Anyone who was in training last Tuesday & who saw Gerry junior run his final time trial would have known that he was our banker bet for a medal & so it proved. Gerry powered around the 400m in 58.01 to gain a bronze medal. Gerry has now won races over 3 miles, 1 mile, 800m & now a bronze in his first ever 400 m race. By all accounts the standard in that particular event was off the charts but Gerry is absolutely flying at the moment and the event held no fears for him. Gerry Byrne senior warmed up for his 1,500 by earning a bronze in the 60 m & then ran an absolute stormer to finish 5th in his category by running 4.57. This is the first time Gerry has broken 5 mins for this event and beats the time he ran in our turkey trots by 8 seconds. Remember it was that run that convinced us to enter him in Nenagh so to improve on that run was some achievement. Tommy Buggle had a touch of the Eamon Coughlan’s to finished 4th in the 3,000. Tom’s time of 9.58 proves what anybody who has ever run with Tom already knows, that he is a runner of the highest class. Due to his work times Tom can’t make the Tuesday sessions on a regular basis so remember he is taking on Ireland’s best with no real speed work behind him. Two 3rd’s a 4th & a 5th from our 3 runner’s shows that we can produce our athletes to take on the best when it really matters. The three lads are a credit to the club & we wish them continued success. It’s also important to mention that each of these three lads have had woeful injuries in their time. In fact each of them has more or less been told to pack it in but Sunday’s performances are a reward for their determination. (Rumour has it Gerry Junior has been entered in the Champion Hurdle in Cheltenham, in this sort of form, he might just win it!) Thanks to Colm O'Connor for the report. Webmaster: These three results are a great boost to the men's section, which continues to thrive under the tutelage of coach Colm O'Connor. Congratulations again to the two athletes and coach Colm on these great achievements which will inspire all the other athletes in the club.

On Sun 8th Jan, Tommy Buggle was best finisher for Lucan with a fine 6th place finish in his category at the Dublin Masters Cross Country Championships at St Anne's Park, Raheny. Sunday morning more Lucan athletes were out and our Masters men's team were representing the club at a county level. Tommy Buggle was our first finisher and showed he is more than capable of mixing it with the best by running an incredible race to finish 24th in 21.24. This result gave Tommy 6th in his category. Congratulations Tommy on 6th place in Dublin -- a great run! Surely this result will gain Tommy selection for the Dublin team in provincial and National Championships to come. Next we had Gerry Byrne Senior who continued his recent run of form with a strong run finishing 52nd overall and running 23.04. Team coach Colm O'Connor was next home in 66th running 24.05. Vinny Murtagh was the fourth scorer on our team and ran a superb 25.23 for this tricky course finishing in 73rd. Gerry Martin rounded off the day with 25.52 in 78th position. This all combined to a 7th place finish which is a superb achievement when competing against some of the strongest teams in Dublin and indeed the country. It is great the see the club represented so well in such a prestigious event. Well done lads.

On Sun 8th Jan, Freda Comiskey again led the Lucan charge in a magnificent 5th place overall as Lucan hosted the Women's Meet and Train cross country league in Griffeen Park. For our home fixture we had a superb turnout of Lucan athletes with 11 completing the course. This was the same course as the club cross-country champs in November so a good chance for our ladies to see where they are post Christmas. First home as usual was Freda Comiskey with another great run and a top 5 finish with 13.33, six seconds inside her November time. Surely it is matter of time before Freda wins one of these!! Next up we had Hilary McGee coming home in 17th position with 14.26. Deirdre Daly continued her strong running in this series and came home in the top 30 with a time of 15.02. Lisa Conville completed the A team finishing 40th in 15.29. Anne McGrane was first scorer for the B's finishing in the top 70 running 17mins flat. Maria Byrne ran 17.35 which is just 17 seconds down on her November time. Club Champion Una Cassoni was one place and 4 seconds behind Maria. Amber Nugent and Winifred Ryan had a battle to be the next finisher Amber just edging it with 18.47 while Winifred ran 19.18. Josie Dignam came inside the top 100 in this big field but just outside 20mins with 20.07 compared to her November time of 19.48. Newcomer Maureen Fitzharris rounded off a superb day and weekend for Lucan Harriers with 21.41 in 97th place. Congratulations to all who ran so well and thank you to all who helped Lucan to organise and host this event for the umpteenth year. Well done to coach Brendan Maher on bringing this all together on the organisational and the coaching front. Courtesy of Nicola Kavanagh : Photos from lucan harriers's photo album: Meet & Train Winter League January 2012.

On Sat 7th Jan, Lucan had a great turn out for the BHAA SDCC Cross-country in Tymon Park. It turned out that conditions for this race were good compared to previous years, which resulted in some great performances on this 3 lap course. Joe Lynch was our first athlete across the line. Despite cycling to the race, he still had the energy to run a well judged race and a storming last lap for a time of 25.36 and 42nd position. Alan Cassells was our next athlete home who despite 'just using it as a bit of training' still ran 29.43 and came home in 134th. Club champion Philip Fay was next up who was having to run in flats when spikes would have been beneficial, ran strongly to a time of 31.15 in 168th, just holding off seasoned cross-country athlete Stephen Rynne who is continuing his come back nicely with 31.46 in 183rd. Jim Dwyer rounded off the morning for the Lucan men in 243rd out of a very large field of 254 competitors with 38.11. In the womens race we also had two competitors with Bernie Stapleton running well as always to finish 34th over the two mile course with 15.09, Eileen O'Brien was keeping Bernie on her toes coming home in 47th and running 16.18. Well done to all on a good start to the new year.

On On new year's day, three of our athletes ran in the Tommy Brennan Memorial 5km road race in the Phoenix Park. While most of us were nursing hang-overs on New Years day three of our ladies took to the roads of Phoenix Park for a 5k and an opportunity to top the club rankings for 2012. First across the line was Una Cassoni with 27.06, the fastest 5K by a Lucan athlete this year!! Next home was Mary Crosby just outside her target time of 30mins with 30.43. Third over the line was Ann McGee with 32.36. Our girls were in fine company as the ladies race was won by newly crowned European Cross-country champion Fionnula Britton in a course record of 16.15!! Well done to all.