On Tue 29th July, Toirdealbhach Hopper had another very good run in the Peter Doody Memorial 2 mile Road Race in Raheny. Toirdealbhach was the first junior to cross the line, posting an excellent 12 mins 21 secs. Well done, Toirdealbhach.
On Sat 26th July, David Keogh produced a 4:27 mile in Santry at the Morton Memorial Meet. What can you say about a 4:27 mile? This is a big run. David is improving all the time. This is yet another great run from David who is proving to be very consistent this year, despite working on a building site all day before the race!! David's fitness is way above what it has ever been so he is a different athlete to previous years. Congratulations David.
On Wed 23rd July, Lucan athletes again made their presence felt at the Dublin Graded Meet in Irishtown. Henry Langton ran in the grade D mile and he had his best run in a while with a 5mins 32secs (t.b.c). Henry is busy preparing for the Dublin marathon at present and is putting in high mileage every week now. In the grade C mile, Colm O’Connor and Tommy Buggle had a great duel. On this occasion Colm proved the stronger of the two coming home in a time of 5mins flat (t.b.c), a big season’s best while Tommy was right behind in 5mins 03secs (t.b.c). This run proves that both athletes are in great shape heading into the last Dublin Graded meet on Wednesday next and the masters T&F championship in early August. Meanwhile, in the grade B mile, John Canny clocked a time of 4mins 38secs (t.b.c) finishing in 4th position. This was yet another personal best from John who is having the kind of season athletes dream about. Well done to all on their runs.
On Sun 20th July, Fintan McGee placed 7th in the 1500m final at the AAI National Senior T&F Championships in Santry. This proved to be a very tactical final with the 800m split reached in 2:17 (about 4:20 1500m pace). With most of the guys in this final capable of running sub 3:50, something had to give. Before the 800m mark had been reached, Fintan hit the front and started to wind up the pace. Fintan shook things up with a 62 second lap and the race started in earnest. The last lap proved to be a real barn burner with Colm Rooney of the host club (Clonliffe Harriers) producing a 55 second last lap to come home a very popular winner in 3:58.74. In a blanket finish, Fintan ran a last lap of 58 seconds (-- his last 800m was covered in 2 minutes flat -- ) to place 7th in 4:01.94. This is another outstanding result from Fintan and all at the club hope to see Fintan on the podium at these National Senior Championships next year. Well done, Fintan. Results.
Photo (left) shows Fintan McGee strings out the field as the bell rings for the last lap of the Men's Senior 1500m at the AAI National T&F Championships at Santry on Sun July 20th 2008. [ Photo courtesy of Aidan Giblin, www.rahenyshamrock.com ]
On Sat 19th July, Fintan McGee and David Keogh competed on Day One of the AAI National Senior T&F Championships in Santry. Despite him still being a junior athlete, David Keogh was making his third appearance at these Championships. The 800m heats are always tactical here and with a blustery wind, times were not fast. David ran very well, placing 4th in his heat in a time of 1:58.16. Unfortunately, with only the top 2 athletes in each heat automatically advancing to the final, this time was not good enough to get to the final with one of the fastest non-authomatic qualifier spots. David has more races coming up this season and we hope to see him go under 1:55 for 800m very soon. Meanwhile, Fintan McGee advanced to the final of the 1500m with a third place in his heat. His time was 3:56.99, again in a tactical race. Fintan is hoping to match or better his 5th place finish from last year's 1500m final. Well done lads and best of luck tomorrow Fintan. Results.
On Wed July 16th, Jim Dwyer ran in the Dublin City Council-sponsored BHAA 5km road race in Ringend Park. Jim put in another strong performance covering the course in 24:23. Well done, Jim. Results.
On Sun 13th July, Stuart Roche finished in 5th position in the U16 200m on Day 3 of the National Juvenile T&F Championships in Tullamore. Stuart recorded a very quick 24.41 into a minus 1.2 m/s headwind. This means that all five Lucan athletes at the National Juvenile Championships over the past two weeks have placed in the top 6 in their events. This is a great result for all involved. Congratulations to Stuart on this great run. Results.
Photo (right) shows Jim Dwyer finishing on the Irishtown track at the end of the Dublin City Council-sponsored BHAA 5km road race in Ringsend on Wed July 16th 2008.
On Sat 12th July, Claire Buckley had a breakthrough performance as Lucan athletes took part in the Irish Runner 5 Mile Challenge in the Phoenix Park. First Lucan athlete across the line was Colum Maddox in a great time of 37.51. He was closely followed by Claire Buckley, who had an outstanding run in 38.17. This is by far Claire's best ever run in a Lucan singlet. Every year, our women's coach, Brendan Maher, brings through new talent so it is great to see yet another athlete coming through. Mr Consistent, Jim Dwyer, also had a strong run finishing in 41.10. Well done to all.
On Wed July 9th, we had some more season's best and personal best performances at the Dublin Graded Meet in Santry. Conor McCrossan, fresh from his U19 110m hurdles National Championship at the weekend, tried his hand at the 200m. Conor placed 4th in the section 'C' 200m with a very nifty 25.04. We were especially well represented in the distances with David Keogh again going sub 2 minutes with a 1:58.99 in the 'A' section 800m, and Colm O'Connor running 2:15.09 in the 'C' 800m. Colm has been the model of consistency all season as he has peppered that mark. Gerry Byrne had a very good run with a 2:17.86. John Canny doesn't like to take it easy, and he was back on the track running another 3000m only days after his 9:15 personal best set on Saturday. This time John placed a close 3rd in the 'A' section 3000m with a time of 9:19.22. Tommy Boggle had perhaps the run of the night from a Lucan athlete. He blew everyone else off the track in his dominating win in the section 'B' 3000m with a new personal best time of 9:45.59. Hilary McGee was our sole representative on the women's side as she returned to her specialist event, the 800m, with a very solid 2:35.83. Great to see so many from the club at this meet. Well done everyone. Results.
On Sat 5th/Sun 6th July, Conor McCrossan repeated as National Champion and Luke Hanlon won bronze, as all four Lucan athletes placed in the top six positions in their events at the AAI National Juvenile T&F Championships in Tullamore.
On Sat 5th/Sun 6th July, Conor McCrossan repeated as National Champion and Luke Hanlon won bronze, as all four Lucan athletes placed in the top six positions in their events at the AAI National Juvenile T&F Championships held in the Antrim Forum. Dublin U19 110m hurdles Champion, Conor McCrossan, was crowned National Champion once again when he took the U19 110m hurdles by one tenth of a second with a time of 16.1 seconds. Conor won the AAI U18 110m hurdles title last summer so he has successfully defended his title. This also completes the Indoor/Outdoor double for 2009 -- Conor took the AAI National U19 Indoor 60m hurdles title back in April. And more recently, he was second in the All-Ireland Schools U20 110m hurdles a short six weeks ago, so Conor clearly is the man to beat in Ireland when it comes to the U19 hurdles. Conor has been in the club from a very young age and he has tried all the events along the way including sprints, distance, cross country, and field events. He was pretty good at them all but clearly Conor won't be changing events again anytime soon! Fantastic to see Conor doing so well. Meanwhile, Dublin U13 long jump Champion, Luke Hanlon, took a bronze medal in his very first National AAI competition in the U13 long jump with a leap of 4.36metres. Luke was just 5 centimetres ahead of his Lucan teammate, (Dublin silver medallist) Jack Carey, who jumped 4.31metres for a brilliant fifth place in the National Championships. Both Luke and Jack produced personal best jumps on the big day. Hopefully, these two guys can work together and both can be on the podium at Nationals next year. Leinster Schools bronze medallist, Sinead Dowling, had yet another top class run with a 6th place finish in the U19 100m with a time of 13:35. Sinead has been a member of Lucan Harrier for over 8 years now and she has been in the top 6 100m athletes in Ireland in her age-group since she joined the club. This will be Sinead's last National Championships at the AAI Juvenile level because next year, both she and Conor McCrossan will be moving out of the juvenile age-groups and will be in action at the Junior (U20) Championships. Well, this set of results from Lucan's young athletes has to be the best we have had in a very long time. Four athletes placed in the top six in their events at the National Championships. Congratulations to all the athletes and their coaches on these marvellous results. Hopefully this will inspire some of their clubmates and we could have six or eight Lucan athletes at the National Championship next year. Results.
On Sat 5th July, Freda Comiskey won her category as Lucan athletes ran very well in the Achill Half Marathon. On a very tough course, our athletes were rewarded with some very good times. Freda Comiskey was a fantastic first overall in her category finishing with an excellent 1hr 42 mins. Myra Nolan was next from the club with 1hr 47 mins, and both of these athletes were in the top 20 women overall. Next from Lucan was Lorraine Heffernan in 1hr 55 mins, Evelyn McMahon in 2hrs 03 mins and Bernie Doyle in 2hrs 10 mins. Well done to all.
On Sat 5th July, David Keogh and John Canny both had great runs at the Irish Miler's Club Meet in Irishtown. David placed 4th in the Men's 'B' 1500m in a time of 4:01.94. The time was a good one but even better was the manner in which David performed. David passed approximately 6 people over the course of the last 400m. It seems like David has been around for so long now that it is so easy to forget that he is still an under-age athlete (U20). This run will give David some great confidence going into his next few races. John Canny, meanwhile, in his first outing on the track at this level, performed admirably in the 3,000m. John hacked approximately 30 seconds from his previous best with a time of 9:15.35. John is so new to running so he is amazing everyone at the club with his performances. Once John gains some experience, the sky is the limit. Well done to both athletes on the great seasons they are having. Results.