National Masters and Intermediate Cross Country Report

Report by Florence Curley

It was a day to remember for all participants and supporters at the national masters and intermediate XC championship in Clarinbridge, principally for the amount of mud everywhere! On the bus West as blizzards gave way to blue skies and snowy fields, the course looked pleasant enough from a distance …until you stepped onto it …

After the juveniles finished, first up were the master ladies and M65+ men over 4K, 2 big laps. There were some drags and downhills but what was missing was any sight of green grass, the mud was relentless and ankle deep from the start so getting a fast pace wasn’t a priority, staying upright was! Our 5-strong team (some were on loan to the inter team and we were depleted with some injuries and absences) battled bravely, Karen Behan and Anne Curley finished 85 and 86th, Anne has been unable to compete at cross country or any shorter races due to her ongoing injury and the atrocious ground was a real test today so she was happy to finish and be part of the team again, Julia Hackett had a solid run to finish in 94th, unfortunately Florence Curley lost her left shoe twice in the muck, and slipped way back as a result eventually finishing in 127 and Angela Eustace in her third cross country race of the season in 132nd. Barry Potts unfortunately also lost a shoe and slipped a long way back so did not medal in M65 the way he frequently does.

The master men then had to tackle 7k of the now very churned up course. Thanks to Des Gill’s enthusiasm and team spirit, there was a Donore M50 team in this for the first time. First Home was Tom Fagan in 174 with Des next in 210, Frank McNally was 221st and wrote a great account of it in the Irishman’s diary in the Irish times a few days later, Lou MCCurtain though on antibiotics finished 234th and unfortunately Arthur Connick had to pull out, the team finished 9th and this team will be back on the road for the national relays.

The intermediate women faced 5k and youngest member of the team Niamh O’Neill went out hard but held her place and tackled the gruelling course Brilliantly. Where others faded and some of the pre-race favourites dropped out, Niamh had her best ever race and finished a magnificent 8th, Maura Kearns, experienced in this race over the years first medalling in 2010, stayed off the early pace and worked through looking very comfortable throughout, and she can always rely on her withering finishing kick finishing 15th. not far behind was Kim hickey, always a tough competitor with great endurance and she finished strongly in 18th. It was looking good in the team shakeup and it was crucial that next scorer Audrey Gahan passed as many as she could, and she did that to end giving it everything to finish 30th. In only her second ever cross country race Ariana Ball ran very well into 39th again battling to the end.

After scraping off a lot of Galway mud and an anxious wait, there was jubilation when the Donore inter ladies were named bronze team, 6 points ahead of St Senan’s. After a disappointing season for this hardworking team, it was great to finally come up trumps with a national medal in the last race of season.

Coach Willie Smith was justly proud and there was welcome support too from Mary McDermott and Ann Woodlock out on the course, she will be back competing soon we hope!

There was an historic win today at the Axa Raheny 5 Mile today for John Travers, the first Donore man to win the race since Gerry Curtis back in 1989. John had an emphatic win today, he was part of a breakaway group which took it out and which was eventually whittled down to him and the home club favourite Mick Clohisey. John made his move with a mile to go and retained his lead, powering home in 23.38. In an excellent 8th place was Eric Keogh in 24.23. Niall lynch earlier in the day was helping his young charges in the children’s races and in the main race he finished 3rd scorer and 2nd M45, helping the men’s team into 2nd place.

There were 24 Donore runners of all age groups from junior to M60. First Lady home was Audrey Gahan in a 33.44 PB. Tommy Halton ran his 35th Raheny 5. Well done all, full results below.

John Travers 1st 23.38
Eric Keogh 24.23
Niall Lynch 26.35 2nd M45
Gavin Keogh 27.38
Chris Muldoon 27.45
Peter Gaffney 27.58
Patrick Byrne 29.46
Ken McKeown 31.27
Stephen Dawson 32.20
Guillaume Nolain 33.23
Joe Murphy 33.28
Audrey Gahan 33.44
Ian Redican 34.18
Frank McNally 35.51
Karen Behan 36.33
Charlie O’Neill 38.59
Joan Lennon 39.40
Michael Barry jr 39.44
Michael Barry 40.20
Catherine McKeon 40.21
Tom Halton 43.25
Sean Kinsella 44.38
Jennifer Hogan 48.31

Report by Florence Curley
Photo by Ciaran Ryan

Cross Country Report by Florence Curley

The Leinster Intermediate and masters cross country championships were held in Dunboyne at the weekend. Cowpark is known for its bumpy ground and tendency to get muddy. Donore did not have the big representation we had the week before at St Anne’s but made our presence felt. This week at the ladies masters, many runners were ill or unavailable so the trio of Karen Behan, Fiona Barrins and Angela Eustace kept the flag flying. Karen improved on her run last week and was 49th in a quality field Fiona Barrins had her best run yet in 59th and Angela Eustace 72nd, they finished 12th team.
In the men’s race, there wasn’t a full M35+ team but it was well worth the trip for Niall Lynch who finished 16th and repeated his feat of the week before where he was again bronze M45. Ian redican was placed 140th. Again it was heartening to see an M50 team out and Tom Fagan finished 134th, Lou McCurtain 147th and Arthur Connick 154th

In the intermediate ladies race over 4K, by which time the course had churned up more, Roisin Harkin came through the field to finish 15th, Niamh O’Neill showed her endurance strength to come in 21st with Audrey Gahan not far behind in 23rd and Ariana ball 25th in her very first cross country race.

Thanks to those who made the trip out to support , well done all

The day before, the BHAA cross country race took place in Tymon Park. Maura Kearns had a fine run finishing as 2nd woman in the 2 mile ladies race. Fergal Whitty finished 3rd in the men’s race and well done too Ian Redican (who went on to compete in the day after) and Tommy Halton

National Indoor League Round 1 Report by David Campbell.

On Saturday January 13th the Donore Harriers Ladies and Men’s teams both kicked off their indoor campaigns in Abbotstown. The Ladies team having came 3rd in the competition last year had high hopes of retaining a podium position and started off in excellent form with Lara O’ Byrne coming 2nd in the 60m hurdles with a new PB of 9.36. Next up was Ailbhe Healy in the pole vault who claimed maximum points as she won the competition with a fine jump of 2.70m. The 60m sprint then followed with International athlete Aoife Lynch showing her class claiming 2nd place in a time of 7.68 which was a new PB while also beating Catherine McManus who is a member of the Irish senior relay squad. Andy McGuire scored valuable points in the long jump with a leap of 4.69m.

The last two events were the 800m and shot putt where Mairead Kirby recorded a time of 2.51.55 and Lara O’Byrne threw 9.44m. The Ladie’s team also had guest competitors on the day with Aoife Lynch backing up her earlier 60m pace with a 7.70 run. Susie O’Farrell competed in the 60m and won her heat in a team of 8.28 with Caoimhe Mackey competing in the same race placing 3rd in a time of 8.53.

The Men started the day with a strong 2nd place finish in the 60m by Eamonn Fahey who ran a swift 7.05. Eamonn was back in action straight after his 60m in the long jump where he claimed another 2nd position with a jump of 6.61m. Our newest member Elliot Slade showed his class in the 800m as he cruised to victory and claimed maximum points with a time of 1.54.53. The men had a handful of athletes guesting on the day and in the 60m Alex Clarkin had an impressive season opener of 7.27. Adam Halpin ran 7.51 and in the same race Ben Iveagh recorded 7.66 which bodes well for both lads with a long indoor season ahead of them. David Campbell opened his 800m campaign with a time of 2.04 and Ryan O’Keefe finished off the day with a big PB in the shot putt throwing 11.65m.

The Ladies team finished in 2nd position overall while the Men finished in 3rd position. Another strong round will see the Ladies qualify for the final on February 3rd in Abbottstown with the Men already automatically through as only 7 teams entered. Full set of results can be accessed online HERE. A big thank you to all athletes, coaches, supporters and everyone who assisted with both squads over the past few months. Both squads have a fantastic chance at bringing home medals in the competition and I would encourage all athletes & club members to support their efforts. The next round will take place on Saturday 27th January in Athlone I.T indoor arena.

The first cross country fixture of 2018 has rapidly become one of the biggest XC races in the country along with the National Masters XC, testament to the increasing popularity and competitiveness of masters running.

It was a cold but bright day in St Anne’s Park Raheny, now the traditional home of this race, the lap had some muddy parts but was dry and fast for the most part. Over 150 runners took part in the women’s race over 2 laps and 3k. Kim Hickey got off to a fast start and hung on to the lead group For some time but had to settle for 10th place and bronze W35, still a welcome return for this athlete who suffered an arm break in October. 13 seconds behind was Florence Curley in 18th and next in was Audrey Gahan in 37th coming back from a cold so more to come from Audrey, Sinead Graham was next in 49th, Karen Behan who had been ill all week was 53rd, more to come from her too, Julia Hackett just next in 55th. Fiona Barrins is growing in strength in her very first XC Season and was 67th and Angela Eustace racing again after injury was 102nd. Missing some of the stars of the team of last few years, the team finished out of the medals in 5th but there were 17 teams, the most ever in this race.

Next up were the men with about 300 runners on the line, it was 4 laps for most of the field and 3 laps for the M65+ runners. Barry Potts was dominant in his age-group once again and bagged the M65 gold. A great race developed upfront in the M35+ competition, Rossa Hurley was with the top group for much of the race and in the end was only 9 seconds off 3rd overall place in a powerful run, the 3 ahead were also M35 so unfortunately no age-group medal this time. Next in 15th overall and bronze M45 position was Niall Lynch (interestingly the 4th, 5th and 6th M45 positions were also Donore runners) only 7 seconds behind and in a big finish battle was Fergal Whitty bronze M40 and 18th place. In 21st and making a welcome return to championship racing was Gavin Keogh. These 4 runners scored to bring a bronze medal for the team (30 teams in all – gold and silver were Raheny and Rathfarmham). Well done to Chris Muldoon 28th, Philip Hennessy 41st, Patrick Byrne 42nd, Des Tremble 45th, Peter Nugent 50th, Alan Farrell 58th, Donal Iremonger 75th, Peter Nugent 152nd, Stephen Dawson 164th, Craig Scott 173rd. Great have such big numbers out.

It was great to see an M50 team out for possibly the first time ever from Donore in this race, kudos Des Gill for rallying the troops. He finished first of the team in 201st, then Tom Fagan 219th, Lou McCurtain (first ever championship XC) 235th, Frank McNally 239th, they finished 9th out of 12 teams.

Terrific support out there from club members , friends and family, roll on the Leinster and Nationals

Report ~ Florence Curley

The week after Christmas is always busy one the road race front. One of the main events is the Liffey Valley Tom Brennan 5k in the Phoenix Park on New Years Day. Cold conditions and facing into a wind for half of the 2 lap course, 14 Donore runners took to the line and there was a good return. Eric Keogh bagged 3rd overall in 15.33 and there were 3 more runners in the top 25 men with Fergal Whitty 12th and 1st M40 16.39, Chris Muldoon 17.14 and Peter Gaffney 1st M45 17.49. The team were 2nd overall (an error awarded them 3rd but this was rectified later) Ciaran Ryan was well pleased with his 18.51 and Stephen Dawson ran a solid 19.22. First Donore woman Home was Florence Curley in 20.36 and 3rd W40. Tony Griffin ran 21.05, Barry Potts 21.27, frank McNally 22.39, Charlie O’Neill 23.40, Michelle dawson 25.35, Tommy Halton 26.43 and jennifer hogan 28.53.

On 26th December, Ide nic Dhomhnaill had a good win in the Farranfore Maine Valley 5k Kerry In 18.17. In the same race, Des Tremble ran 17.31, Patrick Moriarty 17.45. On New Year’s Day at the Beaufort 10k Patrick was 3rd in 36.34.

In the ERP Clonliffe 5k, Florence Curley ran 20.50.

Report ~ Florence Curley