A hot one in Dunshaughlin!

In 1652 over in Amsterdam, Jan van der Hayden was a young 12 year old boy when he watched the local town hall burn. Such a dramatic event made a long-lasting impression on him. Fast forward another 12 years or so and he figured out that if you pour water into a series of linen pieces sewn together, you could transfer water from a reservoir to a smaller tank much quicker than using watering cans. The linen soon gave away to rubber and it wasn’t long after that the first garden hose was born! I didn’t think that one of the abiding memories of this year’s race would be people giving thanks to the common garden hose. So many people were grateful to the local community for turning on their garden hoses and simply cooling them down! Jan van der Hayden, the participants of this year’s race salute and thank you. You would be welcome in Dunshaughlin any time!

It was always only going to be a matter of time before we hit a big number, like a really big number. Last Saturday evening in Dunshaughlin, we had the privilege of witnessing more than 1,000 runners cross the finish line of the 44th Michael Manning Memorial Dunshaughlin 10km road race. What an incredible evening for everyone who took the time to be part of our race this year. Whether you ran, volunteered, cheered on, or simply happened to be out and about to enjoy the evening, thank you. For those that did race, hats off to you for running in true energy sapping and exhausting running conditions.

As is the norm now for the Dunshaughlin 10k, the race sold out two months ago and we eagerly waited to see how the 2025 race would unfold.

Relatively speaking, we have always been a small size athletic club, never one with mega membership numbers or facilities, we just liked to run. To think that we would still be here more than 45 years after our first road race was held in 1979 is mad stuff all together. Running, is not for everyone, but for nearly everyone who runs, it can mean everything.

Stretched across the start line we had this years crop of contenders, those in the know were hinting towards Íde Nic Dhomhnaill (West Limerick AC) or Ann Marie McGlynn (Strabane AC) for the women’s race and Hugh Armstrong (Ballina AC), Tadhg Donnelly (Drogheda and district AC), Kevin Kelly (St Cocas AC) and David McGlynn (WaterfordAC) for outright victory with plenty of others to make it difficult to predict with any accuracy. Being race five of the Peugeot Race Series (pop-up races) we were certain that Ireland’s leading clubs would send plenty of the big hitters for the generous prizes on offer. Singlets from the traditionally strong clubs like DSDAC, Mullingar Harriers, Clonliffe Harriers, Raheny Shamrock’s AC and more dotted the field of starters so we knew a cracking face would develop.

The countdown began and bang on 7:30 pm the race started. The usual stampede to the first roundabout brought almost a dozen men to the head of the race and by the time they reached the 1st km (2m 57sec) it was the veteran Michael Harty (East Cork) that surprised everyone by taking the pace. Through 2 miles in 9m 36 sec the leading group were settling but by the five km halfway point both Tadhg Donnelly and David McGlynn had gone a few seconds clear. The chasing game is a difficult game to play at the best of times but in 21C it was all the harder.

Nic Dhomhnaill went into the big gear from the first roundabout and was well clear at halfway, by a massive 22 seconds and looked very comfortable. Ann Marie McGlynn was second and running a strong race herself but she was still within firing range of her chasers, Faye Dervan (Dublin City Harriers), Alex Murphy (UCD) and Cliona Murphy (Dublin City Harriers). Íde was the 2023 winner and was gunning for a second victory and with typical determination ploughed ahead. A few months back at the National 10k championships in Dunboyne, Ann Marie McGlynn got the better of Íde when taking second place and had 10 seconds of comfort crossing the line. Her marathon strength was called upon and she began to work. Gradually, the gap began to close. Even though Íde was a previous course winner, with an athlete of Ann Marie’s calibre chasing there was no chance to rest on your laurels. A little further back but not much, Alex Murphy, Faye Dervan, Cliona Murphy, and Noreen Bruder (Sportsworld AC) were separated by less than 30 seconds. Over Greenhills bridge and onto the hills, Alex Murphy was running a cracking race catching and passing Faye Dervan to slot into third place.

For the lads, the leaders were running shoulder to shoulder, 4 miles in 19 mins dead. Miles three to four in 4m 35secs and now onto the lumpy part of the course. Predictably, the switch to a plus gradient makes the legs feel sluggish on the road and it was the man from the wee County, Tadhg Donnelly who tried to press ahead. McGlynn however had other ideas and latched on. A few more meters and the man in the blue vest of Waterford AC made his move. His own marathon strength brought him 10m clear relatively quickly. With the sun in his eyes, he extended his lead to about 30metres at five miles and he began to sense a win was on the cards for the first time since the streets of Galway 8K last year.

Armstrong, Harty, Kelly, Jamie Fallon (Craughwell AC), Ger Forde (Kilkenny City Harriers), Ian Guidan (Clonliffe Harriers) and Minolaugus Balciouskis (Monaghan Town Runners) were in the race for minor places but still had to work for their supper. There was still plenty of racing to be done. McGlynn has a nice bit of pedigree to his name, a Providence College athlete with 13m 59sec 5,000m, 28m 59sec 10,000m and a 2h15min marathon under his belt, he didn’t make the trip from the Ireland’s oldest city to take second – he came for the win and with 600m to go he knew if he stayed on his feet he would take the honours.

The home stretch welcomed him in and roared him across the line to win in 29m 30sec with Donnelly next in 29m 37 sec. Hugh Armstrong finished third in (30m 01sec), ahead of Michael Harty (30m 14sec) who won the P.J. Fagan award for first man over 40.

The strong finishing Anne-Marie had a 16m 41sec negative split for the second half of the race but ran out of road and Íde’s hard work early on paid dividend to claim her second Dunshaughlin victory in 33m 16sec with Anne-Marie second (33m 39sec). Alex Murphy finished third in 35m26Sec. Unofficially, Ann Marie’s time is a national O45 record taking 61 seconds of Natasha Adam’s run in Letterkenny on 2nd of May 2022, subject to ratification.

There was a bit of a surprise in the men’s team competition, Drogheda and district ambushed the big Dublin clubs taking first place on 84 points, Raheny Shamrock’s were 2nd (151 points) and Dundrum South Dublin 3rd (152 points). The Drogheda boys described the race as challenging yet enjoyable and loved the atmosphere out on the course. They will be back to defend their title in 2026! The women’s team category was won by Sportsworld AC (45 points), second place went to Dunboyne (52 points) and third place to Dundrum South Dublin (68 points).

The Peugeot race series team prize was won by Dundrum South Dublin on 170 points.

A few more noteworthy mentions must go to Colm Murray from Rathfarnham who won the Charlie O’Brien cup for first man O/55, for two local lads Eoin Sheehy who ran 51m 33sec and Jack Kavanagh who hand cycled across the line in 35m 49sec. First Dunshaughlin man was Jonathan hand in 36m 40sec and Breda O’Connor was first Dunshaughlin lady home in 42m 21sec. Full results for all age groups are available on popupraces.

We had two course records on the night, Íde’s winning time took a whopping 66 seconds off Olympian Lizzie Lees O40 record set in 2022, while Ann Marie’s time knocked an incredible one minute and 40 seconds off another Olympian Maria Mc Cambridge’s O40 record from 2023. Phenomenal running.

I was chatting with a man in the hall afterwards, he was sipping a cup of sweet tea from a paper cup in one hand and was halfway through a thickly cut slice of Oxford lunch in the other hand. Well, I asked. How was that? ‘Waarrum, she was fierce waarrum’. And then he settled himself into his lean onto the jam of the emergency exit door. Staring into the hot tea he said, ‘It’s not been cool since Thursday morning’. Did you enjoy it? I chanced. ‘Did I what! The hoses were a life saver, so many of them. And when we needed them too. The misty water spray from all the people along the course were what kept me going’. And then he smiled a big hearty smile, saying ‘Bejaysus that’s some support out there this evening, hard to find that anywhere else and I’m running for donkeys’ years. I missed last year because of bad knees but I was good to go this evening’. And will you be back again? ‘Indeedin I will! Wouldn’t miss it and I not even in a run in’ club’, he said as he went on to finish the Oxford lunch.

Although the ordinary runner has cause for being sceptical about outright glory when toeing the start line within touching distance of the cream of Irish road running, wondering just before the off if today is going to be their day, everyone knows there is only one real winner. However, in Dunshaughlin the winner is the race itself. For 44 years, our race in memory of one of our own, the Michael Manning Memorial Dunshaughlin 10km has a winning formula with a magic ingredient.

Next year, our race turns 45. As a club, we’re already looking forward to welcoming everyone back again. It’s just magical that we get to do it all over again. Word on the street is that it’s gonna be special – real special. Sure we might even have a hose party afterwards!