On Sun 27th Nov, Freda Comiskey produced a brilliant run to finish 3rd individual as Lucan's athletes travelled to St Anne's Park in Raheny for the first round of this year's Womens meet and train cross country league. Lucan had eight athletes and two teams for the first fixture of the season. Leading the way as always was Freda Comiskey, fresh from her club championship winning run. Freda completed the course in 14.42 finishing on the podium in third place. This is a fantastic result from Freda, her best yet at the Meet and Train leagues. Nexst across the line was Deirdre Daly with a superb time of 16.04. Our third scorer for the A team was Louisa Conville who got home in 16.52. Next up was Anne McGrane, our first scorer in the B team, who finished with a great time of 18.18. Completing our A team and placing 73rd overall was Amber Nugent. Una Cassoni, our club champion from the summer, was next to finish in a time of 19.38 and crossing the line in 80th position. Just one place and six seconds further back was Winifred Ryan with 19.44. Josie Dignam rounded off a great days work by our womens teams coming 85th and running 21.31. Congraulations to all on these great results.


Eileen O'Brien headed overseas representing the club and country in this annual fixture. Eileen qualified as a member of the Irish team after her strong run in the Phoenix park a few weeks ago. Eileen backed that run up with another terrific performance in Scotland. There is never a better time to put in a good performance than when donning the green national team singlet and Eileen raised her game to mark the occasion. Eileen finished 8th in her category and second irish scorer in the team that won silver medals. Eileen's personal battle with a welsh athlete was key in the team competition as Ireland pipped the Welsh by just one point!! Congratulations Eileen!


Freda Comiskey took home the title of Club Cross Country Champion for the second successive year as this time she ran away from the opposition from the gun. Freda never let up, pushing herself all the way to the finish in another great display of Freda's abilities. Congratulations Freda! Gerry Byrne Jr took no chances and controlled the race from an early stage. There was a chasing pack of four including Gerry Byrne Senior and Gary Mortimer, who were able to share the burden and work together but could still make no impression into Gerry's lead. Gerry Byrne senior produced a superb run ahead off a half marathon in Waterford on the weekend. Gary also produced a superb run just days after his quick 5k on Saturday morning, and his many pints on saturday night. Congratulations to both Freda and Gerry Byrne Jr on their wins here and in particular to Gerry on his first Club Cross Country Championship title. Note that this race also served as the first race in our 3-race Turkey Trot Winter Series. Below are links to photos from the race -- many thnaks to Nicola Kavanagh for these -- plus the official results compiled by Henry Langton. Pictures. Results.

Sarah Reihill and Daniel Byrne won their overall sections of the Dublin Juvenile Cross Country League wih Ciaran Cooney placing third in his section. As always our junior athletes have produced some terrific performances. Sarah Reihill, daughter of chairman Gerry has won the league for the u15 girls having ran consistently well in all races. We also had a league champion for the u16 boys where Daniel Byrne triumphed. Our other medal came from Ciaran Cooney who won a bronze in the u12 section. The two boys also secured selection for Dublin in the All Ireland Championships. Daniel did this with a superb 10th in the Dublin championships and Ciaran with a brilliant second, and silver medal. Both will now represent the club and county at the National Championships.

On Sun 13th Nov, John Canny placed 15th overall at the Hollymount 10km road race in Mayo. John Canny headed home to County Mayo to run in the 44th Hollymount 10k. A very strong field turned out but John produced a terrific run of 38.55 to place 15th overall. It is a mark of John's talent and ability that he was actually disappointed with this run, a time most would be pleased with. John has returned to hard training and is looking forward to his next challenge.

On Sun 6th Nov, Freda Comiskey placed 4th woman overall at the Camlough 10km in Newry. Freda ran a strong race from start to finish to complete the course in 44.37 not far outside her pb and finished as fourth lady. Well done Freda.

For our ladies the ever reliable Eileen O'Brien was first across the line with a superb time of 3.47:31 adding another medal to her collection this time gold in the national marathon championships. Second across the line was Sheena Crotty with a tremendous personal best run 3.59.54. Sheena seemed to get stronger as the race went on managing the second half four minutes quicker than the first, when most would be happy to do it just four minutes slower!! With Sheena at half way was Deirdre Counihan who was just outside the 4 hour barrier with 4.03.22, leading home a group of 3 Lucan athletes tightly packed together. Next in this grouip was Debutant Deirdre Daly with a terrific time of 4.03.55, just holding Emer McCarthy by 12 seconds who did 4.04.07. Maria Byrne was sixth harrier home with 4.27.32 followed home by Nina Healy in 4.39.27. Next up was another debutant in Donna Mulligan who ran 4.49.04 and had a steve redgrave moment declaring never to run a marathon again, but is probably plotting the next by now!! Our final four athletes were grouped tightly with just eleven minutes separting them, winning this battle of training partners was Josie Dignam with 5.31.51 just four minutes ahead of Eibhlin NiChonchuir in 5.35.25. Club champion Una Cassoni ran a great first marathon in 5.41.05. Barbara Whelan rounded off the day for us running a very consistent race to finish in 5.42.51. Josie and Barbara combined with Eileen to bring home a much coveted team silver medal in their age category. On the men's side, locked together in titanic battle (or a chat) for much of the race we had Tommy Buggle and Derry McVeigh who both crossed half-way in 1.29.20 looking comfortable. By the 20mile mark Tommy had opened up a 55 second gap and ran strongly to the finish to complete the course in 3.01.23 in only his second marathon. Derry finished not long after in 3.09.56, a massive personal best and a great morning's work. Next across the line for the men was Jeremiah Maloney who ran 3.37.39 reaching halfway in 1.41.27. Gerry Byrne was our final male across the line in 4.13.23 which I am sure would have placed him well in the fancy dress catergory, as Gerry ran the race dressed as Rolo the clown raising money for people suffering from depression. He clearly didnt push himself too hard judging by his performance in a speed session on Tuesday evening!! The club and organisers of the marathon would like to extend a massive thank you to all the volunteers who helped with the marathon, without whom the event could not take place at all. A personal message of thanks from three of our athletes, Maria, Eibhlin and Josie who would like to thank all the great members of Lucan Harriers who went along to support our team in the Dublin Marathon or who sent good wishes: "a HUGE THANK YOU : )Your support really helped keep us going !". Please let us know if we have left anyone out of our report and we will make the adjustment. I would like to wish everyone who took part my personal congratulations (Gerry Byrne Jr), and good luck with your recoveries. Hope to see you all back down the club soon.


Eileen O'Brien had an outstanding run in this race which doubles as the trials for the masters home international meeting, where the Irish team compete against the formidable Welsh athletes among others. Eileen is in top form and ran better than ever finishing second in her age group, and no doubt ensuring her selection to the National team. Congratulations Eileen!!! Jim Dwyer had a fine run in placing 7th in his age category. Jim will certainly be inspired by this performance and will be back next year to improve further on this placing. Well done Jim!

On Sat 22nd Oct, we had a great turn out of eight Lucan athletes for the Racepix 5km road race in Maynooth. First across the line was Garry Mortimer dipping under the 20min barrier with a great time of 19.59. Next up was Freda who despite it being her second race of the week ran a speedy 20.40, just outside her personal best!! Just behind Freda was Gerry Martin who ran 20.43, an improvement of some 30 seconds from earlier in the year so clearly Gerry is doing things right. Reigning club champion Philip Fay was next across the line in 21.05, continuing his great year. The ever reliable Bernie Stapleton clocked an impressive 22.33 as our 5th athlete to finish. Clare Joyce overcame some shoe lace trouble to still post a respectable time of 23.09, just holding off the fast finishing Lorraine Heffernan who ran 23.36. Jim Dwyer was the final of our athletes to cross the line in 26.17. Below is a link to some pictures of the event: Pictures.

On Tue 18th Oct, Freda Comiskey recorded a new mile personal best at the ALSAA winter track series. Freda, our ladies captain, led by example as usual and posted a terrific time and a new personal best of 6.11 for a mile on the ALSAA track. Congratulations Freda!

On Sun 16th Oct, four of our ladies made the short trip for the Donadee 10k road race. First home flying the Lucan colors was Anne McGrane who completed the course in a swift 52.01. Next home we had Clodagh Ashe who was very unlucky not to break the hour finishing in an impressive time of 60.01, but has an obvious target for next time!! Winifred Ryan was our next competitor across the line with 65.39 winning the battle with Martine Prior who rounded of the day for Lucan Harriers with 66.02. Well done to all.

On Sun 9th Oct, four Lucan athletes made the short trip to our neighbouring club Tallaght AC to compete in their inaugral 5 mile road race. Donna Mulligan continued her excellent form as she led the way for Lucan. Donna raced home in a new personal best of 42 minutes 32 seconds. This time knocked 2 1/2 minutes off Donna's previous time for the distance and is just reward for the high mileage being put in by Donna in the run up to this year's marathon. Jim Dwyer was certainly busy this weekend and competing in his second race of the weekend Jim used his knowledge of the Tallaght roads to great effect to clock a fantastic time of 43 minutes 30 seconds. Sinead Murphy back competing on the road in the metropolis following some great recent successes on the roads of Cork and Limerick in recent months continued her excellent displays in 2011 with another impressive run- this time over the 5 mile distance. Sinead ran very intelligently in clocking a brilliant 44 minutes 56 seconds. Right on Sinead's heels at the finish was Sarah Hughes. Sarah showing remarkable consistency over the 5 mile distance cam within one second of her time from Terenure in May with a superb 44 minutes 58 seconds clocking this time. Sarah continues to train regularly and has reached a new level of consistency this season. Well done everyone.

On Sat 8th Oct, Lucan athletes competed at the BHAA Teachers Cross Country race at Castleknock College. Lucan athletes travelled in large numbers to Castleknock to compete in the season opener BHAA cross country race. Bernie Stapleton made a seamless transition to the cross country terrain as Bernie produced a fantastic season opener to cross the line in a magnificent time of 15 minutes 50 seconds in the women's two mile race. This run will give Bernie great confidence as Bernie continues with her cross country campaign. Joe Lynch, making his cross country debut for the season, led the Lucan men home in a brilliant 23 minutes 10 seconds. This placed Joe 29th overall from 180 finishers. Joe Corcoran in his second race of the week was Lucan's second finisher as Joe ran a perfectly paced race to come home in a fantastic 25 minutes 33 seconds. Chasing Joe home all the way was the excellent Daniel Byrne. Daniel has been setting the juvenile league alight over recent weeks carried this red hot form into this BHAA race against seasoned senior athletes and produced an outstanding run to complete the 4 mile course in 25 minutes 35 seconds. Fourth home for the Lucan men was Patrick Holden. Patrick, racing in his first cross country outing since joining the cub can be well happy with his morning's work as Patrick completed the 4 mile course in an excellent 26 minutes 23 seconds. Colm O'Connor competing in his first race since his outstanding victory n the Trinity Track mile in May showed that he has lost no conditioning as Colm produced a terrific run in soft underfoot conditions to complete the 4 miles in 26 minutes 49 seconds. Gerry Martin, too, too in his fist cross country race of the season hit the ground running as an exceptional show of strength from Gerry saw him home in a terrific 28 minutes 29 seconds. Liam Landers, closely following Gerry home continued has remarkable vein of form as a most impressive run from Liam saw him home in an outstanding time of 28 minutes 58 seconds. Following Liam we had a battle of epic proportions as Vinny Murtagh and Stephen Rynne were neck and neck approaching the finishing straight and could only be separated by a second with Vinny just getting the verdict by a short nose in racing home in a superb 29 minutes 42 seconds. Stephen in clocking a brilliant 29 minutes 43 seconds can be more than pleased with how his autumn is shaping up. Our latest recruit Neil Bhogal had arguably the run of the day by our athletes as this was Neil's first cross country run having recently joined our training regime and cruised through the difficult 4 mile cross country race in an outstanding 29 minutes 51 seconds. Jim Dwyer completed a fine showing by the Lucan men as Jim's even splits saw him home in an impressive 34 minutes 41 seconds. Well done to all.

On Sat 8th Oct, Claire Joyce and Ann McGee both ran well in the Dublin Simon Community 5km road race in the Phoenix Park. Claire Joyce running in only her fourth race of the year had an outstanding run in completing the Phoenix Park 5k course in a very swift time of 23 minutes 21 seconds. This built on Claire's excellent performannces in our club championship races and is even more remarkable considering that Claire's training has been curtailed in recent times. It also exactly matches the time that Claire ran in on the super fast Enfield course back in May so Claire is certainly on the right road now. Ann McGee produced another exceptional run in this year's Dublin Simon 5k road race. Ann continues to surprise us as Ann gets better with each outing and Saturday was no exception as Ann made light of the new course for the race to complete the 5km in an eye-catching time of 32 minutes 43 seconds. Interestingly, just as in Claire's case, Ann has also been fighting some injuries so congratulations to both on returning to the action.

On Wed 5th Oct, Joe Corcoran had a great run at the An Cosantoir (Defense Forces National 10km Championships). Joe Corcoran continued his excellent autumn with an outstanding display in this year's An Cosantoir. Joe finished an very impressive 25th overall as Joe made little of the strong winds (in fact rumour has it that the winds feared Joe more than vice versa) to race home in a fantastic time of 41 minutes 14 seconds. Well done Joe.

On Sun 2nd Oct, Freda Comiskey won the open women's section at the Clones 10k for 1k in Clones, Monaghan. Freda Comiskey, on home soil, produced an amazing display to come out on top in the ladies race. Freda is well and truly on top form once more after her return from travelling as her outstanding time of 44 minutes 24 seconds (on this undulating 10km course) is testament to. This fantastic run gave Freda a winning margin of 30 seconds from the 2nd placed runner. This achievement has been well earned by Freda for her consistent hard work in training. Well done Freda!

On Sun 2nd Oct, Tommy Buggle finished 5th overall and 1st in his age group with Jim Dwyer also competing well at the Liz McDonnell 5km cross country at Castletown House, Celbridge. Tommy Buggle continued his preparation for the upcoming Dublin marathon with a blow-out over 5km on the Castletown cross country course. Tommy produced another sensational display as a fantastic run saw Tommy place a brilliant 5th overall and 1st in his class in a brilliant 18 minutes 11 seconds. Tommy looks good to go for the marathon and has already broken 3 hour barrier on his marathon debut two years ago. Jim Dwyer too was competing in his first cross country outing of the autumn and took up where her left off on the roads as Jim produced an impressive time of 32 minutes 44 seconds to get his cross country campaign off to an excellent start. Well done guys.

On Sun 2nd Oct, Daniel Byrne and Sarah Reihill stood out among the Lucan performances at the Dublin Cross Country League Round 3 in the Phoenix Park.Seven Lucan athletes braved adverse weather conditions and made the short trip to the Phoenix Park to compete in the third round of the juvenile league. in the U12s, Ciaran Cooney competed in his third race of the league and Ciaran continued his impressive campaign. On the day in tough underfoot conditions following the torrential rain of Saturday, Ciaran demonstrated tremendous strength to place 5th in the penultimate race of the series. This is truly great running and no doubt is only the start of things to come from Ciaran over the course of the season. Niall Larkin was Lucan's second finisher in the U12 race as Niall produced another terrific run in his second outing of the season in placing 20th in soft underfoot conditions and in a quality field. This performance from Niall suggests that Niall is hitting top form early in the season and with a number of big cross country races to come over the winter we can expect to see Niall continuing to excel. Adam Doran had his first outing of the campaign and can be more than please with his day's work as Adam made little of the slippy underfoot conditions to produce a brilliant cross country opener to place 25th in a very strong, competitive field. This excellent performance from Adam will benefit him as the season progresses and without a shadow of a doubt, Adam will kick on from this. In the U13s, Saoirse Reihill building on her first two exceptional performances of the cross country season added a third outstanding run to the mix to place an excellent 15th in her competitive category. Making light of the soggy underfoot conditions prevailing on the day, Saoirse took off like a lady on a mission from the gun and managed to maintain her strong pace all the way to the finish. Saoirse is getting more confident all the time and this is manifesting itself in quality displays in her races. Sarah Reihill looks to be back in top form as a consistent run of races as seen Sarah get stronger and stronger with each outing. In the third race of the league Sarah used her tremendous strength and endurance to run a very even paced and intelligent race to place 5th in yet another high quality race. This performance set Sarah up for a league win as Sarah's consistent top quality performances has seen her jump to the top of the U15 league standings. Glenn Cooney making his 3rd appearance of the league continued his remarkable show of form in this Dublin series. Glenn’s great dedication to training and racing continues to be rewarded with more and more impressive performances each time out. On this occasion, Glenn’s eye-catching finish saw him place in an impressive 15th overall in the U15 category. Glenn continues to get fitter and stronger all the time and we will see the benefit of this over the coming months. In the U16 boys race, Daniel Byrne secured his second victory of the series at the weekend. As ever Daniel’s natural talent shone through as a fantastic strong cross country display from Daniel saw him sprint clear of a number of quality athletes. Daniel has shown a great level of consistency over the last two years and we can now safely say that Daniel is one of the top juvenile athletes in the country. Well done to all.

On Sat 1st Oct, Myra Nolan and Lorraine Heffernan ran in the Galway Bay Half Marathon. In what can only be described as a top quality ladies race, two of our own quality athletes headed west of the Shannon to compete in the 2011 Galway Bay Half Marathon race. Myra Nolan led the Lucan challenge on the day as Myra continued her exceptional season to post another personal best time. Over the half marathon 13.1 miles Myra used the great fitness attained from her triathlon training and performances to race home in an outstanding time of 1 hour 41 minutes 38 seconds - a personal best. Closely following Myra was another extremely fit Lucan athlete, Lorraine Heffernan. Lorraine has had a season made of dreams as Lorraine continued her series of successful performances to produce a terrific time of 1 hour 44 minutes 55 seconds. This run comes hot on the heels of Lorraine’s 3rd place finish in her last triathlon of the season Tri an Mhi - just three weeks ago. Well done to both.

On Sun 25th Sept, a number of Lucan athletes ran in the very popular Rathfarnham 5km road race. Anne McGrane was the sole competitor for the ladies and can be delighted with her quality run on the quick Rathfarnham course. Anne ran very intelligently throughout and had plenty in the tank over the last kilometre to produce an exceptionally strong finish in a fantastic 24 minutes 06 seconds. This run demonstrates Anne's tremendous strength heading into the cross country season. Joe Corcoran as ever produced a cracking run as Joe built on his magnificent recent racing and training form to cross the line in a most convincing time of 18 minutes 52 seconds. This superb performance adds to Joe's recent success over 4 miles in the Garda race where we had Joe finishing first in his category. Closely after Joe was the in-form Patrick Holden. Patrick just a week after his superb half marathon display last weekend demonstrated great talent over the 5km distance as Patrick revised his personal best time to an outstanding 19 minutes 36 seconds.Vinny Murtagh was Lucan's next finisher as a great even paced run and super slick running style saw Vinny race home in a fantastic time of 20 minutes 16 seconds. To say that Vinny has been impressing in training in recent weeks would be a massive understatement and Vinny carried this form into race day. Recently crowned club champion, Philip Fay was our next athlete to cross the line as Philip added to his catalogue of successes this season racing to another terrific time of 21 minutes 14 seconds. We can safely say that Philip has a bright future ahead of him over the coming year. Chasing Philip hard over the closing 200 metres was Stephen Rynne. Stephen had a magnificent run in his comeback race as Stephen finished very strongly to clock a fantastic time of 21 minutes 36 seconds. This performance is testament to Stephen's great fitness and dedication as Stephen never gives less than 100% in training and races. Cormac Dowd, running in only his second competitive race and indeed his second 5km race continued his impressive displays over the distance as we saw Cormac revise his personal best time over the distance by over 1 minute to an outstanding 24 minutes 06 seconds. This success comes as no surprise to us as Cormac has embraced the training regime since joining the Lucan men's set-up recently .Jim Dwyer continued his hectic campaign thus far since returning to the set-up when he took to the start line for the 14th edition of this Rathfarnham race. Jim,as ever, looked strong throughout and finished impressively in 26 minutes 20 seconds.This performance will give Jim great confidence heading into the cross country season.

On Sun 25th Sept, Henry Langton had a great run at the Berlin Marathon. Henry, having put in serious training mileage over recent weeks, headed to the continent at the weekend to compete in the 2011 edition of the Berlin marathon. Renowned as one of the quicker courses on the circuit -- in fact a world men's marathon record was set here again this year -- Henry used this fast flat course and his high aerobic fitness levels to his advantage to produce an outstanding run over the 26.2 miles. Henry made a very impressive start to the race - covering the opening 15kms at a very brisk pace of 4 minutes 20 seconds per kilometre and Henry hit the half way point at 1 hour 32 minutes 42 seconds. Over the second 13.1 miles of the race Henry continued to clip along at an extremely quick pace, completing the second half of the race in 1 hour 44 minutes 38 seconds. This gave Henry a finishing time of 3 hours 17 minutes 10 seconds for the classic distance. This fantastic run from Henry will give Henry great impetus and strength as Henry prepares for a hectic cross country season which commences shortly.

On Sun 25th Sept, Daniel Byrne and Ciaran Cooney with 3rd place finishes led the way for Lucan athletes at the Dublin Cross Country League Round 2 in the Phoenix Park. In the U12 race, Ciaran Cooney ran his second race of the week and his second in Lucan colours. Ciaran is proving quite a talent and bettered his 6th place a week earlier with a magnificient 3rd place this time out. This podium placing has been well earned by Ciaran for his hard work since joining the club. Ciaran obviously has an abundance of talent and we look forward to seeing this develop over the course of the season. Niall Larkin was Lucan's second finisher in the U12 race as Niall produced a terrific run in his first cross country race of the season to place 14th against high quality opposition. With the cross country just half way through we can look forward to seeing Niall's progress over the remainder of the campaign as history tells us the Niall gets stronger with each race. Adam Kelleher, also competing in the U12 boys race can be delighted with his performance as Adam continues to develop and get stronger all the time. Adam produced a very strong finish to the second race in this cross country league to finish 17th overall in an impressive time.This excellent run will give Adam great confidence as he heads into the final two races of the series..Brandon O'Sullivan, like Ciaran, was also running in only his second race for the club and built on an brilliant showing a week earlier with an equally impressive run this time out to place impressively against athletes with a lot more experience at this stage. No doubt we will continue to see Brandon's great dedication to training being rewarded over the course of the season. Saoirse Reihill fresh from her impressive start to this year's league, put in a second excellent display in U13 race. Saoirse showed little sign of fatigue following as recent hectic schedule to place 17th in a top quality race. Looking back on Saoirse's performances she a history of getting stronger with each run so no doubt Saoirse will continue this amazing form over the remaining races. Sarah Reihill in her second race since returning form injury continued her impressive comeback as a superb run from start to finish saw Sarah finish in a remarkable 6th place amongst the U15 girls. With a clear injury free run of races we will see Sarah continue to get stronger all the time as Sarah's natural talent will see her mix it at the top end in her category over the remaining 2 races in this league. Glenn Cooney, too competing in just his second race, continued his progression with a very strong display in a quality U15 boys race. Glenn showed tremendous strength throughout finished very impressively to place in the middle of a top quality field. Glenn continues to impress in training and Glenn's terrific work ethic is reaping dividends in competitive action. By adding Glenn to the great mix of athletes at the club, our juvenile section continues to go from strength to strength. New member Bob (apologies will get surname soon!!) will also help this category at the club as on his debut in the Lucan Harriers' colours Bob produced a fantastic run in his first ever race to compete the undulating cross country course in a very swift time. Considering that Bob is such a novice, this display demonstrates the fact that Bob has a great tactical brain for an athlete so young. Daniel Byrne in placing on the podium for the second successive race has given himself a terrific chance of winning the U16 category in this year's juvenile league. Following a brilliant victory 7 days earlier Daniel continued his outstanding run of results over the cross country terrain as a fantastic demonstration of cross country running from Daniel saw him place a brilliant third this time out. This continues Daniel's great start to the cross country campaign and without as shadow of the doubt Daniel will continue to compete at the top end of his races.

On Sun 18th Sept, seven of our young athletes competed in the Dublin Juvenile Cross Country League in Donabate. Ciaran Cooney, making his racing debut for the club, produced a scintillating run as a very smooth running display throughout saw Ciaran place 6th in a quality U12 field. Being so new to club running, this was a fantastic run by a young athlete. Adam Kelleher, also competing in the U12 boys race can be delighted with his performance in this quality race as a very strong run from gun to tap saw Adam place impressively in the first race of the season. This performance sets Adam up well for the remainder of the campaign and we look forward to seeing Adam perform over the coming 3 weekends. Brandon O'Sullivan, like Ciaran, was also making his club debut and showed nerves of steel as a storming run from the gun against more experience athletes saw Brandon place impressively in his first ever race. There is no doubt that we will see Brandon build on this over the remainder of the campaign. Saoirse Reihill fresh from her impressive display in midweek, was back out competing in the U13s and put in another terrific showing in the first cross country race of the season to complete her race very strongly against tough opposition. This performance sets Saoirse up well for the upcoming three races in the league. Sarah Reihill, making her competitive comeback following an injury lay-off showed that she has lost none of her spark as an outstanding run in a high quality U15 race saw Sarah finish 2nd. We can expect great results from Sarah this year as Sarah builds on her tremendous form during the last 12 months and no doubt we will see Sarah impress over the the three weeks as the league progresses. Glenn Cooney made his competitive racing debut for Lucan and showed great promise as he ran a very even paced U15 race to finish very strongly over the last 400 metres. Glenn looks like a terrific prospect and will offer great strengthy in depth to the juvenile section of the club. Daniel Byrne commenced the new season where he finished last year by producing a race winning performance. Daniel, looking smooth and relaxed throughout put all his rivals to the test and pushed on very strongly over the closing stage to record a well deserved U16 victory. This is a great start to the cross country campaign by a very talented athlete and no doubt we will see many more victories over the coming months. Well done to all.

On Sat 17th Sept, Eileen O'Brien placed second in her category while a slew of Lucan athletes ran in the Dublin Half Marathon in the Phoenix Park. A large number of Lucan athletes made the trip to the Phoenix Park on Saturday morning to compete in the anuual Dublin Half Marathon in advance of the Dublin marathon in 5 weeks time with all athletes oce again impressing. Deirdre Daly in running a sensational time of 1 hour 44 minutes 01 second, continued her remarkable run of results ever since making her racing debut for Lucan in the Bob Heffernan 5km road race in May. Deirdre is one of the most dedicated athletes currently in the club and goes about her training quietlly and efficiently no matter what weather conditions faces her. No doubt this dedication by Deirdre will be rewarded with a superb marathon displays in a few weeks time. Eileen O’Brien, just two short weeks after becoming National marathon champion in her category, was at it again -- placing on the podium. Eileen shows no signs of easing up on her heavy racing schedule and her fantastic fitness levels served Eileen well on the day as Eileen raced home in an outstanding time of 1 hour 44 minutes 42 seconds.This placed Eileen 2nd in her category. Bernie Stapleton followed Eileen home as a late change to the half marathon course made little difference to Bernie whose outstanding run added to her exceptional display over 10km in Firhouse last weekend as Bernie raced home in a fantastic time of 1 hour 46 minutes 05 seconds. Bernie is such a running enthuasist and races over all distances with no fuss and consistently produces quality displays. Following Bernie home we had Sheena Crotty. Sheena, partaking in her second half marathon of the year, demonstrated great consistency as Sheena's excellent time of 1 hour 50 minutes 27 seconds was practically the same time produced by Sheena in Achill in early July. However this performance is even more remarkable given the tough Kyber Pass hill that Sheena had to negotiate twice on the route. Maria Byrne, in completing the difficult 13.1 mile route in a superb time of 1 hour 56 minutes 22 seconds provided further evidence that we can look forward to Maria producing a fantastic marathon performance as Maria has got better and better with each race and has looked more and more at home as the distances have got higher. Closing tracking Maria was the talented newcomer Lisa Convey. Building on some terrific displays in our club championships recently Lisa produced a fantastic half marathon display as Lisa comfortably dipped under the magical 2 hour barrier wih superb 1 hour 57 minutes 19 seconds clocking. This performance is well deserved by Lisa for all her hard work and is regularly seen putting in the miles on the Lucan roads. Another exceptionally talented and dedicated runner, Brid Fogarty closely followed Lisa across the finish line as a very astute run saw Brid home in a brilliant 2 hours 00 minutes 41 seconds. This noteworthy run should definitely give Brid great impetus in the build up to the Dublin marathon over the coming weeks. Closely following Brid was Karen Byrne. Karen making her debut over the half marathon distance can be thrilled with her sensational display as a very intelligent and even paced run by Karen saw home cross the line in a brilliant time of 2 hours 01 minute 05 seconds. This performance suggests that Karen has a natural flair for the longer distances and can look forward to an excellent marathon performance. Next home for Lucan was another newer member, Sarah Hughes. Having joined our ranks in the spring, Sarah has trained regularly and put in a huge effort so it came as no surprise to see Sarah produce a terrific race day performance as Sarah bettered her time from 12 months ago by a massive 4 minutes 30 seconds in clocking a great time of 2 hour 4 minutes 50 seconds. Female club handicap champion Una Cassoni in producing a fantastic display and time of 2 hours 10 minutes 04 seconds added to her catalogue of fine displays in this particular series of races and certainly looks too have a very bright future ahead of her in the Lucan colours. Being so new too the club Una's remarkable rise has been obvious for everyone to see. Fresh from her excellent debut for the club over 10kms in Blessington a week ago, Gaye Kavanagh was back out competing - this time over the much longer halkf marathon distance. Gaye continued her terrific vein of form with a superb run showing no signs of fatigue from her display a week earlier as Gaye completed the course in a most impressive time of 2 hours 14 minutes 02 seconds. Next to cross the magical finish line for Lucan was Nina Healy, Nina, having looked in top from in clocking a brilliant time of 16.31 in recent club championship race carried this form into the half marathon outing and made light of all the little and huge undulations on the course as Nina produced a fantastic time of 2 hours 16 minutes 42 seconds on the day. Barbara Whelan was our next finisher on the day with Barbara reaping the benefits of all her hard work over the past number of months and Barbara finished very strongly in the day to record a great time of 2 hours 21 minutes. Barbara is regularly seen out putting in the hard miles away from the spotlight of club training and this dedication has seen Barbara attain superb fitness levels. Josie Dignam, running her second race in a week, had another highly impressive display as Josie race home in an excellent time of 2 hour 22 minutes 05 seconds. Josie has been one of our star performers in this series of races as Josie’s performances have got better and better with each outing. Mary Crosby was Lucan's next finisher as Mary, too built on her fine display in our club championships by producing a very strong run on a tough course. Mary's huge fitness levels were very much in evidence on the day as Mary finished thew race at great speed to produce a time of 2 hours 24 minutes 44 seconds.It looks like we can expect a great marathon run from Mary in the near future. Eibhlin Ni Chonchuir, like Josie, has also been impressing in this series, and looks to be timing her peak fitness to perfection with the Dublin Marathon looming large on the horizon. Eibhlin demonstrated her tremendous strength as she made little of the daunting Kyper Pass hills on the course to complete the marathon route in a brilliant 2 hours 27 minutes 24 seconds.Louise Byrne completed a fantastic morining's running by the Lucan ladies. Louise, so new to club running, looks to have reaped the benefits of the regular quality training with the Lucan ladies as Louise produced a fantastic run in crossing the line in a great time of 2 hours 35 minutes 39 seconds. This performance is just rewards for all Louise's hard work sincing joining the club. Derry McVeigh led the charge for the men and in the process produced a magnificent personal best run of 1 hour 21 minutes 20 seconds. Derry is showing himself to be in terrific form with the marathon just over 40 days away and this performance from Derry comes hot on the heels of a terrific performance on a tough 10km course just 7 days earlier. Tommy Buggle took up where he left off in the Frank Duffy 10 mile race as a very strong performance from the gun saw Tommy produce a scintillating run to cross the line in 1 hour 23 minutes 45 seconds. This truly demonstrates the remarkable form that Tommy is in at present. Patrick Holden is another athlete that has taken his A game into this series of races and adding to his superb performances in the 5 mile and 10 mile events Patrick took off from the gun like a man on a mission and saw his determination rewarded with a fantastic display. Patrick completed the two lap Phoenix Park course in a terrific time of 1 hour 30 minutes 34 seconds. Gerard Moloney was the fourth representative for the men and Gerard's excellent performance rounded off a terrific day's running by the men. Gerard's brilliant time of 1 hour 36 minutes 28 seconds is just rewards for all Gerard's recent hard work and this performance will give Gerard great confidence as he heads into the final phase of his marathon preparations. Well done everyone.


Adam Doran produced a number of exceptional displays to place 3rd overall in an extremely competitive U15 event. Adam looks to be in the kind of form once again this year to build on his amazing successes during last season. Tara Andrews was competing in the U15 girls competition and once again looks like we can look forward to a fantastic season from Tara as she placed a very close fifth overall coming just 25 points behind 4th place. Tara demonstrated great ability in all events on the day and looks to be just a natural athlete. Saoirse Reihill was also back out competing in her first event of the new school year and demonstrated that she had lost none of her form from the end of last season as a number outstanding displays in the events saw Saoirse impress against some strong competition. This performance is even more impressive considering that Saoirse is 1 year younger than most athletes she was competing against. Laura Quigley, too, made an impressive start to her campaign as a fantastic showing in all events saw Laura pose a serious threat to the pre event favourites and finish impressively in a very competitive category, This performance will give Laura great confidence heading into the cross country season as Laura was competing against athletes 1 year older. Well done to all.

On Sun 11th Sept, Kilkenny native Henry Langton ran in the Waterford 10km road race. Henry consolidated his preparation for the upcoming Berlin marathon with this 10km road race. Having completed multiple Sunday morning training runs in excess of 20 miles in addition to multiple double daily training sessions, Henry used his high aerobic threshold to great effect on the day as Henry battled the tail end of ex hurricane Katrina to cross the finishing line in a outstanding 42 minutes 28 seconds. This placed Henry a brilliant 31st overall as Henry looks to a have timed his peak to fitness to perfection for this year’s marathon (which incidentally can be seen live on BBC 2 television next Sunday morning from 7.45 am). Great running Henry.

On Sat 10th Sept, We had very impressive performances from Anne McGrane (3rd overall), Lorraine Heffernan (3rd in category) and Myra Nolan at the Tri an Mhi triathlon in Collinston, Westmeath. Saturday morning last saw three of our talented multi sport athlete take up another triathlon challenge when Anne McGrane, Lorraine Heffernan an Myra Nolan took on the Tri an Mhi triathon.We also saw the birth of a new rivalry as a fantastic tussle between two Anne McGrane & Lorraine Heffernan - saw a tremendous battle ensue for the 3rd place in the event. On this occasion Anne just managed to pip Lorraine for 3rd place over the closing stages in what was a terrific race. Consisting of a 750 metre swim 20 km cycle and 5km run, both athletes made little of the adverse weather conditions to produce fantastic finishing times. Anne made a superb start to the event with a fantastic swim in 15 minutes 12 seconds. Finishing very closely behind was a fast finishing Lorraine in 15 minutes 56 seconds. Competing in her first open open water swim Myra produced a fearless display as she took on the waves with no problem to complete the course in a brilliant 20 minutes 36 seconds.Then onto the bike for the cycling segment where Anne continued her determined charge towards the medals with an outstanding cycle in 39 minutes 41 seconds. Pushing Anne all the way on the cycle, Lorraine produced a magnificent bike ride completing the difficult cycling circuit in a most impressive 39 minutes 41 seconds. Keeping herself in close contention after the cycling discipline we also had Myra showing tremendous ability on the bike as a Myra completed the course in a very quick time of 42 minutes 02 seconds. Rounding off a day of great displays and a great tussle, Anne, Lorraine & Myra looked as fresh as daisies with the 5k run to come and this told as all three athletes produced exceptional runs with Anne completing the 5k in a very quick 25 minutes 37 seconds with Lorraine and Myra producing two of the quickest running performances of the day to complete the course in 24 minutes 10 seconds and 24 minutes 15 seconds respectively. These brilliant splits gave Anne a finishing time of 1 hours 22 minutes 16 seconds for third placed lady overall with Lorraine right behind in 1 hour 22 minutes 41 seconds for 1st place in her category and Myra 1 hour 30 minutes 22 seconds. These successes are well deserved by three extremely hard working athletes who have training very diligently for the triathlon events throughout the summer.

On Sat 10th Sept, nine of our athletes made the autumn trip to Blessington to compete in this year The Lakes 10km road race. Our athletes all produced outstanding displays with high quality running. Linda Dowling led the Lucan charge on the evening as Linda's second outstanding run of the week saw her complete the 10km course in a brilliant 55 minutes 33 seconds. Linda looks to have got herself in tremendous shape for the autumn campaign. Next across the line for Lucan was new member Gaye Kavanagh. Gaye obviously has a lot of natural talent as Gaye convincingly broke the 1 hour barrier with her outstanding 57 minutes 14 seconds clocking. Gaye will prove a brilliant addition to the Lucan ladies set-up. Closely following Gaye was Roisin Nash, running her second race since joining Lucan. Roisin continued her sequence of consistent performances by also breaking the 1 hour barrier with her magnificent 58 minutes clocking. Roisin has obvious talent for distance running as this performance adds to her exceptional run over 10 miles in the Phoenix Park recently. Fiona Doyle, in her second race of the week, demonstrated remarkable endurance and she built on her impressive run over 5km in Kilbride with a fantastic run over the longer 10km distance - Fiona crossing the line in a very quick 58 minutes 28 seconds. Chasing Fiona hard all the way was the fast finishing Clodagh Ashe. Clodagh, currently in a rich vein of form produced a great display of running on the day as Clodagh completed the 10km distance in an eye-catching time of 58 minutes 37 seconds. The 6th Lucan lady home on the evening was the vey busy Josie Dignam. Josie has arguably been the busiest Lucan athlete of the year and her great dedication to racing ad training continues to be rewarded as Josie produced a great run on the day to complete te Blessington course in a great 59 minutes 30 seconds. Arguably the run of the evening came from the hard working Edel Smyth. Edel achieved the great milestone of breaking the 1 hour barrier and a very determined finish over the lat 100 metres saw Edel cross the line in 59 minutes 53 seconds. This achievement will give Edel great confidence for the future. Barbara Whelan was our 8th lady home. Producing a great display on the day and adding to two impressive runs in our club championships recently, Barbara ran a great even paced race to clock a fantastic time of hour 4 minutes 26 seconds. Ann McGee in running an outstanding 1 hour 6 minutes 41 seconds completed an evening of outstanding displays from the Lucan ladies. Ann has continued her terrific form on the roads throughout 2011 that has seen Ann impress over all distances an continued her high quality consistent performances from last year.

On Sat 10th Sept, the highlights for Lucan were a 1st and 3rd in categories from Eileen O'Brien and Bernie Stapleton plus a 14th place overall from Derry McVeigh at the BHAA Grand Thornton 10km race in Firhouse. Bernie Stapleton led the Lucan ladies home on the morning as an impressive sprint finish saw Bernie finish very strongly in 47 minutes 33 seconds for a fantastic 3rd place in her category. Bernie, high on confidence following her recent personal best run on the track, looked strong throughout and looks to be in tip top shape with the busy cross country season rapidly approaching. Closely tracking Bernie was our recently crowned National Half marathon champion Eileen O’Brien. Eileen, too, showing great confidence from all her recent successes, hit the ground running from the start and ran very even split to cross the line in a fantastic time of 50 minutes 51 seconds - finishing first in her category. Derry McVeigh, returning to action after a heavy training block in preparation for the upcoming Dublin marathon, led the Lucan men home on the day. Derry made little of the hilly course as he continued his amazing run of results to race home in a brilliant time of 36 minutes 54 seconds finishing 14th from 197 finishers. This performance comes as no surprise as Derry is currently in terrific form. Next home for Lucan was Brendan Maher. Brendan continues to amaze as his performances get better and better all the time. Saturday morning was no exception as Brendan produced another fantastic racing display to complete the undulating 10km course in an exceptional 41 minutes 55 seconds. Gerry Martin was the next Lucan man home. Gerry,as ever in the BHAA series, produced a strong display of distance running as Gerry crossed the line in an exceptional 44 minutes 31 seconds on a quite challenging but enjoyable 10km course. Jim Dwyer completed an impressive day's running by the Lucan men as Jim produced a very strong performance over the second half of the race to complete the course in 55 minutes 05 seconds. Jim has taken up since returning to the Lucan set up from where he left off. Well done to all.

On Wed 7th Sept, Joe Corcoran won his category with Gerard Moloney also impressing at the Garda Coiste Roinne 4 mile road race in the Phoenix Park. Starting outside the Garda HQ and going north into a strong headwind Joe Corcoran produced a very convincing run putting a number of the pre-race favourites to the sword, so much so that Joe won gold in his category convincingly. Joe achieved this by clocking a superb 24 minutes 50 seconds for the 4 mile distance. In the same race Gerard Moloney produced arguably his most impressive display of the year. Gerard produced a quick finish down Chesterfield Avenue and crossed the finish line in a very quick 26 minutes 50 seconds. This performance will no doubt give Gerard great confidence heading into the cross country campaign when Gerard also looks so strong.

On Sun 4th Sept, Lucan's own National Triathlon Champion, Joe Lynch, proved his mettle one again by winning his category and placing 2nd amateur at the Galway Half Ironman Challenge. Our National triathlon champion, Joe Lynch, just off an unbelievably tough training block made the trip west at the weekend to compete in the Galway Half Ironman challenge. Joe certainly made the trip pay as a series of outstanding performances in the three disciplines of this savage event saw Joe complete the challenge in an amazing time of 4 hours 14 minutes 27 seconds. Joe started proceedings with an outstanding swim of 750 metres in a very, very quick 17 minutes 30 seconds. After a slick transition, Joe hopped onto the the bike and as ever Joe made serious inroads into the guys ahead of him at stage by clocking a terrific time of 2 hour 22 minutes 46 seconds for the 90 km distance. After the cycling discipline all the was left for Joe to do was a half marathon run!!! As it turned out this proved no problem as Joe completed the 13+ distance in a memorable 1 hour 26 minutes 40 seconds to complete another remarkable performance. This placed Joe first in his category, 10th overall and second amateur overall. This is yet another tremendous achievement by Joe as this event included le creme de la creme of world class ironmen & triathletes and we can proudly say that we have one of the best among us. Congratulations Joe!

On Sun 4th Sept, Freda Comiskey, Anne McGrane and Linda Dowling ran in the Great Pink 5km road race at The Point in Dublin. Following excellent placing the Clones 5k and our club championships, Freda Comiskey continued her remarkable run of results. Starting and finishing at the Point village, Freda produced a sensational run to place 4th overall in an extremely competitive race by racing home in a fantastic time of 21 minutes 26 seconds. This result demonstrates that Freda is now one of the top female runners on the Dublin scene. Anne McGrane followed Freda home. Anne had a big breakthrough performance on the day an outstanding display over the 5km distance saw Anne revised her personal best time to 24 minutes 04 seconds.Anne set herself a target of 24 minutes for the race and got her pacing spot on on the day to achieve this grest time. This performance should give Anne great confidence and is certainly well deserved for the dedication shown by Anne.Not only is Anne a great runner, she has also shown great ability in the triathlon too. Linda Dowling had an outstanding run over the 5km distance in what we believe to be her first race. Linda produced a tremendous display as she completed the distance in an exceptionally quick 27 minutes 53 seconds. This was a brilliant debut from Linda and without doubt we will see Linda push on from this. Well done to all.


Eileen O'Brien, once again, proudly flew the flag for Lucan ladies as a magnificent display of half marathon running from Eileen saw her claim yet another National title. Eileen produced a sensational run on the day in Waterford and used all her years of experience of running marathons and half marathons to great effect to cross the line in a quite brilliant 1 hour 45 minutes 45 seconds. This performance adds to Eileen's catalogue of successes this year as Eileen continues to have a dream season.

On Sat 3rd Sept, Fiona Doyle, Paula Howard, Brian Brunton and Cormac Dowd all ran in the Kilbride 5km road race in Clonee. Fiona Doyle led the Lucan charge on the day and continued her fantastic run of form since joining the club. Fiona had an outstanding run on the morning and she raced home in a superb time of 28 minutes 38 seconds. This is great running over the 5km distance and we look forward to see Fiona competing during the cross country season. Paula Howard, too, made the short trip to Meath to compete in the inaugural Kilbride 5km road race. Run on a fast Clonee course Paula used this to her advantage to race home in a brilliant 31 minutes 53 seconds. Paula is so new to our club but is making huge strides since joining the set-up and looks to have a bright future ahead of her in athletics. Brian Brunton led the challenge for the men and can be very pleased with his morning’s work. Brian was one of the first across the line placing 13th overall in a brilliant 20 minutes 58 seconds. Brian has looked very strong in training over the last number of weeks and carried this tremendous form into the race, finishing the race very strongly. Lucan’s latest addition, Cormac Dowd, was our second finisher on the morning. Cormac, having just taking up running 3 months ago, after being inspired by our own Tom Byrne race in May produced a brilliant debut run completing the 5kms in an excellent 25 minutes 07 seconds. This was a great run by athlete so new to the sport and no doubt we will see Cormac revise this time in the Rathfarnham 5k in two weeks. Well done to all.

On Wed 31st Aug, Bernie Stapleton and Jim Dwyer ran at the BHAA Zurich 2 mile track race in Tallaght Stadium. More. Bernie Stapleton, fresh from her efforts 24 hours earlier, was back out on the track competing over the 2 mile distance in Tallaght. Bernie produced a fantastic run on the night as Bernie secured her third personal best run of the year in racing home in a terrific time of 13 minutes 29 seconds. This knocked a whopping 13 seconds of Bernie's previous best for the distance and builds on her personal best runs over 800 metres and 5 miles earlier in the year. For the men, Jim Dwyer was the sole competitor. Jim, no doubt still feeling the effects from his hard running in our club championship race the previous evening, still managed to produce another great display as Jim completed the 2 mile course in a fantastic time of 15 minutes 25 seconds. Jim continues to keep busy and no doubt we will see Jim attack the cross country season with great aplomb over the coming weeks. Well done to both athletes.


On Tue 30th Aug, Una Cassoni and Philip Fay won the club handicap race in Griffeen Park. This race involves the athletes setting off at various intervals based on their performances at the previous week's club Championship. The slowest runner starts off first and the runners then set off at intervals until finally the club Championship winner is the last person to start and try to catch all athletes. This always makes for an exciting race and this year was no exception. Una Cassoni in running a fantastic time of 16 minutes 36 seconds on the night saw off stiff competition to claim the women/s handicapped based road race. The performance comes as no surprise as Una has been in sensational form all summer following her debut for the club in the Women’s Mini Marathon in early June. New member Ursula Eaton, too, impressed in the race and was in fact the first lady home in an outstanding time of 16 minutes 30 seconds. Unfortunately Ursula was unable to compete the previous week and therefore was ineligible for the big prize on the night. With performances like this though we are sure to see Ursula very competitive in our Turkey trot series in December, snow permitting! Third across the line on the night was Clodagh Ashe. Clodagh had a storming run on the night to complete the 2 laps in a fantastic 17 minutes 20 seconds and looks to be in top form at present. Philip Fay produced a sensational last lap and an amazing sprint finish to out kick the field and race home in a brilliant 20 minutes 01 second. This was Philip’s second success of the summer following his success in Trinity College in June and his recent training performances suggested that this success was in the offing. Translated into a 5k equivalent, this was also a personal best run from Philip. Second home on the night was Gerry Byrne Snr. Gerry, unavailable last week showed us what we were missing as a very consistent run and trademark strong finish saw Gerry across the line in a brilliant 19 minutes 01 second. Pushing Gerry all the way was the very speedy Colm O’Connor. With a terrific time of 19 minutes 04 seconds Colm demonstrated the he has great endurance with this performance on the night. Thanks to everyone who helped with the running of both races over the two weeks. A special word of thanks to Henry Langton for all his hard work in organising this year’s races and producing excellent results sheets -- results will be posted here v soon.


On Sun 28th Aug, Terry Meyler travelled to Longford to compete in this year’s Longford half marathon. Using the outing as preparation for this year’s Dublin marathon, Terry pushed on hard over the distance and was deservedly rewarded with a new personal best time of 1 hour 40 minutes 03 seconds. This extends Terry's sequence of good outings at this distance. Terry has shown a huge appetite for training and is being rewarded with outstanding times each time he races. Well done Terry.

On Sat 27th / Sun 28th Aug, Fergal O'Brien had another brilliant tournament at the PTC Snooker Championship in Germany. Well done to Fergal O'Brien who reached the quarter finals in the PTC Snooker tournament in Germany. Fergal took some notable scalps in the process and showed great determination and no little skill to come from 3 - 1 down on two occasions (vs Irish rival Joe Delaney and Chinese superstar Ding Junghui) to win both matches 4-3.

On Sat 27th Aug, Gerry Byrne Jr put in a strong performance in the mile in tough weather conditions at the ALSAA Open Sports day. Gerry Byrne junior completed his track season when he competed in the mile race. Despite the torrential rain and strong winds Gerry produced a fantastic run to finish 6th overall in an impressive 5 minutes 24 seconds. Gerry made a strong start competing the opening 400 metres in 75 seconds and followed this up with another impressive 400 in 79 seconds. Despite feeling fatigue Gerry held his form well all the way to the finish to complete a most impressive season on the track. Great running Gerry.

On Fri 26th Aug, Sinead Murphy ran in the Kilfinane 5 mile road race (part of the Ballyhoura active series) in Limerick. Sinead, a month after her personal best run in Kinsale, was back out competing over the 5 mile distance. This run on a tough, hilly course saw Sinead use the strength garnered doing a lot of mountain walking recently to great effect as Sinead made light of the tough opening 2 and a half miles and a tough uphill finish to produce a magnificent time of 43 minutes 20 seconds. Sinead has reached a new level of performance this year and we look forward to watching Sinead compete over the remainder of the season. Well done Sinead.


The races were held on the footpaths in Griffeen Park, each lap approximately one mile around. Freda Comiskey overcame a very stiff challenge from the in-form Bernie Stapleton to claim the women's crown in a fantastic 13 minutes 34 seconds for the two laps. This was an even more outstanding run when we consider that Freda is not long back training after her adventures in Africa during the summer that included climbing the renowned Kilimanjaro mountain. Bernie Stapleton for her part produced a storming run to finish second in a superb time of 13 minutes 46 seconds. Bernie has looked very impressive all season as a result of racing regularly and continues to reap the results of this. Meanwhile third across the line was the excellent Claire Buckley who followed Bernie home in an outstanding time of 14 minutes 08 seconds. It’s great to see Claire in such a fine vein of form. John Canny demonstrated his considerable abilities when he was first across the line in the men's 3 lap race. This was yet another fine run from John in his comeback. Possibly the run of the night came from Gerry Byrne junior. Gerry, fresh from his personal best run over 800 metres on the track recently, showed that he also possesses plenty of endurance as Gerry held off a fierce challenge from Brendan Maher to take second place in a great time of 18 minutes 01 seconds. Third home for the men was the heretofore mentioned Brendan Maher. Brendan threw the kitchen sink in his efforts to secure second place and despite having a 2 hour run in his legs from the previous Sunday managed to produce a sensational run in a time of 18 minutes 03 seconds. More complete results to follow shortly.


Our juvenile athletes travelled to Athlone in some confidence to compete in this year's All Ireland Community games following some recent outstanding results in the National Clubs Track and Field competitions. The competition here at the National Community Games is hot because each representative must be their county Champion just to qualify. SO each of our athletes were wearing the Dublin singlet with pride. In the U16 girls javelin competition Tara Andrews finished third overall in a high quality throw event. Tara produced a number of fantastic throws on the day and this result comes as no surprise to anybody in the club as Tara has been consistently impressing in her category for the last two seasons. Our U15 mixed relay teams of Tara Andrews, Kathlyn Weafer, Sarah Reihill, Adam Doran & Jack Carey combined their considerable individual talents to produced a fantastic mixed relay team for the weekend. No strangers to individual medal success at both Dublin and National level all these athletes excelled on their legs to impressively come through the heats and the semi final to take their place in the final. In the final itself our excellent team took some notable scalps in finishing third overall. Perhaps the performance of the weekend came from one of our newest and youngest members - Sophie Reihill. Competing in the U/8 60 metre sprints competition, Sophie produced a magnificent run in the heats to qualify for the semi-final. In the semi final race, Sophie had her second outstanding run of the weekend to finish fifth. No doubt we will see Sophie on the podium in these events. Bring home two medals we believe is by far our most successful National Community Games ever, or at least in recent memory. Liam Townsend took home the U10 National 80m title approximately 10 years ago so it is great to see this new generation of Lucan athletes building on past successes. Well done to all on amazing results.


On Sat 20th Aug, Eileen O'Brien won her category with other Lucan athletes impressing at the National Lottery / Frank Duffy 10 mile road race in the Phoenix Park. Eileen O'Brien in leading our ladies home produced yet another magnificent winning run. Eileen made little of the couple of undulations on the course to produce an outstanding time of 1 hour 21 minutes 22 seconds which once more placed Eileen 1st in her category. In close proximity to Eileen at the finish we had Bernie Stapleton. Bernie demonstrated her great versatility as an athlete in completing the 10 mile course in a fantastic time of 1 hour 21 minutes 51 seconds to build on her recent superb performances on the track over shorter distances in recent times. Just two weeks after her mighty display of distance running in the Clew Bay half marathon, Deirdre Counihan was back our impressing over the longer distances again. Deirdre continued her remarkable run of impressive displays in completing the 10 mile distance in a quick time of 1 hour 25 minutes 09 seconds. Closely following Deirdre, we had the ever impressive Maria Byrne. Maria who has got better and better with each race, continued her upward trend with another fantastic run. Maria tore into the Phoenix Park hills to complete the difficult course in a quick 1 hour 27 minutes 58 seconds and without a shadow of a doubt there is plenty more left in the tank for Maria.Next to cross the finish line for Lucan was one of our newer recruits - Fiona Doyle. It's great to see Fiona continuing to show such fantastic form and ability and Fiona had another super run in racing around the 10 miles in a time of 1 hour 36 minutes 52 seconds. Following Fiona home was the in form Josie Dignam. Josie produced another personal best run as she completed the 10 mile distance in a magnificent time of 1 hour 43 minutes 38 seconds. Thes top quality performances from Josie should continue to give her great confidence and is just reward for all of Josie's hard work.Following her noteworthy display in the Irish Runner 5 mile race 5 weeks ago, Una Cassoni, took to the roads agan in the second race in the build up to the upcoming marathon. Una produced an even more impressive run this time round as Una completed the two laps of the hilly Phonix Park course in a brilliant time of 1 hour 47 minutes 33 seconds and looks to be in top form having worked extremely hard over the summer. Eibhlin Ni Chonchuir, in following Una home in a fantastic 1 hour 53 minutes 18 seconds, continued her most impressive campaign of running this year. With numerous races under her belt, Eibhlin has shown remarkable consistency and can look forward to the remainder of this race series with some confidence. Tommy Buggle led the Lucan men home in the second race of the series building up to this year's Dublin Marathon. Tommy produced an outstanding run, finishing in an amazing time of 1 hour 04 minutes 50 seconds and looks to be in top shape at the minute. Next home for the Lucan men was Patrick Holden. Patrick has certainly kept himself busy this week as this was Patrick's second race of the week. Patrick produced a fantastic performance, completing the 10 miles in 1 hour 11 minutes 22 seconds builing on his superbtime over 5kms on Sunday last. Following Patrick we had the very dedicated Terry Meyler, being the third male home for the Lucan men. It looks as if Terry's early morning training regime is reaping dividends as Terry had a terrific run through the 2 laps of the Phoenix Park course to race home in an impressive 1 hour 17 minutes 50 seconds. Jim Dwyer completed an excellent morning's running from our men as Jim's superb time of 1 hour 18 minutes 54 seconds proves that Jim's injury problems are well and truly behind him. No doubt we will see Jim go from strength to strength from this. Gerard Moloney, just two weeks after a very impressive showing in the Streets of Galway 8k, produced another very strong display in the distance event as Gerard produced a scintillating display to race home in 1 hour 19 minutes 05 seconds. It's fair to say that Gerard looks to be back in tip top shape once more. Well done to all.

On Fri 19th Aug, Freda Comiskey placed 2nd in her category at the Clones 5km road race in Monaghan. Freda made her competitive comeback following her African adventure. Freda certainly hit the ground running on her return as a terrific time of 22 minutes 22 seconds saw Freda place second in her category. No doubt Freda will continue to go from strength to strength from this with a number of both road and cross country races on the horizon over the coming weeks.

On Sun 14th Aug, John Canny placed 12th overall with Ann McGee first in her category at the Celbridge 5km road race. A number of other Lucan athletes made the short trip to Celbridge at the weekend to compete in the second edition of the Celbridge 5km road race. Our athletes can be delighted with the quality of their performances. A fine run from John Canny saw him lead the Lucan men home in an outstanding time of 16.59. This gave John 12th place overall in a very competitive field of over 300 runners. John's recent results show that he is back in top form. Brian Farrell, building on his excellent personal best performance over 10km in Dun Laoghaire two weeks ago, produced another fantastic display of distance running in coming home in an excellent time of 18 minutes 15 seconds. Brian ran a very even paced race and looked very strong throughout as Brian continues to get sharper and sharper all the time. Following Brian home, we had the excellent Brendan Maher. Brendan, who has been in terrific form over the 5 kilometre distance all year, continued his terrific run of performances with a 19 minutes 27 seconds clocking on the Celbridge roads. These terrific times comes as no surprise as Brendan has been putting in serious mileage over the last number of weeks in the build up to the Dublin marathon. Hot on Brendan's heels we had a strong finishing Joe Corcoran. Joe, in his first outing in recent weeks, produced a classy display, showing great strength in racing home in a superb time of 19 minutes 40 seconds. This was yet another tremendous display by one of the most knowledgeable athletes in the club as Joe demonstrated fantastic racing nous in producing this display. Closely following Joe was James Nealon. It was great to see James back out competing and James produced a superb run through the highways and byeways of Celbridge in crossing the line in a brilliant time of 19 minutes 45 seconds. This was a great run by James who has obviously been training hard in recent times. Hot on James' heels at the finish was a fast finishing Alan Cassells. Alan, returning to action after a short injury lay-off produced an exceptional display to race home in a very quick 19 minutes 49 seconds. Alan can be well pleased with his mornings work and no doubt with a good week's training, we will see a couple of more impressive displays from Alan in our upcoming club road championships. Next to cross the finish line from Lucan was one of our newer members, Patrick Holden. Patrick has got better and better with each race and this one was no exception as Patrick produced a phenomenal run in clocking a time of 20 minutes 09 seconds. There is no doubt but this is only the start of things to come from Patrick as Patrick continues to produce consistent impressive displays in all our training sessions. Gerry Martin continued his most impressive session in following Patrick with a magnificent display. Gerry has kept himself very busy all summer with consistent racing and has got sharper with each one. It was against this background that Gerry produced this remarkable display, cruising around the Celbridge roads in a brilliant 21 minutes 56 seconds. Philip Fay completed an outstanding day of performances by the Lucan men as Philip sprinted home in a superb time of 22 minutes 08 seconds. Considering that Philip is so new to club running and that this is Philips first full season with us, Philip's displays in the Lucan vest all summer, including a fantastic track victory,have been truly sensational and this display over 5km proved to be no exception. Leading the way for the ladies was new member Roisin Nash. Roisin looks to be quite an athlete if her debut for the club is anything to go by. Roisin ran a superb tactical race to complete her first 5km race for the club in a magnificent time of 26 minutes 38 seconds. This performance from Roisin is further evidence that our ladies section continues to get stronger all the time.It was also great to see Winifred Ryan back out competing. Winifred had a fantastic run on her return to action as Winifred produced some very strong running throughout and especially over the second half of the race in clocking a brilliant time of 27 minutes 38 seconds. This outstanding display from Winifred is proof of all her hard work in training over the summer ad is well deserved by one of the most dedicated athletes in the club. Ann McGee, just a short number of weeks after her absolutely brilliant run in the Irish Runner 5 mile challenge was at it again - producing yet another magnificent display. Ann used the flatness of the course to great effect as Ann completed the 5km distance in a very quick time of 29 minutes 24 seconds to take home top prize in her category. This display will give Ann great confidence as she continues her racing campaign over the remaining months of the year.


Well done to Fergal O'Brien on his recent excellent display in the PTC Snooker tournament.Fergal took some notable scalps over two magical days and in fact it took the World Championship runner up Judd Trump to halt Fergal's progress in the semi finals. Below are Fergal's results in the tournament. Congratulations Fergal!
9th August 2011 - PTC Two Round 1
Fergal O`Brien 4 - 0 Billy Castle
9th August 2011 - PTC Two Round 2
Fergal O`Brien 4 - 1 Passakorn Suwannawat
9th August 2011 - PTC Two Round 3
Fergal O`Brien 4 - 3 Tony Drago
10th August 2011 - PTC Two Last 16
Fergal O`Brien 4 - 2 Allister Carter
10th August 2011 - PTC Two Q/Finals
Ronnie O'Sullivan 3 - 4 Fergal O`Brien
10th August 2011 - PTC Two S/Finals
Judd Trump 4 - 0 Fergal O`Brien

On Wed 10th Aug, Jim Dwyer ran in the BHAA Irish Life and Permanent 3km track race at Irishtown Stadium. On the night, Jim Dwyer competed in the Standards 16-30 3km track race. Jim put in another very impressive showing completing the 7.5 laps of the Irishtown track in a swift 14 minutes 35 seconds placing Jim 4th overall in the race. This was further impressive running by Jim following his fine run over the mile two weeks earlier. Once again Jim looks to be flying. Well done Jim.

On Sat 6th Aug, Derval McCarthy placed 3rd woman overall as several Lucan athletes participated in the Clew Bay Half Marathon in Louisburg. A number of our talented female distance runners made their way west last weekend to compete in the very first Clew Bay Half Marathon. The trip proved worthwhile with our athletes producing top quality performances. Derval McCarthy led the way, in what we believe to be her first half marathon race in recent seasons. Derval had a sensational run as Derval placed as 3rd lady overall with a fantastic time 1 hour 40 minutes. This performance is even more impressive when we consider that Derval has had a nightmare couple of seasons with injury -- but as the old adage goes, form is temporary, class is permanent. Speaking of class, Myra Nolan was Lucan’s second athlete home as Myra produced her second outstanding run over the half marathon distance this year as Myra raced home in a superb time of 1 hour 47 minutes. Myra is so consistent over the distance as this time was very close to that posted by Myra in the Bay Run earlier in the summer. Closely following Myra was the very versatile Deirdre Counihan. Deirdre has been in top form over the shorter distances this summer and kept this form going into the much longer 13.1 mile outing as Deirdre produced a stunning display on the day to clock an outstanding time of 1 hour 50 minutes. Deirdre normally hits top form at this time of year as marathon season approaches and this looks to be no different from Deirdre’s point of view. Emer McCarthy, in following Deirdre across the finish line, continued her remarkable impressive run of performances over the half marathon. Building on her excellent podium finish in the Bay Run Half marathon in Bantry earlier in the season, Emer continued where she left off by racing home in a fantastic time of 1 hour 54 minutes. Emer, once again, looks to have timed her peak fitness to perfection with a number of distance races in the offing in the build up to this year’s Dublin marathon. Bernie Doyle, in completing the west of Ireland course in a magnificent time of 2 hour 06 minutes, completed a day of very impressive displays by our ladies. This, too, was Bernie’s second outing over the half marathon distance of the year and Bernie’s time proves that she has reached a great level of consistency over the distance as Bernie’s time on the day was extremely close to that posted in Bantry in May. Well done to all.

Thank you to David Gillick for visiting the club last Tuesday evening. I'm sure you will all agree that David was very generous with his time on the night and provided a lot of very useful advice and tips that should serve us all well over the coming months and years. We wish David all the best as he prepares for next year's Olympic games.

Lucan A.C. club member and snooker ace Fergal O'Brien qualifies for Shanghai Snooker Masters 2011. Congratulations to Fergal O'Brien on his brilliant 5-1 victory over Ricky Walden on Thursday last and on his 5-2 victory over Michael White the previous day. Fergal has now qualified for the tournament proper where he will take on Peter Ebdon inthe first round. We wish Fergal the best of luck in this tournament!

On Sat 6th Aug, Eleanor Walsh and Gerard Moloney ran in the Streets of Galway 8k in Galway. New member Eleanor Walsh made her debut in the Lucan colours and produced a fantastic display on her first outing for the club as Eleanor completed the Galway 8kms in a very swift 39 minutes 01 seconds. This display by Eleanor demonstrates that we have found yet another great talent to add to the growing strength in the ladies section. Gerard Moloney, running on home turf, looked right at home on the Galway city centre 8km course as Gerard raced to home in an excellent time of 33 minutes 56 seconds. This was only Gerard's second race of the year but Gerard has obviously trained extremely well all year as his times in his two races have been superb to say the least. Well done to both athletes.

On Thur 4th Aug, John Canny won the annual Clonliffe harriers 1500m Grand Prix race in Santry Stadium. John Canny put in another seasons best performance to win the annual Clonliffe 1500m in a fine time of 4 minutes 33 seconds. John took up the running early and ran the first lap in a speedy 69 seconds and followed this with a 73 second 2nd lap. John had enough reserves of strength to hold off the rapidly chasing pack in a excellent demonstration of front running. Congratulations to John on yet another excellent display.

On Mon 1st Aug, Bernie Stapleton, Josie Dignam, Una Cassoni, Brian Farrell and Brendan Maher all ran in the DLR Bay 10km road race in Dun Laoghaire. Fresh from her excellent performance on the track 5 days earlier, Bernie Stapleton was back out competing, this time on the roads over a diffcult 10kms in Dun Laoghaire. As per usual from Bernie, she put in a top quality display of road running in crossing the line in a brilliant 48 minutes 29 seconds. Una Cassoni had yet another impressive outing - her third of the summer - by completing the undulating Dun Laoghaire course in a brilliant 57 minutes 34 seconds. Una ran a very intelligent race completing the second half of the race quicker than the first half. Also representing the ladies was the in form Josie Dignam. Josie continued her remarkable run of quality performances as Josie completed the Dun Laoghaire course in an outstanding time of 57 minutes 55 seconds. This was an outstanding personal best run by Josie and even more so considering the difficult course that the race followed. Brian Farrell led the charge for the Lucan men. This was Brian's first race since the Sportsworld 5 mile in May but Brian's high quality training performances over the previous 2 months paid dividends on the day as Brian ran a brilliant time of 38 minutes 18 seconds on the day despite the course being so undulating especially from 3-8 kilometres. Aso competing for the Lucan men was Brendan Maher, who continued his preparations for this year's Dublin marathon by making light of the Dun Laoghaire hills. Brendan cruised around the 10kms in a fantastic time of 41 minutes 18 seconds. Brendan has been training so hard over the last 3 - 4 months and has reached a fantastic level this summer that has seen Brendan get among the prizes on roads this summer. Well done to all. Results.

On Sun 31st July, Gareth Fereday ran in the Banna Beach 10km race at Banna Beach, Kerry. Gareth Fereday continued his fantastic run over the 10km distance when he competed in this year's Banna Beach 10km race. Gareth made light of the difficult course as he raced home in a brilliant time of 39 minutes 15 seconds building on his excellent run on the roads over the same distance in Nottingham earlier in the summer. Well run Gareth,


Adam Doran, for the second time in 3 weeks, produced a National title winning performance, this time in the U15 boys combined events competition. This is a tremendous achievement by Adam and the juvenile coaches at the club. In the event Adam produced outstanding performances in all 5 disciplines - in the 80 metres hurdles Adam raced to a very quick time of 12.95 seconds, jumped a huge height of 1.5 metre in the high jump, leaped a highly impressive 5.49 metres in the long jumps, throw a massive 9.9 metes in the shot putt and put the icing on the cake with a brilliant 800 metre run in 2 minutes 31.98 seconds. This combination of results saw Adam improve from his silver medal performance of last year to gold this time around. We would like too congratulate Adam on this fantastic performance! Fresh from her heroics 1 week ago, Tara Andrews was back competing and produced a masterful display in finishing second in the U15 girls competition. Tara had a great day as Tara produced one quality performance after another in the 5 disciplines. Tara ran a lightning quick 14.05 seconds in the 80 metres hurdles, jumped a brilliant 1.39 metres in a competitive high jump competition and in competitive long jump competition Tara leaped a huge distance of 4.53 metres, threw an amazing distance of 7.45 metres and rounded off a fantastic medal winning display with a hugely impressive 800 metre run in 2 minutes 42.60 seconds. Tara was the silver medallist at these Championships last year and it is great to see such consistency. Well done Tara on this great achievement. Saoirse Reihill completed her highly impressive track campaign when she impressed against girls a year older than her in the U14 girls pentathlon competition. Saoirse's excellent performances in all disciplines is further proof that Saoirse has reach a new level in 2011. In the 75 metres hurdles Saoirse raced home in a very quick 15.04 seconds, jumped a a massive 1.25 metres in the high jump, followed this up with another massive jump of 3.53 metres in the long jump, threw an impressive 6.25 metres in the shot putt and completed an excellent event with a fantastic 800 metre run in 3 minutes 6.07 seconds. Congratulations to all on these amazing results!!


Having secured the title of National champion in the National Duathlon championships just over 12 months ago, Joe Lynch made an even bigger breahthrough at the weekend as Joe come out tops in the high quality National Triathlon championships. Joe made a fantastic start to the competition, completing the 1,500 metre swim in an outstanding time of 21 minutes 37 seconds. This had Joe well placed heading into arguably Joe's strongest disclipine in the event - the 40km cycle. This proved to be the case as Joe produced the quickest split of the time completing the bike ride in an outstanding 57 minutes 03 seconds. Joe put the icing on the cake with a superb 10km run covering the distance in a very qick tie of 36 minutes 42 seconds. This saw Joe home in a total time of 1 hour 56 minutes 47 seconds. This result has been well earned by Joe for his legendary training sessions that are best describe as savage. I'm sure you willl all join me in congratulating Joe on this tremendous achievement! Amazing, Joe!! Results and photos.

On Sat 30th July, Gerry Byrne Jr held nothing back in running a new personal 800m time at Dublin Graded Meet No 8 in Morton Stadium, Santry. Just over a week after his last outing over the 800 metres distance Gerry Byrne junior was back out competing in the excellent Dublin Graded series. Once again Gerry competed in the Section C 800 metre event and continued his outstanding form over the half mile distance. There's an old saying, "fortune favours the brave". Gerry proved this to be the case as his strong running in leading out the race over the first 400 metres in a blistering 60 seconds saw Gerry revise his personal best by well over 2 seconds with a magnificent 2 minutes 11.41 seconds clocking. This achievement has been well earned by Gerry for all his hard work after all his injuries over recent seasons. Congratulations Gerry!

On Fri 29th July, Sinead Murphy ran in the Kinsale 5 mile road race in Kinsale, Co Cork. Sinead continued her red hot streak of form when she travelled south to compete in the Kinsale 5 mile road race. Sinead certainly made the trip pay as an outstanding run on a very flat and fast Cork course in a superb 42 minutes 37 seconds saw Sinead revise her personal best over the distance and is a just reward for all Sinead's hard work during the year. Well done Sinead!

On Wed 27th July, Lucan's athletes competed in the BHAA Aviva Mile at Irishtown Stadium. Bernie Stapleton once again proved herself as one of the top lady milers in the BHAA as Bernie produced another scintilling run over the distance finishing in a super quick time of 6 minutes 38 seconds. Bernie has trained and raced so hard over the last number of years that she just seamlessly puts in one quality run after another in all her outings. This is testament to the great dedication Bernie shows to her trade. There seems to be no stopping the ever -green Eileen O'Brien. Just when we thought Eileen could no get any better she has just gone out in 2011 and produced a different level of cosistency. Once again Eileen produced a fantastic run over the 4 laps of the Irishtown track in 7 minutes 21 seconds as Eileen goes from strength to strength. Gareth Fereday, returning to action after an injury lay-off, proved what a natural talent he is as Gareth produced a fantastic run over the mile completing the distance is a very quick 5 minutes 16 seconds. Despite having not being able to train over the last 5 weeks after picking up an ankle injury, Gareth did not use this as an excuse and instead let his running do the talking running equal splits of 80 seconds over the first 3 laps before accelerating over the final 400 metres completing the final lap in a very quick 77 seconds. Also competing for the men we had Jim Dwyer, having recently returned to the Lucan set-up. Jim produced another strong running, consistent performance with a 7 min 24 second clocking. No doubt this is only the start of things to come from Jim with a number of races in the offing over the coming weeks and months. Jim has always been a very popular person at the club and it is great to see him back in a Lucan singlet. Welcome back Jim and well done again to all on these results.

On Sun 24th July, Nicola O'Flaherty, Brid Fogarty and Derry McVeigh ran in the Parkwest 10km road race. Nicola O’Flaherty continued her excellent form in 2011 as Nicola led the Lucan ladies home in a superb time of 53 minutes 36 seconds. Nicola has proven an excellent addition to the Lucan ladies section over the last two years since joining us and her dedication to training constantly reaps dividends on race day with Nicola always producing strong running in competition.No doubt there is plenty more top quality running to come from Nicola over the second half of the year. Closely tracking Nicola was Brid Fogarty. Brid, competing in her second race since returning to action can be very happy with her morning’s work as Brid had an outstanding run coming home in a brilliant time of 53 minutes 44 seconds. This was brilliant running by an athlete who has missed some training earlier in the season but has wasted no time in hitting top form on returning. Derry McVeigh, after having what can only be described as a battle royale with the leading lady in the race, produced another classy distance run in racing home in a magnificent time of 36 minutes 39 seconds. Derry has found a new level this year and has been outstanding in all his races over the spring and summer month. Judging by Derry’s times on the recent hill reps, there is plenty left in the tank as Derry prepares for the marathon in 3 month’s time. Well done to all.

On Sun 24th July, our U12 boys team competed in the Woodies DIY National Juvenile Inter Club Relays in Tullamore. Our very talented U12 Boys team of Lee Browne, Max Carey,Udi, Adam Kelliher, Niall Larkin & Cian Timmons built on their excellent performance of finishing third in the Dublin relay championships on June 24th when they took their talents to Tullamore at the weeekend to compete against Ireland's best clubs the Juvenile Inter club relays. Lee, Max, Udi, Adam, Niall and Cian are all superbly talented athletes as they demonstrate in the individual competitions so it came as no surprise to see our team perform so impressively at National level. In an extremely competitive 100 metres relay event our team ran a lightning quick time and just narrowly missed out on a place in the final. Well done guys.


Tara Andrews, having just recently recovered from an injury set-back, competed in the Girls U15 National Javelin competition. The short lay-off appears to have done Tara some good as Tara produced a magnificent display on her comeback as Tara's amazing throw of 25 metres 81 centimetres placed her 4th just shy of third place in a high quality javelin competition.

On Thur 21st July, Bernie Stapleton led an impressive Lucan charge at the Liberties 6.5km road race in Dublin. Bernie was the first Lucan lady across the line in a superb time of 29 minutes 09 seconds. This was yet more impressive distance running from Bernie as she builds on her magnificent form from the BHAA series of races. Hot on Bernie's heels was the bang in form Deirdre Counihan. Deirdre, fresh from a number of podium finishes in recent races, produced another classy display in racing home in a fantastic time of 29 minutes 22 seconds. It looks like Deirdre's tough training regime is continuing to reap dividends. Ann McGee completed an impressive display by the Lucan ladies as Ann raced home in an outstandingly quick time of 35 minutes 44 seconds. It looks as if Ann has continued to train extremelt hard throughout the year as Ann has been so consistent with her high quality running all year. Well done to all.

On Wed 20th July, Gerry Byrne Jr had a very good run in the 800m at the Dublin Graded Meet No 7 at Irishtown Stadium. After an outstanding victory in the Section D 800 metres a few weeks earlier, Gerry Byrne junior stepped up a level to the section C race. Gerry made light of the increase in competition as a lightning quick opening 400 metres in 64 seconds helped Gerry to race home in a fantastic time of 2 minutes 14.95 seconds. With the track season in full swing and Gerry's great consistency over the distance there is every chance that we will see Gerry revise his excellent personal best over the 800 metres distance in the coming weeks.

On Sat 16th July, John Canny raced to his first race win of 2011 in the Garden of Ireland 7k Run around Powerscourt, Wicklow. I think we can safely say that John is back to his very best form. On the night, John ran a well judged, tactically astute race over the undulating 7km course. John finished 40 seconds ahead of his nearest competitor and managed to hold onto his lead over the last few hilly kilometres. We look forward to seeing John in action over the next months. See jpg # 46 on the linked page for a photo of John in the Lucan colours. Results and photos.

On Sat 16th July, Lorraine Heffernan placed 3rd in her category at the Muckno Mania Triathlon in Castleblaney, Monaghan. Lorraine Heffernan continued her excellent form in the triathlon when she travelled to Monaghan to compete in the Muckno Mania triathlon. Lorraine's superb 750 metre swim in 13 minutes 49 seconds set her up for this outstanding display. Lorraine follow this strong opening to the event with a very quick 20km cycle in 35 minutes 46 seconds and completed the gruelling event with an excellent 5km run in 22 minutes 35 seconds. This gave Lorraine a total finishing time of 1 hour 14 minutes 44 seconds and placed Lorraine a brilliant 3rd in her category. Fanastic result, Lorraine !!

On Sat 16th July, Eileen O'Brien secured another victory in her age category with other Lucan athletes impressing at the Irish Runner 5 mile road race in the Phoenix Park. Eileen O'Brien shows no signs of easing up as she continued her remarkable run of victories in her category. Eileen ran an magnificent time of 39 minutes 32 seconds. This performance cements Eileen's reputation as one of the top master runners in the country. Deirdre Daly produced her second fantastic run since joining Lucan as she raced home in a superb time of 36 minutes 01 second. Run on a testing course Deirdre demonstrated that her marathon preparations are right on track with this brilliant run and builds on an exceptional display in Enfield in May. Fiona Doyle having impressed over 10kms in the Women's Mini marathon in early June continued her fine vein of form as Fiona completed the 5 mile distance in an excellent time of 43 minutes 45seconds. This is excellent running by Fiona and even more so that Fiona is so new to the club. Closely following Fiona was the excellent Maria Byrne. Maria who has been in sensational form since returning to the club last year continued her year of fantastic displays as Maria had an outstanding run completing the 5 mile course in a brilliant 44 minutes 44 seconds. Followng Maria and continuing her super form from the Mini Marathon in early June we had an other new member Una Cassoni. Proving a great addition to Lucan Una produced a very impressive display as Una raced home in a sensational time of 47 minutes 44 seconds.This is yet more fantastic running by an athlete so new to club running. In hot pursuit of Una we had Josephine Dignam as Lucan's next finisher as Josephine gets better and better as the months progress. Josephine tackled the Phoenix Park course in an exceptional time of 47 minutes 55 seconds. Josephine has kept herself busy this year and has shown exceptional form throughout the year.Another athlete keeping herself busy throughout the year is Eibhlin Ni Chonchuir. This activity is certainly reaping dividends as Eibhlin ran a brilliant time of 53 minutes 58 seconds over the 5 mile distance. Eibhlin has been training so hard all year and is been rewarded with some excellent times in her performances. Patrick Holden, having looked particularly strong in the recent hill sessions, carried his good form into the race and produced a very strong run on a difficult course to race home in a fantastic time of 33 minutes 35 seconds. No doubt this is just the start of things to come from Patrick over the coming months as this was just Patrick's secondrace since recently joining our club. It is great for the men's section too have another quality performer on our books. Terry Meyler continued his excellent form from the Wexford Half Marathon when he tackled the first race in the build up to this year's Dublin Marathon. Terry produced an outstanding run on the Phoenix Park 5 mile course as Terry crossed the line in a noteworthy time of 35 minutes 59 seconds. Terry is looking in fine form over the longer distances once again this year.Colum Maddox followed Terry home as Colum ran a very quick time of 38 minutes 54 seconds. This was yet more very strong distance running from Colum as he continues his fine form from the Kildare Half Marathon recently. Colum has raced regularly over the half marathon distance in recent years and constantly manages to be so consistent over the 13.1 mile distance.
Very very belated congratulations to Josie Dignam, Ann McGee & Eibhlin Ni Chonchuir on three superb performance in the Irish Runner 5 mile road race. Josie Dignam had an outstanding run on the morning as Josie made little of the undulating course to race home in a fantastic time of 47 minutes 55 seconds. Josie is currently in a hot vein of form which is great to see as Josie is really dedicated to consistent racing. Closely tracking Josie was Ann McGee. Once again in 2011, Ann has continued to produced top level performances and this occasion was no different with Ann covering the 5 mile course in a brilliant 48 minutes 11 seconds. Eibhlin Ni Chonchuir, like Josie, has raced regularly this season and continues to see the fruits of her labour as Eibhlin made light of the difficult course in racing home in a superb time of 53 minutes 33 seconds. Well done to all on these excellent performances.

On Wed 13th July, Lucan's seniors competed in the BHAA Dublin County Council 5km road race in Ringsend. Bernie Stapleton, as ever, produced a most impressive display of long distance running when she completed the DCC 5km course in an amazing time of 22 minutes 12 seconds. This placed Bernie a fantastic 5th in her category as she continues to prove herself one of the top ladies in the BHAA series of races. Eileen O’Brien made a return to action with a bang as Eileen produced a sensational run crossing the line in a brilliant time of 24 minutes 32 seconds. This is Eileen's first race back after her outstanding run in the Cork City Marathon in early June secured yet another victory in her category. Derry McVeigh continued his remarkable run of results as he raced home in a superb 17 minutes 35 seconds. This placed Derry 10th overall, his highest finish in a BHAA race . Starting and finishing on the Irishtown track with 3 laps of Ringsend Park also thrown into the mix, Derry produced a display of fantastic 5k running to add to his catalogue of excellent performances over the distance this year. Following Derry home we had the bang in form Brendan Maher. Brendan continuing his scintillating form in 2011 produced a fantastic run on this bendy course in clocking a fantastic time of 19 minutes 25 seconds. This placed Brendan an excellent 6th in his category. Next home for Lucan was Gerry Byrne Snr. Gerry, following up his impressive displays on the track in recent weeks, used the speed he has garnered preparing for these races as he produced a very quick finish to the race to cross the line in an incredible time of 20 minutes 54 seconds. Gerry Martin, closely followed Gerry home as Gerry crossed the line in a lightning quick time of 21 minutes 12 seconds. Gerry is continuing to race extremely impressively throughout the summer season and no doubt there is plenty more to come from Gerry. Well done to all.

On Sun 10th July, Sinead Murphy placed 2nd in her age category at the Kilworth 5 mile road race in Fermoy. Sinead Murphy continued her superb run of results when she placed second in her category on the extremely difficult Kilworth course. This is a race promoted by Fermoy Grange Athletic Club and it's a big challenge with the extremely hilly route, Sinead did not let this deter her as she tore into the hills to cover the course in a fantastic time of 45 minutes 46 seconds. It appears that excellent training Sinead did in the build up to her recent half marathon is continuing to reap dividends for Sinead as she continues to impress. Well done Sinead.


Lucan's juvenile athletes travelled to the midlands and more precisely Tullamore at the weekend to compete in the National juvenile track and field championships. Our athletes continued with their terrific representation of the club as they continued to excel in all disciplines. Adam Doran produced a magnificent display in the U15 boys long jump competition as Adam's best jump of 5 metres 58 centimetres saw him convincingly outjump a classy field to take home the gold medal. Adam had earlier in the year won the National Indoor LJ title so this win completes the set! Having suffered a minor setback with a 4th place in the Dublin Championships, Adam bounced back -- excuse the pun -- in spectacular fashion when it mattered the most. Adam has proven time and again that he is a force to reckoned with at National level and we look forward to seeing Adam go from strength to strength from this. Congratulations Adam!!

In the U13 girls javelin competition Saoirse Reihill impressed with her outstanding throw of 11 metres 45 centimetres in a high quality competition. This performance was the culmination of a very productive year for Saoirse whose hard work and determination as been deservedly rewarded by a number of top quality performances throughout the year. On to the U13 girls High Jump competition and Saoirse continued her impressive run of results as Saoirse superb leap of 1 metre 25 centimetres saw Saoirse place 11th in a large field. This was high quality jumping by a young athlete who gets better and better by the month. No doubt we will be seeing plenty more from Saoirse over the coming seasons. In a very competitive U15 girls 250 metres hurdles competition Tara Andrews showed a very swift turn of foot as Tara placed 5th overall in a very quick time of 39.16 seconds. Tara is so versatile and seems to be able to switch between various events with consumate ease that there is no tell what she will achieve in the sport. Tara Andrews also had a very strong showing in the U15 girls long jump competiton. Tara's longest jump of 4 metres 72 centimetres saw her place an excellent 8th in a very competitive event that saw all athletes go further than 4 metres. No stranger to success at both local and National level Tara continues to impress in the Lucan colours in all events she competes in. Having excelled in the Dublin championships Rachel Briggs travelled to the National champiobships in outstanding form and held this throughout the National event.In the U16 javelin competition Rachel placed in a magnificent 5th place overall as Rachel's outstanding throw reached a fantastic distance of 27 metres 9 centimetres. This is high quality throwing and is even more impressive considering that this was achieved at the National championships. Rachel has produced an exceptional number of performances as the summer has progressed. Rachel also produced a fantastic display in the U16 girls shot putt competition with a best throw of 7 metres 11 centimetres. This was supeb throwing by a young athlete that continues to get stronger and stronger all the time. In the U16 boys 3,000 metre competition Daniel Byrne continued his year of amazing running over the longer distances.In the U16 boys 3,000 metre event Daniel raced to yet another outstanding time as Daniel's time of 11 minutes 11.76 seconds demonstrates. This placed Daniel an excellent 6th as Daniel carried his terrific form from the Dublin championships into the Nationa event. Congratulations to all of our athletes on these outstanding achievements.

On Wed 6th July, Derry McVeigh won his 1500m section with other Lucan athletes securing season's bests at the Dublin Graded Meet Number 6 in Morton Stadium, Santry. In the men’s Section C 1500m, Derry McVeigh secured his first athletics victory in the Lucan colours as a superb tactically astute run from Derry saw him blow the field apart over the last 400 metres. Derry took up a great position from the gun that enabled him to keep a close order on events. When the moves were made at the bell Derry went with it and with 300 metres to go Derry hit the front and powered away to secure victory in a brilliant personal best time of 4 minutes 27.66 seconds. This victory should give Derry great confidence for the remainder of the year as Derry has already been running sensational times over all distances and has now added wins to the mix. In the same race, John Canny, early on the comeback trail, finished in a very commendable time of 4 minutes 34.65 seconds for 10th place. I'm sure I speak for all at the club in saying that it's a pleasure seeing John's name on the results sheet again. In the men’s Section D 1500m, Conor Downes continues to show great ability on the track and built on his exceptional outing two weeks ago with an even better display this time out producing a personal best run by more than 5 seconds. This was well deserved as Conor ran bravely from the gun leading out the race over the opening 800 metres having a great battle with an athlete from Dunleer. At the bell Conor found himself in third place but kept himself composed and with 200 metres to go Conor kicked into another gear to finish very strongly in second place with a fantastic new personal best of 4 minutes 45.14 seconds. Also impressing in the same race we had Gerry Byrne Senior. Gerry adding to his superb run over the mile in the Trinity track event lately continued his exceptional string over performances on the track as very consistent splits over the opening laps enabled Gerry to produce a very impressive last 400 metres to cross the line in a terrific time of 5 minutes 13.18 seconds. This really was exceptional running by Gerry who impresses each time he dons the Lucan vest. Congratulations to all on some grreat results.

On Wed 6th July, Nicola Kavanagh lined out in her second race on a County Meath course in the last fortnight when she competed in the South O’Hanlon 5km road race. The Meath courses certainly seem to suit Nicola as she raced to another fantastic time of 22 minutes 05 seconds. Nicola is continuing to get stronger all the time since returning to action and has shown tremendous form over distances from 800 metres on the track to 10km on the roads in recent weeks Well done Nicola.

On Sat 2nd July, Eithne Richardson made the long trip to Kerry to compete in the Ring of Kerry cycle. The race was over a gruelling 179 kms but the fabulous sunshine and breathtaking scenery more than compensated for this.Despite suffering a snapped chain and gears afer 35 kms Eithne produced a fantastic cycle completing the whole event in a brilliant time of 9 hours as Eithne looks to have great ability in this sport. Well done Eithne.

On Sat 2nd July, Sheena Crotty competed in the Achill Half Marathon. The journey west knocked nothing out of Sheena as Sheena produced a fantastic performance in the warm conditions and on a difficult course to race home in a fantastic time of 1 hour 50 minutes 17 seconds. This is exceptionally strong running by a very talented athlete as Sheena continues to impress ever since joining Lucan.

On Tue 28th June, Bernie Stapleton's 4th in age category led the way for Lucan athletes in the BHAA trail race in the Phoenix Park. Bernie Stapleton shows no sign of easing up from her excellent series of runs in the BHAA fixtures. This outing was no exception as Bernie cruised up the Phoenix Park hills to race home in a terrific time of 24 minutes 03 seconds. This placed Bernie a brilliant 4th in her very competitive category. Making her competitive return after her magnificent performance in the Edinburgh Half Marathon we have Sinead Murphy. Sinead continued her excellent run of form as she completed the course in a fantastic time of 27 minutes 35 seconds. Sinead is looking in tip top shape this summer and we can expect plenty more top quality performances before year’s end. Gerry Martin led the Lucan men home as he made light of the tough Phoenix Park trail course to cross the line in an excellent 21 minutes 27 seconds. This further adds to Gerry’s string of superb performances during 2011 that saw Gerry place in his last outing in the Clonliffe 2. Following Gerry we had the returning Stephen Rynne. It was just like Stephen has never been away as Stephen produced a most impressive run on an undulating 5km course to finish in an outstanding time of 23 minutes 03 seconds. It has been a great lift to everyone in the club to have Stephen back out training and racing with us. Gerard Moloney, like Stephen, also used this tough Irish Prison Service race as his comeback race. Gerard produced a brilliant display on the evening to complete the course in a fantastic 24 minutes 02 seconds. This was a very strong performance by an athlete who has missed a lot of training during 2011 and we will no doubt see Gerard go from strength to strength during the remainder of the year.

On Sat 25th June, Joe Lynch placed 3rd overall with our other athletes producing exceptional displays at the Hell of the West Triathlon in Kilkee. Sinead Graham continued her impressive triathlon performances since joining us when she completed this difficult triathon in a superb time of 2 hours 54 minutes 43 seconds. This gave Sinead a 7th place finish in her category.Sinead had a very strong swim in completing the 1,500 metre distance in a fantastic 33 minutes 03 seconds.Then onto the bike for the difficult 44km cycle and Sinead produced another fantastic split completing the course in a very swift 1 hour 31 minutes 34 seconds. With Sinead now well placed Sinead completed the Kilkee course with a superb 10km run in a terrific time of 47 minutes 25 seconds. Lorraine Heffernan commenced battle by producing a savage swim over 1,500 metre in 33 minutes 36 seconds. Onto the bike for the 44km cycle and Lorraine did not ease up one bit and a superb spin resulted in Lorraine completing the cycling discipline in a fantastic 1 hour 44 minutes 22 seconds. Lorraine rounded off a superb display with an excellent 10km run in an exceptional time of 56 minutes 11 seconds. This gave Lorraine a brilliant finishing time of 3 hours 18 minutes 49 seconds after transitions for this extremely difficult challenge. Myra Nolan tackled the relay event in a team with Mairead Marinan an ex member of Lucan Harriers and sister-in-law of Lorraine Heffernan. Mairead led the team out by producing a magnificent swim over 1,500 metres when she completed the split in a superb time of 32 minutes 13 seconds. Myra then took over and produced a fantastic bike ride cruising over the 44 km course in a superb time of 1 hour 41 minutes 05 seconds. This cycle did not appear to knock anything out of Myra as a terrific 10km run in 51 minutes 45 seconds soon followed. This gave M and M team a terrific finishing time of 3 hours 06 minutes 35 seconds. This excellent time placed Myra's and Mairead's team a very impressive 18th from 36 high quality teams. Pride of place from a Lucan standpoint has to be Joe Lynch's 3rd placing overall. Joe, having prepared diligently for the event, saw his efforts pay off as Joe finished in a time of 2 hours 11 minutes 50 seconds. Fresh from an open sea training run early in the week, Joe was rewarded with a brilliant opening to the race with a great 1,500 Swim in 24 minutes. Onto his bike for the 44km cycle and Joe worked his way through the field with a magnificent cycle in 1 hour 09 minutes 20 seconds - the quickest cycle of the day. Joe completed his superb performance with a noteworthy 10km run in a fantastic 36 minutes 52 seconds. Well done all on these terrific displays.

On Sat 25th June, Nicola Kavanagh and Tommy Buggle made the trip to Dunshaughlin to compete in the Michael Manning 10km road race. It proved a worthwhile race for both athletes as Nicola and Tommy both raced to exceptional times. Nicola Kavanagh, not long back training after a long injury lay-off, continued her impressve run of results since her comeback as Nicola built on her superb exploits in Trinity college with another outstanding outing this weekend. Nicola continued to demonstrate her talent and great versatility as she covered his Meath 10km course in a fantastic 46 minutes 42 seconds. This was the quickest 10k time by a Lucan lady in 2011 as Nicola continues to impress. Tommy Buggle, meanwhile was back out competing for the first time in a long number of months. Tommy has obviously continued to train extremely hard in this time as Tommy produced a magnificent run on the day to cross the line in an outstanding time of 37 minutes 45 seconds. Tommy is such a natural athlete and his fierce competiveness makes Tommy such a terrific distance runner. Well done to both athletes.

On Fri 24th June, Brendan Maher and Deirdre Counihan placed in their categories as Lucan athletes were again in top form at the St Coca's AC 5km road race in Kilcock. Deirdre Counihan, fresh from her superb victory in Palmerstown 6 days earlier, was once again back on the podium as her time of 22 minutes 28 seconds saw her place a brilliant third in her category. Deirdre is well and truly on top form currently. Maria Byrne fresh from the Docklands 8km race on Tuesday evening was back out competing 72 hours later and showed no signs of fatigue in racing home in a brilliant time of 25 minutes 52 seconds. Josephine Dignam, too, had little rest during the week and Josephine produced her second excellent performance of the week in producing an exceptional time of 28 minutes 11 seconds on Friday evening building on her fine run in the City Centre on Tuesday evening. New member Fiona Doyle fresh from her superb debut in the Ladies Mini Marathon three weeks ago was at it again. Fiona produced another exceptional display of distance running in racing home in a magnificent 29 minutes 10 seconds. Another new member Mary Crosby also looks to be a fantastic find. Mary produced some very strong running throughout in this 5km Kildare course saw Mary home in an exceptional 31 minutes 23 seconds. By adding Fiona and Mary to the ladies section, this section of the club will go from strength to strength. Eibhlin Ni Chunchuir, also racing in her second race of the week, showed terrific freshness in this race in producing a fabulous time of 33 minutes 27 seconds. Eibhlin has been getting stronger and stronger throughout the summer and no doubt there is plenty more to come. Brendan Maher, representing the Lucan men's challenge, produced another exceptional performance over the 5km distance. Brendan raced home in a fantastic time of 19 minutes 02 seconds for a brilliant second placed finish in his category. Brendan has been training so hard this year and his form just gets better and better so it's great to see this effort being rewarded. Great running everyone.

On Fri 24th June, our U12 boys team placed 3rd in the relay at the Dublin Championships in Tallaght Stadium. Our U12 Boys team of Lee Browne, Max Carey, Udi, Adam Kelliher, Niall Larkin and Cian Timmons braved the torrential rain to produce a sensational team display in the U12 boys relay. Our athletes made a storming start to the event and were always in medal contention with a particularly strong finish securing our athletes a well deserved third placed finish. Lee, Max, Udi, Adam, Niall and Cian are all superbly talented individual athletes that have regularly medalled in the Dublin championships so when this talent was moulded into a team it was no suprise to see this impressve result. It is great to see the dedication by our juvenile athletes and their coaches being rewarded by medals. Well done to all.

On Wed 22nd June, Gerry Byrne Jr and new member Conor Downes competed in the 1500m at the Dublin Graded Meet No 5 in Santry. New member Conor Downes looked at home on track as he made his club debut with Gerry Byrne Junior building on his recent excellent form. Both athletes competed in the section D 1500 metres. Gerry Byrne can be pleased with his excellent time of 4 minutes 48.66 seconds in Gerry’s first 1500 metre outing of the season. This placed Gerry 4th in a very close race. Gerry was in contention for victory right up to the end of the race and in fact was rewarded with massive personal best time for the distance by 6 seconds. (Look away now Derry!) but Gerry's 7am training regime in Morton Stadium looks to be paying dividends presently. Right behind Gerry in 5th place was our newest member Conor Downes. Conor looks a real talent as he ran a superb race to finish in an excellent time of 4 minutes 51.44 seconds. Conor looks to have attained great fitness levels from his athletic training and Gaelic football exploits as Conor produced a fantastic last 300 metres to secure his fifth place finish. This performance suggests that Conor will be a terrific acquisition for the club and Conor really adds to the strength of the men’s section. Great running lads.


On Tue 21st June, Lucan athletes produced further quality performances in this year’s Dublin Docklands 8km race. Held in soaking wet conditions this didn't seem to hold up our athletes with all producing impressive performances. Claire Buckley continued her excellent form in leading the Lucan challenge. Claire who has been very busy competing recently looked strong in running a superb 37 minutes 03 seconds. Hilary McGee was back out competing following a very impressive run over 5km in Enfield recently and once again impressed over the longer distance with a brilliant 37 minutes 13 seconds clocking. Brid Fogarty and Karen Byrne had a terrific battle with both athletes being credited with the same finishing time. Brid Fogarty, just back training with the club for 4 weeks produced argubly the performance of the evening. Brid shook of the effect of the heavy rain to race home in a magnificent time of 42 minutes 25 seconds. Also racing home in 42 minutes 25 seconds was Karen Byrne. This was Karen's first race of the year but this didnt show as Karen showed no signs of rustiness in producing this excellent time. Maria Byrne was Lucan’s next lady home as she battled through the torrential rain to cross the line in a fantastic 45 minutes. Maria has now had a number of excellent performnances throughout the summer and we look forward to seeing Maria's perfomance over the remainder of the summer. Josephine Dignam and Ann McGee closely followed Maria. For the second year running Josephine impressed on this course with a superb 48 minutes clocking which continues excellent form since the start of the year. Ann McGee, too, has been in a very good vein of form as evidenced by Ann's superb form in the Pieta House race in early May and looks to have held her form as suggested by her fantastic time of 48 minutes in Tuesday evening's Docklands race. Eibhlin Ni Chuncuir rounded off a great evening’s work by the Lucan ladies when Eibhlin ran a very impressive time of 54 minutes. Eibhlin is looking in good shape this year with her regular competitive action. Gerry Byrne Snr made light of the damp conditions in covering the city centre 8km course in a most impressive 34 minutes 33 seconds. Gerry has been looking unstoppable this year once again. Terry Meyler looked fully recovered from his half marathon exertions in Wexford recently and produced another eye-catching display by crossing the line, this time over the 8km distance, in a swift 37 minutes 58 seconds. Congratulations to all on fine running.

On Sun 19th June, Bernie Stapleton ran in the Raheny Shamrocks Tommy Lynam Mid Summer 5K in St Anne's Park, Raheny. Less than three days after her Trinity track exploits, Bernie was back competing and showed no signs of fatigue. Bernie produced a fantastic performance on this impressive 5km course breaking the 22 minute barrier as Bernie raced home in a fantastic 21 minutes 57 seconds. Bernie can be well pleased with this performance and her form during 2011 in general.


On Sat 18th June, Deirdre Counihan won the overall women's race at the Palmerstown Fitness Festival 5km road race. Deirdre continued her string of superb performances in this particular fixture when she took to the start line for the 2011 version. Having finished a brilliant 3rd twelve months ago, Deirdre went two better this time around, taking a superb victory - Deirdre's first but well deserved win. Run on possibly the toughest 5km course in Dublin, Deirdre produced an outstanding display on the day crossing the line in a brilliant time of 24 minutes 19 seconds. Deirdre has been in superb form all year and this performance shows us that Deirdre has no intention of letting her standards slip. Congratulations Deirdre!

On Thur 16th June, Lucan athletes secured some impressive victories at the BHAA Trinity track race at Trinity College. Lucan athletes travelled in huge numbers to this year’s Trinity grass track races. In what proved to be a great evening’s running our athletes produced the goods with 7 winners coming to the fore on the night. In the ladies graded 1-14 800 metres race, Lucan was represented by three athletes. Nicola Kavanagh, making her competitive comeback following an injury layoff led our ladies home in the race. A fast finishing Nicola produced a storming finish to cross the line in a brilliant time of 2 minutes 51 seconds for a 6th placed finish in a highly competitive race. Nicola has wasted no time in hitting top form since returning to action which goes to demonstrate Nicola’s great natural talent. Next home for Lucan was Bernie Stapleton. Bernie, too, took her time and over the second lap crept into contention to place 7th just behind Nicola in a fantastic 2 minutes 53 seconds. This placed Bernie 1st in he category. Bernie is a regular at all the BHAA fixtures and has shown that she has the talent to impress at all distances thrown at her. Following Bernie home we had Claire Buckley. Claire continued her impressive run of form with a strong sprint finish helping Claire to a very swift time of 3 minutes 02 seconds. Claire, too, is a very versatile athlete and this is proven by Claire’s brilliant performances from 800 metres to the marathon since last October. In the ladies graded 15+ 800 metre race Myra Nolan got her evening’s running off to a most impressive start as Myra ran an even paced race to come in a great time of 3 minutes 13 seconds for 3rd place overall in the race. Myra is a credit to the sport as she always gives 100% and has a great talent of getting stronger as the races progress. This is only achieved by all the hard work that Myra does in training. In the men’s graded 16-18 800m race Fergal O’Brien produced a magnificent run to secure his first victory. Fergal started very strongly over the opening 400 metres and just when it looked like Fergal was going to be crowded out, Fergal dug deep into his reserves to produce a blistering final 200 metres and outsprint the field in an outstanding time of 2 minutes 37 seconds. This classy display will give Fergal great confidence going forward. Another athlete currently running with great confidence is Gerry Byrne Junior. Gerry competing in the men’s graded 10-12 800m race continued his run of victories with a sensational gun to tap victory in 2 minutes 18 seconds. Gerry took off from the gun opening a huge lead over the first 400 metres and held this all the way to the finish. Gerry is at last being rewarded for all his hard work since joining the club and these brilliant performances are testament to Gerry’s dedication. In the men’s graded 7-9 800 metre race, Gareth Fereday represented the Lucan challenge. Gareth produced a magnificent display of middle distance running and continued to show his great versatility over all distances as Gareth’s excellent time of 2 minutes 20 seconds saw him finish first in his grade. This was in spite of all the travelling and racing that Gareth did the previous weekend. Once again, Lucan’s famous four did battle in the ladies mile race. In the graded 1-14 race Nicola Kavanagh continued her impressive evening’s work in leading the Lucan challenge with a fantastic 6 minutes 34 seconds clocking. Nicola ran a very intelligent race, taking her time in the early stages. As the laps progressed Nicola got quicker and quicker and worked her way through the field to finish in strongly in 5th place. As ever, hot on Nicola’s heels was the fleet footed Bernie Stapleton. Bernie tracked Nicola closely throughout the race and over the last 400 metres Bernie looked like she was only starting the race as she cruised home in a terrific time of 6 minutes 38 seconds. Closely following Bernie was Claire Buckley. Claire, looking relaxed throughout, ran a very well paced race looking just a strong over the final 400 metres as the opening lap. This enabled Claire to pile on the pressure over the closing stages to finish with a brilliant time of 6 minutes 47 seconds. In the ladies graded 15+ race Myra Nolan continued to get better and better. Myra made light of her earlier 800 metre exertions as Myra took victory in her grade with a magnificent finishing time of 6 minutes 57 seconds. Myra, looking like this was her first race, took her time early on and this strategy certainly paid off as Myra got stronger and stronger as the laps progressed. In the men’s graded 16-18 mile race Philip Fay commenced as he planned to carry on. Philip took the lead from the gun, looking very relaxed and fluent in the opening stages. Philip opened up a gap in these early stages and continued to extend this as the laps progressed. At the bell Philip was well clear of the field and continued to run hard all the way to the line to finish first in a superb time of 6 minutes 27 seconds. This performance should come as no surprise, though, as Philip has continued to look stronger and stronger in training this summer. No doubt this is just the start for Philip. In the men’s graded 13-15 mile, Colm O’Connor, continued Lucan’s winning streak. In this Colm’s first track race in 15 months, Colm took off from the gun, quickly opening up a lead. As the laps progressed Colm extended this lead looking more and more relaxed. At the bell Colm looked to have an unassailable lead and this proved to be the case as Colm crossed the line in a fantastic time of 5 minutes 54 seconds, more than 50 metres clear of the field. This is a fantastic season opener by Colm and is even more impressive considering that Colm didn’t need utilise his trademark finishing kick. No doubt this is being saved for the rainy day. In the men’s graded 10-12 mile, Vinny Murtagh, proudly flew the flag for Lucan. Vinny settled into the race well over the opening lap and in the second 400 metres, Vinny seamlessly moved through the field with ease. Vinny continued to run strongly over the closing stages as he raced home in a very quick time of 6 minutes 04 seconds. This performance shows us that Vinny is on the way back to his top form once again. It is on the track that Vinny looks most as home as his economic running style ensures that he dispenses little energy in the early stages of races. In the men’s graded 7-9 mile Gareth Fereday and Gerry Byrne Senior did battle. Gareth, fresh from his heroics over 800 metres earlier in the evening obviously shook off the lactic acid effect as a very even paced run from Gareth saw him cross the line in a fantastic time of 5 minutes 19 seconds. When racing at home in Wales, Gareth is often known to compete in numerous races on the same day and has attained huge fitness levels in doing so which Gareth uses to great effect in all these outings. Perhaps one of the performances of the night came from Gerry Byrne Senior. Gerry was competing in his first track race at this level but looked at ease in this company as a strong running performance from Gerry over the four laps saw Gerry home in a magnificent time of 5 minutes 38 seconds. The grades is the BHAA races are determined by performances over a long period of time so having Gerry compete at the highest level is testament to Gerry’s consistent quality performances for more than a year now. In the open 3,000 metre race, Lucan had three athletes in competition. Alan Cassells, returning from a short injury layoff, produced a fantastic performance in the last race of the night. Alan made a very impressive start to the race competing at the top end of the field. As the laps passed Alan continued to get stronger and stronger pushing the athletes ahead of him all the way. With two laps remaining, Alan kicked into a different gear racing home in a most impressive time of 11 minutes 46 seconds. This, too, was Alan’s first track race in recent seasons and goes to demonstrate the natural talent that Alan has. Next home for Lucan was Claire Buckley. Claire, running, her third race of the night, looked fresh as a daisy in this final race. Claire, showing no fatigue got quicker and quicker as the laps passed to come home in a super quick time of 13 minutes 37 seconds for 2nd place in her category.This excellent performance rounded off a brilliant display of running over all distance by Claire. Myra Nolan, too, demonstrating tremendous versatility and endurance also competed in her third race of the night. Myra saved the best for last as a magnificent performance form Myra saw her home in a terrific 13 minutes 45 seconds. No doubt these races by Myra will stand to her for the upcoming triathlon aptly named 'The Hell of the West' where Myra competes in the Olympic distances in a week’s time. Well done to all!!

On Wed 15th June, Gerry Martin was once again out competing in the historic 120th Clonliffe 2. Similar to 12 months ago Gerry produced an impressive display in racing home in a superb time of 13 minutes 02 seconds. This placed Gerry a brilliant 3rd in his category and comes as no surprise given that Gerry has been showing tremendous form for a number of months.

On the weekend of June 10-12, Lucan's young athletes competed at the Dublin Juvenile Track and Field Championships in Morton Stadium, Santry. Our athletes were on top form during the weekend with medal winning performances and qualification for the Nationals the order of the day. In the U12 boys, Max Carey continued his outstanding season when he competed in both the Long Jump and 60 metre sprint competitions. Max looked very impressive in the long jump as a series of fine jumps by Max saw him place a brilliant 5th in the competion. In the 60 metre sprint heats, meanwhile, Max showed a fine turn of foot over the closing stages to place 5th in his heat. Lee Browne, too, did the club proud with his quality performances. Lee looked very strong throughout the 600 metre race and was getting quicker as the race progressed to finish 7th overall. In his 60 metre sprint heats, Lee showed some great speed too in finishing 5th. In the U13 girls, Saoirse Rehill also had a hectic weekend and continued her excellent run of form. Saoirse impressed in both the track and field events. In the track event Saoirse produced a scintillating run in the 60 metre hurdle event, which she won and carried this form into the final, placing a brilliant 5th. In the field events Saoirse continued to impress. In a competitive javelin competition Saoirse's superb throws saw her win the competition while a series of superb jumps in the High Jump competition also saw Saoirse victorious here too. Saoirse continued to impress in the shot putt event with her impressive throws placing her 6th here. Saoirse rounded off a terrific weekend's action with an excellent performance in the long jump competition in which she placed 9th overall. Rebecca Slattery, meanwhile, can be very pleased with her weekend's work. Having produced excellent running performances in both the 60 metre hurdles and 60 metre sprints, Rebecca placed a brilliant 5th in the heats of both events being unlucky to just miss out on the final. In the long jump competition a sequence of outstanding jumps by Rebecca ensured that she placed in the top 8 of an intensely competitive event. In the shot putt and javelin competitions Rebecca showed remarkable strength as series of long throws in both competitions saw Rebecca finish just outside the medals in both events in what was high standard throwing competitions. In the U14 boys, Sean Townsend was Lucan's sole representative in this category. Sean did not disappoint as a superb run in the 75 metres hurdles saw Sean place a very impressive 2nd in the competition. Sean now qualifies for the Nationals in this event. Sean also competed in the 800 metre race and very strong running by Sean over the two laps saw him place an excellent 6th in a strong competition. In the U15 girls, Sarah Reihill had a very busy and very successful weekend. Sarah competed in seven events and her talent shone through as Sarah qualified for the Nationals in all competitions. In the track events, Sarah demonstrated great speed of foot as a fantastic run in the 100 metre sprint and a very quick time saw Sarah produce a brilliant win in the competition. In the 800 metre race Sarah ran a very well paced race throughout and was rewarded with an excellent 3rd place finish in the event. In the field events a number of terrific throws saw Sarah place a brilliant second in the javelin competition while a series of impressive throws in both the shot putt and discus competitions saw Sarah place third in these competiyions. Onto the jumps and Sarah continued her fantastic vein of form over the weekend and a number of fantastic leaps saw Sarah place 2nd in both the High Jump and Long Jump competitions. Tara Andrews, too, had a very busy and successful weekend as Tara competed in 6 competitions, qualifying for the Nationals in all. In the track events Sarah demonstrated her great speed as very impressive displays in both the 80 metre hurdles and 250 hurdles saw Tara victorious in both events. In the 800 metre race Tara was always in contention and produced a very strong performance in placing 4th. In the field events Tara continued to shine. A number of fantastic jumps saw Tara win the long jump competition (by just 1 cm in a very close competition between herself and Sarah Reihill).Tara continued this form into the High jump competiton as yet more impressive jumping saw Tara produced another great victory. Tara rounded off her fantastic weekend by winning yewt another event - the javelin competition - with a number of eye-catching throws. In the U15 boys, Harry Larkin was out competing in the U15 boys 800 metre race. Once again Harry built on his catalogue of brilliant victories as a very impressive run by Harry over the two laps saw him first across the finish line. Harry will now go forward to represent Lucan in the National championships. Adam Doran, returning to competitive action after an injury lay-off, represented Lucan in the U15 boys long jump competition. In what was a very competitive event, Adam's excellent jumps were rewarded with a brillaint 4th place finish in the competition. This result now qualifies Adam for the Nationals wher no doubt Adam has a great chance to build on his Indoor title that he won in March. In the U16 girls, what a successful weekend Rachel Briggs had! Rachel competed in 4 events during the course of the weekend and demonstrated such talent and versatility that she qualified for the Nationals in all events. In the 2000 metre walk Rachel produced a sensational display in winnning the event. In the second track eventthat Rachel competed in - the hurdles, Rachel showed ogreat techniques as she produced a fantastic run to place 4th in the competition. Onto the field events and the javelin competition and Rachel followed up her success in the walk by also winning this competition with a number of very impressive throws. Finally for Rachel was the shot putt competiton and Rachel continued her superb form in the field events as her fantastic throws placed Rachel third in this competition. In the U16 boys, Daniel Byrne, representing the club in the U16 Boys 800 metre race, produced another fantastic performance on the evening to add to his catalogue of success this year. Daniel got his pacing spot on as he looked very strong over the closing stages to finish in 4th place in his category. Daniel Byrne was back out competing just over 12 hours after his previous race, this time in the U16 boys 3,000 metre race. Despite being fatigued from his earlier exertions over 800 metre, Daniel did not allow this to hold him back as Daniel raced to a magnificent third placed finish in his category. Daniel will now go on to represent the club at the Nationals. Congratulations to coaches and athletes on achieving these amazing results!

On Sat 11th June, Gareth Fereday made a return to competitive action at the Wollaton Park 10K in Nottingham. Gareth Fereday made a return to competitive action after his tour le monde and what a comeback it was. Gareth produced a fantastic run over 10kms on the Nottingham course as Gareth placed a brilliant 5th in a superb 35 minutes 28 seconds. Gareth can look forward to a brilliant summer of running judging by this performance.

On Sat 11th June, Joe Lynch was back on the podium with a second place finish at the Crooked Lake Triathlon at Camlough, Newry. Joe showed no signs of tiredness after the previous weekend's 4 hour odyssey in Athy. Joe produced an outstanding display finishing second overall just behind a full time athlete. As ever Joe looked very strong during the swim completing the 750 metre distance in a brilliant 11 minutes 58 seconds. Joe proceeded onto the bike for the 20km cycle and produced a fantastic bike ride in 27 minutes 21 seconds. For the final 5.3 km run Joe produced a fantastic display producing the quickest time of 17 minutes 57 seconds of all the athletes in the field. Joe is certainly moving in the right direction again this year as the summer progresses

On Mon 6th June, Lucan was very well represented at the 2011 edition of the Flora Women’s mini marathon in Dublin. New member Patricia Ryan led the Lucan charge on the day. Patricia, made a fantastic start to her Lucan running career as she impressively broke the 1 hour barrier with her excellent time of 51 minutes 12 seconds. Patricia will prove to be a great addition to Lucan Harriers over the coming months. Maria Byrne continued her outstanding recent form in being the 2nd Lucan lady to cross the finishing line in a super time of 53 minutes 31 seconds. Maria looks to have found a rich vein of form this summer and we expect Maria to go form strength to strength for the remainder of the summer. Third home for Lucan was yet another new addition to the Lucan set-up, Fiona Doyle. Fiona can be delighted with her first race in the Lucan colours as Fiona raced home in a superb time of 54 minutes 21 seconds. This was a very strong performance by an athlete new to the club and is only the start of things to come from Fiona. Another new member Fiona McGovern, too, produced a strong running performance as she completed the 10 km challenge in a fantastic time of 56 minutes. This was a brilliant debut for the club from Fiona and no doubt but Fiona will continue to kick on from this. Closely following Fiona was another new member Una Cassoni. Una had a terrific run on the day making light of the huge crowds competing as Una produced a brilliant time of 1 hour 02 minutes 28 seconds on the south Dublin 10km course. We look forward to seeing further outings from Una over the remainder of the summer. Closely tracking Una we had another new talented athlete, Sarah Crosby. Sarah has obviously worked very hard in training since joining the club and this certainly told on the day as Sarah raced across the finish line in an outstanding time of 1 hr 08 minutes 12 seconds. Following Sarah was yet another new member Paula Howard. Paula, in completing the course with an excellent 1 hour 20 minutes 24 seconds clocking, built on her fantastic run in our own Tom Byrne race (which Paula completed in 33 minutes). Pretty new to the Lucan set-up, Paula has trained very well since joining the club and it’s great to see Paula's dedication rewarded in races. Josie Dignam switched sports for the day and produced a very strong walking performance as Josie power walked around the 10 km course in a fantastic time of 1 hr 42 minutes 03 seconds. Josie has been out competing regularly in recent times and has impressed in all outings since returning to action. Also changing sports for the day was Eibhlin Ni Chonchuir. Eibhlin, too, produced a very strong walking performance on the day as Eibhlin completed the course in a swift 1 hour 51 minutes 56 seconds. Eibhlin, too, has been busy of late, competing, and continues to get stronger and stronger all the time. Well done to all on great performances. It looks like the ladies section of the club is getting stronger all the time.

On Mon 6th June, Eileen O'Brien won her section in the Cork Marathon with Pat O'Dwyer winning his section in the Half Marathon. Having won races all around her in recent months, Eileen O'Brien headed to Cork to compete in this year's Cork marathon on top of her game. This told on the day as Eileen produced a fabulous display of distance running completing the 26.2 mile course in a magnificent 3 hours 48 minutes 59 seconds. Eileen tore into the challenge from the gun and made light of the Southern Ireland hills as Eileen managed held her strong pace all the way to the finish. Eileen was justly rewarded with a first placed finish in her category. Without doubt there is plenty more to come from Eileen over the coming months. We especially expect to see Eileen repeat her medal success in the Dublin marathon in just over four and a half months time. Fantastic running Eileen!! Held as part of the Cork Marathon, Pat O'Dwyer produced an outstanding display on the 13.1 mile course as Pat completed the distance in a brilliant time of 1 hour 26 minutes 54 seconds. This magnificent run placed Pat 1st in his category and 17th overall and is just reward for Pat’s dedication to racing during 2011. This performance will give Pat great confidence as he heads into the remainder of the road racing season.

On Sun 5th June, Anne McGrane placed 2nd in category with Sinead Graham also producing a fantastic display at the Triathy triathlon in Athy. New member Sinead Graham competed her first triathlon since joining the club. Sinead produced a superb display in the Olympic distance triathlon on the day completing the 1,500 metre swim, 40km cycle and 10km run in a fantastic 2 hours 56 minutes 30 seconds. This placed Sinead a remarkable 11th in her category on the day. Sinead wasted little time in getting stuck into the challenge completing the swim in a superb 38 minutes 19 seconds. Following a swift transition Sinead hopped onto the bike and raced around the 40km course in a very swift 1 hour 24 minutes and 12 seconds. Despite being fatigued heading into the final 10k run, Sinead did not let this hold her back completing the run in a brilliant 50 minutes 34 seconds to round off a terrific display. In the Sprint triathlon Lucan athlete Anne McGrane was competing. Anne continued her outstanding recent form finish a magnificent 2nd in her category in a great time of 1 hour 22 minutes 01 second. Anne produced a fantastic swim over 750 metres in a time of 12 minutes 23 seconds. Onto the bike for Anne and Anne produced a very impressive cycle indeed completing the 20km distance in 39 minutes 51 seconds. Anne rounded off her outstanding performance with a brilliant run over 5kms in an super time of 26 minutes 34 seconds. Well done to both athletes on superb performances.

On Sat 4th June, Harry Larkin had a sensational run to place 5th in the U15 800m at the Aviva Irish Schools Athletics Championships in Tullamore. Representing his school, Castleknock College, Lucan athlete Harry Larkin competed in the junior boys 800 metre race at the Irish Schools Athletics Championships last weekend. Harry produced a sensational display on the day as he raced home in 5th place with a magnificent clocking of 2 minutes 5.12 seconds. This is a time that most senior athletes would be proud off and as Harry is still so young there is no telling how much quicker Harry will get. There is certainly no doubt but Harry will break the 2 minute milestone over the coming seasons. Congratulations Harry!!

On Sat 4th June, Joe Lynch placed 3rd at the TriAthy Double Olympic triathlon in Athy. Comprising a dizziness inducing 3km swim, 80 km bike ride and 20km run, Joe Lynch made little of the distances as he raced home to a magnificent 3rd place finish. As ever Joe produced an excellent swim, this time over a huge 3km distance, completing the split in 55 minutes 02 seconds. Onto his bike for the 80km cycle and Joe can be pleased with his work as Joe covered the cycling course in a very quick 2 hours 09 minutes 11 seconds. To round off a terrific display Joe headed out for a 20 km run and Joe certainly impressed in this part of the race as a very strong run from Joe in an amazing 1 hour 25 minutes 07 seconds saw Joe secure 3rd place overall with a fabulous overall time of 4 hours 34 minutes 24 seconds. From this exceptional display it appears that Joe is in terrific form once again heading into this year’s triathlon season. Congratulations Joe!!

On Wed 1st June, Gerry Byrne Jr opened up his track season in some style as he won his section of the 800m at the Dublin Graded Meet No 4 in Irishtown Stadium. To say that Gerry hit the track with a vengeance would be an understatement! Gerry wasted no time in the section 'D' 800m as he took off like the clappers from the gun. Gerry looked in control throughout the race, being second at the bell, then relaxing on the back straight before kicking for home 50 metres out to win impressively in a brilliant season’s best of 2 minutes 14.35 seconds. There is no doubt but Gerry will smash his personal best time and go under 2.10 before the season’s end on this form. Congratulations Gerry!!

On Tue 31st May, Eileen O'Brien won her category again as our athletes performed at the BHAA Government Services 5 mile road race in Dunboyne. Bernie Stapleton continued her upwards and onwards charge in this latest BHAA challenge held in Dunboyne. Bernie had a great run as she completed the 5 mile course in a fantastic time of 36 minutes 30 seconds for 5th place in her category. Claire Buckley continued her terrific year as Claire, in her first BHAA outing of the season, looked right at home in this quality field as she raced home in a brilliant time of 36 minutes 56 seconds. Also representing the ladies was the ever spritely Eileen O’Brien. Eileen produced another impressive category winning run as her super time of 39 minutes 10 seconds saw Eileen first across the line in her class. Derry McVeigh in racing home in an outstanding time of 27 minutes 50 seconds continued his remarkable sequence of personal best runs as this time better Derry’s previous best over the distance by more than 20 seconds. This gave Derry a brilliant 22nd place finish from 438 finishers. Joe Corcoran was the second Lucan male across the line as Joe’s excellent 31 minutes 20 seconds demonstrates that he is very close to his best again after a number of injury set-back’s in recent years. Joe has a wealth of experience from years of racing and utilises this to maximum effect in all these races. Chasing Joe all the we had Gerry Byrne Snr. Gerry demonstrating that he is on top of his game a week earlier in Enfield continued his amazing run of form in completing this 5 mile Dunboyne course in a magnificent time of 32 minutes 11 seconds. Fourth home for Lucan was Vinny Murtagh. Vinny continued where he left off a week earlier as Vinny produced very strong running throughout the course in racing home in a terrific 33 minutes 21 seconds. Mark Foley rounded off a brilliant evening’s running from the Lucan men when Mark produced another fantastic run in the BHAA series. On this occasion Mark produced a very impressive finish in clocking an excellent time of 35 minutes 23 seconds. Well done to all.

On Sat 28th May, Gerry Martin produced a fantastic run in the 2nd edition of the Donore Harriers summer 5k in the Phoenix Park. Gerry raced home in a season's best time of 21 minutes 11 seconds. Gerry has been in superb form during the spring and has carried this form into the early summer season. Well done Gerry.

On Tue 24th May, a huge army of Lucan athletes made the trip to Enfield last Tuesday to compete in this year’s. Bob Heffernan 5km road race. Our athletes were all on top form with numerous athletes producing personal best runs and category winning performances. Derval McCarthy led the Lucan ladies home as Derval used the quickness of the Enfield course to great effect in producing a very swift time of 20 minutes 17 seconds. Derval’s terrific running style makes her look at ease throughout all these races and this race was no exception as Derval was cruising over the last 500 metres, finishing extremely quickly. New recruit Deirdre Daly was Lucan’s second lady home. Deirdre looks to have been a great find for the club as she produced a scintillating run on her debut for the club completing the course in a very impressive 21 minutes 28 seconds. If this performance is anything to go by the sky is the limit for Deirdre. Third home for the Lucan ladies was the very impressive Myra Nolan. In a performance that can only be described as more amazing than usual Myra produced another personal best run over 5kms, this time racing home in a sensational 21 minutes 32 seconds. Closely following Myra was the excellent Bernie Stapleton. Bernie is just so consistent and Bernie’s time of 21 minutes 35 seconds is testament to the fitness that Bernie has garnered by regular racing in the BHAA series. It’s great to see Bernie’s great dedication continuing to be rewarded with excellent times. Following Bernie home was Claire Buckley. Claire continued her recent impressive vein of racing form as a very strong finish over the closing 500 metre downhill segment saw Claire produced an outstanding time of 21 minutes 53 seconds which was a personal best run by Claire. Claire is such a versatile athlete and has impressed in distances from the marathon to 5k in recent months. We were treated to a great battle for the fifth placed Lucan lady with the fast finishing Deirdre Counihan just catching Lorraine Heffernan on the line with just 1 second separating both ladies. Deirdre was absolutely flying over the closing stages and sprinted over the finish line in a brilliant 22 minutes 14 seconds. Lorraine Heffernan, too, can be very pleased with her run on this course as Lorraine looked very strong in finishing in a very quick 22 minutes 15 seconds. Lorraine is currently training for a triathlon and it looks like this training is certainly reaping benefits. Following Lorraine was the returning to action Hilary McGee. Hilary is just returning from illness but didn’t let this hold her back as Hilary produced a very mature run, getting the pacing spot on. This enabled Hilary to record a fantastic time of 22 minutes 25 seconds. This excellent time shows us what a great talent Hilary is. Following Hilary, we had another great battle between Claire Joyce and Emer McCarthy. Claire just nudged ahead over the closing stages with a strong sprint finish to cross the line in a superb time of 23 minutes 21 seconds. This was a remarkable time by Claire as Claire has just recently returned to training. There is no doubt but Claire will continue to get quicker and quicker over the coming months. Emer McCarthy, closely followed Claire home in a fantastic time of 23 minutes 26 seconds. Building on her fabulous run in Bantry just a couple of weeks earlier, Emer wasn’t hanging around over this shorter distance as she sailed around the course with ease. Just after Emer we had Antoinette Holland. In this, Antoinette’s first race of recent times, Antoinette produced a fantastic run covering the 5km Enfield course in 24 minutes 14 seconds. This was very impressive running by an athlete just returning to action and no doubt Antoinette will go from strength to strength from now on with numerous races in the offing over the next couple of months. Anne McGrane fresh from her triathlon exploits in the west of Ireland was back out competing and continued her recent heroics with another brilliant outing. Anne has obviously obtained great fitness levels with her triathlon training and used this to run this race very strongly in a terrific 24 minutes 33 seconds. Eileen O’Brien was in close proximity to Anne approaching the finish and Eileen’s amazing time of 24 minutes 52 seconds continued her recent winning streak. This time from Eileen secured her first place in her category. Eileen just shows no let-up in the quality of her performances. Ursula Murphy was next home for Lucan and made her strong Thursday training runs tell as Ursula raced home in a very swift 25 minutes 03 seconds. Ursula never disappoints and once again produced a very impressive performance throughout this 5km course on Tuesday. Following Ursula home, it was great to have Evelyn McMahon out competing. Evelyn has been beset by injury for well over a year, having picked up a terrible knee cruciate injury in 2010. However it looks as if Evelyn has made a fine recovery and has trained very hard on her return as her superb time of 25 minutes 18 seconds is testament to. Closely following Evelyn home was a very impressive Maria Byrne. Maria looks to have discovered her niche as her super time of 25 minutes 47 seconds in this 5k race in addition to her fantastic run in the Sportsworld race proves. Maria gets better and better with each outing. Also building on an impressive performance n the Sportsworld race two weeks earlier, we had the very consistent Josie Dignam back out competing. Josie produced a classy display in racing home in a terrific time of 27 minutes 54 seconds. Josie is always at her best when competing regularly and looks to be in top form once again this summer. Completing an excellent evening of running by the Lucan ladies was Ann McGee. Running in her second 5km race in recent weeks Ann continues to show tremendous consistency and class as her outstanding time of 28 minutes 21 seconds testifies to. Ann ran a superbly paced race running equal splits on the course. Derry McVeigh produced a massive breakthrough performance as he ran one of the quickest 5km times by any Lucan athlete in recent seasons in clocking an outstanding time of 16 minutes 13 seconds. This placed Derry 25th from 278 competitors and knocked a massive 50 seconds of Derry’s previous best over the distance. There is no telling how much quicker Derry will get as he has both speed and endurance in abundance. Daniel Byrne was Lucan’s second man home and for the second 5km race in two days Daniel rewrote his personal best time. On this occasion Daniel made a huge breakthrough as he broke 18 minutes for the first time with a magnificent 17 minutes 59 seconds time. This placed Daniel an excellent 5th in a top quality junior class. Third home for Lucan was the returning Gerry Byrne junior. Gerry has worked so hard to get back to full fitness following numerous injuries so it was great to see Gerry’s dedication rewarded with a new personal best run of 18 minutes 06 seconds for the 5km distance. We look forward to seeing Gerry attack some races on track over the coming weeks, Running his first race in recent months men’s captain Henry Langton was next home for Lucan. Henry produced a great run on this terrific course as Henry got his pacing spot with strong running throughout. Henry was rewarded with a superb time of 18 minutes 45 seconds and no doubt this is only the start of things to come from Henry this year. Gerry Byrne senior closely followed Henry home as yet another strong running performance from Gerry saw him home in a nifty 18 minutes 56 seconds .Once again Gerry looked very strong and quick over the closing stages which is testament to the great training Gerry has done consistently. Vinny Murtagh was our next finisher as a very strong finish saw Vinny home in an fantastic time of 19 minutes 55 seconds. Vinny took his time and eased his way into the race and had plenty in tank as he reached the business end of the race. This was a great performance form Vinny. Colm O’Connor, running his first road race in more than two years closely followed Vinny home in 19 minutes 56 seconds. Colm used his experience to great effect and with 600 metres to go started to unleash his trademark kick getting quicker and quicker with every passing 100 metres. This was a fantastic performance by Colm on his return from a couple of injury set-backs. Perhaps one of the performances of the night came from our snooker superstar Fergal O’Brien. Fergal rewrote his 5km figures as a terrific display from start to finish saw Fergal race home in a new personal best time of 20 minutes 15 seconds. Fergal has always had a swift turn of foot and has now added some great aerobic endurance to the mix. Garry Mortimer was hot on Fergal’s heels as both athletes headed into the home straight. Garry was very strong in these closing stages and sprinted home in a fantastic time of 20 minutes 19 seconds. Garry has only recently returned to regular training so this performance is testament to Garry’s natural talent. Philip Fay continues to turn out the performances since joining the club and Tuesday evening was no exception as Philip used the strength he has garnered with his regular training with the club to great effect in producing a very strong performance throughout. Philip completed the course in an excellent 20 minutes 52 seconds. Colum Maddox rounded off a terrific evening’s display by the Lucan men as he built on his superb Kildare Half run with another brilliant run here racing home in a quick 21 minutes 12 seconds. Colum is currently in a rich vein of form and we look forward to seeing more over him in action over the coming weeks. Lastly, Lorraine Heffernan wishes to pass on her gratitude to the huge number of Lucan Harriers' athletes that turned out to support this race. Well done to all.

Well done to our juvenile athletes who once again produced the goods in the recent Dublin Juvenile Track and Field League over the last month in Santry and Tallaght Stadia. Our athletes had great successes in both the overall league and in individual races. Sarah Reihill continues to go from strength to strength and produced a series of impressive performances over the course of the last month in the girls U15 category. In fact the quality of Sarah's performances were such that she ended up the impressive winner in her category. Tara Andrews, too, has continued to impress this season. Tara showed great versatility in this excellent track and field series and her quality performances saw her finish second over in a highly competitive U15 girls category.Tara has been so coonsistent over the last two seasons and continues to hold her form. Impressing in the girls U15 javelin competition was the excellent Sarzea. Sarzea showed great strength in this competition with a series of impressive throws. Great to see another talented young Lucan athlete impressing in these Dublin championships. Also competing in a very competitive category was the excellent Saoirse Reihill. Saoirse built on her very promising showings during the Indoor track and field series as she produced 4 weeks of top draw consistent performances that saw her place second overall in the U11 girls category. In the boys U11 competitions we saw Stephen Briggs impress with some very impressive throws in the ball throw comnpetition. It's great to see Stephen show such great promise at such a young age. For the boy's U12 competition Lee Browne impressed in both the sprints and middle distance with fantastic displays in both the 80 metre and 500 metre races. In last Friday night's U15 boys 1,500 metre race both Harry Larkin and Sean Townsend were competing. Both athletes produced fantastic runs as Harry continued hs winning streak by placing 1st in race with a brilliant front running display. Hot on his heels was the fast finishing Sean Townsend, whose, excellent performance saw him home in second place. In the U16 boys category, Daniel Byrne continued his amazing run of form with impressive performances in the shot putt , 200 metres & 800 metres.

Thank you to all involved in making the Tom Byrne Annual 5km road race another big success. Firstly and most importantly this week we would like to say a huge thank you to all of you for your help with all aspects of our Tom Byrne race yesterday. Without your help it couldn't happen. The amount of club members and your relatives and friends that gave their time to help the race go so smoothly was overwhelming and genuinely appreciated.

We would like to say a special word of appreciation to Derry McVeigh. Derry has been very busy and generous with his time working away organising the various aspects of the race since the turn of the year and put in a huge effort to make this year's race such a success. Derry left no stone unturned in his preparations, helping to ensure that all went smoothly on the day.

Also a mention to Deirdre Counihan and Nicola O'Flaherty who have worked very hard for a number of weeks organising the registration and results process, to Emer McCarthy who helped to purchase & organise the post race refreshments, to Nicola Kavanagh for creating a number of posters and notices during the last few months and to Sinead Murphy who sourced the water for post race recovery!

We've probably omitted people from the acknowledgments but please accept our apologies and sincere thanks. Also pass on our thanks to your family members/ neighbours who turned out on the day to help. The feedback has been very good as per below comments posted on the official race website (www.tombyrnememorialrace.com).
"Well done to all involved with Lucan Harriers. Very good race, very well organised. I was just a little dissappointed that you could not turn off the gale force winds Very tough conditions for running but that's not something anyone can do anything about. Others should take note, this is how a race should be run".
"I agree, a good and well-organised race, another one I'll definitely be entering again next year Didn't enjoy the wind but that's Irish weather for you. I liked the route, running through that park, and past football pitches and finishing on the track. Thanks to all involved".
"Well organised race. A good army of marshalls and nice tea and biccies. Well done Lucan Harriers".
"Great show once again by Lucan Harriers, another fine example of a professionally organised, value for money club organised event. I loaded pics from yesterday which are available on www.racepix365.com also set available from Peter M".

On Sun 22nd May, Terry Meyler produced a good run in the Wexford Half Marathon. Terry continued his series of excellent runs over the longer distances when he competed in the 2011 Wexford Half Marathon. No stranger to marathons and half marathons, Terry produced a fantastic run on a very difficult course when he crossed the finish line in a magnificent time of 1 hour 42 minutes 38 seconds. This particular course contains a very difficult climb from 2kms - 7kms and this was made all the more difficult by the strong winds on the day. However these handicaps did not affect Terry one iota as Terry's time was very close to his personal best for the distance. Well done Terry.

On Sun 22nd May, Tommy Evans (Gowran) and Aoife Talty (Raheny Shamrocks) overcame stiff competition and strong winds to take home the 2011 Tom Byrne 5km individual titles. Tommy Evans from Gowran proved strongest in a quality field that made light of the strong winds as the top five athletes all broke 16 minutes. Tommy came out on top in a superb time of 15 minutes 05 seconds with Mark Ryan of Rathfarnham WSAF (15.20), Eoin Flynn also of Rathfarnham WSAF (15.32), Paul Fleming of Rathfarnham WSAF (15.48) and Kevin O'Connor of DSD (15.51 & 1st in his category) all in close attention. The ladies race was also impressive with Aoife Talty of Raheny Shamrocks AC the convincing winner is a brilliant 17 minutes 16 seconds . Orinta Murnikova was the second lady across the line in an impressive 19.11 with Vanessa Sallier of Rathfarnham WSAF (19.44) and 1st in category, Mary Watters of Navan (19.53) and also first in category) and Michelle Cox of Newbridge AC (20.17) completing the top five in the ladies race. Rathfarnham WSAF unsurprisingly with three athletes in the top 5 took the team prize in the men's race, with Donore Harriers coming out on top in the ladies team event. Mark Ryan and Laura Cullen took home the Tom Byrne Memorial trophies for being the first local male and female athletes. As well as hosting the Tom Byrne race Lucan also had a number of athletes participating in the event. Daniel Byrne, still competing in the junior ranks produced an amazing performance with his sensational time of 18 minutes 23 seconds. This placed Daniel second in the junior male category. Daniel has been setting the juvenile competitions alight with his fantastic performances and looks to have a bright future in the sport. Brendan Maher was Lucan's second male across the line as he continues to go from strength to strength. Brendan made little of the wild gusts on the day as he raced home in a brilliant time of 19 minutes 19 seconds building on some strong running in the Le Cheile race recently. Congratulations to all prize winners on the day and thanks to everyone who competed in this year's race. Race photos.

On Sun 22nd May, Freda Comiskey ran the Edinburgh Marathon while Sinead Murphy ran the Edinburgh Half Marathon. Having trained extremely hard for the 26.2 mile challenge over the last number of months, it all came together on the day for Freda as Freda attacked the Scottlsh course in an outstanding time of 3 hours 35 minutes 30 seconds. This is fantastic running by a very dedicated athlete and Freda's splits of 47 minutes 48 seconds for 10kms, 1hr 42 minutes 40 seconds for the half and 2 hrs 28 minutes 40 seconds for 30kms prove that Freda really has all the attributes to be a top class marathon runner. Sinead Murphy, too,travelled across the Irish sea at the weekend - Sinead was competing in the Edinburgh hallf marathon. Not long back from an injury lay-off, Sinead chose the challenging 13.1 mile race as her comeback race. The decision certainly paid off as Sinead produced a storming run over the 13.1 mile, racing home in a brilliant time of 2 hours 02 minutes 52 seconds. Sinead certainly didn't hang about in the race as she covered the opening 10kms in a impressive 56 minutes 56 seconds. No doubt we will see plenty of Sinead on the roads over the coming months. Congratulations to both on well deserved results.

On Sun 22nd May, we had more juvenile athletes in action in the team events at the Dublin Team Championships.in Tallagt Stadium. Our under 9 boys team of Rian Carey and Ben Kirwan were competing in both the ball throw and the 60 metre sprints. Our athletes had a field day in the events as these two very talented guys won the ball throw competition and were second in the 60 metre sprints. These guys now go forward to represent the club in the National Team Championships in June where no doubt they will do very well. In the girls U10 category our excellent team of Katie and Rebecca Toohey represented the club in the ball throw and 60 metre sprints. In a very competitive category these ladies produced outstanding performances and were very unlucky to be just outside the medals. Well done to all.

On Sat 21st May, Anne McGrane made the trip west to compete in this year's Spiddal Triathlon. Held in awful weather conditions, Anne braved the elements and was rewarded with a super finishing time of 1 hour 42 minutes 58 seconds. Despite the horrendous conditions, Anne made a superb start with a very stong swim in 22 minutes 11 seconds. Onto the bike for a 40km cycle, Anne show tremendous grit and determination in completing the cycle in an excellent 47 minutes 51 seconds. Anne completed the very challenging course with a superb run over 5km in a swift 29 minutes 02 seconds. Well done Anne.

On Tue 17th May, Bernie Stapleton ran in the ESB BHAA 5km beach race on Sandymount strand. Bernie Stapleton continued her impressive streak of fantastic BHAA performaces as she raced home in an outstanding 23 minutes 01 second. This placed Bernie a fantastic second in her category as she continues to get among the prizes. Bernie's accountants team also won the team prize on the night. Well done Bernie.

On Sun 15th May, two of our versatile athletes, Lorraine Heffernan and Myra Nolan competed in their first triathlon of the year, the Fingal Sprint Tri. Comprising of a testing 750 metre swim, 20km cycle & 5km run our two athletes made light of the challenge in producing two amazing performances with both recording new personal bests. Lorraine continued her impressive run of performances in triathlons in this her first one of 2011. Having had a bad experience on the bike (or more precisely off it!!!!) during the final training practice a week earlier, Lorraine put this out of her mind completely as she impressively rose to the challenge completing the three disciplines in a terrific time of 1 hour 27 minutes 49 seconds, knocking more than 7 minutes off her previous best time. Lorraine got off to an absolute flyer and demonstrated her strong swimming skills completing the 750 metres in a brilliant 17 minutes 16 seconds. Well placed Lorraine continued her excellent showing with a superb bike ride completing the course in a fantastic 43 minutes 36 seconds. Lorraine completed this tough triathlon challenge with a very impressive 5km run covering the distance in a brilliant 23 minutes 15 seconds. Myra, despite suffering from a muscle strain during the week tore into the challenge as she got off to a terrific start completing the challenging swim in an amazing 21 minutes 24 seconds. Onto the bike for the 20km cycle and Myra continued to strong showing completing the cycling circuit in a superb time of 45 minutes 55 seconds. Well placed after the swimming and cycling segments Myra completed the doing what she does best , running, and completed the triathlon with a fantastic 5km run in a very swift 22 minutes 34 seconds. This gave Myra a finishing time of 1 hour 33 minutes 49 seconds for the three disciplines (taking transitions into account). This time was a minute quicker than Myra's previous time over the distance. Well done to both athletes on great results.

On Sun 15th May, Liam Landers ran the Kildare Half Marathon and Celina Barrett ran the Kildare 10km road race at the Curragh, Kildare. Liam Landers continues to impress in the distance running events and had a worthwhile outing over the 13.1 mile distance on Sunday. Following on from his brilliant run in the K Club a couple of weeks ago, Liam made little of the half marathon distance as he completed the course in a fantastic time of 1 hour 47 minutes 42 seconds. In the same race it was great to see Colum Maddox make a welcome return to action. Colum looked very impressive on his return as he covered the distance in a terrific 1 hour 52 minutes 04 seconds. Colum has regularly impressed over the half marathon and marathon distance and looks to have an penchant for these distances. Celina Barrett made a welcome return to racing action as she competed in the weekend's Kildare 10km road race - held as part of the Kildare marathon festival. This was Celina's first race in recent memory and it was like she has never been away as Celina cruised through the course in a superb time of 59 minutes 59 seconds. This was an excellent performance on a tough course and no doubt is only the start of things to come from Celina over the coming months.

On Sun 15th May, we had five athletes competing in the Sportsworld AC 5 Mile road race in Terenure. Maria Byrne, in leading our ladies home, had a storming run as she produced covered the Terenure 5 mile course in a superb time of 44 minutes 44 seconds. Maria has recently re-joined our club and has obviously trained hard since returning judging by this excellent run. There is no doubt that Maria will prove a great addition to the Lucan set-up. Hot on Maria's heels were two of our newer recruits, Sarah Hughes and Donna Mulligan. Having been spotted putting in the hard work on the roads of Griffeen Avenue, Donna recently joined our club and has embraced the training regime of the ladies. Donna carried her impressive training runs into a great race day performance as Donna covered the five mile course in a brilliant 44 minutes 55 seconds. Just training with the club since January, Sarah has taken to our club training like a duck to water so it was great to see this dedication rewarded on race day as Sarah completed the Terenure two lap course in an amazing time of 44 minutes 57 seconds finishing just one place after Donna. Donna and Sarah will prove great addtions to Lucan Harriers no doubt. Josie Dignam was the next Lucan lady home and continued her string of excellent performances on this Terenure course as for the second year in a row Josie produced a very impressive performance on this particular course racing home in an excellent 47 minutes 43 seconds. This was Josie’s first run in recent weeks but Josie has been working hard in training in this time and carrier this form into the race. Brian Farrell was Lucan’s sole representative in the men’s race. Brian represented the club very well in impressively breaking the 30 minute barrier with his outstanding clocking of 29 minutes 48 seconds. Making light of a recent hamstring strain, Brian looked strong throughout and has carried his carried his excellent training form into the race. Well done to all.

On Tue 10th May, Patricia Daly and Anne Murtagh competed in the Wheelworx Womens Criterium League 2011 Round 4 in Sandyford. Patricia Daly racing in her first race for LCRC performed very well, battling out to a high overall finishing position. Anne Murtagh, too, had an excellent cycle which comes as no surprise having seen her performances in the Dublin duathlon series in recent seasons. Well done to both of these versatile athletes.

On Sat 7th May, Lucan athletes travelled in great numbers to compete in our neighbouring club's - Le Cheile AC - annual 5km road race in Leixlip, Co Kildare. As ever our hosts put on a great show on the day (with warm hospitality extended) as did our athletes with top quality performances and personal bests the order of the day. For our ladies Freda Comiskey continued her impressive preparations for the upcoming Edinburgh marathon with a blow out over the 5km distance. It proved a worthwhile exercise as Freda had a superb run coming home in a time of 20 minutes 33 seconds for fourth place in her category. Second home for Lucan was the impressive Deirdre Counihan, whose busy racing schedule of late is reaping rich dividends. Deirdre had another fantastic run on the day as she clocked a brilliant 23 minutes 14 seconds over the course. This placed Deirdre an excellent 11th overall in her category. Closely following Deirdre was the excellent Bernie Stapleton. Bernie, once again excelled on the roads, finishing 4th in her class, as a magnificent run from start to finish saw Bernie home in a terrific time of 23 minutes 24 seconds. Superwomen herself, Eileen O'Brien, continues to go from strength to strength and produced another magical run on the day, completing the course in a brilliant time of 23 minutes 46 seconds to yet again win her category. For the Lucan men, Derry McVeigh continues to look unstoppable and led the Lucan charge as another outstanding personal best run from Derry in 17 minutes 03 seconds saw him place 15th overall. Derry took some notable scalps in the race and Derry's time bettered his run from St Patrick's weekend by 30 seconds. Following Derry across the finish line was ladies coach Brendan Maher in a superb 19 minutes 11 seconds for 3rd place in his category. Brendan continues to impress with his strong running over all these middle and long distance races. What a battle we had for the third Lucan athlete home with Pat O'Dwyer & Vinny Murtagh neck and neck approaching the finish with Pat continuing his amazing run of form to just edge the battle by 1 second on the day in a magnificent time of 19 minutes 20 seconds. This brilliant run placed Pat 3rd in his class. On Pat's heels was Vinny Murtagh whose superb aerobic fitness levels was very much in evidence during the duration of the race as Vinny completed this enjoyable but undulating course in an impressive 19 minutes 21 seconds for 5th place in his category. Fifth home for the Lucan men was the fast finishing Gerry Byrne Snr who once again unleashed his magnificent finishing kick over the last 100 metres, holding off an attack from two athletes to race home in a fantastic time of 19 minutes 31 seconds. This gave Gerry a 6th place finish, just behind Vinny, in his class. Fergal O'Brien who has been showing a great turn of foot in training during the spring obviously made use of his speed on the day as he cruised around Leixlip in a very impressive 21 minutes 26 seconds looking at ease throughout. Gerry Martin continued his impressive run of results on the roads with a 7th place finish in his category, clocking a superb time of 21 minutes 35 seconds over this 5k course as he built on some excellent running over 10kms recently.Philip Fay completed a superb day's running from the Lucan men as Philip made little of the Leixlip hills to complete the course in a a brilliant 21 minutes 43 seconds. This performance is just reward for the effort Philip has put into his training over the last number of months.

On Sat 7th May, Ann McGee made the early trip to the Phoenix Park for the 4.30 am start of the annual Pieta House Darkness into Light 5km road race. Clearly the early start suited Ann as she produced an excellent run in this worthwhile race completing the hilly Phoenix Park course in an outstanding time of 34 minutes.

On Sun 1st May, we had some fine runs at the Bay Run 2011 Half Marathon in Bantry. Myra Nolan in leading home the Lucan ladies on the day produced an absolutely brilliant run as her magnificent personal best time of 1 hour 43 minutes, 36 seconds placed her 21st overall from 558 ladies and 5th in her category. This performance comes as no surprise though as Myra has produced many impressve half marathon and marathon performances for numerous year now. Closely following Myra we had Claire Buckley who produced another fantastic long distance run as she completed this challenging half marathon course in a fantastic time of 1 hour 45 minutes 37 seconds to continue her magnificent vein of form. This placed Claire 29th overall from nearly 560 athletes. Following Claire home was the excellent Lorraine Heffernan who continues to impress in the over the long distances as she clocked a very impressive time of 1 hour 47 minutes 16 seconds as Lorraine continues to impress over the long distances. And what a season Eileen O'Brien is having. Eileen produced yet another win in her category as her superb time of 1 hours 48 minutes 01 second made her unbeatable on the day. Deirdre Counihan was Lucan's fourth finisher on the day as she continued her busy recent schedule with another outstanding run. Deirdre completed this Glengarrif to Bantry half marathon course in an excellnt 1 hour 49 minutes 57 seconds and is even more impressive considering that this was Deirdre's second half marathon outing in 3 weeks. Bernie Stapleton in being Lucan's fifth lady home continues to show great versatility as her super time of 1 hour 51 minutes 31 seconds on a difficult course was very impressive running indeed. Emer McCarthy, too, showed that she is in an excellent vein of form currently as some very strong running throughout saw Emer home in a fantastic time of 1 hour 57 minutes 45 seconds. This brilliant run placed Emer 3rd in her category and should come as no surprise though as Emer produced an excellent run over 10kms just two weeks ago. Ursula Murphy in competing in her first race in recent months looked very strong throughout as some very impressive running, especially during the first half gave Ursula a magnificent fininshing time of 2 hours 1 minute 33 seconds. This performance comes as no surprise though as Ursula has been absolutely flying in training. Bernie Doyle, too, has been showing fine form in training this year and carried this onto race day as Bernie produced a senstional run on the day to come home in a fantastic 2 hours 03 minutes 42 seconds. Well done to all!

On Sat 30th Apr, Derry McVeigh led the charge for Lucan with yet another personal best, this time at the BHAA RTE 5 Mile road race in Donnybrook. Derry McVeigh recorded another huge personal best time of 28 minutes 13 seconds as he led the Lucan charge on the day. This place Derry 21st from 415 finishers. Pat O'Dwyer looked very impressive in being the second Lucan athlete across the finish line in a superb time of 31 minutes 13 seconds as he continues an excellent season. The third Lucan male home was Vinny Murtagh and continued his magnificent vein of form in clocking a superb time of 31 minutes 41 seconds. This run is testament to Vinny's excellent form in both races and trainig in recent months. Following Vinny home was Gerry Byrne senior whose excellent time of 32 minutes 31 seconds was nearly a minute quicker than Gerry produced in last year's race.Gerry, too, has been absolutely flyiing at training this year and has been able to take this form into his races. Terry Meyler built on his excellent run two weeks ago with another outstanding run in Donnybrook, completing the 5 mile course in 35 minutes 34 seconds.Terry continues to get better and better the more he races.

On Sun 17th Apr, Joe Lynch warmed up for this year's triathlon season with a fantastic display in the male open duathlon race in Limerick. This race was held alongside the European Duathlon championships so there was plenty of talent competing alongside Joe but this did not phase him. Consisting of a 3km run, 20km cycle and another 3km run Joe produced an amazing performance completing the course in a superb time of 44 minutes 49 seconds, just ten seconds off the winner. Showing fantastic stamina levels Joe got off to a flier completing the first 3k run in a swift 13 minutes 02 seconds. Onto his bike and Joe continued where he lift off last season by producing terrific bike ride in clocking the second quickest time of 20 minutes 16 seconds of the day for the 20km. To round off this unbelievable display, Joe produced a magical second 3km run in 9 minutes 53 seconds and was closing on the leader all the time is what proved to be a slog fest among these iron men competitors. Congratulations Joe!

Belated congratulations to our Lucan Ladies A team of Nicola Kavanagh, Freda Comiskey, Bernie Stapleton, Sheena Crotty and Lorraine Heffernan that won the Silver Category in the Winter Meet and Train League.

On Sat 16th Apr, we had podium finishes and personal bests at the BHAA K Club 10 km road race in Straffan, Co Kildare. Derval MacCarthy, making a return to action after a very long lay-off, looked like she was never away as she came home in a superb time of 43 minutes 13 seconds. This placed Derval an excellent 3rd overall in her category. Second home for the Lucan ladies was the excellent Claire Buckley who continued her strong surge in form since her superb marathon run in October with an brilliant clocking of 45 minutes 27 seconds. Birthday girl on the day Myra Nolan was the third Lucan lady home as a fantastic run by Myra was rewarded with an magnificent personal best clocking of 45 minutes 33 seconds for 5th place in her class. In hot pursuit of Myra at the finish was Lorraine Heffernan whose strong running throughout was rewarded with an excellent time of 45 minutes 38 seconds, which incidentally was also a personal best run from Lorraine. Fourth to cross the finishing line for Lucan was Bernie Stapleton as yet another strong running and consistent performance by Bernie saw her home in a fantastic time of 46 minutes 06 seconds as Bernie continues her fine catalogue of performances from week to week. Following Bernie home we had Deirdre Counihan in a time of 46 minutes 33 seconds. This excellent run from Deirdre was despite the fact that she had the half marathon in her legs from her exploits in Connemara a week earlier. Eileen O'Brien built on her magnificent double performance a week earlier by continuing to shine in her category on this outing as Eileen's outstanding time of 47 minutes 21 seconds placed her first in her category. Emer McCarthy running in her first race since the Aware run in December produced an excellent run on her return to competitive action as Emer finished very strongly in a great time of 49 minutes 53 seconds. Bernie Doyle, too, was running in her first race of 2011 and can be well pleased with her superb performance on her return as terrific racing throughout was rewarded with a time 54 minutes 42 seconds. Derry McVeigh produced yet another storming run in racing to his second massive personal best over 10km in a week this time finishing in a magnificent 35 minutes 54 seconds placing an outstanding 20th overall from 392 finishers. This knocked nearly two minutes from Derry's previous time for the ditance. Brendan Maher was the second Lucan male home as some terrific training over recent weeks paid off as Brendan recorded a time of 39 minutes 12 seconds, Brendan's best run over the 10km distance in some time. This bettered Brendan's last outing over the distance by a huge 7 minutes. On Brendan's heels at the finish was the fast finishing Pat O'Dwyer who clocked a brilliant time of 39 minutes 13 seconds to better his fine run from a week earlier as Pat continues to kick on with his excellent performances. Our fourth athlete to break the 40 minute barrier on the day was the impressive Alan Cassells who ran a very well paced race, looking strong throughout to finish in a superb time of 39 minutes 44 seconds. Following Alan we had Vinny Murtagh who produced a fantastic run on this scenic route to finish in an outstanding time of 40 minutes 26 seconds. Vinny continues to get better and better and his excellent cross country campaign reaps dividends. Stephen Rynne, too, continues to show great form on the roads this spring as Stephen made the most of the summer like heat to race home in a impressive time of 42 minutes 28 seconds. Gerry Martin was next across the finish line for the Lucan men as Gerry continued his fine run of performances with an excellent clocking of 44 minutes 04 seconds over this 10 km course. In close attention to Gerry crossing the finish line was the returning to action Liam Landers. Liam, running his first race of the year produced a very strong performance on the morning to race home in a fine time of 44 minutes 11 seconds. The strong finishing Terry Meyler continued his fine vein of form since joining Lucan as another excellent run over the longer distance saw Terry home in a terrific time of 44 minutes 30 seconds. Brian Brunton completed a fine day's running by our men, producing a fine run in a time of 46 minutes 16 seconds. This was despite the fact that Brian was being hampered by a hamstring strain throughout the race. Lastly, well done to Gerry Byrne and his friends at the K Club for the brilliant organisation of this race!

On Sun Apr 10th, Deirdre Counihan, Claire Joyce and Garry Mortimer all ran the Connemara half marathon. Deirdre Counihan produced a brilliant run on a very tough course as she clocked a fantastic time of 1 hour 53 minutes 08 seconds. Deirdre has obviously trained hard and looks in very good shape with another half marathon in Bantry on the horizon during the May bank holiday weekend. Also in the ladies race, Claire Joyce made a welcome comeback for Lucan. Claire produced an excellent run despite just returning to training recently as she clocked a superb time of 1 hour 58 minutes 53 seconds on the tough 13.1 mile course. Garry Mortimer was also returning to action, running his first race of the year. Garry made light of the west of Ireland hills as in clocking a brilliant time of 1 hour 54 minutes 53 seconds for the half marathon distance. Well done to all.

On Sun Apr 10th, highlights for Lucan at the Spar Great Ireland Run in the Phoenix Park were a win for Eileen O'Brien in her category and a big personal best from Derry McVeigh. Eileen O'Brien, fresh from her exploits 24 hours earlier was back out competing and produced an excellent run over 10kms crossing the line in a superb 49 minutes 45 seconds. This brilliant run placed Eileen first in her category. Helen Ryan competing in her first race of the year made little of the tough Phoenix Park course as she cruised home in an excellent 58 minute 49 seconds to get her year off to a fine start. Also competing in her first race of the year was Clare Oman, who showed no rustiness in completing the undulating 10 km course in a terrific 59 minutes 31 seconds. This is no doubt the start of things to come from Clare over the coming months. The ever impressive, Nicola O'Flaherty continued her fine run of performances over the longer distances as the 20+ degrees on the day did not deter Nicola as her superb performance saw her home in a fantastic time of 1 hour 0 minutes 51 seconds. Winifred Ryan capped off a great day's work from our ladies as some superb running throughout saw Winifred cross the line in a magnificent time of 1 hour 07 minutes 17 seconds. Derry McVeigh once again led the Lucan brigade home as he continued his remarkable sequence of personal best runs with another one over 10km. Derry's brilliant time of 37 minutes 32 seconds knocked an astonishing 1 minute off his previous best for the distance. Second across the line for Lucan was Damien Carberry, crossing he line in a superb 40 minutes 34 seconds as he made light of he tough undulations over the second 5kms of the course. In close proximity to Damien at the finish was the impressive Pat O'Dwyer whose strong running throughout saw him race home in an excellent 41 minutes 03 seconds. The ever consistent John O'Leary was the 4th Lucan finisher as a well run even split race saw John rewarded with a superb time of 41 minutes 32 seconds for 5th in his class. Philip Fay completed a fine day's work by the Lucan men as his outstanding run saw him cross the finish line in an impressive 49 minutes 11 seconds as he continues to impress in races. Well done everyone.

On Sat 9th Apr, our Annual Juvenile Sports day was held at Lucan Harriers' Esker Track. The gods were smiling on us as we were blessed with beautiful weather and the day went very well with very strong competitions. Thanks to all who made the day a success and well done to Gerry Reihill and his team for the great organisation once again this year.

On Sat 9th Apr, Bernie Stapleton, Eileen O'Brien and Brunton ran in the Dublin County Council sponsored-BHAA road races in Saint Anne's Park, Raheny. Bernie Stapleton had another outstanding run in this 2 mile race which marks the commencement of the BHAA road season. Bernie placed 5th in her category with an excellent 14 minutes 25 seconds clocking. Eileen O'Brien, meanwhile, continued her sequence of podium finishes as another strong running performance saw Eileen place 2nd in her class in a superb 15 minutes 10 seconds. Brian Brunton was the sole Lucan male representative in the men's 4 mile race, having scared all his rivals off with some superb training performances during the week. Brian carried this form into the race where he raced home in a magnificent time of 26 minutes 34 seconds. Well done to all.

On Sun 3rd Apr, Freda Comiskey produced a big personal best time at the Omagh Half Marathon. Freda made the trip north at the weekend to continue her preparations for the upcoming Edinburgh marathon by racing over the half marathon distance. It proved a worthwhile trip as Freda continued her run of personal bests with another one by nearly 2 minutes over the 13.1 mile distance. Freda made light of the undulations on the course as she raced home in a sensation 1 hr 35 minutes 56 seconds. This superb performance placed Freda 4th in her category and 11th woman overall in a very competitive ladies race with 322 competitors. Congratulations Freda!

On Sat 2nd Apr, Lucan's juvenile athletes shone again with Daniel Byrne's 5th place in the U16 800m the highlight for Lucan at the National Juvenile Indoor Track & Field championships in Nenagh. In the U15 800 metres, Sarah Reihill continued her magnificent form in producing her best performance of the season at the National championships. The top quality opposition brought out the best in Sarah as she produced a brilliant personal best run of 2 mins 31.97 seconds in the girls U/15 800 metres. This placed Sarah 9th overall in a competition which saw the first two athletes break the National record. In the U14 800 metres, Sean Townsend showed continued his fine vein of form in the heats. Unfortunately despite this heroic run Sean just narrowly missed out on a place in the final. No doubt with Sean’s great dedication to training it is only a matter of time before he makes the final at these events, In the U16 800 metres, Daniel Byrne continued to build on his great promise as he produced arguably his most impressive performance at the weekend since joining the Lucan set-up. Having impressed on the roads and over cross country courses recently Daniel has carried his superb form onto the track as an outstanding run on the day placed him an excellent 5th overall in the boys U/16 800 metres clocking a magnificent time of 2 mins 13.09 seconds in the process. This matches Daniel's 5th place in the 1500m a couple of weeks ago. Congraulations to all our athletes on their achievements at these Championships.

On Sun 27th Mar, Eileen O'Brien won her category at the Wilimslow Half Marathon in Manchester. Eileen competed in the Wilmislow half marathon for the second year in a row and the trip to Manchester proved worthwhile as Eileen produced an outstanding run to place first in her category in a superb time of 1 hour 44 mins 34 seconds. This is terrific long distance running from Eileen who just gets better and better and looks in terrific form in advance of the upcoming Cork marathon in June. Great running Eileen!!

On Sun 27th Mar, a large number of Lucan athletes made the short trip to Dunboyne to compete in one of the most popular road races on the calendar, the Dunboyne 4 mile road race. Freda Comiskey led the Lucan ladies home as an outstanding display from start to finish saw Freda produce a sensational personal best time of 27 minutes 20 seconds on the 4 mile course.This knocked more than 2 1/2 minutes from Freda's previous best over 4 miles. Freda has been in unstoppable form for 18 months or more and this consistency is testament to Freda dedication to training. Ann McGee fresh from her exploits over 5 km in the city centre a week previous, produced yet another strong distance running performance over a longer distance. Ann showed now fatigue as she completed the Dunboyne 4 mile course in superb 37 minutes 45 seconds. Derry McVeigh continued his superb form as he produced yet another personal best run of 22 minutes 46 seconds this time over the 4 mile distance. This time knocked a massive 44 seconds off Derry's previous best for the distance. It's great to see Derry in this unstoppable vein of form and augurs well for the busy summer ahead. Second across the line for Lucan was Brendan Maher. Brendan was running his first race in recent months and looked really fresh as he completed the 4 mile course in an excellent time of 25 minutes 45 seconds.This bettered Brendan's time from 12 months ago by a huge 2 minutes. Hot on Brendan's heels was Brian Brunton, continuing his recent fine vein of form with a superb clocking of 25 minutes 55 seconds. This builds on the excellent form shown by Brian over recent BHAA cross country races. Vinny Murtagh, too, made a very impressive start to his road racing season as some strong running throughout by Vinny saw him home in a fantastic 26 minutes 31 seconds. It looks like the dedication shown by Vinny throughout the cross country season will stand to him over the summer. Following Vinny home was Joe Lynch, making a welcome return to action after a long injury lay-off. Joe made an impressive return as he clocked a fine time of 27 minutes 03 seconds. No doubt this is only that start of things to come from Joe as he prepares for the triathlon season ahead and looks to build on his superb 2010 that saw him secure National titles in the Duathlon and Half Ironman championships. Next home for Lucan was the impressive Alan Cassells. Alan produced a superb display on the day as a strong finish by Alan over the closing mile saw him produce an impressive time of 27 minutes 17 seconds. It looks like Alan is in excellent form with the races starting to come thick and fast. New member Patrick Holden can be pleased with his afternoon's work on his debut for club. Patrick showed great ability as very consistent running throughout saw Patrick complete his first 4 mile race in a outstanding time of 27 minutes 57 seconds. Patrick will prove to be great addition to the Lucan set-up. Terry Meyler, like Brendan, was competing in his first race of the year for Lucan but showed no rustiness as excellent running throughout saw Terry finsh in a fine time of 28 minutes 17 seconds. This is a great start to the road racing season by Tery and with numerous races coming up, no doubt we will see plenty more from Terry. Well done to all.


Held annually, the International Schools Cross Country Championships pits the best 8 athletes from each of Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales against one another in one race. This was Harry's first ever appearance in the Ireland singlet and he did Ireland and himself proud with a 25th place finish in the U15 race over 4500m. Harry placed 7th Irishman overall, helping Ireland to second place in the team standings in a race dominated by a very strong English team. Congratulations to Harry on this fantastic achievement and on his first experience of running for Ireland. Well done !! Results.

On Sat 23rd Mar, Stephen Rynne competed in the BHAA NCF 5km Cross Country Evening Challenge at Malahide Rugby Club. Stephen continued his magnificent cross country form as he raced home in a fantastic time of 21 minutes 26 seconds in this final cross country race of the season. Stephen has been so consistent throughout the season and will be a real contender when the league results are finalised. Well done, Stephen.

On Sun 20th Mar, Myra Nolan posted a huge personal best time in leading a large contingent of Lucan ladies at the Craughwell 10 mile road race in Galway. Myra produced a top drawer distance run that saw her finish in a superb personal best time of 1 hour 18 minutes 06 seconds smashing her previous best by more than 5 minutes. This is very strong running by one of the top distance runners in the club. Finishing in close proximity to Myra was another of our top distance runners - Lorraine Heffernan. Lorraine produced another very impressive performance over the longer distances in completing this Galway 10 mile course in a fantastic time of 1 hour 19 minutes 10 seconds. Bernie Stapleton commenced her road running compaign in the same vein that she finished the cross country once - with very strong running. Bernie obviously made good use of the strength developed over the cross country courses over the winter as she finished this race very strongly in 1 hour 20 minutes 04 seconds. Perhaps our most versatile athlete, Anne McGrane completed a very strong showing from our ladies as Anne produced a very consistent and well paced run in her first ever 10 mile race to finish in a magnificent time of 1 hour 23 minutes 19 seconds. No doubt we will see Anne impress in duathlons and triathlons over the coming months as well as on the roads. Well done to all.


On Sat 20th Mar, Eileen O'Brien (2nd in age category) led the way for Lucan athletes at the KBI/Metro St Brigid's St Patrick's 5km road race in Dublin city centre. Eileen O’Brien continued her successes of 2011 with another placing in her class. Eileen’s superb time of 23 minutes 10 seconds placed her a brilliant 2nd in her category. Ann McGee was the second Lucan lady home as her superb run on the day gave her a fantastic finishing time of 29 minutes 38 seconds in this Ann’s first race in recent months. We are sure to see Ann continue to impress over the coming weeks in upcoming road races. It was great to see Josie Dignam back out competing. Josie certainly impressed on her return as some very strong running throughout the race helped Josie to a fine finishing time of 32 minutes 05 seconds. Also c ompeting in her first race of the year was Eibhlin Ni Chuncuir. Eibhlin show no rustiness as she produced an excellent 5km performance to race home in a superb time of 33 minutes 16 seconds. This is a fine start by Eibhlin to her season, with plenty of races on the horizon. Derry McVeigh made a huge breakthrough in smashing the 18 minute barrier for the first time and placing 40th overall from more than 1000 finishers with an outstanding personal best 17 minutes 32 seconds clocking. Derry ran a very smart racing judging his pace brilliantly throughout to finish very strongly. Gerry Byrne senior, fresh from his track exploits earlier in the week was back out competing and produced another very strong running performance as he raced to a superb time 19 minutes 43 seconds. Gerry has certainly demonstrated his versatility on all terrains in recent weeks. Fergal O’Brien was the third Lucan male home as he made a welcome return to racing duty. Fergal ran a well paced race to finish in a very impressive time of 21 minutes 30 seconds in his first race of the year. New member George Treacy pushed Fergal the whole way and was hot on his heels at the finish with a magnificent time of 21 minutes 33 seconds. George will prove to be a great addition to the Lucan set up if this performance is anything to go by. Gerry Martin, too, impressed in his first road race of the season. Gerry, building on some impressive cross country performances produced a strong running performance to finish in a fantastic time of 21 minutes 50 seconds. Philip Fay rounded off a impressive day’s running by the Lucan men as his Philip cruised around the Victorian Dublin course in an excellent personal best time of 22 minutes 04 seconds. No doubt we will see Philip build on this fine start over the summer months.


Our juvenile athletes were back out competing and winning medals at the National championships at the weekend following some outstanding results in the Dublin championships in February. Adam Doran secured yet another gold medal for himself and Lucan in the U15 boys long jump competition. Adam produced a huge leap of 5.51 metres to impressively win the competition and enhance his reputation at National level even further. Adam also impressed in the high jump competition placing 5th with a fantastic jump of 1.50 metres. Max Carey competed in both the U12 long and high jump competitions, impressing in both. In the long jump competition Max came 5th with a massive jump of 3.86 metres just 15cm off the winning jump. In the high jump competition Max also looked impressive as he finished 8th in this brilliant competition. Niall Flanagan built on his superb performance in the Dublin championships as he once again impressed this time at National level where Niall’s excellent jumps placed him 8th against some very strong competition in the U14 agegroup. There is no doubt that we will see Niall continue to impress over the summer months. Daniel Byrne produced a magnificent run in the U16 boys 1,500 metre race. Daniel ran a well paced race and had plenty left in the tank for the last 600 metres as Daniel finished strongly to secure an excellent 5th place overall. This continues Daniel fine vein of form with the outdoor track season to come. In the U13 girls high jump competition Saoirse Reihill continued her excellent season in the discipline as her fantastic jump of 1.20 metres placed her 9th in a high quality competition. This excellent performance at National level will give Saoirse great confidence for the remainder of the season In the U15 girls high jump Sarah Reihill represented the club and produced a brilliant display on the day as her very impressive jump of 1.35 metres placed her 5th in a very strong competition. Sarah continues to show great versatility in impressing in all events in which she competes. Congratulations to all of our young athletes.

On Tue 15th March, Gerry Byrne Sr produced an early season personal best at the Peter Dooney Memorial 3km track race at the Aer Lingus Sports Complex track. Gerry produced a fantastic sprint finish over the closing stages finishing in an outstanding time of 10 minutes 54 seconds.Gerry took some notable scalps in the process, and the fact that he was able to close so well augers well for further personal best times over this distance. Well done Gerry.


On Sun 13th March, Harry Larkin placed 9th in the U15 race at the All-Ireland Schools Cross Country Championships held at the National Aquatics Centre at Abbotstown. This was another fine run from Harry while representing his school, Castleknock College. This result possibly means more for Harry than any to date because it means that he will be among the 8 athletes selected to represent the Irish U15 team at the upcoming Schools Cross Country International in Antrim in two weeks' time. Congratulations Harry on your first selection to the Irish team!!! Results.

On Sat 5th March, Eileen O'Brien won her category with Bernie Stapleton third in hers as our senior athletes ran in the Garda/St Raphael's-sponsored BHAA cross country in the Phoenix Park. Bernie Stapleton once again impressed in a high quality women's 2 mile race. Bernie's impressive race schedule paid off on the day as Bernie got stronger & stronger as the race progressed to finish most impressively over the last 200 metres in a fantastic time of 14 minutes 57 seconds. This placed Bernie 3rd in her category. Eileen O'Brien, meanwhile continued her superb winning streak with another impressive victory in her category in a very swift time of 16 minutes and 21 seconds. Eileen is once again in top form with the Wilimslow half marathon on the horizon. Derry McVeigh produced a brilliant strong running performance from start to finish in the men's 4 mile race to lead our men home in a superb time of 24 minutes 17 seconds. Derry has obviously worked hard on the hills over recent weeks and carried his training form into race day, ploughing up the Phoenix Park hills at ease. Next across the line for Lucan was Gerry Byrne senior as he produced another impressive cross country perfomance making light of the hills to sprint home in a fantastic time of 26 minutes 26 seconds. It looks like Gerry's formidable Satuday morning hill sessions are paying rich dividends. In hot pursuit of Gerry throughout the race was Vinny Murtagh who put in his best performance of the cross country season.Vinny looked as ease on the undulations as his excellent form helped Vinny to a magnificent time of 26 minutes 53 seconds. Fourth to finish for the Lucan men was Stephen Rynne, who continued his catalogue of excellent cross country races with another fantastic display. Stephen got stronger as the race progressed and produced a brilliant last lap to finish in a time of 27 minutes 19 seconds. Mark Foley completed a fine day's running by the Lucan men to race home in a superb time of 29 minutes 40 seconds. Mark is proving a great find for the club as his performances continue to get better and better as the months progress. No doubt there will be plenty more to come from Mark as the summer progresses. Well done to all on a good day.

On the weekend of 26th and 27th Feb, our young athletes competed at the Dublin Indoor Track & Field Championships at Tallaght Stadium and Morton Stadium. Saoirse Reihill continued her excellent run of form as she came a close 4th in a stiff competition in the final of the U13 girls hurdles competition. Saoirse secured her place in the final after a superb second place finish in her heat. In the same competition Alexandra Burke Khan ran an amazing first hurdle race and was extremely unlucky to be just outside the qualifying time for the final. Alexandra can look forward to a fine season ahead. Tara Andrews produced another fantastic winning performance in the U15 hurdles as Tara built on some superb performances in the field events last week with another superb display. Adam Doran was once again on top of his game as his magnificent performance placed him second overall in another competitive race in the boys U15 hurdles. Adam has hit top form once again for the track & field season. Rachel Briggs qualified a fantastic second in her heat to come a close fourth in the final of the U16 hurdles. This outstanding display follows Rachel's third place finish in the shot putt event the previous week. Sprint results are not yet to hand. We believe that we had numerous competitors in the various juvenile categories who as always did themselves and the club proud. Results to follow when received. Congratulations again to all on their achievements at these Championships.

On Sun 20th Feb, Professional snooker star and Lucan athlete, Fergal O'Brien won the Celbridge Pro-Am Snooker Tournament. 16 of Ireland's best snooker players took part in the Celbridge pro-am on Sunday but a stamina test of 3 matches in one day is no problem to Fergal O'Brien who beat his old rival, Ken Doherty, in the late night final. Congrats Fergal!!

On the weekend of 19th and 20th Feb, Lucan's young athletes again showed off their talents at the Dublin Indoor Track & Field Championships at Tallaght Stadium and Morton Stadium, Once again our young athletes excelled in their competitions, securing 10 Dublin titles and we also have 10 young athletes through to the Nationals. In the girls U13 High Jump Saoirse Reihill produced her best performance in the Lucan colours so far as Saoirse's consistent jumping in the competion secured her victory in a very strong competition. This performance qualified Saoirse for the National Championships. In the U13 girls shot putt competition Saoirse continued her fine performances over the weekend as her excellent throws placed her 6th in this event. In the U15 girls High jump competition, two of our most consistent athletes, Tara Andrews and Sarah Reihill pushed each other all the way in the competiton with Tara winning after a titanic battle with Sarah. Tara produced a series of amazing jumps that were closely followed by Sarah in a very enjoyable competition. Tara continued her winning streak in the girls U15 long jump competition as a further series of impressive jumps placed her 1st in another close competiton. Tara rounded off an excellent weekend in the field events as her excellent throws in the shot putt event placed her third overall. These fantastic performances ensure that Tara qualifies for the National competiton in all three events. Also in the shot putt event we had Sarah Reihill competing and just as in the high jump competition Sarah's superb throws pushed Tara all the way in the competition with Sarah finishing 4th overall in a high quality competition, Sarah rounded off her busy weekend with an outstanding run in the U15 girls 800 metre race as some very strong running placed Sarah 3td overall. Sarah will now go forward to represent us in the National long jump and 800 metre competitions. In the middle 600 metre race Lucan had a high quality representation with Lee Browne, Niall Larkin, Adam Kelleher and Cian Timmons competiting. All our athletes excelled on the day and pushed each other all the way resulting in a brilliant victory for the very dedicated Lee Browne. Lee now goes forward to represent Lucan in the National 600 metre competition while Niall, Adam & Cian can all be well pleased with their superb performances in a very competitive race on the day and can look forward to the remainder of the track season with great confidence. In the boys U12 field events Max Carey was our representative and as ever did not disappoint placing on the podium in 3 events. Max produced a series of excellent jumps in the High Jump to secured an outstanding victory in the competition. On to the shot putt competition and a series of amazing throws gave Max another brilliant victory. Max rounded off his magnificent weekend with yet another brilliant performance in the long jump competiton as Max's excellent leaps placed him third overall. Max will now be representing us in the National competition in all three events which is testament to all his recent hard work. In the boys U14 800 metre competition, Sean Townsend proudly flew the flag for Lucan as his fantastic run on the day ensured the he was first across the tape. Sean has consistently impressed in this competition in recent seasons & it is great to see all his hard work continue to pay off. In the U14 long jump competition Niall Flanagan was Lucan's sole representative and did not disappoint as Niall's consistency in the competiton was rewarded with a magnificent 2nd place in a very competition. Thius excellent result by Niall ensures that he now goes forward to represent us at the Nationals. Adam Doran focused on the jump events this year and the decision certinly paid off with Adam impressively winning both competitions. Adam's sequence of excellent leaps in the long jump went unmatched with Adam securing an impressive victory in the competition. Onto the High Jump and Adam once again produced a series of fine jumps that ensured he won his second competiton of the weekend. Adam will now be heading to the Nationals in great confidence once again. In the boys U15 800 metre race Harry Larkin and Eoin Timmons demonstrated that both are in excellent form as the track season commences. Harry once again demonstrated his class as very strong running throughout the race gave Harry a brilliant victory in the mddle distance race. Harry will now go forward to compete in the National 800 metre race. Harry is the reigning National Outdoor 800m Champion in his age- group. With that strength, he also has amazing endurance, on display when he finished in second place in the National Cross Country Championship in his age-group before Christmas. Harry will bring all this experience with him to Nenagh for the National Indoor Championship. In the same race Eoin Timmons was running in his first ever 800 metre race and his super run suggests that we will see Eoin on the podium in the Dublin championships in the near future. It looks like our juvenile coached have unearthed another high quality athlete in Eoin. Daniel Byrne continued his fine run of form in the lucan colours this season as he carried some excellent cross country form onto the track. In the U16 800 metre competition Daniel pushed the competition all the way with strong running throughout ensuring that Daniel placed 3rd overall. This performance now guarantees that Daniel will also be flying the flag for Lucan in the Nationals. Rachel Briggs put in a phenomenal display in the U16 girls shot putt competition when producing numerous outstanding throws. This quality performance by Rachel secured her a well deserved bronze medal in a top quality competition. Rachel will now go forward to compete in the National girls U16 shot putt competition shortly in a fine vein of form. Well done to all our young athletes on these exceptional performances.

On Sat 19th Feb, Eileen O'Brien (1st in category) and Bernie Stapleton (5th in category) led the way as our senior athletes competed in the BHAA/Dublin Airport Cross Country races. Bernie Stapleton continues to impress this season and Saturday was no exception as Bernie produced another superb cross country display in finishing 5th in her category in an excellent 16 minutes on this 2+ mile course. For the second week running Eileen O'Brien came out on top in her class as her magnificent time of 17 minutes 19 seconds ensured that she was uncatchable on the day. Eileen has hit top form once again in 2011. In the men's 5+ mile race, Brian Brunton once again led the charge for the Lucan men as he continued his excellent vein of form with a superb 38 minutes 29 seconds clocking to finish 6th in his category. It looks like Brian's busy racing schedule this year is paying dividends as his form gets better & better. In hot pursuit just 2 places back was Stephen Rynne. Stephen produced another excellent performance racing to an excellent 38 minutes 44 seconds on the 5 mile course.This also placed Stephen 6th in his class. Vinny Murtagh completed a fine morning's work by the Lucan men as Vinny's impressive cross country campaign continued with another brilliant performance in completing the course in a great time of 40 minutes 34 seconds.It's great to see Brian, Stephen & Vinny pushing each other all the way week after week in these races and augurs well for our Master's team.

On Sun 13th Feb, Freda Comiskey's fantastic 7th place finish led the way for Lucan in the final Meet & Train cross country race of the winter at St Anne's Park, Raheny. Freda produced another sensational performance as she finished 7th overall in the final round of the M&T league. Freda covered the Raheny course in a magnificent 14 minutes 36 seconds in soft underfoot conditions as she secured her 2nd highest placed finish in the M&T series following her 6th place in Griffeen Park in November. This performance should give Freda some great confidence as she heads into some big road races over the coming months. Nicola O'Flaherty was Lucan's second finisher on the day as Nicola produced her highest finish in this winter league with her superb time of 19 minutes 20 seconds placing Nicola an excellent 67th overall. It looks like Nicola is once again is top shape heading into the road racing season. Hot on Nicola's heels was Jennith O'Hanlon who has got better and better as the series has gone on. Jennith saved the best for last as she made light of the slippery conditions to place 68th overall with an outstanding clocking of 19 minutes 33 seconds. It's great to see Jennith's consistent racing schedule over recent months continuing to reap dividends. Fourth to cross the line for Lucan was the ever consistent Winifred Ryan who once again impressed against some stiff opposition. Winifred's excellent time of 20 minutes 14 seconds placed her 71st overall. It looks like we can expect another fine season from Winifred. Completing another very strong showing from our ladies team was Barbara Whelan who rounded off her most impressive M&T campaign by placing 79th overall in a brilliant 22 minutes 06 seconds. This has arguably been Barbara's most impressive Meet and Train campaign to date and with the road racing season soon to commence, no doubt there is plenty more to come.

On Sat 12th Feb, we had some podium finishes at the North County Dublin Farmers-sponsored BHAA Cross Country race in Balheary Park, Swords. Bernie Stapleton built on her excellent personal best over 5 miles on the roads 2 weeks ago with another magnificent cross country performance. Bernie raced home in a brilliant 19 minutes 15 seconds on the 2.5 mile course for a 3rd place finish in her category. Eileen O'Brien, too, continued her outstanding year as Eileen secured victory in her category with a outstanding 20 minutes 58 seconds clocking as she continued her brilliant form from the National Masters last week. No doubt we can expect plenty more podium finishes from these two ladies over the coming months as the races come thick and fast. Brian Brunton led the Lucan male contingent home in the 5 mile race as he produced a magnificent performance in completing this cross country course in a superb 33 minutes 51 seconds. Brian has shown tremendous form in the BHAA series this winter and is testament to his hard work in training. Next home for the Lucan men was Vinny Murtagh, producing another class cross country performance as Vinny raced home in an excellent time of 34 minutes 20 seconds to continue his excellent cross country season. Following Vinny we had Stephen Rynne who also continued his fine run of form in these BHAA races this year. Stephen made light of the very soft underfoot conditions and an injury to produce very impressive time of 35 minutes 50 seconds on the Swords 5 mile course. Well done to all.


Eileen O'Brien continued her superb start to 2011 as she proudly flew the flag for Lucan in the National Masters Cross Country championships. Eileen had a magnificent run over the tough 4,000 metre ALSAA course as she clocked a fantastic time of 24 minutes 55 seconds. This performance placed Eileen 4th overall in the V5 class. Well done Eileen on another fine run.

On Sun 30th Jan, Bernie Stapleton's personal best was the highlight for Lucan at the Raheny Shamrock A.C. 5 mile road race. This race is one of the biggest and best races on the domestic calendar, Bernie Stapleton responded to the occasion as she led the Lucan ladies home and in the process she continued her amazing run of form with a magnificent personal best run 35 minutes 28 seconds clocking on a perfect afternoon for running. Bernie’s consistent racing schedule continues to pay dividends as we believe that Bernie looked as fresh as a daisy at the finish. Second across the line for Lucan was Freda Comiskey. Freda once again produced a top level run as she produced a fantastic 36 minutes 36 seconds on this 5 mile course .This performance show’s Freda’s versatility after her impressive exploits on the cross country and track in recent times. Eileen O’Brien was the third Lucan lady home as once again Eileen put in a tremendous performance in the Lucan colours. Eileen’s time of 38 minutes 54 seconds was excellent an doubt this performance placed Eileen well up in her category. Jennith O’Hanlon completed a very strong showing from our ladies as Jennith continued her very impressive recent form in track and cross country races with an outstanding 48 minutes 31 seconds clocking on the roads. For the men Brendan Maher led the way with an outstanding 35 minutes 01 second clocking. Coming back from an injury lay-off, Brendan hit the ground running in his first race of 2011 as Brendan ran negative splits with some especially strong running in the second half of the race. Hopefully this is just the start of things to come from Brendan this year. New member Philip Fay continued his impressive run of performances since joining the club last year. Philip produced a brilliant personal best performance as he raced to a magnificent time of 37 minutes 44 seconds. No doubt there will be plenty more to come from Philip over the coming months.

On Sun 30th Jan, Lorraine Heffernan produced a sensational duathlon performance in placing third woman overall at the Trim Duathlon. Consisting of three extremely tough events ( a 3km trail run, 20km hilly cycle and another 3km trail run to the finish) Lorraine demonstrated great stamina as she cruised through the duathlon in an amazing time of 70 minutes. COngratulations Lorraine on this great performance.


Saoirse Reihill and Tara Andrews proudly represented the club in the latest National athletics competition -- the National Juvenile Combined Events in Nenagh. Saoirse Reihill moved up an age group to compete in the girls U14 pentathlon event and put in an excellent performance against older girls. This experience will no doubt stand to Saoirse for next year’s competition. Saoirse performed brilliantly in all events: 60 metres hurdles: 13.11 seconds. Long jump: 3.03 metres. High jump:1.25 metres. 800 metres: 3 minutes 24.05 seconds. In the girls U15 pentathlon competition Tara Andrews was our sole representative. Tara produced a magnificent performance on the day as she placed an excellent third overall in a completion where very little separated the top five athletes. Tara looks in top shape once again in 2011 as her performances below suggest. 60 Metres hurdle:10.3 seconds Long jump:4.51 metres. Shot:7.76 metres. High jump:1.4 metres. 800 metres: 2 minutes 41.68 seconds. Congratulations to both athletes on their achievements.

On Thur 27th Jan, we had three runners in the top 7 in their races at the West Leinster Schools Cross Country in the Phoenix Park. In the Minor (ie U14) Girls event Sarah Reihill ran a fantastic race and was rewarded with a superb 4th place finish against stiff opposition. Sarah is once again looking sharp with the competitions coming thick and fast for our juvenile athletes. In the Minor Boys race, the talented Harry Larkin continued his catalogue of great successes as he produced a brilliant cross country display to win the race. In the same event the very consistent Sean Townsend continued his fine vein of form as his excellent run placed him 7th overall. This performance will no doubt give Sean great confidence with a number of importance races on the horizon. All three athletes as a result of these performances now qualify for the Leinster Schools Cross Country Championships in a few weeks time.

On Sun 23rd Jan, Lucan's women performed impressively again at the Women’s Meet & Train Round 3 in Balheary Park, Swords. Nicola Kavanagh continued her amazing run of form in this Meet & Train series as she led Lucan home in a brilliant 10th place. Nicola had an outstanding run completing the course in a fantastic time of 12 minutes 59 seconds. Second across the line for Lucan was Freda Comiskey who produced her third impressive run of the series in placing 14th overall. As ever Freda impressed on the cross country terrain producing a brilliant 13 minutes 26 seconds. Bernie Stapleton made light of her exertions from 24 hours earlier as she produced a second superb performance of the weekend. Bernie placed an impressive 21st overall on the morning in a fantastic 13 minutes 40 seconds. Following Bernie home was Lorraine Heffernan, continuing her fine form over winter with a 43rd place finish in a very swift 14 minutes 42 seconds as Lorraine continues to go from strength to strength. Finishing very strongly behind Lorraine was the versatile Sarah Barragry in 14 minutes 54 seconds. Sarah is proven a very able performer on the cross country following some brilliant exploits on the roads after joining the club last spring. One of the most impressive performances of the day came from Barbara Whelan who had an outstanding run in racing to a magnificent time of 16 minutes 56 seconds. Barbara’s great dedication to training and racing continues to pay off as Barbara has been in superb form for numerous months now. In close attention to Barbara we had the impressive Jenith O’Hanlon who has made a great start to 2011. Jenith produced her second brilliant performance over cross country in 2011 with a fine 17 minutes 15 seconds clocking. Winfred Ryan completed the morning of excellent performances by our ladies as she continued her impressive string of performances on the cross country terrain with an outstanding 18 minutes 1 second clocking. Results, info, photos.

On Sun 23rd Jan, Anne McGrane placed 3rd in her category at the Naas Duathlon Series. Anne had a superb performance as she completed the testing duathlon course in a superb 1 hour 20 minutes 49 seconds. Anne completed her first run in a very quick 15 minutes 26 seconds. Following a quick first transition Anne produced a very strong cycle completing the cycling course in 46 minutes 05 seconds. With plenty of energy still in the tank Anne completed the event with an outstanding second run, completing the circuit in 16 minutes 57 seconds. These tremendous splits placed Anne 3rd overall in her category. Congratulations Anne.

On Sat 22nd Jan, we had some good representation at the BHAA Eircom cross Country races in Cherryfield Park. Bernie Stapleton was the sole representative for our ladies and as ever put in a quality performance. Bernie completed the ladies 2.5 mile course in an excellent time of 13 minutes 51 seconds. In the men's 5 mile race, Gerry Byrne senior led the way for Lucan as he continued his superb cross country form with an excellent 33 minutes 36 seconds clocking. Not far behind, after clocking another outstanding time of 34 minutes 28 seconds was Stephen Rynne competing in his third race in as many weekends to continue his busy start to the new year. As ever in hot pursuit of Stephen was Brian Brunton, who once again pushed Stephen the whole way and was rewarded with a fantastic time of 34 minutes 53 seconds with Vinny Murtagh, too, in hot pursuit of both Stephen and Brian at the finish as he raced to a super time of 34 minutes 53 seconds in this his third race of the month following an excellent run in the Dublin Masters a week ago. Gerry Martin continued his fine vein of form as he raced to a very impressive time of 35 minutes 53 seconds building on some very strong running in the Dublin Masters last weekend. Gerard Moloney completed a strong Lucan representation as he got his 2011 campaign off to a tremendous start with his brilliant 39 minutes 14 seconds clocking. Well done to all. More results.

On Sun 16th Jan, Sean Townsend and Daniel Byrne turned in fine performances at the National Uneven Ages Cross Country Championships in Tullamore. Sunday saw the running of the Uneven Ages National cross country championships in Tullamore following the postponement of the event in December due to the adverse weather. It was certainly worth the wait as our young athletes competing on the day did themselves and the club proud. In the boys U13 race Sean Towsend produced a outstanding run on the 2km course. From a huge field of 134 athletes Sean placed a superb 45th, getting stronger and stronger as the race progressed. This superb performance by Sean helped his Dublin team to win the Intercounties championships and also helped Dublin to 3rd place in the Inter Region championship. Daniel Byrne represented our club in the boys U15 championship race over 3,500 metres. Daniel is proving to be a fantastic find for the club as his performances get better annd better. In his first race at national level Daniel placed 21st overall from 93 athletes and his sensational performance placed him as 3rd scorer on the Dublin team that comfortably won the Inter County championship. Congratulations to both athletes.

On Sun 16th Jan, our men's masters team competed in the Dublin Masters Cross Country championships over 7kms in St Anne's Park, Raheny. Lucan masters men's team of Colm O'Connor, Stephen Rynne, Gerry Martin & Vinny Murtagh produced excellent individual and collective performances in impressing in the Dublin Masters cross country championships. Run in lovely weather conditions and on a superbly laid out course in Raheny, Colm O'Connor led the way for our team as he cruised over the 7km course in a fantastic time of 28 minutes. Colm, returning to championship action after a frustrating year with injury, used his experience and his not inconsiderable speed to gauge his pacing to perfection, producing a superb sprint finish to catch a number of athletes over the closing stages. Next home for Lucan was the impressive Stephen Rynne as Stephen raced to a superb time of 29 minutes. Stephen has been impressing consistently in all cross country races that he has competed in since joining Lucan and has proven to be a brilliant addition to our masters team. Third across the line for Lucan was the ever consistent Gerry Martin. No stranger to championship running, Gerry produced another excellent cross country performance on championship day as he completed the brilliant St Anne's course in a fantastic time of just over 29 minutes. Completing an impressive team performance for Lucan was the very versatile Vinny Murtagh. Better known as a super track and road runner, Vinny showed his class on the cross country terrain, running a brilliant time of 30 minutes. Vinny showed no sign of faigue in his performance despite racing a week earlier. Official results have not yet been received but should be posted on the Dublin Athletics website over the coming days. Results.

On Sat 15th Jan, Lucan had a number of our ladies competing in the re-run Aware 10km road race in the Phoenix Park. Bernie Stapleton, Myra Nolan and Emer McCarthy continued excellent starts to the new year by our ladies as all three athletes produced very impressive performances on the Phoenix Park course. Bernie & Myra continued their legendary rivalry as these two talented athletes could only be seperated by 12 seconds on the day over 10 kms, with Bernie recording a great time of 49 minutes 42 seconds and Myra in hot pursuit clocking an excellent 49 minutes 54 seconds. The was Bernie's second race in as many weeks following her fine run over cross country last week while Myra was making a return to competitive road running following her exploits in the New York marathon in November. Emer McCarthy was the third Lucan lady acoss the line. Emer continued her string of superb race performances by clocking yet another impressive time of 51 minutes 56 seconds - this time over the 10km distance. It looks like we can expect another year of excellent distace running from Emer. Completing an excellet morning's running our ladies was Annn McGee, who as ever showed terrific form over the 10km course. Ann made little of the many undulations on the course as she completed the 10km distance in a magificent 1 hour 02 minutes 45 seconds.

On Sun 9th Jan, Lucan's women were out in force once again for the latest M&T race in the winter series, Meet & Train Round 2 in Tymon Park. Once again, our athletes impressed on their return to action after the Christmas break. Freda Comiskey continued her superb form as she led the way for the Lucan ladies in the second race of the series. Freda produced a fantastic start to the new year, placing 13th overall with an excellent performance. Bernie Stapleton completed a busy weekend, racing over both days. Bernie showed little sign of fatigue in the Meet & Train fixture, placing 28th overall after another impressive display. Lorraine Heffernan was our third finisher on the day in 39th place as Lorraine obviously continued to train well over the festive season. Sarah Barragry continues to impress in the Lucan colours and was our next finisher in 48th place. Sarah looks in top form heading into the new year. Hot on Sarah’s heels was Claire Buckley, finishing just one place back in 49th position. Claire continues to race very well and produced another fine performance to commence 2011.Winifred Ryan, too, has continued her work over the festive season as she looked in top form in her first race of 2011 in racing to a 74th place finish. Following Winifred home in close attention was Jenith O’Hanlon. Jenith running in her first Meet & Train race looked very comfortable throughout the race finishing just behind Winifred in 75th place. Sile McIntyre was the next lucan lady across the finishing line as Sile got her 2011 campaign off to an impressive start to finished in 78th place overall.Completing a morning of fine performances by our ladies was Barbara Whelan who as ever produced a fantastic display in completing the Tymon Park course in 83rd place. Below is a link to more results and information on women's Meet and Train including photos. (Note that we believe that the times given for this latest race may be inaccurate). More results.

On Sat 8th Jan, Lucan's athletes ran in the South Dublin County Council-BHAA sponsored Cross Country Races in Tymon Park. Bernie Stapleton made an excellent start to the new year in completing the 2 mile course in an impressive 15 minutes 10 seconds. This placed Bernie 6th overall in her category. Female athlete of the year Eileen O’Brien continued where she left off last year as Eileen placed second in her category having covered the course in 16 minutes 54 seconds in very cold conditions. Shane McCarthy led the way for the Lucan men as he got 2011 off to a fine start. Shane produced a superb display completing the 4 miles in an impressive 27 minutes 28 seconds. The ever impressive Gerry Byrne senior was Lucan’s second finisher, racing to a brilliant time of 28 minutes 09 seconds. Our recently crowned male athlete of the year, Stephen Rynne and Brian Brunton had a great battle in this first race of the new year with only 6 seconds separating both athletes. On this occasion Stephen just got the nod with his excellent 29 minutes 54 seconds clocking placing 4th in his category with Brian impressing in his first outing of the year in pushing Stephen all the way with a magnificent time of 30 minutes. Vinny Murtagh completed an excellent day for our athletes as he made light of the frosty morning conditions in racing to an superb time of 32 minutes. More results.

Looking back at 2010, it was another great year for Lucan Harriers with our athletes excelling locally as well as Nationally and Internationally. Below are some of the Lucan Harriers highlights from 2010

17.01.2010 -- Eileen O’Brien places 2nd in category in Dublin Masters Cross Country championship in Tymon Park. In the men’s event John O’Leary placed 3 rd in his category.

30.01.2010 -- Adam Doran wins Boys U14 title and Tara Andrews places 2nd in the girls U14 events at the Woodies DIY National Juvenile Indoor Combined Events in Nenagh.

06.02.2010 - David Keogh ran in the 800m at the Woodies DIY National Senior Indoor Athletic Championships at the Odyssey Arena in Belfast

21.02.2010 - Harry Larkin placed an astounding 5th in the U13 National Cross Country Championships, while Sarah Reihill placed a fine 4th in the U13 'B' National Championships at Lough Key Forest Park, Boyle, Roscommon

06.03.2010 - Our U14 girls placed 4th in the 4 * 200m relay at the Dublin Juvenile Indoor Championships held in Tallaght

14.03.2010 - Our senior ladies ran in the Half marathon & 10 km challenge in the Hague, Netherlands

27.03.2010 -- Gareth Fereday produces a personal best over the half marathon distance in Omagh

27/28.03.2010 - Adam Doran took home two medals as Lucan's juvenile athletes produced some outstanding personal bests at the National Juvenile Indoor Championships in Nenagh

11.04.2010 - The Lucan Senior Men's team of Gareth Fereday, David Keogh, Joe Lynch and Gerry Byrne Jnr competed in the National Road relays in Raheny

25.04.2010 - Joe Lynch became the National Duathlon champion for 2010 when he won the National Championships in Burnfoot, Co Donegal

09.05.2010 -- Eileen O’Brien & Gerry Martin place at the Clonliffe 2

29.05.2010 - Lucan Harriers hosted their annual Juvenile Open Sports day which was a huge success thanks to Gerry Reihill, Linda Dowling, Gerry Martin, Ann McGee for organising and to all the volunteers who turned out on the day to assist.

13.06.2010 -- Lucan Harriers hosted our annual Tom Byrne Memorial 5km road race with Sarah Barragry taking home the Tom Byrne Memorial trophy for first Lucan lady home. Thanks to everyone who assisted with the race.

18/19/20.06.2010 -- Our juvenile athletes displayed great ability and confidence at the Dublin Juvenile Track & Field championships at Morton Stadium

27.06.2010 -- Lucan had a large female representation at the Palmerstown Family Fitness Festival 5km road race with Deirdre Counihan placing 3rd overall in the ladies race.

03/04.07.2010 -- Lucan’s juvenile athletes secured 3 medals|(Tara Andrews, Harry Larkin & Adam Doran) at the National Track & Field Championships in Tullamore

17.07.2010 -- Ann McGee wins her category at the Lifestyle Sports- adidas/Irish Runner 5 mile race.`

23.07.2010 -- Stephen Rynne placed second in the Guide Dogs for the Blind 6k in Baltitore, Co Kildare

25.07.2010 -- Brian Farrell places 4th in the Humbert Challenge Half Iron Triathlon in Swinford.

31.07.2010 -- Conor McGee won the Run for Roch 5km road race Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

31.07.2010 -- Adam Doran and Tara Andrews secured silver medals at the National Juvenile Combined Events Championships in Tullamore

22.08.2010 -- Joe Lynch secured his second National medal of the year as he finished 2nd in the National Half Ironman Championships in Groomsport, County Down

24.08.2010 -- Freda Comiskey and Stephen Byrne took the honours at the Club Championship Race in Griffeen Park

31.08.2010 -- Barbara Whelan & Liam Landers came out on top at the Club Handicap Race in Griffeen Park

18.09..2010 -- We had numerous personal bests and a second place in category from Eileen O'Brien at the Adidas/LifeStyle Sports Dublin Half Marathon in the Phoenix Park

26.09.2010 -- Lucan's athletes picked up prizes with Ann McGee first and Stephen Rynne second in their categories at the Rathfarnham 5km road race

03.10.2010 -- Lucan ladies(Freda Comiskey, Nicola Kavanagh, Sheena Crotty, Amber Nugent, Sinead Murphy& Winifred Ryan) produced yet more fine performances at the Dublin Novice Cross Country championships in the Phoenix Park

10.10.2010 -- Freda Comiskey recorded a huge personal best to win her category at the Armagh 10 mile road race

17.10.2010 -- We had some great successes (Saoirse Reihill, Sarah Reihill, Tara Andrews, Adam Kelleher, Sean Townsend, Harry Larkin & Daniel Byrne at the Dublin Juvenile Cross Country League (Round 4) in the Phoenix Park

25.10.2010 -- Our athletes competed and excelled at the Dublin marathon with Eileen O’Brien retaining her title in her National Age group,

31.10.2010 -- Harry Larkin (2nd) and Sean Townsend (5th) were best of some very good results at the even age-groups Dublin Juvenile Cross Country championships in Santry Park

07.11.2010 -- Nicola Kavanagh and Freda Comiskey finished in a sensational 3rd and 6th place respectively in the first round of the Winter Meet and Train cross country series as Lucan hosted in Griffeen Park.These were the best results by our ladies since the competition started 12 years ago.

13.11.2010 -- Eithne Richardson placed first in her category at the Clarion Gym Triathlon

28.11.2010 -- Harry Larkin finished in a phenomenal second place at the National U14 Cross Country Championships in Derry while Sarah Reihill placed 31st from a large field in the girls race.

Thanks to coaches!!!!

We'd like to take this opportunity to say a special word of thanks to all our coaches - Colm O'Connor, Brendan Maher, Gerry Reihill, Ann McGee, Gerry Martin, Ciaran Quigley, Antonio Seijan, Liam Andrews and all coaches I've omitted - for their tremendous work and dedication all year. The training sessions are a lot easier when they're orgainised so well week after week.