John Travers kicked off a fantastic weekend of racing on Saturday evening in Athlone indoor arena winning the mile in the fastest time ever run in Ireland for the indoor mile. Recording a time of 4.1 mins , John ran the second half of the race on his own and narrowly failed to dip under 4 minutes for the mile. This was a fantastic run by John with a new PB of 4:01:47s, it’s only a matter of time until he dips under the magical 4 minute barrier. Congratulations John.

John’s race can be found online Travers Mile AIT Arena 18-01-14

At the Leinster Senior Cross Country Championships on Sunday a five-man Donore Harriers’ team competed in mucky conditions over a 10,000m course in Co. Laois. A team of familiar names turned out as Ken Nugent, Colm Hill and Jonathon Daly returned to action following various lay offs, finishing in 4th place on 78 points, just one point and one place in front of Tullamore Harriers and behind winners Raheny Shamrocks. Gavin Keogh (36:41) was our first man home in 12th place. Ken  Nugent made a welcome return to racing following a very long period out of action due to an injury, Ken Had a very encouraging run finishing in 17th place (36:57). Likewise Colm Hill made a return to racing following a long lay off and also had a good run finishing up in 20th place (37:13). Darren Hand completed our scoring four, finishing in 29th place (37:53). Also, returning to competition was Jonathan Daly who completed the race in 50th place(40:34). Welcome back to racing lads and best of luck in getting back.

Raheny Shamrocks with 5 runners in the top 6 easily won the team event on 12 points, with St. Abban’s second on 52 and Liffey Valley third on 70.

In the BHAA 5 miles cross-country race on Saturday Phil Hennessy showed good form ahead of next month’s National Masters championship. In a highly competitive field Phil placed a fine 16th in a time of 29.20s for the tough 5 miles route at Cherryfield Park. The other members of Donore Harriers who competed despite the persistent rain were: Patrick Moriarty (29:39) 21st, Will Morris (29:44) 22nd, Joe Murphy (32:57) 62nd, Peter Nugent (33:27) 69th, Ian Redican (33:45) 75th, Terry Mee (38:26) 142nd and Conor McCarthy (40:50) 165th.

The Womens Meet and Train CC league continued with the third race of the year in Griffeen Park, Lucan. Once again, the ladies turned out in big numbers to compete in this ever popular women’s league with a fantastic 23 ladies taking to the start line. First home for Donore in second place, continuing her fantastic run of form was Karen Behan just 2 seconds behind Hollie Gelson of Lakeshore Striders. Sinéad Graham 6th, Rhona Duane 9th, Eva Campion 13th and Aisling Swaine 16th also competed. Also competing was Lorraine O’Shea, Mary Murphy, Christina Gonzalez, Michelle Murphy, Lee Chambers, Michelle Dawson, Ann Woodlock, Deborah Duffy, Rachel Burke, Linda Curtin, Sarah Ní Ruairc, Sian O’Connor, Mary Kingston, Sue Lynch, Angela Eustace and Julia Hackett. Full results not available yet but congratulations to all the ladies, always great to see so much black and white dominating the field.

Best of luck to our young athletes taking place on Thursday next in the West Leinster Schools cross-country championships in the Phoenix Park.

Get well soon to Gerry Carroll who is in hospital fighting an illness and good wishes also to Albert Prenderville recovering from a freak accident.

All members are reminded of our Annual Awards night in the Spa Hotel on Friday night at 7.30 pm sharp. Tickets will be available at the door. We have had a fantastic year of competition at all levels. Let’s celebrate the great performances and those individuals, teams, coaches and back room people who made it such a memorable year for the club in its 120th year.