The Donore Harriers men’s track and field team recorded a historic win in the Division One final of the National Track & Field League at Tullamore on Sunday. Having placed third in each of the past two years it was important that the team be duly rewarded for the sheer level of commitment from the athletes and the support team.

Each team is allowed to discard four scores from the 19 events and Donore Harriers did not have a competitor in the 3000m Walk, the Pole Vault and the 400m Hurdles. This meant that there was little margin for below par performances, especially that Nenagh Olympic AC and Kilkenny City Harriers came with serious aspirations of a team win.

The early events saw Donore Harriers ease into the competition. Cathal O’Brien (22.00) got a 5^th place in the 110m Hurdles, whilst Eoin Molloy (36.32m) managed a 3^rd best throw in the Hammer. Eamon Fahey struggled to record a score as the persistent rain hampered his approach in the Long Jump. After two red flags he played it safe in the third round and a jump of 6.19m was good enough for second place.

The team’s sluggish start was not helped by poor baton changes in the 4 x 100m relay. However, the new and inexperienced quartet (Conor O’Ceallaigh; Eamon Fahey; Conor Fox and Sean Lawlor) were still good enough to record a 3^rd placing in a time of 45.30. John Travers (3.59.93), a late replacement for the injured Eric Keogh, kick started the Donore Harriers push to the front. John won a thrilling 1500m overhauling Eoin Everard of Kilkenny on the line.

Third place finishes by team captain David Campbell (52.79) in the 400m and Niall Allen (10.88m) in the Shot Putt kept the Donore Harriers team in contention. Then as the afternoon sunshine replaced the morning rain the team’s charge to the top took full flow. Ray Hynes (9.37.12) ran out an easy winner in the 3000m Steeplechase; Sean Lawlor (22.32) recorded a fine win in the 200m; and Cathal O’Brien (1.75m) jumped to an equal first place in the High Jump. John Travers (1.52.93) returned to the action and came second in the 800m. Mark Dooley (14.51.00) was next on the track and he knocked 8 seconds of his previous best for a fine runner-up placing in the 5000m.

Meanwhile in the field events the team continued to score well as Niall Allen (36.47m) came second in the Discus and Eamon Fahey (13.56m) took the runner-up spot in the Triple Jump. An announcement of team scores had Nenagh in front on 102 points, with Donore on 92 and Kilkelly on 82.5. Obviously discard scores would be a factor, but it was important for the team to get the job done.

Man of the Match Eamon Fahey (10.95) stormed home in the 100m whilst Jaco Oostenhuven (49.64m) took the honours in the Javelin. Jaco then stepped off the track and onto the grass margins to compete in the 56 lbs Hammer event. This was his first experience at this event, but his competitive edge helped secure a 4^th placing with a throw of 4.89m.

There was now just one event left and the announcement of the team scores had Donore in front on 112 with Nenagh on 105 and Kilkenny on 102. As the intensity and excitement of the 4 x 400m increased so too did the decibel level of encouragement from the ‘Donorebate Cheerleaders’ in the Stand. Eamon Fahey opened the account with a 48 seconds lap and the lead, an outstanding effort given that this was his fifth event of the day. David Campbell got passed despite a good 52 seconds leg. Donore and Nenagh were now well clear of the rest. Then up stepped Conor Fox, a junior, for the penultimate leg. Conor ran his heart out! The Nenagh athlete had increased his lead by the 200m marker, but Conor (55s split) reeled him in over the second 200 and took to the front with 30 metres left until the handover. “We needed to finish on a high” claimed team captain David Campbell afterwards. Well they don’t come much higher in performance levels than junior sprinting superstar Sean Lawlor even that he does not feel comfortable racing further than his specialist 200m event. And so it proved to be! Sean (51s split) lost the lead on the first 200 metres, but then he stepped on the gas and to the jubilant Donore supporters romped home with about 10 metres to spare. What a truly great finish! The relay team recorded a time of 3.26.00.

The final team scores: 1. Donore Harriers 115 points; 2. Nenagh Olympic 107; 3. Kilkenny City Harriers 103; 4. Tir Chonaill AC 76; 5. Dunboyne AC 71; 6. Louth County 69; 7. Youghal AC 59; and 8. City Of Derry 58.5. Enormous credit must go to Nenagh and Kilkenny for having made the final a fantastic contest!

Willie Smith, the outgoing club president, addressed the team afterwards: “This is a great way to end my 3 years in term. You did the club proud. You did yourselves proud. They were all great performances out there today and it was fabulous to be here to witness your achievement” Track and Field captain thanked all the athletes and supporters for their efforts and said: “We are a young team and we can have a fantastic future” Track and Field team manager Maurice Ahern added: “This result was 3 years in the making; we deserved our win and I am sure that we can more than hold our own in the Premier division next year”

Other results: Parkrun 5km 

Griffeen Park = 1^st Darren Hand (17.35): Waterstown Park = 23^rd Andrew Maguire M45 (26.42)

At the National Juvenile Combined Events Championships at Tullamore on Saturday (2/8/14) Kolade Abiodun performed brilliantly in wet and blustery conditions to win the u/15s Boys Pentathlon scoring a total of 2837 points. His efforts included: – 80mH (12.51 for 733 pts); High Jump (1.56m = 434); Shot Putt (10.65m = 545); Long Jump (5.06m = 398) and 800m (2.25.75 = 745).

In the same event his team-mate Max Carey was desperately unlucky missing out on the bronze medal by just 7 points to Conor McMahon of Ardee AC. Max scored a total of 2641 points to McMahon’s 2648. Max recorded the following results: – 80mH (12.50 = 734); High Jump (1.47m = 367); Shot Putt (9.02m = 427); Long Jump (5.29m = 439) and 800m (2.31.49 = 674).

In the Girls u/15s Pentathlon Lara O’Byrne came 9^th with a points tally of 1868. Her results were: – 80mH (13.76 = 592); High Jump (1.44m = 555); Shot Putt (7.96m = 397); Long Jump (4.07m = 324) and 800m (DNF).

National Half-Marathon / Rock & Roll HM at Dublin 

M35 2^nd Niall Lynch (1.15.53); M40 17^th Will Morris (1.22.24); M45 4^th Phil Hennessy (1.17.54); M50 35^th David Wogan (1.35.21); 51^st Pat Nolan (1.56.08); M55 12^th Tony Griffin (1.38.21); M60 9^th Charlie O’Neill (1.45.49).

M35-49 Team Result: 1. Raheny Shamrocks (3.44.18) 2. Donore Harriers (3.56.11); 3. Leevale AC (3.58.38)

The Ladies team won the National half marathon masters team title, Anne Curley was 2nd W40, Florence Curley 3rd and Breda Mahony made up the team.  Also running for Donore were Nicola Dowdall, Kim Strickland, Janette Strickland, Sinead Graham and Dave Wogan

Well done too to Rhona, Ashling and Lee in the Glenmore Ac 5k

It was a fantastic final weekend for the Donore Harriers juvenile team at the National Juvenile Track & Field championships at Tullamore over the weekend. A final tally of four gold medals, three silver and five bronze made this the best ever return for the club at these championships as Sean Lawlor, Oran O’Brien, Kalode Abiodun and Max Carey all became national champions.

The gold trail was highlighted by Sean Lawlor as he blitzed both the semi-final and final of the Boys u/18s 200m recording times of 22.68 and 22.46 respectively.

Oran O’Brien (in picture), lay second to Emmet Stout of Celbridge, until a 4^th round throw of 38.65m changed silver to gold in the Boys u/17s Discus. We had two finalists in the Boys u/15s 250m Hurdles after Kolade Abiodun came 3^rd in first Semi-Final and Max Carey finished 2^nd in second Semi-Final as they recorded times of 36.60 and 35.08. In the final it was Kolade who put on the burners recording a brilliant win in 33.81 with Max (35.76) a gallant 5^th. Max, however, recorded a fine win in the Boys u/16s 80m Hurdles final in the time of 12.26.

Our silver medal winners were: – Eoin Molloy (45.13m) in the Boys u/19s Hammer; Jack Rudden-Kelly (13.71) in the Boys u/16s 100m Hurdles; and Lauren O’Keeffe (39.74m) in the Girls u/17s Hammer.

Bronze medals were won by Beth Kirwan (31.42m) in the Girls u/14 Hammer; Adam Maher (40.75m) in the Boys u/15s Hammer; Aibhe Healy in the Girls u/17s Pole Vault (2.56m); Rolus Olusa (23.36) in the Boys u/19s 200m (second in semi-final with a time of 23.70);  and the Girls u/15s 4 x 100m relay team of Cara Brennan, Robyn O’Keeffe, Lara O’Byrne and Suzi O’Farrell who recorded a time of 52.07.

Other club results from the championships include: –

Girls u/12s Turbo Javelin: 16^th Ele NiChonbhui (11.93m)

Girls u/14s Hammer: 7^th Suin Keating (25.42m)

Girls u/14s Discus: 10^th Tanisha Bissett (16.94m)

Girls u/15s 100m Semi-Final: 7^th Cara Brennan (14.09)

Girls u/15s 100m Semi-Final: 6^th Suzi Farrell (13.49)

Girls u/15s Discus: 9^th Robyn O’Keeffe (21.08m); 11^th Cara Brennan NT.

Girls u/15s 80m Hurdles Final: 5^th Lara O’Byrne (13.20); 5^th in semi-final in 13.11.

Girls u/15s 200m Final: 7^th Suzi O’Farrell (27.99), 5^th in semi-final in 27.72

Girls u/15s 250m Hurdles Final: 5^th Lara O’Byrne (39.72), second in semi-final in 39.40

Girls u/15s Javelin: 5^th Rebecca Power (28.54m)

Girls u/16s 250m Hurdles Semi-Final: 6^th Rebecca Slattery (43.48)

Girls u/16s 1500m Final: 9^th Lucy McCann (5.10.07) PB

Girls u/17s 200m Semi-Final: 6^th Aoife Lynch (26.98) PB

Girls u/17s 800m Final: 12^th Claire O’Connor (2.40.94)

Girls u/17s Triple Jump: 8^th Karen Hughes (9.43m) PB

Girls u/17s Hammer: 4^th Clodagh Read (46.12m)

Boys u/12s Shot Putt: 14^th Rian Carey (7.00m)

Boys u/15s Long Jump: 6^th Kolade Abiudun (5.21m); 7^th Max Carey (5.18m)

Boys u/16s Shot Putt: 5^th Jack Rudden-Kelly (12.58m)

Boys u/17s Shot Putt: 4^th Oran O’Brien (10.98m);

Boys u/18s 100m Semi-Final: 5^th Conor Fox (11.98)

Boys u/18s 200m Semi-Final: 5^th Conor Fox (24.45)

Boys u/18s 400m Semi-Final: 5^th Zak Higgins (55.39)

Boys u/18s 3000m Final: 4^th Oisin Fitzgibbon (9.00.01)

Boys u/19s 400m Semi-Final: 6^th Adam Halpin (59.18)

Other Team Relay Results:

Boys u/15s 4 x 100m: 5^th Donore Harriers (51.21) <squad of Kolade Abiodun, Ronan McCooey, Jack Raftery, Max Carey, Ruairi Fitzgibbon and Louis McDonagh>

Boys u/19s 4 x 100m: 4^th Donore Harriers (46.40) <squad of Zak Higgins, Conor Fox, Aidan Doherty, Adam Halpin and Rolus Olusa>

Girls u/16s 4 x 100m: 7^th Donore Harriers (53.29 – 52.76 in qualifying) <squad of Roisin Rynn-Cahill, Katie Comiskey, Suzi O’Farrell, Robyn O’Keeffe, Lauren O’Flaherty and Aoife Lynch>

Girls u/17s 4 x 100m: DQ Donore Harriers <squad of Clodagh Read, Karen Hughes, Claire O’Connor, Aoife Lynch, Katie Coombes and Lauren O’Flaherty>

Juvenile Team Manager Leonie Newman said: “This was a fantastic end of season result for the club and a big thanks to all our coaches who give up many hours to coach and mentor our athletes”

Donore Harriers were very much to the fore in the 3^rd running of the Donadea Running Club 5km race in Donadea Forest with Lee Van Haeften (15.34) placing second, Mark Dooley (15.41) 3^rd and Daragh Fitzgibbon (16.08) 4^th. This race is part of the North Kildare Summer Running League Series of races and the route is contained completely in the forest on the trail paths. The race, run in warm and humid conditions, was won by Irish Olympic marathon runner Mark Kenneally of Clonliffe Harriers in a time of 15.15.

Other results include: – 15^th Darren Hand (17.26); 37^th Liam Hickey (19.08); 41^st Stephen Dawson (19.27); 45^th Joe Murphy (19.31), Michelle Dawson (26.29).

In the inaugural Mullingar 10 mile road race the star performances came from two athletes who only took up the sport within the last year. Michael McMahon (54.59) placed 4^th overall, whilst Garvan Smith (57.46) placed 13^th and was the winner of the M40 category. Other results include: – 5^th Fergal Whitty (55.36); 11^th Chris Muldoon (56.43); 16^th Sean Fox (57.52); 21^st Will Morris (58.54); 38^th Shane McAuley (62.18), 39^th Des Tremble M40 (62.44) and Tom Fagan M40 (66.59).

The final BHAA race of the season, the Dublin Fire Brigade 5km, took place at Marino on Sunday morning. The Donore contingent was led home by Graham Hopkins M40 (16.54) who placed 5^th. The others included, David Wogan M50 (19.53);  Ian Redican M40 (19.56); Janette Strickland 2nd W40 21.15, Frank McNally M50 (21.40), Terry Mee M70 (22.12), and Ann Woodlock 1st W75 27.44

5km Parkrun Results (26/7/14): Marlay Park = 18^th Paul Cummins (19.09); Griffeen Park = 3^rd George Brady M35 (18.28)

Results from Open Graded Meeting No. 7 at Santry (23/7/14): 100m A = 1^st Eamon Fahey (10.96); 100m B = 2^nd Rolus Olusa (11.62); 8^th David Campbell (11.92); 100m C1 = 2^nd Sean O’Broin M45 (12.29); 100m C2 = 2^nd Cian O’Reilly (11.91)

800m B = 5^th Henry English (2.06.29); 800m C = Luke Boland (2.10.82); 800m D = Terry Mee M70 (2.53.33)

5000m A = 3^rd Ray Hynes (15.05.78).

3000m = Rhona Duane 10th 11.54.14

100m B = Ailise Keating 6th 13.50

Pole Vault = Ailbhe Healy 2nd 2.4 metres

This weekend  it was the turn of our young athletes to strut their stuff at the Dublin Juvenile  Track and Field Championships. This they did in style. A record 102 young athletes, many competing in numerous events flew the Donore colours as never before. Not all can win medals but they gave it everything and performed to their best, gaining  invaluable experience in the process. For many it was their first taste of Championship competition. 

We had high expectations for medals but these were exceeded by the fantastic performances of our young athletes.At the end of three days, our athletes had amassed a total medal haul of 57 medals, made up of 24 gold, 19 silver and 14 bronze.

There were lots of stars for the club, although we don’t want to pick out some over others. However when an athlete wins 5 gold and a silver as Kaladay Abidon did, then it has to be seen as special. Lara O’Byrne produced a number of fantastic performances to win 2 golds, 2 silver and 2 bronze. Add in Max Carey’s 2 golds and 3 seconds, Jack Rudden- Kelly’s 3 gold and 1 silver, Rebecca Power taking three golds in Hammer, Javelin  and Discus.

A new first in the history of the club history was achieved in the U17 Girls Pole Vault when Aibne Healy became the first Donore athlete to win a Dublin Juvenile Pole Vault Championship.

There were lots of other great performances from our medal winners. It should be remembered that several of our athletes are taking their Leaving and Junior certs at the moment, so it is great credit to them and their parents to make time compete in these championships 

An excellent spread sheet of all the results has been done by Gemma Carey, which will be available in the club house and hopefully on-line.This was a huge logistical and organisational operation by the juvenile section lead by Leonie Newman and her team of dedicated administrators, including Linda , Natalie, Judy, Michael, Gemma and others including our parents. To all congrats on a superb job done. Finally, to our brilliant coaches congratulations on your excellent results and thank you for all the work done with our young athletes over the years. The club is now reaping the rewards of your skill and dedication. We are so lucky to have coaches of your calibre.

At the Bohermeen Patrick Bell Memoiral on Saturday, our senior ladies ran brilliantly to finish as first ladies team. First home for the ladies was Nic Dhomhnaill in 5th place (19.01) Sorcha Nic Dhomhnaill was 6th (19.10), Maura Kearns 17th (19.59), Sam Conroy 23rd (20.49), Grainne Nolan 31st (21.42) and Pauline Fagan 100th (27.20).

First home for the men was Des Tremble 27th (17.17), Fred Kiernan 28th (17.21), Tony Barry 30th (17.29), Tom Fagan (18.34), Joe Murphy (19.05), Terry Mee (21.45) and Jim McNamara (22.05).

In the Tallaght AC 5km road race (4.05.14) Tony Barry (17.26) placed 20^th with Sam Gallagher (a Junior) 25^th in 17.29.  Bob Blake (M40) 31^st in 17.52 and Stephen Dawson 58^th in 18.58 also competed.

The ladies team ran brilliantly to hold onto the Dublin Novice gold. Packing well together Janette Strickland (20.24), Emer Rattigan (20.23) and Sinéad Graham entered the track together where a last push from Sinéad saw her finish first for Donore (20.19) and enough to nab individual bronze in the Novice race, Karla Doran completed the scoring with  (20.50). Also competing were Aisling Swaine (21.02),  Lorraine O’Shea (21.54), Kim Strickland (22.43), Olivia Strickland (23.39) and Mary Murphy (23.53).

Team captain on the day Graham Hopkins described it as “another good day at the office for Donore Harriers” after having led the team home to silver medals in the Leinster Masters Road Championship (6km) at Gowran, Co. Kilkenny on Monday last (5.05.14).

An in-form Newbridge AC team, fresh from their bronze medals success in the recent national road relays, were clear winners on 26 points with their four scorers inside the top dozen. But a solid performance from the Donore Harriers quartet saw them place second on 52 points ahead of 3^rd placed St. Abbans AC on 64 The scoring four were: – Graham Hopkins (20.15) 7^th overall, Will Morris (20.44) 13^th, Garvan Smith (20.51) 15^th and Des Tremble (21.02) 19^th. Graham won a silver individual medal in the M40 category, with Garvan 5^th and Des 7^th in the same class. Will placed 7^th in the M35 category. Graham Hopkins rounded off a clean sweep of silver medals when he joined Will Morris on the scoring Dublin county team. An unfortunate Fergal Swaine had to retire from the race on the second lap due to illness.

In the ARC Cancer Support 10km run in the Phoenix Park, also on Monday, Kevin English (35.08) was the winner with M45 athlete Tom Fagan placing 29^th in 40.35.

There was an array of Donore Harriers athletes competing in the first Dublin Open Graded Meeting at Santry on Wednesday evening 30^th April. Aogan MacDomhnaill came 3^rd in an eventful 3.000m ‘A’ race recording a time  8.49.69 to post a massive Personal Best. John Dunne was running on target for a sub 9 minutes, but faded slightly in the final kilometre before placing 6^th in 9.05.88.

Michael McMahon won out in an exciting race to the finish line in the B 3.000m race recording a time of 9.12.34. In the same race Emmet O’Briain (9.23.93) placed 5^th; Chris Muldoon (9.29.48) 7^th and Ken Norgrove (9.40.34) 10^th.

In the 800m Henry English (2.07.01) came 7^th in the B race; Luke Boland (2.11.73) 5^th in the C; and Killian O’Hora (2.14.31) 2^nd, Tom Fagan (2.30.45) 9^th, Terry Mee (2.57.11) 10^th and Jim McNamara (3.03.28) 11^th  in the D race. Paul Cummins placed 7^th in the B 100 metres in 12.51.

In the DCU Helix 5km on the 30^th April 2014 Declan Raftery placed 14^th in 20.39.

Also competing over the long weekend, Anne Curley finished as second lady in the BHAA RTE 5 mile (30.43), Patrick Moriarty 11th overall (28.20), Terry Mee (36.35), Ann Woodlock (43.51) and Tommy Halton (40.37). Breda Mahony was 5th in the Waterford2Tramore race and Nicola Dowdall and Eilish Joyce ran well in the Boyne 10k.

In the recent Boston Marathon Sean Fox recorded a time of 2.59.28 whilst Shane McAuley completed the course in 3.05.31, Joan McTernan also took part in the historic race with a time of 4.24.54. Well done to all.

The high profile Great Ireland Run, which incorporated the National 10 kilometres road championships, proved big in organisation and poor in its results service! If Dunboyne AC had set the bar in displaying all results minutes after the finish of their race in the previous week then the AAI fell far short in their showcase road running championship. It is simply not good enough that results are delayed so as to appear first in a national newspaper on the following day – and then we face, yet again, problems with the team scores! This unprofessionalism does nothing to promote our wonderful sport at club level!

The correct team result in the M35-50 category should read: – 1. Donore Harriers 1.43.06; 2. Raheny Shamrocks 1.44.35 and 3. Sligo AC 1.44.52. Please note that this result is yet to be confirmed.

The strong winds and change of temperatures during the race made conditions difficult, not to mention the undulations of the testing Phoenix Park course. The ever consistent John Dunne was first Donore Harriers man home in 33.28, placing 25^th overall and winning the silver medal in the M35 category (also waiting confirmation); Ken Nugent continues his return to form and ran a very fine 33.57 and placed 35^th overall; Aogan MacDomhnaill (34.10), a transfer pending athlete, was 38^th; Niall Lynch 34.19 and Gavin Keogh 34.27 ran stride to stride until the final kilometre before finishing 42^nd and 46^th respectively; Niall came 4^th in the M40 age group. Eoin Durkan (56^th in 34.38) was another with a very encouraging run and a return to form after missing a lot of training due to injury. Graham Hopkins (35.13) completed the scoring trio for the successful Donore Harriers masters team when placing 68^th overall and 9^th in the M40 category.

The other Donore Harriers to finish were: – Andy Kinane 35.27;  Des Tremble 36.14 (14^th in M40); George Brady 37.38; Tony Barry 38.08; Niall O’Reilly 40.38; Tom Fagan 41.02; Ian Redican 42.08; Des Gill 44.20; Jim McNamara 45.38 (1^st in M70) and Terry Mee 48.52 (2^nd in M70)

The race was won by Japhet Korir of Kenya in 28.12, ahead of Andy Vernon (GB) 29.19 and Michael Shelley (Australia) 29.33. The Irish 10km championship result was: – 1^st. Mark Hanrahan (Leevale AC) 30.20; 2^nd Mick Clohissy (Raheny) 30.46 and 3^rd Thomas Fitzpatrick (Tallaght AC) 30.47.

The ladies race produced a high quality field where Fionnula Britton fought it out with regular Cross Country rival Sophie Duarte. Fionnula finishe just outside the podium places in 4th but won the National 10K with veteran Catherina McKiernan showing great form to finish second.

First home for Donore ladies producing another fantastic run following injury was Aislinn Nic Dhomhnaill with 39.08, not far behind was Anne Curley (39.16), Florence Curley (41.46), Breda Mahony (42.45), Karen Behan (42.54), Emer Rattigan (43.24), Sinead Graham (43.51), Lorrain O’Shea (46.26),  Sian O’Connor (47.24), Mary Murphy (51.12), Dana Mackey (53.29) and Laura Murray (58.58).

In the Great Ireland Mile Race John Travers (4.04) again proved that he is a class act when finishing second behind Paul Robinson (4.02). From the AAI website: – ‘After an up and down indoor season a resurgent John Travers (Donore Harriers) finished in second place in a time of 4.04, impressive performances by both athletes in wet and windy conditions’.

Britain’s Ross Murray who came third in 4.06

In a very wet and windswept Connemara, two brave Donore runners tackled the half marathon; Bronagh Elliott was 5th lady in a highly impressive 98.09 on what is a very tough course and Liagh Miller ran 1.58.11

The Spring marathon season has started and we had a trio of runners in the Paris Marathon – in her first marathon Rachel Burke finished in 4.04.27, also making her marathon debut Eilish Joyce finished in 4.33.30 and Hilary O’Connor finished in 4.40.34 – well done girls.

Some of our track runners got their outdoor season off to a good start at the Leevale Open Sports at CIT track in Bishopstown Cork – results as follows:

Sean Lawlor 3rd – section 1 200m 23.07

Lynda Ngakam 2nd – section 2 100m 12.96

Lynda Ngakam 4th – section2 200m 27,26

David Campbell 7th – section 1 400m 53.45

Ailise Keating 8th 100m heats – 14.00

In the BHAA Dublin City Council 4 mile race at St. Anne’s Park on Saturday it became a battle of the two Fergals! Fergal Whitty placed 6^th in 21.53 with Fergal Swaine just one second and one place behind.  Frank McNally was 65th in 26.46 and Tommy Halton ran 30.59.

Long an inspirational figure for Donore and the ladies in particular – Ann Woodlock turned 75 late last year and competed in this age group for Ireland on the world stage for the first time at last week’s World Master Indoors in Budapest.  Firstly she won silver in the 3000m in 16.03.58 and clocked a faster time than many of the W70 competitors.  A few days later was the 1500m and she won bronze in a time of 7.31 in a closely fought contest where the 3 medallists were only separated by little over 2 seconds.  Congratulations Ann, a great achievement.  Despite missing a block of training in the run up to the championship due to a car crash, racewalker Anne Gormley finished 11th W50 in the 3k walk and 9th in the 10k road walk.

The cold winds finally ceased and the rain stayed away on Sunday 30th March as the town of Dunboyne celebrated its fine athletics club as the 45th annual edition of their 4 mile road race proved as popular as ever. More than one thousand runners made their way to the start line and it was great to see the black and white singlets of Donore Harriers out in force.At the business end of the race Thomas Fitzpatrick of Tallaght AC gave a commanding performance to front run from gun to tape and win in a time of 18.55. With prizes for the first 6 men finishers the competition behind Fitzpatrick was fierce! But Lee Van Haeften (19.44) rose to the challenge and climbed from 6th to 4th in the latter half of the race. After his recent excellent performance in the National Inter-Clubs cross country race the Irish athletics community is taking note of Donore’s much improved athlete. Darragh Rennicks (19.36) of Bohermeen AC was 2nd and Paul Stephenson (19.42) of Rathfarnham 3rd.

Lee was well supported in the early stages of the race by Ray Hynes. Ray (19.55) ran a very consistent race maintaining 7th place throughout. With two in the top 10 Donore Harriers had a chance of winning the team trophy! Rathfarnham had 3 in the top 12, whilst Raheny packed 5 runners between positions 18 and 22. Host club Dunboyne were also showing their colours at the finish line. But strong running from Graham Hopkins (29th in 21.41) and Will Morris (32nd in 22.01) ensured the team prize for Donore. The final team score read: – 1. Donore Harriers 66; 2. Raheny Shamrocks 78; and 3. Dunboyne AC 78.

Graham placed second in the M40 age group, whilst the ever improving Des Tremble (37th in 22.07) was 3rd and Garvan Smith (43rd in 22.28) 4th in the same category. This was Garvan’s debut race for Donore Harriers and he is already proving to be a fine addition to a vibrant master’s squad.

Tony Barry (23.10) was next Donore man home in 59th place. Sixteen years-old Sam Gallagher, another debutante, also gave indication of a promising future in the sport when placing 66th overall in a time of 23.25.

The other Donore Harriers finishers included: – Bob Blake M40 (23.55) 73rd; Tom Fagan M45(24.49) 95th; Joe Murphy (25.23) 108th; Des Gill M45 (25.52) 109th; Ian Redican M40 (25.36); Bernard Byrne (26.04) 130th; and Thomas Halton M55 (31.20) 359th.

The ladies were also out in force in Dunboyne and ran well again to help Donore to the double also taking first team. In a strong field led home by Catherina McKienan (21.22) and DSD’s Sarah Mulligan (21.42), First lady home was Anne Curley in a solid 24.12 a little slower than she hoped but she is in marathon training and was 6th lady overall in a quality field. Karen Behan continued her recent blistering form with a fantastic 26.10 and and it was great to see Ashling Swaine score on the team with a time of 27.04.

Also running for the ladies, Sam Conroy (27.14), Lorraine O’Shea (27.28), Eva Campion (28.22), Michelle Dawson (30.49), Sarah Ni Ruairc (32.49) and Pauline Fagan (35.21)

In the One Mile Juvenile Race for athletes aged 15 and under (also at Dunboyne) Lucy McCann came an excellent second in the girl’s race in a time of 5.36. Ruairi Fitzgibbon 5.47 and 13 years-old Niamh Clarke 6.24 both ran well in the same race. Oliver Hopkins came 10th in the under 9’s race. Lauren Kennedy and Ava Clarke, aged 15, ran the 4 mile race and recorded times of 34.53 and 34.57. Well done to all!

We sent 5 relay teams to the last day of the the National Indoors. Well done to all of our relay teams who competed in Athlone over the weekend. The boys under 15 won their heat and went on to the final where they took home the silver medal, Jack Rafferty did brilliantly to step up an age group to compete with the under 15s.

The boys under 16 made it to the finals where they were unlucky to finish in 5th, Kalade who had run in the earlier race with the under 15’s stepped in as a sub to race again. The under 19s performed well and were very unlucky not to make their final.

Our girls teams of under 15 and 16 unfortunately did not progress to the finals both teams ran exceptionally well under difficult circumstances with Katie Coombes taking a hard fall and bravely picking herself up to get the baton around to her team mate. Well done to all the teams and again the supporters and subs who travelled and not forgetting the coaches.

On Wednesday evening 26th March Will Morris (17.53) and Graham Hopkins (18.04) came 2nd and 4th respectively in the North County Farmers Business Houses AA race. Fred Kiernan (19.33), returning after injury, came 24th and Ian Redican placed 49th.