Frank Duffy 10 Mile 2016

Report by Diarmuid Ó Súilleabháin

Photos by Denise Kilkenny and the Dublin Marathon Facebook album: Click here

Full club results below.

Dublin Athletic Board 10 mile Road Championships / Frank Duffy 10 Mile

Fridays are great, aren’t they. I love them. And the best thing about any Friday is of course the Phoenix Park facts section in Eoin O’Brien’s weekly email. Where does he find them, I chuckle to myself over my morning tea. This great object of fascination for everyone’s favourite middle distance grass track specialist provided the setting for the the Dublin Athletic Board 10 mile Road Championships which was ran in conjunction with the Frank Duffy 10 Mile race last weekend.

The Frank Duffy takes place at a great time of the year usually with lovely summery warm conditions and blue skies but this year would be different. It has been said that Inuit people have 50 different words for snow and I could think of as many to describe the rain on the morning of the race. Although, none of these can be published here, I could only laugh as I togged out between the start line and the ha-ha* that runs around Ashtown Demesne (a.k.a. the Phoenix Park Visitor Centre), gingerly changing from one wet item of clothing into another.

I enjoyed the sight of all the runners gathered like clusters of penguins under the large trees near the start line, their teeth chattering, half jogging on the spot, and constantly checking their watches. Yes, time really is moving that slow. With less than 5 minutes to the gun, they emerged, and keeping the warm-up to the bare minimum made their way to their corrals.

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The course for the race changes a lot and this makes it harder to judge where you are at in terms of your own fitness. It was changed again this year and combined with the unfavourable conditions certainly made for a slower race.

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The introduction of Acres Road at about mile 8 made for especially difficult conditions running into a 40km/h headwind but it will take more than that to deter Myles Nugent and Dave Clarke who stationed themselves at the bottom of this section so could shout us all up the Upper Glen Road. The finish line couldn’t come fast enough but generous cheers always make it easier.

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We had approximately 40 people in the race which was impressive considering how many were going to the National Track Masters in Tullamore. Fortunately the weather cleared at the end and we had the chance to share our post race synopses.

From looking at the results from this and last year, the times seemed to be 1-2 minutes slower comparing 1st, 10th, 50th, & 100th positions from both years (That’s my excuse anyway). That said, there were a number of PBs had by Sportsworlders on the day.

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Congratulations to our Ladies over 50 team of Eileen Rowland, Carol Lynch and Audrai O’Driscoll who won silver medals! Eileen Rowland who also won gold in her age category along with Ray Carpenter & Sean O’Byrne who got bronze in theirs! Listed below are peoples times. Well done to everyone for getting out there running and supporting, and apologies for anyone who I haven’t included.

Sportsworld results: 

Kevin Curran 01:00:43
James Brady 01:03:55
Diarmuid O’Suilleabhain 01:03:59
Sean Duffy 01:06:42
Noel Tobin 01:08:32

Damien Geraghty 01:09:31
Sean Donegan 01:10:17
Jose Chapa 01:11:06
Andrea McNamara 01:12:21
Naoise Waldron 01:12:25

Paul Brady 01:14:36
Johnny Dwyer 01:14:36
Stephen Willoughby 01:15:31
Eoin O’Brien 01:16:39
Denise Kilkenny 01:18:34

Neil Purdy 01:20:21
Paul Cassidy 01:21:16
Denis McCaul 01:20:23
Grainne Dilleen 01:21:52
Eileen Rowland 01:21:17 (Gold medal age category & Team O50 silver medal)

Patricia Fitzmaurice 01:21:48
Katie Nugent 01:22:33
Niamh Flaherty 01:22:55
Gemma White 01:23:01
Sibeal Waldron 01:23:58

Claire Rowley 01:23:14
Ray Carpenter 01:27:18 (Bronze medal age category)
Caroline Lynch 01:28:21 (Team O50 silver medal)
Stephanie Bergin 01:27:45
Catherine Gilmore 01:33:53

Sean O’Byrne 01:33:58 (Bronze medal age category)
Yvonne Ryder 01:33:08
Tara Murphy 01:32:47
Audrai O’Driscoll 01:34:19 (Team O50 silver medal)
Madeleine Byrne 01:34:47
Emma Barry 01:34:48
Phillip Kerr 01:36:26

* These are sunken fences, or walls, which are used to prevent cattle and other animals gaining entry to the garden about a house, or other building, but allow for uninterrupted views of the surrounding landscape (In the above photo you can see the ha-ha in action – the cows desperately want to go onto the nice lawn, but can’t). You’ll see these all over the park. James Brady is a big, big fan of this landscape feature. Did you know the ha-has gather water in the winter and provide important spawning sites for frogs. Watch out for the frogs here next spring. How’s that for a fact Eoin!?