Over a hundred and seventy athletes from all over Ireland have already signed up for the first ever Dundrum South Dublin (DSD) Games which will take place at the club’s new track near Marlay Park in south Dublin on Sunday June 18th.
Antonia Vitori of Bray Runners AC will line out in the 800m, where she hopes to improve on her personal best time of 2 mins 16.59 secs run indoors earlier this year.
Competing in both her specialist javelin and the shot is 17-year- old Ailbhe Gordon of Greystones and District AC. Gordon has a javelin best of 40.47m, making her one of the few Irish women to have thrown over 40m at any age. She also and a personal best of of 11.60 for the shot.
Online entry for the DSD Games closes at midnight on June 11 and although both the men’s 100m and 1500m races are now full, there are plenty of places left in the field events and organisers are encouraging Wicklow athletes to register now.
The DSD Games is Dundrum South Dublin’s first meet at its own home grounds. Although the club dates back to the early 1970s, only in 2013 did it find a home when it purchased an 18th century protected property called St Thomas in the foothills of the Dublin mountains at Tibradden Lane in Rathfarnham, Dublin.
Work on the site, with the support of Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council, began almost immediately and Phase 1 – a Mondo track, along with 2km of hill trails on its outskirts, parking and other ancillary facilities – is now in regular use by the club.
In late April, the track got its first official outing as a competition venue for the Irish University Championships when Irish international sprinters Israel Olatunde and Mark Smyth were among those testing it out.
A packed programme of both track and in the field events is planned for Sunday June 18. Full details and updates are at the club website at https://www.dsdac.com/games and on the official @dundrumsouthdublinac Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
The DSD Games are supported by Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council.
