Road
Our sole competitor on the road in recent weeks was Mark Gilligan who had a great performance at the Great Gorey
Run 10 mile race where he finished 3rd in 58:27.
Cross Country
We had fantastic team and individual performances at the European Club Cross Country Championships that were
held in Albufeira, Portugal. The first DCH quartet to take to the start line were our women’s team composed of Clíona
Murphy, Edel Monaghan, Orla Duffy, and Avril Deegan. All athletes paced themselves perfectly over the 9.1km of
twists, turns, hills, humps and logs to improve on their early positions in the race. The team were led home by Clíona
Murphy (35th) who was followed in by Edel Monaghan (39th), Orla Duffy (41st), and Avril Deegan (66th). The team
finished in 11th place, an improvement on the 13th place obtained by the club in 2023. Next up, we had our mixed
relay team composed of Pierre Murchan, Faye Dervan, Philip Marron, and Claire Rafter. Strong performances by
each of the athletes secured 9th place for the club in a highly competitive field. A number of the club’s athletes also
competed in the open races which were held after the championship races. Sorcha McAllister was first to cross the
line in the Women’s race followed closely by Aislinn Moorhouse and Sinead Cronin. In the Men’s race, Órán O’Hare
placed himself highly in the field from the gun crossing the line in 10th place followed in by Mark Gilligan in 23rd.
A number of the club’s athletes also competed for their respective universities at the IUAA Cross Country
championships that were held in Belfast. Pierre Murchan claimed individual bronze in the Men’s race for Trinity
College Dublin while Oisín McKinley (TCD) and Conor Murphy (TUD) both placed themselves highly in the race.
Clare O’Connor also competed for TUD in the women’s race.
Track
The National Senior Indoor Championships got underway at the NIA in Abbotstown with a number of athletes
representing the club. Conor Duncan narrowly missed out on qualification for the 800m final clocking 1:53.86 in his
heat while Joe Fogarty clocked 1:58.59. Cliodhna Ryan, Goda Buivtdyte, and Niamh Carr all went in the women’s
1500m heats with Niamh Carr progressing to the final. Niamh ran a brave race at the front of the pack but
unfortunately lost momentum in the final lap and settled for 4th place. Edel Monaghan ran a well-paced race in the
women’s 3000m to come through the field finishing in a fine 5th place. In the men’s 3000m Pierre Murchan finished in
7th place with a time of 8:23. After navigating the heats with ease, Philip Marron found himself at the front of a tactical
1500m final. Philip reamined composed for the duration of the race narrowly missed out on a medal in the home
straight finishing in 4th place after a fantastic run.
Fresh from competing in Albufeira, Edel Monaghan clocks a 4.54 indoor mile at the midweek NIA Live meet where
Goda won her B 800m heat in 2:21 followed in by Clare O’Connor in 2:22. Across the water in the US, Sean
Donoghue placed 4th in the Big East championship over the mile with 4:04.16, helping his college team Villanova to
3rd overall in the Big East team title. Meanwhile, Ronan McMahon-Staggs competed over 800m in the DMR at the
NAA DI Indoor Championships helping with University of Washington team to 9 th place. At the BUCS indoor
championships in Sheffield, Niamh Carr placed 2nd in 4:33.97 in her semi-final and clocked 4.42.24 in a highly
competitive final. Jodie McCann continued to show her recent form in Australia by taking the win over 1500m at the
Canberra Track Classic in a time of 4:14.05.
Training & Upcoming Racing
Some of our athletes enjoyed some training in the sun after the European Club Cross Country championships while
others have been taking some down time after a busy cross country and indoor season. Many of our athletes will be
focusing on road races in the coming weeks, with the National 10k championships taking place in Dunboyne on 28th
March and National Road Relays at the end of April.
Dublin City Harriers 