In 1976, longtime Donore women’s coach Jim Mcnamara qualified for the Olympic marathon in the trial which is staged in Limerick that year. So in 2018, it was good to see a Donore Harriers female on the marathon podium in Limerick. It was a hot day for the BSH great limerick run which incorporates 4 events. Grace Kennedy ran a perfectly paced race and gradually got herself into 3rd position where she finished strongly in 3.09.01. It’s a first podium finish for Grace, more to come from this tough competitor who is making her mark on the marathon! Florence Curley finished in 3.28.30, unfortunately forced to jog and walk the last 6 miles with quad problems.

There was also Donore success in the 6 mile event. John Travers was the winner in 29.40 ahead of Kevin Maunsell. Ide Nic Dhomhnaill was 2nd woman in 36.37 and twin Sorcha 3rd in 37.19 following on from their 2, 3 at the Clonliffe 2

Fergal Whitty was 7th in the half marathon event in 74.19 and Pat Egan finished in 1.40.12

A long overdue full report of the national road relays in Raheny. It was a poignant start to the competition on the traditional one mile loop around All Saints Road. Raheny Shamrock AC’s Pat Hooper paid tribute to Karen Behan who would have been competing in the master ladies division and led a minute’s round of applause in her memory. Her teammates and fellow club members were there in force to join in and compete in her memory. There were 3 ladies masters teams in action in the first event. Many wished to compete in Karen’s memory so for some it was their first experience of relay running.

Karla Doran finished really well up in the first mile clocking an excellent 5.52, handing over to Rhona McHugh for the 2 Mile leg 13.00 and Ariana Ball brought it home in the last mile 6.12 which brought the team to 7th. Audrey Gahan led off the 2nd team in 6.22 for the first mile, julia Hackett got the 2 mile in 14.23 and handed over to Barbara Murray who covered the last mile in 6.16 bringing them to 12th place. Relay debutante Michelle O’hagan back training with the club ran 6.46 for the mile handing over to Angela Eustace who despite carrying an injury ran 15.00 and then Michele Murphy making her relay debut in 7.54 bringing the team to 13th. A great combined team effort on an emotionally charged day.

The most exciting event of the day was the men’s masters race. The first team was under incredible pressure from the off. Emmet Ó Briain gave it everything to finish first in the mile in 4.49. This was crucial as from hereon in, Donore had to maintain this lead with other clubs literally breathing down their necks. Rossa Hurley did brilliantly to keep the lead over his 2 mile lap which he covered in 9.50. It was all then dependent on Tristan Druet’s last mile which culminated in an eyeballs out sprint finish in 4.53 and a Donore victory (our 2nd in 3 years!). Our 2nd team of Donal Iremonger 5.10, Gavin Keogh 10.52 and Alan Farrell 5.16 finished 13th. For the first time in many years there was an M50 team Des Gill 6.07, Tom Fagan 12.50 and frank McNally 6.28

In the ladies senior contest, we were missing some runners but also had some new faces this year. Niamh O’Neill had a great first mile in 5.36 and handed over to Sinead Lambe who covered the 2 mile in an excellent 11.41 and Amy Moriarty brought it home in 6.05 for the mile bringing the team to 9th. On the 2nd team, Roisin Harkin clocked 6.03 for the first mile, with fiona Hegarty who competed in a tough national 10k the week before taking on the 2 mile in 13.22 and finally Mairead Kirby bringing it home in the last mile in 6.28

Final event of the day was the senior men; with Donore silver last year and gold the year before, the pressure was on. This year’s field was also jam packed with many more internationals and Olympians. Darragh Fitzgibbon led off for the 2 mile and finished 9.55 , off the leading bunch. Ray hynes took up the mile in 4.38 and then over to John Travers for the 3 mile. The leading 3 had got ahead so it was always going to be hard for him to close that gap when they were going equally fast and in a battle. John finished the leg in 14.41 and then it was over to Eric Keogh to keep it up in the remaining 2 miles and he finished in 9.42 bringing the team to 4th. (top 3 was Raheny, DSD, KCH)

The second team of Michael Ryan 10.25, teenager Sekeriye Ahmed 4.48, ray Lonergan 16.03 and Paul Cummins 11.20 finished 19th

It was an exceptionally busy long weekend on the road race front, including both the BHAA K-Club 10k and the Leinster 10 Mile Road Championships amongst many races taking place.

There was a superb win for Rossa Hurley against a high-quality field at the BHAA K-Club 10k in Straffan (which was 150 metres too long!) in 32.30. This was a target race for the men’s squad so there was a big representation from the club. In there too was Anthony Flannery (33.40), Seán Fox (1st M40 – 34:25), Des Tremble 34.51 (1st 45), Gavin Keogh (35:23), Philip Hennessy (2nd M45 – 35.28), Jonathan Farrell (37.21), Paul Cummins (37.26), Alan Farrell (37.39), Michael Edward O’Connor (39.24), Stephen Dawson (40.31), Craig Scott (43.02), Ian Redican (43.12), and Joe Murphy (43.54). Sinéad Lambe was the 3rd lady in 38.01 and we had Cliodhna Carty 47.01 and Michelle Dawson 54.52. Full results at: https://bhaa.ie/race/kclub-10km-2018/

Elsewhere Shane McAuley won the Na Fianna 5k in 18.21.
Ariana ball was 1st W35 and 7th Lady at the Fr Murphy AC 10k in Kildalkey in 42.43
Ken McKeown 40.16 at the Longford 10k
Philip Hennessy 5th and 35.31 at the rosslare 10k
Mary McDermott 24.52 at the Naas 5k

Michael Ryan and Ray Lonergan raced in the Streets of Kilkenny 5K on Thursday evening, finishing 7th and 9th in 16.02 and 16.09 respectively.

DONORE 0/50 SQUAD UPDATE – Leinster 10 Mile Championships
Report by Des Gill

In what could be best described as awesome weather for ducks our 0/50 men’s squad ran the Leinster 10 mile championship this morning at St Anne’s Park Raheny and finished 4th narrowly missing out on a bronze medal. With the first three to count, Tom Fagan, Ken Cronin and Tony Griffin led the team home on this occasion.

Tom Fagan 1:09:43
Kenneth Cronin 1:10:19
Tony Griffin 1:10:37
Frank McNally 1:16:19.

Also a big shout out to other Donore runners on the course today.
Karen Behan 1:14:10
Angela Eustace 1:18:40
Orlaith McMahon 1:30:03
Shiofra McCarthy 1:41:28
Anna McMahon 1:50:33

Íde Nic Dhomhnaill recently recorded a super win at the Dunboyne 4 Mile road race. She was 1st woman in an impressive 22.05. Sinead Lambe was 5th woman in a new PB of 23.16. First Donore man over the line was Seán Fox (2nd M40). There were also category prizes for Emmet Ó Briain (3rd M40), Peter Gaffney (3rd M45) and James Murphy (2nd MJ) and an unexpected team prize for 4th men’s team of Seán Fox, Emmet Ó Briain, Peter Gaffney and Andy Kinane.

Full Results below:

Seán Fox 21.17 (2nd M40)
Emmet Ó Briain 21.50 (3rd M40)
Peter Gaffney 22.03 (3rd M45)
Íde Nic Dhomhnaill 22.05 (1st W)
Andy Kinane 22.08
Sinead Lambe 23.16 (5th W)
James Murphy 23:23 (2nd MJ)
Ian Redican 27.05
Sian O’Connor 29.25
Jennifer Hogan 37.55