DAN DONOVAN, RIP

Dan Donovan, a native of Ballyknock near Cloyne, was a member of the Midleton club in the 1970s where he competed in cross-country and in the few road races that took place at the time.

He was one of the 34 runners who took part in the first-ever Ballycotton road race, the five-mile event of August 11th, 1977.

Dan also played an instrumental role in the organisation of the early Ballycotton races. He, along with John Walshe, laid down the first-ever calibration course to be used for course measuring in Ireland, a fact alluded to in a recent article by John Quigley on the Cork Athletics website.

At a time when transport to races was scarce, Dan was always willing to drive his club colleagues to events even if he wasn’t competing himself, with some memorable trips to places like Loughrea, Tullamore and Maynooth fondly recalled by Midleton athletes of that era.
Dan was also an uncle of Daniel Colbert who is due to run in the All Ireland Senior 400 H at the weekend.


May he rest in peace.