The 15th running of the Donadea 50K took place on Saturday, February 8th, under challenging conditions as the forest was still recovering from the aftermath of Storm Éowyn. This year saw the biggest ever field with 399 runners registered. Demand was greater than ever, with extra places made available thanks to the introduction of carpooling and an offsite carpark.
Caitriona Jennings of Letterkenny AC took the lead from the start and remained unchallenged, focusing on breaking the course and national record. She finished with a new personal best for the distance and set a new national record for 50K with a time of 3:16:32. Patricia McLoughlin had settled into second place but was overtaken before halfway by Tara Malone and it remained this way until the finish but there was always the threat from Aoibhe McCarthy from Kilcoole AC who was always close behind.
The men’s race was less predictable, with Tudor Mircea of Clonliffe Harriers setting a blistering pace from the start. He was followed by Welsh international runner Jack Blackburn and a chasing pack that included Terry Shanley, Wayne Waldron, and last year’s winner Ian Fitzgerald. Wayne Waldron adopted a more strategic approach, holding back until the right moment. He pushed ahead after halfway and took the lead within the final two laps, finishing with a new personal best of 3:01:48, beating his previous best of 3:15:41 from Donadea 2023.
In total, there were 267 finishers, with 241 of those inside the 5-hour mark. Of that number, 212 were male and 55 were female. A full list of results is available HERE.
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