Paul O'Donnell's Gold at Dublin C.C. Championships as D.S.D Men & Women secure Team Silvers!

On a balmy afternoon, in pleasant conditions more akin to early Autumn than the start of traditional winter,  Paul O'Donnell won the Dublin Senior Cross Country title for the first time in his distinguished career. In a promising sign of form ahead of the National Senior Cross Country Championships in under three weeks' time, Paul showed his class when making a decisive surge to break clear of a select group of podium contenders over the final 1500m lap.

On the grounds of the former State Laboratory, the DSD men provided Northside rivals Clonliffe Harriers with a stern test in the race for the Pádraig Keane Perpetual Cup. In what were forgiving underfoot conditions, the Harriers won the day by a margin of 12 places in the team standings. Paul's performance was backed up by strong runs from Aaron Donnelly (5th), Gavin Callery (8th), John Neville (13th), Tommy Paltzer (19th), David Gormley (21st), Aengus Meldon (25th) and Lochlann Hannon (28th). 

A particular mention to John Neville who had only recently touched down after a stint down under. The Kerry native showed all of his commitment by putting in a strong performance after his long haul flight.

In the Senior Women's race, the DSD women showcased their strength in depth with four finishers inside the top 10. Led home by Roisín Treacy (4th) and Holly Carroll (5th), the Dundrum women pushed Dublin City Harriers all the way in the fight for the Jim McNamara Cup. The DCH quartet prevailed by just 10 places. DSD's leading duo were ably supported by solid performances from Emily Witham (9th), Serena Tuffy (10th) and Emma Goddard (14th).

Earlier in the day DSD junior women’s team won the Dublin team title in a close battle with Blackrock A/C.  Iona Murnane led the way with a superb 2nd place finish in her first cross country race in 2 years. There were fine performances from Lily Kate McCarthy placed 8th, Aoife Fitzpatrick 11th, Sadbh Hassett 12th, Roisin Hanley Byrne 15th, Martha Moore 17th and Sara Mai Devine 18th to secure the win.

The U20 men’s team won a hard fought 3rd place and were led home by Ewan Kennedy in 4th - Ewan, still only 17 showed his potential running with the lead pack only losing touch in the final half mile. Cameron Fallon and Andrew Gillart ran super races to finish 11th and 12th respectively, Jake Mathews battled gamely for 23rd securing a 3rd place finish for the team. 

DSD were the only club to secure team podiums accross the 4 Senior and U20 men and Women races.

The Endurance Group will return to training and continue preparations for the National Championships which will return to Abbotstown on 22nd November.

The day's competition coincided with the news of passing of a great champion and one of our sport’s most engaging personalities. Ciara Mageean graced the turf of Abbotstown many times and won her first national senior cross country title on this course in 2018. A minute's applause in her honour before both senior races was organised by Dublin Athletics.

(Thanks to Donal & Gavin for report!)