Congratulations to our medalists from the Dublin marathon who were presented with their medals at the clubhouse this week.

Taking home the biggest medal haul was Fergal Whitty who was National, Leinster and Dublin gold individual M40 winner and winner of National masters team bronze, Leinster masters team silver and Dublin masters team gold.

In the group photo left to right is:
Peter Gaffney – National masters team bronze, Leinster masters team silver, Dublin masters team gold.
Fergal Whitty
Ariana Ball – Dublin individual gold W35, Leinster senior team silver, Dublin senior team gold
Anne Curley – National W45 individual bronze, Leinster W45 gold, Dublin W45 gold, Leinster team silver, Dublin senior team gold
Grace kennedy – Dublin individual senior silver, Leinster senior team silver, Dublin senior team gold
Other winners who couldn’t attend last night were Tony Griffin who won Dublin M60 bronze
Ken Norgrove – Dublin M45 bronze, national masters team bronze, Leinster masters team silver, Dublin masters team gold.

Dublin Senior Cross Country win

History was made on Santry Demesne today when Ide Nic Dhomhnaill became the first Donore Harriers woman to win the Dublin senior cross country championship. A mild day with no wind and a dry course with 1500m laps which the women did 4 laps of, 4 Donore women took to the line.

Ide ran a smart race, staying back from the early pace when Crusaders runner Niamh Allen took it out. But she closed her down as the race went on and put daylight between her and Allen who faded to 5th. In the end Ide prevailed and won by a very good margin on DSD’s Meghan Ryan in an historic victory. Ide’s twin Sorcha came 7th and for a large part of the race ran in tandem with Crusaders Orla Drumm. Next in 8th place was Sinead Lambe who had the difficult task of running a large part of the race on her own. Maura Kearns worked her way through the field and had her trademark sprint finish finishing 17th. It was enough to bring the team a bronze medal, just 6 points off silver.

Winner of the team gold and Jim McNamara cup were Crusaders. Jim’s son James and daughter Andrea were on hand to make the presentation afterwards in the Clonliffe bar.

In the men’s race, there wasn’t a complete Donore team but Niall Lynch was 20th (after running the marathon last week), Emmet Ó Briain 32nd and Javier Romero 45th

The National and Dublin marathon championship results are now in and we had a number of winners.

Dublin Marathon

Congratulations to all our runners in the SSE Airtricity Dublin City marathon which also incorporated the national championship, there were many PBs on the day, a very cold one but no wind and it stayed bright and dry. We saw an outstanding run from Fergal Whitty who finished in 2.28.57 a PB and first time to dip under 2:30, this is the first sub 2.30 marathon by a Donore man since 2010.

Ken Norgrove ran his best marathon in a long time followed in by Peter Gaffney, Chris Muldoon, Phil Hennessy and Niall Lynch. Tony Barry got a Pb, Ken Nugent finishes next as Stephen Dawson was just outside the 3 hour mark in a PB, he had stopped to help teammate Ciarán Ryan who suffered a fall and had been at 3 hour pace until then. Next in were Tom Tennant and Neil Hand

First Donore woman home was Grace Kennedy with a 3 minute PB. Patrick kavanagh and Patrick Moriarty were next. Anne Curley in her 5th marathon since June including Berlin 5 weeks ago had to stop at mile 22 too with her long term injury losing 2 minutes but she still finished strongly and a minute behind was Ariana Ball in a 6 minute PB and fantastic run. Niall O’Reilly suffered a hip injury mid race but battled to the end. Tony Griffin was under the 3.30 mark as was Oliver O’Hara PB and Henry English and Ken Cronin just outside it. Pam White got an 11 minute PB and Elaine verdon despite cramp finished well. And well done Deirdre Brennan on a PB, Sian O’Connor, Jo hughes, shiofra McCarthy and Anna McMahon

Thanks to all the hardworking volunteers at the Donore Harriers water station and all the supporters along the route. Many of the runners adjourned to Toners afterwards for post-race celebrations.

Full times below and most photos from Kieran Carlin, more to come. If we have left anyone out of the results let us know and please send in any photos you took of Donore runners if you were out on the course

Fergal Whitty 2.28.55 PB
ken Norgrove 2.38.15
Peter Gaffney 2.40.25
Chris Muldoon 2.43.35
Philip Hennessy 2.46.46
Niall Lynch 2.47.10
Tony Barry 2.53.17 PB
Ken Nugent 2.54.31
Stephen Dawson 3.00.29 PB
Tom Tennant 3.04.35
Neil Hand 3.05.21
Grace Kennedy Clarke 3.05.23 PB
Ciaran Ryan 3.10.58
Patrick kavanagh 3.11.03
Patrick Moriarty 3.13.05
Anne Curley 3.14.05
Ariana Ball 3.15.04PB
Niall O’Reilly 3.17.0
Henry English 3.25.08
Tony griffin 3.26.42
Oliver O’Hara 3.28.21 PB
Ken Cronin 3.30.44
Pam White 3.41.06 PB
Elaine Verdon 3.41.51 PB
Deirdre Brennan 4.18.40 PB
Sian O’Connor 4.21.47
Jo hughes 4.24.40
Shiofra McCarthy 4.49.14
Anna Mcmahon 5.44.16

National championship marathon results

Fergal Whitty gold M40
Anne Curley Bronze W45
Men’s Masters team bronze (Fergal Whitty, ken Norgrove, Peter Gaffney)
(Women’s senior team just out of the medals in 4th)

Dublin Championship

Grace Kennedy silver senior
Ariana Ball gold W35
Anne Curley gold W45
Women’s senior team Gold (grace, Anne, Ariana)

Fergal Whitty Gold M40
Ken Norgrove Bronze M45
Tony Griffin bronze M60
Men’s Masters team gold (Fergal, Peter Gaffney, Ken Norgrove)

It was a cold sometimes blustery but sunny day in Navan for the Leinster Novice cross country championship. Held at Navan adventure centre and racecourse for the second year running, the ground was dry but it was a course with a lot of twists and turns and started and finished on an uphill. In the women’s 4k race with 106 runners, 2 big laps, Fiona Hegarty was 1st Donore home in 38th, and aoife Ni Thuathail made good ground in 48th. Audrey Gahan was 8 seconds behind in 53rd. Fiona Barrins had a solid run in 71st and Lee chambers in 88th. The team finished in 9th place

In the men’s 6k race over 4 laps 7 Donore men took to the line in a field of 115 and for a time Alan Farrell , Alasdair Brown, Jonathan Farrell and Paul Cummins were closely matched. In the end, Alan was first home in 34th with Alasdair 7 seconds behind in 40th and Paul Cummins one second behind in 42nd. Jonathan Farrell was next in 52nd, Javier Romero Ferrera 69th , Craig Scott 96th and Andrew wilson 106th bringing the team to 8th.

Every road or track fixture for the last couple of weeks has been ran in the blazing heat so quite a challenge for our endurance runners but they have been out in numbers.

Two of our women even aced PBs, Joan Lennon was 5th Woman in the Pride run 5k in the Phoenix park in 22:12 and Pam White who has been hitting PBs all year got another one here in 22:16 and was 6th woman.

The next day one of the classics of the road calendar, the Michael Manning Dunshaughlin 10k, took place on a hot summer evening and Eric Keogh’s fine run of form continued where he finished 7th in 30.49.98 – very little separated 1-7 so this was excellent. Next in was the ever strong Fergal Whitty 33.18 (3rd M40) and 24th , Des Tremble 34.07, Ken Norgrove 34.20 and they made up the 4 scorers of the second placed team. The next 2 runners Sean and Andy weren’t far off the scorers. Sole Donore lady on the night was Ariana ball. Well done to:
Sean Fox 34.28
Andy Kinane 34.51
Chris Muldoon 37.35
Craig Scott 40.20
Joe Maguire 42.11
Ariana Ball 42.23

Many opted instead for the Irish Runner 5 mile around the Phoenix park on Sunday morning again in hot sun and thanks Fiona Barrins for providing some of the detail here!

Donore Harriers were well represented. Eoin Durkan 27:43, Peter Gaffney 28:30, Tony Barry 29:42, Fred Kiernan 31:31.
Despite the hot temperatures and bug alerts, Audrey Gahan achieved a speedy time of 34:09 followed by Barry Potts at 35:09. Fiona Barrins had a PB coming in at 36:10. On her first outing as a ‘grown up’ with Donore, Molly Murphy O’Kane did a great time of 38:41 followed by Catherine McKeon at 43:23 and Michele Murphy at 45:58. Treasa Boylan is coming back gradually from injury and she ran 45:34. The Fit4life group had runs from Liam Hickey 34:47 Deirdre Brennan 47:17 and Adrienne seery 48:53.

There was great support from Donore members who were out on their Sunday morning run, cheers were heard on many parts of the course, it was very much appreciated and helped to keep the momentum and the feet moving in the heat. The group enjoyed some well deserved treats after in the visitors centre and We can report nobody was bitten, however the key lesson from the day was ‘always wear sunscreen’ (there may have been some very red shoulders and necks later that day).

Dublin Athletics Graded Series Meeting Number 4 @ Morton Stadium, June 6th

It was a perfect evening for running at the Dublin Athletics Graded Series Meeting Number 4 in Morton Stadium, June 6th, with Bandon AC’s Phil Healy running 10.91 and a new national 100m record in the second race of the evening. While the cancellation of the hammer competition meant that the Donore Hammiers didn’t get the chance to throw their weight(s) around, Donore were otherwise well-represented.

The 400m races featured 3 Donore athletes, with David Campbell finishing 4th in the B1 race in 54.23. Adam Halpin (55.15) and Javier Romero (57.71) finished 3rd and 5th respectively in the B2 400m.

In the women’s 1500m A race, Niamh O’Neill finished 9th in 4:53.22, which bodes well for the rest of her season. Unfortunately, Maura Kearns suffered an injury during the same race and was forced to drop out. Karla Doran ran a smart race in the first of the combined B & C Grade 1500s, finishing 3rd in 5:11.99, while Jona Kalemi clocked 5:51.68 to finish 7th in the second.

In the men’s 1500m races, Emmet Ó Briain was first into action finishing 9th in 4:15.67 in the first Championship ‘A’ race. The second ‘A’ Championship race featured four Donore athletes, with Donore’s Daragh Fitzgibbon and Ray Hynes involved in a tactical battle at the front up against Clonliffe’s Colm Rooney. After a swift 62-second first lap, the three leaders shut down the pace in the second lap, which pulled the chasing pack, including Michael Ryan and Jamie Cullen, back into the race. The final lap featured a three-way burn-up with Clonliffe’s Rooney edging out Daragh (N/T) and Ray (4:01.92) for the win. Michael Ryan ran a strong last 300m to finish 6th and dip under 4:10 for the first time in 4:09.45, with Jamie Cullen finishing 10th in 4:11.93.

In the B2 race, Donal Iremonger, moving up from his usual 400m and 800m distances, backed himself to run a quick time from the gun, sticking with an early pace and holding it to finish strongly in 4:31.12. In the final race of the evening, Des Gill also ran an astutely-judged 1500m in the ‘D’ grade, working his way into the race over the course of the 3 and 3/4 laps to finish in 7th in 5:22.65.

Dublin Athletics Graded Series Meeting Number 5 @ Tallaght AC, June 20th

The Dublin Athletics Graded Series continued with Meeting Number 5 last Wednesday, June 20th out in Tallaght on another pleasant, but windy, evening for athletes.

The programme of races featured the 200m, 800m, and 3000m on the track, as well as Pole Vault, Long Jump, Hammer and Javelin in the field, with 12 Donore athletes participating across the events.

First up on the track was Adam Halpin, who was racing in the B1 200m, which unusually featured only two athletes. Into a stiff headwind on the home straight, Adam ran 25.32 to finish 2nd.

Next were the 800s, with Maura Kearns representing Donore in the Women’s Championship ‘A’ race, finishing 6th in 2:26.44. Having raced 4 days previously, and with a day of multi-eventing ahead of him at Round 1 of the National League, Track & Field captain David Campbell ran an even-paced 2:09.73 to finish 5th in the B2 race.

Donore vests were particularly prominent in the final event of the track programme, the 3000m, with 8 athletes competing across 4 races in *arguably* the most demanding flat track event.

The single women’s 3000m combined the ‘A’ Championship race with the B & C Grades, with Niamh O’Neill, Karla Doran and Aoife Ní Thuathail all competing. The highlight of the night was Niamh O’Neill’s performance in this race finishing 3rd in 10:33.86 and securing a Dublin Senior Championship Bronze, days after running a 5:04.69 1500m at the IMC/Le Chéile meet. Karla Doran finished 9th in 11:03.41 and Aoife Ní Thuathail making her Donore debut (I think!), finished 13th in 11:54.55.

The men’s 3000m races featured another 5 Donore athletes. First up, at contrasting ends of the race, were Rossa Hurley and Emmet Ó Briain in the Championship ‘A’ race. Marking his seasonal track debut, Rossa was looking to break the 9-minute barrier for the first time which, despite the conditions, he did by some distance, running a 10-second pb to finish 6th in 8:50.69. Emmet finished 13th in 9:20.17, also recording a small pb.

The second men’s race included Paul Cummins and Kevin Nolan, who was making a return to track action after a long lay-off. With the field widely spread from the first 600m, both were racing into the wind for long stretches, with Kevin ultimately finishing 5th in 9:42.43 and Paul 7th in 9:48.64.

The final Donore athlete on the track was Des Gill, who seems to be embracing the track more and more with each successive race on the tartan. Having run 11:52 for 3000m in the first Graded meeting of the season, Des improved on this substantially, running 11:19.69 to finish 14th, which suggests there is considerably more to come as the track season continues.

Meanwhile, on the field, and back in the throwing circle, was Orlaith Read, perhaps Donore’s most vocal advocate of all things throwing (espeically hammers!). Orlaith’s best throw on the night of 25.89 ensured her a first place in the women’s hammer competition.

Next up on the track is Graded Meeting 6 which is on Wednesday 4th July in Morton Stadium Santry. The programme of events features the 100m, 800m, and 5000m on the track, as well as Triple Jump, Discus and Javelin in the field.

Photo credit: Paul Kelly (https://www.flickr.com/photos/paulelwoodkelly/)

June Roads, Trail, Track (Trinity & UK) Round-Up

Roads & Trail

Des Gill started a busy week by being the sole representative of Donore at the Patrick Bell Bohermeen AC 5k, which took place on Friday June 8th, finishing in 19:25. And was back in action at the DBRC summit 5 mile in Howth, running 35:48.

On 16th June, at the Castleknock 5k, we had a number of runners, Fergal Whitty was 4th in 16:41, Ken Norgrove 17:10, Karla Doran a fine 19:52 with Joseph Maguire getting an identical time 19:52! Next was Audrey Gahan 21:04 and 2nd W40, then Rhona McHugh 21:20.

Sinead Lambe finished 3rd lady in 18:22 at the Braveheart trail race run by Trim AC.

Trinity Track

The annual BHAA races in Trinity College on Wednesday, June 13th attracted a small but high-quality Donore entry, with stellar performances by Des Gill and Karla Doran in particular. For those unfamiliar with the event, it usually involves running two different distances on the grass track at College Park, a famous venue that once launched the career of club legend Willie Dunne.

Participants are graded according to previous BHAA runs, here or elsewhere. And this year the races were over the classic distances: 800 and Mìle.

The outstanding Donore performance of the night was by Des Gill who, after being close to a place in a hard-run 800, lined up again an hour later for the mile and won it in fine style: moving gradually into contention on the second and third laps, tracking the leader up the back straight on lap 4, and then leaving him for dead with a sprint off the last bend.

In Karla’s mile, the eventual winner set a fierce pace early on to open up a big lead. Karla then spent two laps reeling her in, and with 250 meters to go, looked certain to win what had become a two-horse race. Then the front-runner found another gear and kicked on, leaving Karla a brave second after another brilliant run.

Elsewhere, Frank McNally and Terry Mee ran both the 800 and mile and both improved on recent performances. Frank found the 800 hard work but finished in about 2:52, which was a few seconds quicker than in 2017. The mile felt somehow easier – those timed runs on the Donore track recently must have helped. The BHAA still haven’t posted all the results, except Des’s mile, which was 5:57 close to his recent run on the club track, but probably better, being on grass

UK Track

On June 12th, Eric Keogh continued his outdoor track season and raced at the British Milers Club meet at Stretford where there is always high level competition and a graded system. Eric raced in the fastest 1500m of the evening and finished 9th in 3.51.56, not as fast as his 3.46 in Belgium a few weeks previously but still a fine run where only 6 seconds separated 1st and 9th place.

In Horwich, also in the North of England Anne Gormley competed at the Horwich festival of running which incorporates the British masters 5k racewalk championship. Anne finished 3rd W55 in 35:47 and she will be back in action at the national league this weekend where she has been a stalwart member of the ladies league team for years now.

At last weekend’s Loughborough British Milers Club meet, there was another great win for John Travers. He finished in 3.40.74 in the 1500m A race in a season’s best and agonizingly close to the European championship standard of 3:40. John just shaved the 5000m standard a few weeks ago so no doubt he will be back in action very soon and hopefully continue the winning streak.