The Grand Prix organising committee have had to reschedule some of the remaining races in the 2012 Series to avoid various clashes. The next round in the series is one of the long standing Clonliffe races, the Walker Cup which takes place on Thursday the 13th of September. The Walker Cup is a four mile track race, the Cup was presented by the Walker family to the club in 1966, the Walker family have of course a long history with Clonliffe Harriers dating right back to the late 1800s. Clonliffe Harriers first national success back in 1895 was in the winning of the Irish National Junior Cross Country Championships. In that team was one G.F. Walker who later became club president in 1910. The Clonliffe 1952 National Senior Cross Country winning team included C.N. Walker and C.C. Walker. In 1957 G.F. Walker’s grandson, Frazer Walker was Irish National Marathon champion. Frazer Walker and the Walker family continue to sponsor the Walker Cup to this day.
The Walker Cup will be followed on Thursday the 27th of September by the Club 10,000m Championship for the Bonass Trophy. As well as being the club 10,000 metres this is also one of the mainstays of the Grand Prix Series, a race which has been sponsored by Pat Bonass for some 30 years at this stage.
The final round of the Grand Prix Series will be the Ahern Cup for the club 10 Mile Championship, again a race which has enjoyed a long term sponsor in Maurice Ahern. The 10 Mile takes place on Saturday the 6th of October in the picturesque grounds of Malahide Castle, four laps of the 2.5 mile circuit. This particular race is ideally positioned for athletes fine-tuning their preparations for the Dublin Marathon.
All three races in addition to being Grand Prix races are of course Clonliffe club races and all members of Clonliffe Harriers are encouraged to take part and of course in addition guests from other clubs are welcome to participate.