EVENT REPORT

The Dublin Masters XC hosted by Raheny Shamrock A.C. was another blockbuster XC event in St. Anne's Park. This is a must do event to start the year off. It's a good test to see where athletes are placed in performance terms and what kind of shape they are in after the festive period. A huge number of athletes entered this with a total of 256. This year the races were broken up into 4 separate events to give runners a more comfortable race and allow them to manage the course better. The event is so popular that the sheer numbers that were turning up required the format to change. We had the Women's 50+ & Men's 65+ race start at 12.30 over a 3k distance. The overall winner was Annette Kealy of Raheny Shamrock AC winning very comfortably. Annette just keeps performing at the highest level year after year. The Team winners were Raheny Shamrock A.C. with Rathfarnham WSAF A.C and Lucan Harriers 3rd. The Women' s over 65+ team winners were also Raheny Shamrock A.C.

The Men's over 65+ team winners were Rathfarnham WSAF AC with Clonliffe 2nd and Raheny Shamrock A.C. in 3rd.

The Men's 50+ then followed. This was a fiercely contested race with many clubs battling it out. Like the women's 50+ Shane O'Neill had a comfortable win for Rathfarnham WSAF AC with all the battles left behind him. MSB AC were 2nd and in 3rd was Dundrum South Dublin.

The Women's 35+ was 4k and another tough, dog eat dog affair. Individual women were looking for age cat glory along with scoring well for their team. Raheny's Kate Purcell won the race overall. We were treated to a cracking finish to see who would win the team event. Rahney looked good but Sportsworld who are always in the hunt packed well finishing 4,6,8, and 11 positions and took the title away from the host club Raheny. We were all on the edge of our pants watching to see who would win. In 3rd place was Crusaders A.C.

The Men's 35+ was 6k and the last race of the day. Even with all the previous races the ground held up well for the athletes. This was extremely competitive with some fine athletes on show. Mick Clohissey of Raheny did take the crown for the 2nd year running. Raheny and Clonliffe, 2 great local rival clubs kept us all excited for the entirety of the race to see which club would come out on top.

Raheny's 4 athletes finished all in the top 10 with positions of 1,6,8 and 10. Clonliffe had 3 within the top 10 thus giving Raheny the edge to win. Again, this year had the extra spice of the Pat Hooper Cup. It's so important that all clubs score in all age team categories if they wish to be winners of the Pat Hooper cup. Each team is awarded points according to their overall club team position. Ex Raheny Men 35+ finishes 1st out of 16 teams placed, then Raheny scores 16 pts. The club with the most points wins the Pat Hooper Cup.

It was very tight for large parts of the day as Rathfarnham WSAF took an early lead and held on to top spot until we got to the Women's 35+ race where Raheny re-gained control of the leaderboard. Raheny's Men's 35+ then confirmed the Pat Hooper Cup title with their last win and race of the day. The cup was staying in Dublin 5 and St. Anne's Park for another year.

Raheny Shamrock A.C. finished with 47 points followed by Rathfarnham WSAF AC behind in 2nd with 40 points.

Pat Hooper Cup 2023 - Dublin Masters

Teams	M65	F65	F50	M50	F35	M35	Total pts
Raheny Shamrock A.C.	1	1	11	9	9	16	47
Rathfarhanham WSAF	3		10	13		14	40
Clonliffe Harriers	2		4	7	7	15	35
Sportsworld			6	10	10	9	35
Donore Harriers			3	6	6	13	28
Crusaders A.C.			5	3	8	11	27
Brothers Pearse			2	2	5	12	21
Blackrock A.C.			8	4		7	19
Lucan Hrriers			9			8	17
MSB A.C.				12		5	17
Dundrum South Dublin A.C.				11		4	15
Lusk A.C.			7		2	3	12
Civil Service Harriers				1	4	6	11
Skerries						10	10
Lifffey Valley A.C.				8		2	10
Portmarncock				5	3	1	9
Love 2 Run			1				1
Dublin Front Runners					1		1

Points allocated to each club based on over all finishing place in their age team results
eg 15 teams in the age team cats 35+, the top team is awarded 15 pts etc.

RESULTS

Women's 50+ & Men's 65 + Start Line

ANNETTE KEALY WOMEN'S 50+ RACE

STRAT LINE MEN'S 50+

MEN'S LAP 1 50+

SHANE O'NEILL MEN'S 50+ WINNER

WOMEN'S 35+ START LINE

WOMENS 35+ LAP 1

KATE PUECELL WOMEN'S 35+ WINNER

MEN'S 35+ START LINE

MEN'S 35+ LAP 1

MICK CLOHISEY MEN'S 35+ WINNER

Back to: Dublin Masters XC Champs 2023

John BEHAN