Round 1 of the National track and field league took place in a largely sunny Santry stadium on Sunday 12 June. The men in the premier division were in a tough pool with clubs such as DSD and Clonliffe and the women in division 1 faced off many strong county teams.

Early in the day we started with the hurdles and walks. Lauren Kennedy got things off on a solid footing with 4th place in the 100h and multieventer Rolus Olusa was a great 2nd in the 110H in 16.02. In the 400H, Caoimhe Mackey was delighted with her 1 second PB of 68.72 and 3rd place. The versatile Mael Lambert finished 3rd in the men’s in 62.32. League stalwart Anne Gormley picked up points for 3rd in the 1500m walk despite suffering from a chest infection.

The first relay event, the 4×100 didn’t go so well for the men this time with a 7th place in a tightly fought race. The ladies fared better with an excellent 3rd place, very impressive considering the team of Robyn, Suzi, Lauren and Ciara was reconfigured owing to key member Lynda Ngakam’s absence due to illness.

There was maximum points next in the 1500m with Eric Keogh’s convincing win in 3.54.33. Karla Doran clinched 2nd spot for the ladies in a close finish of 5.04.52

Maura Kearns clocked up a PB in the 400m in 62.60 and a 3rd spot in an event she is new to. One of most dramatic moments of the day was courtesy of Zak Higgins in the men’s 400m who literally fell over the line to secure a super 2nd spot and a PB in 50.23.

Sorcha Nic Dhomhnaill was very impressive in the 3000m with a 3rd place in 10.37. Mael Lambert showed he can move from 400h to the gruelling jumps of the 3000m S/C with ease finishing 2nd place in 9.38.

Aoife Lynch can’t put a foot wrong at the moment with a string of wins and an upcoming Irish vest in the European Youths. She delivered again with 2nd in the 200m in 24.71. Paul McDermott clinched 3rd in the men’s race in 22.10. In the guest 200m, the ever improving Adam Halpin ran 23.54 PB and David Campbell 23.92

In the 800m Sinead Lambe led the race at one point but fought hard in the 2nd lap when the placings changed and was an impressive 3rd in 2.23.39. Eric Keogh doubled up and did the men’s 800 in a close finishing 3rd with 1.57.28. Michael McMahon gave it everything in the men’s 5000m and was unlucky to be just pipped by a DSD runner he had earlier overhauled, only half a second separated 1st and 2nd place, he finished in 15.21.88.

Late call-up Suzi O’Farrell did wonderfully well in the 100m with 4th place in 13.41. In the men’s race Cian O’Reilly was 7th in 11.87.

In the field events, the ladies showed their current strength in the throws with Clodagh Read 2nd in the hammer in 38.74. Lauren O’keeffe guested with 52.72 and Orlaith Read threw 30.67 in her hammer weight. Eoin Molloy was 2nd in the men’s hammer in 39.69
Clodagh Read threw to 3rd in the discus in 23.51 and u19 Dublin champion Oran O’Brien got maximum points in the men’s discus with 33.69.
Mimi Ajagebo was 4th in the shot in 8.68 and triple Leinster Master champion Niall Allen was 5th for the men in 10.79. He went on to finish 2nd in the 56lb weight for distance.

Andie Maguire was another late call up for the long jump and triple jump and she finished a fine 4th in both with a PB of 8.98 in the triple. Multi-eventer Kolade Abidoun finished 5th in the long jump 5.83 and Rolus Olusa appeared again in the TJ 11.95 to come 5th. Gabhan O’Tighearnaigh had a best of 1.75 to finish 4th in the high jump with Roisin Rynn finishing 7th for the women. Ailbhe Healy easily won the pole Vault event in 2.70 and Rolus Olusa finished 5th for the men.
Jako Oostenhaven was impressive as ever in the Javelin with a best of 57.85 and 2nd place. Lauren O’Keeffe scored 6th for the women in 17.58.

Final event of the day as always was the 4x400m relay. The ladies had their best ever day in this event where they have been used to finishing last! but with more of the ladies now doing the distance, there was a 3rd placed finish with a great last 100m by Maura Kearns, cumulative time 4.14. (Team Caoimhe Mackey, Clodagh Martin, Karla Doran and Maura Kearns) In the men’s event, Zak Higgins repeated his heroics in the solo 400, his last spurt clinched 4th place for the men and a 3.33.76 cumulative time. (Team David, Adam, Mael and Zak)

The men finished 3rd in their pool (only 1 point off 2nd) with 107points. (crusaders were 108 and Clonliffe topped the pool with 123), an excellent result with the Santry pool being the more competitive overall. When pool b in Athlone was counted, the men are 4th, a great start.

The ladies had their best ever round finishing 2nd in Pool A only 2 points off Sli Cualann. When pool B was counted, the ladies are 4th overall. Amazingly, the ladies were able to field athletes in every event, a far cry from 5 years ago when it was a struggle to make up the numbers, this is a team to watch. The late Jim McNamara would have been proud.

There was great support from coaches, parents, other club members, David provided block assistance and above all Leonie Newman, coordinator supreme ! Roll on round 2 on 17 July.

Graded track and field meeting 4 took place in Santry with a number of good results.

Eamon Fahey is building up his season again with 2nd place in the 100a in 11.00 seconds. He was also impressive in the 400m, not his usual event, dipping below 50 seconds in 49.14.  Maura Kearns won the B400m in 62.62 with Sinead lambe 3rd in 63.12, Karla Doran 8th in the A in 65.16 the trio are only new to this distance but have been racing over 800m.  In the 400B race David Campbell ran 53.78 to 3rd place.  Sean o’broinn was 5th in the men’s c100 in 12.4 and newcomer Laura Voineag ran 14.61 4th in the ladies 100m
Twins Sorcha and Ide Nic Dhomhnaill both got 1500m PBs with Sorcha 5th in 4.47.14 and Ide milliseconds behind in 4.47.78.
In the men’s races Luke Boland was 5th in the B race in 4.23.26 and George Brady 5th in the c race in 4.33.96, Kevin Nolan 4.42.
In his first ever track race, Colm Mullen did really well and dipped under 5 minutes in 4.59.37.  Orlaith Read threw 32.15 in the 4kg hammer and Lauren O’keeffe 57.12 in 3kg class.

The popular Irish runner 5 mile road race, first of the summer race series attracted a few thousand runners to the Phoenix park on Sunday. First home for Donore was Patrick Byrne in 26th place. Amy Moriarty was 10th woman and got a PB and Bronagh Elliott was 3rd W40. Results in full:
Patrick Byrne 29.02
Declan Lynch 30.57
Alan Farrell 32.36
Amy Moriarty 32.49
Kevin Odgers 32.54
Stephen Dawson 33.52
Bronagh Elliott 34.15
John Gleeson 35.08
Tony Griffin 35.13
Angela Eustace 36.39
Mary McDermott 37.52
Noel Davis 38.20
Daryl dart 38.24
Terry Mee 39.11
Charlie O’Neill 39.17
Laura Murray 40.08
Dana Mackey 41.01
Michelle Dawson 41.34
Liagh Miller 42.53
Leonie Barry 44.13
Claire Devanney 44.16
Aidan Kearns 48.01
Amandine Devine 48.40
Eimear Kearney 52.50
Anna McMahon 53.57
Aoife Rickard was the female winner of the DBRC 5 mile summit run in Howth on s very hilly course in 36.58 and 6th overall with Des Gill 11th in 38.16.
Mary Murphy ran 49.02 in the Newbridge 10k.
Niall Lynch continued his winning ways in the Sorrel Hill IMRA race in the Leinster league finishing 2nd.

It has been a very busy weekend for our juvenile and junior athletes. In Dublin it was the last of the u/10 to u/16 league with mixed weather we had a small number of athletes who performed well. We will have full results during the week but it’s looking like we may have 2 athletes in medal contention. Great to see Michael and Sean trying out hurdles for the first time. In the 5km Calcutta run 10 year old Oliver Hopkins was the first u/18 to finish. In Greystones we had a small number of older juvenile and junior athletes up first was Zak Higgins winning the 400m in 50.70. Next up was Caoimhe Mackey who won the 400m hurdles in 69.5 with a new pb and in her first 400m hurdles race Clodagh Martin finished 5th. In the 100m Aoife Lynch continued her good form by placing 3rd in a time of 12.41 after finishing 2nd in the 200m matching her pb of 24.8 that she ran last week. Paul McDermott broke 22 seconds for the first time in the 200m finishing 3rd he then went on to finish 3rd in the 100m in 11.11. We had two junior relay teams competing the boys team Alex Clarkin, Zack Higgins, Conor Fox and Paul McDermott won the junior men’s tile in a new record time of 44.34. The girls relay team of Eve Reilly, Roisin Rynn, Robyn O’Keeffe and Lauren Flatherty finished 2nd in a time of 53.10. Both relay teams did very well for their first time running together. in Enniscorthy today Lara O’Byrne competed in the u/17 Leinster combined events and won with an overall total score of 3445. Well done all.

Leinster Juniors; Zak Higgins 1st 400m
Caoimhe Mackey 1st 400m hurdles, Clodagh Martin 5th
Aoife Lynch 3rd 100m, 2nd 200m
Paul Mcdermott 3rd 100m, 3rd 200m
Robyn O’Keeffe 7th 200m
Womens relay 2nd
Mens relay 1st
Lara O’Byrne 1st combined events under 17

In the Calcutta Run 10K, Florence Curley was the first woman in 42:04 with Branagh Elliott 3rd in 44:35.  Julia Hackett ran the 5K running a time of 22:19.

Eric Keogh took to the track on Saturday 14th at the British Milers Meet in Sportcity, Manchester.  Eric ran the 5,000m (C) race and finished 2nd in 14:31:31, taking a whopping 20 seconds of his previous best.  Congratulations to him and coach John Downes.

Unfortunately Eric’s luck ran out the following day as he travelled to Old Trafford to watch his beloved Manchester United take on Bournemouth.  The match was abandoned for security reasons.

Sean Lawlor ended his Leinster schools athletics career in style when he won both the senior 100m and 200m at the second day of the Glo Health Leinster Schools Track and Field Championships in Santry representing Kylemore College.

In the 100m, Lawlor beat old rival Eoin Doherty of Drimnagh Castle to win in 10.83 secs. His time in the 200m was 21.86 secs. It is a great result for Sean who has been itching to get back after a lengthy lay off with injury.

Lauren O’Keeffe (Loreto Balbriggan) won the inter girls’ hammer with a throw of 56.34, improving on her own record from last year. There was also a record for Lara O’Byrne (St. Joseph’s Lucan) in the Inter girls pole vault with 2.80m.

Louis O’Loughlin continued on his winning ways with a great win in the Junior Boys 800m for Moyle Park.

Day 2
Inter Girls
100m Cara Brennan 4th
200m Cara Brennan 5th
Long Jump Andie Maguire 2nd
Pole Vault Lara O’Byrne (New Leinster Record 2.80) 1st
Shot Putt Lauren O’Keeffe 3rd
Javelin Rebecca Power 2nd
Hammer Lauren O’Keeffe (New Leinster Record 56.24) 1st, Beth Kirwan 4th
400m Hurdles Caoimhe Mackey 4th

Senior Girls
100m Aoife Lynch 2nd
200m Aoife Lynch 1st
Hammer Aoife Simm 5th

Inter Boys
400m Hurdles Max Carey 2nd
Long Jump Kolade Abiodum 3rd
Hammer Ian Darrack 4th

Senior Boys
100m Sean Lawlor 1st
200m  Sean Lawlor 1st, Paul McDermott 3rd
Day 1
Junior Girls
Hammer Ashling Reid 5th, Ciara Simms 6th

Inter Girls
100m Hurdles Lara O’Byrne 3rd, Angie Gonia 8th
Relay Lucy Kirwan 1st

Senior Girls
Steeplechase Suzanne Mstetson 6th

Minor Boys
800m Louis O’Loughlin 1st

U/16 Boys
1500m Faith Aden 6th, Jack Raftery 8th, Sekeriye Ahmed 9th

Senior Boys
100m Hurdles Alex Clarkin 1st, Jack Rudden Kelly 3rd

John Travers was in action last Saturday night in a rain soaked Belfast where he took on the 3,000m at the IMC meet at Mary Peter’s Track. Conditions weren’t exactly ideal in the wet but Travers still managed to post a quick season opener to win in 8.03.69. John was also awarded athlete of the meet.

On the previous weekend the first of the Irish Milers Club meetings took place at the Shoreline track in Greystones on Saturday afternoon. A number of the Donore girls were in action on the track and in the 1500m Ide Nic Dhomhnaill showed she is back in good form with a 4,50.08 followed by Sinead Lambe ran 4.52.95. Maura Kearns won the 800mB in a tight finish in 2.23.64. David Campbell won the men’s 200mB in 23.98.

The first Dublin graded meet of the season took place in Santry on Wednesday April 20th with some impressive performances.

100m (B) Cian O’Reilly ran 11.85 finishing 7th. Adam Halpin was 8th in 11.91 and in the men’s
100m (C) Sean Ó Broin finished 6th in 12.57.

800mA Sinead Lambe ran 2.22.26 in the 800m (A) with Karla Doran posting 2.24.57. In the 800m (B) Maura Kearns was the winner in a time of 2.22.10. Sorcha Nic Dhomhnaill was 5th with 10.37 in the 3000m and in the Hammer Clodagh Read threw 37.4m and Orlaith Read 29.94.

At the recent IUAA championships on April 15th at Santry stadium Lynda Ngakam (DCU) won the National triple jump bronze with a best jump of 11.30m. Rolus Olusa (NUIM) competed in the combined events and finished 8th.

Some of our Juveniles were in action yesterday at schools athletics in Santry and the 2nd Dublin graded meet took place in Taillight last night. Updates will be posted soon.

The Leixlip 5k road race, hosted by Le Cheile AC, took place on Saturday May 7th. Fergal Whitty finished 9th in a time of 16.24. Aisling Swaine was 2nd in a PB of 18.34, Sinead Graham was 4th woman in 19.48 and Laura Murray ran 23.24. Laura also took part in the Wings for Life race the following day where she ran 10 miles.

At the Tallaght AC 5k on Sunday, may 1st, the Donore women won silver in the Dublin novice road championship led home by Caren Crowley 22.07, Mary Murphy 22.46 Catherine McKeon 24.19 and Jenny O’Keeffe 25.44. First Donore man home was Rossa Hurley in 16.39 and Terry Mee ran 22.40.

There was a big turnout on a wet and windy day at the National 10k/Great Ireland Run.  The men’s masters team was 5th, the women’s seniors 7th and the masters team 12th on a competitive day- full results:

The previous day at the fast and popular K Club BHAA 10k around the environs of Straffan saw the following finishers:

There were no chipped results available at the Dublin Remembers 5k, a 1916 commemorative event held on April 24th but lots of Donore runners finished, with Eoin Durkan and Aisling Swaine the first Donore man and woman home.

The women’s team finished 3rd at the Dunboyne 4 mile, a race close to the late Jim Mc Namara’s heart and he was remembered with a moments silence at the start. Full results:

The BHAA women’s 2 mile in Raheny saw Aisling Swaine finish 2nd in 12.18, Julia Hackett 13.43 and Karen Behan 1st w35 in 13.46 and Ann Woodlock was 1st W75. The 4 mile race finishers were Fergal Whitty 6th place, Phil Hennessy 8th, Chris Muldoon 23.52, Tom Fagan 26.11, Barry Potts 26.58 1st m65, Terry Mee 1st m70 31.05 and Charlie O’Neill also competed.

The past month has aslo seen Donore runners compete at home and abroad in a range of long distance events.

On the May Bank holiday George Brady edged close to 100 marathons with a 3.03.21 in Belfast.

The day before was the Limerick marathon where we had two Donore runners.  Andrew Odger ran 3.34.57 and Angela Eustace got a PB of 3.38.38.  This was fitting given that nearly 40 years ago exactly, the late Jim McNamara got his marathon PB and Olympic qualification in Limerick.

A few weeks previously several runners made the trip to Rotterdam, an increasingly popular marathon conducive to good times.  It didn’t disappoint, despite the sun on the day.  First home in an excellent 2.40.58 and with a new PB was Anthony Flannery, Sean Fox also with a new PB of 2.46.59.  In close succession were Fred Kiernan 2.56.57 and Tony Barry 2.57.07.  Alan Farrell broke the 3 hour mark in 2.59.09.  Florence Curley got a new PB of 3.07.39.  Thanks Medbh Peavoy who couldn’t compete due to injury but provided great support around the course.

On the same day but in atrociously wet and windy conditions was the Connemarathon. Laura Murray completed her first ultra race,a gruelling 39.3 miles in 7.35.  In the marathon,  Niall Lynch came an excellent 3rd overall in 3.07.29, Peter Bonnar 4.29 and Claire Devanney 4.38.46.  In the half marathon event Julia Hackett ran 1.42.36 and Liagh Miller 2.00.48.
Alma Hanevy clocked up another marathon major in Boston on a hot day in 3.32.39  to complete her tour of the World Marathon Majors not that long after her Tokyo marathon in February