Numbers have been gradually climbing for the traditional annual outing at the end of January, always at 3pm on a Sunday afternoon, the AXA Raheny 5 miler, organised by Raheny Shamrocks. Last year there were 3,500 finishers and this year close to 3,900, leading to some concern that there would still be runners at the start line when the leaders came through the finish of an initial short loop that crossed the area of the start (thankfully, though, the last runners got away just before the leaders came through). The roads around St. Anne’s Park are suffering and for about 800m from the start they can be extremely congested unless you get to the front and keep your wits about you. However, it is an iconic race and, except probably for those who accidentally tripped and fell early on, will be fondly remembered by most. It is also famous for its prizes of kitchen appliances in abundance, from toasters to coffee makers and, this year, electric foot heaters. The reasons why it is so popular are several and varied. It’s possible that it is seen as a benchmark for runners checking out their levels of fitness after the excesses of the festive season and the resolutions that followed. It is generally considered a PB course and this year’s edition did not disappoint. The atmosphere is great and the support excellent. For Crusaders in particular it was unbelievable as usual. It is also a great confidence booster for those who run well and sets up runners for the year to come. Lastly, it is possible that there aren’t that many 5 milers out there, particularly at this time of the year. It’s quite an intense distance in many ways, almost anaerobic in its experience. All in all it’s a magical race and the conditions, although a little windy, were otherwise perfect, with the temperature around 6 degrees. One should also not forget the unforgettable commentary from Susan Walsh who greeted us all as we crossed the finish line. It was also Susan’s initiative to include the late John Fitzsimons in our thoughts at the start and runners gave much support to applauding his memory. More than 70 Crusaders turned out on the day, a few more having signed up, but suffering from the winter chills or recent injury. Those that ran had a marvellous experience and there were as usual a good smattering of PBs, at least 17, or a quarter of the runners. It’s too challenging to describe how everyone did, the results below largely speak for themselves. But we’ll try to record a few. In a quality field, Brian O’Kelly was our first man across the line in 21st place and a PB time of 24:59, this after having lost his chest heart rate monitor after 3km and shortly afterwards the lace on one of his shoes having come undone, to remain flapping around his ankle all the way to the finish. Frank Halligan also had a super race, placing 60th in 27:24, followed by Rob Cross (79th in 27:47), Jason Kehoe (90th in 27:59), Michael Wycherley (93rd in 28:01), Stephen O’Kennedy (97th in 28:10) and John McAuley just behind (98th in the same chip time) to complete the top 100. Sandwiched between John and Joe McDermott (103rd in 28:13) who recorded his umpteenth PB in the last 12 months, came 2 runners, one who trains with us and the other who ran briefly for the club but is now in his native Netherlands. Declan Ryan, who runs for Thurles and trains with us, and is hoping to get into the Tokyo Paralympics in the marathon, had recruited Jasper de Taeye to be his guide and had hoped to use this race for practice, before discovering that a guide has to be of the same nationality as the runner (a bizarre rule; as someone pointed out, what if you came from a small country like Malta, the chances of finding a guide capable of running 2:40 or below could be challenging). So the two ran together anyway, ultimately placing 102nd in 28:05, but not before Declan unfortunately collided with one of the cones in St. Anne’s Park on the out and back section towards the end of the race. Bloodied and bruised, he still managed a super time. He now has to resume his search, but can possibly settle on a couple of half marathoners of Irish nationality. Next over the line was Peter O’Toole (110th in 28:16), followed by Michael Kiely (119th in 28:29) and Joe Walsh in a PB time of 28:52 (145th). Rob, Michael Wycherley and Joe were able to claim second place and prizes in the O/40 men’s team event, whilst our senior men came in 7th overall. In 162nd place and a PB time of 28:59 came Daniel Lowe, who might have knocked even more off his previous best but for the fact that he started quite far back. Others to finish under 30 minutes were Karl Walsh (167th in 29:07), Peter Barry (175th in a PB time of 29:19) and Enda Currid (212th in 29:55). Further down the field there was a PB for James Cottle (285th) who won his age category in a time of 30:53, improving on his PB from last year’s race by 6 seconds. Having set out relatively conservatively, James was able to reel in two of his closest competitors before the end of the 3rd mile and with the help of seeing them behind him on the out and back section along the cones was able to keep the pace up sufficiently to see him through to the finish without further contest. Also recording PBs were Brian Scanlan (365th in 31:30), Eanna Farrell (505th in 33:16) and Cormac McGuire (523rd in 33:08) who technically was running the distance for the first time. Roland Cottle also knocked 3 minutes off his previous best by finishing in 40:41 (1523rd). It was good to see Philip Matthews running competitively again as he is coming back from injury (812th in 36:02) along with Niall O’Connell who has also had his recent ups and downs (381st in 32:01). The women’s race was just as exciting, with also an excellent field. Orla Drumm was our lead runner taking 8th place (148th overall) in 28:53, followed by Catherine Thornton in 27th place (295th overall) in 31:03, her second best time for the distance and for this particular event. Rachael Yorke was next in 46th (449th overall) in 32:40, having left it until late in the race to pass Aine Kenny who ran a PB of 32:47 to place 48th (463rd overall). Orla, Catherine and Rachael had initially been told that they were the third ranking team, but a Sli Cualan runner had been ignored and, once added, pushed Crusaders into 4th place by a margin of only 7 points. A noble effort all the same. There were some great runs further down the field with Niamh Aspell placing 495th overall (49th woman) in 32:57, followed by Kathryn Sweeney who ran a PB time of 34:21 to place 69th (621st overall) along with Ruth Dwyer who also ran a PB by recording 34:42 (76th woman and 651st place overall). Dee Ni Chearbhaill had a good run to place 656th overall (79th woman) in 34:38 and to complete the top 100, Sarah Lyons had a PB of 35:18 (100th woman, 753rd overall). Top 500 places went to Emer Kenny (817th overall, 114th woman, in 36:12), Olwyn Dunne (883rd overall, 137th woman, in 36:45), Aoife Kelly (1063rd overall, 185th woman, in 37:07), Mary Fitzsimons (1156th overall, 212th woman, in 38:43), Liz Nixon (1381st overall, 299th woman, in 39:36), Joanne Carey, making a welcome return to racing (1425th overall, 316th woman, in 38:48), Mari Hansen (1433rd overall, 320th woman, in 38:47), Gillian Lyons (1582nd overall, 383rd woman, in 40:12) and Carina Davidson (1844th overall, 498th woman, in 40:33). For the record, our masters O/40 team of Dee, Olwyn and Aoife came home in 7th place. Also, members will be interested to hear that Lydia Bigley of Dublin Front Runners, who trains with us, also recorded a PB in running 36:13 (118th woman and 835th overall). We fielded a small contingent for the 2nd round of the men’s indoor league in Athlone on Saturday. However, Athletics Ireland appears to be updating its website and results are not yet available. The report will be updated once the results are out. In the indoor junior and U23 national championships, Shane Keane placed 2nd in the U23 long jump with a leap of 6.56m, Augustyn Tchorzewski came 3rd in the junior triple jump with a leap of 12.79m, Valantinos Goularas placed 5th in the final of the U23 60m with a time of 7.15 and Peter Murphy came second in his heat of the junior 400m with a time of 52.61. Unfortunately, no one from his heat progressed to the final. There were a couple of other results of the weekend of note. On Saturday morning Seamus Moore ran in the Gran Canaria Half marathon and recorded a PB time of 1:22:12, finishing strongly, whilst on Sunday, Yvonne Macauley, our temporary Texan exile, decided to turn her LSR into a marathon by joining up to run the race on a hilly course (1,200 feet of elevation) in Waco. Taking it steadily, she recorded 3:11:34 and winning her first ever marathon, an amazing time and qualifying for Boston, in which she hopes to compete before her return to Dublin. There was a slightly lower turnout across the board this weekend in the parkruns, possibly because of the Raheny 5 on Sunday and the numbers swelled in that race from the Lord Mayor’s fit for life initiative. Abroad, Aidan Hudner placed 84th in a time of 22:23 and a field of nearly 400 runners in Victoria park, Glasgow, whilst Kris Ryan ran again in Paradise Point, Australia, taking 37th place overall, 7th female, in 23:11 in a field of 258. As usual, we had good performances in Poolbeg where Stephen Hurley was first finisher again in 17:18. Other results there included Kenan Furlong who placed 6th in 18:58, with Fiona Bane, who is currently running in some physical discomfort, 61st overall, 6th female, in 23:01 and Sharon Woods, 74th overall, 9th female, in 23:53. Karl Gohery is also running well, placing 41st in 21:50, followed by Russell Murphy (59th in 22:56), Emma O’Mahony (86th overall, 15th woman, in 24:49), Ava Rose Clarke (88th overall, 16th woman, in 24:52) and Cliodhna O’Reilly (94th overall, 20th woman, in 25:11). Joe Walsh, warming up for the following day's 5 miler, placed 3rd in Brickfields in 19:28, ahead of Lisa Shine (50th overall, 9th woman, in 26:57). Cormac McGuire (17th in 25:17) ran solo in Tolka Valley, whilst so did Luke Haran (8th in 21:36) in Mungret, along with Orlaith de Burca (89th overall, 24th woman, in 27:56) in Shanganagh, Aisling O’Riordan (102nd overall, 23rd woman, in 27:43) in Castletown, Dominick Branigan (4th in 19:06) in Bushy Park and Grainne Regan (41st overall, 4th woman, in 21:45) in Ormeau Park, Belfast. We had 3 runners in Marlay. Luke Davis placed 7th in 18:41, followed by Olwyn Dunne (115th overall, 13th female, in 23:31) and Kate Murray (139th overall, 18th woman, in 24:07), whilst in St. Anne’s we had 4 athletes take part. Gillian Lyons ran 24:48 for 135th place overall (18th woman), followed by Aoife Kelly (304th overall, 97th woman, in 29:16), Lorraine Fitzsimons (375th overall, 139th woman, in 31:27) and Paul F. Kelly (378th in 31:33). Finally, in Porterstown, Amy Brogan ran 26:08 for 51st place overall, 11th female finisher, whilst Kevin Flynn completed the course in 37:39 for 163rd place. AXA Raheny 5 mile (3879) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Mick Clohisey 1 00:23:26 32 Ann-Marie McGlynn 1 00:25:59 Crusaders AC runners 21 Brian O’Kelly 00:24:59 (PB) 60 Frank Halligan 00:27:24 79 Rob Cross 00:27:47 90 Jason Kehoe 00:27:59 93 Michael Wycherley 00:28:01 97 Stephen O’Kennedy 00:28:10 98 John McAuley 00:28:10 (PB) 103 Joe McDermott 00:28:13 (PB) 110 Peter O’Toole 00:28:16 119 Michael Kiely 00:28:29 145 Joe Walsh 00:28:52 (PB) 148 Orla Drumm 00:28:53 (8) 162 Daniel Lowe 00:28:59 (PB) 167 Karl Walsh 00:29:07 175 Peter Barry 00:29:19 (PB) 212 Enda Currid 00:29:55 231 Paul O’Meara 00:30:18 253 Eddie Nugent 00:30:27 285 James Cottle 00:30:53 (PB) 295 Catherine Thornton 00:31:03 (27) 304 Ollie McGrath 00:30:56 320 Rory Goldsmith 00:31:00 365 Brian Scanlan 00:31:30 (PB) 381 Niall O’Connell 00:32:01 391 Barry McGuirk 00:31:53 394 Sean Smith 00:32:03 406 Michael Fitzsimons 00:32:14 433 Diarmuid Byrne 00:32:20 449 Rachael Yorke 00:32:40 (46) (PB) 463 Aine Kenny 00:32:47 (48) (PB) 465 Bob Manson 00:32:27 488 Tomas Dunne 00:33:04 495 Niamh Aspell 00:32:57 (49) 505 Eanna Farrell 0:33:16 (PB) 523 Cormac McGuire 00:33:08 (PB) 545 David Tuohy 00:33:26 590 Brendan Glynn 00:34:07 621 Phelim Murray 00:34:25 621 Kathryn Sweeney 00:34:21 (69) (PB) 627 Gian Piero Allerta 00:34:22 651 Ruth Dwyer 00:34:42 (76) (PB) 656 Dee Ni Chearbhaill 00:34:38 (79) 753 Sarah Lyons 00:35:18 (100) (PB) 778 Mark Swan 00:35:33 (PB) 812 Philip Matthews 00:36:02 817 Emer Kenny 00:36:12 (114) 841 Aidan Flynn 00:33:46 860 Robbie Moore 00:36:22 883 Olwyn Dunne 00:36:45 (137) 915 Leslie Lluyd Hughes 00:35:23 1063 Aoife Kelly 00:37:07 (185) 1156 Mary Fitzsimons 00:38:43 (212) 1315 Colm Foley 00:37:15 1359 Colin McGuire 00:40:24 1381 Liz Nixon 00:39:36 (299) 1387 Tim Hyland 00:39:15 1425 Joanne Carey 00:38:48 (316) 1433 Mari Hansen 00:38:47 (320) 1523 Roland Cottle 00:40:41 (PB) 1582 Gillian Lyons 00:40:12 (383) 165X Triona Quill 00:XX:XX 1844 Carina Davidson 00:40:33 (498) 1877 Paul F. Kelly 00:42:12 1903 Russell Murphy 00:41:16 1927 Mairead Cashman 00:43:17 (530) 1987 Aisling O’Connor 00:41:46 (553) 2231 Lisa Shine 00:44:19 (672) 2232 Orlaith de Burca 00:44:20 (673) 2464 John Fitzsimons 00:46:15 2516 Paul E. Kelly 00:47:23 2599 Michelle Geoghegan 00:44:02 (892) 2975 Iseult Ni Chuinneagain 00:47:53 (1138) 3129 Lorraine Fitzsimons 00:51:53 (1254) Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/_axa_raheny_5_mile_2019/2807/results Ormeau Parkrun #287 (465) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Dan Trimble 1 00:18:27 5 Leann Gibson 1 00:18:52 Crusaders AC runner 41 Grainne Regan 00:21:45 (4) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/ormeau/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=287 Marlay Parkrun #290 (619) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Karl Chatterton 1 00:17:35 3 Barbara Cleary 1 00:17:44 Crusaders AC runners 7 Luke Davis 00:18:41 115 Olwyn Dunne 00:23:31 (13) 139 Kate Murray 00:24:07 (18) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/marlay/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=290 Bushy Parkrun #101 (265) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Adam Moss 1 00:18:08 17 Bernadette Crowley 1 00:21:08 Crusaders AC runners 4 Dominick Branigan 00:19:06 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/bushydublin/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=101 Castletown Parkrun #160 (280) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Anthony Dowling 1 00:19:09 11 Ruby Kelly 1 00:21:31 Crusaders AC runner 102 Aisling O’Riordan 00:27:43 (23) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/castletown/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=160 Porterstown Parkrun #172 (222) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Thomas Sherlock 1 00:17:03 18 Lorraine O’Connor 1 00:23:50 Crusaders AC runners 51 Amy Brogan 00:26:08 (11) 163 Kevin Flynn 00:37:39 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/porterstown/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=172 St. Anne’s Parkrun #269 (490) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 unknown 1 00:18:33 11 Sarah Kelly 1 00:20:03 Crusaders AC runners 135 Gillian Lyons 00:24:48 (18) 304 Aoife Kelly 00:29:16 (97) 371 Lorraine Fitzsimons 00:31:27 (139) 378 Paul F. Kelly 00:31:33 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/stannes/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=269 Tolka Valley Parkrun #49 (101) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Aaron Mullan 1 00:19:14 6 Aoife Donaghy 1 00:22:50 Crusaders AC runner 17 Cormac McGuire 00:25:17 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/tolkavalley/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=49 Brickfields Parkrun #54 (129) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Matthieu Proffit 1 00:17:53 4 Niamh Clifford 1 00:19:35 Crusaders AC runners 3 Joe Walsh 00:19:28 50 Lisa Shine 00:26:57(9) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/brickfields/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=54 Poolbeg Parkrun #75 (213) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Stephen Hurley 1 00:17:18 37 Amy-Jane O’Reilly 1 00:21:36 Crusaders AC runners 1 Stephen Hurley 00:17:18 6 Kenan Furlong 00:18:58 41 Karl Gohery 00:21:50 59 Russell Murphy 00:22:56 61 Fiona Bane 00:23:01 (6) 74 Sharon Woods 00:23:53 (9) 86 Emma O’Mahony 00:24:49 (15) 88 Ava Rose Clarke 00:24:52 (16) 94 Cliodhna O’Reilly 00:25:11 (20) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/poolbeg/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=75 Shanganagh Parkrun #198 (191) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Joe Cawley 1 00:17:36 10 Suzanne Foot 1 00:20:47 Crusaders AC runner 89 Orlaith de Burca 00:27:56 (24) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/shanganagh/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=198 Mungret Parkrun #21 (97) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Shane O’Sullivan 1 00:18:19 20 Mairead Clancy 1 00:23:47 Crusaders AC runner 8 Luke Haran 00:21:36 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/mungret/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=21 An event that was inadvertently missing from last week’s report was round 1 of the National Indoor League that took place in the indoor arena in the national Sports campus in Abbottstown last Saturday, where we were able to field a men’s team. The league is essentially 2 rounds with no final, places being determined by aggregating the scores from each round. The second round will be next week on 26 January on AIT’s indoor track in Athlone. After the first round as a team our men are sitting in 5th place overall out of 10 clubs, just 6 points off Nenagh Olympic who currently occupy 3rd spot, with Clonliffe and Raheny in 1st and 2nd and Donore in 4th place. 6 events took place and we fielded competitors in 4 of them, with our top points’ scorer being Matt Behan who won the 60mH easily in 08.11. Kevin Woods did well too, placing 2nd in the 800m, just narrowly beaten in a sprint for the line with a great time of 1:56.76. Shane Keane took on the long jump placing 4th with a jump of 6.27m and Nick Ennis took 6th spot overall in the 2 heats of the 60m dash. In fact Nick placed 3rd in his heat in a time of 7.27. The only events in which we did not participate were the shot put and pole vault. Roll on round 2. Fingers crossed for the men’s team next week in Athlone. So this weekend, we had the second event in the BHAA calendar, the Eir women’s 2 mile and mixed 5 mile cross country races in Cherryfield west Dublin. The races were run on a well-established course around a few pitches and a bit of rough trail, with a couple of relatively easy and short climbs. It can get boggy in places, but this year the ground would not have been too challenging. As usual, we had a decent Cru turnout, with 5 runners in the 46-strong women’s field and at least 16 in the 141-strong field in the mixed race. Weather conditions were cool but calm. The women’s race was unsurprisingly won by Sinead Lambe who also went on to run in the 5 miler, coming home as the first woman finisher in that race too. However, our Katie Rogers distinguished herself coming home in 2nd place in an excellent time of 12:23 with Niamh Corby, just coming back to form, taking 10th place in 13:31 and finishing as 2nd F40. Dee Ni Chearbhaill was next in 15th in a time of 14:09 and 4th F40, followed not too far behind by Maria Kennedy who is consistently improving (22nd in 14:38 and 5th F35). Coach Susan Walsh also ran well, placing 28th in 15:07 (4th F55). In the much larger field of the 5 miler, John Mulvihill placed 6th for the 2nd time in 7 days in a time of 28:00. John was followed by Ger Forde in 15th in 29:10. Ger is only 2 days into his new age category and duly placed 2nd M40. He was followed by Frank Halligan (17th in 29:16) and then in quick succession by Joe McDermott (20th in 29:26), John McAuley (22nd in 29:37 and 4th M40) and Michael Wycherley (24th and 2nd M45 in 29:46). Michael O’Conor was next (29th in 30:29), followed by Enda Currid (34th and 3rd M45 in 30:43) and Karl Walsh (45th in 31:31). Also in the top 100 came Pat Quill (65th and 5th M50 in 33:22), followed by Tom Dunne (70th in 33:54), Brendan Glynn (88th in 35:40), just ahead of Robbie Moore (90th in 35:42). Anthony Hackett had a good run in 98th place (36:30), as did Michael McGovern (100th in 36:45 and 5th M60). Finally, Paul Kelly in his new age category, completed the contingent by placing 139th in 51:49. Meet and Train, the inter club cross country league for women, made a welcome return on Sunday (following a year when, owing to insurance issues, the league could not take place). This year Crusaders contributed to the return of the league by sorting out the insurance whilst other clubs are hosting races and providing volunteers. And what a return it was! Record numbers of women (168) turned out in perfect conditions (crisp and mucky) in Tymon Park for the 2 mile race consisting of 1 short lap and 2 bigger laps on a course familiar to many in the club who have raced there in the Dublin intermediate championships. Crusaders had 15 runners, managing to field 3 teams (4 to score). The first team was led home by Grainne Regan in a fantastic run which saw her placed in the top 10 in the first lap, picking off runners to see her placing 2nd by the finish. Following Grainne was Canadian newcomer to the club, Dorothy Maguire, who placed an excellent 21st, followed by Emer Kenny (25th) and Kate Murray (28th). Olwyn Dunne in 32nd spot was first over the line for the 2nd team followed by Geraldine Clements (making a welcome and strong return to cross country after 2 years absence) (39th), Carina Davidson (73rd), Emma O'Mahony (74th) and Maria del Carmen Jimenez Campos (76th). Our 3rd team was led home by a first timer to cross country racing, Ciara Lynch, who finished strongly to place 30th. Ciara was followed by team mates Anna Shine (90th), Mairead Cashman (101st), Aisling O'Conner (115th), Michelle Geoghegan (124th) and Maureen McGinley (133rd). Tallaght AC did a super job in organising and hosting the first race, with tea (served by the men of the club!) and refreshments. Times and team standings are not available as yet and the report will be updated once they become available. The 2nd race in the league is due to take place on Sunday 10th February, with the 3rd and final race in the series on Sunday 3rd March in Abbottstown. Leo Lundy reported that he ran a trail marathon around the disused Greenham Common airbase in South Berkshire in England over the weekend. It was extremely cold but otherwise okay. Still, because of the stony terrain, an ongoing foot injury was agony for him, so that it more of a hobble than a race, he says. As usual, we had strong participation in the parkruns, whose ranks continue to be swelled by Operation Transformation participants. We had a major turnout in Poolbeg, where Stephen Hurley and Tim Francony had a good battle for first and second places, with Stephen prevailing by 1 second (17:23 to 17:24). Aine Kenny was also first finisher in the same event (27th overall, in 21:13). Kenan Furlong ran well to break 19 minutes (6th in 18:56), followed by Zlatko Kulic (15th in 19:55), Karl Gohery (42nd in 22:24), Russell Murphy (55th in 23:00), Sharon Woods (79th overall, 11th female, in 24:31), Cliodhna O’Reilly (85th overall, 13th female, in 25:01), Mary Dolan (95th overall, 15th female, in 25:23), Donna Barry (114th overall, 27th female, in 26:07), Ciara McElligot (166th overall, 53rd female, in 29:20) and Mari Hansen (182nd overall, 59th female, in 30:01). Elsewhere, Irene Gorman was a first finisher in the large St Anne’s field. Irene placed 28th overall in 19:41 and was followed home by Lorraine Fitzsimons (464th overall, 147th female, in 31:22). Dave Carter took on Cabinteely again, placing 3rd in 19:30, whilst Sarah Cush returned to her native Limerick to place 5th (23rd overall) in 22:12. Luke Horan was also down that way, in Mungret, where he ran 21:56 to place 11th. Meanwhile, 5th places went to Kate Murray in Gorey (where Kate placed 29th overall in 24:05) and to Olwyn Dunne in Shanganagh with a time of 22:50 and an overall placing of 33rd. Mike Stewart also ran in Shanganagh, taking 21st spot in 21:42. Another 5th place went to Maria Pertl (26th overall, in 27:48) in Tolka Valley. Maria was joined by Ciaran Smyth who took 16th place in 25:27, followed by Diarmuid Byrne (17th in 25:33) and Kevin Flynn (67th in 35:55). Newcomer Lynsey Clemenger ran in Griffeen where she placed 179th overall, 61st female, in 32:48 and Aoife and Paul Kelly ran in Hartstown where they respectively placed 74th and 75th overall, with Aoife coming home 28th woman finisher in respective times of 31:54 and 32:05. Aidan Hudner ran in Glasgow where in a field of 482 runners he placed 109th in 23:12, whilst Kris Ryan ran again in Paradise Point in Australia, taking 36th spot overall, 11th female, in 23:25. In Dundalk, Tim Hyland ran 23:59 to place 30th, whilst Fiona Bane placed 96th overall, 29th woman, in 28:45 in Tramore. Declan Connor took 10th place in Corkagh in a time of 20:52, whilst Liam Lyster placed 24th in 28:29 in Strokestown, Cormac McGuire took 32nd place in 26:28 in Brickfields and Aisling O’Connor ran 26:54 to place 272nd overall, 55th woman, in Marlay. We had 4 runners in Glen River. Lisa Shine led the contingent home in 78th place overall (21st woman) in 28:08, followed in quick succession by Fiona Shine (79th overall, 22nd woman, in 28:09) and then by Emer Kenny (94th overall, 31st woman, in 29:43) and Orlaith de Burca (95th overall, 32nd woman, in 29:44). We then had 3 runners in Bushy Park where Michelle Geoghegan ran 28:29 to place 165th overall, 42nd woman finisher, followed by Mairead Cashman (186th overall, 53rd woman, in 29:37), running in her 100th parkrun, and Emma O’Mahony (187th overall, 54th woman, just behind in 29:38). Finally, Sarah Lyons ran with her father (he running a parkrun for the first time) in Peacehaven near Brighton, where she ran 34:34 to place 88th overall, 28th woman, in a field of 122. BHAA Eir women’s 2 mile race (46) Overall place Name Guntime 1 Sinead Lambe 00:11:54 Crusaders AC runners 2 Katie Rogers 00:12:23 10 Niamh Corby 00:13:31 15 Dee Ni Chearbhaill 00:14:09 22 Maria Kennedy 00:14:38 28 Susan Walsh 00:15:07 Full results here: https://documentcloud.adobe.com/link/track?uri=urn%3Aaaid%3Ascds%3AUS%3A48dee2af-a7ef-4a83-bca9-2e2ea9b37377&fbclid=IwAR0po06PzSb-3Se1tZblDnac98J6B0IJg60FrA6aEelV1yD1Js9LicEjWBQ BHAA Eir 5 mile mixed race (141) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Eoin Devlin 1 00:26:22 35 Sinead Lambe 1 00:30:49 Crusaders AC runners 6 John Mulvihill 00:28:00 15 Ger Forde 00:29:10 17 Frank Halligan 00:29:16 20 Joe McDermott 00:29:26 22 John McAuley 00:29:37 24 Michael Wycherley 00:29:46 29 Michael O’Conor 00:30:29 34 Enda Currid 00:30:43 45 Karl Walsh 00:31:31 65 Pat Quill 00:33:22 70 Tomas Dunne 00:33:54 88 Brendan Glynn 00:35:40 90 Robbie Moore 00:35:42 98 Tony Hackett 00:36:30 100 Michael McGovern 00:36:45 139 Paul Kelly 00:51:49 Full results here: https://documentcloud.adobe.com/link/track?uri=urn%3Aaaid%3Ascds%3AUS%3A620e4137-660a-4c0b-8ffa-7d520723049d&fbclid=IwAR1PqmF4nQTvUtkzIJWhVr5W0wDHta2WPKqRfxqqW3OexVQI6YW4sknTclM Griffeen Parkrun #293 (248) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Patrick Holden 1 00:18:26 11 Aine Burke 1 00:20:16 Crusaders AC runner 179 Lynsey Clemenger 00:32:48 (61) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/griffeen/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=293 Marlay Parkrun #289 (623) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 2 Valter Valente 2 00:17:11 12 Lynne Hennessy 1 00:18:54 Crusaders AC runner 272 Aisling O’Connor 00:26:54 (55) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/marlay/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=289 Bushy Parkrun #100 (324) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Robert Frewen 1 00:17:38 22 Ciara Kilroy 1 00:21:08 Crusaders AC runners 165 Michelle Geoghegan 00:28:29 (42) 186 Mairead Cashman 00:29:37 (53) 187 Emma O’Mahony 00:29:38 (54) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/bushydublin/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=100 Gorey Parkrun #110 (116) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Brian Maher 1 00:18:03 3 Lorraine Smyth 1 00:19:55 Crusaders AC runner 29 Kate Murray 00:24:05 (5) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/gorey/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=110 Cabinteely Parkrun #198 (189) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Ted Burke 1 00:18:59 12 Joanne Ryan 1 00:21:41 Crusaders AC runner 3 David Carter 00:19:30 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/cabinteely/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=198 St. Anne’s Parkrun #268 (605) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Colm Cassidy 1 00:16:43 28 Irene Gorman 1 00:19:41 Crusaders AC runners 28 Irene Gorman 00:19:41 (1) 464 Lorraine Fitzsimons 00:31:22 (147) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/stannes/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=268 Corkagh Parkrun #70 (285) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 George Brady 1 00:18:02 15 Sorcha Wakely 00:22:10 Crusaders AC runner 10 Declan Connor 00:20:52 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/corkagh/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=70 Tolka Valley Parkrun #48 (76) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Aaron Mullan 1 00:19:20 3 Ann Foran 1 00:22:03 Crusaders AC runners 16 Ciaran Smyth 00:25:27 17 Diarmuid Byrne 00:25:33 26 Maria Pertl 00:27:48 (5) 67 Kevin Flynn 00:35:55 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/tolkavalley/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=76 Brickfields Parkrun #53 (122) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 St. John Walsh 1 00:20:27 6 Ciara Dooley 1 00:22:44 Crusaders AC runner 32 Cormac McGuire 00:26:28 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/brickfields/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=53 Hartstown Parkrun #219 (117) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Robert Gilligan 1 00:19:04 4 Noelle Capewell 1 00:20:50 Crusaders AC runners 74 Aoife Kelly 00:31:54 (28) 75 Paul Kelly 00:32:05 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/hartstown/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=219 Poolbeg Parkrun #74 (224) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Stephen Hurley 1 00:17:23 27 Aine Kenny 1 00:21:13 Crusaders AC runners 1 Stephen Hurley 00:17:23 2 Tim Francony 00:17:24 6 Kenan Forlong 00:18:56 15 Zlatko Kulic 00:19:55 27 Aine Kenny 00:21:13 (1) 42 Karl Gohery 00:22:24 55 Russell Murphy 00:23:00 79 Sharon Woods 00:24:31 (11) 85 Cliodhna O’Reilly 00:25:01 (13) 95 Mary Dolan 00:25:23 (15) 114 Donna Barry 00:26:07 (27) 166 Ciara McElligott 00:29:20 (53) 182 Mari Hansen 00:30:01 (59) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/poolbeg/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=74 Shanganagh Parkrun #197 (227) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Damian Keating 1 00:17:50 3 Sarah Baryga 1 00:18:43 Crusaders AC runners 21 Mike Stewart 00:21:42 33 Olwyn Dunne 00:22:50 (5) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/shanganagh/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=197 Strokestown Parkrun #20 (135) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Conor Dolan 1 00:21:04 8 Aisling Conry 1 00:23:53 Crusaders AC runner 24 Liam Lyster 00:28:29 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/strokestown/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=135 Mungret Parkrun #20 (148) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Mike Neville 1 00:18:24 4 Madalina Pinte 1 00:20:06 Crusaders AC runner 11 Luke Haran 00:21:56 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/mungret/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=20 Glen River Parkrun #9 (151) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Finbarr O’Dwyer 1 00:17:38 19 Emer O’Leary 1 00:22:56 Crusaders AC runner 78 Lisa Shine 00:28:08 (21) 79 Fiona Shine 00:28:09 (22) 94 Emer Kenny 00:29:43 (31) 95 Orlaith de Burca 00:29:44 (32) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/glenriver/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=174 Dundalk Parkrun #187 (153) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Donncha Hughes 1 00:17:31 6 Sinead McDonald 1 00:20:34 Crusaders AC runner 30 Tim Hyland 00:23:59 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/dundalk/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=187 Limerick Parkrun #156 (269) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Shane O’Sullivan 1 00:18:04 5 Aibhe McDaid 1 00:19:14 Crusaders AC runner 23 Sarah Cush 00:22:12 (5) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/limerick/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=156 Tramore Parkrun #157 (158) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Mark Langford 1 00:19:06 9 Janet Quinlan 00:21:04 Crusaders AC runner 96 Fiona Bane 00:28:45 (29) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/tramore/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=157 It was a weekend when Ringsend and Crusaders turned out in substantial numbers to provide an appropriate send-off to John Fitzsimons who passed away on Wednesday morning in his 82nd year after a long illness, but who nevertheless had been able to run as an M80 with two of his daughters, Lorraine and Mary, in a 5k race (the Good Race) on Good Friday, despite having lost his left arm this time last year. John had been a Crusader for over 40 years and there were constant references throughout the moving, but at times humorous, ceremony to his love for the club and his races on behalf of club and country. His cheery demeanour will be sorely missed. May he rest in peace and our thoughts are with our club mates Lorraine, Michael, Mary and John's family. The blustery weekend also saw some decent racing, particularly in the first BHAA cross country race of the year, organised by Bank of Ireland and held on a new course in Tymon Park on Saturday morning. The course changes had been necessitated by the levelling of some of the games pitches whose angles had previously provided some longish drags around the course. Even though it was clearly hilly, the new course seems to have been fast, judging by the times produced. We had at least 19 runners from the club in the combined 6k race and the club is extremely proud to have produced winners in both categories. It was a tremendous achievement for Michael Kiely to win the race in a field of 174 and a time of 21:15, and also for Niamh Allen who easily won the women’s race in 22:27 and 8th place overall. There were also great runs from Fearghal O’Hare (in new spikes after the destruction of his previous ones in the national novices!) by placing 5th in 22:06, followed by John Mulvihill in 6th place (22:20). Next came Frank Halligan in excellent form (11th in 22:53), followed by Michael Wycherley returning from injury (22nd in 23:50) and placing 1st M45. Enda Currid was not too far behind (29th in 24:07 and 3rd M45), followed by Karl Walsh (36th in 24:49), Pat Quill (77th in 27:26) and Phelim Murray (87th in 27:55 and training for the Rotterdam marathon in April). Brendan Glynn was next (91st in 28:16), just ahead of Robbie Moore (92nd in 28:23) and Tony Hackett (100th in 28:52). Leslie Hughes completed the Cru men’s field, coming home in 148th place in 33:11. On the women’s side, behind Niamh we had two other women among the first 10 places, with Lorna Fitzpatrick placing 9th female finisher (104th overall) in 29:07, followed by Sarah Lyons who ran 29:10 just behind Lorna (10th woman, 106th overall). Susan Walsh was next in 128th place overall, 19th female finisher, in 31:21 and taking 2nd spot in her F55 age category. Emma Cathcart followed in 154th (23rd woman) in 34:25 and the Cru women’s field was completed by Mairead Cashman, on the back of a parkrun in Tymon the same morning, finishing in 167th place overall, 29th woman, in 38:25). Mairead also picked up 2nd place in her F50 age category. On Sunday, we had runners in both the Leinster Intermediate and Masters cross country championships and, although we had only one runner, Louise Van Wildermeersch and Jason Kehoe, in each of the women's intermediate and masters men’s races, we were able to field the minimum number for a women’s team. On a windy and showery day on a course that appears to have had at least one major hill half way round each 2k lap, Jason placed 29th in a field of 149 in a time of 21:38. The 3-lap 6k race was won by Rossa Hurley of Donore who also won the Dublin championships last week. The masters women’s race was as usual slightly shorter at 4k, therefore involving 2 laps of the same course. Grainne Regan once again led our team home, placing 29th in a field of 73 and a time of 17:28, behind race winner Michelle Cox (15:06). Dee Ni Chearbhaill was next in 36th in a time of 17:57, followed by Maria Kennedy who took 43rd spot in 18:31. The women’s team managed to come home in 8th place. Finally, hats off to Louise who placed 45th in the women's intermediate race in a time of 19:26. The 4k race was won in a tight sprint finish by Lisa Madden (15:09) and Nadine Donegan (15:10). There were 46 runners in the race. We had at least 2 participants (Darran Lovely and David Timoney) in the iconic Art O'Neill Challenge that took place from the early hours of Saturday morning. Full results have yet to be published at time of writing and the report will be updated once they are. We do know that the male winner finished in a new course record (helped no doubt by the mild conditions) in an amazing 4:51, whilst the women's race was won in 7:46. Turnout in the parkruns surpassed even last week’s high numbers, possibly a tribute to and reflection of adhesion to new year’s resolutions and also Operation Transformation which has been a good vehicle for promoting the events. In terms of podium finishes we should start in Poolbeg where once again Stephen Hurley was first finisher in 18:01, whilst Katie Rogers was also first finisher (10th overall) in the same event in a time of 20:03. Meanwhile, in Cabinteely, Dave Carter was performing the same feat by coming home in first place in a time of 19:46, with Olwyn Dunne placing 4th (34th overall) in 24:35. Laura Gilbride ran in the same event, taking 141st place overall, 49th woman, in 32:09. Another first finisher in a more modest field was Irene Gorman, who finished in first place overall, ahead of two other women. Irene’s time was 21:29. Then, in Brickfields, Alma Hanevy, making great progress following her recent injury, placed 2nd (13th overall) in 22:33, just ahead of Cormac McGuire (14th in 22:38), whilst Sean Smith placed 4th in Fairview in 21:03, followed by Gillian Lyons (34th overall, 5th female, in 25:54). Other useful runs came inter alia from Luke Davis who placed 8th in Marlay in a time of 18:30, whilst Matt Cranley took 12th spot in Father Collins in 21:28. We had other runners in Marlay, in the form of Aisling O’Connor who placed 289th overall, 49th female, in 26:29, along with Alex Romano (518th in 30:30). Along with Stephen and Katie in Poolbeg, we saw Cliodhna O’Reilly (102nd overall, 16th female, in 25:12), followed by Ali May Hann (107th overall, 19th female, in 25:21), Fiona Bane (144th overall, 38th female, in 27:26), Iseult Ni Chuinneagain (167th overall, 50th female, in 28:33), Darina Scully (183rd overall, 57th female, in 29:54), Donna Barry (185th overall, 58th female in 30:07) and Ciara McElligott (200th overall, 65th female, in 32:02). We had one representative in Malahide. Ronan Moynihan placed 44th in 21:11, whilst Declan Connor ran 21:44 for 15th place in Corkagh and, as previously mentioned, Mairead Cashman ran in Tymon (109th overall, 22nd woman, in 29:51). Further afield, Kris Ryan ran once again in Paradise Point in Australia, taking 37th place overall, 6th woman, in 22:56 and in a field of 283. Closer, we had two runners in Scotland. Andrej Kujikis ran with 800 other runners in Edinburgh, taking 40th spot in 19:57, whilst in Glasgow Aidan Hudner placed 83rd in a field of 519 and a time of 22:19. Finally, Amy Brogan was probably a tail walker in Porterstown, coming home in 216th place overall, 107th female, in 54:47. Leinster Intermediate XC Championship 4k women’s race (46) Overall place Name Guntime 1 Lisa Madden 00:15:02 Crusaders AC runner 45 Louise Van Wildermeersch 00:19:26 Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/leinster_master__intermediate_cross_country/2990/results Leinster Masters XC Championship 6k men’s race (149) Overall place Name Guntime 1 Rossa Hurley 00:19:54 Crusaders AC runner 29 Jason Kehoe 00:21:38 Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/leinster_master__intermediate_cross_country/2990/results Leinster Masters XC Championship 4k women’s race (73) Overall place Name Guntime 1 Michellev Cox 00:15:06 Crusaders AC runners 29 Grainne Regan 00:17:28 36 Dee Ni Chearbhaill 00:17:57 43 Maria Kennedy 00:18:31 Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/leinster_master__intermediate_cross_country/2990/results BHAA BoI 6K Combined race (174) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Michael Kiely 1 00:21:15 8 Niamh Allen 1 00:22:27 Crusaders AC runners 1 Michael Kiely 00:21:15 5 Fearghal O’Hare 00:22:06 6 John Mulvihill 00:22:20 8 Niamh Allen 00:22:27 (1) 11 Frank Halligan 00:22:53 22 Michael Wycherley 00:23:50 29 Enda Currid 00:24:07 36 Karl Walsh 00:24:49 77 Pat Quill 00:27:26 87 Phelim Murray 00:27:55 91 Brendan Glynn 00:28:16 92 Robbie Moore 00:28:23 100 Tony Hackett 00:28:52 104 Lorna Fitzpatrick 00:29:07 (9) 106 Sarah Lyons 00:29:10 (10) 128 Susan Walsh 00:31:21 (19) 148 Leslie Hughes 00:33:11 154 Emma Cathcart 00:34:25 (23) 167 Mairead Cashman 00:38:25 (29) Full results here: https://documentcloud.adobe.com/link/track?uri=urn%3Aaaid%3Ascds%3AUS%3A656aac1c-681a-4110-b7bd-22a31368ef7d&fbclid=IwAR24rLFXIL3aRf79fIB9I049H2SXgWfPbhZroaZrYzvjYb3RLTL7X8ZIcPY Malahide Parkrun #323 (484) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Robert Frewen 1 00:16:52 7 Annette Kealy 1 00:18:44 Crusaders AC runner 44 Ronan Moynihan 00:21:11 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/malahide/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=323 Marlay Parkrun #288 (750) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Mark Kirwan 1 00:16:06 12 Amy Moran 1 00:19:06 Crusaders AC runners 8 Luke Davis 00:18:30 289 Aisling O’Connor 00:26:29 (49) 518 Alex Romano 00:30:30 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/marlay/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=288 Tymon Parkrun #239 (239) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Ted Burke 1 00:19:09 19 Geraldine Feely 1 00:23:25 Crusaders AC runner 109 Mairead Cashman 00:29:51 (22) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/tymon/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=239 Father Collins Parkrun #174 (138) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Aidan Jones 1 00:19:10 4 Amanda Maher Owen 1 00:20:02 Crusaders AC runner 12 Matt Cranley 00:21:28 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/fathercollins/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=174 Cabinteely Parkrun #197 (212) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 David Carter 1 00:19:46 12 Joanne Ryan 1 00:22:18 Crusaders AC runners 1 David Carter 00:19:46 34 Olwyn Dunne 00:24:35 (4) 141 Laura Gilbride 00:32:09 (49) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/cabinteely/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=197 Castlehaven Parkrun #158 (37) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Irene Gorman 1 00:21:29 4 unknown 1 00:24:XX Crusaders AC runner 1 Irene Gorman 00:21:29 (1) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/castlehaven/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=158 Corkagh Parkrun #69 (276) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Paul Quinn 1 00:19:24 16 Breda Smyth 1 00:21:52 Crusaders AC runner 15 Declan Connor 00:21:44 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/corkagh/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=69 Fairview Parkrun #76 (151) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Sean Boyne 1 00:19:24 11 Clare Roche 1 00:22:30 Crusaders AC runners 4 Sean Smith 00:21:03 34 Gillian Lyons 00:25:54 (5) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/fairview/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=76 Brickfields Parkrun #52 (125) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Richard Twohig 1 00:19:59 2 Niamh Clifford 1 00:20:00 Crusaders AC runners 13 Alma Hanevy 00:22:33 (2) 14 Cormac McGuire 00:22:38 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/brickfields/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=52 Porterstown Parkrun #170 (217) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Tommy Carey 1 00:18:54 12 Grace Finn 1 00:21:44 Crusaders AC runner 216 Amy Brogan 00:54:47 (107) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/porterstown/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=170 Poolbeg Parkrun #73 (227) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Stephen Hurley 1 00:18:01 10 Katie Rogers 1 00:20:03 Crusaders AC runners 10 Katie Rogers 00:20:03 (1) 102 Cliodhna O’Reilly 00:25:12 (16) 107 Ali May Hann 00:25:21 (19) 144 Fiona Bane 00:27:26 (38) 167 Iseult Ni Chuinneagain 00:28:33 (50) 183 Darina Scully 00:29:54 (57) 185 Donna Barry 00:30:07 (58) 200 Ciara McElligott 00:32:02 (65) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/poolbeg/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=73 Another super day in St. Anne’s Raheny for the annual running of the County Dublin Masters cross country championships. The fields this year were larger than ever, marginally so for the men at 292, but nearly 50 more than last year for the women. Indeed, we fielded a women’s O/50 team for the first time, possibly in any competition, this year. Conditions were so different from what we would normally expect to see, but, surprisingly, times were no faster (for some, slower), perhaps because the first laps were reasonably congested. It was mild at 11 degrees Celsius and clearly there has been little rain in the past few days. So, apart from a couple of muddy spots within the first 200m of each 1500m lap, conditions were quite dry, allowing several of us to ditch our spikes in favour of racing flats. It was comforting for those of us in flats, having come through the slightly slippery mud, to hear the clacking of spikes on the hard trail surface which greeted us on the third turn of the loop as we headed into the protected are under the trees for the majority of the remainder of the lap. The log across the path under the trees posed no real challenge, except on the first lap, when, for the men in particular we had to queue up to jump over it because the path at that point was so narrow and there were so many runners. The women’s race went off first, having to negotiate 2 laps for a distance of 3K. More than 200 women participated, including 9 Crusaders. It was an exciting finish as international 800m specialist Siobhan Eviston of Raheny took the win by overcoming Sportsworld’s Noreen Brouder just before the line in a thrilling sprint. Grainne Regan had the honour of leading our teams across the line in 24th place having had a steady run throughout. Next came last minute recruit and relative newcomer to the club, Aine Kenny, who prefers much longer distance races. Aine placed 56th having taken 15 runners during the race. Dee Ni Chearbhaill was next in 62nd, followed closely by Maria Kennedy who also had a great run to take 64th. Emer Kenny also worked her way through the field picking up 13 places over the two laps to record 95th place, followed by Susan Walsh who was on fire in 113th, finishing 4th O/55 and also having overcome 18 runners. Olwyn Dunne had similar success, working her way through 13 runners to place 157th, followed by Mairead Cashman (187th) and Maureen McGinley, a Crusader veteran making a welcome return to competitive running (196th). So when the smoke had cleared, the 4 scoring runners of the O/35 team of Grainne, Aine, Dee and Maria took 10th place out of 18 teams, whilst our O/50 scorers (Susan, Olwyn, Mairead and Maureen) placed 6th. A great start to a new tradition. Members will be interested to know that Lydia Bigley of the Dublin Front Runners placed 116th. This was not the first time we have fielded both an O/35 and an O/50 men's team, but both continue to hold their own even though there were no team medals this year. Just as with the women’s teams it was great to see some new faces in the Crusader line up. All remarked on what a great time they had and how phenomenal the Cru support was around the course. Second to none. Despite tremendous packing in the first 20 places, our M35 team of scorers Stephen Hurley (13th), Ciaran Diviney (14th), Peter O’Toole (15th) and Ger Forde (19th), just missed out on a medal spot, taking 4th place out of 19 teams, whilst our M50 team of scorers John Healy (77th), Pat Quill (138th), James Cottle (151st) and Bob Manson (153rd) came home in 5th place out of 13, narrowly missing out on a podium position by only 22 points. There were some great runs. The first 4 noted above ran in a group together around the course, with the leader Stephen running in a Cru singlet for the first time and they were followed home by Joe McDermott (47th) who continues to recover slowly from a chest infection. Behind Joe, in the 292-strong field, came Peter Barry who placed 61st, having a tough outing but who managed to hold off a charging Karl Walsh (63rd). John McAuley (65th) was next, also experiencing some difficulties, but who headed Eddie Nugent who reeled in 37 other runners over the course of 4 laps. 1500m specialist John Healy, who will turn 60 in the 4th quarter of this year, also ran extraordinarily well as our first O/50 scorer to take 77th place and the M55 bronze medal. Behind John came Kevin D’Arcy (92nd) and Gary Park (125th) and then our 2nd O/50 scorer Pat Quill (138th) who overtook 33 runners after a slow-ish first lap. Diarmuid Byrne did even better, by reeling in 60 other athletes to place 142nd, followed by Tim O’Donnell (149th) and then James Cottle (151st) and Bob Manson (153rd) who enjoyed a great sprint for the line and who were the 3rd and 4th scorers for the O/50 team. James also ran a steady race in egative splits, reeling in 16 other athletes, winning the silver medal for 2nd place in the O/60 age category, whilst Bob ran past 22 other runners in his efforts. TJ Bourke was next in 178th, having reeled in 64 other runners, followed by Joe Dunne (239th) who just made the start after a warm up running from the local Dart station. The squad was completed by Robbie Moore who came home in 247th spot. A super run from all. Apart from Leo Lundy's run in the Start Me Up Ultra marathon that took place in the Hillingdon Cyclopark in Hayes Middx, there don’t appear to have been any other races on which to report this weekend. If this is incorrect, please let us know. New Year’s resolutions were much in evidence in the parkruns on Saturday where we witnessed some pretty large fields. As usual, we had a decent number of participants. The results of note start with Fairview where Adam Flanagan was first finisher with a time of 18:24. Gillian Lyons also ran, placing 50th overall, 12th female finisher, in 26:30. Serena Moloney was first finisher (10th overall) once again in Templemore in a time of 21:28. Katie Rogers joined 9 other Crusaders to come home first finisher (25th overall) in 20:19. Katie was joined by Michael Wycherley (6th in 18:18), Tim O’Donnell (23rd in 20:02), Kieran Finucane (35th in 20:54), Sharon Woods (67th overall, 8th woman, in 23:55), Mari Hansen (75th overall, 11th woman, in 24:13), Mary Dolan (94th overall, 19th woman, in 25:33), Paul Kelly (130th in 28:11), Iseult Ni Chuinneagain (140th overall, 42nd woman, in 29:03) and Ciara McElligott (182nd overall, 64th woman, in 34:49). Olwyn Dunne placed 3rd (28th overall) in 24:14 in Brickfields, whilst Maria Pertl came home in 5th (37th overall) in 27:55, alongside Diarmuid Byrne (38th in the same time). David Carter ran well in Cabinteely to place 6th in 20:04, followed by Emma O’Mahony (75th overall, 10th woman, in 27:14). Further afield, Kris Ryan ran in Australia’s Paradise Point and in a field of 265, Kris ran 23:18 to place 39th overall and 11th female finisher, whilst Aidan Hudner went back this week to Glasgow, placing 110th in a field of 499 in a time of 22:10. Fiona Bane took 4th place (19th overall) in Armagh in a time of 24:13, whilst in Shanganagh, Orlaith de Burca ran 28:31 to record 128th place overall, 29th female finisher. We had 3 runners in Malahide. Brian Scanlan placed 16th in 19:54, followed closely by Ronan Moynihan who took 18th spot in 19:56. They were both followed by Darina Scully who placed 269th (61st woman) in 28:32, a great result for Darina as she continues to run during her pregnancy. Luke Davis placed 6th in 18:17 in Marlay, followed by Rory Goldsmith (13th in 19:11), Kate Murray (140th overall, 10th woman, in 23:10), Mairead Cashman (369th overall, 74th woman, in 27:55) and Mary Noelle Rohan (491st overall, 136th woman finisher, in 30:41). Dublin Masters XC Championship 3k women’s race (202) Overall place Name Guntime 1 Siobhan Eviston 00:11:45 Crusaders AC runners 24 Grainne Regan 00:12:55 56 Aine Kenny 00:13:46 62 Dee Ni Chearbhaill 00:13:57 64 Maria Kennedy 00:14:03 95 Emer Kenny 00:14:42 113 Susan Walsh 00:14:56 157 Olwyn Dunne 00:15:40 187 Mairead Cashman 00:16:51 196 Maureen McGinley 00:18:04 Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/dublin_masters_cross_country/2966/results Dublin Masters XC Championship 6k men’s race (292) Overall place Name Guntime 1 Rossa Hurley 00:22:16 Crusaders AC runners 13 Stephen Hurley 00:22:16 14 Ciaran Diviney 00:22:29 15 Peter O’Toole 00:22:35 19 Ger Forde 00:22:45 47 Joe McDermott 00:23:44 61 Peter Barry 00:24:14 63 Karl Walsh 00:24:19 65 John McAuley 00:24:23 74 Eddie Nugent 00:24:32 77 John Healy 00:24:34 92 Kevin D’Arcy 00:25:02 125 Gary Park 00:25:50 138 Pat Quill 00:26:03 142 Diarmuid Byrne 00:26:12 149 Tim O’Donnell 00:26:28 151 James Cottle 00:26:31 153 Bob Manson 00:26:31 178 TJ Bourke 00:27:08 239 Joe Dunne 00:29:31 247 Robbie Moore 00:29:49 Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/dublin_masters_cross_country/2966/results Malahide Parkrun #322 (432) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Gavin Eccles 1 00:17:07 14 Amanda Maher Owen 1 00:19:49 Crusaders AC runners 16 Brian Scanlan 00:19:54 18 Ronan Moynihan 00:19:56 269 Darina Scully 00:28:32 (61) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/malahide/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=322 Marlay Parkrun #287 (669) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Valter Valente 1 00:17:30 29 Paul Prendergast 1 00:19:56 Crusaders AC runners 6 Luke Davis 00:18:17 13 Rory Goldsmith 00:19:11 140 Kate Murray 00:23:10 (10) 369 Mairead Cashman 00:27:55 (74) 491 Mary Noelle Rohan 00:30:41 (136) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/marlay/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=287 Armagh Parkrun #264 (105) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 unknown 1 00:19:26 7 Siobhan Hughes 1 00:21:58 Crusaders AC runner 19 Fiona Bane 00:24:13 (4) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/armagh/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=264 Shanganagh Parkrun #195 (223) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Martin McKenna 1 00:17:27 9 Sarah Baryga 1 00:19:18 Crusaders AC runner 128 Orlaith de Burca 00:28:31 (29) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/shanganagh/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=195 Cabinteely Parkrun #196 (209) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 unknown 1 00:18:19 7 Malika Hammani 1 00:20:53 Crusaders AC runners 6 David Carter 00:20:04 75 Emma O’Mahony 00:27:14 (10) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/cabinteely/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=196 Templemore Parkrun #102 (79) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Alan Kelly 1 00:18:29 10 Serena Moloney 1 00:21:28 Crusaders AC runner 10 Serena Moloney 00:21:28 (1) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/templemore/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=102 Tolka Valley Parkrun #46 (91) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Graham Mahon 1 00:18:57 16 Ann Foran 1 00:23:26 Crusaders AC runners 37 Maria Pertl 00:27:55 (5) 38 Diarmuid Byrne 00:27:55 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/tolkavalley/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=46 Fairview Parkrun #75 (145) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Adam Flanagan 1 00:18:24 2 Chloe Price 1 00:19:56 Crusaders AC runners 1 Adam Flanagan 00:19:56 50 Gillian Lyons 00:26:30 (12) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/fairview/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=75 Brickfields Parkrun #51 (123) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Louis O’Loughlin 1 00:17:31 21 Jean McAdam 1 00:23:23 Crusaders AC runner 28 Olwyn Dunne 00:24:14 (3) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/brickfields/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=51 Porterstown Parkrun #169 (150) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Tommy Carey 1 00:18:48 20 Aoife Delaney 1 00:23:04 Crusaders AC runner 141 Kevin Flynn 00:40:56 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/porterstown/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=169 Poolbeg Parkrun #72 (196) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Paddy Walsh 1 00:17:54 25 Katie Rogers 1 00:20:19 Crusaders AC runners 6 Michael Wycherley 00:18:18 23 Tim O’Donnell 00:20:02 25 Katie Rogers 00:20:19 (1) 35 Kieran Finucane 00:20:54 67 Sharon Woods 00:23:55 (8) 75 Mari Hansen 00:24:13 (11) 94 Mary Dolan 00:25:33 (19) 130 Paul Kelly 00:28:11 140 Iseult Ni Chuinneagain 00:29:03 (42) 182 Ciara McElligott 00:34:49 (64) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/poolbeg/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=72 |