Road
The Peugeot Race Series continued with the Dunshaughlin 10k and Roscommon 10 mile races taking place in recent weeks. Liam Naughton led the DCH team home at the Dunshaughlin 10k with a time of 32.40, with Órán O’Hare following closely behind in 32.44. Oisín McKinley (33.14), Chistopher McGlouhglin (36.27) and Ivan Briody (39.26) all had strong performances to make up the team. Eavan McGloughlin was first home of the women in a time of 36.40 with Clíona Murphy following closely behind in 36.43 while Sinead Cronin and Aislinn Moorhouse ran 38.37 and
39.54 respectively.
John Paul Williamson was second man across the line at the Roscommon 10 mile after a sprint finish in what was his debut in the DCH vest, clocking a time of 52.26. Meanwhile, Mark Gilligan (56.55) and Conor Murphy (71.13) put in solid performances to make up the men’s team. On the Women’s side, Sinead Cronin finished 7th in 66.03 while Clare O’Connor had a strong run coming home in 79.05. Edel McNamara was a late call-up to the
team and ensured that the club remain competitive in the overall Peugeot Race Series. Edel ran a fantastic race to place 2nd in Over-50s category in a time of 72.05. The club finished 3rd and 2nd team at the Dunshaughlin 10k and Roscommon 10 mile races respectively and have firmly asserted the second position in the overall standings with three races remaining in the series.
In addition to the Race Series, we had athletes competing at the National 5 mile championships where Faye Dervan finished 5th in 29.12 while Conor Murphy ran a time of 19.10 on his return to racing. Eavan McGloughlin ran a fantastic race t the St. Coca’s 5k to finish in a time of 16.56, with Ellen Byrne (19.06), Grace Culhane (19.17), Abbey Corr (22.03) and Lorna Walsh (22.04) also competing. At the Clonee 10k, Faye Dervan once again showed her recent form clocking a time of 35.40.
Track
The National Track & Field Championships took place in Morton Stadium, Santry on June 29th and 30th. We had several athletes competing across the middle-distance events. The first DCH athletes to take to the start line over the weekend were Niamh Carr, Fiona Hawkins and Edel Monaghan in the heats of the Women’s 1500m. Fiona Hawkins (4.44) had a strong run in her heat but failed to progress to a highly competitive final. Edel Monaghan (4.31) was also unlucky not to qualify for the final after running the 6th fastest time across the three heats. Niamh Carr (4.40) bounced back from recent injuries by finishing third in her heat and progressed to the final in what was her first outing on the track of the season. Niamh went on to place 15th in the final. Ailish Hawkins had a great run in the Women’s steeplechase to place 6th in a time of 10.48. Órán O’Hare had a fantastic run in the B race of the Men’s 5000m where he knocked 7 seconds off his personal best to run 15.05. Sean Donoghue and Philip Marron navigated their 1500m heats with ease and both put themselves in competitive positions as the final unfolded as a tactical affair. Sean finished 8th in 3.44 followed closely by Philip in 9th place also running 3.44. With 4 DCH athletes taking to the start line, the Women’s 5000m, many DCH supporters stayed until the end of the second day of the championships to support their fellow club mates. Clíona Murphy (16.49), Edel Monaghan (16.58), and Sorcha McAllister (17.15) all put in strong performances to finish 13th, 15th and 16th respectively. The performance of the weekend belonged to Jodie McCann who led the field from gun-to-tape to take the national title in a time of 15.44. Jodie’s performance was enough to place her just outside the world ranking quota to qualify for the Olympic Games in Paris.
Jodie also set a personal best over 5000m at the recent Boysen Memorial meet in Oslo where she ran a fantastic time of 15.20 to take the win in in the race. Jodie’s time was a mere second outside the DCH club record held by Una English which has stood for 23 years (15.19.12). Jodie also added to her tally of world ranking points in her bid to make the quota for the Olympic Games by running 8.54 over 3000m at the Motonet GP Kourtane meet in Finland, just two seconds outside her personal best. Elsewhere on the continent, Sean Donoghue (3.43.1) and Philip Marron (3.43.9) placed 3rd and 6th respectively at the Meeting de Braga near Porto in Portugal.
Closer to home, Philip Marron also competed over the mile at the British Milers Club meet in Belfast, clocking an agonising time of 4.00.01. Meanwhile, Edel Monaghan ran a personal best time of 4.30 over 1500m and Órán O’Hare had a strong performance over 3000m finishing in 8.36.
Training & Upcoming Racing
A number of track races remain on the calendar before the off-season with the Cork City Sports and Morton Games taking place in the middle of July as well as the AAI Games and a number of BMC meets. Athletes will also continue to compete on the roads with 3 races remaining in the Peugeot Race Series.
Dublin City Harriers 