Races in Clontarf always advertised as flat and fast. They forget to mention the wind. It didn’t stop Colm Murray rocking up in the Clontarf Half Marathon on 5 th July 2025, the man who loves to race every week. Punishing conditions however, with a strong head wind from 9k home coupled with high humidity. Not a great mix. Still another age category podium finish in second place and a sub 90 (1:29:28). Very impressive stuff. NATIONAL U20 and U23 track and field Championships took place in Tullamore on Saturday 5 th July and Rathfarnham had 2 representatives. Ryan O Neill ran the U20 1500m and it was a tactical race from the off. The Tallaght athlete and eventual winner Cormac Dixon made a decisive break half way through and field did not go with the move which meant that the other medal spots would be decided in the final 300m. Ryan bravely took on the lead at that point but was narrowly edged out of the medals in the final strides to finish a commendable 5th in 4.02.5. Jared Murray took to the start in a very strong heat including eventual winner Nick Griggs in the U23 800m and just missed out on the final finishing 9th overall in 1.57.17. Ryan will compete in the Morton Games on Friday whilst Jared will aim for national seniors’ championship in a few weeks’ time. Well done to speedster Ellie Oldrey who came third in the U16 80m hurdles in the national championships in June. 11.98 is a serious time. Very unlucky to clip the hurdle towards the end. She also romped home to victory in the rain in the schools 200m in an insane time of 25.65. Well done to all who ran. 

Another busy week is of summer activities. Thursday 26th June we had Liam Dunne, 12th., run a find time of 34.38 at the Clonee 10k. Friday 27th June we had the usual large participation seeking PBs in always fast St Cocas 5k with honourable mention to first home busy Dad of 3 Gaël Hernandez running his first ever sub 17m. in 16.57. Great runs were also had by Dermot Shiels 17.23, David Reidy 17.36, Michael Murphy 17.53, Gavin Murphy 18.42, Michael Steward 19.28, Claire Shiels 19.59, Ester Lawlor 21.31, Paul Stephenson, Lian Brady 22.15, and John McCabe 22.51. Saturday 28th June saw action switch to ultra fast track Irish Milers event in Santry stadium with Ryan O Neill again running 1500m sub 3.54 and Jared Murray lowering his 1500m mark sub 4.02, fast running lads. Today Sunday 29th June saw more runners take to start for national 5m road in Phoenix Park with David Power first thru in a remarkable fine PB time of 26.40. Also category wins for Tom Cuddy 31.33 and Shellagh Jones 36.19. Great runs were also had by Paul Fleming 28.58, Colm Murray 30.54, Tom Cuddy 31.33, Terry Clarke 39.30, and Richard Deasy 32.55. Meanwhile we had no less than 7 juveniles make the trip to the prestigious annual National Championship in Tullamore on Sunday 29th June where Ellie Oldrey again came away with medal taking bronze in U16m 80m . Also we had Lucy Blessington run the 800 metres in 2.25, Callum Kelly ran in the U17 110 metres hurdles. Aoibheann Nic Mathuna was 8th, throwing 9.25 metres in the U15 shot put. Euan Bale U15 ran the 80 metres hurdles in 13.80 seconds. Well done to all.

Well done to all our athletes who competed at the Dublin Graded Meeting 6 at Morton Stadium on Wednesday 25th June 2025. In the 1,500m Tom Cuddy ran 5.18. Aisling O'Conner ran 5.18 as well in her 1,500m and Sophie McGrath ran 5.31. In the womens Javelin Isabel Mullarney was 5th and threw the javelin 26.55m. In the shot she was 3rd with a 8.65m throw. Well done to all. The full results are on Dublin Athletics live website at http://live.dublinathletics.com/graded-25-6/menu.htm l

Some great results for Rathfarnham WSAF AC athletes in the Michael Manning Memorial Dunshaughlin 10k 2025 on Saturday 21st June in very hot conditions with Gerry Boyle (M65) and Colm Murray (M55) both winning their age categories, Dov Kremer (M60) 2nd in his, Dermot Shiels 4th in M50, Alexy Marchenko 5th in M40, and David Reidy 19th in M45. Results and times are: Alexey MARCHENKO – M40 - 0:33:36 David REIDY - M45 - 0:37:50 Dermot SHIELS – M50 - 0:38:03 Dov KREMER – M60 - 0:38:28 Colm MURRAY – M55 - 0:39:06 Gerry BOYLE – M65 - 0:40:16. At the Viking Half Marathon in Waterford on Sunday 22nd June David Power placed 5th in 1:14 and Donal Murphy 114th in 1:38. At the UCD track meeting on Wednesday 18th June Jared Murray took 2nd place in 800m lowering his PB to 1.55. Good luck to club juvenile athletes taking part in the national championships in Tullamore over the next 2 weekends.

Well done to all our athletes who ran at the Dublin Graded Meeting 5 at the DSD Track on Saturday 14th June 2025. We had some excellent performances over 3000m and 800m. Aisling O'Connor and Caitriona Dowling (11.22) ran in the 3000m. In the mens 3000m A race Aiden O'Connor ran 9.20, while in the C 3000m race Gael Hernandez ran, along with Dermot Shiels (10.06) and David Reidy (10.22). In the 800m Sophie McGrath ran 2.43. In the mens 800m Ryan O'Nelll ran 1.55 and Jared Murray 1.57. At a track meeting in Malta over the weekend Lee Byrne ran 1.58 to come second in an 800m. Over the weekend (14 - 15 June 2025) we had several Juveniles competing in the Dublin Championships on the DSD track. Full results on the Dublin Athletics Live website at http://live.dublinathletics.com/menu.html . Well done to all who competed. 

All-Ireland Schools Track & Field Championships A fruitful weekend for Rathfarnham WSAF AC sprint and middle distance athletes at the All-Ireland Schools Track and Field Championships in Tullamore on Saturday. In the 200m Junior Girls race Ellie Oldrey was fast away from the blocks leading around the turn and powered down the home straight away from the field to claim a clear win and brilliant gold medal in a PB run of 25.65s, likely a club record. Ryan O Neill took to the start for the concluding race of the day in the senior boys 1500m. In a tactically run race Ryan lead through the opening 800m and signed off on his schools career in a hard fought final lap taking 2nd place and silver medal in a time of 3.59. Aoibheann NicMhathuna also competed in thd Junior girls shot out throwing 9.15. A fantastic showing of young talent from these young athletes and great credit to sprint coach John Hayes, endurance coach Paul Fleming and throws coach Angela Mac Mhathuna. Other races: Sprint club athletes competed at the Stratford Speed meet in London with Stephen Gaffney running a blistering 10.69s over 100m and Isabella Doyle 26.14 in 200m. The Slieve Donard. Rathfarnham runners took on the oldest mountain race in Ireland. Slieve Donard celebrated its 80th edition this year, with an up and down race from Newcastle up to the summit at 853m, a total of 9.5km. this race forms part of the IMRA Irish championships. David Power 12th M Peter O'Farrell 23rd M Laura Flynn 27th F Matt Kane finished 2nd in Howth IMRA on Wednesday too.

Another busy week for club athletes on the roads and on tracks. Tuesday evening 20th May 2025, saw the Tom Brennan 5k road race where Dermot Shields fresh from Wicklow Way endeavours was 1st club runner home in 17.16 followed by Ronan Byrne 19.03 and Michael Stewart 19.50. The club juveniles took centre stage on the weekend 24 - 25th May with 60 boys and girls competing in Dublin track and field championships at Santry and Tallaght. Some impressive performances with Ellie Oldrey taking 250m u15 hurdles gold and Lucy Blessington u14 800m and Calum Kelly u17 boys 300h Silver medals and Sarah Murphy u19 400m H and Aoibheann Nic Mathuna u15 shot put getting bronze medals. These athletes now progress to National championships in Tullamore at the end of June. Also in action at the weekend with notable results were Kevin Donagher taking the win at the Grocers 4 mile at Leopardstown racecourse and Louis McCarthy 3rd Newry City 10km and David Power, 4th, Calcutta Run 10km, Phoenix Park.  Overseas we had Cillian McCabe run 50.28s in 400m and Stephen Gaffney run 10.75s over 100m at the IFAM meet in Brussels. We also had Aoibheann Nic Mhathuna qualify for All Ireland Schools in the Junior girls Shot Putt. 2nd place finish in Leinster and she now joins Ryan and Ellie in Tullamore for National Schools Finals next weekend and we wish them good luck.

At the third Dublin Graded Meeting on the Tallaght track on Wednesday 21st May 2025, we had some notable runs by our athletes. Paul Stephenson won bronze in the Dublin Championships 10,000m in a time of 35.04 and Alexy Marchenko was 4th in 35.14. In the 400m Cillian McCabe won the Dublin Championships bronze medal in 50.75 and Callum Kelly ran 59.68. In the womens 400m Orla Murray ran 1.23 and Vanessa Sallier ran 1.26. In the Hammer Vanessa threw 21.48M. In the mens mile Jared Murray ran 4.28 and Aiden O'Connor ran 4.53. In the womens mile Louise Gaffney was first home in 5.27, followed by Aisling O'Connor in 5.43 and Caitriona Dowling ran 5.54, in her come back race. Well done to all. The full results are on the Dublin Athletics live site at http://live.dublinathletics.com/graded-25-3/menu.html

At the National 5k Championships in the Phoenix Park on Saturday 17th May we had 17 competitors. First home was Shane O'Neill in 16.12. Shane was followed by Paul Fleming 16.37 and Sean McCreery 17.38. Shane, Paul and Sean won gold in the M50+ team category. Next came David Reidy 17.41, Michael Murphy 17.52, Colm Murray 18.04, Louise Gaffney 18.47, Aisling O'Connor 19.18, Ronan Byrne 19.22, Gerry Boyle 19.35, Richard Deeney 19.34, Caitriona Dowling 20.08, Alexander Dunne Martin 19.57, Donna Mahon 20.54, Sheelagh Jones 21.17, Ester Lawlor 21.52 and Vanessa Sallier 22.27. The results show that Rathfarnham WSAF AC won silver in the F50+ (Donna, Sheelagh and Vanessa) and silver in F35+ (Louise, Caitriona and Sheelagh). TThe M35+ team were 9th. Well done to all who ran. A busy week for club athletes aside from Wicklow Relay and National 5k road championships. In the Leinster schools finals Ryan O Neill finished 2nd in the senior boys 1500m and Ellie Oldrey finished 1st in Junior Girls 200m and 2nd in hurdles and both advance to National Schools finals in Tullamore in a few weeks time, good luck to both. We also had Aoibheann Nic Mhathuna qualify for All Ireland Schools in the Junior girls Shot Putt, 2nd place finish in Leinster. Club runners took part in Wednesday’s BHAA 5k beach run in Sandymout with Colm Murray winning M55 anc Vanessa Sallier 2nd in F50. In the Tullamore May Open today Cillian McCabe competed in 400m hurdle finishing 56.8s Over East coast Stateside, Patrick Hickey ran a fine 800m PB of 1.58.6. At the Bear organised Half Marathon in Clondalkin on Sunday 18th May, Amy Cooke in her first run on returning to the Club, ran 1.42 to finish strongly as 13th woman home. Well done to all.

Rathfarnham WSAF AC continued a 20+ year record in the 22nd Wicklow Way Relay on Saturday 17th May 2025. The green and black team finished 3rd after the 8 runners had covered over 100km in over 8 hours. First timers on the team were Patrick Macgabhann, Dermot Shiels and Gráinne Black, who did really well. The usual drama and intrigue was woven into a hot sunny day across the Garden County. Team captain John McAuley lined up a solid team, with lots of experience. Clare Shiels, Louis McCarthy, David Power and Marc Fitzachry held their place. Ciarán Aylward was the team's essential volunteer. Well done to East Cork AC for taking the win for the 3rd year. Other Rathfarnham club members running included Laura Flynn and Paul Stephenson.

A busy weekend for our club athletes on the roads and tracks gave us some excellent performances. Friday evening 9th May saw the Le Cheile 5k road race in Leixlip where ever green Mark Ryan came home in 3rd place with an impressive time of 15.26 and Dermot Shields winning M50 and remarkably just 2 weeks from Hamburg marathon, breaking 17min for first time (16.58). Saturday 10th May saw almost 50 of our juvenile girls and boys competing in Dublin league in Santry jumping in and out of a ton of events - high jump, long jump, javelin, discus , 60/80/800 races. Great to see the aspiring athletes trying everything and practicing for their Dublin championships competing ahead of the championship races. Also on Saturday Paul Fleming sent out 3 of his emerging track athletes and all 3 came away with PBs with Ryan O Neill running Irish Milers race series in Belfast 1500m in 3.54. In Dublin Graded races in Santry Jarrod Murray lowering his 1500m time to 4.02 and Aidan O Connor dropping his 5000m time to 16.46. Aisling O Connor took the Dublin 5000m race in 19.20. Finally lots of club participants in Terenure 5m on Sunday 11th May notably Patrick MacGabhann 7th overall 26.15 and Colm Murray first M55 30.29 and Martin Kelly 31.52 first M65 and Claire Shiels 34.15 F45 and W40 team first place comprised Claire Sheils, Grainne Black and Lian Brady. Well done all and good luck next weekend to club runners in Wicklow Way Relays and National 5k road championship.

Well done to all our athletes who competeted in the Dublin Graded Meeting 2 at Morton Stadium, Santry on Sunday 11th May 2025. Pride of place goes to Aisling O'Connor who won gold in the 5,000m Dublin Championships in 19.20 and Jared Murray who won silver in the 1,500m Dublin Championships in 4.02. Aiden O'Connor ran 16.46 in his 5,000m. In the 200m Isabelle Doyle ran 25.71 and Vanessa Sallier 38.40. Cillian McCabe ran 22.96 in his 200m and Callum Kelly ran 25.65. In the Javelin Isabel Mullarney threw 28.24 to win the bronze medal in the Dublin Championships and Vanessa Sallier threw 11.69. Well done to all.

Well done to all our athletes who took part in the first Dublin Graded Meeting in the Morton Stadium on Sunday 03 May 2025. In the womens 3,000m Aisling O'Connor ran 10.57, Louise Gaffney 11.12, Sophie McGrath 11.53 and Kate Connolly 12.47. In the mens 3,000m Mick Murphy 10.20, David Reidy 10.27 and Tom Cuddy 10.54. Stephen Gaffney ran in the 100m as did Orla Murray. Orla also competed in the shot putt, long jump and high jump where she won a Dublin Championships bronze medal. Isabel Mullarney also competed in the shot putt and won the bronze medal in the Dublin Championships with a throw of 8.79m. The full results are on the http://live.dublinathletics.com/graded-25-1/menu.html site. Well done to all.

NATIONAL M50 ROAD RELAY CHAMPIONS Fantastic running in the National Road Relays on Sunday 27th April 2025 in Raheny, with our M50 team taking National Gold. In the 1st leg over 1 mile Sean McCreery stuck with the hot pace in the lead pack, running 5.25. On the 2nd leg over 2 miles Shane O'Neill stretched out into a clear second place in 10.30. On the 3rd leg over 1 mile Paul Fleming Reeled in the leader and stormed to a terrific win in 4.59. Celebrations on the double for birthday boy Paul on the day. At the Hamburg marathon on Sunday 27th April Ross Griffin ran 3:01, Colly Murray ran 3:03 and Denis Daly ran 3:16. In the Boston marathon on Monday 21st April Jos Lawlor came home in 3:10. Well done to all.

Well done to all our athletes who ran in the Great Ireland 10k Run in the Phoenix Park on Sunday 13th April 2025. Pride of place must go to Aisling O'Connor who came second in the womens race in 38.48. Other god results were Colm Murray (38.11, 1st M55), Tom Cuddy (40.52, 1st M65), Gerry Boyle (41.22, 2nd M65) and Laura Ryan. Well done to all.