On Sun 25th Dec, a GOAL Mile Fundraiser took place at Lucan's Esker Track. We had a fantastic amount of support from the local community and would like to thank, on behalf of GOAL, everyone who supported this event. This was the biggest crowd we have had in the history of our hosting the event. As far as performances were concerned, the top time of the day (and the only sub 5 minute mile) went to a Lucan athlete, 18 year old Ciaran Hopper, who absolutely decimated his previous best time with a scorching 4:44 mile. This was inspirational stuff as Ciaran ran solo gun to tape, carving 23 seconds from his previous best time for the distance, a quantum leap. Outstanding, Ciaran! Other good results from club members included a 5:17 from Tommy Buggle, a 5:31 from Patrick Martin, a 5:32 from Michael Dunne and a 5:36 from Brian Brunton -- the two of whom had a great battle --, a 5:56 from Hilary McGee, 6:02 for Brendan Maher and Breffni Worrall. Of course, being a fun event, some people took it more seriously than others. Nevertheless, a great day was had by all and we hope to see everyone back again next year.

On Tue 20th Dec, the last Turkey Trot club race of the winter, a track 3000m, took place at Esker Track. Hilary McGee had an outstanding run to lap the entire field of the women's section, recording a near p.b. time of 11:26. This is only 3 seconds outside Hilary's best 3000m, which she recorded in Nov in the ALSAA Winter League. Derval McCarthy had a solid run for second place outside 13 minutes. On the men's side, David Keogh and Colm O'Connor renewed their rivalry, this time David moved away over the last 900m or so to breast the tape first in a time of 10:29 from Colm's 10:44. Full results will be posted here when received.

On Sun 18th Dec, Breffni Worrall ran in the Djouce trail run in County Wicklow. On the very hilly course in Djouce Woods, near Kilmacanogue, Breffni completed the distance in 34:45 and was very happy with his run. Well done Breffni.

On Tue 13th Dec, the club Turkey Trot continued with a track mile. The men's and women's races were run separately on a very cold but otherwise excellent night for running. The women's race materialised into a great battle with a pack of 5 athletes up front. Derval McCarthy controlled the pace as the lead pack, also comprising Eithne Reid, Amber Nugent, Freda Comiskey and Bernie Stapleton, went throught 400m in 1:37. The pace settled down and halfway was reached in 3:22 with Derval still leading. On the third lap, Eithne Reid took over and as the bell sounded for the final lap, Eithne had a small gap on Derval Cusack in second, as the race strung out behind them. Around the last lap they went with Eithne piling on the pressure but Derval not giving up. Down the home stretch, it was still anyone's race. Only in the last 25 metres did Derval manage to find something extra to inch past Eithne. It was a great race. That was a hard act to follow so the men's race was not quite as exciting but some good times were recorded. Conor McGee recorded a time of 4:35, followed by David Keogh (who had perhaps gone out a little too hard) in 5:01, Ciaran Hopper (5:16) and Colm O'Connor. Well done to everyone. More complete results to follow shortly.

On Sun 11th Dec, Fintan McGee and Ciaran Hopper ran in the National Novice Cross Country Championships on the grounds of Athlone I.T. The course was quite challenging with a long gradual hill which tested all the athletes. Fintan had a great run to place 6th overall in the men's 6km race. Fintan combined with his Dublin team-mates to collect the inter-county team title for Dublin. Ciaran finished in the middle of the field in his first ever cross country race for Lucan. Amongst 172 competitors, this was a strong showing from Ciaran. This run will really bring Ciaran's fitness on for his next few races. Well done lads. Full Results.
On Sun 11th Dec, the club Turkey Trot kicked off with a road 3 mile race on the canal loop. The men's race materialised into a three way battle amongst David Keogh, Colm O'Connor and Breffni Worrall. Breffni made every effort to shake off the company of the two track men but to no avail. The race turned into a burn-up between the two 800m specialists, Colm and David. David, with that extra bit of race sharpness, came out on top, breasting the tape in 17:58 from Colm in 18:04 and Breffni in 18:12. The women's race was won by Derval McCarthy from Freda Comiskey (21:04). More details to follow soon.

On Sat 10th Dec, Lucan athletes took home prizes and personal bests at the BHAA Citywest 5km road race in Saggart. It was an ideal day for racing, with a small bit of a breeze as 161 athletes took to the line. First for Lucan was Conor McGee who placed an excellent 3rd overall in a time of 15:12. Next home, and finishing very strongly, was Tommy Buggle in 19th position in a big new personal best time of 16:48. This was Tommy's first time under the 17 minutes and he will undoubtedly be dipping under 16:30 very soon. Brian Brunton was next to finish for Lucan in 19:20, his third race in only 8 days. Brian missed some training recently but he will return to form rapidly with these races. Hilary McGee knocked 30 seconds off her previous best time when she stormed to a time of 20:04. Hilary is having a great year, recording personal bests at an array of distances. Jim Dwyer was next Lucan athlete as he ran 22:38, a 45 second improvement from his 5k last week in the Phoenix Park. Bernie Stapleton, in her first road race this short since well before the dublin marathon, picked up first prize in her age-category with her run of 24:11. Well done to everyone. Full Results.

On Tue 6th Dec, the club winter track league continued with an 800m race on Lucan track. It was great to see so many athletes on the track, especially on the men's side, which is growing rapidly. In the men's 800m, Lucan Harriers' Irish schools international, David Keogh, had his hands very full in holding off a determined challenge from clubmate and training partner, Ciaran Hopper. David just edged away down the home stretch to breast the tape in 2:08 from Ciaran's 2:10, with Colm O'Connor (2:21) in 3rd, Tommy Buggle (2:25) 4th and Michael Dunne (2:27) 5th. Henry was next across the line in 2:30, followed by Brian Brunton (2:35), Brendan Maher (2:37), Vinny Murtagh (2:48), Seamus Dennison (2:56), Gerry Martin (2:58) and Jim Dwyer (3:11). Derval McCarthy took the win in 2:54 in a close women's race, just edging Freda Comiskey (2:55) and Bernie Stapleton (2:57). Next home were Amber Nugent (3:06), Emer McCarthy (3:07), Myra Nolan (3:12), a rapdily improving Claire Buckley (3:14), Lorraine Heffernan (3:20), Ursula Murphy (3:36) and new member, Patricia (3:47). Well done to all on some quality running. Results.

On Sun 4th Dec, Lucan athletes collected a rake of prizes in the Leixlip Amenities Centre road race in Leixlip. The course was a 3.4 mile course with two tough hills. Tommy Buggle dominated to collect the men's individual title while Freda Comiskey took the women's title. In his first race in a Lucan singlet in a number of years, Michael Dunne produced a great run to take second place in the men's race with Brian Brunton in third spot completing the sweep of the top three places for Lucan. Eileen O'Brien took second place in the women's race. Congratulations to our athletes on a great day.

On Sat 3rd Dec, Lucan athletes ran in the Jingle Bells 5km road race in the Phoenix Park. Brian Brunton, Gerry Martin and Jim Dwyer (23:23) all put in solid runs on the day. More detailed results to follow when received.

On Sun 27th Nov, Lucan Harriers hosted the Women's Meet and Train Cross Country League in Griffeen Park. Over 120 women took part in the 2 mile cross country event. First home for Lucan was Derval McCarthy who ran a blinder to place 7th overall. Freda Comiskey had a great run in 13th while Lorraine Heffernan had a fantastic run in 17th, her best ever run in these races by a long way, and Emer McCarthy also running well in 21st position. Full results will be posted when received. Thank you to Jim Dwyer and Brendan Maher for setting up the course on the day.

On Sun 27th Nov, Lucan athletes competed in the National Intercounties Cross Country Championships on Sligo racecourse. This was not a good day for our athletes as all were disappointed with their runs. Despite weather forecasts of snow, the day turned out to be a good day for running, and the course was a good challenging course. In the senior men's 10km race, Conor McGee placed 31st and Fintan McGee 40th, while in the U17 4km race, David Keogh placed 49th. In hindsight, perhaps our lads needed a few more races under their belts. Regardless, these guys will bounce back. Well done guys. Full Results.

On Sat 19th Nov, Lucan athletes competed at the Bank Of Ireland BHAA cross country race at the Aer Lingus Sports Complex. On a very cold morning, Gerry Martin (25:58) and Jim Dwyer (28:49) both had very positive runs over the 4 mile course. Well done lads. Full Results.

CLUB A.G.M.

On Wed 16th Nov, the club A.G.M. was held in the clubhouse at Esker Track. Some very positive ideas came out of the meeting and we hope to see the club implement them over the coming year(s). In the meantime, for those who were unable to attend, here is a brief outline of the main changes of which our athletes should be aware.

One of the biggest changes to come out of the meeting were some policy changes which were made in regard to payment of membership fees. As always, the membership fees are due in the period 30th Sept - 31st Dec; no change there.

However, from now on, senior athletes will pay their membership directly to their respective club captains, i.e. women pay Eileen O'Brien and men pay Tommy Buggle. The captains will then pass the fee onto our treasurer & registrar.

Juvenile athletes will continue to pass fees on to their coaches. Coaches give the fee to Ann McGee who will then pass the fee onto our treasurer & registrar.

To facilitate the above system, the club approved an amendment to the constitution of the club. This amendment now merges into one role the positions of treasurer & registrar. In order for this to work, our treasurer & registrar, Eithne Reid, will not accept money directly from any athlete. The membership fee must come through the system outlined. It is hoped that these adjustments will streamline the system.

Other developments: Colm O'Connor was approved as our new representative on the committee of Lucan Sports Association (L.S.A.). Brian Brunton now moves from a position on the committee to a director's position on the board of the L.S.A. The club would like to wish Brian and Colm every success as our representatives and to extend a big thank you to outgoing director, Emer McCarthy, whose efforts over the years have been greatly appreciated.

Thank you to outgoing secretary, Jim Dwyer, for an excellent job. Jim has also served as P.R.O. on the executive so he has contributed an enormous amount over the last number of years. Lorraine Heffernan steps in as secretary and we wish her well in her new role.

Thank you to all who attended the meeting and here's to a successful 2006 for everyone. New Committee.


On Tue 15th Nov, three Lucan athletes competed at the ALSAA Winter/Spring Track League at the Aer Lingus Sports Complex. This time the distance was 3000m on a cold but otherwise calm night for running. David Keogh was first to finish from Lucan in 7th place overall, recording a new personal best time of 9 minutes 56 seconds. Hilary McGee was delighted with a new personal best also, clocking 11 minutes 23 seconds. Jim Dwyer improved hugely from his previous outing at 3k -- Oct 2 in Lucan when he ran 13:36 -- to record 13 minutes exactly. Great to see the winter work is going well. Well done to all.

On Sun 13th Nov, Toirdbhealach Hopper placed 7th in the U13 boys 1200m race at the Dublin juvenile Cross Country League in Santry Demesne. This was another good run from Toirdbhealach who has improved dramatically this year. Keep up the good work, Toirdbhealach.

On Sun 13th Nov, Conor and Fintan McGee ran in the Dublin Senior Cross Country Championships in Santry Demesne. The going was firm on the 10km course and the conditions were ideal, i.e. cool and no wind. The quality of the opposition was in no doubt as every position was contested to the last. Conor moved through in the final 4kms to place 7th in the race, one second behind 6th, and only 20 seconds behind 3rd. With this result, Conor has gained selection to the Dublin team for the National Intercounties Cross Country Championships in two weeks' time. Fintan finished a very respectable 20th in the race. It needs to be said that this is also his first cross country competition in 2 years, so he will improve no doubt with some more runs over the country. Well done to both. Full Results.

On Sun 6th Nov, Lucan had three athletes running in the New York City Marathon. Unseasonably warm conditions made the going all the more difficult. Lorraine Heffernan, nevertheless, posted a very good time of 4 hours 10 mins for the course with Josie Dignam and Eibhlin Ni Chonchuir crossing the finish line together in 6 hours 57 mins. Well done to all. Full Results.

On Sun 6th Nov, Lucan had athletes competing in the Leinster Intermediate Cross Country Championships in Mullingar. The grounds of Belvedere House was a beautiful but very testing venue with some very tough hills on the course. Hilary McGee had a very strong run in the women's 4km race to place 15th overall. Tommy Buggle is the man everyone in Lucan Harriers is talking about at the moment and he showed why once again with a big breakthrough performance and 29th position in the men's 10km race. Jim Dwyer had another solid run further down the field. Unfortunately, we weren't able to field a full men's team on the day. Nevertheless, these are very positive starts to the new season for our athletes. Well done to all. Full Results.

On Sun 6th Nov, Lucan's juvenile athletes competed at the Dublin Cross Country Championships (even age-groups) in Corkagh Park. Robert Kane had a very good run in his first ever Dublin Championship placing 29th in the U12 1km race. Aisling Cleary placed two spots in front of Michaela Kinsella in the girls U14 1200m race as they placed 45th and 47th respectively against some really tough opposition. Well done to all.

On Tue 1st Nov, the club Winter Track Series continued with a mile race. It was yet another ideal night for racing at Lucan track as 13 athletes toed the line together. Freda Comiskey was first woman (6:57) followed by Eithne Reid -- fresh from walking the marathon 24 hours earlier!! -- (7:19), new member Claire Buckley (7:20), Emer O'Sullivan (7:52), Ursula Murphy and Ann McGee (9:12) and Sinead Murphy (9:16). On the men's side, Conor McGee was first man (4:29) followed by Brian Brunton (5:50), Gerry Martin -- rapidly returning to fitness after a long lay-off through injury -- (6:03), Alan Flynn (6:14), Vinny Murtagh (6:32), and Seamus Dennison (7:42). A big welcome to new members Claire Buckley, prodigal son -- returning to the club after a number of years away -- Vinny Murtagh, and Seamus Dennison. Well done to everyone on a good night's running. Results.

On Mon 31st Oct, Lucan athletes won national medals in the Dublin City Marathon. Heavy rain made the first half of the race difficult. Even before the race started, the athletes had to stand in heavy rain before the gun went off at 9am. In contrast, the second half of the race saw blue skies emerge. But what a day for Lucan Harriers!! Women's captain, Eileen O'Brien, was first Lucan athlete across the line in 3 hours 48 mins. This run gave Eileen the Gold medal in her age-category in the National Championship Marathon, held in conjunction with the Dublin City marathon event. This is the second year in a row that Eileen has medalled at these championships. Congratulations, Eileen, on an outstanding achievement. Our women's team of Eileen, Derval McCarthy (3:52), Myra Nolan (3:57), Emer McCarthy (4:04) and Bernie Stapleton (4:16) combined to clinch the silver medal in the national championship team event. Well done to all on a magnificent achievement and a really big day for the club. Thanks, too, to the 21 stewards from Lucan around the course on the day. Your help was very much appreciated by the race organisers and the athletes themselves.

On Sun 23rd Oct, our men's team placed 15th in the Leinster Novice Cross Country Championships at Dundalk I.T. Tommy Buggle was first Lucan man across the finish line in 35th position, followed by Colm O'Connor in 87th, Breffni Worrall in 101st, Brian Brunton in 106th and Jim Dwyer in 111th. The lads acquited themselves well against a field which we believe to be way above last year's level of competition. Well done to all. Full Results.

On Sun 23rd Oct, our juvenile athletes competed at the Dublin Uneven Age-Groups Cross Country Championships in Cabinteely. David Keogh placed 7th and Patrick Martin was 19th in the U17 4km race. David will now represent Dublin at the National Championships in 5 weeks' time in Sligo. In the girls U11 800m, Juliette Sejan placed 15th and in the U13 boys 1200m, Toirdealbhach Hopper placed 24th. Well done to all.

On Sun 23rd Oct, Conor Mc Gee ran in the Mayor's Cup 8km cross country race in Franklin Park, Boston. Conor placed 17th in the race on a muddy course in a time of 25:31. Well done Conor. Full Results.
On Tue 18th Oct, Lucan Harriers athletes impressed at the ALSAA Winter League Mile race. Fintan McGee led the Lucan contingent home with a fantastic time of 4:18 to win the race. Considering the time of year and the bit of a breeze, this was really some running. Conor McGee followed Fintan home with a solid 4:27. Further down the field, Ciaran Hopper showed he is taking to the distance training when he clocked 5:07, his first competitive outing at the distance. Ciaran's younger brother, 12 year old Toirdbhealach, had his second good showing in the space of three days when he covered the distance in 7:03, a new personal best. Jim Dwyer having helped Toirdbhealach to his time ran a 7:11. Well done to all and we hope to see even more from Lucan over the course of the winter at the ALSAA series races.

On Sun 16th Oct, Lucan Harriers hosted the Dublin Juvenile Cross Country League in Griffeen Park. A glorious October day brought big numbers to Lucan from the various clubs in Dublin. Highlight of the day for Lucan was a very impressive home win from Patrick Martin in the U17 4000m race. Our U13 boys team placed 2nd in their 1200m race with Jonathon O'Donnell (8th), Ciaran Shanley (13th) and Toirdealbhach Hopper (14th) having excellent runs. Juliette Sejan (8th) and Clodagh O'Hoare (21st) both ran very well in the U11 600m. Bebhinn Ni Chiosain ran a powerful race to place 12th in the U14 girls 1200m, leading home the Lucan contingent of Aisling Cleary, Michaela and Holly Kinsella and Ailbhe Breen. Robert Kane had a great debut in the U12 800m and he is a man to watch for as the season progresses. Well done to all who competed. Thank you to all who helped make the event such a success, especially to event organiser, Gerry Martin, who marked out the course and put such an effort into getting the course right for the day.

On Sun 9th Oct, Ciaran Shanley ran in the Dublin juvenile cross country league in Newbridge Demesne, Donabate. This was Ciaran's first ever cross country race but you'd never have guessed it because he ran like a seasoned veteran. Ciaran placed 12th in the U.14 1500m, a great run. Well done Ciaran.

On Sun 9th Oct, Lucan athletes ran in the Simon 5 mile Fun Run in the Phoenix Park. Eithne Reid, Jim Dwyer, Ann McGee and Sinead Murphy all ran on the day. More detailed results to follow when available. Well done to all.

On Sun 9th Oct, Hilary McGee placed 7th in the Dublin Intermediate Cross Country Championships in Newbridge Demesne, Donabate. Up front the quality of the competition was underlined by the presence of Sinead Jennings, Olympic sculler and 2001 world lightweight sculls champion, who had an excellent run to win the individual title. This was a great run from Hilary in the 4 kilometre race with blustery winds making certain parts of the race difficult for all athletes. Hilary finished only 3 seconds behind 6th place so this is a very good result for her season opener for cross country. Well done Hilary. Full Results.

On Tue 4th Oct, the first race of the Lucan Winter Track League took place over 3000m on Esker track in Lucan. For most of these runners, this was their first track competition of the year. Even so, conditions could not have been better on the night as 17 runners toed the start line. In the women's section, Derval McCarthy finished first in 12:52, next was Emer McCarthy (13:26), Myra Nolan (13:41), Bernie Stapleton (13:42), Eileen O'Brien (13:53), Lorraine Heffernan (14:31), Ursula Murphy (15:05), Bernie (15:56), Evelyn (17:31) and Ann McGee (17:33). On the men's side, Conor McGee was first in 8:55, followed by David Keogh (10:16), Colm O'Connor (10:46), Brian Brunton (11:36), Brendan Maher (12:08), Alan Flynn (12:39) and Jim Dwyer (13:36). Well done to all. Results.

On Sun 2nd Oct, Lucan athletes collected several prizes at the Rathfarnham 5km road race. In a talent laden field, Fintan McGee led Lucan home with a scorching 14:54 to place 9th overall amongst senior men. Antoinette Holland ran a stormer (22:38) to win in her age-category, Ann McGee (26:32) placed 2nd in her age-category and John O'Leary (18:53) placed 3rd in his age-category. In addition, our women's veterans team of Antoinette Holland, Liz Arkins (22:26) and Ann McGee placed 3rd in their team section. Gerry Martin (19:47) and Jim Dwyer (22:41) also ran on the day. Compliments to Rathfarnham W.S.A.F. on a very well run event and congratulations to all on a great day. Full Results.

On Sat 2nd Oct, Breffni Worrall ran in the Budapest Marathon in Hungary. Breffni clocked a time of 3 hours 51 mins. After getting to halfway in 1:44, and continuing that good running through the first 30 kilometres (of the 42 kilometre event), Breffni suffered with severe cramping of his calves in the last section of the race. Several stops were required late in the race to ease his calves and a sore knee and this, unfortunately, prevented Breffni from delivering a time closer to 3:30. Still, Breffni came away satisfied with the effort he gave and is already looking forward to his next marathon in the spring. Well done Breffni.

On Sun 25th Sept, Tommy Buggle and Colm O'Connor competed in the Dublin Novice Cross Country Championships held over 6km in Tymon Park. Tommy finished in a very commendable 22nd position in the race with Colm O'Connor in 36th position. Well done to both on a solid start to the winter season. Full Results.

On Sat 24th Sept, Lucan athletes ran in the BHAA Half Marathon in the Phoenix Pk. All the results are not yet in but here is what we have so far. Brian Brunton had a good run recording a time of 1 hour 30 mins. Eileen O'Brien had a very strong run clocking 1:46:13. Bernie Stapleton finished in 1:47:05 improving her time by almost 4 minutes from the Barcelona Half Marathon earlier in the year. Bernie was closely followed across the line by Jim Dwyer in 1:47:15, an improvement on his Barcelona outing also. Josie Dignam recorded a time of 2:44:41 with Eibhlin Ni Chonchuir less than a minute behind her in 2:45:32. Well done to all. Full Results.
On Sun 18th Sept, Hilary McGee ran the Evening Echo Women's Mini Marathon (5 miles) in Cork. Despite the fact that this was Hilary's first ever 5 mile road race, she handled the course and the warm conditions very well indeed. With a time of 36:10, Hilary finished in the top 25 out of over 7,000 runners in the race. Very well done Hilary.

On Sun 11th Sept, two of Lucan's juvenile athletes, Niamh Power and Toirdealbhach Hopper, ran in the Clonliffe Harriers Festival of Road Races in Santry Demsense. Niamh Power had a great run to take 2nd place in the Girls U.10 440yards. Toirdbhealach Hopper also competed but was outside the medals with, nevertheless, a strong showing in the boys U.14 mile. Well done to both.

On Sat 10th Sept, several Lucan athletes ran in the Cityswift-Sponsored BHAA 10 mile race in Rathcoole. First across the finish was Jim Dwyer in a time of 1:22.19, followed closely by Emer McCarthy in 1:22:50, Bernie Stapleton (1:23:19) and Myra Nolan (1:23:37). Well done to all on good runs. Full Results.

On Tue 6th Sept, Fintan McGee won the Open 5000m organised by Clonliffe Harriers in Santry. Fintan front-ran the race and ran wide for much of the latter part of the race as he lapped several people, finishing with an impressive time of 15:34. Well done Fintan.
On Sat 3rd Sept, club member, Patrick Martin took second prize in the Junior Racing Kayak Doubles in the Liffey Descent. Multi-talented Patrick competes for the Salmon Leap Canoe club in Leixlip. Along with kayak team-mate, Jenny Egan, Patrick completed the notoriously difficult course in 2 hours and 9 mins. Fantastic achievement Patrick. Full Results.

On Fri 2nd Sept, Fintan McGee ran in the 1500m at the Stadionfest track meet in Königs Wusterhausen, Germany. Competing with athletes from Switzerland, Holland, Kenya, Belgium and Germany, Fintan placed an excellent 9th in the second section of the 1500m with a time of 4:00.74. Fintan hopes to return to Germany next year for the meet again. Well done Fintan. Full Results.

On Thur 1st Sept, Gerry Martin ran in the Enable Ireland 5k road race in Raheny Village. Gerry completed the course in 20mins and felt comfortable, reporting no aches or pains. Gerry has had some serious injury problems in the last number of months and it is good to see him back in action.

On Sun 28th Aug, John O'Leary and Breffni Worrall ran in the Longford Half-Marathon. On quite a wild and windy day, both athletes had very strong showings with John (1:28:06) placing 2nd in his age-category while Breffni (1:31:18) placed 4th in his age-category. These are very good times especially considering the challenging conditions. Over the next few weeks, Breffni will be putting the finishing touches to his preparations for the Budapest Marathon. Well done to both John and Breffni on excellent runs. Full Results.

On Sun 28th Aug, Elaine Pardy ran in the individual U.14 100m at the National Community Games in Mosney. Unfortunately, Elaine had a problem with her hamstring before the semifinal. Elaine placed 4th in her semifinal, qualifying for the final. Elaine, however, was clearly very restricted by the problem in her semifinal. The problem worsened sharply after her run in the semifinal and Elaine had no option but to withdraw from the final. We believe at this point that the problem is a minor one, some cramp possibly caused by fatigue from the efforts of the weekend -- Elaine was a part of the relay team which ran twice on Saturday, plus her own individual 100m heat on Saturday. This being Elaine's 4th race of the weekend at such a high intensity on a bumpy grass track may have been one race too many for Elaine. Elaine made the right decision because another run on that leg may have resulted in a far more serious problem. As it is, we expect that the leg will be fine in a few days. We are hugely proud of Elaine's progress this year and we are in no doubt that she will be back next year stronger than ever. Well done Elaine.

On Sat 27th Aug, Lucan had young athletes represent Dublin at the National Community Games in Mosney. Our U.14 relay team of Aisling Cleary, Orla O'Farrell, Nicola Armstrong, Elaine Pardy and substitute Ailbhe Breen ran very well, placing second in their first round behind Clare. Unfortunately, the semifinal proved to be tough indeed and our girls didn't go any further. Our individual representative in the U.14 100m, Elaine Pardy, won her heat and has moved through to the semifinal. The semifinal will take place tomorrow and we are all keeping our fingers crossed for Elaine. Well done to all our athletes on their performances.

On Thur 25th Aug, Colm O'Connor ran an Open 800m race hosted by Clonliffe Harriers in Santry. Colm placed 3rd in his section, recording a time of 2:11, rounding out a very good season. Colm will now take a well earned two week break before returning to training. Well done Colm.

On Wed 24th Aug, for the second time in 18 days, Fintan McGee broke the club 1500m record at a British Milers' Club Gold Standard Meet, this time in Watford. Fintan placed 10th, in a new personal best and club record time of 3:51.59, in a loaded 'a' section 1500m. Fintan ran pretty even splits for the entire race, going through 400m in 62, 800m in approx 2:04. His last lap of 60 seconds really closed out a great race with Fintan looking strong all the way to the finish. Older brother Conor placed 5th in the 'b' section 1500m in his season's best time of 3:57.67, also looking full of running at the end. Great to see the guys running so well so late in the season. These races bring to an end each of their track seasons. Well done guys. Full Results.

On Sat 20th Aug, Martina Cusack won the bronze medal in her age-category in the Dublin 10 mile road Championships in the Phoenix Park. This was Martina's first championship medal for Lucan so this medal is particularly special. Martina's time for the course was an excellent 1:15.32. Next to finish for Lucan was, ladies' captain, Eileen O'Brien (1:19) followed by Jim Dwyer, Bernie Stapleton and Maisie McGlone. The Dublin Championship this year was run within the Frank Duffy 10 mile road race, a race which attracted over 2000 entries. Many of these runners are getting ready to run the Dublin City Marathon in 10 weeks' time. Well done to everyone.

On Thur 18th Aug, brothers Fintan and Conor McGee competed in the mile at the Lee Strand International T&F Meet hosted by An Riocht A.C. in Castleisland, County Kerry. Fintan placed 5th in the race with a time of 4:17.38 and Conor was a couple of strides behind with a season's best 4:19.19. The race was won by Olympian, James Nolan, in a time just outside 4 minutes. Well done lads.
On Tue 16th Aug, Colm O'Connor recorded a win in a new personal best time in the Open Mile race organised by Clonliffe Harriers in Santry. Colm took up the running with a lap to go of the four lap race, and he was never fully extended as he won easing down to the line in a great new personal best time of 4 minutes 52 seconds. Colm's next race will be his favoured event, the 800m, next week at the same venue, and in this form, he is surely on form to challenge his best time over that distance. Well done Colm.

On Sun 14th Aug, Patrick Martin and Hilary McGee competed in the mile races organised by Aer Lingus at the ALSAA Sports Complex. On a blustery day, both athletes improved their personal best times, with Patrick clocking 5:23 and Hilary recording 5:38. Well done to both.

On Thur 11th Aug, Conor and Hilary McGee competed in Open 800m races organised by Clonliffe Harriers Club President, Maurice Ahern, in Santry. Conor, dropping down in distance, placed joint 3rd in his race clocking a time of 2:00.0 for his first outing of the year at 800m. Hilary placed 2nd in her race, yet again recording a sub 2:30 run with a time of 2:29.5. Well done to both.

On Sat 6th Aug, Conor and Fintan McGee participated in the British Miler's Club Meet on a perfect night in Crystal Palace. Fintan competed in the very competitive 'B' section 1500m and he ran a stormer in his first 1500m of the year, running a new personal best time of 3:52.48. This time is also a new club 1500m record so this was the best anyone in Lucan Harriers has ever run for the distance. Conor then ran in the 'A' section 5000m and finished just outside his personal best, posting a time of 14:40.95 for the distance. Well done to both.

On Wed 3rd Aug, Lucan athletes participated in a 1500m race at Esker track, Lucan. Colm O'Connor and David Keogh had a great battle up front, with Colm leading much of the way on a blustery night. In the end, the result came down to a sprint with David edging the win in a time of 4:37 from Colm's 4:39. Brendan Maher turned in a very solid 5:25 with Alan Flynn looking strong with a 5:43 clocking. Next was Jim Dwyer just outside 6 minutes with 6:03, Eithne Reid was timed at 6:24 and Eileen O'Brien finished strong with a 6:37. Several athletes expressed the wish to do this again so we are hoping that these track races will become a regular part of our club calendar. Well done to all.

On Sat 29th July, Breffni Worrall had a great run in the Breffni Foundation 20km run from Cavan town to Arvagh. Breffni placed an excellent 10th out of a field of over 250 runners, in a time of 92 mins. This run is an annual event to raise funds for St Luke's hospital. Hopefully we can send a gang of athletes to this race for next year and help raise some much needed funds for the hospital. Well done Breffni.

On Sat 29th July, three Lucan athletes ran in the Dublin International Games in Morton Stadium, Santry. Conor and Fintan McGee both ran in the men's development 3000m. Conor placed a close 4th in the race with a time of 8:27.73 while Fintan, stepping up in distance, placed 10th in a time of 8:42.68, beating a lot of distance specialists at their own game. Hilary McGee put in another consistent run in the women's 800m, this time recording 2:31.36. Well done to all.

On Wed 27th July, Lucan had several athletes competing at the last Dublin Graded Meet of the summer in Irishtown Stadium, Ringsend. First up on the night was Ciaran Hopper who set the tone when he placed 3rd in the section 'C' 200m with a new personal best time of 24.89 seconds. Hilary McGee was next into action and she followed suit when she placed 7th in a new personal best time of 2:27.63 in the section 'A' 800m. Brian Brunton and Jim Dwyer both competed in the section 'D' 800m and they both ran well, Brian placed an excellent 4th in this, his first Dublin Graded Meet in 4 years, recording a time of 2:23.66 with Jim posting 3:01.12. Colm O'Connor was next to run and he recorded yet another personal best time, clocking 2:09.30 to place 7th in the section 'C' 800m. Laurence Butler recorded a win and, yep, you've guessed it, a new personal best, clocking an excellent 54.37 in the section 'C' 400m. Fintan McGee closed out the night for Lucan with a 3rd place in 52.51 in the section 'A' 400m. Well done to everyone on great running on the night.

On Sun 24th July, Conor McGee placed 5th in the 5000m at the National Senior T&F Championships in Morton Stadium, Santry. On a blustery day, Conor's time of 14:52.34 was outside his best for the season but this day was all about finishing positions in an extremely competitive National Championship race. This result has again demonstrated Conor's status amongst the elite distance runners in Ireland on all surfaces. Well done Conor.

On Sat 23rd July, Fintan and Hilary McGee both competed in the 800m heats at the National Senior T&F Championships in Morton Stadium, Santry. Hilary ran a 2:29.14 effort and again was just outside her personal best time. This is a great season Hilary is having and that time will come down very soon, we're sure. Fintan placed 5th in a tactical men's 800m heat in a time of 1:56.87. Fintan has had a great season so far and his progress throughout the season has been remarkable after an 18 month lay-off from the sport. Well done guys.

On Sun 17th July, Hilary McGee ran in the A.A.I. National T&F League in Cork I.T. Hilary, guesting at the meet, recorded a new 1500m personal best time of 5:12. This is the second time this season Hilary has run a 1500m p.b. and a great confidence boost one week before the national championships where she competes in the 800m.



On Sat July 16th, David Keogh, running in the Ireland singlet, placed 6th in the 800m at the Schools Track and Field International in Tullamore. David recorded a great new personal best time of 2 minutes exactly, an improvement of over 2 seconds on his previous best set only 6 days ago. This International meet brings together the best U.17 athletes in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland and with this result, David has again shown that he has the attributes to compete at the top level. David, congratulations on a fine run.

On Sat 16th July, 3 Lucan athletes ran in the Lufthansa Airmotive Air Corps-Sponsored BHAA 10km road race in Baldonnell. First home was John O'Leary in 39:28, followed by Breffni Worrall in 40:10 and Jim Dwyer in 48:22. Well done lads. Full Results.

On Sat 16th July, Fintan McGee ran in the British Miler's Club Meet in Cardiff. Fintan recorded another very good run, this time clocking 1:55.12 in his section of the 800m. Fintan is proving to be very consistent in his performances this season. Well done Fintan. Full Results.

On Wed 13th July, siblings Conor, Fintan and Hilary McGee all ran at the Irish Miler's Club Time Trial Night in Ringsend. Ringsend is really treating Lucan athletes well this year and tonight was no exception. Hilary was first into action and she placed 5th, recording a personal best for the rarely run 600m distance with a time of 1:45.93. Next to go was Conor and he posted a season's best 3:58.65 to place 3rd in the 1500m. Last to go was Fintan and he really impressed with his winning time of 1:22.56. Full Results.


On Tue 12th July, Lucan's 3 mile Mile Club Handicap Road Races were won by Eileen O'Brien and Jim Dwyer. Various athletes who did not run the club 3 mile Championship two weeks ago turned out on the night and made the race very interesting for the coaches and spectators. This was another very warm evening, possibly 22/23 degrees as the runners set off. Colm O'Connor was first of the men across the line in 17:16. Tommy Buggle who had set off a minute in arrears powered home close behind in an eye-catching 16:33. Next to finish were Brian Brunton (17:48), Stephen McCarthy (18:41), new member Breffni Worrall (18:51) and Jim Dwyer 22:14. The ladies had a very interesting race with Eileen O'Brien breasting the tape first in a time of 21:08, Freda Comiskey looking very comfortable in 2nd with 21:35, Eithne Reid (21:49), Emer McCarthy (23:35), Lorraine Heffernan (24:16) and Lorraine Keane (25:17). Well done to all who took part.


On Sun 10th July, four of Lucan's young athletes competed on Day Two of the National Juvenile T&F Championships in Tullamore. This was a day more suited to going to the beach rather than pushing yourself to the maximum, as temperatures soared to almost 30 degrees. Pride of place on the day must go to Liam Townsend who won a fantastic bronze medal in the U.17 triple jump with a new personal best jump of 11.51metres. Very well done, Liam. To put together the big performance when the pressure is on is very difficult to do and you did it. Also in action was Conor McCrossan who ran a very strong race in the U.16 250m hurdles to place 6th in a time of 37.53 seconds. Conor is new to the longer hurdles event and will be a man to watch next year. Sinead Dowling was next to compete and she ran a brave race to place 6th in her U.16 200m heat. Sinead can finally take her long deserved summer break and hopefully return to training in September injury free. Last to run was, soon-to-be Irish Schools International, David Keogh in the U.17 800m and what a race this turned out to be!! There were 4 Irish internationals (including David) in the race and the race proved to be a cracker. David placed 6th in the very close race with a new personal best time of 2:02.53. David's best performance again came on the big day, proving he has the credentials to go very far in this sport. Next week with the schools international, we are hopeful of David edging ever closer to that magical 2 minute mark. Well done to all the athletes on a great weekend for Lucan.

On Sun 10th July, a group of Lucan's senior athletes ran the Irish Runner 5 Mile Challenge road race in the Phoenix Park. It was an unbelievably warm day but thankfully there was a 10am race start, before the real heat of the day kicked in. Lucan athletes running on the day were Bernie Stapleton (40:47), Maria Byrne (46:38), Noelle Dunne (47:16), Ann McGee (47:30) and Josie Dignam (57:06). Well done to all.

On Sat 9th July, six of Lucan's young athletes competed on Day One of the National Juvenile T&F Championships in Tullamore. Liam Townsend was the busiest of the athletes, competing in the U.17 long jump and 400m. Liam jumped 5.50metres to place 7th in the long jump, slightly less than he had hoped for but nevertheless good jumping. Liam then followed that up with a 56.04 400m to place 3rd in his heat and qualify automatically for the final. Liam then blazed a 55.60 to place 7th in the final of the 400m. Excellent performances from Liam and he will continue tomorrow with the triple jump. Early in the day, Orla O'Farrell (3.64m) and Michaela Kinsella (3.38m) competed in the U.14 long jump and although neither made the top 8, this experience will definitely help them next year. Conor McCrossan had some technical difficulties in the U.15 100m hurdles and had to pull up short in his race. Unfortunate circumstances but Conor will be back tomorrow in the 250m hurdles. Next to go were our two sprint specialists, Elaine Pardy and Sinead Dowling. Elaine ran a very impressive U.14 80m heat winning in a time of 10.81 from a Leevale (Cork) girl. They both qualified automatically for the final. In the final, Elaine ran a great race and just came up short of a medal by 13 hundredths of a second, placing a magnificent 5th in 10.86 seconds. Elaine can take great heart from the fact that the Leevale girl won a bronze medal and Elaine now knows she can compete with the best in the country. Sinead Dowling placed 4th in her heat of the U.16 100m, clocking 13.41 to qualify for the final later in the day. In the final, Sinead improved again to 13.38 and an excellent 8th place. Sinead has been nursing a knee injury for much of the last 8 weeks and hopefully now she can get her injury sorted and healed up for next year. Sinead is down to compete in the 200m tomorrow but she may be forced to withdraw because of the knee problem.

On Fri 8th July, four Lucan athletes competed at the Dublin Graded T&F Meet in Irishtown Stadium, Ringsend. First up was Ciaran Hopper who got the evening off to a great start for Lucan when he slashed two tenths of a second off his previous best time to record a new personal best of 12.55 seconds in the 100m, good for 3rd in the section 'C' 100m. Great stuff Ciaran. Next up was Hilary McGee and she ran very aggressively in the section 'A' 800m, going through 400m in 69 sec or so. Hilary hung on and came across the line in 8th place in the 2:28.70, less than a second outside her lifetime best set earlier this season. With some more controlled running over the first half of the race, Hilary will surely run a lot faster before the season is out. Colm O'Connor was next onto the line in the section 'C' 800m and this has to be the best race Colm has ever run. Colm made his intentions clear from the start, slotting into third position as the race approached 200m gone. Colm tracked the leaders through the bell in approx 61/62 seconds, and moved up onto the leaders with 100m to go. Only in the final few yards was Colm passed for the 3rd spot and Colm held strong to the line recording a new personal best time of 2:09.33. Fantastic Colm, Lucan athlete of the Meet without question. Last to go on the night was Conor McGee in the section 'A' 5000m. Conor ran strongly for the first half of the race, leading a lap or two, but faded over the second half of the race. Conor placed 5th in the end clocking 15:16.52. Well done everyone on the night. Full Results.


On Wed 6th July, Jim Dwyer ran in the Dublin City Council-Sponsored BHAA 5km road race in Ringsend, one day after recording a season's best at the Na Fianna Bob Heffernan 5km road race. The race finished on the new track in Irishtown and this time Jim clocked 23mins 16 seconds. Well done Jim.

On Tue 5th July, Lucan had 14 athletes running in the Bob Heffernan 5km road race in Enfield, and a number of these recorded season's bests for the 5km distance. Patrick Martin was first junior man home overall in the race. Tommy Buggle was first Lucan athlete on the night with a massive new personal best time of 17:11. That is excellent running and Tommy has clearly moved up to a whole new level with this kind of performance. Next to finish was Patrick in a very impressive 19:09, Eithne Reid (21:13), Martina Cusack (21:24), Derval McCarthy (22:01), Freda Comiskey (22:20), Eileen (22:22), Jim Dwyer (22:52), Bernie Stapleton (23:04), Emer McCarthy (23:13), Emer O'Sullivan (23:15), Maisie McGlone (23:16), Lorraine Heffernan (23:50) and back in action after injury, Sinead Murphy (27:33). Full Results.

On Sun 3rd July, Ciaran Hopper competed at the National Junior Championships in Cork I.T. The day was pretty wild with strong winds and some rain but this didn't put Ciaran off his gameplan -- the difficult combination of 200m and 400m. Ciaran first competed in the 400m and, in the biggest competition of his athletics career to date, he showed that he performs well on the big day with a massive new personal best time of 55.25. This time place Ciaran 4th in his heat and he was very unfortunate not to qualify for the final as one of the fastest non-automatic qualifiers. Ciaran then ran in the 200m and ran a strong race, clocking 25.18, but with the 400m in his legs, a place in the final was always going to be difficult. Ciaran will be in the same age-group next year so we are looking forward already to next year! Great running Ciaran.

On Fri 1st/Sat 2nd/Sun 3rd July, Lucan athletes won 8 medals at the Dublin Community Games T&F finals in Santry. Our gold medals came from Juliette Sejan (U.10 80m), Stuart Roche (U.12 60m Hurdles) and Elaine Pardy (U.14 100m). We had some fine silver medal performances from Liam Townsend (U.16 100m), Sinead Dowling -- still nursing a knee injury -- (U.16 100m), Orla O'Farrell (U.14 long jump) with a great leap and a new personal best of 3.96metres, and our U.14 4*100m relay team of Michaela Kinsella, Aisling Cleary, Nicola Armstrong and Elaine Pardy. Sean Cleary (U.10 80m) won our sole bronze medal. We also had some fantastic performances throughout the weekend from James Carroll, 4th in the U.12 100m final, having qualified through quarter finals and semifinals, Aisling Cleary placed 5th in the U.14 hurdles final with Michaela Kinsella running well in the heats. Eamonn Fahy ran very well in placing 6th in the U.16 100m final, and he is young enough to compete next year in the same age-group and hopefully challenge for the win then. Aisling O'Farrell was a finalist in the U.16 100m, Niamh Power was 6th in the heat of the U.10 500m, Lisa Heery ran very well in her heat of the U.12 100m, Niamh Keogh also did well in her U.12 80m heat, and Liam Byrne showed great reserves of stamina in placing 6th in his heat of the U.12 600m. Our gold medallists above and our U.14 girls 4*100m relay team have now qualified to represent Dublin at the National Community Games Finals in Mosney at the end of the summer. Well done to all on a great weekend of competition.

On Fri 1st July, Fintan McGee ran the 800m at the European Athletics Permit Meet in Namur, Belgium. Fintan posted his fastest time of the season again, this time clocking 1:54.49 in placing 6th in the race. Well done Fintan.

On Thur 30th June, the Lucan Open Sports took place with children coming from as far away as Boyne A.C. The dark clouds loomed overhead but the weather held off until 9pm when the final relay events were being run on the track. Detailed report and results to follow soon. Watch this space.

On Wed 29th June, one good performance followed another for the four Lucan Harrier athletes competing at the Dublin Graded Meet in Santry. First into the blocks was Laurence Butler who ran a 12.67 100m to place 3rd in section 'C'. Laurence followed this up later in the evening with a very impressive 54.88 win in the 400m section 'C'. This was Laurence's first ever track competiton so well done to him on two very good performances. Next to compete was Colm O'Connor and he ran a stormer finishing 5th in the section 'C' mile in a time of 4:55.26, a new personal best. Conor McGee then ran the section 'A' mile and ran a great last 200m to win the race in 4:20.57. Last to run on the night was Ciaran Hopper and he proved himself to be Mr Consistent placing 2nd in his section 'C' 400m race. His time of 56.14 was just 14 hundredths outside his only other outing at the 400m. Well done lads.

On Tue 28th June, on a wet but otherwise mild and humid night, the club 3 miles road Championships were won by Eithne Reid and Jim Dwyer. Eithne posted a very impressive time of 20:16 on the canal loop with Martina Cusack (20:31) in hot pursuit. Third home was Freda Comiskey (21:32) who may have had a battle on her hands had Derval McCarthy not taken a wrong turn while in third place. Fourth to finish was Eileen O'Brien in 21:45 with Bernie Stapleton (22:06) next, followed by Emer McCarthy (22:28), Lorraine Heffernan (23:19) and Sinead Murphy (26:19). Jim Dwyer was the only male athlete racing on the night and he posted a time of 21:16 to take the men's title for 2005. Well done to all.

On Sun 26th June, Lucan's relay teams earned two medals at the Dublin Juvenile Relay Championships in Santry. Our boys U.13 team of James Carroll, David McCormack, Jonathon O'Donnell and Stuart Roche stormed to a silver medal in their 4*100m event. Not to be outdone, our girls U.14 team of Nicola Armstrong, Aisling Cleary, Michaela Kinsella and Elaine Pardy struck silver in their 4*100m final. Well done to everyone.

On Sat 25th June, David Keogh and Liam Townsend competed for the Leinster Schools Team at the Tailteann Games in Tullamore. David placed a magnificent 2nd in the 800m and everyone in the club is now keeping their fingers crossed that David will now be selected to represent the Irish Schools Team at the Upcoming Schools International. Liam was slightly disappointed with his long jump of 5.55metres but this very talented athlete amazingly will have another shot next year in this age-group.

On Sat 25th June, brothers Conor and Fintan McGee competed at the British Milers Club Meet in Solihull, Birmingham. Fintan competed in the section 'E' 800m and finished in 6th position with another good run in a time of 1:55.49, a little over half a second outside his season's best. Conor placed 7th in the section 'B' 5000m with a new personal best time of 14:38.43. Well done lads. Full Results.

On Sat 25th June, Tommy Buggle and Jim Dwyer ran in the Dunshaughlin 10k road race on a beautiful June evening. Tommy had another very good run, posting a time of 36:20 for 28th position overall. Jim ran a steady 47:59. Well done to both athletes.

On Tue 21st June, Tommy Buggle had a very good run in the E.S.B. Sponsored BHAA beach race. Tommy covered the 5kms on the beach in a very commendable 18:59 and came home in 26th position overall out of a total of over 250 competitors. Well done Tommy. Full Results.

On Tue June 21st, the Sports Education Program Presentation from the National Coaching and Training Centre (NCTC) in conjunction with Lucozade took place in the clubhouse. J.P. Dixon, a sports scientist from the N.C.T.C., presented the talk. The categories we chose were ‘get fit for sport’ and ‘planning for success’. This talk, held in the new clubhouse, was very well received by the attending senior club members and invited juvenile members. Thanks to everyone who contributed to making the evening such a success, especially co-ordinator Alison Lappin from the N.C.T.C. and J.P. Dixon.

On Sun 19th June, Hilary McGee ran a new personal best 800m at the Munster Senior Championships held in the sun-drenched Cork I.T. Guesting in the close run race, Hilary placed 5th in a time of 2:27.97, with the winner posting 2:24. Great running Hilary. Two p.b.'s ( one 800m and one 1500m) so far this season and still counting!

On Wed 15th June, Colm O'Connor and Conor McGee both competed at the Dublin Graded Meet in Santry. First up was Colm who equalled his lifetime best of 4:34 with a very strong run in the Grade 'C' 1500m. Colm looked especially strong down the home stretch so hopefully Colm will be re-writing his p.b.'s very soon. Conor placed 3rd in the Grade 'A' 1500m in a time of 4:02.23, his best 1500m time of the season so far. Well done guys. Full Results.

On Sat 11th June, Fintan McGee ran another season's best 800m at the British Miler's Club Meet in Watford. Fintan's fitness seems to be improving rapidly of late and this time he recorded a time of 1:54.91 to place 7th in the 'E' heat of the 800m. That's top class running by any standards. Well done Fintan. Full Results.

On the weekend of Fri 10th/Sat 11th and Sun 12th June, Lucan's juvenile athletes competing at the Dublin Championships collected a staggering 14 medals. The total haul for the day comprised 5 gold medals, 4 silver medals and 4 bronze medals. Taking a few hours off from studying for his junior certificate, Liam Townsend took double gold (U.17 long jump (5.62m) and triple jump). Liam also finished just outside the medals (4th position in 56.1sec(H)) in the 400m. Leinster Schools U.15 80m Hurdles Champion Conor McCrossan added to his growing reputation and string of titles with a win in the U.16 80m Hurdles (14.8sec(H)) at these Championships. Conor followed this win up later in the weekend with a silver medal in the 250m Hurdles, his first ever attempt at the longer hurdles event. Stuart Roche took a gold in the U.12 60m hurdles (10.4sec(H)) and a bronze in the 80m (11.2sec(H)). Elaine Pardy impressively won the U.14 100m (13.2sec(H)). New club member Eamonn Fahy jumped extremely well to place 2nd in the U.15 triple jump (10.91m) and showed his potential by adding a silver medal in the 100m (11.9sec(H)). On the Friday evening, David Keogh finished a very close 2nd in the U.17 800m (2:06.7), all the more impressive considering he spent 6 hours in junior certificate exams earlier in the day. Sinead Dowling took a silver medal in the U.16 100m (12.6sec(H)) with another fine performance, and was also a close 4th in the 200m (27.8sec(H)). Niamh de Paor took home a bronze medal in the U.10 long jump (2.80m), as did Juliette Sejan in the U.11 60m (12.5sec(H)) and Orla O'Farrell in the U.14 long jump (3.88m). Other athletes to impress were Bebhinn Ni Chiosain with a new personal best 2:49 in the U.14 800m, Ailbhe Breen who placed 5th in a very tough heat of the U.14 80m, Holly Kinsella who finished 5th in the U.14 shot putt and Aisling Cleary in the long jump. Aisling has had a long summer of schools competitions and will definitely be back in the medals very soon.


On Mon 6th June, new club member Martina Cusack led the way for Lucan athletes at the Evening Herald Women's Mini Marathon in Dublin. Martina is very new to running and had a fantastic run finishing inside 45 mins. Next home was Aine Gallagher just inside 46 mins, and Myra Nolan in 48 mins. More complete results soon.

On Sun 5th June, Hilary McGee won the Leinster Senior 800m title in Tullamore. Hilary, last year's bronze medallist at these championships, won the gold medal by leading the race from gun to tape. Hilary posted a new season's best time of 2:29.02, just fractions of a second outside her lifetime best. Great running Hilary. Full Results.

On Sat 4th June, Sinead Dowling and Conor McCrossan competed at the Irish Schools Track and Field Championships in Tullamore. Sinead placed a very close 5th in her U.15 100m final (13.3sec(H)) run into a stiff headwind. A photo decided the medals in that race. Sinead has come on in leaps an bounds this year and she should be very proud of this result. Conor McCrossan placd 5th in his U.15 80m Hurdles final (12.70sec), again in blustery conditions. Conor is still very lightly trained and will just get better and better with some more experience. Congratulations to both athletes on their performances.

On Sat 4th June, Conor McGee finished in 5th place at the Irish Milers Club 'B' 1500m race in Tullamore. Conor posted a season's best time of 4:02.7 on a blustery day and hopes to bring that time down further as the season progresses. Full Results.

On Wed 1st June, Ciaran Hopper, David Keogh, Conor McGee and Colm O'Connor competed at the Dublin Graded Meet on a slightly breezy night in Santry. First up was Conor in the Grade 'A' 5000m. Conor was well placed in the opening 6 laps but faded towards the end to record a time of 15:21.16 in 8th place. Next to compete was Ciaran Hopper who looked very good in recording a time of 12.5 seconds to place second in the Grade 'C' 10m into a significant headwind. With a little more luck with the weather, Ciaran should soon crack the 12 seconds by a significant margin. Colm O'Connor was the next man to toe the line and he recorded negative splits (-- second half of race faster than first half --) to post a time of 2:13.66 to place 6th in the 'C' 800m. Colm is just getting over a course of antibiotics and did not approach the race with his usual confidence. With a little more confidence and race sharpness Colm should definitely improve on his best of 2:07 set two years ago. Last of the Lucan athletes to run on the night was David Keogh. David ran his usual assured race and ran a fine 2:04.42 to come in 4th in his section of the 'B' 800m. Well done to all.

On Sat 28th May, a number of Lucan athletes won prizes at the Intel-Sponsored BHAA 5 mile road race in Leixlip. Tommy Buggle (29:51), Brian Brunton (30:37) and John O’Leary (30:51) all had very strong runs. Behind them, Eileen O’Brien (36:36) placed 2nd in her category and her company team also placed 2nd. Liz Arkins (40:14) returned to her first competition in two years with a 2nd place in her category. And Jim Dwyer’s (37:35) company team also took 2nd prize in their category with Lorraine Keane running very well for the host company in 42:26. Well done to all. Full Results.

On Sat 28th May, new club member Laurence ‘Butsy’ Butler placed an astounding 6th at the Calcutta 10km Run in the Phoenix Park. Laurence’s time of 36:57 was approximately 2 and a half minutes faster than his debut outing at the distance only 6 weeks or so ago. Excellent running Laurence.

On Fri 27th May, Hilary McGee ran a new personal best of 5:13.3 to win the Senior Women's section of the Cork County League 1500m in Cork I.T. Well done Hilary.
On Wed 25th May, Elaine Pardy had a great win in her section of the U.13 80m at the Cumann na mBunScoil (Dublin Primary Schools) in Santry. Great running Elaine. More results to follow next week.

On Sun 22nd May, Hilary McGee ran as a guest and finished in 5th place in the 800m at the Cork County Championships at the Mardyke. Hilary sliced over 4 seconds off her time from the previous week to record a time of 2:30:99. She is looking like she has a personal best performance in her legs in the coming weeks. Well done Hilary.

On Sat 21st May, David Keogh finished a very brave 3rd in the U.17 800m at the Leinster Schools Track and Field Championships in Morton Stadium, Santry. This race had the top 3 from David's age-group at the National Indoor Championships earlier in the year so the competition promised to be fierce. We were not disappointed as the race lived up to its billing. David took the lead and led through the bell. The national indoor champion passed David going down the back stretch. Coming into the final 200m, the national indoor bronze medallist passed David. With 100m to go, there was very little to tell between the athletes with David in 3rd. At this point David was under intense pressure to hold down 3rd place with the national indoor silver medallist making a challenge and breathing down his neck. David found another gear and powered to the line, almost getting up for 2nd place, and in the process running a new personal best time of 2 mins 3 seconds. This was a very courageous run from David in a very big championship race. Unfortunately for David, since this is an event run in lanes, only 2 athletes qualify from each province for the All-Ireland Schools Championships. This is a shame because it appears that this year the best 3 or 4 athletes in this event are all in Leinster. Yet only two of these get to compete at the All-ireland Schools. Even so, with this run David has been selected to represent the Leinster Schools team at the Tailteann Games in June. Fantastic running David!! Full Results.


On Sat 21st May, Fintan and Conor McGee competed in Manchester at the British Miler's Club Track Meet. Fintan took almost a whole 3 seconds off his time for his previous outing at the distance with a season's best 1:56:83 for 6th in his heat of the 800m. Conor placed 10th in his heat of the 1500m with a time of 4:03:56, his first track race of the season. Well done to both. Full Results.

On Sat 21st May, Eithne Reid, Eileen O'Brien and Jim Dwyer all represented the club at the Kilcock 5k road race. Eithne was first Lucan athlete to finish, dipping under the 22mins with a time of 21:57. Eileen O'Brien was close behind in a time of 22:23. Jim Dwyer was also happy with his run finishing in a time of 25:07. Well done to all.

On Fri 20th May, Jim Dwyer and Colm O'Connor both competed at the BHAA track meet in Ringsend. Colm won his section of the 1500m very convincingly, putting in a spurt with 700m to go which no-one could match. Jim Dwyer competed in both the 800m and 1500m and helped his company (Eagle Star) to 2nd place in their section of the team event. Well done to both Lucan athletes on their performances.

On Wed 18th May, Conor McCrossan, Liam Townsend and Sinead Dowling collected the complete set of medals at the Leinster Schools Track and Field Championships in Morton Stadium Santry. Conor added the U.15 80m Hurdles Leinster Schools title to the U.14 title he won last year. In doing so, Conor beat the Belvedere student who had beaten him in the West Leinster Schools, just like last year. History did not repeat itself for Sinead Dowling but it was close as Sinead won a silver medal (100m) and a bronze medal (200m) in the U.15 age-category. Sinead won the U.14 100m title last year but having run in the 200m first here, coming back to win the 100m was always going to be difficult. It took a new record to beat all-rounder Liam Townsend who jumped a fine 5.87 metres to place second place in the U.16 long jump. Conor, Liam and Sinead have really done themselves proud with these performances. Conor and Sinead will now go on to compete at the All-Ireland Schools on Sat 4th June, Conor in the 80m Hurdles and Sinead in the 100m. Full Results.

On Wed 18th May, Ciaran Hopper and David Keogh both competed in the Grade 'C' 400m at the Dublin Senior Graded Leagues in Morton Stadium Santry. Both lads acquitted themselves admirably with Ciaran running 56.00 to place second in his heat, while David ran 56.02 to place third in his heat. Well done lads.

On Wed 18th May, Aine Gallagher led the way again as Lucan athletes ran in the Meet and Train 4 mile road race in the Phoenix Park. Aine, struggling to contain injuries lately, looked like she is back to full strength when she ran to 6th place. Eileen O'Brien with Bernie Stapleton and Maisie McGlone completed a strong showing for the top Lucan team. More complete results next week.

On Sun 15th May, Lucan seemed to be one of the most successful teams at the Sportsworld 5 Mile Classic Race in Walkinstown. Among approximately 900 entrants in the race, the 7 particpants from Lucan brought home 3 indvidual prizes plus a team prize. Eileen O'Brien (36:58) and Ann McGee (45:02) took home second place in their individual categories and John O'Leary brought home third place in his category with an eye-catching time of 31:22. John is clearly coming back into fitness very quickly after an injury lay-off. Bernie Stapleton (39:08), Eileen and Ann combined to finish 3rd team in the Veteran's category. Noelle Dunne had a great run with a time of 45:08 and Eileen Ni Chonchuir and Josie Duignam finished side by side as always. Well done to all of our athletes on the day.

On Sat 14th May, Hilary McGee ran the 800m at the Irish Miler's Club in Irishtown Stadium, Ringsend. After a very fast first lap, Hilary hung on to record a time of 2:35 in the blustery conditions. Hilary will compete next at the Cork County Championships next weekend where she will hopefully get some more luck with the weather conditions. Well done Hilary. Full Results.

On Fri 13th May, Friday the 13th was not even a little unlucky for Lucan's juvenile athletes who were all outstanding when competing at the second evening of the Dublin Juvenile Leagues in Morton Stadium, Santry. Pride of place on the evening must go to Elaine Pardy who had a very clear and commanding win in the U.14 sprint. Orla O'Farrell and Aisling O'Farrell did extremely well finishing in 2nd and 3rd in the U.14 long jump respectively. Nicola Armstrong won her heat of the U.13 sprint, and ran very strongly in the final. Aisling Cleary was 3rd in her heat of the U.14 sprints, unlucky not to go through to the final with only the first two from each heat in this age-group qualifying. Bebhinn Ni Chiosain did herself proud when she battled amongst the leaders in the U.14 1200m before finishing a close 4th in the end. Micheala Kinsella finished an excellent 5th in the shot putt, Liam Byrne was just outside the top 6 in the U.11 600m as was Jonathon O'Donnell in the U.13 600m. Ailbhe Breen finished 3rd in her heat of the U.14 sprint. Alayna Renehan finished 3rd in her qualifying heat of the U.15 sprint and had a good run in the final. I believe this is Alayna's first competition for Lucan and she did extremely well against some very experienced opposition. Chloe competed very well in the long jump, Juliette Sejan gave it her all in the 600m and new signing Dara had a great first run in a Lucan vest in the 600m.
On Wed 11th May, 17 year old Ciaran Hopper placed an excellent 4th in the Grade 'C' 200m at the Dublin Graded Meet in Morton Stadium, Santry. This is a great result from Ciaran as he is very new to the sport. We are delighted to see him doing so well and we are sure there is a lot more to come from him in the future.

On Sun 8th May, Lucan Harriers hosted the 2nd race in the Women's Meet and Train build-up Race Series for the mini marathon. The distance this time was 3 miles and Lucan's top finisher was Eithne Reid with Eileen O'Brien close behind. Other Lucan athletes to impress were Bernie Stapleton, Amber Nugent and Maisie McGlone. Well done to all. Next race in the series is a 4 mile road race on Wed May 18 at 7:30pm in the Phoenix Park. This is a very good series for anyone interested in doing the mini marathon. Registration at Donore Harriers Sports Centre in Chapelizod (opp the Chapelizod Gate).

Also on Sun 8th May, brothers Toirdealbhach and Ciaran Hopper competed at the Cushinstown Open Sports. 17 year old Ciaran finished in a very impressive 4th position in the senior men's 100m. This is Ciaran's first season in competitive athletics and we are very pleased with the progress he is making. Younger brother Toirdealbhach finished in an excellent 5th position in the U.13 80m. Well done to both.

On Sat 7th May, Eileen O'Brien was 1st in her category with a time of 43:32 in the Government-Services Sponsored BHAA 6 mile road race in Dunboyne. Eithne Reid had a good run, posting a time of 45:16. Amongst the men, John O'Leary returned to the competitive fray with a good run (38:03), with Alan Flynn continuing to improve in leaps and bounds next home (42:39), followed by Jim Dwyer (44:43). Full Results.

On Fri 6th May, many of Lucan's juvenile athletes were competing at the first evening of the Dublin Juvenile Leagues in Morton Stadium, Santry. The best results came from Niamh de Paor who finished 5th U.10 Ball throw, Juliette Sejan 4th in the U.11 Long Jump, Liam Byrne 5th in the U.11 Long Jump, Jonathon O'Donnell 6th in the U.13 80m and Ailbhe Breen 6th in the U.14 200m. Well done to all our young athletes who competed on the day. The series continues for the next three Friday evenings.

On Wed 4th May, Hilary McGee finished 2nd in a road mile race in Ballinahassig, County Cork. Hilary's time of 5:43 was another encouraging run from Hilary in her adopted county!! Well done Hilary.

On Wed 4th May, Conor McGee finished in 2nd place (15:18) and Fintan McGee (15:57) in 8th place in the Castlethorn Construction and Greenogue Estates Tom Byrne Memorial 5km Road Race and Fun Run in Lucan. Eileen O'Brien (22:39) won the Tom Byrne Trophy for first local female athlete in the race, with Conor taking the men's trophy. The open men's race turned into a very exciting finish with 3 athletes reaching the track together. With 200m to go David Byrne (Liffey Valley A.C.) led with Conor McGee and Mark Ryan (living locally but running for Rathfarnham/W.S.A.F. A.C.) in tow. Entering the home straight, Byrne put the race beyone any doubt when he unleashed a monster finishing kick which no one could match. Byrne crossed the line a deserving winner in 15:15 from Conor (15:18) and Ryan (15:20) with Colin Roberts (another man living locally but running with Dundrum South Dublin A.C.) very close in 4th (15:22). Eimear Martin (Sportsworld A.C.) was an impressive winner of the open women's race finishing a clear winner in 17:17 from Mary Hanley (Na Fianna A.C.) in 17:57 and Grace Kennedy (Donore A.C.) in 18:30. Freda Comiskey (23:35), Amber Nugent (24:03), Maisie McGlone (24:14), Pamela Austin (26:14), Evelyn McMahon (29:05) and Bernie Doyle (30:15) all ran for Lucan on the night. Well done to everyone. Full Results.

Thank you to everyone who participated in making the Tom Byrne 5km night such a success: the Byrne family, our main sponsor Castlethorn Construction and Greenogue Estates, our other sponsors (Cleary Graphic Design, Fine Print, Gill's Bakery, Lucozade Sport, Deep Riverrock), the committee and athletes of Lucan Harriers, An Garda Siochana, the County Council, Civil Defence, John Dobbs and Lucan Community College, the A.A.I. and Dublin County Board officials, everyone who passed on flyers/emails about the event, all the athletes who took part, and all volunteers and supporters on the night. If we have neglected to mention anyone here, it was definitely not intended -- please let us know so we can acknowledge everyone. Thanks again.

On Tue 3rd May, David Keogh put in another top quality performance to win the U.17 800m title at the East Leinster Schools Championships. In a very crowded race, and on a very wet day, David used all his experience to outwit and outrun the opposition. David followed this up with a bronze medal performance in the U.17 400m hurdles. This was a great run considering that David has done no practice over hurdles whatsoever!! Makes you sick, doesn't it??!! David will now run in the Leinster Schools Championships on Saturday the 21st of May in Morton Stadium, Santry. Well done David.

On Sat 30th Apr, Lucan athletes were out in force at the RTE-sponsored BHAA 5 mile road race in Donnybrook. Brian Brunton is finding the marathon training from the past few years now kicking in over the shorter distances. He finished the course in a season's best 31:59. Next home for Lucan were Eileen O'Brien (36:16), Jim Dwyer (37:00) and Bernie Staplton (38:32). Well done to all. Full Results.

On Thur 28th Apr, Sinead Dowling completed the second part of a sensational sprint double in winning the U.15 100m title at the West Leinster Schools in Morton Stadium, Santry. This double victory -- Sinead won the 200m earlier in the week -- is testament to the extremely hard work that Sinead has put in over the winter months, and the marvellous support which her family have given her (driving her to Santry for training sessions). Fantastic running Sinead!

On Tue 26th Apr, Sinead Dowling produced a outstanding run to win the U.15 200m title at the West Leinster Schools Championships in Morton Stadium, Santry. Sinead was last year's U.14 Leinster Schools Champion in the 80m and this run is further evidence of her added strength this year. Her favoured event, the 100m, will be run on Thursday, along with the relay in which Aisling O'Farrell also takes part. Well done Sinead and best of luck to all athletes on Thur.


On Tue 26th Apr, Conor McCrossan finished in 2nd place at the West Leinster Schools U.15 80m Hurdles Championships in Morton Stadium, Santry. Conor, last year's U.14 Leinster Schools Champion in the hurdles, finished a very close second in this race. He is familiar with his opposition as well, since Conor was beaten by the same person at the West Leinster Schools last year, only to bounce back and reverse the positions on the big day at the Leinster Schools Championships. Conor will play a further part in the West Leinster Schools on Thur when he runs in the relay and the 1500m!! What a combination!

On Tue 26th Apr, Liam Townsend defied all the rules when he won several medals at the West Leinster Schools Championships in Morton Stadium, Santry. Liam showed enormous reserves of speed, stamina and just plain guts when he took silver in the U.16 long jump and 200m, bronze in the 4*300m. Liam topped this of with a very impressive 7th place in the U.17 400m Hurdle against guys a year older. Liam is not finished yet though!! He is due to compete in the U.17 triple jump on Thursday. Very well done Liam. You might even win the College of Science Trophy (for best school) all by yourself!

On Tue 26th Apr, Sean Fleury (along with the afore-mentioned Liam Townsend) was a part of the bronze medal winning U.16 4*300m relay team from Castleknock College. It is a delight to see Sean back to his best after a traffic accident last year. Patrick Martin finished a very commendable 7th in the very competitive U.17 1500m. Aisling O'Farrell finished in 6th position in the U.15 long jump with a jump of 4 metres 8 centimetres. Well done to all of our athletes on doing so well.

On Sun 24th Apr, Conor McGee produced a very good run to finish in 4th position in the National 10km Road Championships held in Cappamore, County Limerick. Well done Conor. Full Results.

On Wed 20th Apr, the opening night of Dublin Graded Track Meets took place on a cold night in Morton Stadium, Santry. Fintan McGee finished in 2nd place in the Grade 'A' 800m with a time of 1:59:5. This is Fintan's first competitive track outing in 2 years and it is good to see him back in action. David Keogh, who turned 16 on the day of the race, had a very good run in the Men's 'B' section 800m with a time of 2:06:0 for 7th place.

On Tue 19th Apr, Colm O'Connor ran well in the last ALSAA Winter League event of the year. Having gone through the opening 800m in an agressive 2:20, Colm hung on grimly to clock a time of 4:58 in the mile event. Well done Colm.

On Sun 17th Apr in Raheny, Aine Gallagher showed that her recent injury setback was no setback at all when she finished in 6th position in the opening race of the Meet and Train road series. Other good runs came from Bernie Stapleton in 22nd and Eileen O'Brien in 24th position. Well done to all.

On Sun 17th Apr, Hilary McGee competed at the Leevale Open Sports at the Mardyke in Cork City. Hilary ran the 1500m in a time of 5:23, an encouraging run for her season's track debut.

On Sat 16th Apr, the Kepak-Sponsored Dublin Business Houses 8 mile road race took place in Clonee. Eithne Reid finished in 3rd place in her category covering the course in the very good time of 59:51. Brian Brunton is finding his form again and ran an encouraging 51:23. Jim Dwyer ran a whopping 10 mins faster than last year, finishing this time in 59:27. Well done everyone. Full Results.

On Sat 9th Apr, Lucan Harriers were well represented at the BUPA Ireland 10Km road race in the Phoenix Pk. Jim Dwyer was first Lucan athlete home in a time of 47:01. Next to finish was Bernie Stapleton in 49:18, Lorraine Heffernan in 50:35 and Myra Nolan in 52:48. Well done to all.

On Sun 3rd Apr, the Lucan Men’s Senior team competed at the National Senior Road Relays on Sunday in Raheny. The course was a road loop slightly over one mile long. The four runner ran various distances with the lead-off runner running 2 laps of the course, next runner ran a lap, the next runner ran 3 laps and the fourth (anchor man) runner ran 2 laps. The team comprising Fintan McGee (2 laps), Don Whelan (1 lap), Conor McGee (3 laps) and Colm O’Connor (2 laps) overall finished down the field in the race. Unofficial times for the athletes were: Fintan 10:11, Don 5:48, Conor 14:56, Colm 11:30. The overall result was encouraging in that the team time improved substantially on the last time the team ran in this race in 2003. Lucan Harriers are already thinking about working on improving this team for next year.

On Sat 2nd Apr at the National Juvenile Indoor Championships in Nenagh, Lucan Harriers had two young athletes competing -- Sinead Dowling and David Keogh. Sinead was drawn in the notoriously tight lane 2 in her heat of the U16 200m. Sinead gave it her best and was just run out of a qualifying position in the end missing out on a place in the final. This was a very brave effort from Sinead especially considering the week she has had, and her time of 28:36 is all the more impressive from lane 2. Sinead should really gain from working on her 200m this year as she will now drop down in distance for outdoors and sharpen up for her stronger event, the 100m. Rivals, be warned!!

In the U17 800m, David Keogh was given the very difficult task of running heats and final within two hours of one another. David qualified automatically for the final with a 3rd place in his heat in a time of 2:08:55. The final was a very bruising affair and David tried several times to gain a better position. David finished in 8th position in the final in a time of 2:09:43 but there was little to tell between all the athletes. It seems that the energy expended early in the race to gain better position took that little bit that he needed out of David for later in the race. David was disappointed with the result but he gave it everything as always. Well done to both Sinead and David on some good performances. Both their futures in athletics are very bright indeed. Full Results.

On Sun 27th Mar, at the Brooks' Dunboyne 4 mile road race, Conor McGee finished in 7th position amongst the senior men in a time of 19:34. Good to see Fintan McGee (22:45) back in the Lucan vest. Jim Dwyer (28:11 ) was next Lucan man to finish. Amongst the women, Bernie Stapleton (31:15) and Ann McGee (33:31) both put in steady runs. Full Results.
On Saturday 19th Mar and Sunday 20th Mar, Lucan Harriers had some outstanding individual results at the National Juvenile Indoor Championships in Nenagh. In her first ever individual national championship, Elaine Pardy just missed out on a bronze medal in finishing in an excellent 5th position in the U14 60m, only 5 hundredths of a second from a medal. Maeve Breen finished in 7th position in the shot putt with a throw of 7.66 metres and Aisling Cleary jumped very close to her personal best with a good performance in the U14 long jump with 3.71metres. The following day, Sunday, Conor McCrossan finished in a very commendable 7th place in the U.16 60m Hurdles in 9.79 seconds. All of these performances are the best these athletes have ever done in a National Championships and we are delighted to see the progress they are making year on year. We hope to see these young athletes back challenging again at the Juvenile Outdoor National Championships on the weekend of July 9th and 10th. Full Results.

On Saturday 19th Mar, the NUI Maynooth BHAA cross country races took place on a mild sunny day in the picturesque college grounds of NUI Maynooth. Hilary McGee ran a great race to finish in 9th position in the women's 2 miles+ race. Brian Brunton and Jim Dwyer both ran solidly amongst a men’s field of some 150 athletes in the men's 4 miles+ race. Full results.

On Thur 17th March, Lucan Harriers took part in the Lucan St Patrick's Day Parade. Thank you to all club members who attended and, in doing so, helped raise the profile of the club.

On Saturday 12th Mar, the NCF-AIB Sponsored BHAA cross country races took place in Swords. Amongst a men's field of almost 150 athletes, Tommy Buggle had an outstanding run in 25th position in a time of 28:30. Brian Brunton had a good run (32:07) while Jim Dwyer (36:07), fresh off his half-marathon in Barcelona the previous week, ran a solid race further down the field. Full results.

On Sun 6th Mar, Conor McGee finished in an excellent 7th position in the National Senior Interclubs 4km (Short Course) x-c Championships in Spawell, Templeogue. Conor was in the top group early on in the race and when the race split open after about 1500m, the runners up front were all running in single file. At this point, Conor moved into 5th on his own. Inside the last mile, Conor was making an impression on Paul McNamara in 4th position but at the same time was also reeled in by the chase pack. In the end, the places were very closely contested. This result hopefully will set Conor up for a good track season. Well done Conor. Full Results.
Compliments to Rathfarnham and the AAI on a very well organised event and a very well presented (and freshly mown) course.

On the weekend of Sun 6th Mar, a contingent of some fifteen athletes from Lucan travelled to Spain to run the Barcelona Half-Marathon on the Sunday. Aine Gallagher finished a very impressive 17th woman overall in a time of 1:37. Eileen O'Brien was 2nd in her age-category in a time of 1:44 while in the same category, Ursula Murphy was 6th with a time of 1:55:51 and Noelle Dunne 8th in a time of 2:07:03. Ann McGee was 1st in her age-category with a time of 2:06:56. Emer McCarthy ran a very good race to finish in 1:50:51, 10th in her category. The other Lucan athletes performed very well with Jim Dwyer flying the flag for the men with a time of 1:48:28. Myra Nolan ran 1:50:57, followed by Lorraine Heffernan 1:50:59, Bernie Stapleton 1:51:06, Emer O'Sullivan 1:51:12, Amber Nugent 1:52:20, Freda Comiskey 1:53:54. Jacinta Dooley and Lisa Leamy walked the course together. The weekend proved to be a great success and the group are already talking about another spring trip for next year to somewhere different again.

Also on Sun 6th Mar, a group of Lucan athletes travelled, this time to Cork, for what is regarded as one of the biggest and best road races in the world, the Ballycotton '10', 10 mile road race. The turn-out for this event is absolutely massive and this year the field totalled over 1900 athletes!! Damian McDonald was first Lucan athlete home in a time of 1hr 16:41, followed by Maisie McGlone in 1 hr 23:39, Josephine Dignam and Eibhlin Ni Chonchuir as always running stride for stride and both recording the same time of 1hr 55mins. Well done to all.

On Sat 5th Mar, David Keogh finished in a very impressive 26th place in the boy's intermediate age-group (i.e. U16 and U17 combined) of the All-Ireland Schools Cross Country Championships held on the grounds of St Augustine's College, Dungarvan, County Waterford. David finished in 12th position in the Leinster Schools x-c a few weeks before to qualify for the All-Ireland Schools and David raised his game again to achieve this great result. Well done David. Full Results.

On Sun 27th Feb, Tommy Buggle ran a very strong 23:56 at the Garda/St Raphael's BHAA 4 miles x-c in the Phoenix Park. This was great running on the testing Munich course. This is further evidence that Tommy is coming back into form and he will be a force in the coming year. Colm O'Connor ran 25:12 to beat his time from last year's run by a whopping 2 and a half minutes! Jim Dwyer had a stormer of a run, recording 29:41 and he will be delighted with this effort since he improved by an astounding 4 minutes from last year's race. Well done Jim.

On Sun 27th Feb, Maeve Breen, a relative novice with the shot putt, threw very well to finish in 2nd in the U15 Shot at the Dublin Indoor Championships in Morton Stadium, Santry. Sinead Dowling added to her ever-growing collection of medals with a 3rd place in the U16 200m, and for good measure, she also added a 4th place in the LJ with a new p.b. jump of 4:46m. Aisling O'Farrell jumped to a new p.b. of 4:28m in 8th place in that very tightly contested U.16 LJ.

On Sat 26th Feb, our gold tally increased with Conor McCrossan picking up where he left off last year with a win in the U16 60m Hurdles at the Dublin Indoor Championships in Morton Stadium, Santry. Conor really found his feet with this event last summer when he won the West Leinster and Leinster Schools titles in the U14 age-group. Expect more of the same from this talented young athlete this summer.

On Sat 26th Feb, both Sinead Dowling and Elaine Pardy ran to very close second places in the U.16 and U14 60m respectively at the Dublin Indoor Championships in Morton Stadium, Santry. Santry is almost Sinead's home track now since she spends a lot of time there training with a group of top sprinters under the watchful eye of the very knowledgeable John Shields. Elaine Pardy also made quite an impression with her silver medal performance in the U14 60m. Watch for these two names in schools and club competitions throughout the summer.


On Sat 26th Feb, Ailbhe Breen finished a close 4th in the U14 60m, with Gareth Scanlon doing the same in the U12 60m. We also had a 4th place and a 6th place in the U14 LJ from Orla O'Farrell and Michaela Kinsella respectively. Michaela showed a lot of character in the 60m Hurdles when she picked herself up after a very heavy fall to finish the race. This attitude won the praise and admiration of everyone present.

On Fri 25th Feb, David Keogh had an outstanding win in the very keenly contested U.17 800m at the Dublin Indoor Championships in Morton Stadium, Santry. David led from gun to tape and held off some strong opposition down the home stretch to breast the tape in a new personal best time of 2:04:8. David's previous best time goes back to July of last year when he ran 2:07 to finish in 4th place in the A.A.I. National U.16 Championships in Tullamore.

On Fri 25th Feb, Bebhinn Ni Chiosain had a very strong run in the U.14 800m at the Dublin Indoor Championships and she posted a time of 2:57 to place 7th. Bebhinn's very successful winter cross country campaign with club and school will stand her in good stead as she moves into the track season. Jonathon O'Donnell finished in a very solid 10th position in a time of 2:05 in a packed U.13 600m and he will certainly look to improve on this time as the season goes on.

On Sun 20th Feb, Aisling Cleary and Juliette Sejan both won silver medals at the Dublin Indoor Championships in Morton Stadium, Santry, in the U.14 and U11 long jump respectively. Orla O'Farrell and Michaela Kinsella both jumped well to finish in 4th and 6th places respectively in the same age-category.

On Sun 20th Feb, our U.14 girls 4*200m team competed at the Dublin Indoor Championships (outdoors!) in Morton Stadium, Santry. The team placed 2nd in their heat with a very good run and safe baton exchanges. This gave our girls a place in the final. Our team of Nicola Armstrong, Ailbhe Breen, Aisling Cleary and Bebhinn Ni Chiosain then ran well in the final to place 7th. This is a good group of young athletes and we can see them doing well together in the future. The girls will all compete again in individual events in a few days time.

On Sat 19th Feb, Conor McGee competed at the National Senior 12km (Long Course) x-c Championships in Santry. Despite the undulations, the going was quick on a mostly dry course. Conor started steadily, picking his way through the field. Mid-race Conor found himself trying to close on one of his heroes in Irish athletics, Peter Matthews. For maybe two of the 2k laps, Conor was within 30-40 metres or so of Matthews but he could not bridge the gap. In the end, Matthews' class showed as he moved away. Matthews seemed to get stronger as the race progressed, picking up a few spots in the later stages to finish in 8th position, with Conor finishing in 11th, 15 seconds behind Matthews. Up front, Donegal's Gary Murray was a very impressive winner of the race. Seamus Power put up a brave defence of his title but it was not to be on the day with Power finishing 5th in the end. Conor's training partners, Mark Kenneally (Clonliffe) and Paul McNamara (Athenry) were 2nd and 3rd respectively, each grabbing a coveted automatic spot on the Irish team for the World Cross Country Championships in France in March. Well done to all and best of luck to the Irish teams at the World Championships. Results.

On Sunday 13th Feb, the final race of the Winter women's Meet and Train 2 miles cross country league took place on a very cold, windy day in Griffeen Pk, Lucan. Aine Gallagher again led the Lucan athletes home with a very commendable 7th place finish. Bernie Stapleton was next Lucan athlete home in an excellent 24th place, followed by Emer McCarthy in 32nd and a rejuvenated Maisie McGlone in 33rd. After the results for the series of races were tallied, Eileen O'Brien emerged as top individual in her age-category. Lucan came out with first prize in the Silver team section, and second prize in the bronze team section. Well done to all.

On Wed 9th Feb, David Keogh finished in 12th position in the intermediate (U.16 and U.17 combined) age-group of a talent-loaded Leinster Schools Cross Country (x-c) Championships in the grounds of D.C.U. John Coghlan, son of former world 5000m Champion, Eamonn, took the title in a very exciting finish. This great run has now gained David one of the individual qualification spots for the All-Ireland Schools x-c Championships to be held in Dungarvan on March 5th.
Results of Leinster Schools/Qualifiers For All-Ireland Schools x-c Championships.

On the same day in the Minor (U.14) girls event, Bebhinn Ni Chiosain helped her school (Maynooth P.P.) to the silver team medal. There is no All-Irelands for the Minor age-group so this is the end of the Schools Cross Country season for Bebhinn.

On Sun 6th Feb, Tommy Buggle, Conor McGee, Damian McDonald, Jim Dwyer, Bernie Stapleton, Ann McGee and Josephine Duignam all braved the hailstones at the Raheny 5 miles road race, a race which attracted well over a thousand entries. Ann Mc Gee had the best result of the Lucan contingent with a 3rd place finish in her age-category. Conor McGee continued his comeback from injury with an 8th place finish in the senior men's category with a time of 24:49. Tommy Buggle showed some good form again off very limited training with a strong run in 30:25. Some of our younger members, Keith and Conor, ran in the kids one mile race too. Well done to all.

On Sun 6th Feb, Hilary McGee ran very well in the Cork Marina BHAA 5k road race to record a new personal best time of 20:34. Well done Hilary.

On Tue 1st Feb, David Keogh finished in 4th position in the intermediate age-group (i.e. U.16 and U.17 combined) of a very competitive East Leinster Schools Cross Country (x-c) Championships on the new cross country course in the Phoenix Park (adjacent to the Papal Cross). The first-placed athlete in David's race was the Schools International x-c Champion from last year, while the athlete in second place is the current U.16 All-Ireland Clubs x-c Champion. With this kind of company, David's task over the 4km course was always going to be difficult. As always, David adopted the attitude that names are for gravestones -- reputations mean nothing -- and he led the race and pushed the pace for the first 600m or so, before being overtaken. David, who goes to school in C.U.S. in Dublin City, has now gained one of the individual qualification spots for the Leinster Schools x-c Championships to be held in D.C.U. on Wed 9th Feb.
Results of Leinster Schools Regionals/Qualifiers For Leinster Schools x-c Championships.

On Friday 28th January, Lucan Harriers had several athletes representing their schools at the West Leinster Schools Cross Country (x-c) Championships in the Phoenix Park. Our best result of the day came from Bebhinn Ni Chiosain (Maynooth Post Primary) who finished in 12th position overall in the Minor girls (i.e. u.14) race, and in doing so, helped her school to the team gold in the Minor girls event. Bebhinn and her school team now qualify for the Leinster schools Championships to be held on Wed 9th Feb in the grounds of D.C.U. In the intermediate age-group (u.17 and u.16 combined), Patrick Martin (Lucan Community College) had a very strong run to finish in 22nd position overall.

On Thursday, 27th January, the club held their 'Last Thursday of the Month' track race. This time it was a 2 mile race. The winner of the men's race was Conor McGee, followed by Colm O'Connor, Damien Stoneham and Jim Dwyer. The women's race was won by Aine Gallagher with Hilary McGee in second. Well done to everyone who took part.

On Sunday 23rd January, our athletes competed at the women's Meet and Train 2 miles Cross Country (x-c) League in Ringsend Park. On a cold, crisp morning, Lucan's top finisher was again Aine Gallagher who followed up her 6th place finish from the previous weekend with another excellent run and an 8th place finish this time. Amber Nugent had a strong run to finish in 28th position. Congratulations to all of our athletes who competed on the day.

On Saturday 22nd Jan, over 170 athletes took part in the Business Houses Athletics Association (BHAA) Dublin Bus-Sponsored races in a muddy, rainy Cherryfield Park, Templeogue. Conor McGee placed 2nd in the men's 5 mile x-c race. John O'Leary and Jim Dwyer both had solid runs in the race. Hilary McGee finished a creditable 19th in the women's 2 miles race. Full results.

On Sun 16th Jan, the second race in the Women's Meet and Train 2 miles x-c series took place on a very fast and flat course in Swords. Aine Gallagher ran a courageous race and, in doing so, garnered her first ever top ten finishing position at this level by placing 6th overall in the race. Aine was backed up by Bernie Stapleton in 30th position and Emer McCarthy in 34th. More detailed results to follow once we get a print out of all the results. Well done to all.

On Sat 15th Jan, Colm O'Connor and Jim Dwyer ran the Dublin County Council BHAA 4 miles x-c in Tymon Park. Full results.

On Sat 15th Jan between 9am and 9pm, Lucan Harriers held a fundraiser with all proceeds going to the victims of the Tsunami Disaster (via the four main Irish Charities). The fundraiser was based around a 12 hour run at Esker track in Lucan (Opp SuperQuinn). We would like to extend a massive thank you to everyone who contributed to the great success of this event, from volunteers to everyone who contributed any money they could. The total figure raised came to 4280 euros.

On Sun 9th Jan, our Masters men kicked off their competitive season at the Dublin Masters x-c Championships in Tymon Park. John O'Leary led the Lucan team followed by Don Whelan, Gerry Martin and Jim Dwyer. Lucan finished in 9th position overall in the team event. Full Results.