It was a perfect day for running our 22nd Annual Jingle Bells 5K race on Saturday Dec 1st in the Phoenix Park. It was a Sunny, cold day as predicted but far from the cold temperatures we experienced two years ago and not a breeze to contend with. Ronnie Delaney got the race underway at 11am and soon after it was a three man race up front with Paul Robinson (St. Coca’s AC), Thomas Fitpatrick (Tallaght AC) and John Coghlan (MSB) leading the field of about 1400 runners.

Coming down the Upper Glen Road Fitzpatrick and Robinson were neck and neck but Robinson, with a 3.37 1500m PB this year, showed his finishing pace and finished clear winner by about 10 metres. It was the third time the race was run over this course since the winter of 2010 and the Kildare man finished with a course record of 14.18 (14.15 chip), Fitzpatrick followed in 14.20 with John Coghlan posting 14.36 for third place.

In the women’s race Linda Byrne (DSD) finished 9 seconds ahead Kerry Harty (Newcastle AC) with 15.51 and 16.00 respectively. Orla Drumm (Crusaders AC) finished 3rd with a time of 16.33.

We had 1188 adults take part and almost 200 children. Thank you to all who took part, made it a great day, and who supported the race, Donore Harriers and Debra Ireland. Thanks to all the help from those that made the day happen, including our own members, the OPW, the Park Rangers, the Gardai, BHAA, the Civil Defence, Glenn at Championchip, friends of Donore from Clonliffe Harriers, MSB and Liffey Valley AC.

Tymon Park was the venue for the Dublin Intermediate X-C on Sunday. Thankfully the weather Gods smiled on the runners as the wind and rain which is synonymous with the foothills of the Dublin Mountains was replaced by pleasant sunshine. The ladies had two laps of a flat course around football pitches while the men had 4 laps on the menu. The course is deceptively flat though where early exuberance can lead to a long race.

A depleted but solid team for the ladies and all the girls gave their best with strong performances all round. First in was Breda Mahoney in 16th who is getting seasoned to the cross country with every race. She got herself into a very good position tucked in behind the main pack on the first lap. Unfortunately she was feeling a little unwell and could not capitalise on this fine first lap but battled on courageously to the finish. Sharon Moore is likewise becoming a more seasoned cross country runner finished next in 18th and like Breda will continue to improve the more experience she gets, next in was Marianne Dunleavy who had a great run in 20th followed by another newbie on the country Kristina Gonzalez in 29th and Michele Murphy in 30th. A great team effort girls well done. It would have been nice to have got a team medal with such a good effort and some key runners missing from the team but it was not to be and they ended up 4th losing out to Liffey Valley, nevertheless this was a very respectable result in the circumstances, we lost another of our runners Audrey Doyle who had to pull up after half a lap when she got a freak knee injury coming around one of the sharp bends, it was a very disappointing end to her race especially as she had been in great running form after the Dublin marathon but hopefully it is only a short term setback.

The mens race over 8km proved to be a very entertaining affair. Upfront Dmitrijis Serjogins of Clonliffe Harriers was victorious after finally breaking away from Paul Stephenson of Rathfarnham and Colm O’Connell of Raheny Shamrocks on the last lap. Jonathan Daly continued his fine run of recent form with a 10th place finish to lead the Donore team home to fifth place in the team category. This was a fruitful experience for him as he went with the pace early on and managed to stay stong throughout the race. Fergal Whitty who only arrived in the Tymon Park car park fifteen minutes before the starting gun was the next Donore man home in 14th place. Again he used the familiar strategy of a relaxed start before coming through the field. Next up was Fergal Swaine and Darren Hand in 33rd and 34th position to round off the scoring team on the day. Fergal and Rob Smullen ran together for much of the race before Rob faded a little on the last lap. It was however a very encouraging run from Rob who should improve a great having only taken up running relatively recently. Darren showed no ill-effects of a heavy racing schedule in recent times and appeared to be running better the longer the race went on which sets him up nicely as he represents Cavan in the Intercounties next weekend. Next home for Donore were Gerry McDonald and St. John Walsh. Gerry as is typical of the man gave his all for the Donore vest and can be very satisfied with his performance. St John also had a very strong performance and is sure to improve over the season as he becomes accustomed to running on the country again.

Other results during the week were the Run In the Dark in aid of the Mark Pollock Trust, We had Anne Curley 37.17, Charlie O’Neill 43.10 and Eilish Joyce 50.02 and in the 5k we had Richard Beades in 19.53. A belated congrats to him also for his recent 3.29 in the Dublin Marathon! We may have other runners in this so apologies for any omissions and let us know if you ran and a big thanks to Julia and Cliodhna who were doing flyer duty for the Jingle Bells 5k at the finish.

John Travers also took part in the recent University road relays in Maynooth representing Athlone IT. John ran a 3 mile leg clocking 14.20.