Report from Shane Rooney: In a change of location for the normal Saturday training session, and to inject a competitive edge to training, Pam’s group moved from Santry Park to the Poppintree on Saturday 16th September. The change turned out to be a great tempo session and gave us a fantastic opportunity to promote the club, with loads of participants enquiring about how to join the club? is membership open to all abilities? and when does training take place?
As 9:30 approached and with a summer of hard sessions in our legs it was time to put the training to the test and the results didn’t disappoint.
With a field of over 110 athletes, Clonliffe Harriers took 1st and 3rd place. The athletes were led home by Paul O’Loughlin in a new 5k PB time of 18:14, and he was quickly followed by Stephen Tracey, who also achieved a PB time and finished 3rd in a time of 18:49, the third Clonliffe Harrier home was Adrian Gerard in 6th place in a time of 19:31. Not to be outdone, Ciara Peelo, followed by Aisling Andrews and Siobhan Devaney who were the the 1st, 2nd and 3rd ladies home.
As with any event organised by Pam and her possy (who can forget the Clonolympics), it was decided to add a little fun competition to the occasion by encouraging each member to achieve a new PB. It was with great excitement when the “Golden Runner” was handed over to the one and only Little Miss Excited, Katie Hennigan, who smashed her previous 5k PB time by approximately 1 min, crossing the line in a time of 23:41.
In addition to those mentioned above, a big thank you to Paula, Declan, Ollie, Orla, Jason and Kevin who also took part in the session.
A very special shout out to David “Smiler” Hanley, who, despite not being able to run, volunteered to direct and support the participants around the course. It’s amazing how the spirits are lifted when you hear someone shout out your name and offer positive words of encouragement.
This brings me nicely to the very important topic of volunteering. A huge part of the success of every race comes down to the time and dedication of volunteers and I’m sure we all agree, there is no better feeling when you see a friendly face at the finish line or hear a clubmate shout “Come on Clonliffe”. You could be one of those Spirit Lifters and not only will you be helping athletes, you’ll also help bring additional funds to the club, meaning your time is well spent on many levels. To add your name to the list of volunteers, please speak to Mark “Dominos” Dowling or email markdow6@hotmail.com
Congratulations to everyone who ran or raced this weekend, keep digging in.