Three places and four athletes with the qualifying time! The National 1500m final was to be the race of truth to assist the selection process. Paul Robinson (St. Coca’s AC), Ciaran O’Lionaird (Leevale AC), David McCarthy (West Waterford) and our own John Travers would do battle to impress the selectors for a place on the Irish team at the forthcoming European Athletics Championships in Zurich.

This blue-riband race proved to be one of the highlights of the National Track & Field championships held at Santry on the 19^th and 20^th July 2014. Defending champion Eoin Everard (Kilknny City Harriers) and Robinson took the early pace leading the field through 400m in 68 seconds and the 800m mark in 2.06. Meanwhile Travers had made a conservative start being 11^th at the 300m before gaining to 3^rd at 1100m (2.50).  It could be argued that he was running a fine tactical race because in the middle of the back straight he was running in second place on the shoulder of the race leader Robinson. At this stage O’Lionaird put in a big effort and pushed towards the front whilst Travers seemed to lose his focus. On the top of the bend John’s chances of being on the flight to Zurich seemed lost as both McCarthy and a rejuvenated Everard brushed past. He lay fifth coming into the home straight.

With 70 metres to go O’Lionaird (3.43.85) was holding off the final challenge from Robinson (3.44.16), but Travers found another gear to kick past Everard (5^th) and then McCarthy (4^th in 3.45.64) to gain that all important bronze position in a time of 3.45.00. John has subsequently being named on the Irish team to compete at the European Championships at Zurich.

Eric Keogh was also in the field of 12 finalists, having qualified as a fastest loser on the previous day with a run of 3.55.86. Eric certainly deserved his place among the elite and showed enormous progress and potential with his efforts. He ran in 10^th position for most of the final running at the close behind the main bunch. He reached the bell in 2.52, but found the last lap tough going as he struggled home 11^th in 3.55.02.

Eamonn Fahey also had an eventful afternoon. Having finished a frustrating 4^th in his specialist event the Long Jump (6.84m) he lined up to compete in the second of five 100m Semi Finals. With only the winners guaranteed of a place in the final Eamonn had his work cut out. But he was fast out of the blocks and went on to win in a fabulous 10.85s. The field of 10 finalists was whittled down to 7 following 3 false starts that eliminated two of the big guns: David Hynes and Jonathan Browning. “We were all nervous and I just wanted to be extra careful out of the blocks” admitted Eamonn later. Despite the hesitant start Eamonn quickly got up to 3^rd place (10.99) and maintained his form through the finish line to win the bronze medal behind surprise winner Jamie Davis (10.90) from Raheny Shamrocks.

The final hour of competition saw Donore Harriers win 3 bronze medals. Added to those won by Travers and Fahey add the name Jaco Oosthuysen in the Javelin. Jaco threw consistently well throughout the competition recording a best of 57.37m. The event was won by Rory Gunning of Fr. Murphy’s AC in 59.22m with Shane Aston of Trim AC second with 57.53m.

Donore’s other competitor on the second day of competition was Ray Hynes in the 3000m Steeplechase. Ray had gained from 9^th to 6^th between the first and third laps and seemed to be going well. He passed through the 1500m point in 4.31, but landed awkwardly into the water jump and then took the precautionary decision to withdraw from the race.

The Men’s 10.000m was the club’s main focus on the first day of competition with 4 Donore athletes in a field of 21. The first Harrier home was Lee Van Haeften (31.25.67) PB in 7^th place. Lee was 10^th at the halfway mark passing the 5k point in 15.27. Next came Mark Dooley (32.43.21) PB in 13^th (15^th at 5k in 15.48). Two places further back was Michael McMahon (32.57.16). This was a very impressive run by McMahon who only took up running last autumn. After a hesitant opening few laps he passed the half-way point in 16.28 lying in 19^th place and then ran consistent laps over the second part of the race to gain to 15^th. Michael improved his PB time by massive 64 seconds. John Dunne M35 (33.29.16) had a marginal PB when finishing in 16^th spot. Dunne was 20^th at 5000m in 16.31.

The 10.000m race incorporated a team competition based on cumulative times and Van Haeften, Dooley and McMahon won the bronze medal behind winners Clonliffe Harriers.

David Campbell competed in the 400m, but was eliminated in the first of 4 Semi-Finals when he recorded a 6^th place in 52.57

The IMRA Sugar Bowl mountain race (16/7/14) was contested by Niall Lynch M40 who finished 5^th in 32.28, just 3 seconds shy of second spot.

Other results: –

Parkrun Griffeen Park (19/7/14): 1^st Gavin Keogh (16.44); 20^th Tom Fagan M45 (20.46)

Fingal 10km (20/7/14): 11^th Niall Lynch M40 (33.54) first in age category; 13^th Ken Norgrove M45 (34.16) first in age category; 27^th Will Morris M35 (35.24); 265^th Fred English (42.06); 442^nd Eoin Daltun (44.14). For the ladies we had Anne Curley 6th overall (38.34), Florence Curley 10th overall (39.35), Grace Kennedy (41.16), Nicola Dowdall (46.04), Caren Crowley (46.58) and Hilary O’Connor (54.46)

In the Raphoe 5k, congratulations to Maura Kearns who was first lady home and in the BHAA DCC 5K well done to Joe Murphy (19.32), Janette Strickland (21.30), Alma Hanevy (21.31) and Ann Woodlock (28.08)

Congratulations also to Conor McCauley who continued his recent run of from to finish 2nd in the Killarney Half Marathon (76.19)

John Travers may have finished only 6^th in Friday evening’s prestigious Morton Mile at Santry (Morton Games 11/07/14), but his new personal best time of 3.55.44 needs to be put into context. This was the 29^th running of the event and John’s time would have won every Morton Mile since Eamonn Coghlan’won in a time of 3.53.48 back in 1983. It should be noted that that was the same year that Coghlan went on to win the World 5.000m gold medal. The only other occasions that the Morton Mile was run quicker than the time achieved by Travers on Friday evening were by New Zealander John Walker, the 1976 1500m Olympic Champion, in 1977 with a time of 3.52.0 and by the legendary Steve Scott of the USA, silver medallist at the 1983 1500m and holder of a record 136 sub-4 minute miles, who won the 1981 ‘Morton’ in 3.54.76.

John thus becomes the 51^st Irishman to break the 4 minute barrier, but his time puts him 16^th on the Irish all-time list ahead of legends such as Ron Delany, Frank Murphy and Gerry Kiernan (John’s coach).

The race itself was star-studded with 12 sub-4 minute milers on the start line. John was one of just 6 home based athletes to compete against the strong international field. For the first two laps it looked as though our man Travers was out of his league. He completed the first lap of 409m in 0.59. He was 16^th. The quick tempo at the front was maintained, but John kept in touch with the main field passing the two lap marker in 1.54 and having gained slightly to 13^th position. On the back straight of the 3^rd lap he suddenly began to move through the field and he hit the bell in 2nd position in a time of 2.55. “I just felt great out there” said a delighted John afterwards. He had the crowd on their feet as he continued to thrust forward like a man on a mission. At the beginning of the back straight for the final time Travers was in the lead – by one metre, by two metres, by three metres… “He’s never going to hold it! – or is he?” was the aghast expression of Damian Allen as the crowd were enthralled by John’s fleet footed movement and audacious run to the front. The Donore Harriers supporters who witnessed this great race dared to dream, but 150 metres remained… But suddenly he was like a boxer on the ropes!

The final 150 metres was probably the gutsiest that Travers has ever run. He had to dig deep and just keep going. The big guns came and swept past, but John still had his mission! Will Leer of the USA won in a championship best time of 3.51.82. Leer is the USA Indoor Champion for the One Mile and 3.000m in 2013 and was a 1500m finalist at the last World Athletics championship. Second was Patrick Casey (3.52.62) of the USA. Casey won the silver medal in the recent American 1500m championship. Third was Corey Leslie, another American, in 3.53.44 with Zane Robertson of New Zealand 4^th in 3.53.72.

And John Travers! He held on bravely for an excellent 6^th place and he was the only Irishman to break the 4 minute mark. But John had another mission! He passed the 1500m mark (3.37.7) some two seconds inside the qualifying time for next month’s European Track and Field championships to be held in Zurich.

Brilliant! Just brilliant!

Here is a link to the race: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-H-LDGjFoxI

Ray Hynes also took to the track at the Morton Games competing in the 3.000m and aiming for a Personal Best. A strong field ensured a quick early pace and Ray had to run his opening two laps in 62 and 64 seconds to stay in contact with the main bunch. This early pace would later take its toll as Ray faded in the second half of the race to finally place 18^th in 8.33.69, some 15 seconds short of his best time. The race was won by Juan Luis Barrios of Mexico in a stadium best time of 7.44.21. It should be considered that Ray missed a large part of his winter conditioning training due to injury. However he continues to return to his previous best form. Ray will be hoping for a better outcome at the National 3.000m steeplechase at Santry next weekend.

At the Dublin Open Graded meeting No. 6 at Irishtown on Wednesday evening (9/7/14) a good contingent of Donore Harriers athletes took to the start line. Results are as follows: –

400m ‘A’: – 4^th David Campbell (53.00)

800m ‘B1: – 8^th Paul Cummins (2.10.84 thru 400 in 60)

800m ‘B2’: – 1^st Emmet O’Briain M35 (2.03.04 thru 400 in 61) PB; 4^th Henry English M35 (2.05.30 thru 400 in 62)

800m ‘B3’: – 8^th Luke Boland (2.11.03 thru 400 in 63)

800m ‘D’: – 1^st Killian O’Hora (2.09.05 thru 400 in 63) PB

5.000m ‘B’ Race: – 2^nd Michael McMahon (15.52.56); 5^th John Dunne M35 (16.05.18); 6^th Chris Muldoon M35 (16.12.11); 9^th Fergal Whitty M35 (16.18.88); 11^th Ken Norgrove M45 (16.35.77) 13^th Cathal McCarron (16.41.36); 14^th Darren Hand (16.41.88).

In the Women’s 400m ‘B’ race Claire O’Connor Jnr came 5^th in 2.30.5 thru 400 in 71.

In the Letterkenny AC Sub-4 Challenge Track event on Sunday (13/7/14) Eric Keogh (8.40.46) won a competitive 3000m race, run in gale force conditions.

At the BUPA Great Nortk 10km at Gateshead, also on Sunday, Lee Van Haeften (31.54) came an excellent 10^th in a high-calibre field and recorded a new Personal Best time for the distance despite a testing course and wet, blustery conditions. The race was won by Stephen Kiprotich (29.39) from Uganda. Lee will line up with team-mates John Dunne, Michael McMahon and Mark Dooley in next Saturday’s National Track 10.000m championship.

Daragh Fitzgibbon (15.56) ran out an easy winner in Saturday’s Donadea 5km race (12/7/14) organized by Donadea Wheelers.

In the inaugural Castleknock 5km (13/7/14) Garvan Smith M40 came 3^rd in 17.15. The other Donore Harriers to finish included: – 22^nd Bernard Byrne (19.05); 24^th Niall O’Reilly M35 (19.18); 43^rd Jack Raftery <Juv> (19.59); 57^th Declan Raftery M40 (20.43); 122^nd Ronan McCooey <Juv> 23.06 and 123^rd Ciaran McCooey (23.06).

At the Kinnegad GFC 5k, Barbara Cleary had another victory to her name – breaking the course record to be first lady in 16.50 and 7th overall.  (Unfortunately there were problems with timing on the night – hand timing was used so some of the results below are reckoned to be out of sequence or slower than actual) Next in was Anne Curley in 19.10, Maura kearns 19.14 and Sam Conroy in 20.39 – their indefatigable coach Jim McNamara finished in 21.58.

John Travers (14.15.16) came 5^th at the Belfast International Meeting held on Wednesday evening 2^nd July. A strong domestic field failed to make inroads into runaway winner Ben St. Lawrence (13. 27.72) from Australia. Unfortunately John Travers failed in his attempt to gain the qualifying standard for the European Athletics Championships due to take place in Zurich next month.

David Campbell (53.08) won a bronze medal in the 400m National under 23 championship at Cork on Sunday (6/7/14).

Mark Dooley lowered his Personal Best by more than 20 seconds when recording a time of 14.59.71 whilst running as a guest in the British Athletics League Division One match at Tooting Bec in South London on Saturday (5/7/14).

Also on Saturday and much closer to home Des Tremble (M40) ran a very fine race to place 8^th in the Clontarf Half-Marathon recording a time of 1.21.52.

On the previous Saturday (28/6/14) Graham Hopkins was the first Donore Harrier home in the Irish Runner 5 mile road race at the Phoenix Park. In wet and blustery conditions Graham (27.43) placed 21^st overall and 4^th in the M40 category. Phil Hennessy M40 (28.16) placed 28^th overall and 5^th in his age group.

Next Harrier home was Stephen Conroy M35 (30.54) placing 93^rd overall. The remaining athletes included: – 299^th Gerard Morris (34.07); 312nd Eoin Daltun (34.29); 360^th Charlie O’Neill M60 (34.55) <1^st in age category>; 374^th Ken Cronin M55 (34.56) and 779^th Dave Wogan M50 (36.37).

Niall Lynch (48.37) running his sixth mountain race of the summer came a creditable 3^rd behind winner Des Kennedy (46.27) of Raheny Shamrocks in the latest Irish Mountain Running Association race at Seefingan on Wednesday evening 2^nd of July. Seefingan, one of the mountains that separates the counties of Wicklow and Dublin, proved a tough challenge and Niall could not keep contact with the 2 leaders.

Over the past fortnight, the ladies have been represented over a wide range of events.  The most unusual was a 5k at 11pm on Shannon Airport’s runway which attracted well over 1000 runners and which Ide Nic Dhomhnaill decided to take part in at the last minute – she was first lady home in an excellent 18.03.

An array of Personal Bests at two North Kildare venues on Friday evening gave another indication of Donore Harriers resurgence as a force in Irish athletics. At the Irish Milers Club / La Cheile AC event to mark the official opening of the new track at Leixlip Eric Keogh (3.50.88) ran ‘a perfect race’ to knock 3 seconds of his previous best time to record a notable win in the 1500m ‘A’ race. In the process Eric truly announced that he is a member of the top table in domestic middle distance running. Darragh Rennicks (3.52.97) of Bohermeen AC came second with Jamie Rossiter (3.53.37) of Clonliffe Harriers in third. Donore’s 3000m steeplechase specialist Ray Hynes (3.56.38) finished in the middle of the field in 9^th position.

John Travers took up the early pace in the One Mile race before falling back to fifth position. However, a strong finish saw John (4.02.87) get back up to fourth place. The race was won by Sam McEntee (3.58.41) of Australia, with his compatriot Jordy Williams (3.59.40) second.

At the same meeting Emmet O’Briain M35 came 3^rd in the ‘D’ 800m in a time of 2.03.30 and Sean O’Broin M45 (12.21) placed 7^th in the ‘C’ 100m race.

Meanwhile at the St. Coca’s 5 km road race at Kilcock  ten of the 17 Donore Harriers athletes who made the start line gained Personal Bests. The race was won by Mark Christie (14.06) of Mullingar Harriers ahead of his club colleague Martin Fagan (14.18) with Alan McCormack (15.23) of DSD in third. Soon the charge down Connacht Street to the finish at the Fair Green was a tour-de-force of black and white singlets. Michael McMahon (15.53) led the Donore Harriers ‘posse’ in 7^th place narrowly holding off the challenges of Gavin Keogh (15.54) PB in 9^th, Oisin Fitzgibbon (15.55) PB in 10^th <1^st in Junior category>, Chris Muldoon (15.56) PB in 11th and John Dunne (15.59) in 12^th spot.

Ken Norgrove admitted to being over ambitious in the early stages of the course through the Courtown Wood area but he dug deep to place 21^st in a PB time of 16.38. Ken placed second in the M45 category. Also among the prize-winners were Garvan Smith (16.40) and Des Tremble (16.47) who both recorded PBs. They placed 23^rd and 24^th respectively and in the process placed 2^nd and 3^rd in the M40 category.

Next Donore Harrier over the finish line was Will Morris (16.50) 26^th with Darren Hand (16.52) showing a return to form just one place further back.

Sam Gallagher (16.59) put in a sprint finish to achieve a “mission accomplished” by breaking 17 minutes for the first time. Sam placed 32^nd overall and placed 2^nd in the Junior category behind his club colleague Oisin Fitzgibbon.

The remaining Donore Harriers athletes were: – 36^th Tony Barry (17.19) PB; 42^nd Andrew Ledwith (17.32); 45^th Bob Blake M40 (17.33) PB; 47^th Shane McAuley (17.43); 73^rd Bernard Byrne (18.24) PB; and 178^th Terry Mee (21.54) <3^rd in M60 age group>.

For the ladies, in the midweek BHAA Trail race, Alma Hanevy ran brilliantly to finish 3rd and Maura Kearns won the 1500m in the graded meet.

Aogan MacDomhnaill (8.42.99) ran a PB when finished 4^th in the 3000m ‘A’ race at an Open Graded Meeting at Cork on Friday evening. Indeed, Aogan took 7 seconds off his previous best and has now improved his time by almost half-a-minute for the season.

At the 2014 Aviva Tailteann Schools Interprovincial held in Morton Stadium, Santry (21.06.14) Sean Lawlor of Donore Harriers and representing the Kylemore College School was the standout performer in the boy’s sprint events as he stormed to victory in the 100m and 200m events. Sean, who is aged 16, recorded a time of 10.88 in the 100m and set a new Championship Best Performance in the 200m with a time of 21.67. Sean, who is coached by Gerry Ronan, has subsequently been selected to captain the Irish schools team for the upcoming Schools International at Cardiff versus England, Scotland and Wales. Well done Sean!

At the Malahide 5 kilometres Parkrun on the 21^st June Daragh Fitzgibbon ran out a clear winner recording a PB time of 15.39. Shane McAuley (18.01) placed 5^th in the same race.

Niall Allen recorded a win and a 3^rd place in the Discus (34.28m) and Shot Putt (11.18m) respectively at the Dublin Open Graded meet No. 5  at Tallaght. At the same event David Campbell (23.77) placed 2^nd in the 200m B race with Sean O’Broin M45 (24.97) 3^rd in the ‘C’ grade.

Niall Lynch M35 was involved in a tussle with Raheny Shamrocks duo Ian Conroy (40.08) and Des Kennedy (40.11) in the Irish Mountain Running Association race at Trooperstown Hill. Niall (40.10) used the downhill sections to make up ground on his competitors before finally settling for the runners-up spot. 153 runners completed the course.

Full results from the Irish Runner 5 Miles road race at the Phoenix Park on Saturday are to follow.

Donore Harriers are back in the final of the National Track and Field League following another excellent team performance at the second qualifying match at Athlone IT yesterday (22 June 2014). Wins from John Travers (800m), Ray Hynes (3000m Steeplechase) Eamon Fahey (100m & Long Jump), Conor O’Ceallaigh (200m); Niall Allen (Shot Putt & 56lb); Eoin Molloy (Hammer) and runner-up placings from Emmet O’Briain (1500m) and Rolus Osala (400m Hurdles) were the foundation for team success. The team score for the day reads:

• 1^st. Nenagh Olympic 133
• 2^nd Donore Harriers 119
• 3^rd Louth Athletics 117
• 4^th Tir Chonaill 116
• 5^th Clare County 115
• 6^th Riocht/Gneeveguilla AC 96
• 7^th Limerick AC 89
• 8^th St. Finbarrs 44

Note that there is a query regarding the official team score. The final of the league will take place on Sunday 3^rd August 2014 at Tullamore and hopefully it will prove 3^rd time lucky in terms of Donore Harriers gaining promotion to the Premier Division.

100m 1^st Eamon Fahey (11.03)

200m 1^st Conor O’Ceallaigh (23.35)

400m 3^rd David Campbell (53.24)

800m 1^st John Travers (1.51.72)

1500m 2^nd Emmet O’Briain 4.19.97

3000m S/C 1^st Ray Hynes (9.12.03)

400mH 2^nd Rolus Osala (60.44)

4 x 100m 1^st Donore Harriers (45.23)

4 x 400m 3^rd Donore Harriers (3.42.12)

Long Jump 1^st Eamon Fahey (6.38m)

High Jump 3^rd Luke Allen (1.60m)

Triple Jump 3^rd Rolus Osala (12.10m)

Shot Putt 1^st Niall Allen (11.72m)

Discus 3^rd Eoin Molloy (20.92m)

Hammer 1^st Eoin Molloy (40.19m)

56lb Weight 1^st Niall Allen (6.33m)

The ladies had a 10-strong team for round 2 of the National League with a great representation from our younger ladies who gained valuable competition experience at this level. 

It was a baptism of fire and they more than rose to the challenge.  Highlights were two event wins by Lynda Ngakam in the 100m (12.66) and the 4×100 relay team of Lynda, Emily Geoghegan, Karen Hughes and Ailise Keating who gained maximum points.  Clodagh Read did a treble in the shot, hammer and javelin (having competed in the Tailteann games the day before) – despite little experience at the javelin, her throwing prowess earned her 5th and in the hammer Clodagh was throwing above her usual weight but came third.  League stalwart Anne Gormley came 2nd in the walk and 5th in the discus. 

At middle distance, Ashling Swaine (3000m), Niamh Dowling (800m) and Florence Curley who ran in the Dunshaughlin 10k the previous evening (1500m) also picked up valuable points and later ran the 4×400 relay.  Claire O’Connor was the key to that event and ran very well to 4th in the 400m earlier on.  Ailise Keating doubled up at the long jump and relay, Karen Hughes did the triple jump, 200 and relay treble. 

It was a super effort by this new look team and alas the 80 points won combined with 65 in round 1 were not enough to get us into the final.  But hopefully next year this emerging team will make the breakthrough.

The Dunshaughlin 10k has been kind to the ladies team over the years with several wins and this year Barbara Cleary repeated her feat of two years ago when she became overall ladies winner in 34.38 – leaving the 2nd placed Ailish Malone nearly 2 minutes behind.  Barbara had designs on Lizzie Lee’s course record but wasn’t far off.  Fresh from her mini-marathon win, we will be seeing lots more from Barbara on the roads over the summer.  Ken Norgrove (34.24) and Cathal McCarron (34.49) respectively won the M45 and Junior categories, thus joining first woman finisher Barbara on the victory rostrum.

The race was won by Martin Fagan (30.03) of Mullingar Harrier. The first Donore Harriers home was Aogan MacDomhnaill (32.22) in 8^th place among a strong field. Next for Donore was Fergal Whitty (33.21), showing a welcome return to form, placing 18th. The remaining Donore Harriers athletes included: – 21^stGavin Keogh (33.27); 29^th Chris Muldoon (33.52); 32^nd John Dunne (34.02); 49^th Garvan Smith M40 (34.52); 50^th Sean Fox (34.55); 53^rd Des Tremble M40 (35.04); 100^th Tony Barry (36.53); 154^th Tom Fagan M45 (38.45); 194^th Bernard Byrne (39.40); 196^th Stephen Dawson (39.43);  243^rd Barry Potts M60 (40.49 – 3^rd in M60 category); 341^st David Wogan M50 (43.48); 380^th Jim McNamara M60 (44.59); 408^th Terry Mee M60 (45.40). 885 finishers.

For the ladies we also had Florence Curley (39.30), Breda Mahony (40.53), Alma Hanevy (41.34), Samantha Conroy (43.03), Janette Strickland (44.29), Nicola Dowdall (45.24), Jill Dempsey (46.42), Elaine Verdon (47.17), Eilish Joyce (50.29), Michelle Dawson (52.15), Kim Strickland (52.24), Olivia Strickland (52.24), Sarah Ni Ruairc (53.06) and Aoife Lynch (73.29) The ladies did enough to finish as second team.

In the team competition Donore Harriers (76 points) placed second behind Raheny Shamrocks (49), but ahead of Sportsworld AC (101) and Celbridge AC (122). The team scorers were: – Aogan MacDomhnaill, Fergal Whitty, Gavin Keogh and Chris Muldoon. 27 teams closed.

Graham Hopkins placed an excellent 2^nd in the Portumna Forest 50km race in County Galway on Saturday 14^th June. Graham had to persist through the pain of a recurring ankle injury before finally completing the scenic course in 3 hours and 28 minutes.

John Travers (8.12.80) easily won the Irish Milers Club 3.000m race at the Crusaders GV Ryan Meet at Irishtown track on Saturday (14.06.14) finishing about 100 metres clear of runner-up Gary Murray (8.24.61) of St. Malachy’s AC.

Ray Hynes (8.27.23) came a very fine fourth in the same race and continues to show improved form. Lee Van Haeften (8.42.52) placed 8th. It was great to see the Donore Harriers vest so much to the fore in a very competitive race!  

In the 1500m ‘A’ Race Eric Keogh (3.53.71) placed a very respectable 9th in another highly competitive field.

Earlier in the week Eric Keogh also competed in an 800m Dublin Championship race incorporated into the Dublin Open Graded Series (No. 4 on 11.06.14), also at Irishtown track. Eric recorded a time of 1.55.73 to place 3rd.

In the Dublin Championship 100 metres Eamon Fahey (11.23) came 5th with 16 years old Sean Lawlor (11.28) 7th.  

In the 800m ‘B’ race Emmet O’Briain (2.03.20) came 3rd and Luke Boland (2.09.03) 8th. Zak Higgins (55.36), another 16 years old, won the 400m ‘B’ race.     

In the Dublin Juvenile Track & Field Championships at Tallaght (8.06.14) Oisin Fitzgibbon placed 3rd in the Boys under 18s 3000m in a time of 9.35.3, whilst Sam Gallagher (10.24.0) came 4th in what was his first track race. On the previous day Oisin Fitzgibbon recorded a PB of 4.20.6 when placing 7th in a keenly contested Boys u/18s 1500m race.

The girls under 15 team took gold for the 4th year in a row with, our under 15 boys with the help of super sub Louis McDonagh finished 3rd,  under 17 girls team also took gold and the boys under 19 finished the night off with a third place finish 

Also at the weekend Terry Mee ran in the Braveheart Trail 5k Niamh O’Boyle 6th lady in the Monasterevin 10K 42.09

It was a fantastic weekend of racing for Donore’s ladies as Anne Curley finished strongly to take this years Derry Walled City Marathon title on Sunday in a time of 2:57:51 for a hugely impressive 14th overall.

In Monday’s Womens Mini Marathon, Barbara Cleary finished off a fantastic weekend for our ladies by shaking off the challenges of Maria McCambridge and Catherina McKiernan to win in 34.07 finshing comfortably clear of Maria 34.29 minutes and Catherina 34.38.