dry, the weather was clear and the temperatures were just right for racing. From the early stages the trend of the race was quite clear as Tudor Moldovan (Clonliffe Harriers) dictated from the lead while extending his gap on each lap along the way to finish in a fantastic 2:59:04.
Ian had the company of a small group until about the halfway point and he was looking smooth and fuelling well. Unfortunately in the last 10-15k some stomach issues and cramps came to the fore and slowed his pace but the message from his support crew on the side-lines was quite clear “you’re safe in second, you have one hand on a national medal, just consolidate and hold what you’ve got”. This performance was Ian’s first National Senior medal and comes off the back of a really impressive and consistent block of training.
Wayne was carrying a calf issue the final two weeks of prep for Donadea which impacted his training load heavily but like Ian he executed a near perfect race strategy given the cards he was dealt. He stuck to the plan and built through the race picking off the runners ahead and moving up to the podium places with 3 laps to run and clear air behind him. It adds to his impressive and ever growing palmarès over the last 6 months.
Didier positioned himself well in the early stages and went about his work quietly but efficiently throughout the first half of proceedings. When the squeeze came towards the back end he had the experience and power in his legs from longer ultramarathons, both in Ireland and abroad, and the mental fortitude to keep grinding towards the finish line despite a testing last lap.
Sean ran, in my opinion watching as a spectator/water boy extraordinaire, the race of the day with exceptionally even splits from start to finish. He was metronomic and looked in control of everything when he passed me on each lap. He actually ran the fastest last lap of any Donore athlete on the course, and the 5th fastest last lap of anyone even able to finish with a little jump and a heel click that would not have been out of place in “The Wizard of Oz”
Overall the guys finished up as
– Ian Fitzgerald – 2nd Overall & PB – 3:11:18
– Wayne Waldron – 3rd Overall, 1st O35 & PB – 3:15:41
– Didier Da Costa – 6th Overall, 2nd O45 & PB – 3:26:06
– Sean Fox – 7th Overall, 3rd O45 & PB – 3:27:24
It was a pleasure to watch these guys perform so well on a day when it really counts and they secured individual honours, PB’s and impressively they won the National 50k Team Title for 2023. Not only that but they supported each other along the journey through the training, the highs, the lows and I think this was most evident when Wayne finished and embraced Ian as they shared the end of a can of coke……the glitz and glamor of ultra-running!
Ian and Wayne now have a few weeks to recover and finalise their preparations for the Anglo Celtic Plate 100k in April.

National Track and Field indoor league final
A 14-strong men’s team took on all 16 events at the final of the National indoor league on Saturday 11th February in the national indoor arena.. The opposition was going to be tough with teams like Clonliffe and Leevale out in force and some last minute changes to the team meant that athletes might have to go outside their usual events as often happens in league competition!. Every point counts as we know, so it was good to get those top 3 points in a few events. Fresh from national Masters success the week before, Niall Allen won the WFD achieving top points and 3rd in the shot put. John Travers came 2nd in the 1500 and went on to run a leg of the 4x400m relay. Paul McDermott ran a fine 200m in his race to come 2nd and 3rd overall on time when the second race was included. Michael McCarthy was delighted to get a PB and 3rd place in the triple jump. Jack Byrne ran a very gutsy 800m and got an indoor PB and 4th place despite being under the weather during the week. Coach Daniel Hernon did a fine high jump. In the 4x400m. Sean Chan started the day’s competition with the 60m hurdles – then with the points gained in the 3000m and men’s captain David Campbell going way outside his comfort zone to take on the pole vault and the 1500m walk winning 4 more points, the scores were coming in consistently. In the 60m flat, Paul McDermott ran and went on to do two more events that day. Young multi eventer Oisin Cummins Weiss – a medallist at the juveniles the week before took on the long jump. Last event of the day was the 4x200m with Adam Halpin, Conor Fox, Paul McDermott and up coming 200m runner Alex Leonard – an unfortunate handover error meant that the team was eventually DQ’d but they bravely saw the race out. This didn’t make a change to the overall placing of the Donore team who eventually finished on 65 points (Clonliffe won on 110, Leevale 94, Nenagh 85) thanks to all those who competed in the earlier rounds too

US race report (thanks Gerry Naughton)
Abdel Laadjel continues with his excellent indoor season in the United States. He was involved in a helter-skelter Section 3 of the men’s 3,000m at the DAVID HEMERY VALENTINE MEET at the Boston University Track on Saturday evening (11.02.2023). Competing in the colours of the Providence (College) Friars, Laadjel found himself caught in traffic after a conservative start in a big field of 20-plus athletes. He said afterwards: “My coach (Ray Treacy) wasn’t pleased that I had got myself boxed in more than once”. However, the Donore Harriers member gained to 3rd place in the final few circuits, before placing 4th in a personal best time of 7.54.51. Despite a strong last 400 metres run in 59.2 seconds, he was passed in the closing stages by Takato Suzuki of Team Puma who covered the final 200m in 27.9. The race was won by Benjamin Godish (7.52.02) of Northeastern University. This was Laadjel’s first time to break the 8 minutes barrier and follows his sub-14-minutes 5,000m (13.50.03) achieved at the same venue two weeks earlier.

In the MUSIC CITY CHALLENGE MEET at Nashville on Saturday afternoon Louis O’Loughlin contested Heat 5 of the seeded Men’s 800m finishing 3rd in a time of 1.50.13. The race was won by Austin Leitz (unattached) in 1.48.53. Running for the Auburn Tigers college team the Donore Harriers athlete was 6th at the 500m mark and gained to 3rd place by covering the final 300m in 42.26.

Results
MUSIC CITY CHALLENGE MEET at Nashville TN (11.02.2023): Men’s 800m Heat 5 – 3rd Louis O’Loughlin (1.50.13)
UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS DAVID HEMERY VALENTINE, Boston MA (11.02.2023): Men’s 3,000m Heat 3 – 4th Abdel Laadjel (7.54.51 PB)

Niamh Clifford placed 9th overall and 1st woman in the TRALEE 10-MILE ROAD RACE on Saturday morning. She ran a personal best time of 1.00.35 to finish almost 6 minutes ahead of runner-up Mary O’Shea (1.06.27). Clifford’s time was 3 and a half minutes faster than her winning 2022 effort.

Track and Field Live
Jack Raftery had another scintillating 400m indoors at the National Indoor arena at Track and Field Live. He won the elite 400m easily in a new PB of 46.75 moving in to the Irish indoor top 10. He then helped the 4×400 U23 relay team to a new national record later in the meet. Eva McPartlan competed in the 60m in 8.15

Dublin Juveniles indoor Day 3 (thanks to Suzie Henley Willis and Leonie Newman for details)
This week it was the turn of the younger agegroups to shine at the Dublin juvenile indoors.
The National Indoor arena on Sunday 12th was heaving with competitors – there were 180 competitions when all the heats were taken into account! and kudos to the hardworking coaches and volunteers – some of who were in the arena til 730pm! We had a very good turnout – some of the children were competing for the first time. Full results are not available and we don’t have all the details but well done to everyone who competed especially Annabella Omozee gold (hurdles) Anna Whelan and Ruby Blake silver and bronze in the hurdles – we had finalists in several events Leo Garry, Dylan O’Connor, Farrah Blake , Rachel McCarthy, Michael McCarthy jr, Cadel Senyk, Bobby Farrell, Ruairi Quinn , Jamie Keegan made it to semi finals – worth noting that the amount of people in the heats was phenomenal so getting to those stages was great and well done Sam Quinn, Eli Henley Willis, Patrick King, Matilda Reilly, Eli Hanley, Mae OGorman, Sally McGowan, Abbie Keogh, Olivia Brady in their heats.

Leinster Schools Cross country championships
We had 16 runners competing across various age groups in the Leinster schools cross country races in Santry Demesne. The Leinster schools can often be even more competitive than some club cross country races! The top 15 individuals and top 3 teams qualify so we had 8 athletes who now go on to National competition. There were some top 4 positions and several helped their schools to team medals. There were also a few who narrowly missed out on making nationals but had great runs. Well done athletes and coaches.

Armagh International road races
A unique yearly nighttime set of races in the town of Armagh, back for the first time since the COVID 19 pandemic, the Armagh international road races are fast and furious attracting quality fields from Ireland and abroad. A flat lap with some tight turns 3 times around the centre of the city of Armagh – this year 130 men broke the 15 minute barrier in the men’s 5k race.. One of those was Kane Collins who equalled his PB of 14.54 in 123rd place and thought the race was “great fun”. In the 3k race, young Arlen Zsabo was 87th in 10.03

Tralee 10 Miler
Niamh Clifford placed 9th overall and 1st woman in the TRALEE 10-MILE ROAD RACE on Saturday morning. She ran a personal best time of 1.00.35 to finish almost 6 minutes ahead of runner-up Mary O’Shea (1.06.27). Clifford’s time was 3 and a half minutes faster than her winning 2022 effort.

IMRA
Kieran Beausang was 39th in the IMRA Mount Hillary In Cork out of 113 runners on February 5th

Parkruns
Bushy – Course record for Robert Murphy at Bushy in a super 15.35 – breaking his own record on this course
Waterstown 1st Dylan McKenna 19.22
Brickfields Ann Woodlock 55th 32.28
New Ross Liz McCurtain and Eugene McCurtain 55.47
Porterstown Tom Fagan 10th 21.49
Corkagh Nicola Dowdall 25.44 4th female
Greenway parkrun Sydney Australia Charlie O’Neill 27.29
Killarney House Owen Robinson 8th 20.52
Jesmond Dene Daire McCarthy 10th 19.56, Ciaran McCarthy 142nd 31.18

The two big events of the weekend were the first national event of the year with round 1 of the National Indoor League and the Dublin Master cross country championship

Dublin Masters Cross country report

(Thanks women’s road and cross country captain Anne Curley for the report)

The ground was surprisingly dry after so much rain so the pace was going to be torrid on the flat trails of St Anne’s Park. Due to the numbers this was the first year that the women’s field was split into the O50’s (with O65’s men) and O35’s so club stalwarts Mary McDermott, Julia Hackett , Anne Curley and Barry Potts went out of the traps first. The first 20 metres was a bit of a bottleneck but then levelled out, Annette Kealy took it out at a fast pace which never let up. Mary and Julia finished 27th and 30th with Barry second O70 , Anne unfortunately became a casualty of her longstanding IAE condition mid race making multiple stops and finished a distant 51st. Nevertheless it was good to get an O50 women’s team out in this very enjoyable event which kick starts the year for most Dublin club master runners. The race was won by the in form Annette Kealy who at 55 is showing so signs of slowing any time soon. 

Our o35s women’s team finished in 5th spot, highly commendable considering the white hot competition. Grace was our first woman in,  and despite recent flu and marathon heavy legs meant she was probably lacking a bit of speed and sharpness for a fast flat 4k but she ran incredibly well as a serial marathon runner she was out of her comfort zone but the marathon strength got her a superb 17th spot, Next in was Audrey Gahan ten places behind with her best race of the season so far, great to see Audrey getting back after being thwarted with an injury in November when she was in PB shape in the autumn. Club President Florence Curley  has missed a lot of training since the marathon and was under the weather in the lead up so her race was superb in the circumstances,  she gritted it out right to the line passing a Crusader runner with that trademark killer grimace! 

Close behind Audrey and Florence was Caroline McCarthy who was next in. Great to see Caroline back, she was showing great form just before covid hit and back from a maternity break, this supermum is going to move quickly up the field when she gets a good block of training behind her, she ran a fabulous  and is a fearless and very competitive runner…and then we had Suzie Henley Willis who brought the team home with another super strong run, Suzie has only been training with the group since 2021 and already is a club legend partly for her great work with the junior athletes, she has improved hugely since last year and will continue to do.

Our O50’s men had a solid team and were lead home by club Treasurer Des Tremble in 5th spot, A very strong run from Des who is one of the best M50 road runners in the country. Next in was club secretary and long standing club stalwart Donal Iremonger who is making a great comeback after  a serious foot injury wiped out most of 2022 for him. A very promising start to 2023 and great to see him back in action. Tom Fagan was next in followed closely by his sparring partner Peter Nugent. Two very popular members they worked together to have a great battle. The ever improving and very popular Dean Fullston brought them home, they were out of the medals but all were happy out to have ran their best. The pace of the race was flat out from the gun led out and won by the in form Shane O’Neill winner of the 50s title in the recent British Irish Masters

Our 35’s men were unlucky to finish out of the medals but can be proud of a very strong showing out there, first in Dave McConn who has made a an incredible improvement since he joined us only a couple of years ago, his first outing on the country he took it out hard and maybe paid for it in latter laps but ran a brave race at the business end the whole way hanging on for 11 in top quality field, tracking him all the way was Ken Nugent who was 3rd in this race last year, not quite in the same shape this, it was nevertheless a big improvement on his recent form. he wa followed closely in by Emmet O Briain who is having one of his best seasons in years and with a withering kick finished in a great …place earning himself a bronze m45 medal, Danny O’Sullivan ran himself into the ground to hold off a fast finishing runner when it looked like a team medal was in the balance and it almost was the way they all packed so well, a super run from Danny.  Not far off was long time member Gavin Keogh picked up a lot of places to finish just three places off Danny.  Craig Scott who had a great 2022 on the roads was a solid 49th.  JP Hanlon brought them all home in a brave run, his first outing on championship cross country, well done all, the Donore singlet was prominent there on Sunday and while there was no team medal, they all looked the part

Huge thanks to all the support we had out on the course. A positive start to the year.

Results for Dublin MASTERS

 035’S MEN 4th team

Race won by Mick Clohisey 

first three teams Raheny Shamrocks, Clonliffe Harriers, Rathfarnham WSAF

11th  Dave McConn M40

13th  Emmet O’Briain 3rd O45

14th  Ken Nugent  M35

27th  Danny O’Sullivan M40

30th  Gavin Keogh M40

49th  Craig Scott M40

147thJP O’Hanlon M35

O50’s men  8th team,

race won by Shane O’Neill and first three teams Rathfarnham WSAF, Metro St Brigids, Dundrum South Dublin

5th    Des Tremble

17th  Donal Iremonger

52nd Tom Fagan M55

55th  Peter Nugent

66th  Dean Fullston M55

O50’s women 9th team (with same points as 8th team),

overall winner Annette Kealy and first three teams Raheny Shamrocks, Rathfarnham WSAF, Lucan Hrs

27th Mary McDermott

30th Julia Hackett

51st Anne Curley 9th

Barry Potts 2nd O70

 Women O’35s 5th team

overall winner Kate Purcell and first three teams Sportsworld, Raheny Shamrocks and Crusaders AC

17th  Grace Kennedy-Clarke(V35)

27th  Audrey Gahan (V45)

32nd Florence Curley  (V45)

40th  Caroline McCarthy (v35)

64th  Suzie Henley Willis (v40)

Over in the national indoor arena in Abbotstown on the same day we had a men’s and women’s team in round 1 of the National Indoor league.  This was a first outing for most of the athletes in this indoor season and also a track and field debut for some – and for the youngest athletes a first outing at a national level like this

The competition was formidable particularly in the women’s event where there were 16 teams and 10 in the men’s events

The women were able to fill every event except the pole vault so there was a great team turnout .  Our new women’s captain Eva McPartlan led the team and was 3rd in her own 60m race

Results as follows

Eva McPartlan, 3rd in heat 2 of 60m in 8.12

Caoimhe Mackey, 2nd in heat 2 of 200m in 26.81

Ruth Chambers, 8th in heat 2 of 800m in 2.55

Katherine Marsh, 12th in 3000m in 13.24.11

Caoimhe Mackey, Isabella Jackson, Louise Kelly and Ailbhe Healy 4th in heat 3 of 4×4 in 4.39.23

Fiona Keegan Smith threw 5.93m placing 12th in shot put 

Eimear Finn jumped 3.47 in long jump placing 14th

The men’s competition was a mix of youth and experience – again every event filled bar the pole vault and a welcome return to competition for some of the endurance runners such as Kevin and Oliver.  

Liam Tobin, 5th in heat 2 of 60m running 7.52secs.

Daragh McAuley, 4th in heat 3 of 200m running 23.64secs.

Kevin Nolan, 4th in heat 2 of 800m running 2.09.24secs.

Oliver Hopkins, 5th in 3k running 9.27.83secs.

Niall Allen, 2nd in Shot Putt throwing 11.19m

Oisin Weiss Cummins jumped 5.02m in long jump.

Mens 4x400m relay, 2nd in heat 1 in a time of 3.45secs. Team made up of Alex Leonard, Conor Fox, Mario and Romeo Omozee

The women finished up with 43 points in 14th place in an extremely competitive round where Ratoath, Clonliffe, Craughwell finished top.  In the men’s competition Donore, Raheny and Crusaders all tied on 36 points in joint 6th.  Clonliffe, Ratoath and Nenagh were top 3 in the round.   Next round of the league is on 22nd January in Athlone where another strong set of performances will be needed to reach the final 

Thanks to track captains Eva and David and the coaches and supporters in Abbotstown on the day.

BMC Sheffield

John Travers opened his indoor account for 2023 with a 3000m at the British Milers Club meet in Sheffield on January 8th.  An exciting race which featured world 1500m champion Jake Wightman – until the last 3 laps John was mixing it in the top 4 with Wightman, and Phil Seseman who finished 2nd Briton in the London marathon, and was on sub 8 minute pace..  An injection of pace in the last 3 laps saw John detach from the lead group and he eventually finished 7th in 8.03.10.  Seseman beat the world champion Wightman in a dramatic finish with the latter falling across the finish line!

In other race news

Sorcha Loughnane finished first woman and third overall in the Griffith Park Resolution Run Half Marathon in LA at the weekend

BHAA 6k cross country race Tymon Park

37th Fred Kiernan

41st Padraig McGreal (117 finishers)

Parkruns

Brickfields 73rd Ann Woodlock 33.18

Castletown 66th Joan McTernan 26.40

Poppintree 43rd Paul Nunan 25.05

Waterstown 1st Dylan McKenna 19.14, 6th John Curran 22.30

Wins by Abdel Laadjel and John Travers

The Christmas and New Year period is a busy one for road racing around the country. A popular one to start the year for Donore Runners is the Tom Brennan New Year’s day 5k hosted by neighbouring club Liffey Valley AC. On New Year’s day the morning was dull and cold but there was no wind and the rain held off for this 2 lap course – starting and finishing at different points on the Furze Road. The lap turns on to Ordnance Survey Road and back on to Chesterfield Avenue.
Back from the USA for a couple of weeks holiday from his athletics scholarship in Providence, Abdel Laadjel (still a junior) was keen to make an impression here on the same race he did so well in in 2020. This was in fact Abdel’s second time only to run 5k on the road. In the 2020 race he ran 15.19 and it was very much his breakthrough race. Here in 2023 he was always confident of a win , but it was nip and tuck up top in the race where Clonliffe’s Stephen Cashin, Ballyfin’s Colin Maher were also vying for the top spot – national marathon champion Martin Hoare (Celbridge) and Peter Arthur of the home club were also in the mix for a while. Abdel prevailed in the end and won the race in 14.54 from Cashin 14.55 and Maher 14.56 so an exciting finish and 25 seconds faster than in 2020.
Next in for the club was Emmet O’Briain coming offwell from his close second in the WBB race on St Stephens Day – he finished in 22nd place in 16.39 and 3rd M45
Next was Diego Martinez in 16.52 and 25th place originally from El Salvador now living in Ireland and making an impressive competitive debut for the club.
The trio were only 3 points off winning the men’s team title (Raheny Shamrocks got the top spot).
Next in was Stephen Dawson followed by Florence Curley the first female. The women’s team of Florence, Audrey Gahan, Louise Kelly, Suzie Henley Willis (all 3 also competed in the shield race on Stephens Day) and Michelle Dawon finished in 8th. In there too were Dean Fullston – another shield racer and M70 runner Barry Potts.
There were 455 finishers

Full results below – thanks Gerry Naughton for selected photos
1st Abdel Laadjel 14.54
22nd Emmet O’Briain 16.39
25th Diego Martinez 16.52
128th Stephen Dawson 20.35
131st Florence Curley 20.49
155th Audrey Gahan 21.31
162nd Dean Fullston 21.49
189th Louise Kelly 21.57
192nd Barry Potts 23.10
198th Suzie Henley Willis 22.17
294th Michelle Dawson 28.27
370th Sean Kinsella 32.41
415th Gerry Murphy 38.02

Across in Sligo on December 31st, John Travers won the Ben Bulben 5k by nearly a minute (and a new course record) in a time of 14.54. The race had 108 finishers.

At the Kilbeggan 6k race on 26 December JP O’Hanlon was 34th (29th male) in a time of 26.58 – there were 263 finishers

In Athenry on the same day the ever popular Fields of Athenry 10k road race took place and new member Marc Walsh ran a time of 40.49 , 129th in a field of 1151 finishers

Over in Split Croatia another new member Sandanan Magee ran a 2 mile race in 10.33

Further results (with some international parkruns!)
New Year’s Day Parkruns
Griffeen – 1st David McConn 17.38
New Years Eve Parkruns
Brickfields – 30th Anne Woodlock 33.27, 32nd Shiofra McCarthy 36.12
Malahide – 173rd Angela O’Dea 32.26
Waterstown – 2nd Dylan McKenna 20.15, 5th John Curran 22.56
Hartstown – 13th Mark Devine 22.21
Castletown – 43rd Joan McTernan 27.29
Porterstown – 10th Tom Fagan 23.00
Bushy – 62nd Charlie O’Neill 28.16
Corkagh – 125th Nicola Dowdall 49.27
Tolka Valley 13th Owen Robinson 25.28
Milano Nord (Italy) 23rd Peter Nugent 21.49
Hafan Pwhelli (Wales) 39th Sarah Ni Ruairc 30.45
Christmas Day parkruns
Porterstown – Owen Robinson 7th 21.11
Christmas Eve parkruns
Oranmore – 1st Alasdair Brown 19.09
Brickfields – 41st Ann Woodlock 35.31
Waterstown – 9th John Curran 23.15
Porterstown – 7th Caroline McCarthy 22.24 (2nd female)

The 126th running of the Waterhouse Byrne Baird Shield began at the traditional 11am time at the traditional dog pond start in the Phoenix Park. It was a bright cold day with some blustery winds. Heavy rain in the 48 hours before the race meant that parts of the 2 mile lap had puddles and some muddy stretches but there was still plenty of good running on the lap.

Handicappers this year were the men’s and women’s endurance captains Josh O’Sullivan Hourihan and Anne Curley and club captain Iain Morrison. There was a list of 27 to start – in the end, 24 took to the line some competing in the race for the first time, others grizzled veterans of this race!

Chief course marker was Willie Smith (the youngest ever winner of the race aged 15 in 1958) with Charlie O’Neill and Iain Morrison and timekeepers led by Willie Smith assisted by Pam White and Anne Curley.

Spectators gathered as the first runner Angela Eustace started at 11am on the first of 5 laps, by 11.29 all of the runners were on their way. “Scratch” man on the day was last year’s winner and fastest man Ken Nugent.

Some former winners were present including the 1954 winner Jim O’Reilly and the 1979 winner Eamonn Coghlan still the holder of the fastest time in the race’s history.Also present were descendents of Davie Baird – winner of the race in 1920, 1921 and 1937 , a three time winner thus adding his name to the shield for ever more.

As the race progressed Angela Eustace still led for a time but then another leader emerged, Louise Kelly who had been given a handicap of 24 and a half minutes. She remained at the front of the race as behind her, places changed a number of times. Suzie Henley Willis and youngest runner in the race – mountain running specialist Laura Nunan who had both been given a 23 minute handicap ran in tandem for much of the race and were in joint third for a while. Meanwhile other runners were coming through like Peter Nugent who had started on an 18 minute handicap with Tom Fagan.

Other runners like Danny O’Sullivan (25 minute handicap) Emmet O’Briain (4.30 handicap) who started with Des Tremble but started to pull away were making their presence felt and also in the mix was Neil Hand 8 minute handicap and Deirdre Nic Canna (13.30 handicap)

Going into the last lap Louise Kelly still had the lead but as experience has shown in those last 2 miles everything can change. Some Donore supporters had gone over to the woods and that last flat stretch to the football and cricket pitch before rounding that last corner. Over at the dog pond, spectators were now able to see the runners through the trees. Louise had now been overhauled by a number of runners Deirdre Nic Canna, Emmet O’Briain, Danny O’Sullivan Peter Nugent with Ryan Aikins in pursuit. Eventually it was Deirdre who still held the lead with Emmet in furious pursuit. Could Emmet with his track pedigree unleash a final kick? Both runners had performed very well in the Dublin Intermediate cross country only 2 weeks before and Deirdre a mountain runner was showing a good combination of speed and strength in the fight to stay ahead.. As the runners rounded the final corner they were very close with Deirdre still leading and Emmet giving it everything to close the gap. There were cheers as the runners thundered down to the finish with Deirdre winning it from Emmet by a mere three seconds, one of the closest finishes in recent years. This is the 9th time a female has won the shield and the 8th woman (Valerie McGovern won twice). Danny O’Sullivan finished 38 seconds later in third place Peter Nugent claimed 4th another 14 seconds later with Ryan Aikins 2 seconds after him.

The fastest time on the day was that of Ian Fitzgerald in 62.38 who finished 9th overall and he was awarded the Tommy Hayward cup for that honour.. Fastest female was also our winner Deirdre Nic Canna (72.06) . Fastest junior female was Lauran Nunan who finished 12th in 85.30. Within 15 minutes all of the runners had finished. (All times and finishers at the end of the report)

At 11.45am the juvenile runners ran their 2 mile handicap for the Willie Dunne Shield and Report on that follows. The winners were handed their shields in the Phoenix park and then back at the clubhouse after another official presentation of trophies and prizes took place – for the first time since 2019 because 2020 and 2021 had to be held outdoors.

A special part of the presentation was devoted to the 3 time winner whose name adorns the shield – Davie Baird. Prevented from making a proper presentation on the 100th anniversary of his first win due to the COVID pandemic, Willie Smith made contact again with his descendants and wider family to honour his contribution to the story of the shield. We heard from Willie Smith and granddaughter Roz of how he was badly wounded in the first World War , a bullet lodged in his spine and thereafter remained but he went on to win the then Waterhouse Byrne trophy twice in succession in 1920 and 1921. 100 years ago in 1922 although 6th overall (winner was Hugh Lusk from Ballymoney) he had the fastest time and won again in 1937 when aged in his early 50s and Willie read out a newspaper account of that win.. Commemorative medals for each of his three victories were presented to his grandchildren Roz O’Connor and Richard Baird and wider family. Thanks Willie for organising this

And so concluded the 126th running of this historic race – thanks to the handicappers, course markers and timers, club committee, Stephen Kelly and all who pitched in. Thanks Mick Bourke, Charlie O’Neill, Thomas Delaney, Justin Conneff for the photos

Results with Gross time and Actual Time

1st Deirdre Nic Canna 87,36 72.06 (fastest female)
2nd Emmet O’Briain 87.39 63.07
3rd Danny O’Sullivan 88.17 63.16
4th Peter Nugent 88.31 77.30
5th Ryan Aikins 88.33 65.35
6th Louise Kelly 89.22 84.51
7th Des Tremble 89.33 65.03
8th Neil Hand 90.26 66.56
9th Ian Fitzgerald 90.38 62.38 (fastest man)
10th Craig Scott 91.06 68.06
11th Laura Nunan 91.30 85.30
12th Suzie Henleywillis 91.51 85.51
13th Donal Iremonger 92.11 74.10
14th Dave mcConn 92.28 65.28
15th Aideen Burke 92.32 82.32
16th Dean Fullston 93.11 80.10
17th Julia Hackett 96.04 90.34
18th Audrey Gahan 96.20 84.50
19th Ken Nugent 97.53 68.53
20th Angela Eustace 1.42.09 1.42.09
Barry Potts 1 lap
Tom Fagan 2 laps
Niall Lynch 3 laps
Romeo Omozee 4 laps

like the Waterhouse Byrne Baird Shield race, had a close finish. The chase handicap race had Max Henley-Willis, with a time allowance of 3 minutes and 30 seconds, the first to leave the start line. His task was not to be passed by the other eight competitors whilst completing a two-mile lap of the WBB course.

Rain showers over the previous 48 hours meant the course was wet and muddy in places. The challenge was real! By the time young Max rounded the cricket ground and entered to the final 400 metres strait he had 3 challengers in hot pursuit. The leader ran on strong to the line and withheld his chasers, Mark Nunan, Anna Whelan, and Ruairi Quinn – who all crossed the line within a 30-seconds timeframe. Kudos to the handicapper Niall Lynch.

Max finished in the time of 17.35, actual time 17.35, with Mark Nunan (17.49) on a handicap of 30 seconds the runner-up. Mark’s actual time was 17.19. Anna Whelan, another fine young athlete, took the bronze medal with a race time of 17.55 and a real time of 16.10 (handicap 1.45).

Fourth finisher Ruairi Quinn (18.02) was just 7 seconds outside the medals with an actual time of 17.47. Eli Henley-Willis (18.52) came 5th running a real time of 18.22. James Dunne, the 3rd winner of the Shield, came next with a race time of 19.15 and a real time of 16.00. Aryell Sheedy ran despite having a heavy cold and was the co-scratch athlete. He came 7th in 20.40, actual time 17.10.

The race was completed by Anabella Omozee and her brother Mario – both are from the Ray O’Keeffe & Alex Conway sprints group. Anabella (22.06 – actual 19.21) and Mario (23.16 – 19.46) – the other scratch athlete – placed 8th and 9th respectively.

With thanks to Willie Smith (course marker), Charlie O’Neill (starter), Niall Lynch (handicapper), Graham Hopkins (awards), Diane Nunan and Gerry Naughton (recorders), and Mick Bourke (photos)

Results

1st Max Henley-Willis 17.35 – h/cap 3.30 – actual time 17.35
2nd Mark Nunan 17.49 – h/cap 0.30 – actual time 17.19
3rd Anna Whelan 17.55 – h/cap 1.45 – actual time 16.10
4th Ruairi Quinn 18.02 – h/cap 3.15 – actual time 17.47
5th Eli Henley-Willis 18.52 – h/cap 3.00 – actual time 18.22
6th James Dunne 19.15 – h/cap 0.15 – actual time 16.00
7th Aryell Sheedy 20.40 – h/cap scratch – actual time 17.10
8th Anabella Omozee 22.06 – h/cap 0.45 – actual time 19.21
9th Mario Omozee 23.16 – h/cap scratch – actual time 19.46

Dublin intermediate and juvenile league

On a freezing cold and snow white Tymon Park on 11 December, the last championship races of the 2022 cross country took place. First off was the last leg of the Dublin juvenile league – we have had a great representation across the age groups in the league this and this last series of races was a tough one with the icy cold.  In the overall results of the league we had 52 boys and girls competing across all the races and we had 8 runners who finished 1-6 in their agegroup.  Well done to all and to the coaches and parents who supported.

Next up on the day were the womens and men’s intermediate races. Below is an account of the women’s race from captain Anne Curley

A bitter cold day in Tymon Park was a fabulous day out at the Dublin Intermediate for our girls.   No rain and very little wind but slippy and undulating with some crunchy snow thrown in, it was still going to be heavy going.  The time of year and various bugs, viruses, family commitments and injuries mean that a full team was in serious doubt after a very enthusiastic original panel of 8 but we all know that a week is a long time in this game never mind a few, anything and everything can go wrong.  Nevertheless we had a proud army of four on the day.  Deirdre Nic Canna was first of the team out of the trap mixing it well in the top ten, she looked strong throughout, the undulating drags were nothing to this mountain runner who worked her way up to a superb 4th place in the last lap, her placing did wonders for the team as did Amy Moriarty making her maiden ‘voyage ‘ on the cross county, unfamiliar with Tymon Park she arrived just in the nick of time and a pair of borrowed track spikes she thundered through the field finishing an amazing 8th,Aisling Kirby who had raced solo in the unforgiving National Novice the week before ran a brave and truly gutsy race keeping Amy in sight all the way holding those crucial places to finish a solid 14th, having the team there gave her that extra bit of motivation to finish strong with nothing more to give, a great feeling knowing you gave it everything you had and finally the hero of the day Suzie Henley Willis who when she heard we were lacking a full team put up her hand to volunteer after pulling out a few days before , not only that but she was on her feet for hours in the cold supervising the junior races before she put her own racing spikes.  She thundered around the course in 21st place bringing the team home, her courage and commitment to the team paid off and her placing was crucial for the bronze medal on 47 points, it wasn’t clear from the finish if we had medalled or not but when news came through there was celebrations galore.   Team winners were DCH followed by Liffey Valley

In the men’s race over 8k, there were 8 competitors some of who were on last year’s bronze medal winning team.    They went one better this year acing the team silver on 37 points, just 4 points behind winners Portmarnock.  Ian Fitzgerald (5th) Kevin O’Boyle (7th) Emmet O’Briain (8th) and Danny O’Sullivan 17th were the scoring 4 with strong support from Ryan Aikins (21st) Des Tremble (23rd) and Niall Lynch (26th).  Ian is new to cross country this year and this was a first cross country medal for him and Danny – are kudos Niall juvenile coach who all morning was in a frozen Tymon with the juveniles. So a good end to the 2022 cross country – roll on the Masters, intermediate and schools races in 2023.

Captains race and MAURICE B AHERN CUP 17.12.2022

The 3rd edition of the Maurice B Ahern Cup was incorporated into the Captain’s Run on the Horse Gallops course on Saturday morning.  The 3 laps, 5km course was marked out by Willie Smith, with the first lap close to 1600m and the remaining laps close to 1700m. Overnight freezing weather meant that the ground surface was frosty in places, but the sun came out to make a pleasant enough morning for the runners and spectators.

The qualifying criteria for the MB Ahern Cup was that competitors had to have competed in this autumn’s Dublin and/or National Juvenile and Junior cross-country championships. The sealed handicap was determined by how each athlete raced against pre-determined projected times.

There were 8 contestants. Daire McCarthy, an Under 15 athlete, with a predicted time of 18.15 returned a time of 18.15 to win the gold medal and will have his name added to the trophy. Lily Clarke-Hanrahan, an U14 athlete, came 2nd with a time of 22.00 – just 30 seconds outside her predicted time. The bronze medal went to Julie Cleary U16 who ran 19.37, plus 57 seconds. 

Newcomer Cormac Whelan, who recently competed in the National Under 17s, came 4th in a time of 19.33 (plus 1.18), Next came Claire O’Hanlon U15 with a time of 22.01 (plus 1.31), with Eoin Mooney U14 in 6th with 21.22 (plus 2.22). Honor Lynch, who was not contesting the Cup, ran a time of 24.10. (Unfortunately Aryell Sheedy and Laura Nunan had to withdraw )

The previous winners of the Cup were Gavin Curtin in 2020 and Oliver Hopkins in 2021.

In all 34 donore members took part across the Captains race (including the Maurice Ahern cup juveniles), which has been run as a pre Christmas event for many years incorporating a bring a prize, get a prize approach and a gathering back at the clubhouse.  First over the line was men’s captain Josh O’Sullivan Hourihan followed by Emmet OBriain and Wayne Waldron.  First female was Sorcha Loughnane. Followed by Julie Cleary and Lily Hanrahan

Full results as follows 

Josh O’sullivan Hourihan 16.32

Emmet O’Briain 17.36

Wayne Waldron17.48

Danny O’Sullivan 17.56

Diego Martinez 18.02

Des Tremble 18.04

Dave McConn 18.10

Daire McCarthy18.15

Niall Lynch 18.20

Sorcha Loughnane 19.25

Cormac Whelan 19.30

Craig Scott 19.38

Julie Cleary 19.39

KenNugent 21.20

Eoin Mooney 21.22

Peter Brennan 21.54

Lily Hanrahan Clarke 22.00

Claire O’Hanlon 2201

JP O’Hanlon22.12

Amy Moriarty 22.24

Florence Curley 22.40

Dean Fullston 22.50

Peter Nugent 22.59

Tom Fagan 22.59

Ariana Ball 23.51

Suzie Henley Willis 23.59

Honor Lynch 24.14

Katherine Marsh 25.23

Louise Kelly 25.31

Colin Moore 27.59

Charlie O’Neill 28.22

1-2 laps Laura Nunan, Aryell Sheedy, Anne Curley

Road

Also on 11 December in a very cold Newmarket in Cork Kane Collins was 21st in the 5k there in a time of 15.36. On the same day at the Lennon Solar Christmas 5k run by Drogheda & District AC Barbara Murray was 7th female in 20.51 and 3rd F40

We had some runners who went to sunny Malaga for an enjoyable half marathon on Sunday 11 December

Craig Scott 86.59

Fred Kiernan 94.47

Track and field live

The 3rd meet in the National Indoor Arena track and field live took place on December 14th  and there we had some representation from the club. Ruby Blake 3rd in the U14 girls 60m sprint in 8.93. Michael McCarthy 4th in mens 60m sprint heat 2 in 7.95 and he came back for the 400m to finish third in his race in 57.13. Simon Ayres was 6th in the heat 2 800min 2.05.30. Gavin Curtin is coming back well and finished 3rd in the 3000m in 8.33.09

A bumper week of athletics for Donore Harriers with our own Jingle Bells 5k, the National Novice and uneven ages, some indoor track,  road and XC at home and abroad

Cross country

First up was Josh O’Sullivan Hourihan competed for the Irish team in the European Regional Military Cross country championships midweek.  He finished 5th overall out of 590 runners and was the 1st finisher on the Irish team which won the bronze medal.  The race, just shy of 10,000m took place in Schaffen Belgium and Josh finished the race in 29.38.  This is the third time for Josh to compete in this championship and his third bronze team medal in the event.

On Sunday 4th December a large contingent of our juveniles and 5 novice runners travelled to Conna Garryanne in East Cork not far from the Waterford border for the national uneven and novice championships.  This was a new course unknown to most, hosted by local club St Catherine’s AC and proved to be a challenging one.  In a series of agricultural fields, parts of it resembled a muddy pond especially as the races progressed and the ground churned up! 

We had great results in girls U11, our U15 boys won team bronze , and U15 girls 9th team.  In U17 girls and boys, the boys were 7th team and there were several Dublin county and Leinster honours for our u17s and in the younger age categories.  It has been a terrific few months for our juvenile cross country runners with many competing at national level for the first time – roll on the last one of the year – the Dublin juvenile league next Sunday 

We just had one competitor in the women’s novice race over 4k with 106 finishers – Cork native Aisling Kirby had a brave run on this grueller of a race in 91st.

In the men’s novice race over 6k – there were 4 runners competing in a huge field of 198.  First home was Ryan Aikins 92nd, Ian Fitzgerald 96th, Niall Lynch 103rd (who had been busy all morning with his coaching charges in the juvenile races!) and Alan Kinsella in 169th in just his second ever cross country race.  The team finished in 19th place 

Men’s captain Josh O’Sullivan Hourihan remarked that “all the lads acquitted themselves very well given for some it was a first experience at this level.

Indoor track

Abdel Laadjel, now a 2nd year student at Providence College, won Heat 2 of the Men’s 3,000m at the Sharon Colyear Season Opener Meet at Boston University Indoor Track on Saturday 3rd December afternoon. Laadjel put the disappointment of not being selected on the Irish Under 20 team to compete in the European cross-country championships at Turin next weekend behind him and ran a smart race tactically. He sat in 9th place of 19 starters through the opening laps, and made his way to the front group with half the race remaining. He took the lead with 3 laps remaining and covered the last 400 metres in just under 60 seconds to return a personal best time of 8.05.33. Nick Soldevere of Iona University came 2nd in 8.08.02 Abdel’s time is a club Under 20 record, but the old record of 8.06.24 set by Brian O’Keeffe at the 1981 Morton Games will continue to be recognised as the ‘best outdoor time’  (Thanks Gerry Naughton for this report!)

The second instalment of Track and Field live – the indoor series open to all competitors – took place in the Athlone indoor arena on December 1st.  Our sole competitor was Jack Byrne who ran an impressive 800m in the fastest of the two 800m races on the night.  He finished 2nd – breaking 2 minutes also in a time of 1.59.46.

Road

The 31st Jingle Bells 5k was a great success this year all the more for having a Donore Harriers winner and a club record and a sizeable Donore contingent also competed.  

John Travers stormed home for the win (See separate report for a full account of the race)After a disappointing year dogged with injury this was a great comeback.  13.53 is a new road PB for John and a course record.  He saw off the challenge of fellow sub 4 minute miler and track specialist Paul Robinson but the two made a great race out of it for sure.

Second in for the club was Darragh Fitzgibbon in 20th place in 15.18 and the ever improving Darragh Keegan in 24th in 15.23 – a new PB – together they comprised the winning men’s team on the day.  Sean Kinsella emerged 3rd junior man and Special mention to Ruairi Quinn aged 9 who ran with his parents and did 26.31!.  a number of parents ran with their children some in fancy dress!

Good runs too for

Dave McConn 15.56 PB

Kevin O’Boyle 15.58

Wayne Waldron 16.09 PB

Kane Collins 17.05

Adam Foy 17.06

Sean Kinsella (3rd junior man overall) 17.21

Ruby Kelly 21.24

Joe Kinsella U16 22.17

Adrienne Seery 27.54

Seamus O’Donoghue 29.05

Mark Quinn 29.30

Feargus OFlaherty 30.25

Georgina Nagle 33.34

Brenda Tyrrell Kelly 34.55

Blathnaid Hughes 35.15

Paula Morrissey 35.15

Gerry Murphy 38.13

Thanks race director Charlie O’Neill, Colin Moore and all the Donore volunteers who made it happen 

Marathon

We had one competitor at the Valencia marathon in Spain – a course known for fast times.  Tommy Allen ran an impressive 2.54.51 881st of the men and 2726 out of a big field of 21813.

Two women flew the flag for Donore Harriers at the Lanzarote international marathon which took place on December 3rd on the Canary Island.  On a coastal course Covering Costa Teguise, Arrecife, San Bartolome and Puerta Del Carmen – familiar to many holidaymakers, it is not an easy course with plenty of elevation and tough rolling hills.  Weather for the first two and a half hours was warm at about 20 degrees but then came the rain in a downpour for the last stages..  This is a race popular with Irish runners and Grace Kennedy Clarke was already third in this race in 2019.  She repeated the feat again here in an excellent time of 3.03.10 – very impressive considering the course difficulty and only running in the Dublin Marathon in late October.  This was also factoring in a brief stop on the course – in her own words Grace was “over the moon” with her race and time.  In her 31st marathon – and her third one in the past three months after Berlin and Dublin,  Anne Curley finished in 4th and was delighted despite admitting the race was “murder” with an undulating difficult course and long stretches of solo running, she almost got lost at 18 miles but got back on track and finished in 3.15.50!

Well done to all