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Dublin uneven age cross country was held over a tough but interesting course in Citywest today. First into action were Juliette, Rion andAoife in the under 11 race. Juliette ran an outstanding race finishing 7th, Rion and Aoife also ran great over the 1500m distance for the first time. Ellen was very disappointed to miss the race as she was sick.
Our under 13 girls had high expectations and were rewarded with a 2nd place team medal , led in with a superb 2nd place for Jessica. Amelia ran herself to a standstill finishing 12th. Pearl was next in with a great run and close behind was Lelia. The two Saoirses, Caroline and Freya battled for every place and all helped win that team silver. Girls , you all should be so proud!!
Daire and Tom were competitive all the way in the boys under 13 and are learning from every race , great running lads.
Goda ran a smart race under 15 over 3500m and finished strongly in 2nd place overall. Hugh ran up an age group in the boys under 15 and stuck in very well in his first 3500m !
In the under 19 girls Cliodhna was up an age group but finished a very good 4th , with Clare 12th and Summer not far behind finished 3rd team overall. Christopher ran a fine race finishing 13th in the 6k under 19.

Our women won the team event in the senior race with Jodie, Faye, Alison, Cliona, Emer and Aoife on the team. Pierre was an impressive 2nd in the senior mens race.
Big shout out to our 2nd womens team which won the Leinster senior cross country in Ballyhale yesterday. Great running from Clare, Aislinn, Sinead, Ellen, Sorcha, Christelle, Aoife C, Aoife D, Niamh. What a weekend for the club!!

We travelled back to Ballyhale today which we had visited last year for the Leinster Novice Championships. Despite the fact that this idyllic area, with the Welch Mountains rising to the west is approx 150Km near the Equator than Dublin we certainly didn’t expect the near tropical conditions we encountered there.

The now disused but well maintained Mountain View Golf Club venue provided a real cross country challenge with some tough hills and tufty underfoot sod but there was a complete absence of mud despite recent heavy rain. There were three laps of the course to negotiate in addition to the start and finish straights.

The smallish field of 46 contained a number of excellent athletes, some of whom will challenge for places on the Irish team for the forthcoming European Cross Country Championships, scheduled for Turin next month. We took astrategic decision to enter the Leinster’s even though the Dublin’s were on the following day. This was in order to provide as many of our athlete as possible meaningful competitive opportunities in advance of the National Championships later in the month. Our athletes were somewhat off the pace on the first lap, but purposefully so with Claire around 12th, and Aislinn and Sinead not far behind. Sorcha, making her competitive debut for DCH, was comfortable and coming through the field nicely but she unfortunately lost a shoe which hinderer her further progress. Ellen was placed beautifully just outside the top 20, with Christelle, Aoife Corr, Niamh Donnelly and Aoife Donaghy fighting hard to gain places. After the second lap the field had settled down with some athletes paying the price for early extravagance. Our entire team gained ground going into the final lap with Claire now inside the top 10, Aislinn and Sinead(who ran despite having a cold and sore foot) were just outside and Sorcha running well despite her Cinderella state holding a mid-teens position. Ellen worked her way into the top twenty while Christelle, Aoife Corr and Niamh diced in the early 30s with Aoife Donaghy defending her position within the top 40.In the end we ran out comfortable team title winners with 42 points, Claire in addition to being 1st under 23 also scored on the Dublin County Team.

To see full results click on https://www.myrunresults.com/events/leinster_senior_xc_championships/4604/results

The club history shows that we have not won this title since 1992-results below- when the cross country season was arranged with pre-Christmas and after Christmas championships in equal number. DCH sometimes used these Leinster Championships as trials for the European Clubs Cross Championships in the past and who knows maybe history will repeat itself in the near future.

WOMENS EASTERN REGION SENIOR INTER CLUB CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS-

1ST  TEAM 16 POINTS

Ursula Noctor 1st

Catherine Smith 4th

Frances Murphy 5th

Louise Cavanagh 6th

Olivia Clinton 15th

Ailish Smyth 16th

Eithne Kenny 21st

So far so good!

Sat 5th Nov HITW sprints group and anyone who’s free (and not racing tomorrow) meet at 10.15.

Sun 6th Nov HITW at 11 sprints group and older middle distance group. No training today for anyone born 2009 or younger.

Those racing in Citywest please check the timetable ( posted earlier ) and check the directions carefully. New venue to all so please give plenty of time to get there stress free. Be on the road 90 mins before scheduled race time . Meet at the club flag. Wellie day for spectators and bring bin bags for mucky shoes and wellies to save car cleaning! Best of luck to all.

More updates Sunday night.

Maps for Sunday. Please study carefully and follow the stewards directions. Wellies needed as underfoot conditions are expected to be soggy.

The following athletes have been entered for the races in Citywest on Sunday next.
Under 11
Aoife, Rion, Juliette, Ellen

Under 13
Lelia, Pearl,Freya,Jessica,Maggie, Saoirse Bergin, Saoirse Rogers, Caroline, Amelia
Tom, Daire

Under 15
Hugh, Goda

Under 19
Ash, Clare, Summer, Cliodhna

New maps and final directions will be up on the website later today.

Wednesday’s nights weekly circuits session continues at the Cabra Parkside Community Centre (D07 Y891) – starting at 7.30pm sharp (2 mile warm up and cool down recommended).

This week’s training reverts back to 2 weekly sessions – Tuesday and Saturday OR Sunday. We train as per normal at TUD on Tuesday (interval reps), followed by ONE of the weekend race (instead of Saturday’s tempo intervals reps at LT pace).

Wk 15 (Oct 31/Nov 6): Easy running 3 days, one longer run, 1 x repetitions session , 1 x Race (instead of tempo run at LT pace at Kilkenny on Saturday or City West on Sunday) + 1 x personal S&C sessions + ONE COMPLETE REST DAY [Sessions: Tuesday, Saturday OR Sunday] 

Please see email for full details!                                     

Travel arrangements to both the Leinster & Dublin XC champs will be confirmed later in the week by Dermot after “A FINAL DECISION” has been made on whether to focus on both or not!