Backrow: Gian Piera Allerta, Mick Blighe, Miriam Logan Keira Gleeson, Lucy Collender, Philip Hamilton, Russell Murphy, Paraic Gallagher, Barry O'Neill. 2nd row: Eugene mcDonough, Gavan Doherty, Kate Murray, Kris Ryan, Micheal Killeen. 3rd row: Ge Forde, Diarmuid Byrne, Ciara Lehane, Celine Bonce, Victor Fairbrother, Noel Reilly. 4th row: Will Owens, Pat Quill, Dominick Branigan. Front row: Leo Lundy, James Cottle, Dave Cuddy, Brian Scanlan, Seamus MacFloinn It was a weekend to remember! Saturday saw the club taking team gold in both men’s and women’s Leinster Novice cross country races with substantial participation, followed on Sunday by the largest turn-out ever from the club with at least 74 starters in the 38th edition of the Dublin City Marathon. We start with the cross country which took place on an overcast and breezy Saturday afternoon on an undulating and twisting course located on a golf course next to Navan racecourse. The women ran 4k and the men, 6k. The women’s race comprised 92 runners, 14 of them from the club and everyone put in a spirited performance, both as scorers and spoilers. The finishing positions proved vital as at least 3 of our non-scoring members finished ahead of the 4th scorer from Sportsworld, the second-placed of 9 teams in the competition. Orla Kennedy was the first runner home of our gold-medalling team in 13th place, earning herself a Dublin county silver medal as 4th scorer in the process. Orla was followed by Lesley Ann Doughan (17th) and by Rachel Yorke (26th) who ran a storming race to work her way impressively through the field. Our 4th scorer was Amy Wright (32nd) and Amy was followed by Gill Earley (39th), Edel Haverty (54th) and Lisa Shine (59th). The contingent was completed by Dee Ni Chearbhaill (63rd) and Sarah Lyons (66th). The men’s race took place on the same course extended by 2k and was won in spectacular fashion with a fall across the line by Fionn Buttner of DSD ahead of Kilkenny’s James Ledingham. In a field of 100 runners, Karl Fahy took 4th place, having led the field for most of the race but just missing out on an individual medal in the home sprint. However, in addition to team gold, Karl, the evergreen Ciaran Diviney (6th) and men’s captain Michael Kiely (8th) also took home a gold medal as scoring members of the Dublin county team. The 4th scorer on the club team, John Mannion (15th), just missed out by one place to score on the Dublin team, but it marks a continuing great return for him after long-term injury. John was followed by Rob Cross (17th), Vinnie McGuinness (24th), John Mulvihill (26th) and Jason Kehoe, who collectively it was observed, would have taken Leinster bronze if they had been running in a separate team. The large 14-strong contingent was completed by Michael Wycherley (41st), Garret Dunne (58th), Jim Stagg (64th), Michael O’Conor (65th), Joe McDermott (72nd) and Michael Maughan, and at least 3 of our non-scorers finished ahead of the 3rd and 4th scorers on the second-placed Mullingar team. The next big event for the club was its participation in the Dublin marathon. There were some phenomenal performances among those 69 finishers (from nearly 16,000 in the field at the end) that we have managed to record. As usual, our runners enjoyed the most fabulous support around the course and it went a long way to ensuring some great results. We also had a super start to the day with changing and bag drop facilities for us in Fitzwilliam Square, once again, courtesy of the generosity of Bob Manson. The day started slightly windy and mild and the wind continued to decline in strength throughout the day. It was only really in our faces early on as we wended our way from the start in Fitzwilliam Square towards the quays after Christchurch and across the James Joyce Bridge and then later going up Chesterfield Avenue in the Phoenix Park, but really we didn’t feel it again until the home stretch on the N11 and the Merrion Road. With the wind mostly at our backs conditions were quite warm as a consequence and, as the sun made its appearance late morning, it gave rise to some difficulties for runners. The Dublin marathon is not regarded as an easy one to run. It has hills everywhere, starting in the first mile with the climb to Christchurch from Patrick Street and then up Blackhall Place to the North Circular. The climb continues through Phoenix Park and then once we have descended to Chapelizod there are some notable climbs through Inchicore and Dolphins Barn. There is some respite until Milltown, but then you have Roebuck Road...or heartbreak hill, before the descent on Fosters and Nutley to bring us down to the long finish through Ballsbridge on Merrion Road, It's not really a PB course, but what gives rise to so many PBs is the support that is provided everywhere. It’s hard to single out all our runners, but it was great to see so many new faces running for the club and there were several PBs. Our first runner home was Dominick Branigan (2:43), with a PB improvement of more than 5 mins, who ran most of the race with Brian O’Kelly (2:44), who recently ran in Berlin, and Ger Forde, who improved by 9 minutes (2:44). Eugene McDonough (2:57) and Paul Dempsey (2:57) also recorded PBs and we had 9 finishers under 3 hours. Andrea Talpo improved his time by 6 minutes (3:05), whilst Philip Hamilton (3:13) and Diarmuid Byrne (3:13) knocked off 8 and 4 mins, respectively. Leslie Hughes (3:20), Denis Murphy (3:22), Noel Reilly (3:24), Diarmuid Fahey (3:28 with a 32 minutes improvement) and Gian Piero Allerta (3:29) were also runners to mark PBs and enabled us to record 32 results under 3:30. Of note, Kevin Regan (3:17) and Niall Dunne (3:57) were running their first marathon. James Cottle (3:06) was confirmed as silver medal winner in his O/60 age category in the national championships (along with Leinster and county Dublin gold), having had a fun duel over 15 miles with the 4th placed finisher in the championships.We appear to have won M50 national team silver (Pat, James and Denis) and Leinster and Dublin team gold or silver in the same category. We did have a few casualties, but, mercifully, only 5 of our club-mates failed to finish. Members will be interested to learn that Sean Murphy, who trains with the club, ran 2:50:31. The women were led home by Triona Quill (3:31) with a 16 minutes improvement. There were also PBs for Kate Murray (3:36), Aoife Clarke (3:37), Ciara Lehane (3:47), Carina Davidson (3:58), Niamh Quinn (3:59), Celine Bonce (4:00), Darina Scully (4:03), Ela Szkamruk (4:13), Jean Devlin (4:15), Keira Gleeson (4:18) and Miriam Logan (4:18). The report will be updated if any medals are awarded to any of our other club members. At least 25 club members took part in parkruns over the bank holiday weekend, some of them in Cabinteely running their 50th, a cause for celebration and participation in numbers. The first finisher there was Dave Carter in 19:40 and among the other 130 participants featured Fiona Bane (29th overall, 5th woman, in 24:41), Paul Kelly (73rd in 29:13), Mairead Cashman (91st overall, 37th woman, in 30:33), Geraldine Clements (102nd overall, 45th woman, in 31:50), Emma O’Mahony (106th overall, 48th woman, in 32:17), Kris Ryan (107th overall, 49th woman, in 32;18), Mairin Shine (110th overall, 52nd woman, in 32:41), Neil Brown (115th in 32;54), Stephen Mulligan (122nd in 35:48), Don Anderton (124th in 36:00) and Leo Lundy, sweeping up with 131st place in 46:52. Catherine Thornton returned to her native Galway for the weekend and ran in the hilly and twisty Knocknacarra, placing 1st woman finisher (7th overall out of a field of over 100 runners) in 20:05. Away in Donegal for the weekend, Fiona Shine tackled Letterkenny, placing 15th overall out of 70 runners, 3rd woman finisher, in 25:01.Maria Kennedy ran in Kilkenny on her own among a field of 162 runners, placing 36th overall, 6th woman, in 24:40. Then in St. Anne’s, Tony Owens (14th in 19:25), Colm Kernan (training for the NY marathon next week) (66th in 22:44) and Lorraine Fitzsimons (313th overall, 107th woman, in 30:57) joined nearly 390 other runners. Brian Carroll recorded 19:22 and 7th place of nearly 250 other runners in Ballincollig in Cork, whilst we had 4 runners in Poolbeg along with more than 85 other participants. David Timoney placed 7th in 20:56, followed by Louise Dobbyn (20th overall, 3rd woman, in 22:43), Ciara McElligott (82nd overall, 31st woman, in 32:54) and Avril Barry (89th overall, 37th woman, in 35:21). Fiona Lane ran in Shanganagh with 119 other runners, placing 101st overall (40th woman) in 30:39 and, finally, Kevin Lynch placed 50th in 28:01 in the106-strong field in Porterstown. Dublin City Marathon Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Bernard Rotich 1 02:15:52 20 Nataliya Lehonkova 1 02:28:57 Crusaders AC runners 75 Dominick Branigan 02:43:32 (PB) 87 Brian O’Kelly 02:44:33 88 Ger Forde 02:44:35 (PB) 118 Seamus MacFloinn 02:47:18 224 James Moran 02:53:18 327 Tim Francony 02:56:28 342 Eugene McDonough 02:57:13 (PB) 356 Paul Dempsey 02:57:43 (PB) 358 Will Owens 02:57:40 648 Pat Quill 03:05:05 650 Mick Blighe 03:05:04 677 Andrea Talpo 03:05:39 (PB) 715 James Cottle 03:06:39 1015 Patrick Needham 03:12:44 1035 Philip Hamilton 03:13:01 (PB) 1045 Diarmuid Byrne 03:13:23 (PB) 1128 Brian Scanlan 03:14:11 (PB) 1323 Paraic Gallagher 03:17:09 1343 Kevin Regan 03:17.41 (PB) 1462 Aidan Doyle 03:19:10 1501 Robert Healy 03:19:41 1521 Bob Cahill 03:20:24 1569 Leslie Hughes 03:20:40 (PB) 1655 Tommy Faherty 03:22:34 1676 Denis Murphy 03:22:11 (PB) 1705 Kevin Lynch 03:21:20 1712 David Tuohy 03:22:54 1823 Ali Uyar 03:22:47 1913 Noel Reilly 03:24:43 (PB) 1928 Des O'Brien 03:25:27 2278 Donatas Jocius 03:29:13 2361 Diarmuid Fahey 03:28:26 (PB) 2370 Micheal Killeen 03:30:05 2435 Gian Piero Allerta 03:29:44 (PB) 2558 Triona Quill 03:31:27 (PB) (226) 3037 Kate Murray 03:36:58 (PB) (302) 3425 Aoife Clarke 03:37:30 (PB) (365) 3580 Fin Lawler 03:40:16 (PB) 3786 Kris Ryan 03:43:15 3875 Victor Fairbrother 03:43:31 3928 Sean Smith 03:43:33 4264 Ciara Lehane 03:47:02 (PB) (542) 4275 Barry O’Neill 03:45:20 4680 Liam O’Brien 03:47:32 4900 Mary Fitzsimons 03:50:47 (679) 5216 Stephen Mulligan 03:51:51 5669 Russell Murphy 03:55:59 5949 Fergal Condron 03:56:26 6279 Niall Dunne 03:57:38 (PB) 6314 Olwyn Dunne 03:59:42 (1047) PACER 6321 Joe Dunne 03:59:45 PACER 6362 Carina Davidson 03:58:59 (PB) (1062) 6495 Niamh Quinn 03:59:50 (PB) (1099) 6575 Celine Bonce 04:00:57 (PB) (1115) 7035 Darina Scully 04:03:41 (PB) (1248) 7377 Mike Stewart 04:04:58 7454 Siobhan Campion 04:07:21 (1382) 7599 Gavan Doherty 04:05:23 8428 Ela Szkamruk 04:13:32 (PB) (1721) 8681 Jean Devlin 04:15:08 (PB) (1809) 8858 Keira Gleeson 04:18:17 (PB) (1876) 8980 Miriam Logan 04:18:59 (PB) (1923) 9111 James Kershaw 04:20:00 9641 Niall Kelly 04:21:22 10176 Mike Fong 04:24:08 10254 Lucy Collender 04:28:46 (2435) 11500 Bob Manson 04:38:07 11567 Leo Lundy 04:39:47 13253 Alan Tierney 05:01:04 Full results here: http://tdleventservices.co.uk/race-results.php Leinster Novices XC (women: 4k) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Ashley Pia Ryan 1 00:15:06 Crusaders AC runners 13 Orla Kennedy 00:16:11 17 Lesley Ann Doughan 00:16:33 26 Rachel Yorke 00:16:55 32 Amy Wright 00:17:03 39 Gillian Earley 00:17:09 54 Edel Haverty 00:17:40 59 Lisa Shine 00:17:52 63 Dee Ni Chearbhaill 00:18:04 66 Sarah Lyons 00:18:08 Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/novice_leinster_cross_country/2422/results Leinster Novices XC (men: 6k) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Fionn Buttner 1 00:20:22 Crusaders AC runners Full results here: 4 Karl Fahy 00:20:32 6 Ciaran Diviney 00:20:37 8 Michael Kiely 00:20:42 15 John Mannion 00:21:03 17 Rob Cross 00:21:13 24 Vinnie McGuinness 00:21:23 26 John Mulvihill 00:21:25 34 Jason Kehoe 00:21:55 41 Michael Wycherley 00:22:10 58 Garret Dunne 00:22:47 64 Jim Stagg 00:22:55 65 Michael O’Conor 00:22:57 72 Joe McDermott 00:23:10 91 Michael Maughan 00:23:36 Ballincollig Parkrun #71 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Barry O’Shea 1 00:17:33 29 Rachel O’Callaghan 1 00:21:58 Crusaders AC runner 7 Brian Carroll 00:19:22 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/ballincollig/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=71 Knocknacarra Parkrun #176 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 unknown 1 00:18:11 7 Catherine Thornton 1 00:20:05 Crusaders AC runner 7 Catherine Thornton 00:20:05 (1) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/knocknacarra/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=176 Letterkenny Parkrun #91 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Aaron Nepgen 1 00:21:28 3 Tara Carron 1 00:22:09 Crusaders AC runner 15 Fiona Shine 00:25:01 (3) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/letterkenny/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=3 St Anne’s Parkrun #205 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Joseph O’Donoghue 1 00:16:25 6 Fiona Stack 1 00:19:00 Crusaders AC runners 14 Anthony Owens 00:19:25 66 Colm Kernan 00:22:44 313 Lorraine Fitzsimons 00:30:57 (107) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/stannes/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=205 Cabinteely Parkrun #134 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 David Carter 1 00:19:40 15 Clare Nash 1 00:22:50 Crusaders AC runners 1 David Carter 00:19:40 29 Fiona Bane 00:24:41 (5) 73 Paul Kelly 00:29:13 91 Mairead Cashman 00:30:33 (37) 102 Geraldine Clements 00:31:50 (45) 106 Emma O’Mahony 00:32:17 (48) 107 Kris Ryan 00:32:18 (49) 110 Mairin Shine 00:32:41 (52) 115 Neil Brown 00:32:54 (61) 122 Stephen Mulligan 00:35:48 124 Don Anderton 00:36:00 (65) 131 Leo Lundy 00:46:52 (66) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/cabinteely/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=134 Shanganagh Parkrun #135 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Andrew Lawless 1 00:17:38 3 Amy Moran 1 00:18:58 Crusaders AC runner 101 Fiona Lane 00:30:39 (40) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/shanganagh/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=135 Porterstown Parkrun #106 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Jason Harte 1 00:19:13 16 Hazel Kelly 1 00:24:05 Crusaders AC runners 50 Kevin Flynn 00:28:01 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/porterstown/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=106 Poolbeg Parkrun #10 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Andy Norman 1 00:16:12 5 Shona Ni Fhloinn 1 00:20:20 Crusaders AC runners 7 David Timoney 00:20:56 20 Louise Dobbyn 00:22:43 (3) 82 Ciara McElligott 00:32:54 (31) 89 Avril Barry 00:35:21 (37) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/poolbeg/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=10 On Sunday two large, quality fields assembled for the second running on the purpose-built cross-country course at the national Sports campus in Abbotstown. The occasion was the Autumn Open XC, incorporating trials for masters athletes hoping to represent Ireland in the upcoming 5-nation international, to be held this year in Derry in mid-November. The first race, a field totalling 116 runners representing a mix of senior and masters female athletes, was 6,000m in length. This meant that the 1,500m course was circuited 4 times. For the most part conditions were dry, with the ground not too soft underfoot, except in certain parts, and the strong westerly wind of the weekend did not present any significant hurdle as it continued to abate throughout the afternoon. The course involves a straight start of about 150m, more or less on the flat, then zigzagging a little from an initial sandy right turn until hitting a slight incline onto a 20m patch of sand and mud mix under a carpet of trees, followed by a quagmire-ish left-hand hairpin onto the first of the two hills on the course (the halfway point). This hill is short and relatively sharp before the course levels out, presenting the second hill with a wide left turn at its crest, again involving a little mud on the inside of the corner (so that runners had to decide whether to take the racing line or run on firmer ground around the outside). The end of the loop was a slight climb to either the start line or finish on relatively firm ground. Despite the decent enough conditions, most runners agree that the “honest” course presents a tough enough challenge and, with the relatively long grass and mud in places, it was as usual a strength–sapping experience! The women also had the stronger breeze to deal with before the men made an appearance. The runners from the club in the women’s senior and masters race acquitted themselves well, with Niamh Boland and Niamh Corby respectively placing 15th (23:45) and 33rd (25:06) overall behind masters winner Claire McCarthy (21:33) in the 71-strong masters field. Niamh Boland placed 8th in her age category, whilst Niamh Corby came home in 12th. Our third runner was Orla Kennedy who placed 38th senior in 25:27 behind overall runaway race winner Shona Heaslip (20:36) who had several athletes from the UK in the field to contend with, and eventually winning by a margin of 20 seconds. We fielded 9 runners in the much larger mixed senior and masters men’s 7,500m race (5 laps) and our standout performer in the event was Ciaran Diviney who, once again, secured himself a place in the Irish team for the international meet in Derry, this year moving into a higher age category and placing 2nd in that category. In the senior men’s race involving 68 runners, our representatives were reasonably close to each other, with Michael Kiely placing 48th in 26:43, followed by John Mulvihill (54th in 27:17) and Pablo Sanchez (59th in 27:33). Having said that, the fastest runs of the day came from Ciaran (14th in the 118-strong masters race) who completed the course in 25:40, followed by Vinnie McGuinness (26th overall in the masters race and 12th in his age category in 26:13). Rob Cross was not too far behind Michael (38th in the masters race and 11th in his age category in 26:48), whilst Jason Kehoe was right behind Pablo at the end (59th in 27:37). Our last two runners were John McAuley (80th in 28:42) and James Cottle (102nd in 31:10). James needed to come in the top 3 in his age category to stand a chance of qualifying for the Irish team, but with the winner of the category finishing only 8 seconds behind John McAuley and 2nd and 3rd placed finishers eventually coming in about 75 secs ahead of James it proved to be too challenging. Still, it was a good experience to see how strong the competition can get in these races all through the age categories. James eventually came home in 6th place in his age category, having enjoyed a decent dogfight with the eventual 5th placed runner, Desie Shorten, a 5k specialist. Desie had been ahead of James for the first two laps and James reeled him in, eventually taking him early in the 3rd lap, only to find that Desie could not be shaken off and his distinctive breathing told of his continuing presence throughout the remaining laps. James would put a little distance between the two runners on the hills, only to find Desie closing the gap on the flat. Finally, James had not enough of a sprint capability as Desie took off with 250m to go. The Crusader managed to come back a little at the end but it was too late. It had been a decent scrap and a good blow out a week before the Dublin marathon! There was the usual superb support all around the course for those of us running. The previous day, in atrocious weather it has to be said, Brian O’Kelly and Neil Brown went up to Longwood in County Meath for a 10k race. The field measured nearly 260 and Brian should be congratulated for winning the event in a time of 33:39. In a field that also included Olympic marathoner Linda Byrne (winner of the women’s race in 37:18) who seems to be getting her appetite back for competitive running, Neil Brown recorded a PB of 46:50, the first time he has broken 47 minutes. On Sunday, Joe Walsh and his wife Alma Hanevy of Donore Harriers started their Portuguese holidays with participation in a 10k in Lisbon, the Corrida Montepio. In a field measuring more than 4,200 runners, Joe came home in 88th place in a time of 37:55, whilst Alma finished 170th overall, 14th female, in 39:33. Also, away from home, newcomer Jon Lawrence wore his Crusaders singlet and joined 20,000 other runners in the great South Run in Portsmouth, taking 571st place in a time of 1:09:17. Members will be interested to know that Lorraine Healy, the Tipperary athlete who trains with the club, took part in the Munster Novices in Clarecastle over the weekend, placing 15th individually and, as 4th scorer, being part of the County team that took bronze. The previous week, Sean Murphy, the Wexford athlete who also trains with us, helped his United Striders team to senior silver, also as 4th scorer and equally placing 15th in his race. We didn’t have an enormous presence on Saturday morning in the parkruns, possibly reflective of the stormy weather. Although the conditions were not conducive to fast running, several of those who did run were wanting to get some speed into their legs ahead of the marathon next Sunday. This possibly explained the increased Cru presence in the Poolbeg parkrun in which we fielded 8 runners, 6 of whom will be running in either Dublin or New York, among the total field of 100 participants. Pat Quill was first across the line, in 8th place in 20:25. Pat was followed by Diarmuid Byrne (13th in 20:55) and by Colm Kernan, who is running New York in two weeks (14th in 20:56). Next came Russell Murphy (25th in 22:41), Darina Scully (52nd overall, 9th female, in 25:36), Denis Murphy (53rd in 25:38), Avril Barry (87th overall, 31st female, in 33:02) and finally by Ciara McElligott (91st overall, 34th female, in 35:23). Aidan Hudner continues to run in Glasgow, taking 59th place out of 288 runners in a time of 22:19. Mairead Cashman ran in Tymon, finishing in a time of 29:29 (117th overall, 28th woman) in a field of 155 runners. Lorraine Fitzsimons was equally our only participant in the 340-odd field in St. Anne’s. Lorraine placed 273rd overall, 81st female, in 30:46. Then, in Porterstown, on a field of 137 participants, Kevin Flynn took 79th spot in a time of 28:06. Finally, in Fairview, we fielded 5 participants in a field of just over 100. Olwyn Dunne took 22nd place overall (3rd woman finisher) in 24:26, getting in shape for her pacing duties this coming weekend. Olwyn was followed by Lisa Shine (26th overall, 6th woman, in 25:03), Fiona Shine (33rd overall, 7th woman, in 25:40), Orlaith de Burca (49th overall, 12th woman, in 27:24) and by Mairin Shine (82nd overall, 28th woman, in 33:18). Autumn Open XC Senior men (7.5k) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Hiko Tonosa 1 00:22:58 Crusaders AC runners 48 Michael Kiely 00:26:43 54 John Mulvihill 27:17 59 Pablo Sanchez 00:27:33 Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/autumn_open_cross_country_festival/2405/results Autumn Open Senior women (6k) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Shona Heaslip 1 00:20:36 Crusaders AC runner 38 Orla Kennedy 00:25:27 Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/autumn_open_cross_country_festival/2405/results Autumn Open XC Masters men (7.5k) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Paddy Hamilton 1 00:24:00 Crusaders AC runners 14 Ciaran Diviney 00:25:40 26 Vinnie McGuinness 00:26:13 38 Rob Cross 00:26:48 59 Jason Kehoe 00:27:37 80 John McAuley 00:28:42 102 James Cottle 00:31:10 Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/autumn_open_cross_country_festival/2405/results Autumn Open XC Masters women (6k) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Claire McCarthy 1 00:21:33 Crusaders AC runners 15 Niamh Boland 00:23:45 33 Niamh Corby 00:25:06 Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/autumn_open_cross_country_festival/2405/results Longwood 10K Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Brian O’Kelly 1 00:33:39 8 Linda Byrne 1 00:37:18 Crusaders AC runners 1 Brian O’Kelly 00:33:39 79 Neil Brown 00:46:50 (PB) Full results here: https://www.popupraces.ie/race-results/ Tymon Parkrun #174 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Kevin English 1 00:16:58 9 Ruth Kelly 1 00:19:27 Crusaders AC runner 117 Mairead Cashman 00:29:29 (28) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/tymon/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=174 Fairview Parkrun #15 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Glen Turner 1 00:17:50 14 Clare Fowler 1 00:21:38 Crusaders AC runners 22 Olwyn Dunne 00:24:26 (3) 26 Lisa Shine 00:25:03 (6) 33 Fiona Shine 00:25:40 (7) 49 Orlaith de Burca 00:27:24 (12) 82 Mairin Shine 00:33:18 (28) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/fairview/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=15 St Anne’s Parkrun #204 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Karl Nolan 1 00:16:45 33 Joyce O’Hare 1 00:20:33 Crusaders AC runner 273 Lorraine Fitzsimons 00:30:46 (81) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/stannes/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=204 Poolbeg Parkrun #9 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Turlough Conway 1 00:17:15 26 Anne McGarr 1 00:22:51 Crusaders AC runners 8 Pat Quill 00:20:25 13 Diarmuid Byrne 00:20:55 14 Colm Kernan 00:20:56 25 Russell Murphy 00:22:41 52 Darina Scully 00:25:36 (9) 53 Denis Murphy 00:25:38 87 Avril Barry 00:33:02 (31) 91 Ciara McElligott 00:35:23 (34) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/poolbeg/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=9 Porterstown Parkrun #105 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Dave Carroll 1 00:18:53 12 Sarah Fay 1 00:20:51 Crusaders AC runner 79 Kevin Flynn 00:28:06 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/porterstown/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=105 There was a huge Cru turnout for the BHAA’s first cross country races of the season, the Teachers 2 and 4 miles at Castleknock College. In a field of 52, we had 9 Crusaders take part in the 2 mile event in dry conditions. The race was won by Olympian Linda Byrne in 12:46 and the first Crusader home was Ilona McElroy in 5th place (13:51). Ilona was followed closely by Niamh Corby (6th in 13:59, third in her age category) and then by Lesley Ann Doughan (13th in 14:32), Grainne Regan not too far behind (17th in 14:47 and 3rd in her age category) with Katie McElroy (19th in 14:49) and Niamh Aspell (20th in 14:56) hot on her heels. Next came Lisa Shine (27th in 15:20), followed by Emer Kenny (27th in 15:57) and Susan Walsh (44th in 17:32 and third in her age category). Niamh Boland took on the 4 mile race, placing 49th overall out of 140 runners, and 2nd woman home out of the 4 who competed, in a time of 26:31. Karl Fahy was 3rd Crusader home of the 18 (in a field of 140) who competed in the race, taking 22:21 to run the 4 lap course. Vinnie McGuinness was next, in 11th spot (23:13) and he was followed by Rob Cross (15th in 23:32 and 3rd in his age category). John Mulvihill was not far behind in 18th place (23:44) and he was followed by Michael O’Conor (20th in 24:01). Crusaders filled the ranks of the top 50 places. Behind Michael came Jason Kehoe (22nd in 24:12), Frank Hague (31st in 24:49), Michael Wycherley (32nd in 24:52), Karl Walsh (34th in 24:52), Joe McDermott (37th in 25:16) and Michael Maughan (47th in 26:22). Further down the field came Pat Quill (63rd in 27:29 and third in his age category), in training for the Dublin marathon, Marius McNicholas (72nd in 28:11), making a welcome return to racing, Niall McGeorge (75th in 28:26), Brendan Glynn (80th in 28:44), Robbie Moore (90th in 29:48) and Mike McGovern (110th in 31:34), carrying a foot injury. We had 3 runners in the Donadea 10K, which was a hilly trail race. All three are training for the Dublin marathon and they all ran well. In a field of nearly 280 and in dry and mild but breezy conditions, Adrienne Jordan placed 14th overall, 2nd woman finisher behind Sarah McMahon (nee Mulligan) and first in her masters age category, in a time of 39:25. Meanwhile, Will Owens placed 10th in 38:30, followed by Niall O’Connell who took 22nd spot in 40:27. Joanna Langier joined nearly 400 other runners to take on the Gaelforce Howth 10K run with its treacherous trails. Joanna placed 360th overall (136th woman) in 1:24:00. Several of our clubmates participated in long distance races over the weekend. In Australia, our exiles Katie Eisenhauer and Brenton Systermans were involved in the Melbourne Marathon festival. Katie ran the marathon, pulling out a PB by running 3:11:31 (473rd overall, 38th woman) in the nearly 6000-strong field, whilst Brenton placed 140th in the half marathon with a PB time of 1:26:20. The field was nearly 9,500. In Amsterdam, in decent racing conditions, warmish but no real wind, and on a day when a new course record was set in 2:05:09 (Lawrence Cherono, one second ahead of Norbert Kigen), Brian Leonard, still carrying an IT band injury that had severely disrupted his preparations, ran a creditable 3:06:40 (683rd), whilst Eoghan Kerins ran 3:32:29 (2,020th). The start of the race is notoriously slow, as runners have to line up on the track of the Olympic stadium, but the finish in the stadium makes it worth it. Finally, at the marathon in Lisbon, Leslie Lluyd Hughes ran 3:55:15 at training pace in extremely warm conditions, as he also hopes to run in Dublin at the end of the month. Kris Ryan and Leo Lundy travelled to 100 Acre Wood in Kent for the annual Winnie the Pooh running festival. Around 150 started each day on the monster trail course that generated more than 3000ft of climb over the marathon distance, winding its way through all areas of the wood that was the inspiration for the books. On Day One, "Eeyore's Expedition", Leo managed 31 miles for a top 10 finish while Kris powered her way to 36.5 miles and 2nd overall and 1st woman home. On Day 2, "Piglet's Plod", Leo had to cut his run short at half marathon distance in order to sort out an airline malfunction. Meanwhile Kris managed another amazing 31 miles for a top 5 overall and 2nd woman finisher. Kris now has 3 wins and a 2nd place in the 4 editions of this event since its inception. Members will be interested to hear that exile Rebecca Fleming took part in a shorter race in Malta, helping her local club team take first place in a 5K. Rebecca ran 21:06, placing 81st overall out of 257 competitors and 24th woman. The parkruns were as popular as ever for Crusaders. In England, Fiona Shine placed 5th woman (46th overall) in the 166-strong field in Beckenham Place. Fiona ran the course in 23:37, whilst, in Aylesbury, Sarah Lyons joined 153 other runners to take 29th place overall (also 5th woman home) in 24:12. Aidan Hudner was a usual participant in Glasgow, taking 81st spot out of nearly 379 runners, in 22:14. In Ireland, Colm Kernan and Lorraine Fitzsimons took on St Anne’s, with Colm placing 37th out of more than 400 runners in 20:25 and Lorraine 318th overall, 103rd woman, in 31:30. Aoife Quinn was first woman finisher in Darndale, running 23:40. In a modest field of 38 runners, Aoife placed 4th overall, followed by Denis Murphy in 5th place in 24:32. Neil Brown ran in Ballincollig, taking 48th in a field of 253, in a time of 24:00, whilst, in Poppintree, Diarmuid Byrne finished in 2nd place in 19:10, followed by Darina Scully (15th overall, 2nd woman, in 22:04), Fiona Bane (25th overall, 4th woman, in 23:57) and Maria Pertl (95thoverall, 40th woman, in 55:35). The filed was just under 100. We also had 4 runners in Cabinteely. In a nearly 150-strong field, Dave Carter placed 5th in 20:30, followed by Colm Foley (30th in 24:06), Olwyn Dunne (55th overall, 10th woman, in 26:05) and Mairin Shine (110th overall, 42nd woman, in 31:55). Mairead Cashman returned to Bushy Dublin, placing 138th overall (52nd woman) in a field of nearly 150, and a time of 43:54. Finally, we had 4 runners who joined nearly 60 other participants in our home parkrun in Poolbeg. Tony Owens placed 3rd in 19:59, followed by Zalan Kovacs (11th in 22:21), Gillian Errity (22nd overall, 6th woman, in 24:35) and Avril Barry (62nd overall, 27th woman, in 41:01). BHAA Teachers XC (2 miles) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Linda Byrne 1 00:12:46 Crusaders AC runners 5 Ilona McElroy 00:13:51 6 Niamh Corby 00:13:59 13 Lesley Ann Doughan 00:14:32 17 Grainne Regan 00:14:47 19 Katie McElroy 00:14:49 20 Niamh Aspell 00:14:56 27 Lisa Shine 00:15:20 32 Emer Kenny 00:15;57 44 Susan Walsh 00:17:32 Full results here: https://bhaa.ie/events/2017-teachers-cc/ BHAA Teachers XC (4 miles) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Colm Rouney 1 00:21:26 Crusaders AC runners 3 Karl Fahy 00:22:21 11 Vinnie McGuinness 00:23:13 15 Rob Cross 00:23:32 18 John Mulvihill 00:23:44 20 Michael O'Conor 00:24:01 22 Jason Kehoe 00:24:12 31 Frank Hague 00:24:49 32 Michael Wycherley 00:24:52 34 Karl Walsh 00:24:59 37 Joe McDermott 00:25:16 47 Michael Maughan 00:26:22 49 Niamh Boland 00:26:31 (2) 63 Pat Quill 00:27:29 72 Marius McNicholas 00:28:11 75 Niall McGeorge 00:28:26 80 Brendan Glynn 00:28:44 90 Robbie Moore 00:29:48 110 Mike McGovern 00:31:34 Full results here: https://bhaa.ie/events/2017-teachers-cc/ Donadea 10K Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Tom Fitzpatrick 1 00:32:04 6 Sarah McMahon 1 00:37:45 Crusaders AC runners 10 Will Owens 00:38:30 14 Adrienne Jordan 00:39:25 (2) 22 Niall O’Connell 00:40:27 Full results here: https://www.popupraces.ie/race-results/ Gaelforce Howth 10K Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Jaroslaw Blacharski 1 00:42:14 11 Maria O’Sullivan 1 00:45:42 Crusaders AC runner 360 Joanna Langier 01:24:00 (136) Full results here: http://redtagtiming.com/results/GFHowth_2017.html Ballincollig Parkrun #70 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Conor Dolan 1 00:18:09 24 Sophie Foley 1 00:21:56 Crusaders AC runner 48 Neil Brown 00:24:00 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/ballincollig/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=70 Poppintree Parkrun #154 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Fiachra Crean 1 00:18:29 11 Maura Ginty 1 00:21:31 Crusaders AC runners 2 Diarmuid Byrne 00:19:10 15 Darina Scully 00:22:04 (2) 25 Fiona Bane 00:23:57 (4) 95 Maria Pertl 00:55:35 (40) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/poppintree/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=154 Darndale Parkrun #3 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Anthony Dorran 1 00:19:38 4 Aoife Quinn 1 00:23:40 Crusaders AC runners 4 Aoife Quinn 00:23:40 (1) 5 Denis Murphy 00:24:32 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/darndale/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=3 St Anne’s Parkrun #203 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 David Kirwin 1 00:16:41 7 Ailis Murtagh 1 00:18:07 Crusaders AC runners 37 Colm Kernan 00:20:25 318 Lorraine Fitzsimons 00:31:30 (103) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/stannes/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=203 Cabinteely Parkrun #133 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Derek Lawlor 1 00:18:36 15 Jean Murphy 1 00:21:47 Crusaders AC runners 5 David Carter 00:20:30 30 Colm Foley 00:24:06 55 Olwyn Dunne 00:26:05 (10) 110 Mairin Shine 00:31:55 (42) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/cabinteely/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=133 Bushy Dublin Parkrun #34 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Niall Coppinger 1 00:19:00 10 Christine Kinsella 1 00:21:34 Crusaders AC runner 138 Mairead Cashman 00:43:54 (52) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/bushydublin/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=34 Poolbeg Parkrun #8 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Paul Brophy 1 00:18:18 13 Deirdre Nally 1 00:22:28 Crusaders AC runners 3 Anthony Owens 00:19:59 11 Zalan Kovacs 00:22:21 22 Gillian Errity 00:24:35 (6) 62 Avril Barry 00:31:01 (27) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/poolbeg/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=8 We are now three weeks from the Dublin marathon and have a list of some 80 Crusaders registered to run in the event. For many of the runners this last weekend marks the last long run and the beginning of their taper. Several marathon runners also decided to take on some races as part of their build-up. There has been a tradition of running a ¾ length marathon at this stage and for several years it was based in Athlone. This year, however, it has moved to Longwood in County Meath on a relatively flat one loop course. Sunday’s conditions were dry and calm (following a blustery day on Saturday). Nearly 1,200 participants took on the challenge, most treating the event as a training run. No one wants to leave his or her marathon in Longwood by having gone out too hard at this stage. They were joined by at least 9 Crusaders, two of whom (Olwyn and Joe Dunne) took on pacing responsibilities in preparation for doing the same thing (once again!) in Dublin. The other 7 came out of it unscathed!
Behind the evergreen Gary O’Hanlon and Pauline Curley, inevitable race winners, our first club-mate across the line was Denis Murphy in 2:45:01 (279th), followed by Aoife Clarke (327th overall, 52nd female) in 2:49:16. Next came Ciara Lehane (371st overall, 69th female) in 2:52:22 and also under 3 hours, Russell Murphy, like Denis, another stalwart member of the Cru O/50s team for the marathon (416th in 2:55:34). Niamh Quinn took 563rd place overall (143rd female) in 3:02:17, followed by Carina Davidson just behind (574th overall, 149th female) in 3:02:38. Finally, Leslie Hughes, a newcomer to the club, took 612th place in a time of 3:05:26. On Saturday, we had runners in 3 road races. In extremely windy conditions three of our members took on the Simon Community 5 mile run, which took place on a loop at the southern end of the Phoenix Park, starting and finishing on the Acres Road near the Papal Cross having taken in a last mile up the Khyber Pass. Marathoner Seamus MacFloinn took it steady and came home in 13th spot in a field of more than 1,340 runners. Seamus’ time was 29:31 and he was followed by John Fahy, who placed 28th in 32:21 and by Aoife Quinn, in her first serious venture since an operation to repair an injured knee, in a highly creditable 121st place overall (9th female finisher) in 38:00. The second race was the Galway Bay half marathon. Newcomer Micheal Killeen ran on the 2 lap course out and back along the prom, a flat route, but a slight headwind on the way out. Micheal shared his number with someone running the 10K event earlier that day, so he didn’t get a recorded time in the half, but, based on his GPS result, he would have placed 48th out of a field of more than 1,100 runners, in a time of 1:29:50. The 3rd race was the East of Ireland marathon series half marathon in Lusk, taken on by Paul O’Meara, in training for the Philadelphia marathon shortly. Paul placed second in a time of 1:27:21. Results have yet to be posted. On Sunday Luke Haran took on a 5K in his native Limerick, The event was the St. Michael’s Rowing Club Urban Run and it attracted 175 participants. Luke distinguished himself on the slightly undulating course with 4th place in a time of 19:28 (possibly a PB). A result from earlier in the week was from Leo Lundy who took in a 30.2 miles ultra-marathon in the Hillingdon Cyclopark in West London on Monday, placing 2nd overall. 19 Crusaders took part in 11 parkruns on Saturday morning. The biggest contingent of 5 headed to Cabinteely to join nearly 140 others there. First home for the club on the hilly course and probably windy conditions was Lisa Shine (36th overall, 6th female, in 24:44), followed by Fiona Shine (44th overall, 11th female, in 25:07), Joe Dunne (in preparation for his efforts on Sunday in Longwood) (59th in 27:06), Paul Kelly (72nd in 28:41) and Mairin Shine (102nd overall, 36th female, in 30:51). Impressively, Maria Pertl decided to continue her parkrun participation, walking the event in which partner Dairmuid Byrne took first finisher place in Poppintree. Diarmuid ran it in 18:45, whilst Maria picked up the “lanterne rouge” (111th overall, 49th female, in 1:01:30) with baby Riona (and belated congratulations to the duo!).We had another first finisher in Tralee, in his native Kerry. Michael O’Conor ran 19:24 to finish ahead of a field numbering nearly 200. There were also good results for the likes of Brian Scanlan, who placed 3rd (20:31) in the 79-strong field in River Valley, and for Katie McElroy in St. Anne’s (35th overall, 3rd female, in 20:51). Colm Kernan also took part in the 355-strong event, taking 33rd place in 20:45. Neil Brown ran well in Waterstown to take 7th place (22:21) in a field of 91 runners, whilst, a day before his birthday, Brendan Kieran placed 17th in 24:48 in the 58-strong field in Hartstown. Fiona Bane had another solid outing to take 29th spot overall (5th female) in 24:36, in Father Collins Park. Aidan Hudner took 74th place in 22:35 in a field of nearly 340 in Glasgow, whilst Kevin Flynn placed 36th (27:260 out of 75 runners in Porterstown. Finally, we had 3 members in the parkrun local to the club in Poolbeg. The event attracted 66 runners, with Russell Murphy, ahead of his run on Sunday in Longwood, taking 20th spot (23:10), followed by Kris Ryan (23rd overall, 6th female, in 23:57) and by Don Anderton (55th in 34:01). Thanks to Peter Mooney for some of the photos. Simon Community 5 mile run Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Peter Arthur 1 00:25:36 26 Fiona Stack 1 00:31:56 Crusaders AC runners 13 Seamus MacFloinn 00:29:31 28 John Fahy 00:32:21 121 Aoife Quinn 00:38:00 (9) Full results here:http://myrunresults.com/events/dublin_simon_fun_run_2017/2394/results Galway Bay Half marathon Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Brendan McDonnell 1 01:10:20 12 Adrianna Melia 1 01:22:24 Crusaders AC runner [48] Micheal Killeen 01:29:50 Full results here: http://www.redtagtiming.com/results/RunGalwaybay2017_21km.pdf Irish 3/4 Marathon Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Gary O’Hanlon 1 01:49:15 17 Pauline Curley 1 02:06:34 Crusaders AC runners 279 Denis Murphy 02:45:01 327 Aoife Clarke 02:49:16 (52) 371 Ciara Lehane 02:52:22 (69) 416 Russell Murphy 02:55:34 563 Niamh Quinn 03:02:17 (143) 574 Carina Davidson 03:02:38 (149) 612 Leslie Hughes 03:05:26 715 Joe Dunne 03:10:05 (Pacer) 718 Olwyn Dunne 03:10:14 (Pacer) Full results here: http://www.redtagtiming.com/results/Irish3Quarter2017.pdf SMRC 5K Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Kevin O’Grady 1 00:16:42 7 Sarah Butler 1 00:20:30 Crusaders AC runner 4 Luke Haran 00:19:28 Full results here: http://racetecresults.com/results.aspx?CId=19671&RId=2037 Waterstown Parkrun #171 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Barry Finn 1 00:19:13 8 Aisling Smith 1 00:22:29 Crusaders AC runner 7 Neil Brown 00:22:21 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/waterstown/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=171 Poppintree Parkrun #153 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Diarmuid Byrne 1 00:18:45 3 Ciara Wilson 1 00:19:22 Crusaders AC runners 1 Diarmuid Byrne 00:18:45 111 Maria Pertl 001:01:30 (49) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/poppintree/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=153 Hartstown Parkrun #151 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Owen Fletcher 1 00:18:57 10 Grace Martin 1 00:23:59 Crusaders AC runner 17 Brendan Kieran 00:24:48 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/hartstown/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=151 St Anne’s Parkrun #202 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Joseph O’Donoghue 1 00:16:17 19 Deirdre Ni Canna 1 00:20:04 Crusaders AC runners 33 Colm Kernan 00:20:45 35 Katie McElroy 00:20:51 (3) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/stannes/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=202 Cabinteely Parkrun #132 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Gary Mason 1 00:19:33 9 Clare McCarthy 1 00:21:23 Crusaders AC runners 36 Lisa Shine 00:24:44 (6) 44 Fiona Shine 00:25:07 (11) 59 Joe Dunne 00:27:06 72 Paul Kelly 00:28:41 102 Mairin Shine 00:30:51 (36) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/cabinteely/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=132 Tralee Parkrun #140 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Michael O’Conor 1 00:19:24 19 Sinead Healy 1 00:21:56 Crusaders AC runner 1 Michael O’Conor 00:19:24 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/tralee/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=140 Poolbeg Parkrun #7 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Andrew Herring 1 00:18:34 15 Margot Penney 1 00:22:33 Crusaders AC runners 20 Russell Murphy 00:23:10 23 Kris Ryan 00:23:57 (6) 55 Don Anderton 00:34:01 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/poolbeg/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=7 Father Collins Parkrun #107 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Allessandro Porazzini 1 00:17:44 13 Carmel Ward 1 00:21:44 Crusaders AC runner 29 Fiona Bane 00:24:36 (5) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/fathercollins/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=107 Porterstown Parkrun #103 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Thomas Sherlock 1 00:17:03 11 Anne McGarr 1 00:23:33 Crusaders AC runner 36 Kevin Flynn 00:27:26 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/porterstown/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=103 River Valley Parkrun #63 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Aidan McGrath 1 00:19:26 10 Kerri Page 1 00:23:01 Crusaders AC runners 3 Brian Scanlan 00:20:31 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/rivervalley/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=63 The “bang” in the title to this report refers to the crackers that someone thoughtfully provided at our celebratory dinner after the twin triumphs of the club’s participation on Sunday at the Dublin Novices, but it could equally apply to the impact the club made at the event . We fielded two impressive teams of 15 runners in each team and ran away convincingly with some serious metal. It was a day which saw an increasingly strong westerly wind develop on the familiar course around the Munich Mile at the Magazine in the Phoenix Park. At least it was dry and the most exposed area on the 15 Acres provided a bit of a tailwind. Even so, conditions were not easy. There were also large fields for both men’s (98) and women’s (71) races, but with significant participation in particular in the women’s race from both ourselves and, nearly matching us, Clonliffe. We start with the women’s race, which was run over 4k (one small 1k loop followed by 2 x 1.5k). With 4 runners in the top 11, Raheny were clear winners of the team gold (26 points), but it was not until the awards ceremony that it became clear that Crusaders (55 points) had pipped Clonliffe (66 points) for silver, more convincingly in the final analysis than we had at the time realised. Indeed, it was extremely helpful that our first two non-scorers, or “spoilers”, Fiona Shine and newcomer Mairead Roche, came in ahead of the 4th Clonliffe scorer. Nevertheless, our four scorers put in a super performance in any event. Niamh Corby had a strong finish to come home in 6th place, whilst Orla Kennedy who had run alongside Niamh for most of the race was able to take a clear 8th place. Another pair to run close together were our third and fourth scorers, Lesley Ann Doughan (19th) in possibly her first cross country race (certainly for the club in any event) and Grainne Regan (22nd), with her first major medal, well-earned after a determined outing. Behind Fiona and Mairead (another runner enjoying a baptism of fire) came a resurgent Dee Ni Chearbhaill (30th), a runner who featured in the Cru’s first ever women’s cross country team, Gill Earley (35th) and Lisa Shine (37th). They were followed by Helena Walsh (40th) in her second race in 4 days, newcomer Serena Maloney (42nd) who was carrying a slight hamstring injury, stalwart Emer Kenny (50th), Rachel Yorke (52nd), Sarah Lyons (59th), another runner to enjoy a super effort in her first cross country and by Adrienne O’Driscoll (65th), yet another newcomer and a welcome addition to the team. As a club Raheny did not have its own way in the same sense in the last event of the day, the men’s 6k Novices race. The club did produce a dominant winner in Eoin Strutt, who finished over a minute ahead of the field, but overall the team came third. Our team had a super showing and was totally unbeatable with a fabulous 23 points and a commanding lead over Donore (54) and Raheny (55). This was because Ciaran Diviney(4th), a man who turned 45 last week, and Brian O’Kelly (5th), a runner who ran in the Berlin marathon last Sunday, kept close contact with the runner from DSD in 2nd place throughout the race, with Ciaran narrowly ceding the bronze position to a Clonliffe athlete close to the line. Karl Fahy had an enormous surge throughout the race to take 6th place and our 4th scorer was Vinnie McGuinness (8th) back from injury. Never has a team gold medal been so well deserved. As they say, every position counts, and our non-scorers did their bit to push the other clubs back down the field. As with the Cru women, there were great determined runs from everyone. John Mannion, another runner recently returned from long term injury, did superbly to take 12th place and he was followed by Peter O’Toole (20th) on excellent form. Next came Michael Wycherley (30th) reversing positions from Rathfarnham the week before with John McAuley (33rd) and they were followed by Frank Hague (42nd), Joe McDermott (45th) Jim Stagg (53rd) and Brian Carroll (57th), who ran closely with John Thuillier (59th) throughout much of the race until the end. Mention must be given to Joe O’Flaherty (62nd) returning to the cross country after a 5-year lay-off and Brendan Glynn (89th) who had a steady outing, working his way through the field. In terms of road running, we had at least 4 Crusaders take part in the DSD-organised Twilight challenge in Sandyford on Thursday evening. The course was quite twisty and conditions were blustery. Ollie McGrath led our contingent home in 19th place out of 400 competitors. Ollie ran 18:59 on the 5K course. He was followed by marathon-training Phelim Murray (45th in 20:01) whose team came third in the challenge, Helena Walsh (101st overall, 15th woman, in 21:37) and by Jocelyn Dufetel (135th in 22:51). Leo Lundy took part over the weekend in what he calls “Bling Sunday”. It involved the Battle of Britain Challenge on a monster course in Samphire Hoe in Kent on a wild day. Unusually, quite a bit of the course was underground via one of the access tunnels through the Kentish cliffs, and, for the marathon, one had to climb the White Cliffs of Dover no fewer than 4 times from sea level, giving more than 2500ft to the course. Leo was fairly certain that there were lovely views at the top but with the ever-present low sea mist and at times driving rain and gale force winds he saw nothing. He did, however, get to see snakes on the course, a first for him and of course he would not have encountered them in Ireland. He also received his 50 Ultras medal at the event. On Saturday, we had another decent representation in parkruns. The morning was relatively calm and dry and good for running. In terms of results, the best came from two runners. Seamus MacFloinn, a runner training for the Dublin marathon, was first finisher in Poolbeg in 18:11. In a field of more than 80 participants Seamus was followed by Iseult Ni Chuinneagain (56th overall, 20th female, in 27:36) and Ciara McEligott (67th overall, 29th female, in 30:56). Another first finisher was Katie McElroy, who placed 4th overall in a 110-strong field in Sligo. Katie ran 21:26. Neil Brown was our lone participant in Shanganagh, placing 12th in 22:11 among a field comprising 113 runners. Likewise, Mick Blighe, another Crusader who ran the Berlin marathon last week and is now preparing for Dublin, ran solo in Cabinteely, taking 35th spot out of 130 in a time of 24:30. Mairead Cashman, getting over injury, appeared to walk around Bushy Dublin, whilst we had a large turnout in two other runs. In St. Anne’s we had no fewer than 9 participants in a field of more than 380. Denis Murphy was first Crusader home in 37th (20:51), followed by Russell Murphy (48th in 21:25) and by Darina Scully (57th overall, 5th woman, in 21:49). All four are training for the Dublin marathon. Darina was followed by Sarah Lyons in a warm-up for the cross-country the following day (122nd overall, 16th woman, in 24:22), and by Fiona Bane (144th overall, 24th woman, in 25:11), Kevin Flynn (206th in 27:04), Aoife Quinn (251st overall, 72nd woman, in 28:28), Lorraine Fitzsimons (302nd overall, 105th woman, in 30:22) and by Don Anderton (342nd in 34:05). Finally, we had a few clubmates take on the first running of the Darndale parkrun, on a 3 loop relatively flat and fast course up near the airport and the M50. There were 62 participants, including 5 Crusaders and by all accounts several of the runners in the field were generally there to tick off a new parkrun, so that it remains to be seen how much local support it will attract going forward. The area is home to several apparently urban horses as at least one photograph revealed. In any event, the race was tackled by the Shine family and by Orlaith de Burca. Mairin Shine was our lead runner, placing 30th overall (6th woman) in 31:24. Thereafter, came Orlaith (31st overall, 7th woman, in 31:29), Fiona Shine (32nd overall, 8th woman, in the same time) and by Lisa Shine (34th overall, 10th woman, in 31:30). Both Fiona and Lisa were preparing themselves for the following day’s Dublin novices. Dublin Novices Women’s XC (4K) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Ashley Ryan 00:14:32 Crusaders AC runners 6 Niamh Corby 00:15:22 8 Orla Kennedy 00:15:27 19 Lesley Ann Doughan 00:16:16 22 Grainne Regan 00:16:20 26 Fiona Shine 00:16:28 28 Mairead Roche 00:16:44 30 Dee Ni Chearbhaill 00:16:45 35 Gill Earley 00:16:58 37 Lisa Shine 00:17:04 40 Helena Walsh 00:17:08 42 Serena Maloney 00:17:15 50 Emer Kenny 00:17:42 52 Rachel Yorke 00:17:49 59 Sarah Lyons 00:18:12 65 Adrienne O’Driscoll 00:18:26 Full results here: https://www.dublinathletics.com/attachments/article/483/Novice%20Cross%20Country%20Men%20and%20Women%20Results%202017.pdf Dublin Novices Men’s XC (6K) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Eoin Strutt 00:19:04 Crusaders AC runners 4 Ciaran Diviney 00:20:10 5 Brian O’Kelly 00:20:18 6 Karl Fahy 00:20:20 8 Vinnie McGuinness 00:20:36 12 John Mannion 00:21:10 20 Peter O’Toole 00:21:29 30 Michael Wycherley 00:21:53 33 John McAuley 00:22:04 42 Frank Hague 00:22:21 45 Joe McDermott 00:22:25 53 Jim Stagg 00:22:56 57 Brian Carroll 00:23:07 59 John Thuillier 00:23:09 62 Joe O’Flaherty 00:23:26 89 Brendan Glynn 00:26:05 Full results here: https://www.dublinathletics.com/attachments/article/483/Novice%20Cross%20Country%20Men%20and%20Women%20Results%202017.pdf Twilight Run 5k Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Robert Corbally 1 00:16:05 10 Meghan Ryan 1 00:17:48 Crusaders AC runners 19 Ollie McGrath 00:18:59 45 Phelim Murray 00:20:01 101 Helena Walsh 00:21:37 (15) 135 Jocelyn Dufetel 00:22:51 Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/spirit_motor_group_twilight_5kteam_challenge_/2365/results Sligo Parkrun #138 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Cathal O’Hara 1 00:20:19 4 Katie McElroy 1 00:21:26 Crusaders AC runner 4 Katie McElroy 00:21:26 (1) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/sligo/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=138 Darndale Parkrun #1 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Aidan McGrath 1 00:19:25 12 Emer Buckley 1 00:23:11 Crusaders AC runners 30 Mairin Shine 00:31:24 (6) 31 Orlaith de Burca 00:31:29 (7) 32 Fiona Shine 00:31:29 (8) 34 Lisa Shine 00:31:30 (10) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/darndale/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=1 Shanganagh Parkrun #132 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Michael Nalty 1 00:17:56 15 Hanna Kissane 1 00:22:41 Crusaders AC runner 12 Neil Brown 00:22:11 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/shanganagh/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=132 St Anne’s Parkrun #201 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Paul Cowhie 1 00:17:15 7 Ailis Murtagh 1 00:18:35 Crusaders AC runners 37 Denis Murphy 00:20:51 48 Russell Murphy 00:21:25 57 Darina Scully 00:21:49 (5) 122 Sarah Lyons 00:24:22 (16) 144 Fiona Bane 00:25:11 (24) 206 Kevin Flynn 00:27:04 251 Aoife Quinn 00:28:28 (72) 302 Lorraine Fitzsimons 00:30:22 (105) 342 Don Anderton 00:34:05 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/stannes/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=201 Cabinteely Parkrun #131 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Derek Lawlor 1 00:18:38 18 Joanne Ryan 1 00:22:18 Crusaders AC runner 35 Mick Blighe 00:24:30 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/cabinteely/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=131 Bushy Dublin Parkrun #32 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Tom Dunne 1 00:17:27 5 Breda McDonald 1 00:20:11 Crusaders AC runner 129 Mairead Cashman 01:09:02 (49) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/bushydublin/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=32 Poolbeg Parkrun #6 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Seamus MacFloinn 1 00:18:11 18 Mary McInerney 1 00:21:47 Crusaders AC runners 1 Seamus MacFloinn 00:18:11 56 Iseult Ni Chuinneagain 00:27:36 (20) 67 Ciara McElligott 00:30:56 (29) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/poolbeg/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=6 |