D.S.D Second in Portlaoise

Cold and windy conditions on St. Patrick's day meant it wasn't a day for fast times at the Portlaoise 5k.  Despite the challenging conditions, the hotly contested race did not fail to disappoint.  DSD had a strong contingent out with Paul O'Donnell, returning to racing after his 2:09 marathon, deciding to give the much shorter distance a go, and finishing best of the DSD contingent.  Paul’s marathon exploits showed, in the final stages, where he didn’t have the turn of pace in the last 500m when the moves started to come in the breakaway group of 5.  Kilkenny's Cathal O'Reilly came out on top overall, marginally ahead of Seán Tobin and John Benner who finished 2^nd and 3^rd.  Ben Leen Smith was, 4^th with Paul finishing up in 5^th.

On the women's side, Leevale were dominant, with their ladies filling the first 4 finishing positions. Niamh Allen was a clear winner ahead of clubmates Jessica Coyne, Michelle Finn and Hannah Steeds. Leevale took top honours the mixed team prize in the Peugeot series, where the top 3 female and male finishing scores are combined.

DSD's efforts resulted in a 2^nd place team finish with Paul O'Donnell (5^th), Joel Luke (8^th), Tommy Paltzer (13^th), Saoirse O'Brien (8^th), Emily Witham (9^th) and Ciara Kernan (10^th) all contributing to the scores.  Special mention to Ruben Bartelink was the winner of the men's O50 category. 

Other DSD athletes in action on the day were: Aengus Meldon (17^th), Lochlann Hannon (18^th), Fionn Neville (26^th), Cillian Chambers (51^st), Nick Hyland (80^th), Óran Bartelink (121^st) and Emma Goddard (15^th woman).

Well done to all on a solid start to the road race series.

Thanks to Rob for report.