The Rooney Review: Running up that Hill, Dublin Half Marathon

Shane Rooney Reports: Saturday 23rd of September saw the final race of the 2017 Dublin Race Series move to Newbridge House and the challenging hills of North County Dublin.

The club members were chomping at the bit and nothing was going to stop the members of Clonliffe Harriers from getting to the start line and giving 100% on a course of two halves. The first half being slow and hill heavy whilst the second half was fast and downhill, meaning that any time lost on the hills could be quickly made up during the 5 miles to the finish line.

The Black & Amber singlets were led home by Karl “On Form” Nolan finishing in 24th place in a time of 1:17:55, he was followed by Matt McGuinness (1:21:48) and rounding off the top 3 men was Conor Delaney (1:22:36).  The top 3 Clonliffe ladies were Emma Cooper (1:31:08), Maura Matthews (1:37:18) and Emer “GAA” Brennan (1:38:27).

Congratulations to Stephen (The PBs Keep Coming) Tracey, Alan Hughes, Alex Eustace, Alan Worrall, Damien Kelly, Mick Gleeson, Colm Leonard, Niall Markey, Alan Curley, Aideen “Skippy” Brady, Ali O’Sullivan, Adrien (Let’s Do an Extra 5 miles) Gerard, Shane Rooney, Declan Murray, Kevin (Where’s My Medal?) Sheehy, Janette Reid, Clare Roche, Declan Grant, Caroline Hynes (who had flown home from Chicago for the race), Yvonne McDonagh, James Dunne, Ciara O’Regan, Niall O’Connor, Susan Kelly, Mel (Honey C) Curran, Joanne McCabe, Anthony O’Brien, Katie (Golden Runner) Hennigan, Jason Blake and Lorraine Sherwood, for doing Clonliffe Harriers proud*.

One of the wonderful outcomes from being a member of Clonliffe Harriers is the friends we make during the training sessions, which was evident by the number of members who ran together. This two-by-two approach proved to be very effective with many members being encouraged by their running friends to dig in and achieve a PB.

As always, an extra special thank you to the volunteers, Pamela, Mr & Mrs Dowling (aka Mark & Aisling), Vivienne, Brid, Emer O’T, Grace, Leah, Sinead, Dave The Smiler, Catherine D, Paddy and Ciara P, you’re welcome smiles at the finish line is wonderful sight.

Don’t forget, if you’d like to add your name to the list of volunteers, please speak to Mark Dowling or email markdow6@hotmail.com

To Eugene, Jean and Gerry and all the organising crew, thank you for the hard work you put in each year to create the wonderful race series.

As with every race, questions have been raised;

  1. How fast can Karl Nolan go?
  2. How high can Aideen Brady jump?
  3. Is Evelyn Brennan doing a sponsored silence marathon run?
  4. Will Kev Sheehy find his medal?

Congratulations to everyone who ran or raced this weekend, keep digging in.

*apologies if anyone is missing from the list of participants.