All posts in Grand Prix Series

Murray Ahern has sent the final standings for the outstanding 2018 Grand Prix Series. Athletes can now enjoy seeing where it all went wrong and where victory may have slipped from their grasp!  Congratulations to the whole Grand Prix sub committee for an outstanding 2018 series.

To view final standings click: Grand Prix 2018 results after Rd 16

Liam Hennessy reports: Friday, December 7th – Clonliffe Harriers Clubhouse – 9pm – Grand Prix Awards Night.

On Friday night at the Clubhouse we celebrated the ending of another terrific Grand Prix Series. The night had been planned well in advance thanks to Caroline and Paddy Tuite, who had the bar looking splendid and a smashing spread of food was served for all to enjoy.

There then came a hush, as the master of ceremonies; Maurice Ahern took to the microphone and gave a lengthy speech, where he thanked the members of the Grand Prix Committee along with the many volunteers, who helped make this years series such a success. Maurice also thanked the many sponsors for their support throughout the series. We hadn’t met as a group for a while, so there was the business of presenting prizes for recent races. The final race in the series; The Horan Cup; 6 miles Cross Country held in Santry Demesne on November 24th last was kindly sponsored by Richard Connolly and the result of the handicap was as follows;
Horan Cup Winner 2018 – Pat Devitt.
Runner-Up – Alan Worrall.
Third Place – Mick Bermingham.

Maurice then spoke about the series this past year and how well it was received. And so we came to the announcement of the overall winners. Maurice thanked the sponsor of the overall winner in the Grand Prix Series; Behan & Associates for their continued support and in particular Noel Guiden’s Dad, who was the co-founder of the series in 2000. Maurice spoke of the excitement with a few races to go in the series, as there were many runners, who could have taken the title. As is the norm, the winners are kept top secret, so the time came to announce the winners in the series. After 16 races run on Track, Trail, Road and Cross Country throughout 2018 the final result of our Grand Series for 2018 was announced as follows;

Green Jersey Winner – (Awarded to fastest athlete throughout the series) – Sean Doran
The Behan & Associates sponsored Grand Prix Cup, presented to the overall winner in series for 2018;
Winner – Mick Gleeson – 315 + 3 = 318 Points.

Runner Up – Mick Bermingham – 292 + 25 = 317 Points.

3rd Place – Conor Jennings – 305 + 1 = 306 Points.

4th Place – Deirdre Fitzsimons – 286 + 2 = 288 Points.

5th Place – Mandy Mc Menany – 268 + 10 = 278 Points.

6th Place – Richie Barr – 274 + 0 = 274 Points.

Congratulations to our top six place winners and especially to the overall winner of the series; Mick Gleeson, who is a most worthy Champion. Mick not only won the series, but he ran personal bests in almost every race and has been the STANDOUT athlete of the series, so well done to a most popular winner Mick.

Well that’s it – The 2018 edition of the Grand Prix has been a tremendous success. We would like to thank everyone who took part in the series and hope you enjoyed the awards night. We would like to wish everyone a Happy Christmas and a Very Happy 2018. We hope to update you with dates for Grand Prix 2019 in the new year. In the meantime get training and we shall see you for the next edition of our prized series, which begins again in the Spring. We are open to accepting sponsors for the 2019 series, so if you are in a position to sponsor a race just contact any member of the Grand Prix Committee.

In the meantime Stay fit and healthy and we shall see you for the best series yet in 2019 !!!

The 2018 Grand Prix Series comes to a conclusion (already) this coming Saturday with the 110 year old Horan Cup. The Cup was presented to the club by Michael Horan, then a vice President of Clonliffe Harriers to be competed for in the 1907/1908 season and was first competed for 110 years ago and was won by Mr. T. Hassell with the fastest time for the six mile cross country course recorded by Mr. H. Mullally in a time of 38.07.

In that first running of the Horan Cup there were seventeen starters, on Saturday it is anticipated that there could be between 50 and 70 starters such has been the popularity of the Clonliffe Grand Prix Series.

The Grand Prix leader board currently shows Mick Gleeson in pole position on 315 points from Conor Jennings on 305 and Mick Bermingham on 292. The interesting thing, however, is that both frontrunners are currently showing 14 scores with Mick Bermingham showing 12 scores.  The significance of this being that it is only an athletes’ ten best results which count in the overall and it may be, therefore, that the ultimate 2018 champion will not even come from these three.

The 2017 series went right to the wire with Emma Dunne winning on 316 points from Declan Grant on 314 and Mick Bermingham 3^rd on 313.

One thing which is certain is that the green jersey has been won by Sean Doran who with a race to go cannot be overtaken.

Saturday’s race takes place in Santry Demesne with a 12 noon start.

The winners will be announced at the presentation night in the club bar on Friday December 7^th with the winner being presented with the Behan & Associates sponsored cup.

Current leaderboard: Grand Prix 2018 results after Rd 15

Report by Liam Hennessy; Round 15 of 16 in the Grand Prix Series saw almost fifty runners compete for one of our prized trophies, The Irwin Cup, which was kindly sponsored by Pat Devitt. The 6k Cross Country Race Incorporated the Club Cross Country Championship for Men and Women. The venue was The Santry Demesne. The weather was typical for cross country running with rain and softish ground in places underfoot. At precisely noon, instructions were given and the race started. Efrem Gidey took to the front early on and was quite impressive in winning the Mens title. Alannah Cooley similarly led throughout and won the Womens title. In the Grand Prix race there was a fierce battle being fought for both the Irwin Cup and Grand Prix points.

The result of the Club Cross Country Championship was as follows;

Mens Championship:

Cross Country Champion 2018 – Efrem Gidey

Runner up – Adam O’Brien

Third Place – Sean Carraig

Womens Championship:

Cross Country Champion 2018 – Alannah Cooley

Runner up – Aimee Ahern

Third Place – Clodagh Moriarty

The result of the handicap was as follows;

Winner of the Irwin Cup for 2018 – Declan Murray

Runner Up – Murray Ahern

Third Place – Shay Byrne

Full results as follows;

Efrem Gidey – 19.07

Adam O’Brien – 19.22

Sean Carraig – 20.29

Sean Doran – 20.48

Jack Maughan – 20.55

Jarleth Jordan – 21.15

Michael Cassidy – 21.44

Greg Hosseny – 22.08

Sean Connaughton – 23.02

Murray Ahern – 23.06

Peter Bissett – 24.00

Shane Casey – 24.01

Mick Bermingham – 24.13

Alannah Cooley – 24.15

Mick Gleeson – 24.18

Greg Deery – 24.29

Kevin Dowling – 25.10

Trevor Wisdom – 25.40

Aimee Ahern – 26.11

Stephen Tracey – 26.12

Clodagh Moriarty – 26.28

Declan Murray – 26.30

Mary Kettner – 26.31

Philip Matthews – 26.59

Declan Grant – 27.00

Laura Kernan – 27.18

George Maybury – 27.19

Deirdre Fitzsimons  – 27.32

Richie Barr – 27.36

Yvonne Mc Donagh – 28.16

Conor Jennings – 28.49

Alan Smeaton – 29.01

Orla Deighan – 29.02

Shay Byrne – 29.15

Karen Mc Afee – 29.34

Pat Devitt – 30.02

Colm Doran – 30.02

Mandy Mc Menamy – 30.15

Dave Lyons – 30.28

Anna Kavanagh – 30.32

Evelyn Brennan – 31.45

Guest – 33.22

Apologies if i misspelt any name above.

Many thanks to everyone who volunteered to help make this race run so smoothly. The points leaderboard will be updated as soon as possible.

Next Race: Saturday, November 24th at Santry Demesne at 12 noon, The Horan Cup, a 6 mile Cross Country Race (the oldest in our clubs history). The Horan Cup is the final race in the 2018 Grand Prix Series and it looks like we will see a ding dong battle in this, the last race of the series. What a journey we have had this year !!!. We started with The Frank White Cup, 5 mile track race on March 29th last. We have had Track, Road, Trail and Cross Country races and once again our series has been an amazing success. One race to go and the excitement is building !!!. Who will be crowned Grand Prix Winner 2018 ???. We would love to see a big turnout for our last race !!! Hope to see you there.

Most Important date for your diaries:

On Friday, December 7th at the Clubhouse from 9pm all Grand Prix Runners are cordially invited to “The Grand Prix Series 2018 Awards Night”. – Spread the word, the Grand Prix Committee request your presence on this date, so lets be having you for what will be a fab party night at the club. We look forward to seeing as many people as possible, so you have been given plenty of time to make arrangements to be there – No excuses !!!

It`s time for the November deciders! The 2018 Grand Prix Series is delicately balanced as we hit the final two rounds. Conor Jennings and Mick Gleeson sit on top of the pile on 305 points with Richie Barr on 271. Looks, however, can be deceiving! The leaderboard shows the position after 14 rounds, but has not taken account of the dropping of points as it`s only an athlete`s 10 best scores over 16 rounds that counts, so these three may well be in for a fall!

Saturday next, November 10th sees round 15 with the return to the country in Santry Demsene for the Irwin Cup. If ever there was a race to be called “historic” this is it:

Over a century ago in 1910 Clonliffe introduced to the club calendar the Grand National, a 6 mile cross country race which included jumps and ditches to be negotiated. The race continued on each year. Some four years later in Dundrum in 1914 a Clonliffe athlete called Bernie Irwin (full name Herbert Carmichael Irwin) become the 2nd Clonliffe man to win the National Cross Country Championship leading Clonliffe to the team title into the bargain.

Bertie Irwin was one of the finest athletes to wear the black and amber adding National track titles over 1 Mile and 4 Miles. In 1920 he became Clonliffe`s 5th Olympian making the 5000 final, for Great Britain in Antwerp where he finished 12th.

Bertie was an aviator and a member of the RAF. He served in the First World War in 1916 and 1917.

The R101 at it`s moorings Cardington

He  was promoted to Flight Lieutenant with seniority 1 April 1917.  Under the RAF he was granted a short-service commission as Flight Lieutenant on 24 October 1919. With the expertise he had gathered in flying Airships he became involved with Britian`s plans for passenger airships to link Britian and it`s colonies. Two huge airships were built the R100 and R101. Irwin was the Captain of the R101, the largest man made object to fly at the time. Interestingly one of the R101 test flights in 1930 brought the airship across the Irish Sea above Dublin leading Irwin to pen a letter to Tommy Burton, the Clonliffe Captain saying: “they had flown over the Finglas fields where I enjoyed so many memorable runs with the Clonliffes.” Tragedy struck, however,  on the R101`s maiden voyage from Cardington to India when on the 5th of October 1930 the R101 in stormey weather over Northern France crashed nose first at a forest edge at the town of Allone, Beauvais, bursting into flames killing 48 of the 54 people on board including her Captain the Clonliffe Olympian Carmichael Irwin.

With Bertie`s Clonliffe connections and as he had ran in several club “Grand Nationals” in 1932 the race was renamed the Irwin Cup with the presentation to the club of the Irwin Memorial Cup in his memory. That race continues to this day. Last year the Cup was won by Siobhan Devaney and on Saturday at noon the Grand Prix Series will see another battle to take this historic and storied cup.

The updated Leaderboard is now available. It makes for a most interesting final two rounds in the November Deciders. After 14 rounds there is a tie at the top on 305 points between Conor Jennings and Mick Gleeson, however, with both due to drop several scores the pendulum will swing have no doubts. That may well bring firmly into the reckoning the 2016 Grand Prix Champion Richie Barr (271) and Mick Bermingham (270) in the race to succeed Emma Dunne.

The final rounds are on the country: November 10th, the Irwin Cup and November 24th the Horan Cup. Current leaderboard : Grand Prix 2018 results after Rd 14

Report by Liam Hennessy; The Grand Prix Series continued on Saturday with the 55th Running of The Ahern Cup, 10 Mile Race, Incorporating the Club Championship, held at Malahide at 12 noon. The race was kindly sponsored by Maurice Ahern. The weather was poor with heavy rain showers a factor throughout the race. There was a fine turnout with many runners using the race as preparation for the upcoming Dublin Marathon. At noon precisely, the race director and his team readied the runners and last minute instructions were given before the bugle sounded and we had the off. 54 runners started along with a huge turnout of officials.

Full list of Results as follows;

1. Sean Doran – 55.11
2. Dermot Faughnan – 64.35
3. Shane Casey  – 65.05
4. Murray Ahern  – 65.11
5. Mick Gleeson – 65.18 – Massive PB !!
6. Stephen Tracey – 65.23
7. Dessie Shorten – 66.56
8. Philip O’ Doherty – 67.44
9. Kevin Dowling – 68.08
10. Shane Rooney – 70.10
11. Richie Barr – 70.21
12. Aideen Brady – 70.35
13. Tom Griffin – 70.38
14. Trevor Wisdom – 72.54
15. Conor Jennings – 73.10 – Massive PB !!
16. Aimee Ahern – 73.32
17. Adrian Gerard – 73.53
18. Alex Eustace – 73.55
19. Paul Walsh – 74.00
20. Clodagh Moriarty  – 74.52
21. Laura Kernan – 75.22
22. Colm Leonard – 75.22
23. Sean Grimes – 75.22
24. Kevin Sheedy – 75.42
25. Philip Matthews – 75.48
26. Deirdre Fitzsimons – 75.50
27. Declan Grant – 77.42
28. Mary Kettner – 78.19
29. Eimear Brennan – 78.19
30. Tom Summerville – 78.19 – Massive PB !!
31. Declan Murray – 81.51
32. Orla Deighan – 83.12
33. Graham Ralph – 83.12
34. Mandy Mc Menany – 83.27
35. Niall Markey – 83.27
36. Ann Lyons  – 83.27
37. Dave Lyons – 83.29
38. Gerry Fay – 85.46
39. Karen Mc Affee – 87.53
40. Evelyn Brennan – 88.12
41. Anthony O’Brien – 88.12
42. Yvonne Mc Donagh – Clock time 92mins  – Actual time – 86.00
43. Pat Devitt – 93.12
44. Dave Brady – 94.05
45. Sandra Coleborn – 94.43

Apologies if i misspelt any name above.

It was clear to see that the race was enjoyed by everyone despite the weather. Most runners were muddied and wet and there was a large cloud of steam rising from the finishers, who gathered to chat and mull over their performances !

Many thanks to the many officials, who helped make this race such a success. Thanks also to everyone who took part. With two races remaining in this years Grand Prix it looks like its going to be a cracking run in to the finish. The excitement is building !!!

The last two races in the series are as follows;

Round 15 – Saturday, November 10th,  The Irwin Cup, 6k Cross Country Race, Incorporating the Club Cross Country Championship – Santry Demesne – 12 Noon. Spikes are recommended, as underfoot conditions may prove difficult with soft ground.

Round 16 – Saturday, November 24th, The Horan Cup, 6 Mile Cross Country Race – Santry Demesne – 12 Noon. Spikes recommended.

We hope to see a great turnout for the remaining races.

See you there !!

Tomorrow Saturday, October 13th, at noon in Malahide Castle grounds the 55^th annual running of the club 10 mile championship incorporated into round 14 of the Grand Prix series takes place. This is the 3rd last race in the 2018 Grand Prix. The race was first run on the 12^th of April 1964 a point to point 10 mile race from Murtagh’s pub on the Belfast Road down to the, as it then was, Clonliffe Harriers stadium in Santry.

Some 14 years later Ahern Cup which was first presented to the Club Champion back in April of 1978 by Maurice Ahern to that year’s winner Gerry Finnegan.

Last year`s winner was Sean Doran. The current leaderboard is: Grand Prix 2018 results after Rd 13

Saturday`s race will start from the usual 10 mile start position at 12.00, athletes are reminded that this is not a ‘closed road’ race so please be aware of other users of the Castle grounds.