On Sun 31st Jan, Lucan had a number of athletes partaking in the Raheny Shamrocks AC 5 mile road race in Raheny. This race is one our athletes continually support since it is without a doubt one of the highlights of the road racing calendar in Ireland. For the ladies Freda Comiskey, led the way for Lucan with another fantastic performance. Freda produced a great time of 36 mins 12 seconds for the 5 mile course to continue her string of excellent performances over the last number of months. Following Freda home we had Lorraine Heffernan who produced a sensational personal best time of 37 mins 18 secs. Last year Lorraine covered the distance in 38 mins 33 secs but the excellent training sessions that Lorraine is putting in at the moment are paying off in races, which is well deserved. Next to finish for the Lucan ladies we had Emer O'Sullivan. Emer produced a great time of 40 mins 24 secs. This performance is all the more impressive considering that Emer is just coming back into fitness after a period off. This performance builds on some fine running produced by Emer in early December as part of our Turkey trot series of races. Josie Dignam was our next athlete home in 58 mins 11 secs. Josie thoroughly enjoyed the 5 mile race and is just coming back from a 4 year break. This performance suggests that Josie has been training diligently since her return and we look forward to seeing her race over the coming months. For the men, Joe Lynch led the way for Lucan with another outstanding performance. Joe produced yet another fantastic time of 27 mins 51secs for the five mile distance to finish 35th overall out of 1,660 competitors. Joe has built up so much endurance over the last 12 months with all the hard work he has put in and this enabled him to get stronger and stronger as the race progressed. Gerry Byrne junior is another of our athletes that is training and racing really well and he was rewarded with another personal best performance of 30 mins 40 secs for 5 miles. This was over 90 seconds quicker than the time Gerry produced in last year's race, so Gerry now has the endurance to match the lightning speed that he has in spades. Alan Cassells was our third athlete across the finishing line having produced a great run of 32 mins 16 secs for the 5 mile course. Alan has made a fine start to 2010 on cross country and now on the roads. Ken Robinson was our fourth male home, having produced another outstanding performance. Ken clocked a time of 32 mins 17 secs after a great battle with Alan and has been in a hot streak of form since his great marathon performance in October. Gerry Byrne senior too has had a busy schedule so far in 2010 but continues to produce excellent performances week after week. The Raheny 5 was no exception as Gerry produced a great time of 32 mins 41secs despite the fact that he is putting in high weekly mileage in training as he prepares for the Connemarathon. Well done to all on some good running.



Adam Doran won the Boys U/14 National title with the following results: 60m hurdles 10.2 seconds; Long jump 4.73 metres; Shot putt 8.80 metres, High Jump 1.46 metres, 800 metres 2.40. Tara Andrews placed a very close second in the Girls U/14 National Championship being just 50 points behind the winner. Tara's performances were as follows: 60m hurdles 10.5 seconds; High jump 1.42 metres; Long jump 3.71 metres; Shot putt 7.43 metres; 800 metres 2.46. These achievements are even more commendable from both athletes considering that we do not have a high jump facility. Well done to both on these tremendous results. Full results.


Daithi finished an excellent fourth in his category after producing a great jump of 3.98. Daithi is one of our newer members and is a very versatile athlete coming from a decathlon background. Well done Daithi.

Club member Fergal O'Brien taking on Mark Williams in Welsh Open Snooker Championships, Jan 27th. Best of luck to Fergal who takes on the Welsh wiz Mark Williams in the first round, having had an excellent win in the qualifiers on Friday last.

On Sun 24th Jan, Anne McGrane competed in race one of annual series hosted by Naas Tri Club in Punchestown, County Kildare. Held in fairly good conditions, Anne had a fine outing, including a tough cycling segment, which is testament to the great mix of training that she is currently doing. Well done Anne.

On Sun 24th Jan, we had a large contingent running in round 3 of the Women's Meet and Train cross country league in Balheary Park, Swords. Freda Comiskey, once again, had a brilliant performance finishing in 12th overall in a large field of 96 athletes. Freda posted a fantastic time of 13 mins for the 2 mile course, run over two and a half laps of Balheary Park in Swords in bitterly cold conditions. Hilary McGee, too, had a brilliant run finishing in 17th position in 13 mins 45 secs. Hilary is consistently producing faster times during the Meet and Train series and is in excellent form. Bernie Stapleton ran her second 2 mile race of the weekend and showed no sign of fatigue has she produced an even quicker time of 13 mins 58 secs for the 2 miles to secure 23rd place. Bernie is consistently moving up the field in each of the races in the series. The next finisher for Lucan was Julie Dowd in 33rd place who produced a fantastic time of 14 mins 29 secs. This time was 39 seconds quicker than the time Julie produced in Tymon Park in November so she has obviously trained hard over the Christmas and New Year period. Michelle Sheeran completed the A team in 43rd place and was our fifth finisher of the two mile race in a great time of 15 mins. This was Michelle first Meet and Train cross country race and indeed her first race since her fine performance over 5kms in the Jingle Bells race in early December. Anne Murtagh in 46th position finished just behind Michelle . Anne had another great outing in this series, producing another brilliant time of 15 mins 10 secs. Anne, too, has been producing consistently quicker times and moving up the field as the series has progressed. Amber Nugent was the seventh lady home for Lucan and placed 56th overall from a large field. Amber achieved her highest position in the series so far and her time of 15.41 proves the she is getting quicker and quicker as the races progress. Our next athlete to finish was Patricia Daly in 80th place overall. This was Patricia’s highest placed finish and her time of 17 mins 39 secs was the quickest time that she has produced in this Meet and Train series so far. This is testament to the great work that she is putting in during training. Winifred Ryan, running in her second race of the series produced a great time of 18 mins 59 secs for 85th place overall and was the ninth Lucan finisher. This time was 44 seconds quicker than the one recorded by Winifred in Tymon Park, back in November. Barbara Whelan was our next finished and she had an outstanding run, knocking over two minutes of her time from the Tymon Park race with a superb clocking of 20 min 02 secs for the distance. Well done to everyone who took part in the race. Team A has completed 3 races. Teams B&C have each completed 2 races, 4 persons per team are needed to complete a team. The original date and venue for the next Meet & Train was the 7th February in Raheny. It was announced today that Raheny cannot host this event on this date. However, the options available are: Swords (again) on the 7th, or Raheny on the 14th. When it has been decided upon, we will let you know. In the meantime, keep an eye out on their website. http://www.womensmeetandtrain.blogspot.com/

On Sat 23rd Jan, we had some top runs in the BHAA Eircom cross country races in Cherryfield Park, Templeogue. In the women's 2 mile race, Bernie Stapleton was our sole participant in the ladies race but had another fine outing covering the tough two mile course in 14 mins 45 secs. This performance gave Bernie 5th place in her category to continue her excellent start to this year. Meanwhile, in the men's 5 mile, Gareth Fereday continued his excellent form,being the first Lucan man across the finish line in a great time of 30 mins 03 secs for 31st place out of 192 finishers. Tommy Buggle, too, is running very well and was our next male home in 30 mins 26 secs to continue his fine start to the new year. Gerry Byrne senior was the third Lucan man to finish, building on his great run last week with another impressive outing here, covering the five miles in 33 mins 10 secs. Gerry Martin, running his second race of the week after his fine run in the Dublin Masters championship on Sunday, January 17th, had another impressive outing, covering the 5 miles in a swift 34 mins 48 secs. Next home we had Stephen Rynne, who had another fruitful outing finishing in a very good time of 36 mins 6 secs. Following another very good run last week, this shows that Stephen is once again in fine form this year. Hot on Stephen's heels we had Vinny Murtagh finishing in 36 mins 33 secs - another very good run by Vinny to continue his excellent form from last week. It looks like we can expect more close tussles between Stephen and Vinny this year. Gerard Moloney, making his racing debut in 2010 had a fine start to the new year, covering the five miles in an impressive 37 mins 38 secs. We look forward to seeing more of Gerard in action over the coming weeks. Terry Meyler, running in only his second cross country race, has adapted very well to the terrain, having another fine outing this week. Terry finished very close to Gerard, covering the distance in an excellent time 37 mins 52 secs. Well done to all.

On Sun Jan 17th, our athletes took home a silver and a bronze medal from the Dublin Masters cross country championships in Tymon Park. In the women's 4km race, Eileen O'Brien has continued her successful ways in 2010 by winning another medal for herself and Lucan Harriers. Eileen had another outstanding run covering the tough 4km course in 23 mins 31 secs and in the process securing a silver medal in her category. In the men's 7km race, John O'Leary and Gerry Martin produced excellent performances in the men's competition. The tough 7km event is not for the fainthearted but John and Gerry did not let this deter them. John O'Leary was first across the line for Lucan in a brilliant time of 31 mins 54 secs after another outstanding perfomance. This secured John third place in his category. Gerry Martin was hot on his heels at the finish covering the challenging course in 32 mins 48 secs to continue his string of fine cross country performances this season. Well done all on your superb performances and medals.

On Sat 16th Jan, Lucan was well represented at the BHAA South Dublin County Council cross country races in Tymon Park. In the women's 2 mile race, Bernie Stapleton made a great start to 2010 covering the extremely muddy 2 mile course in 15 mins 43 secs for 2nd place in her category. This was an excellent run by Bernie. The men's race was 4 miles and despite the soft underfoot conditions, Gareth Fereday got 2010 off to an great start finishing 24th in a field of 178 athletes in an excellent time of 26 mins 40 secs. Tommy Buggle followed Gareth home finishing in a very good time of 27 mins 04 secs. Gerry Byrne senior, fresh from his male athlete of the year award had possibly his finest cross country performance after clocking 29 mins 39 secs for the 4 mile distance. Alan Cassells was the fourth Lucan athlete to cross the line in 30 mins 52 secs - a fine run after some good training over the Christmas period. Stephen Rynne was our next male home, clocking another very good time of 32 mins 36 secs.Terry Meyler made his cross country bow on the day and had an excellent run covering the 4 miles in 32 mins 40 secs. It looks like Terry has the running bug now! Breffni Worrall was the next Lucan man home in 33 mins 11 secs after another fine outing. Closely tracking Breffni we had Vinny Murtagh producing a fine time of 34 mins 15 secs for a good start to 2010. More results.