There were plenty of race top placings by Donore runners over the past few days.  In Kilkenny, Ken Norgrove came 2nd in the inaugural Gathering of the Gaels half marathon in 76.01.

Sinead Lambe clocked up another PB at the Bohermeen 5 mile in a time of 30.38 where she was the 2nd woman.  In the same race Jim McNamara won the M65 category in 35.15 and Ann Woodlock won the W65 category in 44.56.

Dave Heffernan was an excellent 4th at the Lakes 10k in Blessington in 33.45.  Des Tremble finished in 36.41, 3 Donore ladies also made the trip with Elaine Verdon doing 46.42, Caitriona Devaney 54.08 and Carissa Walsh 64.55.

In the last BHAA road race of the season – the Finding the Run of Ourselves 10k in Firhouse- Graham Hopkins was 4th in 34.51 and was also the 1st M40, next was Patrick Moriarty in 35.35 and the improving Frank McNally ran 42.50.

Terry Mee continued his recent run of good form in the long running Clonliffe 2 mile in Santry where he finished in 13.20.

The Dublin 10 mile championship was incorporated in last week’s Frank Duffy race and there was a great result for our Masters Men Fergal Whitty, John Dunne and Niall Lynch who won the Masters team title – this team is fast becoming a force to be reckoned with and Fergal Whitty claimed the silver M35 spot also.  Terry Mee got another medal to follow on from his National Master success and won the M70 category.  Breda Mahony won bronze in the W35 category.

Noel Conway and Seán Fox were our representatives in the Tullamore Harriers Half Marathon where Noel ran in impressive 1:28:09 and Seán Fox finished 12th with 1:29:03.

On Saturday, the Phoenix Park became a sea of colour with a few thousand taking to the road for the Great Pink Run 5k and 10k races.  Bob Blake won the 5k event in 17.59.  Robert Cogan was 14th in the 10K with 38.54 and  although carrying an injury Anne Curley ran 39.42 finishing 3rd lady.

Over in the west, Joe Murphy was 5th in the Ballycastle 10k in 41.30 on a very hilly course and in windy conditions.

In Griffeen Park, Joan McTernan was again the first lady home in the Parkrun there.

Well done to all.

This year’s National half marathon was incorporated into the inaugural Rock n Roll Dublin half which wound it’s way through the city streets and beyond with music at every mile, and taking in some of the tougher parts of the traditional Dublin marathon course. Despite the challenges of the course along the way, there were some brilliant runs by Donore participants. Fergal Whitty took a gamble on the early pace but it paid off, he smashed his PB to finish a superb 14th overall in 71.23. Ken Norgrove was second home in an excellent 73.54 and then Darren Hand in 74.48. Six more Donore men John Dunne 75.26, Niall Lynch 75.33, Fred Kiernan 77.12, Graham Hopkin 77.37, Philip Hennessey 78.39 and George Brady 79.11 finished in the next 4 minutes of the race with many PBs in there. Next were Tony Dunne 84.04, Shane McCauley 84, Stephen Dawson 87.00, Tony Griffin 90.28, Charlie O’Neill 91.07 and Des Gill. This was a super effort from the men who targeted this race as a team and although full championship results are not yet available, they have surely come in for medals.

The women’s team was depleted by injuries and unfortunately Anne Curley had to pull out after two miles with a recurring leg injury. Florence Curley suffered from an early fast pace but still did a solid 87.28. Alma Hanevy had a great run and was delighted with a 93.12 PB, Fit 4 Life runner Elaine Verdon ran a super 1.44.08, Angela Eustace got another PB in 1.46.42 and first time half marathoners Suzanne McCarthy 1.47 and Lorraine O’Shea 1.47.02 did fantastically well on their debuts, Laura Murray completed the team in 2.07. The hardworking Donore stewards provided great support in the early stages of the race and there were plenty more familiar Donore faces dotted along the way. Well done to all.

Sorcha Nic Dhomhnaill continues to knock spots off her 5K time and went under 18 minutes for the first time in the Michael Fearon 5k organised by Glenmore AC in scenic Waterford. She ran a fantastic 17.57 and was 2nd woman, beaten only by the back in form Fiona Reid of Dunboyne. Barbara Murray is racing her way back into good form and did 20.14. Their coach Jim McNamara was the 1st M70 in 22.02. Down in her native Wexford Sinead Lambe won the women’s title in the hilly Ballymurn 4 mile. There was success for the women in the Griffeen 5k Parkrun where Nicola Dowdall 22.00, Michelle Ruddy 22.35 and Joan McTernan 23.03 took the first three female placings and Terry Mee ran 22.41. Caren Crowley was a delighted 1st placed female in the Rush Festival 10k.

Overseas at the Flanders Cup in Ghent Belgium, Eamonn Fahey won the Long Jump event in an international field with a best of 7.20 metres and also ran in the 100m heats. John Travers ran 3.55 in the 1500m.

With weather better suited to cross country, the weekend brought us to Santry for the National Track and Field Championships where we had very good performances from all of our athletes.

In the ladies, Lynda Ngankam had a very good run in the 100m to qualify for Sunday’s final. Sinead Lambe gained valuable experience in the 5,000m in her first national track championships.

We had a good increase in men competing for the club at the Championships.Pride of place went to Eamon Fahey who won a top class, tight, long jump competition with a winning jump of 7m 20cm, a big improvement on his previous best of 7.09m. This was Eamon’s first outdoor national title and he also ran brilliantly in the 100m to qualify for the final, where he was out of the medals but ran very well. Simon Taggart was leading for much of the 110m hurdles. Despite hitting a hurdle late in the race he finished a close second. The 1500m was a race John Travers could have won but on a flooded track inexplicably adopted front running tactics against good opposition and paid the price for adopting the wrong tactics, finishing out of the medals. In the 5,000m Eric Keogh had a great run getting a superb pb and finishing an excellent 6th. Lee Van Haeften and Darren Hand also had good runs against top class competition.