It was a terrific weekend for the our junior and juvenile athletes with the announcement that Alex Clarkin (110h) and Aoife Lynch (200m) had both been selected to represent Ireland in the European Youth Championships in Tbilisi, Georgia (July 14 – 17). Hopefully this will be their first of many Irish caps. In Tullamore Sean Lawlor continued on his winning ways when he added another National title to his list with winning the Junior mens 100m in 10.84 also getting selected for the World Under Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland as part of the 4×100 mens relay team. Zak Higgins had a great run in the junior mens 400m placing 3rd with Paul McDermot placing 2nd in the 200m and Oran O’Brien placing 3rd in the 35lb weight. Well done to all and best of luck to our 3 athletes who will represent Ireland later in the month, we are all very proud of your achievements. Well done also to coaches coaches John Geoghan, Paul Clarkin and Gerry Ronan.

John Travers made the trip to the Danny McDaid Athletics Track in Letterkenny, Co. Donegal. The race was won by Englishman Lee Emanuel in a time of 3:59:66 with John running 4:05:79 to finish 6th.

Elsewhere, Fergal Whitty had a great run at the Achill Half Marathon where he finished 2nd in 01:16:41. Also running were some of our Fit4life athletes who are coached under the guidance of Barry Potts. Neil Maddox was first home in 01:42:24 with Anne Rushe 01:55:16, Cariosa Walsh 02:13:11 and Anna MacMahon 02:24:11. Anne’s husband Rory Campbell also ran a fine race when he finished 5th in 01:22:37.

In the Clonee 10K last Friday night Donore were well represented. Anthony Flannery (34:20) and Sean Fox (34:22) lead the charge for the club and finished in 7th and 8th respectively. Other results were as follows: 32nd Alastire Brown 37:31, 33rd Shane Russell 37:33, 38th Declan Lynch 38:09, 73rd Ken McKeown 41:22 and 109th Jill Dempsey 44:53. Well done to all.

On Saturday in the Irish Runner Paced Miles (Phoenix Park) Oliver Hopkins ran 06:33 with Dad Graham on his shoulder also running 06:33 with Barbara Hopkins running 09:03. Terry Mee ran 06:37.

Earlier in the week Alma Hanevy was a close 2nd woman in the very wet 5k BHAA trail race in the Phoenix park in a time of 20.16 and she was 28th overall. Terry Mee won the m70 class in 23.52.

Saturday also saw the staging of the Inaugural Donore Pub Run which started out from the club at 4pm, taking in the Villager, Myos, The Hole in the Wall and finished in The Mullingar House. It was a great event and about 40 Donore members took part. A big thank you to those that hatched the plan (Ken and Joe, I think) also a big thank you to Alan who organised it and thank you to Ash from Run Logic and Peter who along with Ash cycled forth and got the beers in. Looking forward to next years event already!

John Travers was in action again on the track just two days are winning the National 1,500m in Santry. This time the venue was the Cork Institute of Technology Stadium on Tuesday June 28th. This was the staging of the 65th annual Cork City Sports which has seen some great athletics over the years and is always a crowd puller. One of the main events is the Men’s mile and Travers made the trip to take part. John finished 4th in a time of 4:04:12. The race was won by Ryan Gregson of Australia in a time of 4:01:37. Full results can be found HERE

Some late results to announce from the most recent Dublin graded meet staged mid last week include the Dublin 3000m championship for men and women. Congratulations to Ide Nic Dhomhnaill the new Dublin women’s champion after winning the race in a new PB of 10.21. In the men’s race John Dunne won bronze in a time of 9.02.34, clubmate Michael McMahon wasn’t far behind in 9.03.15 and Luke Boland finished in a time of 9.45.31.

Morton Stadium, Santry hosted all the action in the National Senior Track and Field Championships over the weekend. Day one secured the first of two medals from the championships for Donore. Eamonn Fahey ran 21:95 in the final of the 200m and took the bronze medal. On Saturday John Travers took to the track after securing his spot from Saturday’s heats of the 1500m. The race became a battle of tactics as it slowed down to a pedestrian pace by 200m with no one prepared to go early. Most probably expected Travers to twitch and kick on but he held back until a break was made from 300m out. By 150m out Travers was on the shoulders of Cormac Kelly (St. Abban’s) and Eoin Everard (KCH) and passed Everard in the home straight to clinch his first National outdoor title in a conservative time of 4:01.19. congratulations to both John and Eamonn.

Earlier in the day Eric Keogh, Ray Hynes and Daragh Fitzgibbon competed in the 5,000m final and finished in 5th (14:37.28) and 7th (14:50.76) and 2nd (15:21.30)respectively.

There was a great showing of Donore athletes over both days, a number of them were competing at the National Seniors for the first time, some moving up from the Junior ranks. On Saturday Lynda Ngankam, who recently became a senior, finished 5th in the triple jump with 11.18. Having progressed from Saturday’s heats Caoimhe Mackay placed 7th in the 400m hurdles (1:10.72) and Ailbhe Healy finished 4th in the polevault on count back.

Sinead Lambe who has enjoyed the season at the 800m distance made Sunday’s final with a fastest losers qualification from Saturday. Sinead finished in 8th position in a time of 2:20.13. Unfortunately Karla Doran didn’t qualify from her heat on Day 1 in the 400m. Karla finished 4th in 1:06.53. Similarly David Campbell didn’t progress from his heat when he finished 7th in 53:86. Kenneth Nugent was our sole entrant in the 10,000 which was a straight final on Saturday afternoon and finished 8th in a time of 31:52.22. Sunday morning heats in the Men’s 110m hurdles saw Rolus Olusa through to the afternoon final where he finished in a time of 15:48. Eamonn Fahey also clinched the Men’s B final in 11:17. Well done to all.

Elsewhere, Desmond Gill finished in 20.45 at the Portmarnock 5k with Michelle Rowley coming in at 22.32.  In the SouthEast Michael Barry ran the Waterford Viking Marathon just dipping under the 4 hour mark in 3.59.41.  Sean Browne finished in 1.52.54 in the half marathon event the same day.

Meanwhile Sean Lawlor was competing in Mannheim in Germany over the weekend. Update to follow.

A sizeable contingent of Donore athletes made the trip to Kilcock to take part in the Kilcock 5K hosted by St. Coca’s AC. No doubt many of them were in search of PBs on a course that has a reputation for being flat and quick. There were some great performances with Mark Dooley leading the Donore pack with a 5th place finish in 15:37. Rossa Hurley who has made great progress recently was just 10 seconds off Mark and finished in 8th place with 15:47. Aisling Swaine was the first Donore woman home in 18:16. Juniors Paul O’Neill and Michael Gibbs also took part and finished in 4th and 6th respectively in the men’s junior category. Paul was chasing a fast time and was hoping to break the 17 minute barrier. He clocked exactly 17:00 with Michael running south of 18mins with 17:56. The men’s race was won by Peter Somba of Dunboyne AC in 14:56 with Orla Drumm (Crusaders AC) taking the women’s race with 16:32. Well done to all. Donore results are as follows:

5th Mark DOOLEY 15:37
8th Rossa HURLEY 15:47
17th Eoin HANNON 16:21
23rd Philip HENNESSY 16:26
24th Fergal WHITTY 16:27
30th Sean FOX 16:32
34th Fergal SWAINE 16:37
48th Patrick Byrne 16:59
49th Paul O’NEILL 17:00 (4th Jnr)
50th Andrew WILSON 17:03
56th Alan FARRELL 17:10
72nd Michael GIBBS 17:56 (6th Jnr)
86th Aisling Swaine 18:16 (7th FS)
87th Ollie Kearney 18:17
128th Gareth MACCAULY 19:12
145th Sinead GRAHAM 19:29(18th FS)
244th Jona KALEM 22:21 (53rd FS)
373rd Angela MCKEENA 28:16 (122nd FS)

Many more Donore athletes will be taking part in Santry this weekend at the Glo Health Senior National Track and Field Championships. The very best of luck to them. Hopefully the weekend weather will be kind to athletes who are still hunting European and Olympic qualifying times Starting. Entries for Saturday and Sunday’s competitions can be found HERE.

Finally we wish Sean Lawlor the very best of luck this weekend. Sean is in Mannheim, Germany competing with the Irish 4x100m Junior team. Best of luck also to Andie, Alex, Max and Kolade competing for their schools tomorrow in the Tailteann games.

Round 1 of the National track and field league took place in a largely sunny Santry stadium on Sunday 12 June. The men in the premier division were in a tough pool with clubs such as DSD and Clonliffe and the women in division 1 faced off many strong county teams.

Early in the day we started with the hurdles and walks. Lauren Kennedy got things off on a solid footing with 4th place in the 100h and multieventer Rolus Olusa was a great 2nd in the 110H in 16.02. In the 400H, Caoimhe Mackey was delighted with her 1 second PB of 68.72 and 3rd place. The versatile Mael Lambert finished 3rd in the men’s in 62.32. League stalwart Anne Gormley picked up points for 3rd in the 1500m walk despite suffering from a chest infection.

The first relay event, the 4×100 didn’t go so well for the men this time with a 7th place in a tightly fought race. The ladies fared better with an excellent 3rd place, very impressive considering the team of Robyn, Suzi, Lauren and Ciara was reconfigured owing to key member Lynda Ngakam’s absence due to illness.

There was maximum points next in the 1500m with Eric Keogh’s convincing win in 3.54.33. Karla Doran clinched 2nd spot for the ladies in a close finish of 5.04.52

Maura Kearns clocked up a PB in the 400m in 62.60 and a 3rd spot in an event she is new to. One of most dramatic moments of the day was courtesy of Zak Higgins in the men’s 400m who literally fell over the line to secure a super 2nd spot and a PB in 50.23.

Sorcha Nic Dhomhnaill was very impressive in the 3000m with a 3rd place in 10.37. Mael Lambert showed he can move from 400h to the gruelling jumps of the 3000m S/C with ease finishing 2nd place in 9.38.

Aoife Lynch can’t put a foot wrong at the moment with a string of wins and an upcoming Irish vest in the European Youths. She delivered again with 2nd in the 200m in 24.71. Paul McDermott clinched 3rd in the men’s race in 22.10. In the guest 200m, the ever improving Adam Halpin ran 23.54 PB and David Campbell 23.92

In the 800m Sinead Lambe led the race at one point but fought hard in the 2nd lap when the placings changed and was an impressive 3rd in 2.23.39. Eric Keogh doubled up and did the men’s 800 in a close finishing 3rd with 1.57.28. Michael McMahon gave it everything in the men’s 5000m and was unlucky to be just pipped by a DSD runner he had earlier overhauled, only half a second separated 1st and 2nd place, he finished in 15.21.88.

Late call-up Suzi O’Farrell did wonderfully well in the 100m with 4th place in 13.41. In the men’s race Cian O’Reilly was 7th in 11.87.

In the field events, the ladies showed their current strength in the throws with Clodagh Read 2nd in the hammer in 38.74. Lauren O’keeffe guested with 52.72 and Orlaith Read threw 30.67 in her hammer weight. Eoin Molloy was 2nd in the men’s hammer in 39.69
Clodagh Read threw to 3rd in the discus in 23.51 and u19 Dublin champion Oran O’Brien got maximum points in the men’s discus with 33.69.
Mimi Ajagebo was 4th in the shot in 8.68 and triple Leinster Master champion Niall Allen was 5th for the men in 10.79. He went on to finish 2nd in the 56lb weight for distance.

Andie Maguire was another late call up for the long jump and triple jump and she finished a fine 4th in both with a PB of 8.98 in the triple. Multi-eventer Kolade Abidoun finished 5th in the long jump 5.83 and Rolus Olusa appeared again in the TJ 11.95 to come 5th. Gabhan O’Tighearnaigh had a best of 1.75 to finish 4th in the high jump with Roisin Rynn finishing 7th for the women. Ailbhe Healy easily won the pole Vault event in 2.70 and Rolus Olusa finished 5th for the men.
Jako Oostenhaven was impressive as ever in the Javelin with a best of 57.85 and 2nd place. Lauren O’Keeffe scored 6th for the women in 17.58.

Final event of the day as always was the 4x400m relay. The ladies had their best ever day in this event where they have been used to finishing last! but with more of the ladies now doing the distance, there was a 3rd placed finish with a great last 100m by Maura Kearns, cumulative time 4.14. (Team Caoimhe Mackey, Clodagh Martin, Karla Doran and Maura Kearns) In the men’s event, Zak Higgins repeated his heroics in the solo 400, his last spurt clinched 4th place for the men and a 3.33.76 cumulative time. (Team David, Adam, Mael and Zak)

The men finished 3rd in their pool (only 1 point off 2nd) with 107points. (crusaders were 108 and Clonliffe topped the pool with 123), an excellent result with the Santry pool being the more competitive overall. When pool b in Athlone was counted, the men are 4th, a great start.

The ladies had their best ever round finishing 2nd in Pool A only 2 points off Sli Cualann. When pool B was counted, the ladies are 4th overall. Amazingly, the ladies were able to field athletes in every event, a far cry from 5 years ago when it was a struggle to make up the numbers, this is a team to watch. The late Jim McNamara would have been proud.

There was great support from coaches, parents, other club members, David provided block assistance and above all Leonie Newman, coordinator supreme ! Roll on round 2 on 17 July.

Graded track and field meeting 4 took place in Santry with a number of good results.

Eamon Fahey is building up his season again with 2nd place in the 100a in 11.00 seconds. He was also impressive in the 400m, not his usual event, dipping below 50 seconds in 49.14.  Maura Kearns won the B400m in 62.62 with Sinead lambe 3rd in 63.12, Karla Doran 8th in the A in 65.16 the trio are only new to this distance but have been racing over 800m.  In the 400B race David Campbell ran 53.78 to 3rd place.  Sean o’broinn was 5th in the men’s c100 in 12.4 and newcomer Laura Voineag ran 14.61 4th in the ladies 100m
Twins Sorcha and Ide Nic Dhomhnaill both got 1500m PBs with Sorcha 5th in 4.47.14 and Ide milliseconds behind in 4.47.78.
In the men’s races Luke Boland was 5th in the B race in 4.23.26 and George Brady 5th in the c race in 4.33.96, Kevin Nolan 4.42.
In his first ever track race, Colm Mullen did really well and dipped under 5 minutes in 4.59.37.  Orlaith Read threw 32.15 in the 4kg hammer and Lauren O’keeffe 57.12 in 3kg class.

The popular Irish runner 5 mile road race, first of the summer race series attracted a few thousand runners to the Phoenix park on Sunday. First home for Donore was Patrick Byrne in 26th place. Amy Moriarty was 10th woman and got a PB and Bronagh Elliott was 3rd W40. Results in full:
Patrick Byrne 29.02
Declan Lynch 30.57
Alan Farrell 32.36
Amy Moriarty 32.49
Kevin Odgers 32.54
Stephen Dawson 33.52
Bronagh Elliott 34.15
John Gleeson 35.08
Tony Griffin 35.13
Angela Eustace 36.39
Mary McDermott 37.52
Noel Davis 38.20
Daryl dart 38.24
Terry Mee 39.11
Charlie O’Neill 39.17
Laura Murray 40.08
Dana Mackey 41.01
Michelle Dawson 41.34
Liagh Miller 42.53
Leonie Barry 44.13
Claire Devanney 44.16
Aidan Kearns 48.01
Amandine Devine 48.40
Eimear Kearney 52.50
Anna McMahon 53.57
Aoife Rickard was the female winner of the DBRC 5 mile summit run in Howth on s very hilly course in 36.58 and 6th overall with Des Gill 11th in 38.16.
Mary Murphy ran 49.02 in the Newbridge 10k.
Niall Lynch continued his winning ways in the Sorrel Hill IMRA race in the Leinster league finishing 2nd.

It has been a very busy weekend for our juvenile and junior athletes. In Dublin it was the last of the u/10 to u/16 league with mixed weather we had a small number of athletes who performed well. We will have full results during the week but it’s looking like we may have 2 athletes in medal contention. Great to see Michael and Sean trying out hurdles for the first time. In the 5km Calcutta run 10 year old Oliver Hopkins was the first u/18 to finish. In Greystones we had a small number of older juvenile and junior athletes up first was Zak Higgins winning the 400m in 50.70. Next up was Caoimhe Mackey who won the 400m hurdles in 69.5 with a new pb and in her first 400m hurdles race Clodagh Martin finished 5th. In the 100m Aoife Lynch continued her good form by placing 3rd in a time of 12.41 after finishing 2nd in the 200m matching her pb of 24.8 that she ran last week. Paul McDermott broke 22 seconds for the first time in the 200m finishing 3rd he then went on to finish 3rd in the 100m in 11.11. We had two junior relay teams competing the boys team Alex Clarkin, Zack Higgins, Conor Fox and Paul McDermott won the junior men’s tile in a new record time of 44.34. The girls relay team of Eve Reilly, Roisin Rynn, Robyn O’Keeffe and Lauren Flatherty finished 2nd in a time of 53.10. Both relay teams did very well for their first time running together. in Enniscorthy today Lara O’Byrne competed in the u/17 Leinster combined events and won with an overall total score of 3445. Well done all.

Leinster Juniors; Zak Higgins 1st 400m
Caoimhe Mackey 1st 400m hurdles, Clodagh Martin 5th
Aoife Lynch 3rd 100m, 2nd 200m
Paul Mcdermott 3rd 100m, 3rd 200m
Robyn O’Keeffe 7th 200m
Womens relay 2nd
Mens relay 1st
Lara O’Byrne 1st combined events under 17

In the Calcutta Run 10K, Florence Curley was the first woman in 42:04 with Branagh Elliott 3rd in 44:35.  Julia Hackett ran the 5K running a time of 22:19.