One has to wonder if the ‘few good men’ of the fledgling club that was Clonliffe Harriers back in 1891 had any inclination that all of 133 years later their successors would still be holding the Clonliffe 2? It really is something special that today Clonliffe Harriers held the 133rd Clonliffe 2 mile, Ireland’s oldest continuous road race and one of the oldest continuous road races in the world – conventional wisdom has the Clonliffe 2 at number 3 on the world’s oldest road race list.
Today’s Clonliffe 2 once again drew a fine entry of athletes across the spectrum from elite, to club, senior, junior, juvenile and master athletes to the start line opposite Met Eireann on Glasnevin Hill. Weather conditions were far better than feared as Storm Ashley hadn’t as yet made her appearance in the Capital . The athletes enjoyed a bit of an uphill start but at the top of Violet Hill, as the summit was reached, the field then thundered downhill turning left at Glasnevin Cemetery and heading on the long mile plus stretch to turn into Prospect Square and finish at the fine establishment that is Kavanagh’s ‘the Gravediggers’, the long-time general sponsor of this race. Indeed that sponsorship stretches back to the club’s centenary year of 1986.
The race winner having covering the course in a time of 9.42 was Clonliffe U/20 Lorcan Benjacar ahead of club mates Sean Carrigg and Mahad Egaal in a blanket finish .
The winner of the women’s race was Aine Cotter of North East Runners 10.45 with Clonliffe new comer Helena Butterly 2nd 11.17.
Clonliffe 2 Mile Masters Winners
| Women | First Name | Surname | Club |
| 0/35 | Lynsey Ann | Byrne | Clonliffe |
| 0/40 | Melissa | Curran | Clonliffe |
| 0/45 | Sarah | McFettridge | Unattached |
| 0/50 | Maura | Matthews | Clonliffe |
| 0/55 | Fionnuala | Murray | Clonliffe |
| 0/60 | Anne | Gilshinan | Slane Olympic |
| Men | First Name | Surname | Club |
| 0/35 | David | Doran | Clonliffe |
| 0/40 | Connor | Barry | St Abban’s |
| 0/45 | Mick | McMahon | Clonliffe |
| 0/50 | Shane | Larkin | Drogheda & District |
| 0/55 | Fergal | O’Shea | Clonliffe |
| 0/60 | Philip | O’Doherty | Clonliffe |
| 0/65 | Diarmuid | Doyle | Clonliffe |
Full results click:
https://www.myrunresults.com/events/clonliffe_2_mile_2024/5477/results
Clonliffe Harriers would like to thank sincerely the Kavanagh family for their exceptional generosity and loyalty towards this race and the club, the gardai for their assistance, St John’s ambulance, the volunteers from Clonliffe Harriers and of course the athletes for turning out for this race for the 133rd time. Quite extraordinary!
Photos by Darren Horgan available at https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjBNNPs.