*With thanks to John O’Malley for this great report*

A great turnout from Dunboyne AC on a warm but wet night in Johnstownbridge for the Bob Heffernan 5k hosted by Na Fianna AC. A race with a reputation for being a fast course and so attracts club runners from near and far. Is it the after-party in a night-club afterward with tae and sandwidges? (One of our crew who will remain anonymous informed us of many a successful night at said venue! Enough said).

Thanks to Claire Ni Fhaircheallaigh and Sarah Meegan who came out to support and were perfectly positioned with 1K to go and gave everyone a great boost at a great time. Lots were seen increasing their pace after the screams of encouragement from the ladies. Adding to the Dunboyne support on the evening was Ken at 400m to go with the camera poised to add further boost to the final stretch.

The course itself is relatively flat and left handed making it ideal for a fast time. However the heavy black clouds that appeared about 2 hours before race time loomed large and there was a heavy downpour while our Lyndon was doing his warm-up while one or two were cleverly sitting in the car waiting to see what might happen. Alan McK and the lads were contemplating a trip to McDonalds for milkshakes if the rain kept up. (Our Alan doesn’t like to get his feet wet and would happily run a steeplechase rather than get his feet wet).

Luckily the rain stopped and held off for the duration of the race, but the conditions remained damp and very humid.

There were 26 runners from Dunboyne AC on the night (as well as 1 or 2 associates that we consider members too) and as expected from our club we attained successful results with both new PB’s and very near misses.

Peter Somba was the overall Race winner as well as first Meath runner home and not surprisingly a Team medal, for Peter in a cracking time of 14:56 just days after pipping Mick Clohisey to first place at the Terenure 5 mile.

Emilia Dan once again first in her age category for Emilia with a great time of 18:48 and a team medal also to boot.

Teams: With over 40 club teams listed in the results Dunboyne AC once again scored very well… The ladies team were drawn on points for 2nd spot, but on count-back our third runner (Carol) crossed the line first so the Silver medal was awarded to Emilia Dan, Clodagh Dunphy and Carol Howard. The Men’s team of Peter Somba, Gerry O’Reilly & Owen Fletcher comfortably took Bronze.

On an individual level most agreed afterwards that the performances of the night have to be awarded to Nicola McKernan and Garbhain Blake who both excelled themselves with fantastic performances.

Nicola has joined the Sub 30 club (S30N) and achieved it with time to spare with a new PB of 29:46. Well done Nicola, 3 x sub 10 minute miles showing great consistency (Shame the other athlete in your house took it so badly when he had to stand in the shadows despite scoring a PB, which we won’t mention here!)…

Garbhain had discussed a target of 19:30ish with us last week, but Lady Captain Emilia put him straight and directed him to look closer towards the 18:30 mark… Of course she was spot on and he breezed home, passing Emilia in the final Km to achieve a time of 18:41 (There were no shortcuts possible on that course)… That’s the last time she’ll be telling him to go for broke!

Donal Cashin had his first race in over a year and a half after a tough year of injury. Donal is only back a few weeks and showing great signs of being back to his best. Despite Donal completing well over 10 marathons this was Donal’s first ever 5k race so a PB was guaranteed 17:04.

Gerry O’Reilly, on the eve of his ‘ahem’ birthday scored a massive PB with an epic finish which is fast becoming his signature in races breaking 17 minutes for the first time and doing so with style… (16:46).

Another to break 17 for the first time, straight off the plane from the warm weather training camp in Portugal was Owen Fletcher in 16:55.

An unexpected appearance from the Manchester contingent when we spotted Stephen Douglas arriving for the race. His departure delayed allowing him to run one more race on home soil before he heads off (He’ll still wear the Dunboyne vest in Manchester no doubt). Stephen had a great run once again with a time of 17:35.

Paul Hanaphy also just back from Portugal was showing great signs of getting back to his best (18:01).

Mick Foy – Another brilliant race by Mick as his improvement continues. At 19:27 Mick was only seconds off a PB and displays evidence that this truly is going to be ‘The year of The Hammer’. Great expectations abound… PB’s are imminent.

Cian Mangan, John Meegan, both dipping in under the 20 minute mark 19:34 and 19:51 respectively. Both showing good promise for the summer ahead.

The next bunch of Dunboyners traded places a few times during the race showing good support for each other along the way. John O’Malley tracking close to a PB (10 seconds away) at 20:04. Clodagh Dunphy once again showing great consistency scoring a PB to boot with a time of 20:18 and crossing the line just ahead of Carol Howard (20:22). Carol bouncing right back to fantastic form in a very short time.

Alan Doyle was attached to this group for most of the race and tracked off a little in the fifth Kilometer as the finish line appeared, however a great run all the same with 20:42 and great fitness levels after his recent marathon in Manchester.

We had 5 within the 21 minute time including the duo of Ray Mitchell and Michael O’Báille both tracking each other closely (I hear that Mick chased Ray down for a few kilometres and caught him in the final 500m). Both finished within a metre of each other with the same gun-time of 21:04.

They were however pipped to the line by Ciara O’Neill in 21:03. Ciara isn’t quite a member just yet, but has joined us for training over the last few weeks so we’ll work on that, (no pressure). The training is paying off, great running.

Not too far behind that trio was Deirdre Fitzsimons who is getting stronger and stronger since her return with a time of 21:17.

Paul Lord was next, another who was marginally outside his PB by a mere 10 seconds with a time of 21:50. A little bird tells me that Paul didn’t quite enjoy the race, but I think he enjoyed the sandwiches and the banter afterwards!

A good run from Sean Bailey too with a time of 22:40, well done Sean.

Heather Harold was fast closing down in to the 22 minutes with a gun time of 23:20 it’s not far away Heather. Another who wasn’t so happy with her race but really determined to put that to right in the near future…

Mirella was our next runner past the post in a very respectable 23:41 tracking Heather all the way… (Watch out Heather).

Lyndon Thomas had been eagerly limbering up early in the evening and had a good wash in the downpour just before the race. That didn’t keep him from running a really good race with the famous pony trot across the finish line as the clock ticked 25:38, but I’m sure there are a few seconds to be trimmed off there too. Well done Lyndon great racing.

What can I say about Nicola (S30N) our final superstar of the evening scoring a massive PB (29:36) and bragging rights in the McKernan house at breakfast time on Wednesday morning. S3A was still sulking on Thursday night… But I best just mention that he did in fact also get a PB with a smashing time of 17:29 even though he disguised it by registering as Alan McKenna.

Details below and keep in mind that the results of this race are gun time (there was no chip timing) so there’s a few seconds to be trimmed off most of these… If I didn’t mention that your time was a PB or if the gun timing was way off your actual time then please let us know and we’ll correct the report.

Pos          Name (#)                                               Time                       Categ (Pos)

1              Peter SOMBA (154)                            00:14:58               Senior  (1)

35           Gerry OREILY (338)                          00:16:46               O40  (10)

41           Owen FLETCHER (28)                      00:16:55               Senior  (24)

50           Donal Cashin (386)                             00:17:04               O40  (15)

68           Alan MCKENNA (384)                      00:17:29               O40  (19)

77           Stephen DOUGLAS (125)  00:17:35               Senior  (44)

108         Paul HANAPHY (143)                       00:18:01               Senior  (60)

133         Garbhan Blake (361)                          00:18:41               O40  (36)

139         Emilia DAN (172)                                00:18:48               O45  (1)

175         Mick FOY (383)                   00:19:27               O40  (41)

181         Cian Mangan (421)                            00:19:34               O40  (42)

196         John MEEGAN (103)                         00:19:51               Senior  (104)

210         John OMALLEY (303)                       00:20:04               O45  (16)

213         Clodagh Dunphy (313)      00:20:18               Senior  (7)

216         Carol Howard (455)                            00:20:22               Senior  (8)

230         Alan DOYLE (238)                             00:20:42               Senior  (110)

243         Michael O’Baille (366)                       00:21:04               Senior  (112)

245         Raymond MITCHELL (339)           00:21:04               O45  (20)

254         Deirdre FITZSIMONS (169)              00:21:17               O45  (6)

280         Paul LORD (176)                 00:21:50               O45  (24)

318         Sean BAILEY (128)                           00:22:40               O50  (18)

349         Heather Harold (305)                         00:23:20               O45  (14)

359         Mirela HERGHELEGID (304)          00:23:41               O40  (22)

396         Lyndon THOMAS (263)    00:25:38               O55  (13)

447         Nicola MCKERNAN (382)                00:29:36               O40  (35)

Some photos below but more of course can be found on the Mooney Flickr site HERE, thanks as always guys for those.