Dublin Marathon 2014

October 31, 2014Club News, ResultsMedbh Peavoy

There was more heartbreak and disappointment than celebration after this year’s Dublin Marathon. Alterations to the course map made the 35^th edition of the race tougher than in previous years. The long climb from Parkgate Street and up along the Chesterfield Avenue through the Phoenix Park made the first quarter of the race very demanding. There was also a strong head-wind to contend with at various stages of the route and the day was surprisingly humid. In such energy sapping conditions the performance of Andy Kinane (2.46.16) deserves special mention. Andy took 5 minutes of his previous best time and was the 62^nd overall finisher.

Elaine Verdon and Laura Murray also had excellent PBs, whilst Dave Wogan endured the pain of a long-term knee injury to complete the distance.

Club results in brief: –

62^nd / 30^th Andrew Kinane SEN (2.46.16) PB; 99^th / 19^th Sean Fox M35 (2.50.20); 104^th / 17^th Graham Hopkins M40 (2.51.00); 134^th / 29^th Patrick Moriarty M35 (2.52.51) PB; 590^th / 54^th Derek O’Neill M45 (3.10.43); 1147^th / 315^th Andrew Cusack M35 (3.22.59); 1204^th / 309^th Liam Hickey SEN (3.24.10); Karol Kelly SEN 2921^st / 742^nd(3.46.20); 3983^rd / 798^th Des Tremble M40 (3.56.08); 3695^th / 102^nd Elaine Verdon F35 (3.53.41) PB; 5223^rd /98^thLiz MacCurtain F45 (4.05.53); 5636^th / 299^th David Wogan M50 (4.09.46); 8233^rd / 643^rd Laura Murray SEN (4.35.38) PB; 8662^nd / 1473^rd Shane McAuley M40 (4.40.06)

Other results: – 1067^th / 121^st Stephen McCann (Lucy’s Dad) M45 (3.21.20) PB; 3557^th /723^rd Declan Raftery (Jack’s Dad) M40 (3.52.16)

Donore Athletes Nominated for Athletics Ireland Awards

October 28, 2014Club NewsMedbh Peavoy

Two Donore Athletes have been nominated for awards at this years National Athletics Awards. John Travers has been nominated in the Inspirational Performance of the Year on Irish Soil award for his sub-4 mile at the Morton Games in July, his first time to do it and he was the 1st Irishman in the race that day. John achieved qualification standard for the European Championships on the day. John’s award is a new category this year.

Ann Woodlock has been nominated for the Master of the Year Award for her silver 3000m and bronze 1500m medals at the European Masters in Budapest over the summer.

The ceremony takes place on the 26th of November in the Crowne Plaza Hotel will once again take the format of an Awards Luncheon. The lunch will take place from 12pm to 3.30pm. Please note: There is a limited amount of tickets available for purchase; the deadline for purchase of tickets is Friday 7th of November and can be purchased on the Athletics Ireland website.

Leinster Novice and Masters Cross Country Championships and Weekend Round Up

October 28, 2014Club News, Juvenile, Results, SeniorMedbh Peavoy

The ladies novice race consisted of 4 x 1k loops of the largely flat and dry course in Avondale. Rhona Duane was first home for the team in 21^st

place. Karla Doran made her cross country debut for Donore and was a solid 28^th . Ashling Swaine was 35^th and Medbh Peavoy is racing her way back to fitness to finish 41^st. The team finished 5^th overall, a solid result considering that all of the novice team wasn’t represented.

The Masters race was an identical course to the novice route. Anne Curley led it out for some time, she was overhauled by eventual winner Jackie Carty (Kilmore) and there was also a battle with 2^nd placed Paula Grant (Portlaoise) but this was a commanding run just a month after the Berlin marathon and improved markedly on her Autumn cross country open the week before, Anne was 3^rd overall and silver W40 with a Dublin team gold also. Karen Behan had her trademark sprint finish to come over the line in 17^th place with Eva Campion finishing 39th. The team just missed the bronze by 5 points, 4^th of 10 teams was a fine result.

Donore Harriers novice men stepped up to the mark in Leinster, after achieving gold in Dublin they set their sights on medalling in the Leinster novice and they didn’t disappoint. In the beautiful setting of Avondale House on a challenging course all team members put in solid performances to take the deserved team silver medal. The team was lead home by Caoimhin Kelly who ran an excellent race slotted into a nice group on lap one and put himself into medal contention on lap two but finished out and excellent fourth place well clear of fifth. Next home was Darren Hand in 17^th, after starting well back on lap 1 he work through the field well particularly on the downhill sections. Darragh Fitzgibbon had a very solid race to finish just inside the top 20 and Luke Boland completed the team scorers with an excellent 36^th. Darren Hughes had a good race to come in at 52^nd with Bernard Byrne not far behind in 58^th and Killian O’Hora in 63^rd.

In the masters race Niall Lynch took the lead at the first corner and threw himself down the first downhill section to open up a gap on the field behind and managed to hold onto the lead for the 3 lap course and take the win in a good follow up to his M40 win at the Autumn Open Cross the previous week. Will Morris and Emmet O’Brian followed in 12^th and 15^th respectively in a big improvement on their outing for the Dublin Novice. Will took bronze in the M35 category. Final scorer on the team was Phill Hennessey in his first cross country race of the season and only a few weeks after his run in the Berlin marathon, this was enough to get Donore the silver medal well ahead of Raheny in 3^rd and only 3 points behind Liffey Valley in gold. Hugh Brosnan ran a solid race to finish 32^nd and Tom Fagan completed the Donore team coming in a commendable 58^th out of 113 runners.

Results in brief: –

Women’s Leinster Novice XC 4km

21^st Rhona Duane (15.47); 28^th Karla Doran (16.35); 35^th Ashling Swaine (16.47); 40^th Medbh Peavoy (16.58)

Team: 1^st Dublin City Harriers (20); 5^th Donore Harriers (124)

Men’s Leinster Novice XC 6km

4^th Caoimhin Kelly (20.51); 17^th Darren Hand (22.10); 19^th Daragh Fitzgibbon (22.20); 36^th Luke Boland (23.05); 52^nd Darren Hughes (24.09); 58^th Bernard Byrne (24.54); 63^rd Killian O’Hora (25.24)

Team: 1^st Liffey Valley AC (59); 2^nd Donore Harriers <Kelly, Hand, Fitzgibbon & Boland> (76); 3^rd Tullamore Harriers (87)

Women’s Leinster Masters XC 4km

3^rd Ann Curley (14.26); 17^th Karen Behan (15.43); 39^th Eva Campion (17.02)

Team: 1^st Rathfarnham WSAF (36); 4^th Donore Harriers (59)

Men’s Leinster Masters XC 6km

1^st Niall Lynch (21.07); 12^th Will Morris (22.35); 15^th Emmet O’Briain (22.39); 23^rd Phil Hennessy (23.01); 32^nd Hugh Brosnan (23.37); 58^th Tom Fagan (24.52)

Team: 1^st Liffey Valley (48); 2^nd Donore Harriers <Lynch, Morris, O’Briain, Hennessy> (51); 3^rd Raheny Shamrocks AC (120)

Other results: –

Amsterdam Marathon (19/10/14): – Ian Redican (3.27.45)

Tymon Parkrun 5km (25/10/14): – 12^th / 3^rd woman Samantha Conroy (21.00)

Marlay Parkrun 5km (25/10/14): – 6^th Paul Cummins (18.25)

Frankfurt Marathon (26/10/14): – 147^th / 29^th woman Claire Morrissey (3.22.00)

Leinster Schools Combined Championships at Athlone IT (22/10/14)
One gold (Max Carey), 2 silver (Alex Clarkin and Rolus Olosa) and a bronze (Lara O’Byrne) made it a successful day for Donore Harriers athletes at the Leinster Schools Combined championship at Athlone on Wednesday.

Results in brief: –

MINOR GIRLS: 3^rd Lara O’Byrne; 18^th Tanisha Bissett
JUNIOR GIRLS: 9^th Martina Hughes
INTERMEMEDIATE GIRLS: 4^th Roisin Rynn-Cahill; 9^th Lauren Kennedy; 14^th Albhe Healy
MINOR BOYS: 1^st Max Carey; 11^th Jack Raftery
JUNIOR BOYS: 2^nd Alex Clarkin
INTERMEDIATE BOYS: 10^th Zak Higgins
SENIOR BOYS: 2^nd Rolus Olosa

Salestian College Road Race (4.2km) at Celbridge (23/10/14)

Oisin Fitzgibbon’s win in the 34^th running of the Salesian College road race means that Donore Harriers athletes have won the Fr. Charlie Archer Cup on each of the last 8 occasions.

Results in brief: –

1^st Oisin Fitzgibbon; 2^nd Stephen Gavin; 42^nd Ruairi Fitzgibbon; 66^thTadgh Fitzgibbon

Make-A-Wish Witches & Wizards 5km Run at Phoenix Park (25/10/14)

Good results from Donore athletes in the inaugural Make-A-Wish run on Saturday. This novelty race will hopefully become a regular event and target more young athletes to take part.

Results in brief: –

2^nd Michael Gibbs (18.57); 3^rd Lucy McCann (19.51); 5^th Daniel Brady (21.06); 14^th Roisin Brady (25.59)

Athletics Ireland Autumn Open Cross Country and Weekend Round Up

October 20, 2014Club News, Results, SeniorMedbh Peavoy

There was more success for Donore Harriers athletes in the first Athletics Ireland Autumn Open Cross in the Phoenix Park (19/10/14) on Sunday. The 5km and 8km races incorporated various categories and acted as a trial race for the British & Irish Masters cross country championships due to take place in Nottingham on the 22^nd of November.

There was plenty to cheer in the opening 5km race with Aislinn Nic Dhomhnaill (19.52) following up her recent Dublin Novice success with victory in the F35 category. Karen Behan (22.13) placed 6^th in the same age group. Anne Curley (20.50) placed an excellent 5^th in a very competitive F35 class. Barry Potts (22.15) had a great run and came 3^rd in the M65 class, whilst Terry Mee (23.13) and Joseph Maguire (17.16) were respective winners of the M70 and M75 categories. Aislinn and Anne placed 8^th and 28^th respectively in the Open race.

The 4 lap, 8km race proved to be a battle of the elements as the strong winds continued and a downpour of rain further tested the athletes. John Dunne and Niall Lynch raced together for the first 3 laps, before John (28.18) put in a big effort over the last lap to finally place 35^th overall and 6^th in the M35 category. Niall (28.44) showed plenty of determination to finish 40^th in the open race and was a clear winner in the M40 class. In the same category Ciaran McCarthy (30.41) placed 10^th on his club debut. John Dunne placed 35^th overall in the Open race, whilst Niall Lynch was 40^th.

The selection criteria for the Ireland team are as follows: – M35 through to M50, teams of 6 with the first 4 across the line gaining automatic selection, with consideration for 2 “wildcard” selections. M55 to M75 plus Women’s teams from W35 to W70, comprise of 4 Athletes, therefore first 3 across the line, with consideration given to 1 “wildcard” selection. Therefore, Aislinn, Barry, Terry, Joseph and Niall have automatic selection. Hopefully John and Anne have done enough to warrant the trip to Nottingham.

Results in brief: –

Athletics Ireland Open Cross at Phoenix Park (19/10/14)

5km race: –

F35 – 1^st Aislinn Nic Dhomhnaill (19.52); 6^th Karen Behan (22.13)

F40 – 5^th Anne Curley (20.50)

M65 – 3^rd Barry Potts (22.15)

M70 – 1^st Terry Mee (23.13)

M75 – 1^st Joseph Maguire (27.16)

8km race: –

M35 – 6^th John Dunne (28.28)

M40 – 1^st Niall Lynch (28.44); 10^th Ciaran McCarthy (30.41)

M45 – 10^th Ian O’Leary (33.14)

Open Race – 55^th Colm O’Connell (29.20) debut; 97^th Barbara Cleary F40 (30.59) 6^th female; 150^th Ryan Leitch (37.52)

Other results: –

Punchestown 10km (18/10/14): – 3^rd Darren Hand (37.56)

Longwood Village 10km (19/10/14): – 23^rd Niall J. O’Reilly (40.50)

New York City 10km (19/10/14): – 16^th Stephen Dawson (39.23); 250^th Michelle Dawson (52.54)

Griffeen Parkrun 5km (18/10/14): – 1^st George Brady M35 (18.39)

Tymon Parkrun 5km (18/10/14): – 10^th Samatha Conroy F35 (21.29) 2^nd female

Dublin Even Age Cross Country Championships

October 20, 2014Club News, Juvenile, ResultsMedbh Peavoy

Another master class in tactics and pure natural ability brought gold glory to Fathi Aden in the Dublin Even Age Groups Cross Country championships at the Phoenix Park on Sunday. Leading a team of six Donore Harriers athletes in the Boys u/14s race over a distance of 3km the Synge Street student made a conservative start and was lying in 14^th position after 500 metres. At the half-way mark he had moved up to fifth. Once the race headed into the wooded area with a kilometre to go Fathi changed up a gear and took control of the race. As the race entered onto the long home straight at the north-end of the football pitches Fathi had taken a commanding lead. He won comfortably with 20 plus metres to spare over his nearest rival.

Next Donore Harriers athlete home was Jack Raftery in 27^th position, with Jack Connolly 33^rd, Ronan McCooey 41^st, Luke Kelly 42^nd and James McDonagh.

The girls under 16s race over 4km proved to be eventful, but ultimately somewhat disappointing for the team. DSD athletes dominated at the front whilst Lucy McCann showed dogged determination to place an excellent 5^th. Next home for the team was the ever improving Suzanne Masterson in 9th spot – with Eliza Ni Thighearnaigh just one place further back. With 3 runners in the top ten the silver medals in the team competition was all but assured. However new girl Ciara Murphy retired injured from the race with just one kilometre to go. Ciara was running in about 20^th position, but the recurrence of a severe shin splint injury put paid to her valiant performance. It was all very unfortunate, but respect to Ciara for showing bravery and making such a determined effort on the day. She will certainly be one to watch in the future.

The best team result came in the Boys under 16s race, also over 4km, with a 4^th placing behind winners DSD, Clonliffe (2^nd) and Tallaght AC (3^rd). The team was led home by Sekeriye Ahmed in 13^th place. This was a very encouraging run from ‘Zack’ who was stepping-up an age group. The second scorer was Gabhan O’Tighearnaigh in 24^th, with Sean Creagh 27^th and Daniel Brady 31^st. Andrew Strickland retired from the race after 2.5km due to a hamstring injury. Andrew is another relative newcomer to the club and will be an important member of the team going forward.

Fathi, Lucy, Suzanne and Eliza qualify to represent Dublin in the National Juvenile Cross Country championship at Dundalk IT next month. Sekeriye will contest the Dublin Uneven Age Groups championship in the u/15s class at Santry Park on the 2^nd of November.

Results in brief: –

Girls u/10s (1000m) 15^th Grace Raftery

Boys u/10s (1000m) 29^th Oliver Hopkins

Girls u/14s (3000m) 54^th Niamh Clarke; 56^th Shona Smyth

Boys u/14s (3000m) 1^st Fathi Aden; 27^th Jack Raftery; 33^rd Jack Connolly; 41^st Ronan McCooey; 42^nd Luke Kelly; also James McDonagh

Girls u/16s (4000m) 5^th Lucy McCann; 9^th Suzanne Masterson; 10^th Eliza Ni Thighearnaigh; also Ciara Murphy retired injury

Boys u/16s (4000m) 13^th Sekeriye Ahmed; 24^th Gabhan O’Tighearnaigh; 27^th Sean Creagh; 31^st Daniel Brady; also Andrew Strickland retired injured

Boys u/18s (6000m) Oisin Fitzgibbon retired due to an injury at the halfway point

Successful Cross Country Season Opener for Donore

October 6, 2014Club News, Results, SeniorMedbh Peavoy

Two gold and a silver made it another great day in the park for Donore Harriers! This was the Dublin Novice cross country championships (5/10/14) and in the 4km women’s race an outstanding last lap performance from Aisling Nic Dhomhnaill (14.30) saw her as the runaway winner with 19 seconds to spare over runner-up Niamh Donnelly of Celtic DCH.

An excellent debut run from Michelle Childs (15.26) saw her place 7^thand this put the team in contention for team honours. Celtic DCH further packed places 8, 9 and 10 to win the team competition. However, strong running from Kim Hickey (15.46) in 11^th and Sinead Graham (16.05) in 16^thensured that our women’s team claimed silver.

In the men’s race over 6km the trio of Niall Lynch, Caoimhin Kelly and Daragh Fitzgibbon were always placed near the top end of the field and this set the tone for a strong team challenge. But Dundrum South Dublin with three in the top 10 were also in contention. Ultimately good packing saw the host club win the day with Eoin Durkan making a crucial contribution as the fourth Donore Harrier home. Niall Lynch (19.57) came an excellent 5^th and used his summer mountain running exploits to good use by gaining ground on the undulating sections. Caoimhin Kelly (19.58), who recently transferred in from Glaslough AC, made a very telling debut for Donore by placing 6^th. Daragh Fitzgibbon (20.10) had a very fine run to place 8^th despite losing a little ground in the last of the four 1500 metre laps.

The race was won by John Frazer (19.36) of Crusaders with Wishu Gebreselassie (19.53) of DSD in second place.

Results in brief: –

Women’s 4km race:- 1^st Aisling Nic Dhomhnaill (14.30); 7^th Michelle Childs (15.26) debut; 11^th Kim Hickey (15.46); 16^th Sinead Graham (16.05); 18^th Emer Rathigan (16.16); 21^st Rhona Duane (16.21); 28^th Ruth Cavanagh (16.43); 34^th Lisa Carley (16.52); 43^rd Medbh Peavoy (17.19); 45^th Aisling Swaine (17.21); 46^th Eva Campion (17.25); 51^stAisling Lonergan (17.50); 60^th Sarah Mullins (18.21); 61^st Mary Murphy (18.29)

Team Score: 1^st Celtic DCH 29; 2^nd Donore Harriers 35 (Nic Dhomhnaill; Childs; Hickey; Graham); 3^rd Crusaders; 9^th Donore Harriers ‘B’. Total of 11 teams.

Men’s 6km race:- 5^th Niall Lynch (19.57); 6^th Caoimhin Kelly (19.58) debut; 8^th Daragh Fitzgibbon (20.10); 14^thEoin Durkan (20.36); 25^th Emmet O’Briain (25.10); 54^th Darren Hughes (22.29) debut; 56^th Patrick Byrne (22.31) debut; 72^ndGerard McDonald (23.30); 76^th Tom Fagan (23.38); 79^thNiall J O’Reilly (23.50); 81^st Niall P O’Reilly (23.56); 94^thIan Redican (25.05)

Team Score: 1^st Donore Harriers 34 (Lynch; Kelly; Fitzgibbon; Durkan); 2^ndCrusaders 43; 3^rd DSD 45; 13^th Donore Harriers ‘B’ 258; Total of 15 teams.

Other results: –

Dublin Simon Community 5 mile road race Phoenix Park (4/10/14) – 3^rd Gavin Keogh (27.27); 53^rd Joseph Maguire M75 (35.43)

Tymon Parkrun 5km (4/10/14) –7^th Samantha Conroy F35 (21.25) first in women’s class

Leixlip GAA 10km road race (5/10/14) – 2^nd Darren Hand (35.25)

The Laurels Charity Crew 10km (5/10/14) – 5^th Robert Cogan (38.20); 7^thGrace Kennedy (39.14);

Dublin Juvenile League 3rd Round

October 5, 2014Club News, Juvenile, ResultsMedbh Peavoy

There were more encouraging club results in the 3^rd fixture of the Dublin Juvenile League at the Phoenix Park on Sunday morning (5/10/14). And none more so than in the Girls under 16s category over 3000 metres! Lucy McCann ran out an impressive winner, whilst Suzanne Masterson and Eliza Ni Thighearnaigh came 2^nd and 4^th respectively – all showing improved form prior to the Dublin cross country championships in two weeks time.

The Boys u/14s race over 2500m was well represented by Donore Harriers with 7 members competing. Fathi Aden and Jack Raftery were to the fore in the first lap, before the race came down to a duel between Fathi and Pearce Christie of Bros Pearse AC. It was the Donore Harriers youngster who came home with 5 metres to spare, whilst Jack Raftery ran a tremendous race to place 4^th.

In the Girls u/10s race over 800 metres Grace Raftery judged her race perfectly and came from 8^thto third with a big sprint finish over the final 40 metres. Exciting stuff!

Other notable performances came from Niamh O’Neill, returning to racing after a long lay-off, winning the Girls under 18s class over 3000m; and by Michael Gibbs, who came an excellent 3^rdin a very competitive Boys u/17s race over 4000m. Michael only took up the sport a few months ago and his progress has been very impressive.

Special mention must go to the three Fit4Youth athletes who competed for the first time. Kate Lynch, who was the first member of this new foundation group when it was set up back in the early summer, placed a very encouraging 10^th in the Girls u/15s race over 2500m. In the Boys u/16s race over 3000m Andrew Strickland and Ben Halpin both had very respectable runs to place 8^th and 11^threspectively. Their mentor Janette Strickland said: “I’m delighted for them. They did great. Especially Kate as she was really nervous”

Full club results (non official)

Girls u/10s (800m) 3^rd Grace Raftery

Boys u/10s (800m) 26^th Oliver Hopkins

Girls u/11s (1000m) 42^nd Sadbh Parker; 52^nd Clodagh McCooey (debut)

Girls u/13s (1700m) 38^th Ellie Raftery

Boys u/13s (1700m) 22^nd Alan Reid

Girls u/14s (2000m) 24^th Roisin Brady

Boys u/14s (2000m) 1^st Fathi Aden; 4^th Jack Raftery;15^th Jack Connolly; 17^th Luke Kelly; 18^thRonan McCooey; 20^th James McDonagh; 22^nd Chris Moloney

Girls u/15s (2500m) 10^th Kate Lynch (debut); 12^th Lauryn Dunne

Boys u/15s (2500m) 4^th Sekeriye Ahmed (debut); 7^th Ruairi Fitzgibbon

Girls u/16s (3000m) 1^st Lucy McCann; 2^nd Suzanne Masterson; 4^th Eliza Ni Thighearnaigh

Boys u/16s (3000m) 6^thGabhan O’Thighearnaigh; 8^th Andrew Strickland (debut); 10^th Daniel Brady; 11^th Ben Halpin (debut)

Boys u/17s (4000m) 3^rd Michael Gibbs; 7^th Paul O’Neill

Girls u/18s (3000m) 1^st Niamh O’Neill

Good Showing for Donore in Berlin and Rathfarnham and Weekend Round Up

September 30, 2014Club News, Juvenile, Results, SeniorMedbh Peavoy

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^threspectively 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

Half Marathon Weekend and Ballymote Sub-Four Mile

September 23, 2014Results, SeniorMedbh Peavoy

Des Tremble and John Travers headed west over the weekend to compete in two very contrasting events. Des, an M40 athlete, came a magnificent second in the second running of the Marconi Half Marathon in County Galway, whilst John went head to head with Paul Robinson of St. Coca’s AC in the Ballymote Sub–Four Mile race in County Sligo.

In the Dublin Half Marathon at the Phoenix Park John Dunne M35 had another fantastic run when placing 3^rd overall and winning his age category in a new PB time of 1.11.43. Donore Harriers athletes had a total of four age category winners with Niall Lynch (M40), Terry Mee (M70) and Joseph Maguire (M75) joining John Dunne in the victory stakes. An array of personal bests proved that it was another excellent day in the park for the club.

The Marconi Half-Marathon starts on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean at Gurteen Beach and then heads through the village of Roundstone and along the Connemara Old Bog Road to finish at Clifden. Des (1.21.35) took 17 seconds of his previous best time for the distance to finish just 12 seconds behind the winner Oliver Mullins (1.21.23) of Craughwell AC. Considering that this was a tough undulating course alongside the Twelve Pins mountain range then it proves that Des is within reach of a sub 1.20.

The inaugural Ballymote Sub-Four mile race is the brainchild of local athlete and coach Dermot McDermott (Sligo AC), who coaches children in the local schools. Being the highlight of a fun day of local athletics the duel between Robinson and Travers proved to be an exciting event with both men recording remarkable times. The out and back race took place in the Corran Park area of the town and had a large crowd to cheer on the runners. Travers held the early lead and it took a huge effort from Robinson, the No. 1 ranked Irishman for the distance in 2014, to reel him in. Robinson (3.53.4) only took to the front in the closing stages and had to look over his shoulder in the closing stages knowing that JT has great finishing speed. Travers, disappointed to lose after making it such a memorable contest, was content with a time of 3.55.2. This time is marginally quicker than the 3.55.44 that he ran this summer in the Morton Mile.

Results in brief:

Marconi Half Marathon

2^nd Des Tremble M40 (1.21.37) PB

Ballymote Sub-Four Mile race

2^nd John Travers (3.55.2) PB

Dublin Half Marathon in the Phoenix Park

3^rd John Dunne M35 (1.11.43) PB first in age category; 10^th Niall Lynch M40 (1.14.04) PB first in age category; 11^thAndy Kinane (1.14.09) PB; 18^th Garvan Smith M40 (1.16.28) PB; 20^th Patrick Moriarty M35 (1.16.46) PB; 28^thGraham Hopkins M40 (1.17.20); 53^rd Shane McAuley (1.19.22) PB; 55^th Eoin Durkan (1.19.39); 63^rd George Brady M35 (1.20.22); 230^th Patrick Byrne (1.26.24) PB; 232^nd Liam Hickey (1.26.27); 1044^th Terry Mee M70 (1.40.20) first in age category; 1332^ndFrank McNally (1.43.07); 2509^th Joseph Maguire M75 (1.51.06) first in age category;

For the ladies we had 1219^th Elaine Verdon (1.42.50) and 12765^th Nicola Dowdall (1.43.26);

Congratulations also to Ruth Devery who ran in the Charleville half on Sunday (1.35.50)

Fourth National Record of the Summer for Jim and Weekend Round Up

September 16, 2014Club News, Results, SeniorMedbh Peavoy

More good results for the club this week with John Travers being a clear winner in the Maynooth 5km and Ken Norgrove winning the Masters category in the Flatline Half Marathon. John Dunne gave indication of a good cross country season ahead by placing third overall in the Flatline race recording a new PB for the half-marathon distance. Graham Hopkins repeated his time of last year to finish second in the Kill 10km with new recruit Colm O’Connell placing 5^th. Star man this week is Jim McNamara. Jim recorded a new Irish record in the M75 class for 10.000m when taking part in Clonliffe Harriers Bonass Trophy race. This was Jim’s fourth national record this summer.

Results in brief: –

Clonliffe Harriers Club Championship (Bonass Trophy) 10km at Santry (11/9/14)

22^nd Jim McNamara (44.58.2) new Irish record in the M75 class; 24^th Terry Mee M70 (45.58). There were 34 starters.

Flatline Half Marathon at Athlone

3^rd John Dunne (1.12.51) PB. 9^th Ken Norgrove M40 (1.14.06) first in category; 12^th Gavin Keogh (1.14.26); 13^th Fergal Whitty (1.14.51); 16^th Ciaran McCarthy (1.16.37); 19^th Sean Fox (1.18.26); 26^th Phil Hennessy M40 (1.18.56); 37^th Chris Muldoon (1.21.58); 136^th Ian Redican M40 (1.36.51)

Kill 10km

2^nd Graham Hopkins (34.22); 5^th Colm O’Connell (35.24); 10th Shane McAuley (37.15) PB

BHAA OPW 5km Trial Race at Trim

40^th Frank McNally M50 (22.23); 47^th Terry Mee M70 (23.22)

Parkrun 5km at Waterstown Park

8^th Paul O’Neill u/17s (22.13)

Maynooth 5km

1^st John Travers (14.38); 5^th Bob Blake M40 (17.32); 12^th Tom Fagan M45 (18.49); 15^th Niall J. O’Reilly (19.30); 19^th Sinead Graham (20.15); 82^nd Pauline Fagan F45 (26.01)