from Donore Harriers website The National Masters and Intermediates championships took place on Sun 15th with Donore featuring 4 strong teams and the possibility of medals for all teams. However there were amazingly strong turnouts in all the races so everything had to go perfect for us to achieve our goals. The ladies intermediates finished 4th, Men’s Intermediates 11th with Men’s Masters 8th and Ladies Masters 7th. It definitely seemed like the start of Spring and the sight of so many Black and White singlets warmed the many and vocal supporters that cheered the teams at what was a real highlight of the athletics calendar this year. The races were held in Tymon Park and the snow dusted Dublin Mountains gave a stunning back drop.
First out were our Master Ladies over a distance of 4K. Anne Curley was first home in 10th with sister Florrie in 30th, Julia Hackett and Mary McDermott were 54th and 55th respectively with Eileen Walsh close behind in 57th. Gillian Sohun making a return to running for Donore was 62nd, Krean McLoughlin 71st, Joan McTernan 79th and Anne Woodlock, 1st Lady in the V8 category, finishing 90th. Anne Curley won a gold medal with the Dublin team.
Our Master men were next to done the singlets and spikes. John Downes came in to the race knowing he was in great shape after a dominant performance in the Dublin Masters. Behind him was a team with real potential with three of the prominent athletes having joined us this year, (Ken Norgrove, Simon Meyler and Fergal Swaine), it was clearly a new look and our strongest Masters team for some time. A fierce pace was set and John took close order but unfortunately on the second lap down the hill as he was about to make a surge to get right in with the lead three, his calf muscle came against him and John was forced to retire, a real blow for him and we all knew that the pain of disappointment would be much worse for him that the pain of the calf.
Behind him our lads were working well. Ken had been conservative and it seemed to suit the course as he worked through the field and led the team home in 42nd. Simon Meyler possibly went off a little hard and had to adjust in the middle of the race but rallied again to finish 56th, followed closely by Fergal Swaine who was solid throughout the race. Aidan McGrath had his usual very dependable race and has shown great form since his return from injury, finishing 67th. Padraig McGreal who has been showing great progress in training should be delighted to have had Aidan in his sights and looks to be getting better and better. Joe Rankin Gerry McDonald and the ever young Willie Dunne all battled with great gusto in what must be the most competitive race on the calendar.
The team finished 7th which they can feel very proud of as there were 20 teams from the length and breadth of the country. We were second Dublin team ahead of Raheny, Cloniffe, and Liffey Valley etc and would have been first Dublin team no doubt if John Downes injury had cruelly struck him down. With Mike Boyle injured before the race you can see that we really do at last a great cohort of men’s masters —– role on the over 35s!!
Our intermediate ladies were spearheaded by Niamh O’Boyle who got right in to the centre of the action from the gun. They finished unlucky 4th and were forced to be philosophical on the day. Niamh had an excellent run picking off a number of athletes over the 2nd lap to finish 9th and secure a Dublin gold. A very strong finish by Louisa Nesbitt saw her take 21st, Norma Harnedy was 29th, Sheelagh Sullivan 35th, Ali Loughney 42nd and Maura Kearns making her championship debut for Donore was 52nd.
Our intermediate Men had high hopes after virtually the same team finishing 4th and fifth so often this season. On the day the standard was very impressive. Mark Dooley, always a man to give 110% has clearly gone up a level this year and ran a hugely impressive race to finish 19th. It was great to see Mark running with a quiet assured confidence. He is now aiming for the Intervarsity championships on the second week in March. Ken Nugent had his best run of the season with a storming 35th and looked as if he was getting stronger the longer the race went on. Gavin Keogh was 52nd and had a very solid run as ever. Keith Daly was clearly not at his best and we all felt for him as we know how much he wanted to peak for that race. However he never gave in and battled though to 72nd and was our crucial 4th scorer. John Daly and George Brady had a private duel on the last lap with John just edging him out. George had run cautiously and John had committed early but both again raced right to the line. The team Finished 11th in what was a really tough race. Eoin Rowan, just back from an injury lay off and probably too soon to jump into such a tough race, was just off pace with Mark before he was forced to retire, and hopefully he will be back to full strength soon. The loss of Eoin weakened the challenge, but I think shows that the men are really back and just need a bit of luck to get that allusive team medal.
Well done to all who competed and supported, you did the club proud.
Iain Morrison