Dublin Clubs activities round up, 27 November - 01 December 2024, Lindie Naughton

pjclaffey58 • December 2, 2024

LAADJEL A FIGHTING EIGHT ON US ROADS

 Abdel Laadjel (Donore Harriers) finished a fighting eighth at the 88th annual Thanksgiving Day Manchester Road Race in  Connecticut, USA , which was held on Thursday (November 27)  in cool, wet conditions. Running in  Donore Harriers colours, Laadjel was part of the leading group of about a dozen runners through the opening two miles and was lying around sixth when the group hit a hilly stretch of the course. He would lose a further two places in the final uphill climb to the finish line, but was delighted to  finish comfortably inside the top 10, clocking a time of   21 mins 39 secs for the unusual 4.737 miles distance. Laadjel, aged 21, was also  the youngest of the top ten  finishers. Race winner was Andrew Colley  in 21mins 09 secs. Over 8,000 completed the race. Next up for Laadjel is the 5,000m at the Sharon Colyear-Danville season opener indoor meet in  Boston on Saturday, December 7. 

* At the Valencia Marathon in Spain on Sunday, Barbara Cleary (Donore Harriers) was first W50 in a new Irish age-group record of 2 hrs 46 min 21 secs. 

LOCAL ROAD RUNNING 

At the Waterford Half Marathon on Saturday (November 30), Tomás Fitzpatrick (Tallaght AC) finished third and first M40 in 70:58. Jean Dunne (Raheny Shamrock AC)  finished second W65 in 1:52.24; winner was ex-Lucan Harrier Mary Browne,  now  with Mayo AC. Paul MacGabhann (Sportsworld) was first M65 in 87:14.:

CROSS-COUNTRY

In the women’s race at the All Ireland Novice Cross-Country Championships held at Tramore racecourse in Co Waterford on Sunday (December 1), Sadhbh Mohan (Metro St Brigid’s)  finished second, with a time of 14 mins 14 secs for the 4km distance. Other Dublin runners to feature in the top twenty were Kate Crowley (Raheny Shamrock) seventh and Aisling O’Connor (Rathfarnham WSAF) 18th. Best of the Dublin club teams was Sportsworld AC, led by Lorna Sheehan, who finished fourth. Dublin City Harriers finished fifth, Crusaders sixth, Raheny Shamrock eighth, Liffey Valley 12th and Rathfarnham WSAF 14th.  Dublin finished third of the county teams behind Louth and Cork. Making up the team were Mohan, Crowley, O’Connor and Lisa Gaughan (Dundrum South Dublin). In the men’s 6km race,  Eanna Ó Bradaigh  (Dundrum South Dublin), who finished sixth in 19:18 was best of the Dublin club athletes. His  DSD clubmate Jamie Byrne was 17th  and Benjamin Caullier (Lucan Harriers) 22nd. Dundrum South Dublin  finished seventh teams followed by Raheny Shamrock A10th, Lucan Harriers 12th, Clonliffe Harriers 13th, Crusaders 17th, Raheny Shamrock B 18th, Liffey Valley 19th  Crusaders B 27th  and  Sportsworld 29th  Dublin was second county team behind Cork. Making up the Dublin team were Ó Bradaigh, Byrne, and Caullier, backed up by Dylan Wright (Lucan Harriers), Vladislav Evseev (Dublin City Harriers)  and Kevin Byrne (Raheny Shamrock). 

NEW DUBLIN VENUE FOR CROSS-COUNTRY?

At the Revenue BHAA 6km Santa Dash Cross-Country held at  McGee Park, Tallaght, Jared Murray (Rathfarnham WSAF AC) was the overall winner in 21 mins 34 secs after battling it out for much of the race with  Diarmuid O’Connor (Gardaí) and Kevin O’Connor who finished second and third in 21:54 and 21:59. Finished seventh and first woman in 22:50 was  BHAA ‘regular’ Laura McDonnell (Rathfarnham WSAF AC) running her first race since the Dublin Marathon. Leona O’Reilly (Gardaí) was second in 24:04 and Eimear English third in 24:54. Fourth was Ellen Byrne, whose mother Fiona was also running and indeed finished first W60, beating Mary Watters by a second in this category. Third was BHAA newcomer Olive O’Malley.  Other age group winners included  David Brady (Irish Life) M40,  Sean McCreery (Rathfarnham and Accountants) M45,  Phelim Glynn (Eir) M50,  Conor Nolan (TCD) M65, John Fitzgerald (Hotels and Leisure) M70, Donna Mahon (IT Women) W50 and Eileen O’Brien (Health Group) W70. Top women’s’ team was the Health Group, while best of the grade 1 men were the Gardai, followed by the Accountants and then Dublin Bus. Engineering A won grade 1 from ESB and Gardai.  McGee Park, the home of St Mark’s GAC is a welcome new addition to the Dublin cross-country scene.