Category Archives: Fit 4 Life

Donore Fit4Life Kinvara Rock and Road (Trip) – Report

Club News, Events, Fit 4 Life, Results

Kinvara Rock and Road Report

The Fit4Life group coached by Barry Potts travelled to to the wilds of Ireland’s west in Kinvara for the Rock and Road which was rescheduled from the springtime. Thanks Barry & Jo Hughes for the report and photos.

8 of the group participated in the half and 2 in the 10k. Everyone ran very well on a trying hilly course on a hot day, and not taking anything away from fantastic and committed efforts, Sean Browne deserves a mention coming home in a great time of 1.52. 2018 it was our 2nd year to run the event.

The group went to Kinvara community centre for tea and Anne Rush’s home-made sandwiches: had them out in the sun! Then it was Sexton’s pub for rehydration and dinner at the Pier Head.

Finishers in half marathon were Barry Potts who won the M60 group too, Sean Brown (1.52.51) , Deirdre O’Reilly(1.53.03) (sister of Niamh and new friend to us all), Andrew Maguire (1.57.13), Deirdre Healy O’Brien (1.58.57), Jo Hughes(2.01.18) , Anne Rush (2.06.41), Shiofra McCarthy (2.24.43)Sinead McKiernan (2.24.34) . Finishers in 10k were Niamh O’Reilly(50.50) and Julie Gallagher (65.37).

All stayed in The Merriman Hotel and enjoyed breakfast together and a walking tour of Kinvara.

Barry is very proud to coach the group and looks forward to future races!

Round-Up: National Masters & Leinster Indoors, IUAA XC & Road Results

Club News, Fit 4 Life, Results, Senior, Uncategorized

Track report
There was good news from the National Masters Indoors Championships in Athlone on Sunday. There was a double success for Donal Iremonger in the M45 class. He won silver in the 800m in an excellent time of 2.09.34 and he won the 400m in 55.18.

Anne Gormley won gold in the W50 3000M walk in a time of 19.53 which is a season’s best.

Last week there were multiple medals in the Leinster track and field indoors (results took a while to go up so here they are in full). Notable here was the silver for John Travers in the senior men’s 800m in 1.55.33 – a last sharpener before he went to Belgrade for the European Indoors. Ray Hynes got silver in the 3000m in 8.35.55 – great to see him back in the frame. In masters competition, there was gold M45 for Donal Iremonger in the 400m in 55.94. In the men’s 4×200 relay there was team silver – congratulations David Campbell, Adam Halpin, Conor Fox and Jack Rudden Kelly
David Campbell 400m 52.84 7th
Adam Halpin 400m 53.43 10th
Kevin Nolan 4.22.52 1500m 7th
Rory Owens 9.27.83 3000m 6th

Road and cross country roundup

The big result of the weekend was Daragh Fitzgibbon’s bronze medal in the IUAA cross country championships in a soggy Abbotstown – terrific run for Darragh who is going from strength to strength and he also helped his UCD Bears team to the silver team medal. Having a fine run in the women’s race was Jona Kalemi running for DCU in 38th place.

On the road there was a good run from Rossa Hurley in the Longford 10k who came 2nd in 33.35 coming back well from his injury. Belated well done to last week’s winners – Sorcha Nic Dhomhnaill was the ladies winner in the Adare 10k back in her native Limerick – this race attracted over 500 runners and she had a very tight finish to win by 3 seconds (38.30) on a tough, hilly course. Brother Aogan came 5th overall in 34.25. Seán Fox finished 3rd overall – and 1st M40 – in the very hilly Windmill 10k in Garristown on Sunday.

Ken McKeown was first home for Donore in 15th in the Kinvara 10k. Also representing the club in Kinvara was a crew of 15 Fit4Lifers from Donore, including coach Barry Potts, 13 of whom tackled the half with another 2 Fit4Lifers racing the 10k. Niamh O’Reilly did 1.48.08 and Neil Maddox did 1.45.19 in the half-marathon (both PBs).

Over in her native county Clare, Barbara Cleary was 1st woman and 3rd overall in the Michael Egan 5 mile in Quilty on another hilly lap – she won in 29.29

Report by Florence Curley with additional detail by Deirdre Healy
Picture courtesy of Deirdre Healy

Fit4life September & October news update

Club News, Fit 4 Life

September

Huge well done to all of the Fit4life members that participated in the Dublin Half Marathon, another great presence from the fit4life gang and again on a not so easy course and some of you came through the finish in great times. Lavinia Kirwin never ceases to amaze us now with her times of late, crossing the line in her first ever half marathon distance in a time of 2:27:00 she is proving to be an inspiration J Barry Jennings came home in a very impressive 1:50:36, following just behind him was Pat Nolan 1:55:40, and Andrew Maguire 1:59:00 and again brilliant times. Emily Malcolm 2:06:00, Linda Byrne 2:17:00, Sinead Clancy 2:36:00, Nigel Elliot, well done!

Also to say a huge well done to Nicola Dowdall who took part in the Docklands 20 mile race and finished in a very impressive time of 2:46:20 J

October

Now to the Dublin City Marathon, overall we had 8 members of the fit4life group take part this year which is almost double the amount of last year. I know how hard you all worked over the past 6 months or so and your dedication was unrelenting. The doubts that crossed minds, niggling injuries, colds, family and work commitments and yet you still managed the training and went out on the day and gave it your all. Weather conditions were not too bad either on the day, nice and sunny. Some of you breaking the 4 hour barrier on your first marathon and some of you on your 3rd and all of you getting PB’s!!! So what can I say to you all other than you are a fantastic bunch and you done yourselves proud and represented the fit4life section here in Donore Harriers in your true resilient style. So again a huge well done to Nicola Dowdall, Elaine Verdon, Laura Murray, Emily Malcolm, Sandra Telford, Andrew Maguire, Ivan Brown and Eimear J

Also a huge well done to our Deirdre Healy who participated in the NY Marathon and crossed the line in a superb time of 4:21:00

Best of luck to you all in any forthcoming races you have in mind Fit4lifers.

We can’t all be heroes because someone has to sit on the curb and clap as they go by.”

Fit4Life August update

Fit 4 Life

Huge well done to all the Fit4Life gang who took part in the Frank Duffy 10 mile race on Saturday. You all did a fantastic job on a not-so-easy course. 14 of you took part and what a great representation from Fit4Life. A lot of runners making their debut in the 10 mile so hats of to you guys for taking part. Nicola Dowdall who is in training for the Dublin Marathon kept her PB of 76 mins for the race and considering she was coming of an injury she did a great job! Next in was Nigel Elliot in a great time of 79:30 and to follow him was Chris Minihan 79:51, Barry Jennings did a fantastic PB of 82:38 for his first 10 mile race. Pat Nolan followed in with 84:31 Peter Daly also set a PB of 84:41 for his first 10 mile. Eimear Kearney set herself a nice PB of 86:00 for her first 10 mile race and Andrew Maguire followed in with 86:50. Emily Malcolm came in a great time of 87:59 and following suit was John Powell who also bagged himself a PB of 91:54 Laura Murray stepped up with a PB of 92:21. Also with a PB and first 10 mile was Amadine Divine who came home in 1:43:20 and Lavinia Kirwin who is not short of pulling out all the stops with her race times lately, she came home in a great time for her first 10 mile race in 1:44:35 and Adrienne Seery who was also doing her first 10 mile was  home in 1:46:22. What brilliant results for you all, Fit4Life you are a great bunch of runners, keep up the training and enjoy whatever races you do may they be big or small.

Well done to you all.

Quote of the day “”Running is a mental sport…and we’re all insane!”

 

Frank Duffy 10 Mile and Weekend Round Up

Club News, Fit 4 Life, Results, Senior

The big race of the weekend was the Frank Duffy 10 mile race in the Phoenix Park (which also doubles as the Dublin 10 mile championship) and 37 Donore runners took part including a good representation from the Fit4Life section.  First home was Fergal Whitty who had another stormer finishing 22nd in overall in 54.49 and he also got the top spot in M35.  Next in was John Dunne in 55.31 and Niall Lynch in 56.10.  The first Donore lady home was Grace Kennedy in 63.27; Grace is back training and racing after a long break from the sport and it’s great to have her back in flying form.  There were lots of fine runs and PBs in this race which saw 3000+ runners pouring through the park and there was the usual great support along the way from Donore members – full results below.

Fergal Whitty 54.49

John Dunne 55.31

Niall Lynch 56.10

Fred Kiernan 57.46

Graham Hopkins 58.32

Sean Fox 59.05

Shane McCauley 62.07

Tony Barry 62.49

Grace Kennedy 63.27

Gerry McDonald 63.28

Stephen Dawson 64.03

Tom Fagan 68.08

Gerard Morris 68.10

Breda Mahony 69.24

Giovanni Borza 69.47

Ian Redican 70.27

Frank McNally 72.13

Sinead Graham 73,27

John Gleeson 73.51

Medbh Peavoy 74.32

Terry Mee 74:57

Nicola Dowdall 76.03

Kim Strickland 79.50

Chris Minihan 79.31

Barry Jennings 82.38

Eimear Kearney 86.00

Emily Malcolm 87.59

Peter Daly 84.41

Andrew Maguire 86.50

Dana Mackey 89.52

John Powell 91.54

Laura Murray 92.51

Adrienne Seery 1.46.22

Amandine Devine 1.43.51

Thanks everyone who came to the club afterwards for the Family Day and BBQ.

Elsewhere,  George Brady did his latest marathon in the Longford Marathon where he finished in 3.01.43.

Rhona Duane was 2nd lady at the APFS 5k in Huntstown 20.54, Joan McTernan was 1st W50 in 22.52 and Dave Hudson did an identical time.

Eva Campion finished in 29.13 at the Tinryland 4 mile race in her native Carlow.

New member Liagh Miller finished the Kinsale 10 mile race in 86.25.

Fit4Life May-August Update

Club News, Fit 4 Life, Meet & Train, Results

What a fantastic way to start of the summer season, weather we could only have dreamed off, I’m now calling it warm weather training without the cost!! Once again the Fit4Life gang are doing fantastic since April, more races, more challenges and lots of new PB’s.

There were a number of races in May and a few stood out for some of the gang. The women’s Meet & Train set the pace for 3 girls, Janette & Kim Strickland and Lavinia Kirwin where all 3 set PB’s for the 5k race in Irishtown. David Wogan added a new PB of 18:45 to his record for the Lucan 5k (which is not surprising) James McCabe got himself a PB of 1:01:02 in the Maynooth.

June brought its own little surprises too with Robert Coogan doing a fantastic race in the Docklands 10k and bagging himself a PB of 38 mins!! Nice one Robert!  Lavinia Kirwin setting the standard for herself once again with another 10k PB of 58:00 mins in the women’s mini marathon and Janette Strickland‘s PB of 45:00 mins for the Dunshaughlin 10k.

July saw some great running from Ann Rush who took a chunk of 6 mins of her half marathon time in Achille. Well done Ann.

August brings us to date and the first race of the month kicked off with the Rock-n-Roll half marathon. Elaine Verdon who is in training for the Dublin City Marathon is in flying form and done a fantastic time for her half marathon in 1:44:06 (I should mention Elaine is doing super this year and has done PB’s in every race so far) keep it up. Laura Murray did a great job also and came in at 2:07:10 great job Laura.

Well done to you all and keep up the training and great running. As always a big thanks to coach Barry Potts who is always there to put us through our paces.

Inspirational Running quote for the month…

“In running, it doesn’t matter whether you come in first, in the middle of the pack, or last. You can say, ‘I have finished.’ There is a lot of satisfaction in that.” -Fred Lebow

Results:

May

Tallaght 5k 
Nicola Dowdall: 22:00

Dublin Bay 10k
Eva Campion: 47:38 (PB)

Women’s Meet & Train 5k (2nd race summer league) 
Janette Strickland: 20:54 (PB)
Kim Strickland: 23:21,
Lavinia Kirwin: 27:56

Lucan 5k
Dave Wogan: 18:45 (PB)

Mayo 10K
Deirdre Healy: 53:34

Maynooth 10K
James McCabe: 1:01:02 (PB)
Lavinia Kirwin 59:44 (PB)

Women’s Meet & Train 4m (3rd race summer league)
Janette Strickland: 28:09
Kim Strickland: 30:22
Lavinia Kirwin: 33:45

June

Flora Women’s Mini Marathon
Lavinia Kirwin: 58:51 (PB)

Bohermeen 5k
David Wogan: 20:20

Raheny Midsummer 5k
Janette Strickland: 22:25

Dunshaughlin 10k
Janette Strickland: 44:45 (PB of 3 mins)

Docklands 10k
Robert Coogan: 38:09 (PB)

August

Rock-n-Roll Half Marathon
Elaine Verdon: 1:44:06 (PB)
Laura Murray: 2:07:10

 

Fit4Life May Update

Fit 4 Life

Welcome back runners, bright nights are back in so it makes training all that more enjoyable and race season has begun!! Just to update you all about some of the races so far this year and the Fit4Life crew who have taken part in them. Well done to you all, some of you doing your first ever race 10k races while others are looking to improve on times, especially Elaine Verdon who took 9 mins off her 10k time for the Great Ireland Run, excellent job! Dave Wogan (Coach) who’s race diary is nearly getting impossible to keep up with these days went into the year 2013 head on; with 11 races under his belt so far and becoming the overall 3rd place winner of the Lord Mayor’s 5 alive challenge. Great running on Dave’s behalf; how will us mere mortal of runners ever keep up with him!! Well done again, I’m sure there’s more to come from you and the rest of the Fit4life crew so I will keep my pen and book at hand! Also a big thank you to coach Barry Potts for putting us all through our paces!!!

Fit4Life April Results

Fit 4 Life, Results

Dublin CC 4 mile Raheny
Dave Wogan: 24:38 (PB)

Great Ireland Run 10k
Dave Wogan: 41:41
Marie Sherridan: 48:23 (PB)
Eva Campion: 48:26
Elaine Verdon: 49:13(PB)
Tom Dunne: 50:02
Deirdre Healy: 53:08
Aine Grogan: 58:03
Una Glazier: 59:20
Amandine Devine: 1:02:25
Adrienne Seery: 1:02:29
Lavinia Kirwin: 1:03:33
Julie McNamara: 1:04:00
James McCabe: 1:06:20

Samsung Night Run 10k
Dave Wogan: 38:50 (PB)
Simon Doyle: 40:19
Marie Sherridan: 47:23 (PB)
Anne Rush: 51:00
Elaine Verdon: 51:25
John Powell: 56:20
Adrienne Seery: 58:28
Amadine Devine: 58:29
Aine Grogan: 1:01:05
Una Glazier: 1:01:00
Sinead Dunne: 1:03:04
Annette Grealy: 1:03:05