Donore Harriers was well represented in the 41^st edition of the Berlin Marathon on Sunday. This race made history as Kenya’s Dennis Kimetto broke the world marathon record in a phenomenal 2.02.57 as his compatriot Emmanuel Mutai, who finished second in 2:03:13, also broke the previous mark.

Anne Curley placed an excellent 39^th overall in the women’s class. She was a little over half-a-minute behind her season best set in winning the Derry Marathon earlier in the year and was the second Irishwoman to finish the race. Anne who has a best time of 2.53 has now completed 10 marathons, all inside the 3 hours barrier. Fergal Whitty narrowly missed his previous best time set in Dublin a couple of years ago. This was a fine return to best form for Fergal. He was the second Irishman across the finish line.

Results in brief: –

Men: 108^th Fergal Whitty M35 (2.34.48); 695^th Philip Hennessy (2.54.42); 942^nd Fred Kiernan M40 (2.57.55); 1690^th George Brady M35 (3.06.12); 3198^th Derek O’Neill M45 (3.18.54); 3536^thStephen Dawson (3.20.54); 5518^th Tony Griffin M55 (3.31.25); 10070^th Charlie O’Neill M60 (3.52.26);

Women: 39^th Anne Curley F40 (2.58.35); 140^th Alma Hanevy F35 (3.15.41) PB; 202^nd Breda Mahony F35 (3.19.42) PB; 3028^th Michelle Rowley F40 (4.17.25); 4057^th Michelle Dawson (4.34.14)

In a keenly contested New Ireland Rathfarnham 5km road race on Sunday  John Travers (14.28) had to settle for 4^th place as David McCarthy (14.13) of West Waterford AC ran out the winner ahead of Martin Fagan (14.21) of Mullingar Harriers. Travers and Fagan took the early pace in the race, but paid the price in the latter stages as they got reeled in by McCarthy. John also had to succumb to a strong finish from 3^rd placed Conor Rooney (14.21) of Raheny Shamrocks.

Results in brief: –

4^th John Travers (14.28); 47^th Oisin Fitzgibbon (16.25) 4^th in junior category; 56^th Henry English (16.41); 71^st Sam Gallagher (17.10) 5^th in junior category; 108^th Gerard McDonald M45 (18.04); 110^th Bernard Byrne (18.08); 121^st Niall J. O’Reilly (18.25); 159^th Grace Kennedy (19.12); 161^stBarbara Murray F40 (19.13); 186^th Sinead Graham (19.45); 214^th Karen Behan (20.20); 230^thFrank McNally M50 (20.41); 327^th Karen Crowley (22.29); 420^th Geraldine Lynch (24.11); 471^stEilish Joyce (24.38); 665^th Tony Jenkins M60 (27.49); 743^rd Michael Brophy M60 (28.56)

Team Results:

Men’s team – 1^st St. Abbans AC 66; 6^th Donore Harriers (Travers, Fitzgibbon, English, Gallagher) 170

Women’s Team – 1^st Dunboyne AC 80; 3^rd Donore Harriers (Kennedy, Murray, Graham, Behan) 123.

Emmet O’Briain placed second in the Liz McDonell Memorial 5km Cross Country race at Celbridge. This race, which is run on an undulating course on the grounds of the Castletown House estate, was won by Kevin Kelly (16.11) of St. Coca’s AC.

Results in brief: –

2^nd Emmet O’Briain (16.32); 8^th Bob Blake 17.40 (1^st in o/40 category); 10^th Stephen Gavin JNR (18.01), 17th Tom Fagan M45 (18.46); 60^th Terry Mee M70 (22.52); 69^th Mary Murphy (23.09) & 128^th Pauline Fagan (26.10).
Men’s Team Result: 1^st Donore Harriers (O’Briain; Blake; Gavin; Fagan).

The Slater Cup (club novice handicap) 6km race took place over 4 laps of the Magazine Fort lap last Tuesday evening. Newcomers Rory O’Connor and Colm O’Connell had a fine duel over a testing hilly course with Rory narrowly edging the ‘real time’ race. Victory in the ‘sealed handicap’ race went to the much improved Tom Fagan with Henry English placing second. Race organizer Iain Morrison said: “Tom had a fabulous run and was a deserving winner...”

Result in brief: –

1st Tom Fagan (24.32) allowed 4 minutes = 20.32; 2nd Henry English (22.28) allowed 1m.30s = 20.58; 3rd Rory O’Connor (21.14) scratch = 21.14; 4th Colm O’Connell (21.20) scratch = 21.14; 5th Bernard Byrne (23.52) allowed 2m.30s = 21.22; 6th Gerard McDonald (23.40) allowed 2m.15s = 21.25; 7th Niall O’Brien (25.24) allowed 3m.15s = 22.09; 8th Ian Redican (25.10) allowed 3 minutes = 22.10; 9th Eoin Hannon (24.36) allowed 2 minutes = 22.36; 10th Giovanni Borza (25.41) allowdd 2m.50s = 22.51; 11th Eoin George (27.40) scratch = 27.40.

Sam Allen placed second in both the 3.000m and One Mile races at the Bandon AC 50^thAnniversary Meeting (27/9/14). Thomas McCarthy of Bandon AC won both these races, but the 3km race was down to a ‘photo finish’. McCarthy placed 3^rd in the European club’s competition in Portugal on the previous weekend. This would indicate that Sam is making steady progress back to form after an injury lay-off. No times available.

Other results: –

Tymon Parkrun 5km (27/9/14) – 6^th Samantha Conroy F35 (21.18) first in women’s class

Marlay Parkrun 5km (27/9/14) – 3^rd Paul Cummins (17.49)

Moone Kilomarthon 26.2km (27/9/14) – 14^th Garvan Smith M40 (1.43.23); 15^th Sean Fox (1.43.23); 49^th Liam Hickey (2.01.27)

Footnote: –

First Irishwoman home in the Berlin Marathon was Mairead O’Rourke (2.58.16) of Mornington Chasers. You may have heard of them?

Juvenile Report:

Those in attendance at the Dublin Juvenile Cross-country League at Tymon Park on Sunday (28/9/14) may have witnessed for the first time a real future star in Irish athletics.  Fathi Aden made a conservative start to the Boys u/14s race, but at the halfway point of the 1.5km course swept past most of the leading group on an uphill section and with 400m remaining took over the lead and began opening a sizeable gap before winning with 25 to 30 metres to spare. Born in Somalia and a student at Synge Street School Fathi is obviously a very naturally talented athlete. This was certainly an impressive debut in the colours of Donore Harriers and as they say – watch this space!

The Girls u/16s race was again a race that held a lot of interest for the club with Lucy McCann impressing once again with a very fine 2^nd place finish. But another relative newcomer Suzanne Masterson also shows huge potential as she ran strongly throughout, particularly on the climbs, placing an excellent 3^rd. Eliza Ni Thighearnaigh ran her best race for some time and came home in 6^th.

Other notable performances came from Michael Gibbs who placed 3^rd in the Boys u/17s race – and by Grace Raftery and debutante Conor Mahony who both placed 6^th respectively in the Girls u/10s and Boys u/10s.

Full club results (non official)

Boys u/9s (500m) 10^th Joe Kinsella

Girls u/10s (700m) 6^th Grace Raftery

Boys u/10s (700m) 6^th Conor Mahony (debut); 24^th Oliver Hopkins

Boys u/11s (900m) 16^th Sean Kinsella (picked up an injury during race); 17^th Michael Barry

Girls u/13s (1300m) 23^rd Marie Cormican (debut); 32^nd Ellie Raftery

Boys u/13s (1300m) 20^th Alan Reid

Girls u/14s (1500m) 25^th Roisin Brady

Boys u/14s (1500m) 1^st Fathi Aden; 13^th Jack Connolly; 25^th James McDonagh (debut); 26^thChris Moloney

Girls u/16s (2500m) 2^nd Lucy McCann; 3^rd Suzanne Masterson; 6^th Eliza Ni Thighearnaigh

Boys u/16s (2500m) 11^th Gabhan O’Thighearnaigh (lost shoe during race)

Boys u/17s (3500m) 3^rd Michael Gibbs

Other juvenile results: –

Waterstown Parkrun 5km (27/9/14) – 17^th Shona Smyth u/15s (26.26) 4^th female overall

John Travers finished a very gallant 7^th in the Bupa Great North Mile in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne on Saturday. A field of ten high profile athletes made it a very competitive race with Homiyu Tesfaye (4.00.92) of Germany being the winner ahead of Aspel Kiprop of Kenya. John’s time of 4.03.68 put him just two places behind American superstar Bernard Lagat (4.02.14) and ahead of Augustine Choge (4.03.69) of Kenya and Charlie Grice (4.04.86), the 3^rd ranked British 1500m runner in 2014.

In the Grant Thornton Corporate Team Challenge in the Docklands (30/8/14) Ray Hynes (15.20) placed 2^ndbehind Conor Dooney (15.06) a member of Raheny Shamrocks AC.

Other results include: 15^th Gavin Keogh (15.59); 19^th Andrew Ledwith (16.08); 48^th Bob Blake M40 (17.12); 91^stNoel Conway (17.55); 108^th Tom Fagan M45 (18.10) PB; 113^th Stephen Dawson (18.14); 123^rd Niall O’Reilly (18.23); 129^th Joe Murphy (18.25) Kim Hickey (19.17), Sinead Graham 19.34), Rhona Duane (20.00),

In the scenic Lakes 10km at Blessington Graham Hopkins (34.22) placed 5^th overall and second in the M35 category: Other results include: – 11^th Will Morris M35 (35.41) 4^th in category; 16^th Darren Hand (36.54); 28^th Phil Hennessy M45 (38.26) 3^rd in category

Other results: –

Tymon Parkrun 5km (23/8/14): 7^th Tomas Griffin (20.19)

Tullamore Half Marathon (30/8/14): 70^th Tom Fagan M45 (1.28.53) PB

Tara 5km (30/8/14): 7^th Sam Allen (17.29) 2^nd in Junior Category

Waterstown Parkrun 5km: 1^st Michael Gibbs u/17s (18.45); 3^rd Jack Raftery u/14s (20.14); 5^th Daniel Brady u/16s (20.32); 16^th Luke Kelly u/14s (23.47) club debut

Naas Parkrun 5km: 1^st Emmet O’Briain (16.15)

Griffeen Parkrun 5km : 16^th Tom Fagan M45 (19.55)

Well done also to Liagh at the Great North Run and to Hilary in the Dingle half marathon.

Juvenile results: –

Waterstown Parkrun 5km:1^st Michael Gibbs u/17s (18.45); 3^rd Jack Raftery u/14s (20.14); 4^th Lucy McCann u/16s (20.16) 1^st female and 9 seconds short off course record; 5^th Daniel Brady u/16s (20.32); 16^thLuke Kelly u/14s (23.47) club debut; 18^th Claire O’Connor u/17s (24.01); 20^th Roisin Brady u/14s (24.43); 29^th Shona Smyth u/14s (26.18); 36^th Chris Moloney u/14s (27.54) club debut; 46^th Elena Gaina u/15s (30.12)

Naas Parkrun 5km: 68^th Oliver Hopkins u/10s (25.34)

Both Sean Lawlor and Jack Rudden Kelly performed admirably whilst representing Ireland and the Ireland Development Team respectively in the Celtic Games at Santry on Saturday. The Celtic Games is an international juvenile match for u/16 and u/18 athletes with an emphasis on experience, camaraderie and encouragement.

First into action on Saturday was Jack Rudden Kelly in the Boys u/16s 100m Hurdles. Jack (13.92) ran a solid race placing second behind national champion Daniel Ryan (13.58) and ahead of Scotland’s Taylor Roy (14.17). Jack anchored the Irish Development u/16s 4 x 100m Mixed Relay Team in the penultimate race of the day. The result of the race was: – 1. Ireland (45.42); 2. Ireland Development (46.92); 3. Wales (47.75); 4. Scotland (47.97).

Sean Lawlor had plenty to deal with in the Boys u/18s 200m. The rain came, the start was delayed due to technical issues, there was a faulty start and he got the dreaded inside lane. The race proved to be a tough assignment for Sean. Cameron Tindle (22.07) of Scotland led from gun to finish line whilst Sean (22.40) was holding second position. But the fatigue from his previous week’s efforts in the National League final took its toll over the final 10 metres and he got edged out by Craig Newell (22.32) of the Development Team. Sion Roberts (22.79) of Wales placed 4^th.

Sean soon returned to action in the Boys u/18s 4 x 100m relay. He had a blistering run on the final leg gaining ground on the Wales team (42.80) only to lose narrowly (see photo). The Ireland team recorded a time of 42.89 with the Development Team 3^rd on 43.64 and Scotland 4^th on 44.10.

Results from the Dublin Open Graded meeting No. 8 at Tallaght (August 6th)

200m ‘C’: 2^nd Sean O’Broin M45 (25.53)

200m ‘B’: 4^th Ailise Keating (jnr) (28.84)

800m ‘A’: 8^th David Campbell (2.04.44)

1500m ‘C’: 3^rd Luke Boland (4.27.84)

National Masters Track & Field Championships at Tullamore (10/8/14)

A total of 8 gold, 2 silver and 1 bronze for Donore Harriers athletes with Niall Allen claiming an impressive 3 victories.

200m M3 Category: 2^nd Sean O’Broin (24.96)

400m M1 M1: 6^th Emmet O’Briain (55.60)

800m M1: 4^th Henry English (2.04.68); 5^th Emmet O’Briain (2.05.24)

800m M8: 1^st Terry Mee (3.00.96)

1500m M1: 4^th Henry English (4.24.50)

1500m M8: 1^st Terry Mee (6.04.14)

5000m M3: 5^th Ian O’Leary (17.18.70)

5000m M9: 1^st Jim McNamara (21.44.02)

56lb Hammer M2: 1^st Niall Allen (6.78m)

56lb Hammer M8: 1^st Tony Jenkins (4.91m)

Shot Putt M2: 1^st Niall Allen (10.83m)

Shot Putt M8: 2^nd Tony Jenkins (8.53m)

Discus M2: 1^st Niall Allen (34.16m)

Javelin M8: 3^rd Tony Jenkins (21.08m)

Women’s 3Km Walk M4: 1^st Anne Gormley (21.11.04)

Other results: –

DLR Bay 10km (August 4th) at Dun Laoghaire: 6^th Patrick Moriarty (35.40)

Galtee Runners 8km (August 8th) at Mitchelstown: 3^rd Aogan McDomhnaill (25.41)

Streets of Athboy 5km (August 8th): 10^th Cathal McCarron (16.36)

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