HIGHLIGHTS: Sisters Sorcha and Aislinn NicDhomnaill ran the 2nd and 3rd fastest ever club times in the SEVILLE MARATHON. Emily Bolton and Oliver Hopkins placed 1st and 2nd in their respective races in the LEINSTER SCHOOLS XC CHAMPIONSHIPS. Josh O’Sullivan-Hourihan and Daragh Fitzgibbon finished just outside the top 3 in the STREETS OF CLANE 5KM. John Travers and Jack Byrne both placed 2nd at NIA LIVE No. 3. More action on Days 4 and 5 of the DUBLIN JUVENILE INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS with DH teams taking 2 golds, a silver and a bronze in the relays.

REPORT: Sorcha NicDhomhnaill took almost 8 minutes of her previous best marathon time set at Manchester (2.46.24) last October. Her SEVILLE MARATHON effort of 2.38.32 puts her 30th on the all-time Irish list for the distance and 2nd on the club list behind Valerie McGovern’s time of 2.38.02 in Duluth, Minnesota in 2002.
Sorcha was the 30th woman finisher at Seville among a field littered with top-class international marathon athletes. She placed 257th overall and 5th in the W35 category. Seville is one of the most popular destinations for athletes looking to optimize their marathon efforts. It has a flat and fast route that’s protected from cross-winds – and its picturesque course passes the Plaza Espana, Torro Del Oro, La Giralda, Maria Luisa Park and the Maestranza bullring. This year’s race attracted more than 7 and-a-half thousand competitors with the men’s race won by Asrar Abderehman of Ethiopia in 2.04.40 and the women’s category by Alemu Megertu, also from Ethiopia, in 2.18.49. Both winners set course records. Sorcha’s older sister Aislinn came 2nd in the W40 category having knocked more than 4 minutes of her previous best time – also set at Manchester – with a new time of 2.43.30. She placed 365th overall and 35th woman finisher. Her time ranks her 3rd on the all-time club list. Robert Murphy (2.22.08) shaved just 2-seconds of his time set at the Berlin Marathon in 2019 whilst a member of Rathfarnham AC. He placed 83rd overall and 7th in the M40 class. Ray Hynes came 122nd with a time of 2.28.05 and placed 27th in the W35 age group.

The 2022 LEINSTER SCHOOLS CROSS-COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS held at Santry Demesne last Wednesday will be long remembered for the gale-force winds and heavy rains. The afternoon began with blustery winds and rain, but conditions quickly deteriorated to the point that the senior boys’ race was cut short on safety grounds. Several club members were in action hoping to book a passage to the All-Ireland Schools XC at Mallusk, Co. Antrim in mid-March. They needed to finish in the top 15 individuals or be part of a top 3 team. Amber Lynch (6.10) was first into action placing 37th in the Minor Girls race over 1.5km in the colour of Loreta Stephen’s Green.
In the Minor Boys 2km race an improving Arlen Szeb-Szabo (Malahide CC) qualified to compete at Mallusk with a 14th place finish in a time of 8.19. Daniel Hughes (Belvedere College) found the soft underfoot conditions not to his liking and he was disappointed with 33rd position in a time of 8.40. Liam Blair (Confey College) and Eoin Mooney (Colaiste Chilliain) came 53rd and 81st respectively with times of 8.57 and 9.24. Emily Bolton (Mount Sackville) had no problem with the soft ground and took the Junior Girls title covering the 2 x 1km laps in 8.14. Her training partner Eva Crowe (Edmund Rice School) came 6th in 8.35. Newcomer Aoife NicSiacais (Colaiste Chillian) place 59th of 94 finishers in 10.24.
West Leinster Schools winner Liam Morris (Colaiste Chilliain) struggled on the muddy course and scraped home with a top 15 finish covering the 3km race in 10.31. He was 2nd scorer on the Colaiste Chilliain team that came 3rd. The 3rd scorer was Sam O’Chrothair who placed 52nd in 11.53. Aaron O’Callanan (14.05) came 98th.
Julie Cleary (Loreta Stephen’s Green) showed improved form by placing 14th in the Intermediate Girls race over 3.5km.
In the Intermediate Boys race over 3 laps (4.5km) Oliver Hopkins (St. Declan’s College) made a steady start and worked his way forward to contest for the lead over the final circuit. However, he was unable to match the finishing speed of Corman Dixon (HFCS) in the closing stages and had to settle for runners-up spot in 14.45 – just 5 seconds off the winner. Thomas Bolton (Belvedere College) came 16th in the same race, just missing out on an automatic place to the All-Irelands. His school team came 4th, thus also missing out on the Mallusk trip.
James Bolton (Belvedere College) came 15th in the Senior Boys race over 4.5km – reduced from 6km due to the adverse weather conditions. He completed the 3 mud-laden laps in 15.16 and led his team to 3rd place.

At the 3rd NIA INDOOR LIVE EVENT of the season John Travers came 2nd in the Men’s 1,500m ‘A’ race in a time of 3.47.63. The race was won by new Irish middle-distance star Nicholas Griggs of Mid-Ulster AC. 17 years-old Griggs, who won the European 3,000m Under 20 title in Estonia last July, set a new national junior record in a time of 3.43.71. Jack Byrne came 2nd in Heat 2 of the 400m in 53.48.

Last Tuesday evening (16.02.2022) the inaugural STREETS OF CLANE 5KM ROAD RACES, organised by PopUp Races took place. The ‘open’ and ‘elite’ races were held over a 3 laps course in the town-centre. Despite the damp weather conditions the races were well attended with a general feel-good factor around the event. The ’open’ race had a field of 400 with Donore Harriers having 4 competitors. Peter Brennan was first home in 27th place with a time of 18.55. The others were David McGrath (19.39) in 43rd, JP O’Hanlon (21.25) in 99th and Angela Eustace (23.58) in 174th.
Josh O’Sullivan-Hourihan ran a ‘stormer’ in the ‘elite’ race knocking 24 seconds of his previous best time to break the 15-minutes barrier for the first time. He placed 4th with a new personal best time of 14.54. He had club colleague Daragh Fitzgibbon (14.58) in close order for the entirety of the race, with the Co. Kildare native crossing the line in 5th position.
Kevin O’Boyle (16.08) ran a personal best to finish in 45th place. He was followed home by Daragh Keegan (16.37) in 61st, Gavin Keogh (16.51) in 71st, Matt Fabbro (17.09) in 83rd and Michael Ryan (17.24) in 97th. There were 152 finishers.

Days 4 and 5 of the DUBLIN JUVENILE INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS took place at the NIA over the weekend. The club had 23 competitors on Saturday. Mark Nunan and Olyver Whelan reached the final of the Under 12 Boys 600m finishing in 5th and 6th places. Cillian McCooey came 5th in the Under 14 Boys 800m final. Annabella Omozee placed 4th in the Under 12 Girls Long Jump. More comprehensive results are listed below. Sunday’s action saw our Under 15 and Under 16 Boys teams take gold in the 4 x 200m relay. There were also podium places for the Under 17 Girls team who took silver and the Under 17 Boys team the bronze. The team members are listed in the results section below. The Under 10 Boys team and Under 14 Girls team also reached finals with both teams placing in 5th position.

With several PARKRUNs cancelled due to the incessant winds and rain and a lower number of participants as is usual, the best result for the small number of club participants was juvenile member Lucas Collender (22.04) placing 3rd at Waterstown. More results below.

Results in brief:
POP-UP STREETS OF CLANE 5KM ROAD RACES (15.02.2022)
ELITE RACE:
4th Josh O’Sullivan-Hourihan (14.54 PB)
5th Daragh Fitzgibbonn (14.58)
45th Kevin O’Boyle (16.08 PB)
61st Daragh Keegan M35 (16.37)
71st Gavin Keogh M40 (16.51)
83rd Matt Fabbro (17.09)
97th Michael Ryan (17.24)
152 finishers
OPEN RACE:
27th Peter Brennan M35 (18.55)
43rd David McGrath (19.39)
99th JP O’Hanlon M35 (21.25)
174th Angela Eustace W50 (23.58)
399 finishers
LEINSTER SCHOOLS CROSS-COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS at Santry Demesne (16.02.2022)
MINOR GIRLS 1,500m:
37th Amber Lynch (Loreta Stephen’s Green) 6.10
93 finishers
MINOR BOYS 2,000m:
14th Arlen Szeb Szabo (Malahide CC) 8.19
33rd Daniel Hughes (Belvedere College) 8.40
53rd Liam Blair (Confey College) 8.57
81st Eoin Mooney (Colaiste Chilliain) 9.24
127 finishers
JUNIOR GIRLS 2,00m:
1st Emily Bolton (Mount Sackville) 8.14
6th Eva Crowe (Edmund Rice) 8.35
59th Aoife Nic Siacais (Colaiste Chilliain) 10.24
93 finishers
JUNIOR BOYS 3,000m
15th Liam Morris (Colaiste Chilliain) 10.31
52nd Sam O’Chrothair (Colaiste Chilliain) 11.53
98th Aaron O’Callanan (Colaiste Chilliain) 14.05
103 finishers
INTERMEDIATE GIRLS 3,500M:
14th Julie Cleary (Loreta Stephen’s Green) 14.56
82 finishers
INTERMEDIATE BOYS 4,500m
2nd Oliver Hopkins (St. Declan’s) 14.50
16th Thomas Bolton (Belvedere College) 15.47
98 finishers
SENIOR BOYS 4,500m:
15th James Bolton (Belvedere College) 15.16
93 finishers
NIA INDOOR LIVE NO. 3 at the National Indoor Arena (16.02.2022)
MEN’s 400m H2: 2nd Jack Byrne (53.48)
MEN’s 1,500m H4: 2nd John Travers (3.47.63)

DUBLIN JUVENILE INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS DAY 4 at NIA (19.02.2022)
U/11 GIRLS 500m HEAT 5: 2nd Lola Blake (1.48.19)
U/11 GIRLS 500m HEAT 6: 7th Cliodhna McMahon (1.54.76)
U/12 BOYS 600m HEAT 1: 2nd Mark Nunan (1.56.71), 6th Cian Hussey (2.05.21)
U/12 BOYS 600m HEAT 2: 7th Elliott Reilly (2.19.51)
U/12 BOYS 600m HEAT 5: 1st Olyver Whelan (1.55.21), 4th Max Henley-Willis (2.15.10)
U/12 BOYS 600m FINAL: 5th Mark Nunan (1.57.65), 6th Olyver Whelan (1.58.23)
U/13 BOYS 600m HEAT 5: 5th Daniel Lynch (2.10.20)
U/13 BOYS 600m HEAT 6: 8th Oisin O’Gorman (2.17.32)
U/13 GIRLS 600m HEAT 1: 4th Petra Cunningham (2.07.81)
U/13 GIRLS 600m HEAT 5: 6th Ciara O’Neill (2.04.81)
U/14 BOYS 800m HEAT 1: 3rd Cillian McCooey (2.26.85)
U/14 BOYS 800m HEAT 2: 5th Eoin Mooney (2.41.06)
U/14 BOYS 800m FINAL: 5th Cillian McCooey (2.30.60)
U/14 GIRLS 800m HEAT 1: 2nd Amber Lynch (2.46.67)
U/14 GIRLS 800m HEAT 4: 5th Lily Clarke-Hanrahan (2.44.96)
U/14 GIRLS 800m HEAT 5: 8th Sophie Boyle (2.58.54)
U/12 GIRLS LONG JUMP FINAL: 4th Annabella Omozee
ZURICH MARATHON SEVILLA (SPAIN) (20.02.2022)
83rd & 7th M40 Robert Murphy (2.22.08 PB)
122nd & 27th M35 Ray Hynes (2.28.05)
257th, 30th woman & 5th W35 Sorcha NicDhomhnaill (2.38.32 PB)
365th, 35th woman & 2nd W40 Aislinn NicDhomhnaill (2.43.30 PB)
7,561 finishers
DUBLIN JUVENILE INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS DAY 5 at NIA (20.02.2022)
U/10 BOYS 4 x 200m HEAT: 5th Donore Harriers (Michael McCarthy, Cadel Senyk, Seamus McCluskey, Jamie Keegan – latter 2 stepping-up) 2.38.08
U/14 GIRLS 4 x 200m FINAL: 5th Donore Harriers (2.00.52)
U/15 BOYS 4 x 200m FINAL: 1st Donore Harriers (Romeo Omozee, Samuel Whelan, Elliott Whelan, Luuk Jackson – latter 2 stepping-up) 1.48.96
U/16 BOYS 4 x 200m FINAL: 1st Donore Harrers (Alex Leonard, Ciaran O’Farrell, James Dunne, Rory O’Farrell) 1.43.80
U/17 GIRLS 4 x 200m FINAL: 2nd Donore Harriers (Isabella Kelly, Eve Conroy, Roisin Kirby, Isabella Jackson – latter 2 stepping up) 1.52.59
U/17 BOYS 4 x 200m FINAL: 3rd Donore Harriers (Oisin Cummins-Weiss, Alex Leonard, Ciaran O’Farrell, Rory O’Farrell – latter 3 stepping-up) 1.41.38
PARKRUNS 5km (19.02.2022)
BUSHY: 75th Thomas Halton M65 (33.41)
MARLAY: 12th Patrick Moriarty M45 (19.42)
ST. ANNE’S: 12th Shane Casey (19.13)
WATERSTOWN: 3rd Lucas Collender M11-14 (22.04)

HIGHLIGHTS: Sorcha Loughnane won NATIONAL 50km CHAMPIONSHIP at Donadea in a World W45 record time (awaiting confirmation). Women’s team a gallant 5th in NATIONAL INDOOR LEAGUE FINAL. John Travers won the AAI INDOOR GAMES 1,500m in style. Barbara Cleary took individual bronze in the NATIONAL MASTERS XC CHAMPIONSHIPS in Co. Cork. Eric Keogh and Abdel Laadjel were back in action at ALLENDALE & BOSTON INDOOR MEETS. Zion Osawe, Anabella Omozee and Ruby Blake took gold on Day 3 of the DUBLIN JUVENILE INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS. Juvenile athlete Laura Nunan won the IMRA SHORT-COURSE race at Three Rock Mountain.

REPORT: Another busy week for our club athletes at a variety of events both in Ireland and the USA.
Top of the bill this week is Sorcha Loughnane, aged 45, who won the Women’s national 50km championship incorporated into the DONADEA 50km RACE at Donadea Forest on Saturday. It was an outstanding performance! Loughnane settled early into 9th position in the 10-laps race and gradually gained to place 5th overall from a field of 187 starters. Her time of 3.20.33 was 14 minutes faster than her previous best time set at the International Plate race in Royal County Down last May. Her new time is being put forward as a World record in the W45+ category. Indeed, she finished just one-minute shy of the national women’s record and was more than 20-minutes clear of runner-up Deirdre Martin of Carrick-on-Shannon AC.
The overall race was won by former Dublin Marathon winner Sean Hehir of Metro St. Brigid AC in 2.56.04 with the formidable ultra-runner Gary O’Hanlon next on 3.00.55. Thus, it was a race of good qualify, which confirmed the merit of Loughnane’s achievement. Also in the field were Rory Burke (3.25.35) who placed 8th and Grace Kennedy-Clarke (4.03.42), competing in her first ultra-distance race, 44th overall and 9th woman finisher.

A much-depleted Donore Harriers women’s team finished in the NATIONAL INDOOR TRACK & FIELD LEAGUE FINAL at the National Indoor Arena on Saturday. With star athletes Aoife Lynch and Caoimhe Mackey unavailable due to injury and illness – and Lara O’Byrne restricted from competing in running races due to an injury, the team was unable to make any form of inroads towards a podium place. There were, however, plenty of gallant performances! 17 years-old Emma Stacey continues to impress as an 800m athlete with great potential. She ran a gutsy and tactically astute race to finish 2nd in 2.21.20, finishing clear of former Irish international Maria McCambridge of DSD AC who placed 5th.
Lucy Hurley (1.45m) gained 5 points for the team with 2nd place in the High Jump. Lara O’Byrne came 2nd in the Shot Putt with a personal best throw of 10.47m. Louise Murray had a busy afternoon. She ran an 8-seconds personal best of 5.00.08 to come 5th in the 1,500m and later ran another PB of 1.07.79 to bag two more points (5th place) in the 400m. Another athlete who doubled up was Sophie O’Farrell, who placed 5th in both the 60m sprint in 8.54 and in the Long Jump with a best effort of 4.36m. The other team members were – 15 years-old Isabella Kelly (28.09) 6th in the 200m, Andie Maguire (10.46m) 3rd in the Triple Jump and Fiona Smith-Keegan (3.15m) 6th in the 28lb Weight-for-Distance. The team came 5th on 29 points, with Leevale AC (63) the winners.

Paul McDermott, David Campbell, John Travers, and Gavin Curtin competed in the AAI INDOOR GAMES held in conjunction with the league finals. McDermott posted a time of 7.10 to place 5th in his first 60m sprint race, and then improved to 7.03 to come 2nd in the second series of sprints. David Campbell (23.76) came 4th in Heat 1 of a keenly contested 200m race won by Robert McDonnell of Galway City Harriers. John Travers (3.47.89) was the convincing winner of the 1,500m A race more than two-seconds clear of runner-up Juan Ignacio-Pena of Raheny Shamrocks AC.
Gavin Curtin was disappointed not to get a spot on the start line of the more competitive 3,000m A race. Instead, he had to settle for front-running the B race to win in 8.44.87. He held off a late challenge from Sean Melarkey (8.45.18) of City of Derry Spartans, but the lack of competition in mid-race meant that he finished well outside his 8.30 target time.

Eric Keogh (14.22.33) came 11th of 26 starters in the 5,000m ‘A’ race at the GRAND VALLEY STATE BIG INDOOR MEET at Allendale, Michigan on Friday evening. One week earlier the dedicated Donore Harriers athlete placed 4th in the CAMEL CITY INDOOR INVITATIONAL at Winston-Salem in North Carolina. Competing for Queen’s University in North Carolina he clocked a time of 8.11.26.

Abdel Laadjel was also in action Stateside. On Saturday evening he raced the 5th ranked 3,000m race in the DAVID HEMERY VALENTINE INVITATIONAL at the Boston University indoor track. Competing in a field of 16 Laadjel took the lead at the halfway point, but he didn’t have the strength to challenge at the business end of the race and was overtaken to 8th place over the final two circuits. His time of 8.14.36 was well short of his 8.05 target, but it was still a very determined effort.

The NATIONAL INTERMEDIATE AND MASTERS CROSS-COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS took place at Castlelyons in Co. Cork on Sunday. Barbara Cleary (14.30) won individual bronze in the 4km Master Women’s race behind the Leevale AC duo of Lizzie Lee (14.05) and Sinead O’Connor (14.12). Cleary used her strong endurance base to hold off the strong challenges of 4th placed Martina Kiely (14.33) of St. Finbarr’s AC and 5th home Kate Purcell (14.35) of Raheny Shamrocks AC.
Donore Harriers closed out a team in 6th position with solid performances from Audrey Gahan (17.06) in 52nd, Claire Mulligan (17.07) in 53rd and Ariana Ball (17.30) in 63rd. The race had 141 finishers.
In the Master Men’s race over 7km Ken Nugent (24.24) came 34th, followed by three M50 athletes as Niall Lynch (24.53) placed 48th, Donal Iremonger (26.22) 95th and Tom Fagan (30.16) 174th. The final Donore Harrier home among the 211 finishers was Tony Griffin, an M60 runner, who placed 190th in a time of 31.32. Tony Kynes was the club’s sole competitor in the M65-plus 4km race coming home 6th of 43 finishers in a time of 16.37. In the Men’s 8km Intermediate grade race the club was represented by Ryan Aikins (28.34) who placed 28th and Harry Vaughan (29.36) was came 38th of the 43 competitors.

Day 3 of the DUBLIN JUVENILE INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS (13.02.2022) had young athletes in the age groups up to Under 14 compete. Donore Harriers had about 40 juveniles compete, most of whom took the benefit of having done recent training sessions at the National Indoor Arena. Many were also competing for the club for the first time. The outstanding performances on the day came from Zion Osawe who took double gold with victory in both the Under 14 Girls 60m Hurdles and in the High Jump. Another versatile young athlete Anabella Omozee won the Under 12 Girls 60m sprint final, with a gold medal also going to Ruby Blake in the Under 13 Girls Shot Putt.
Elliot Whelan came 2nd in the final of the Under 14 Boys 60m Hurdles, with Saoirse Jackson also taking home a silver medal from the Under 13 Girls Shot Putt. Melody Omozee and Rachel Dowling-Barnes took bronze medals in the Under 14 Girls 60m Hurdles and Under 13 Girls Shot Putt respectively. Special mention also to Anna Peake, who was just outside the medals in both the Under 13 Girls 60m Hurdles and in the High Jump. She finished 4th in both competitions. More results below.
Under 17 athlete Laura Nunan was first home in the IMRA TICKNOCK WINTER RACES at the Three Rock Mountain on Sunday morning. Laura completed the 5km out and back short course route in 32.52 to finish over a minute ahead of her nearest rival. In the 8.8km long course Colm Kennedy (48.19) came 23rd of 145 finishers.

Club highlights for PARKRUNs held on the 12th of February included juvenile athletes Dylan McKenna and Lucas Collender placing 3rd and 4th at Waterstown, another juvenile Rosie-May Morris 2nd woman at Corkagh, and junior member Ruby Kelly 3rd woman at Castletown. More results below.

Results in brief:
CAMEL CITY INVITATIONAL, WINSTON-SALEM, NORTH CAROLINA (04/05.02.2022)
Men’s 3,000m: 4th Eric Keogh (8.11.26)
GRAND VALLEY STATE BIG MEET FRIDAY at ALLENDALE, MICHIGAN (11.02.2022)
Men’s 5,000m A Race: 11th Eric Keogh (Queen’s North Carolina) 14.22.33
26 starters
AAI INDOOR GAMES at NIA (12.02.2022)
Men’s 60m Series 1 Heat 2: 5th Paul McDermott (7.10)
Men’s 60m Series 2 Heat 2: 2nd Paul McDermott (7.03)
Men’s 200m Heat 1: 4th David Campbell (23.76)
Men’s 1,500m: 1st John Travers (3.47.89)
Men’s 3,000m ‘B’ race: 1st Gavin Curtin (8.44.
NATIONAL INDOOR TRACK & FIELD LEAGUE FINALS at NIA (12.02.2022)
WOMEN’S DIVISION FINAL:
60m: 5th Sophie O’Farrell (8.54)
1,500m: 5th Louise Murray (5.00.08)
60m Hurdles: no competitor
200m: 6th Isabella Kelly (28.09)
800m: 2nd Emma Stacey (2.21.20)
400m: 5th Louise Murray (1.07.79)
High Jump: 2nd Lucy Hurley (1.45m)
Long Jump: 5th Sophie O’Farrell (4.36m)
Pole Vault: no competitor
Shot Putt: 2nd Lara O’Byrne (10.47m)
Trille Jump: 3rd Andie Maguire (10.46m)
Weight 4 Distance 28lb: 6th Fiona Smith-Keegan (3.15m)
4 x 200m relay: no competitor
TEAM: 1. Leevale AC 63, DSDAC 60, Raheny Shamrock 57, Clonliffe Harriers 37, Donore Harriers 29, Galway City Harriers 24.
DONADEA 50km, inc Irish Championships at DONADEA FOREST (12.02.2022)
5th overall & 1st woman Sorcha Loughnane W45 (3.20.33)
8th Rory Burke (3.25.35)
44th & 9th woman Grace Kennedy-Clarke (4.03.42)
187 starters
BOSTON UNIVERSITY DAVID HEMERY VALENTINE INVITATIONAL at BOSTON UNIVERSITY, USA (12.02.2022)
Men’s 3,000m Section 5 of 9: 8th Abdel Laadjel (8.14.36)
16 starters
NATIONAL INTERMEDIATE & MASTERS CROSS-COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS at CASTLELYONS, CO. CORK (13.02.2022)
Master Women 4km:
3rd Barbara Cleary W45 (14.30)
52nd Audrey Gahan W40 (17.06)
53rd Claire Mulligan W40 (17.07)
63rd Ariana Ball W35 (17.30)
141 finishers
TEAM: 1. Leevale AC (48), 6. Donore Harriers (171). 12 teams closed.
Intermediate Men 8km:
28th Ryan Aikins (28.34)
38th Harry Vaughan (29.36)
43 finishers
Master Men 6km:
34th Ken Nugent M35 (24.24)
48th Niall Lynch M50 (24.53)
95th Donal Iremonger M50 (26.22)
174th Tom Fagan M50 (30.16)
190th Tony Griffin M60 (31.32)
211 finishers
Master Men 65+ 4km:
6th Tony Kynes M65 (16.37)
43 finishers
IMRA TICKNOCK WINTER at THREE ROCK MOUNTAIN (13.02.2022)
Long Course 8.8km: 23rd Colm Kennedy M40 (48.19)
145 finishers
Short Course 5km: 1st Laura Nunan U/17 (32.52)
7 finishers
DUBLIN JUVENILE INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS DAY 3 at NIA (13.02.2022)
<<results list may be incomplete>>
U/11 GIRLS 60m FINAL: 5th Anna Whelan
U/11 GIRLS 60m HEATS: Robyn McCluskey – did not qualify to the final
U/11 BOYS 60m HEATS: Mark Keegan – did not qualify to the final
U/12 GIRLS 60m FINAL: 1st Anabella Omozee
U/12 GIRLS 60m HEATS: Ali Woods – did not qualify to the final
U/12 BOYS 60m HEATS: Leo Garry – did not qualify to the final
U/13 GIRLS 60m FINAL: 8th Anna Peake
U/13 GIRLS 60m HEATS: Thea O’Donohue, Freya Ryan, Petra Cunningham & Emma Jane Keegan – did not qualify to the final
U/13 BOYS 60m FINAL: 5th Dylan O’Connor, 6th Connor ?
U/13 BOYS 60m HEATS: Sean Culhane, Tom Nolan, Oisin O’Gorman, Sam Inverarity, Ethan Ryan & Hugh Cunningham – did not qualify to the final
U/14 GIRLS 60m HEATS: Rachel Dowling-Barnes & Zoey Conroy – did not qualify to the final
U/13 GIRLS 60m HURDLES FINAL: 4th Anna Peake
U/13 GIRLS 60m HURDLES HEATS: Thea O’Donohue – did not qualify to the final
U/14 GIRLS 60m HURDLES FINAL: 1st Zion Osawe, 3rd Melody Omozee
U/14 BOYS 60m HURDLES FINAL: 2nd Elliot Whelan
U/13 GIRLS HIGH JUMP: 4th Anna Peake
U/14 GIRLS HIGH JUMP: 1st Zion Osawe, 3rd Rachel Dowling-Barnes, also Lily Clarke
U/13 GIRL SHOT PUTT: 1st Ruby Blake, 2nd Saoirse Jackson, also Emma Jane Keegan
PARKRUNS 5km (12.02.2022)
ARDGILLAN: 50th Joe Murphy M40 (26.13)
CASTLETOWN: 15th & 3rd woman Ruby Kelly W18-19 (22.55), 45th Joan McTernan W60 (27.34), 92nd Anna McMahon W35 (35.26)
CORKAGH: 22nd & 2nd woman Rosie-May Morris W11-14 (24.46)
HARTSTOWN: 12th Mark Devine M45 (22.50)
MARLAY: 41st Patrick Moriarty M45 (22.00)
POPPINTREE: 75th Eilish Joyce W40 (31.52)
TOLKA VALLEY: 2nd Owen Robinson M35 (20.07)
WATERSTOWN: 3rd Dylan McKenna M15-17 (20.21), 4th Lucas Collender M11-14 (20.36)

HIGHLIGHTS: Alex Leonard, Oisin Cummins-Weiss, Mario & Romeo Omozee, Sophie O’Farrell, Emily Bolton, Liam Morris and Emma Stacey were gold medallists in Days 1 & 2 of the DUBLIN JUVENILE INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS. Kane Collins placed 8th overall and Fergal Whitty 2nd M45 in the DUNGARVAN 10-MILE. Sinead O’Reilly 3rd W40 in the TRIM 10-MILE. Audrey Gahan & Claire Mulligan top 10 in the BHAA GARDA XC RACE. Note that some Dublin Juvenile results may be missing or need amending.

REPORT: Apart from the competitions, it was the buzz of having the people, the noise and the camaraderie back. Yes, there were technical difficulties with the timing system, but the excitement generated by enthusiastic young athletes was the key ingredient as juvenile indoor athletics returned.
Days 1 and 2 of the DUBLIN JUVENILE INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS had the young Donore Harriers athletes keenly contest in most of the disciplines. The 800m heats and finals on Saturday morning saw Emily Bolton (2.25) and Liam Morris (2.11) make it an Under 15 double gold success. Emma Stacey (2.22) ran a strong last 200m circuit to secure gold in the Under 19 Girls 800m final. Sean Kinsella (2.03) made a strong opening in the Under 19 Boys 800m final but had to settle for the bronze medal. Next up was Eve Conroy who claimed the bronze medal in the Under 17 Girls 60m Hurdles. In the afternoon 200m finals Alex Leonard took gold in the Under 16 Boys, with Isabella Kelly 2nd in the Under 17 Girls. In field events Sophie O’Farrell won the Under 19 Girls Long Jump. Long Jump silver medals went to Paddy Nolan in the Under 16 Boys, Oisin Cummins-Weiss in the Under 17 Boys and Luke Hanly in the Under 18 Boys. Roisin Kirby and Eimear Finn took bronze in the Under 16 Girls and Under 18 Girls respectively.
The star club performance on Day 2 of the championships came from Oisin Cummins-Weiss who won the Under 17 Boys Shot Putt with a best throw of 10.85m. The lad seems destined to follow in the great tradition of Donore Harriers throwers! Romeo Omozee was 3rd in the same contest. Alex Leonard made it a sprint double when he won the Under 16 Boys 60m final. Gold medals also went to Romeo Omozee in the Under 17 Boys High Jump and Mario Omozee in the Under 15 Boys Shot Putt.
On what was a good day for the Omozee brothers, Mario also took silver in the 60m and in the High Jump, whilst Romeo took bronze in the 60m. Sophie O’Farrell rounded off her ‘Dublin indoors’ experience by adding silver in the Under 19 Girls 60m to the Long Jump gold medal from the previous day. Eimear Finn came 2nd in the Under 18 Girls High Jump – and Luke Hanly jumped a 15cm PB to claim 2nd place in the Under 18 Boys High Jump with a best of 1.65m. Eva Crowe took silver in a competitive Under 16 Girls 1,500m. James Bolton led a tactical Under 19 Boys 1,500m final, but was pipped for the gold medal in the closing stages. Oliver Hopkins was in an all-guns blazing Under 18 Boys 1,500m race having to settle for bronze. Thomas Bolton also took bronze in the Under 17 Boys 1,500m. More results below subject to corrections and additions.

Kane Collins (52.27) came 8th in the JOHN TREACY DUNGARVAN 10-MILE on Sunday morning. Almost two and a half-thousand starters faced into wet and blustery conditions, not conducive to fast times.
Other club runners were Fergal Whitty (57.19) who came 41st overall and 2nd in the M45 category, Ciaran Ryan (1.00.57) 123rd, Barbara Murray (1.08.35) 396th, Julia Hackett (1.18.42) 995th, Joan McTernan (1.28.21) 1,622nd and Colin Moore (1.35.56) 1989th.
here is a link to start of the Dungarvan 10

In the TRIM 10-MILE ROAD RACE, also on Sunday, Danny O’Sullivan (58.28) led home the Donore Harriers contingent in 29th place. The others to take the Co. Meath route via the villages of Dunderry and Carrollstown were Liam Keane (1.00.22) who finished 62nd, Sinead O’Reilly (1.03.38) in 137th and 3rd in the W40 category, Ray Armstrong (1.05.58) in 194th, Lee Chambers (1.27.00) in 904th and Jo Hughes (1.35.00) in 1,184th. There were 1,507 finishers.

Audrey Gahan (15.04) and Claire Mulligan (15.25) placed 8th and 10th in 2-mile women’s race in the BUSINESS HOUSES AA GARDA SERIES at the Whitebridge Hill course in the Phoenix Park on Saturday morning. Also among the 174 finishers was Ann Woodlock (25.50) in 125th place. Ann came 1st in the W80 category. In the Men’s 4-mile race Tom Fagan (29.48) came 68th and Des Gill (35.02) 109th of 134 finishers.

In PARKRUNs Owen Robinson was first finisher at Tolka Valley. Other results are listed below.

Results in brief:
BUSINESS HOUSES AA GARDA CROSS-COUNTRY RACES at PHOENIX PARK (05.02.2022)
WOMEN’S 2-MILE RACE:
8th Audrey Gahan W40 (15.04)
10th Claire Mulligan W40 (15.25)
125th Ann Woodlock W80 (25.50)
174 finishers
MEN’S 4-MILE RACE:
68th Tom Fagan M50 (29.48)
109th Des Gill M50 (35.02)
134 finishers
DUBLIN JUVENILE INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS DAY 1 at NIA (05.02.2022)
U/16 GIRLS 200m FINAL: 4th Isabella Jackson
U/16 GIRLS 200m HEAT: Roisin Kirby – did not qualify
U/16 BOYS 200m FINAL: 1st Alex Leonard
U/16 BOYS 200m HEAT: Paddy Nolan – did not qualify
U/17 GIRLS 200m FINAL: 2nd Isabella Kelly
U/19 GIRLS 200m FINAL: 4th Sophie O’Farrell
U/15 GIRLS 800m FINAL: 1st Emily Bolton (2.25)
U/15 BOYS 800m FINAL: 1st Liam Morris (2.11), 6th Arlen Szebo
U/16 BOYS 800m FINAL: 8th Lucas Collender
U/17 GIRLS 800m FINAL: 5th Laura Nunan
U/19 GIRLS 800m FINAL: 1st Emma Stacey (2.22)
U/19 BOYS 800m FINAL: 3rd Sean Kinsella (2.03)
U/17 GIRLS 60m HURDLES FINAL: 3rd Eve Conroy
U/15 GIRLS LONG JUMP: Aoife Jackson – outside top 3
U/15 BOYS LONG JUMP: Rory Gaudin – outside top 3
U/16 GIRLS LONG JUMP: 3rd Roisin Kirby
U/16 BOYS LONG JUMP: 2nd Paddy Nolan
U/17 BOYS LONG JUMP: 2nd Oisin Cummins-Weiss
U/18 GIRLS LONG JUMP: 3rd Eimear Finn
U/18 BOYS LONG JUMP: 2nd Luke Hanly
U/19 GIRLS LONG JUMP: 1st Sophie O’Farrell
DUBLIN JUVENILE INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS DAY 2 at NIA (06.02.2022)
U/15 GIRLS 60m FINAL: 6th Leah Nunan
U/15 GIRLS 60m HEAT – Aoife Jackson – did not qualify
U/15 GIRLS 60m HEAT: 4th Aoife Devine – did not qualify
U/15 BOYS 60m FINAL: 2nd Mario Omozee
U/16 GIRLS 60m FINAL: Roisin Kirby – outside top 3
U/16 BOYS 60m FINAL: 1st Alex Leonard
U/16 BOYS 60m HEAT: Paddy Nolan – did not qualify
U/17 GIRLS 60m FINAL: 3rd Isabella Kelly
U/17 BOYS 60m FINAL: 3rd Romeo Omozee
U/17 BOYS 60m HEAT: 4th Oisin Cummins-Weiss – did not qualify
U/19 GIRLS 60m FINAL: 2nd Sophie O’Farrell
U/16 GIRLS 1,500m FINAL: 2nd Eva Crowe
U/17 BOYS 1,500m FINAL: 3rd Thomas Bolton, also Dylan McKenna & Joe Kinsella
U/18 BOYS 1,500m FINAL: 3rd Oliver Hopkins (4.08)
U/19 BOYS 1,500m FINAL: 2nd James Bolton
U/15 GIRLS HIGH JUMP: Aoife Jackson & Leah Nunan – outside top 3
U/15 BOYS HIGH JUMP: 2nd Mario Omozee
U/17 BOYS HIGH JUMP: 1st Romeo Omozee
U/18 GIRLS HIGH JUMP: 2nd Eimear Finn
U/18 BOYS HIGH JUMP: 2nd Luke Hanly (1.65m PB)
U/15 BOYS SHOT PUTT: 1st Mario Omozee
U/17 BOYS SHOT PUTT: 1st Oisin Cummins-Weiss (10.85m), 3rd Romeo Omozee
JOHN TREACY DUNGARVAN 10-MILE ROAD RACE (06.02.2022)
8th Kane Collins (52.27)
41st & 2nd M45 Fergal Whitty (57.19)
123rd & 40th M50 Ciaran Ryan (1.00.57)
396th & 6th W45 Barbara Murray (1.08.35)
995th & 10th W50 Julia Hackett (1.18.42)
1,622nd & 5th W60 Joan McTernan (1.28.21)
1.989th & 190th M50 Colin Moore (1.35.56)
2,418 finishers
MEN’s TEAM: 1st West Waterford AC 45, 9th Donore Harriers <Collins, Whitty, Ryan> 166. 56 teams closed
WOMEN’s TEAM: 1st Clonmel AC 16, 24th Donore Harriers <Murray, Hackett, McTernan> 572. 43 teams closed
TRIM 10-MILE ROAD RACE (06.02.2022)
29th & 8th M40 Danny O’Sullivan (58.28)
62nd & 20th M40 Liam Keane (1.00.22)
137th & 3rd W40 Sinead O’Reilly (1.03.38)
194th & 61st M40 Ray Armstrong (1.05.58)
904th & 70th senior woman Lee Chambers (1.27.00)
1,184th & 76th W50 Jo Hughes (1.35.00)
1,507 finishers
PARKRUNS 5km (05.02.2022)
CASTLETOWN: 21st JP O’Hanlon M35 (22.10), 87th Joan McTernan W60 (29.23), 126th Anna McMahon W35 (35.44)
MALAHIDE: 97th Angela O’Dea W40 (25.22)
POPPINTREE: 87th Eilish Joyce W40 (33.50)
TOLKA VALLEY: 1st Owen Robinson M35 (20.45)

HIGHLIGHTS: Emily Bolton and Liam Morris were victorious as SCHOOLS CROSS-COUNTRY RACES returned. Jack Raftery 2nd in the IUAA INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS, with Caoimhe Mackey & Gavin Curtin recording PBs. John Travers 4th over 3,000m indoors in Luxembourg. Michael McCarthy triple jumped to gold and an Irish masters record in the NATIONAL INDOOR MASTERS CHAMPIONSHIPS, as DH athletes bagged 5 medals. Sorcha NicDhomhnaill 2nd woman home in the ‘over-the-distance’ RAHENY 5 MILE ROAD RACE. Abdel Laadjel knocked 7 seconds of his 3k indoor PB at the JOHN THOMAS TERRIER CLASSIC Stateside.

What a glorious sight as almost one-thousand young athletes competed in the EAST LEINSTER SCHOOLS CROSS-COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS at the Phoenix Park on Wednesday last (26.01.2022). This was the first schools race since the All-Ireland school’s cross-country at Santry Demesne on the 7th of March 2020. The event was blessed with mild and dry conditions and good organisation. The top 15 individuals and 3 teams in each category progress to the Leinster Schools cross-country championships to take place at Santry Demesne on the 16th of February. And so, to the action! Amber Lynch representing Loreta Stephen’s Green came 15th in the Minor Girls race over 1.5km in a time of 6.32. She was the 3rd scorer on her school team that claimed the gold medals. Julie Cleary (10.41) and Honor Lynch (11.25) came 15th and 37th respectively in the 3km Intermediate Girls race. They were 2nd and 3rd scorers for Loreta Stephens Green team that came 5th of 31 teams. Emma Stacey (08.32), representing Muckross College, booked her passage to the next round with 7th place in the Senior Girls race over 2km.

The WEST LEINSTER SCHOOLS CROSS-COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS were held at the same 15-acres venue on the following day. The athletes were again met with clement weather and the buzz of camaraderie. Emily Bolton (5.54) was the commanding winner of the Junior Girls race over 2km. She led her Mount Sackville school team to silver. Her Donore Harriers training buddy Eva Crowe (06.05) took the runners-up spot for Edmund Rice College. Also among the 81 finishers were Aoife Nic Siacias (06.59) of Colaiste Chilliain in 15th and Ava Hoare (07.59) of Colaiste De Hide in 40th. In the Intermediate Girls race over 2.5km Laura Nunan (08.49) came 16th for Mount Sackville and Olivia Furlong (11.30) 62nd for Castleknock Community College.
Daniel Hughes (05.54) continues to make steady progress as was confirmed by his 6th place in the 2km Minor Boys race. He led his Belvedere College team to the gold medals. Liam Blair (06.00) came 11th in the colours of Confey College, with Eoin Mooney (06.32) placing 26th of 149 finishers. Mooney was the 2nd scorer on the Colaiste Chilliain team that took the bronze position on the podium.
Liam Morris (07.51) had plenty to celebrate after winning both individual and team gold in the Junior Boys race over 2.5km. His victory was key to Colaiste Chilliain’s success as they finished just 6 points ahead of St. Peter’s Dunboyne. Club member Aaron O’Callanain (10.21) came 76th of 107 finishers in the same race – also for Colaiste Chilliain of Clondalkin.
The national junior schools cross-country champion from 2020 Oliver Hopkins (13.15), representing St. Declan’s College, continues to regain his fitness and secured 2nd place in the Intermediate Boys race over 4km. He was followed home by Thomas Bolton (13.30) who spearheaded Belevere College to team gold. Alex Phelan (20.36) came 106th for Castleknock CC.
James Bolton (13.38) came 5th of 68 finishers in the Senior Boys race and led the Belvedere College team to silver medals.

The 15-acres was again the venue as the NORTH LEINSTER SCHOOLS CROSS-COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS moved from its regular venue at ALSAA. Last Friday’s (28.01.2022) competition saw Eleanor Hopkins of St. Dominic’s College place 32nd in the Intermediate Girls – and Arlen Szabo, who is due to transfer from Raheny Shamrocks AC to Donore Harriers this Spring, took 2nd in the Minor Boys race.

Jack Raftery claimed a hard-earned silver medal in the Men’s 400m at the IRISH UNIVERSITIES INDOOR TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS at the Athlone Arena on Saturday. Representing DCU Raftery won Heat 1 of the 400m in 48.34 to book his place in the final. His main challenger was expected to be Cathal Crosbie of University Limerick – and so it proved! Crosbie (47.40) went into an early lead and didn’t relinquish his advantage despite the best efforts of Raftery. Raftery’s cause was not helped by a niggling hamstring, and he crossed the line holding his leg and having to be content with 2nd place in a time of 48.38. Caoimhe Mackey (UCD) recorded a personal best of 58.19 in the 2nd semi-final of the 400m, but narrowly failed to progress to the final. Mackey did qualify for the final of the 60m Hurdles with 3rd place in Heat 1 in a time of 9.64. She was joined in the final by Eva McPartlan (UCC), who also came 3rd in Heat 2 in 9.35. The two Donore Harriers athletes placed 5th and 6th in the final, with McPartlan timing 9.35 and Mackey 9.70.
Gavin Curtin impressed in the 3,000m in the colours of Athlone IT. The former Moyle Park College student came 7th with a PB of 8.39.99 in a very competitive field. All six athletes who finished in front of Curtin had represented Ireland at underage level. Curtin explained: “I’m happy with that in a strong field. Slow 75 first 400 metres, so definitely can go faster”
Paul McDermott came 5th in Heat 2 of the 60m sprint and was the opening runner on the DCU team that took silver in the 4 x 200m relay.
The other club athletes who competed were Louise Murray (10.55.48) 10th in the 3,000m final for TCD; Adam Halpin (24.54) 4th in Heat 3 of the 200m for AIT; and Oran O’Brien (11.13m) 6th in the Shot Putt representing DCU.

John Travers was back in action, this time in the WORLD INDOOR ATHLETICS TOUR BRONZE MEET in Luxembourg on Saturday evening. Amongst a quality field in the 3,000m he matched strides with favourite and race winner Charel Grethen (7.48.19) of the host nation over the opening 2,000m. Unable to stay the pace he eventually had to settle for 4th place in 7.56.43. Hamish Carson (7.48.43) of New Zealand came 2nd and Michael Somers (7.50.47) of Belgium 3rd.

Donore Harriers claimed 5 medals at the NATIONAL INDOOR MASTERS T&F CHAMPIONSHIPS at the Athlone Arena on Sunday. The star performance came from Michael McCarthy who set a national masters indoor record for the triple jump with a best effort of 11.78m in the first round of jumps. He finished almost 2 metres ahead of his nearest challenger Patrick O’Donnell (9.85m) of Olympian Youth AC. Niall Allen added to his medal collection with gold in the M45 Weight-For-Distance throwing 6.61m and a silver in the M45 Shot Putt with a best throw of 10.90m. Colm Dunne (7.89) took bronze in the M45 60m sprint and Donal Iremonger (4.27.54) also claimed bronze in the M50 class 1,500m.

The AXA RAHENY 5-MILE ROAD RACE is one of the most popular road races in Ireland. The 38th edition on Sunday will probably be remembered for an over- distance course, rather than the quality of the races and general feel-good factor of the event. Athletes were glancing at their watches as the 5-mile distance was reached without sight of the finish line. One commentator said: “It’s a high calibre road race, but 0.35 miles over the distance is completely unacceptable”. Bernard O’Hanlon of Leevale AC said: “It’s a great race all the same”. Best for Donore Harriers on the day was an in-form Sorcha NicDhomhnaill (27.48) who came 2nd woman behind Fionnualla McCormack of Kilcoole AC (27.32). Sorcha came 62nd overall in the race that had more than 3-thousand finishers. Older sister Aislinn NicDhomhnaill (29.33) placed 159th overall and was the winner of the W40 category. Pamela White (37.03) placed 807th and was the 3rd scorer on the Donore Harriers women’s team that came 7th of 62 closing teams.
Kane Collins (26.25) was the first Donore Harriers athlete home in the place occupying 22nd spot. Next came James Bolton (27.11) in 42nd and the 2nd placed finisher in the Junior category. David McConn (28.19) closed out the club’s scoring team in 82nd position, as Donore Harriers placed 7th out of 79 teams. The other club finishers were Sean Fox (28.48) in 114th, Alasdair Brown (29.02) in 120th, Craig Scott (29.54) in 188th, Liam Keane (31.12) in 315th, Kevin Odgers (32.21) in 404th, Peter Brennan (33.06) in 498th, Sean Kinsella (33.59) in 503rd, Gavin White (34.03) in 566th, David McGrath (35.47) in 836th, Ian Redican (37.59) in 950th, Treasa Ryan (37.40) in 1,014th, Louise Kelly (38.33) in 1, 119th, Mark Devine (39.03) in 1,166th, JP O’Hanlon (38.45) in 1,317th, Suzie Henley-Willis (40.37) in 1,356th and Tommy Halton (59.48) in 2,879th. The race was won by Efrem Gidey of Clonliffe Harriers in 24.41.

In the IRISH MOUNTAIN RUNNING ASSOCIATION BROCKAGH BURST race on Saturday Niall Lynch (27.22) came 5th overall and 1st in the M50 category. Deirdre McCanna (30.30) came 30th overall for the 6km mountain route and was the 2nd woman home.

Abdel Laadjel knocked more than 7-seconds of his personal best when finishing 8th of 16 in the 3,000m ‘B’ race at the JOHN THOMAS TERRIER CLASSIC INDOOR MEET at Boston University on Sunday evening. The race had a cagey start with nobody prepared to take the pace. Laadjel passed the first 400m in 77 seconds and was positioned towards the back of the melee. Over the next couple of laps, he progressed to 4th position. The 18-years old former Kishoge Community College student was pitted against more experienced athletes – and got picked off by four athletes. Determined, as ever, he stuck to his task and crossed the line in a new PB of 8.10.84. Abdel said afterwards: “I didn’t run a good race tactically. I just didn’t feel right leading up to the race. I will be back here again in 2 weeks’ time for the Valentine Invitational hoping to get closer to that 8-minutes barrier”

Juvenile members Liam Morris and Dylan McKenna were first finishers respectively at Corkagh Park and Waterstown Park. PARKRUN results are listed below.

EAST LEINSTER SCHOOLS CROSS-COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS at PHOENIX PARK (26.01.2022)
MINOR GIRLS: 15th Amber Lynch (Loreta Stephen’s Green) 06.32 – 87 finishers
INTERMEDIATE GIRLS: 15th Julie Cleary (Loreta Stephen’s Green) 10.41, 37th Honor Lynch (Loreta Stephen’s Green) 11.25 – 122 finishers
SENIOR GIRLS: 7th Emma Stacey (Muckross College) 08.32 – 39 finishers
MINOR BOYS: 72nd Ross Cassidy (St. Patrick’s Cathedral) 07.26 – 80 finishers
WEST LEINSTER SCHOOLS CROSS-COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS at PHOENIX PARK (27.01.2022)
JUNIOR GIRLS: 1st Emily Bolton (Mount Sackville) 05.54, 2nd Eva Crowe (Edmund Rice) 06.05, 15th Aoife Nic Siacias (Colaiste Chilliain) 06.59, 40th Ava Hoare (Colaiste De Hide) 07.59 – 81 finishers
INTERMEDIATE GIRLS: 16th Laura Nunan (Mount Sackville) 08.49, 62nd Olivia Furlong (Castleknock CC) 11.30 – 83 finishers
MINOR BOYS: 6th Daniel Hughes (Belvedere College) 05.54, 11th Liam Blair (Confey College) 06.00, 26th Eoin Mooney (Colaiste Chilliain) 06.32, – 149 finishers
JUNIOR BOYS: 1st Liam Morris (Colaiste Chilliain) 07.51, 76th Aaron O’Callanain (Colaiste Chilliain) 10.21 – 107 finishers
INTERMEDIATE BOYS: 2nd Oliver Hopkins (St. Declan’s College) 13.15, 3rd Thomas Bolton (Belvedere College) 13.30, Alex Phelan (Castleknock CC) 20.36 – 111 finishers
SENIOR BOYS: 5th James Bolton (Belvedere College) 13.38 – 68 finishers
NORTH LEINSTER SCHOOLS CROSS-COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS at PHOENIX PARK (28.01.2022)
INTERMEDIATE GIRLS: 32nd Eleanor Hopkins (St. Dominic’s College) NTA
IRISH UNIVERSITIES INDOOR TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS at ATHLONE ARENA (29.01.2022)
WOMEN’s EVENTS:
60m HURDLES FINAL: 5th Eva McPartlan (UCC) 9.34 – qualified 3rd H2 in 9.35
60m HURDLES FINAL: 6th Caoimhe Mackey (UCD) 9.70 – qualified 3rd H1 in 9.64
400m SEMI FINAL 2: 3rd Caoimhe Mackey (UCD) 58.19 PB
3,000m FINAL: 10th Louise Murray (TCD) 10.55.48
MEN’s EVENTS:
60m HEAT 2: 5th Paul McDermott (DCU) 7.27
200m HEAT 3: 4th Adam Halpin (AIT) 24.54
400m FINAL: 2nd Jack Raftery (DCU) 48.38 – qualified 1st in H1 in 48.34
3,000m FINAL: 7th Gavin Curtin (AIT) 8.39.99 PB
4 x 200m RELAY FINAL: 2nd DCU (88.31) inc. Paul McDermott on Leg 1
SHOT PUTT: 6th Oran O’Brien (DCU) 11.13m
WORLD INDOOR ATHLETICS TOUR BRONZE at LUXEMBOURG (29.01.2022)
MEN’s 3,000m: 4th John Travers (7.56.43)
NATIONAL INDOOR MASTERS CHAMPIONSHIPS at ATHLONE ARENA (30.01.2022)
MEN’S M45 60m SPRINT: 3rd Colm Dunne (7.89)
MEN’S M50 1,500m FINAL: 3rd Donal Iremonger (4.27.54)
MEN’S M35 TRIPLE JUMP: 1st Michael McCarthy Snr (11.78m) – new national masters indoor record
MEN’S M45 56lb WFD: 1st Niall Allen (6.61m)
MEN’S M45 SHOT PUTT: 2nd Niall Allen (10.90m)
IMRA BROCKAGH BURST MOUNTAIN RACE in Rathdrum, Co. Wicklow (29.01.2022)
5th & 1st M50 Niall Lynch (27.22)
21st & 2nd woman Deirdre McCanna (30.30)
154 finishers
RAHENY 5-MILE ROAD RACE (30.01.2022)
22nd Kane Collins (26.25)
42nd & 2nd Junior James Bolton (27.11)
62nd & 2nd woman Sorcha NicDhomhnaill (27.48)
82nd & 13th M40 David McConn (28.19)
114th & 7th M45 Sean Fox (28.48)
120th Alasdair Brown (29.02)
159th & 1st W40 Aislinn NicDhomhnaill (29.33)
188th & 35th M40 Craig Scott (29.54)
315th & 76th M40 Liam Keane (31.12)
404th & 48th M45 Kevin Odgers (32.21)
498th Peter Brennan (33.06)
503rd & 9th Junior Sean Kinsella (33.59)
559th Gavin White (34.03)
566th & 4th M65 Tony Kynes (34.26)
807th Pamela White (37.03)
836th David McGrath (35.47)
950th & 118th M45 Ian Redican M50 (37.59)
1,014th Treasa Ryan (37.40)
1,119th Louise Kelly (38.33)
1,166th & 152nd M45 Mark Devine (39.03)
1,317th JP O’Hanlon (38.45)
1,356th & 67th W40 Suzie Henley-Willis (40.37)
2,879th & 19th M65 Tommy Halton (59.48)
3,086 finishers
MEN’s TEAM: 7th Donore Harriers <Collins, Bolton, McConn> 144. 79 teams closed
M40+ TEAM: 5th Donore Harriers <McConn, Fox, Scott> 367. 58 teams closed
WOMEN’s TEAM: 7th Donore Harriers <NicDhomhnaill, NicDhomhnaill, White> 126. 62 teams closed
BOSTON UNIVERSITY JOHN THOMAS TERRIER CLASSIC at BOSTON UNIVERSITY INDOOR TRACK (30.01.2022)
MEN’s 3,000m ‘B’ race: 8th Abdel Laadjel (8.10.84 PB)
PARKRUNS 5km (22.01.2022)
CASTLETOWN: 72nd Joan McTernan W60 (27.15)
CORKAGH: 1st Liam Morris M11-14 (17.57), 6th Eoin Mooney M11-14 (20.54), 38th & 3rd woman Rosie-May Morris W11-14 (24.46)
GRIFFEEN: 77th Charlie O’Neill M65 (27.46)
MALAHIDE: 101st Angela O’Dea W40 (25.49)
POPPINTREE: 80th Eilish Joyce W40 (34.04)
ST. ANNE’S: 62nd Frank McNally M55 (22.57)
WATERSTOWN: 1st Dylan McKenna J15-17 (20.13), 4th Lucas Collender M11-14 (22.13)

HIGHLIGHTS: Women’s team breeze into NATIONAL INDOOR LEAGUE final, as the men are eliminated.

 
REPORT: Women’s captain Leonie Newman rallied her troops and they delivered! After placing 2nd in the first round, the team consolidated their passage to the final of the NATIONAL INDOOR T&F LEAGUE with 5th place in the 2nd qualifier at the Athlone Arena on Sunday (23.01.2022). Talented multi-eventer Lara O’Byrne got the team off to a positive start with 2nd place in the 60m hurdles. Her time of 9.03 was just one-hundredth of a second shy of her personal best. Next up, Louise Murray (5.09.91) ran a solid race to come 8th in the 1,500m – and she was followed by Caoimhe Mackey (58.43) who won Heat 2 of the 400m and placed 2nd overall in the category. Mackey set a new personal best.
Meanwhile in the field events Lara O’Byrne jumped 1.60m to came 3rd in the High Jump. Andie Maguire, making a return to competition after an absence of 3 years, jumped 10.22m to bag 9 valuable points in the Triple Jump. Masters’ competitor Fiona Smith-Keegan answered the call to compete in the Weight-For-Distance (28lbs) – an event introduced to the competition for the first time. Smith-Keegan, who had never previously practiced the discipline, got in a first throw of 3.12 metres to place 10th. The final event in the contest was the 4 x 200m. The team of Lauren Flaherty, Andie Maguire, Sarah Lahiff and Caoimhe Mackey were DQed under Technical Rule 44.6 – leaving the assigned lane before the breakline. Whilst this may have cost the team a 3rd place finish on the day, it did not impact on their progress to the final.
The league final is due to take place at the National Indoor Arena at Abbotstown on the 12th of February.
Leonie Newman said afterwards: “The women were really super again today. We are now looking forward to the final. To be in the top 6 women teams in the country is a fantastic achievement”.

You could list any number of excuses as to why the men’s team failed to make any sort of an impact in the competition – and probably each excuse would apply. Injury, illness, a clash with other events, a focus to other competitions… Men’s captain David Campbell was left frustrated, but he never gave up! On the day, the team made a perfect start with Alex Clarkin (8.33) blistering to a convincing win in the 60m Hurdles. His new best time ranks him in the Irish all-time top 30 for the event. The next two track events saw two sprinters step up for the team and compete outside of their regular distance. The team captain David Campbell (5.40.20) trailed in last of 13 in the 1,500m, with Adam Halpin (58.38) ranked 13th in the 400m. Michael McCarthy claimed an Irish masters record for the Triple Jump with a 4th and final round jump of 11.87m. However, the jump could not be ratified as a specialist measuring tape was required to verify the distance. He placed 5th and gained 9 points for the team. Newcomer Daniel Hernon cleared 1.70m in the High Jump to place equal 5th and collect 8.5 points. The 4 x 200m relay team of Alex Clarkin, Daragh McAuley, Sean Chan and Adam Halpin came 4th in Heat 3 and 8th overall.
The men’s team placed 8th on 39.5 points, with Clonliffe Harriers 1st on 76.5.

The club had 2 athletes compete in guest races. Unfortunately, Aoife Lynch (8.91) trailed in last in the 60m sprint having picked up an injury. Jack Byrne (1.59.52) came 7th in his 800m race.

Caoimhe Mackey was the club’s lone competitor in the NIA LIVE INDOOR MEET NO. 2 at the Abbotstown indoor track on Wednesday (19.01.2022). She won Heat 2 of the 400m in 59.60.

This week’s cross-country action was the 2nd fixture in the Business Houses series. The BHAA EIR CROSS-COUNTRY RACES at the Tymon Park North course had several club members in action. In the 2-mile women’s race Mary McDermott placed 16th in a time of 15.44 – and the wonderful Ann Woodlock, now a W80 category athlete, completed the course in 21.03 for 40th position. Niall Lynch was the first club member home in the 5-mile men’s race. Lynch is gradually regaining his race sharpness and will be pleased with 10th spot in 30.06. The other Donore Harriers among the 132 finishers were – Tom Fagan (35.22) in 57th, Frank McNally (40.57) in 111th and Des Gill (43.37) in 121st.

Highlights in this week’s PARKRUN events (22.01.2022) were David McConn (16.59) 1st home at Porterstown, junior athlete Ruby Kelly (21.55) 1st woman at Castletown – and a PB by juvenile Lucas Collender (21.54) at Waterstown. Other results are listed below.

NIA LIVE INDOOR TRACK & FIELD EVENT NO. 2 at NIA, ABBOTSTOWN (19.01.2022)
WOMEN’S 400m H2: 1st Caoimhe Mackey (59.60)
MEETING DE LYON, FRANCE (21.01.2022)
MEN’s 3,000m ‘A’ RACE: John Travers DNF
BHAA EIR CROSS-COUNTRY RACES at TYMON PARK NORTH (22.01.2022)
MEN’s 5-MILE RACE: 10th Niall Lynch M50 (30.06), 57th Tom Fagan M50 (35.22), 111th Frank McNally M60 (40.57), 121st Des Gill M50 (43.37). 132 finishers
WOMEN’s 2-MILE RACE: 16th Mary McDermott W50 (15.44), 40th Ann Woodlock W80 (21.03). 40 finishers
NATIONAL INDOOR TRACK & FIELD LEAGUE 2ND QUALIFYING ROUND at ATHLONE ARENA (23.01.2022)
WOMEN’S DIVISION:
60m Hurdles: 2nd Lara O’Byrne (9.03)
1,500m: 8th Louise Murray (5.09.91)
400m: 1st H2 Caoimhe Mackey (58.43 PB) – 2nd overall
4 x 200m Relay: DQ Donore Harriers <Lauren Flaherty, Aoife Lynch, Caoimhe Mackey, Eva McPartlan> rule TR44.6 leaving assigned lane before breakline
Triple Jump: 4th Andie Maguire (10.22m)
High Jump: 3rd Lara O’Byrne (1.60m)
Weight 4 Distance 28lb: 10th Fiona Smith-Keegan (3.12m)
TEAM: 1. DSDAC 63, 2. Raheny Shamrocks AC 61.5, 3. Leevale AC 55, 5. Donore Harriers 49. 11 teams.
MEN’S DIVISION:
60m Hurdles: 1st Alex Clarkin (8.33 PB)
1,500m: 13th David Campbell (5.40.20)
400m: 4th H3 Adam Halpin (58.38) – 13th overall
4 x 200m Relay: 4th H3 Donore Harriers <Alex Clarkin, Daragh McAuley, Sean Chan, Adam Halpin> 1.35.82 – 8th overall
Triple Jump: 5th Michael McCarthy (11.87m PB)
High Jump: 5th Daniel Hernon (1.70m) debut
Weight 4 Distance 56lb: no entry
TEAM: 1. Clonliffe Harriers 76.5, 2. Nenagh Olympic 70, 3. Leevale AC 59, 8. Donore Harriers 39.5. 13 teams.
GUEST EVENTS:
Women’s 60m: 7th Aoife Lynch (8.91)
Men’s 800m H2: 7th Jack Byrne (1.59.52)
PARKRUNS 5km (22.01.2022)
CASTLETOWN: 18th & 1st woman Ruby Kelly W18-19 (21.55), 24th J.P. O’Hanlon M35 (22.28), 79th Joan McTernan W60 (26.34)
CORKAGH: 72nd Rosie-May Morris W11-14 (24.27)
GRIFFEEN: 106th Terry Mee M75 (32.43)
MARLAY: 15th Patrick Moriarty M45 (19.04)
POPPINTREE: 104th Eilish Joyce W40 (34.06)
PORTERSTOWN: 1st David McConn M40 (16.59), 13th Ken McKeown M35 (21.22)
SPORTS CAMPUS: 13th Paul Nunan M45 (23.37 PB)
TOLKA VALLEY: 4th Owen Robinson M35 (19.41)
WATERSTOWN: 6th Lucas Collender M11-14 (21.54 PB)

HIGHLIGHTS: LEINSTER MASTERS XC – Ken Nugent 3rd, Niall Lynch M50 gold, M50 team gold, Barry Potts M70 gold. Jack Raftery selected for Ireland relay team to the DNA Meet in Glasgow on 5th of February.

 
REPORT: After a two-year hiatus the LEINSTER MASTERS & INTERMEDIATE CROSS-COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS  (report by Florence Curley) took place in Cow Park hosted by the local club Dunboyne AC. In the national novice XC in 2019 the rough ground on this course was combined with thick mud making for a quagmire. Thankfully this time the underfoot conditions were a bit more kind so there was plenty of good running on the lap. For the masters and intermediate races this was a 2k loop with a few twists and turns.  The races were also preceded by a poignant minute’s silence for the late Ashling Murphy who was killed while on a run a few days earlier in Tullamore. First off after the juvenile relays were completed were the master’s women over 4km – 2 laps of the course. Incorporated was the M65+ race.
Donore Harriers had a full W35 team with runners who also featured in last week’s Dublin Masters, plus Mary McDermott and Angela Eustace who flew the flag for the W50’s – but this time ran as part of the W35 team. Unavailable for last week’s Dublin Masters, Sinead O’Reilly made a storming start to 2022, leading the race out hard in the early stages. However, a quality field followed her and caught up eventually, but this gutsy runner has been in flying form in recent months so was well up with the top 10 contenders and looked strong throughout. She stuck close to her opposition and finished very strongly in 13th after opening a gap on the 14th placed Mullingar Harriers runner. O’Reilly (15.24) was 5th in the highly competitive W40 age-group. In the first lap, the trio of Audrey Gahan, Claire Mulligan and Ariana Ball were running close together. Eventually Audrey (16.44) and Claire (16.45) pulled away somewhat and in the end just one second separated them finishing fast up the straight in 35th and 37th places in two solid performances. 14 seconds back in 41st place was Ariana Ball (16.59) who fended off the Drogheda AC runner behind her.  Experienced cross country runner Mary McDermott (18.51) finished in 82nd place and Angela Eustace (20.10) 99th in a field of 102 runners. The team finished 8th out of 15. The race was won decisively by Raheny’s Kate Purcell who also led her team to the gold medal.
in the M65 race – 20 runners participated alongside the women. Tony Kynes (16.58) finished 7th in the M65 age-group after narrowly missing out on a Dublin Masters bronze last week. Barry Potts (18.22) finished 11th and won gold in the M70 class adding to his growing medal haul in this age-group.
The M35+ masters were up next, and Donore Harriers fielded both an M35 and M50 team all of whom ran in last week’s Dublin Masters.   148 runners competed over 6km (3 x 2km laps). Ken Nugent (19.46) followed up last week’s Dublin Masters 3rd place with another terrific run here.  Last week’s winner Mick Clohisey (18.53) of Raheny Shamrocks took it out again from the start for a clear win, but Ken wisely ran his own race – and eventually he and the Rathfarnham runner Matthew Kane (5th in the Dublin Masters) ran shoulder to shoulder some distance ahead of the rest of the field. In the end Kane got the upper hand with just 6 seconds separated them. Nugent was 3rd M35 and 3rd overall and was also 3rd scorer on the Dublin County that took gold in the Inter-County competition. Ken is definitely on a roll since December!  Literally running himself to a standstill in 12th place after a furious finishing straight battle was Rossa Hurley (20.20), who came 6th in the M40 age-group. For a good deal of the race Fergal Whitty and Niall Lynch ran together. Niall (21.20) finished in 28th place and was delighted to win gold in the M50 class as well as a Dublin Inter-County gold. Fergal was just two seconds adrift in 30th in another solid run.  Next in 51st place was M50 runner Des Tremble (22.01) who fended off 3 other fast finishing athletes in the straight. Men’s captain Craig Scott (22.04) finished just 3 seconds behind Des in 55th.  Peter Nugent (24.32) was the 3rd M50 Donore Harriers scorer in 122nd with teammate Tom Fagan (25.38) next in 137th. Tony Griffin (26.31) completed the M50 team in 143rd. The M50 team followed up their Dublin victory last week with another team gold here – finishing first out of 9 teams – well done lads! Next stop the National Masters! The M35 team finished 5th out of 12 teams with 100 points behind winners Raheny Shamrocks AC.
In the Women’s Intermediate race also over 4km, a field of 56 runners competed. It was good to see Deirdre NicAnna back racing after injury last year and Jean Murphy was making her cross country debut. Louise Murray (15.34) had some excellent races in the Dublin Novice and Intermediate in late 2021. She also ran an indoor 800m last week in Round 1 of the National Indoor League and was back on the grass to run an excellent 14th here – just narrowly pipped in the finish straight. Deirdre (15.59) ran a very consistent race and had a fast finish in 24th.  Jean Murphy (16.33) made a very solid first cross-country outing finishing in 31st. Aisling Kirby (17.430 went into the race with a leg strain so she was delighted to finish the race in one piece and was 48th, passing a runner in the finish straight. The team finished 7th out of 10 teams.  The clear winner was Dublin City Harrier Edel Monaghan and DCH were the runaway winners of the team gold.
Kudos to coach Willie Smith who hotfooted it from the Phoenix Park after the training session up to Dunboyne to support the athletes and thanks to other club members who came out to support.
here is a YouTube link to the Leinster Masters & Intermediate XC races

The club had just one competitor in the WORLD HALF-MARATHON FESTIVAL at Donadea Forest Park on Saturday (15.01.2022). In the first of 3 half-marathon races organised by POP-UP RACES Owen Robinson came 11th of 114 finishers in 1.35.11. The parkland race held over ‘4 and a bit’ laps through forest trails was won by former Dublin marathon winner Sean Hehir (1.10.51) of Metro St. Brigid AC, ahead of Ernesto A. Blasco (1.20.49) of Trim AC.

Three club members competed in the opening Business Houses AA race of the year. Ian Redican (27.36) came 111th, Frank McNally (29.57) 140th, and Des Gill (32.05) 157th in the BHAA BANK OF IRELAND 6km CROSS-COUNTRY RACE at TYMON PARK on Saturday morning (15.01.2022). 178 runners completed the race.

400m specialist Jack Raftery has been selected to represent Ireland in the DYNAMIC NEW ATLETICS MEET in the Emirates Arena in Glasgow on the 5th of February. He is due to compete in the 600m Hunt Relay. Hunt relay video
Dynamic New Athletics, or DNA, is an innovative team-based competition concept for athletics created by European Athletics to complement the classical athletics format. The aim of the DNA project is to bring the sport into the 21st Century, enhancing it with a new dimension targeting younger audience and participant groups.

Our juvenile members impressed in PARKRUN events (15.01.2022) with Liam Morris (17.50) leading the way with 1st place and a PB at Corkagh Park. Eoin Mooney (20.38) also got a PB at the same venue – and Rosie-May Morris (24.23) was the 2nd female finisher. Elsewhere, juveniles Dylan McKenna (20.02) and Lucas Collender (22.50) were 2nd and 6th finishers at Waterstown. M45 athlete Sean Fox (18.330 was first home at River Valley (Swords). Other results are listed below.

LEINSTER MASTERS & INTERMEDIATE CROSS-COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS at COW PARK, DUNBOYNE (16.01.2022)
MASTERS WOMEN 4,000m: 13th Sinead O’Reilly W40 (15.24), 35th Audrey Gahan W40 (16.44), 37th Claire Mulligan W40 (16.45), 41st Ariana Ball W35 (16.59), 82nd Mary McDermott W50 (18.51), 99th Angela Eustace W50 (20.10). 102 finishers
TEAM W35: 1. Raheny Shamrocks AC 15, 2. Sportsworld AC 251, 3. Mullingar Harriers 30, 8. Donore Harriers <O’Reilly, Gahan, Mulligan> 85. 15 teams closed.
TEAM W50: DH did not close a team
MASTERS MEN 6,000m: 3rd Ken Nugent M35 (19.46), 12th Rossa Hurley M40 (20.20), 28th Niall Lynch M50 (21.20), 30th Fergal Whitty M45 (21.22), 51st Des Tremble M50 (22.01), 55th Craig Scott M40 (22.04), 122nd Peter Nugent M50 (24.32), 137th Tom Fagan M50 (25.38), 143rd Tony Griffin M60 (26.31). 148 finishers
TEAM M35: 1. Raheny Shamrocks AC 36, 2. Celbridge AC 68, 3. Sportsworld AC 87, 5. Donore Harriers <Nugent, Hurley, Whitty, Scott> 100. 12 teams closed.
TEAM M50: 1. Donore Harriers <Lynch, Tremble, Nugent> 201, 2. Liffey Valley AC 209, 3. Rathfarnham WSAF 220. 9 teams closed.
INTERMEDIATE WOMEN 4,000m: 14th Louise Murray (15.34), 24th Deirdre NicAnna (15.59), 31st Jean Murphy (16.33), 47th Aisling Kirby (17.43). 56 finishers
TEAM INTER: 1. Dublin City Harriers 17, 2. St. Abban’s AC 46, 3. Liffey Valley AC 92, 7. Donore Harriers <Murray, Brennan, Murphy, Kirby> 116. 10 teams closed.
MASTER MEN M65+ 4,000m: 7th Tony Kynes M65 (16.58), 11th and 1st M70 Barry Potts (18.22). 20 finishers
INTERMEDIATE MEN 6,000m: no entry
WORLD HALF-MARATHON FESTIVAL at DONADEA FOREST PARK (15.01.2022)
RACE 1: 11th Owen Robinson M35 (1.35.11).
114 finishers
BHAA BANK OF IRELAND 6km CROSS-COUNTRY RACE at TYMON PARK (15.01.2022)
111th & 24th M45 Ian Redican (27.36)
140th & 9th M60 Frank McNally (29.57)
157th & 14th M50 Des Gill (32.05)
178 finishers
PARKRUNS 5km (15.01.22)
CASTLETOWN: 79th Joan McTernan W60 (26.51)
CORKAGH: 1st Liam Morris M11-14 (17.50 PB), 6th Eoin Mooney M11-14 (20.38 PB), 33rd & 2nd woman Rosie-May Morris W11-14 (24.23 PB)
GRIFFEEN: 109th Liz McCurtain W55 (28.45)
MALAHIDE: 161st Angela O’Dea W40 (26.56)
MARLAY: 17th Patrick Moriarty M45 (19.33)
RIVER VALLEY: 1st Sean Fox M45 (18.33)
WATERSTOWN: 2nd Dylan McKenna M15-17 (20.02), 6th Lucas Collender M11-14 (22.50)

Here are the club rankings for women in the year 2021. Due to Covid-19 restrictions and lockdowns the competition calendar in 2021 was limited. Some underage performances have been included to the lists.
Any corrections or additions to the rankings should be sent by PM to Gerry Naughton or Florence Curley.

 
The following club athletes appear on the AI rankings for 2021
100m – Aoife Lynch 6th (11.63)
200m – Aoife Lynch 7th (24.23) NOTE: 23.83 wind assisted
3,000m track – Barbara Cleary 16th (9.50.05)
5,000m track – Barbara Cleary 12th (16.34.62)
10,000m track – Barbara Cleary 10th (35.42.66 in a mixed race)
Marathon – Sorcha NicDhomhnaill 10th (2.46.24)
Marathon – Aislinn NicDhomhnaill 12th (2.48.21)
Marathon – Sorcha Loughnane 17th (2.52.52)
100m Hurdles – 10th Lara O’Byrne (14.40)
100m Hurdles – =20th Caoimhe Mackey (15.67 wind assisted)
400m Hurdles – 11th Caoimhe Mackey (1.04.55)
High Jump – 13th Lara O’Byrne (1.69m)
Heptathlon – 7th Lara O’Byrne (4,896pts)

HIGHLIGHTS: DUBLIN MASTERS CROSS-COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS – outstanding win by Barbara Cleary, Ken Nugent 3rd in M35 race, Men’s 50+ team gold. NATIONAL INDOOR LEAGUE 1ST QUALIFYING ROUND – Aoife Lynch and Lara O’Byrne star as women’s team equal 2nd, men’s team had a tough day at the office. BMC INDOOR GRAND PRIX SHEFFIELD – fine season opener by John Travers over 3,000m.

REPORT: Barbara Cleary just gets better and better! She’s fearless! A modern-day phenomenon! A true champion!
Barbara is a gutsy, hard-working athlete, who at 48 years old has no barriers towards reaching new goals. She just trains to get better. She’s also a very modest person who is a role model and well respected within the athletics community.
On Sunday she won the DUBLIN MASTERS CROSS-COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS women’s race over 3km by front-running from gun to tape. Maria McCambridge, who represented Ireland at European, World and Olympic level, challenged Cleary in the opening kilometre – but the Donore Harriers athlete powered on to cross the finish line with an 80 metres gap over her DSDAC challenger.
A staggering 586 athletes signed up for this year’s Dublin Masters, hosted again by Raheny Shamrocks AC in St. Anne’s Park. Rays of sunshine decreased the chill in the air as more than 200 women made their way to the start line.
As Cleary raced clear at the front, the other Donore Harriers team members were competing well throughout the field. Barbara Murray (13.54) held on for 40th place, with her team-mate Ariana Ball just one place and two seconds behind. The scoring team was closed out by Claire Mulligan (14.02) in 45th position. The W35-49 team came 7th behind winners Sportsworld AC. The non-scoring athletes were Audrey Gahan (15.14) in 61st place, Louise Kelly (14.54) in 75th and Suzie Henley-Willis (15.14) in 115th.
The race also included the W50+ team event and this was the first occasion that Donore Harriers competed a team in the category. The team was led home by Julia Hackett (15.24) who was the 120th finisher, with Mary McDermott (15.26) closing in 123rd spot. The scoring 3 was completed by Angela Eustace (16.54) who reached the line in 178th place. The team came 6th of 8, with host club Raheny Shamrocks AC the winners.
The men’s race over 6km was won by Mick Clohissy (20.25), an Olympic marathon athlete, from the host club. Donore’s Ken Nugent ran a super race to finish in 3rd position. The recent Waterhouse Byrne Baird Shield winner is displaying a rich vein of form. He was running in 5th place after the 1st of 4 laps, but he reeled-in both Colm Turner of Brothers Pearse AC and Matthew Kane of Rathfarnham WSAF at the beginning of lap 2. Nugent (21.14) powered on to finish just 14 seconds shy of runner-up Tudor Moldovan of Clonliffe Harriers.
Next home for Donore Harriers was Rossa Hurley in 14th place. Hurley, the 2019 champion, is gradually regaining his race fitness. He was just outside the top 20 in the opening 2 laps, but his sheer tenacity saw him gain several places in the latter half of the race.
The scoring 4 was completed by Fergal Whitty (23.06) in 32nd place and Gavin Keogh (23.19) in 36th. The Donore Harriers M35-49 team (85) came 5th of 18 teams, just 12 points shy of 3rd placed Sportsworld AC (73). Raheny Shamrocks AC won on 36 points. The other athletes in the category were Craig Scott (23.32) in 42nd and Alasdair Brown (23.52) in 57th.
The Donore M50+ team (276) were victorious after a close contest with Rathfarnham WSAF (288). The team was led home by Niall Lynch (23.47) in 50th place. Solid packing from Des Tremble (24.07) in 64th, Donal Iremonger (24.16) in 68th and Phil Hennessy (25.00) in 94th was good enough to secure the team gold. The other team members were Peter Nugent (26.32) in 160th, Tom Fagan (27.33) in 194th and Dean Fullston (27.33) in 234th.There were 285 finishers.
In a very competitive Men’s 65+ race over 3km Tony Kynes (14.05) came 5th and Barry Potts (15.45) 15th of 24 competitors.
The inaugural team challenge for the perpetual Pat Hooper Cup, based on the combined overall team positions, was fittingly won by Raheny Shamrocks AC (48). Hooper, who died in 2020 was a stalwart of the Raheny club and served for many years on the Dublin and Leinster Athletic Boards. He represented Ireland in the 1980 Olympic marathon and the 1978 European Championships marathon. Donore Harriers (38) came 4th of the 18 competing teams.
There were contrasting fortunes for the club’s men and women teams in the first of two qualifying rounds in the NATIONAL INDOOR TRACK & FIELD LEAGUE at the NIA in Abbotstown on Sunday.
The women’s team (58) finished equal 2nd with DSDAC, just one point shy of Leevale AC (59). Aoife Lynch (7.69) was disappointed with her 3rd place performance in the 60m sprint, but then ran a super 24.73 to gain maximum points in the 200m. Lara O’Byrne jumped an indoors personal best of 5.28m to secure 3rd place in the Long Jump – and threw 9.34m with her 4th and final round effort to come 2nd in the Shot Putt. Louise Murray (2.30.10), on her debut for the team, ran above expectation to finish 2nd in her heat of the 800m and 7th of 13 overall. The day closed with Aoife Lynch, Sarah Lahiff, Caoimhe Mackey and Lauren Flaherty running a club indoor record of 4.11.92 to finish 3rd in their heat of the 4 x 400m relay and 5th overall. Eva McPartlan (8.23) came 2nd in the 60m guest sprint – and Caoimhe Mackey (10.07) was 3rd in the guest 60m Hurdles.
Team captain Leonie Newman said afterwards: “I am well happy with that team performance. All the girls were great. The pity is that we did not have a pole vaulter – we lost 10 points there. But all told we had a great day”
Injury and illness had already depleted the firepower of the men’s team. To add to the woes, Zak Higgins who was due to run the 200m and 4 x 4 relay picked up a hamstring injury whilst warming up. Team captain David Campbell said afterwards: “It was just a day when everything seemed to go wrong. But I can’t fault the lads who were there for their commitment”.
Sean Chan (7.72) came 7th in his 60m heat and 12th overall. David Campbell (24.07), stepped in for Higgins in the 200m, and placed 3rd in his heat – 10th overall. Jack Byrne (2.00.69), despite being race rusty, came 2nd in his heat of the 800m and 6th overall. In the field events Michael McCarthy (5.05m) came 11th in the Long Jump and Niall Allen (10.39m) 6th in the Shot Putt. With no competitor in the Pole Vault and it being too late to find a replacement for Higgins in the 4 x 400m relay it was a tough day at the office for Campbell and his team. They trailed in last of 13 teams on 25 points as Leevale AC topped the table on 84. The next qualifying round will be at the Athlone Indoor Arena on the 23rd of January with the final to take place on the 12th of February at the NIA.
John Travers showed fine early season form by placing 3rd in a top class 3,000m race in the BRITISH MILERS CLUB INDOOR GRAND PRIX at Sheffield on Sunday. He raced 4th in the front group of 5 that broke away from the rest around the halfway stage. Entering to the final 2 laps Jake Wightman (Edinburgh AC) and Ossama Meslek (Leeds City) opened a gap as each fought for supremacy. Meslek, an Italian international, outsprinted the Scot in the closing stages to win in 7.50.14 compared to 7.50.97 (Wightman). Travers stuck to his task and finished 3rd in 7.53.82, ahead of Osian Perrin (Menai) whose time of 7.58.23 set a new British indoor under 20s record.
In this week’s PARKRUN series (08.01.2022) junior athlete Ruby Kelly (22.54) was the first woman home at Castletown. Other results listed below.
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DUBLIN MASTERS CROSS-COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS at ST. ANNE’S PARK, RAHENY (09.01.2022)
MASTERS WOMEN 3,000m: 1st Barbara Cleary W45 (11.32), 40th Barbara Murray W45 (13.54), 41st Ariana Ball W35 (13.56), 45th Claire Mulligan W40 (14.02), 61st Audrey Gahan W40 (14.22), 75th Louise Kelly W35 (14.54), 115th Suzie Henley-Willis W40 (15.14), 120th Julia Hackett W50 (15.24), 123rd Mary McDermott W50 (15.26), 178th Angela Eustace W50 (16.54). 202 finishers
TEAM W35: 1. Sportsworld AC 55, 2. Clonliffe Harriers 61, 3. Crusaders AC 64, 7. Donore Harriers <Cleary, Murray, Ball, Mulligan> 125. 16 teams closed.
TEAM W50: 1. Raheny Shamrocks 136, 2. Clonliffe Harriers 263, 3. Lucan Harriers 265. 6. Donore Harriers <Hackett, McDermott, Eustace> 421. 8 teams closed.
MASTERS MEN 6,000m: 3rd Ken Nugent M35 (21.14), 14th Rossa Hurley M40 (22.05), 32nd Fergal Whitty M45 (23.06), 36th Gavin Keogh M40 (23.19), 42nd Craig Scott M40 (23.32), 50th Niall Lynch M50 (23.47), 57th Alasdair Brown M35 (23.52), 64th Des Tremble M50 (24.07), 68th Donal Iremonger M50 (24.16), 94th Phil Hennessy M50 (25.00), 160th Peter Nugent M50 (26.32), 194th Tom Fagan M50 (27.33), 234th Dean Fullston M55 (29.09. 285 finishers
TEAM M35: 1. Raheny Shamrocks 36, 2. Crusaders AC 69, 3. Sportsworld 73, 5. Donore Harriers <Nugent, Hurley, Whitty, Keogh> 85. 18 teams closed.
TEAM M50: 1. Donore Harriers <Lynch, Tremble, Iremonger, Hennessy> 276, 2. Rathfarnham WSAF 288, 3. Liffey Valley 457. 11 teams closed.
MASTERS MEN 65+ 3,000m: 5th Tony Kynes M65 (14.05), 15th & 3rd M70 Barry Potts (15.45). 24 finishers.
COMBINED TEAM CHALLENGE FOR THE PERPETUAL PAT HOOPER CUP: 1. Raheny Shamrocks 48, 2. Clonliffe Harriers 43, 3. Sportsworld AC 39, 4. Donore Harriers 38. 18 teams
NATIONAL INDOOR LEAGUE QUALIFYING ROUND at NIA ABBOTSTOWN (09.01.2022)
WOMEN’S DIVISION:
60m – 3rd in heat, 3rd overall Aoife Lynch (7.69)
200m – 1st in heat, 1st overall Aoife Lynch (24.73)
800m – 2nd in heat, 7th overall Louise Murray (2.30.10)
4 x 400m relay (Aoife Lynch, Sarah Lahiff, Caoimhe Mackey, Lauren Flaherty) 3rd in Heat, 5th overall (4.11.90 new club record)
Long Jump – 3rd Lara O’Byrne 5.28m indoor PB
Pole Vault – no entry
Shot Putt – 2nd Lara O’Byrne 9.34m
60m Guest – 2nd Eva McPartlan (8.23)
60mH Guest – 3rd Caoimhe Mackey (10.07)
TEAM SCORE: 1. Leevale AC 59, 2. DSD AC 58, 3. Donore Harriers 58. 12 teams.
MEN’S DIVISION:
60m – 7th in heat, 12th overall Sean Chan (7.72)
200m – 3rd in heat, 10th overall David Campbell (24.07)
800m – 2nd in heat, 6th overall Jack Byrne (2.00.69)
4 x 400m relay – no team
Long Jump – 11th Michael McCarthy (5.05m)
Pole Vault – no entry
Shot Putt – 6th Niall Allen (10.39m)
TEAM SCORE: 1. Leevale AC 84, 2. Clonliffe Harriers 66, 3. DSD AC 59. 13th Donore Harriers 25. 13 teams.
BRITISH MILERS CLUB INDOOR GRAND PRIX at SHEFFIELD (09.01.2022)
MEN’S 3,000m: 3rd John Travers (7.53.82)
PARKRUNS 5km (08.01.22)
ARDGILLEN: 25th Joe Murphy M40 (25.56)
BUSHY: 119th Thomas Halton M65 (36.01)
CASTLETOWN: 25th & 1st woman Ruby Kelly JNR (22.52)
MARLAY: 20th Patrick Moriarty M45 (20.20)
POPPINTREE: 79th Eilish Joyce W40 (34.56)
WATERSTOWN: 12th & 4th woman Katie Delaney W15-17 (26.30)

Here is a list of full club rankings for men in the year 2021. The women’s rankings will be published next week. Due to Covid-19 restrictions and lockdowns the competition calendar in 2021 was limited. The normal spring road races, indoors and schools’ championships were all cancelled. It wasn’t until early summer before some semblance of domestic competition returned and, even then, most events were restricted in their entry criteria.
Any corrections or additions to the rankings should be sent by PM to Gerry Naughton or Florence Curley.
The following club athletes appear on the AI rankings for 2021
100m – Paul McDermott – 17th (10.75)
400m – Jack Raftery – 5th (47.02)
400m Hurdles – Alex Clarkin – 12th (57.18)
800m – Louis O’Loughlin – 11th (1.48.66)
1,500m – John Travers – 3rd (3.37.94)
1,500m indoors – John Travers – 5th (3.41.74)
3,000m – John Travers – 4th (8.09.31)
3,000m indoors – John Travers – 2nd (7.50.40)
3,000m indoors omitted – Abdel Laadjel (8.18.14)
3,000m steeplechase – Gavin Curtin – 11th (9.56.47)
5,000m – Abdel Laadjel – 18th (14.10.36)
5,000m indoors – Eric Keogh (14.32.90) no listings
Shot Putt – Oran O’Brien – 15th (12.59m) – his 12.93m in Dublin Graded (21.07) not updated
Discus – Oran O’Brien – 18th (36.95m)
Half-Marathon – Ken Nugent – 8th (1.12.22)
Half-Marathon – Charleville (Kane Collins 1.10.14) and Oylegate (Ray Hynes 1.10.40) events not updated to the list
Marathon – Rob Murphy – 12th (2.25.50)