What a wonderful weekend - again! It started on a chilly Saturday afternoon on a blustery golf course in Navan, converted for the day into a cross-country circuit. The course has several long drags, winding round in a 2k loop and, despite the ground being harder than one might have expected, it is strength-sapping and challenging with a long 250m uphill finish straight. In each of the men’s and women’s races we saw the running order of finishers changing on this demanding finish straight as some went too early in their attack. Conditions were breezy but dry for the two races. We had 29 intrepid Crusaders in the event, where we were defending both men’s and women’s team gold medals. Neither team disappointed, both gaining podium results, with the men successfully defending their title and the women taking the bronze. Neither race, however, was without its drama at the end. The men’s scorers, in their 6k race (3 loops) with its quality field, were all in a bunch, 10th through 19th, men’s captain Michael Kiely (10th) out on his own after having broken away from Fearghal O’Hare (14th), who himself came in ahead of Italo Giancaterina (18th) and Michael O’Conor (19th), crossing the line together. Important roles were to be played for yet another race in the latest XC sequence by Tony Carter (28th) and Michael Wycherley (38th). They acted as significant spoilers. At the end of the race both Crusaders and Dunboyne were equal on points with each having 61. However, despite having 3 runners among the top 10 finishers, Dunboyne were pushed into 2nd place on countback because Tony and Michael finished ahead of Dunboyne’s 4th scorer and Michael O’Conor’s 19th place was better than Dunboyne’s 43rd place. Every place counts. There were also excellent runs from the rest of the team with Joe McDermott placing 65th, followed by Daniel Lowe (77th), Diarmuid O'Foghlu (86th), Eddie Nugent (91st), Michael Maughan (94th), Kevin Darcy (99th), Gary Park (108th) and Phelim Murray (112th). In the inter-county competition, Michael Kiely, Fearghal and Italo were members of the gold medal winning County Dublin team. The women’s race, which preceded the men’s, was just as exciting. Initially, the women were awarded the bronze medal without question, but then it was found that Rathfarnham who looked to have been in 5th place were missing the result of their 1st scorer (Carla Sweeney). Carla, one of the pre-race favourites (and 1st scorer on the gold-medal-winning Co. Dublin team), had been in 4th place going into the last 100m but ultimately finished in 6th. If she had not been overtaken, the outcome would have been significantly different, as, once the smoke had cleared, Rathfarnham finished one point behind Crusaders (who held on to the bronze medal) on 104 points. A narrow escape! Julie McGrath (15th) led the Cru pack over the line, breaking away from a group that also included Kiera Roche (23rd) for a time. Rachael Yorke had her usual gutsy performance placing 31st ahead of surprise of the day Jane Wallace who also had a super race (34th). They were our 4 scorers and were followed by great runs from Katie McElroy (50th), Serena Moloney (55th) and Sarah Lyons (60th) finishing strongly, ahead of Grainne Regan (62nd). Next came Maeve Muldowney (75th), followed by Emer Kenny (79th), Anna Shine (98th), Aisling Dilworth (101st) and Mairead Cashman (105th). It was another excellent day of cross country running for the club. Next up will be the Dublin seniors at the weekend to be held in Santry Demesne. It also promises to be exciting and of the highest quality, as usual. On Sunday, there were also fish to be fried as we fielded at least 60 runners in the 39th edition of the Dublin marathon. In the end we had a few casualties, but at least 58 managed to cross the finish line, tired but generally happy. It was, as usual, a strong performance from the club, since, although other clubs could perhaps boast of larger turnouts, few could produce a similar level of performance. Nearly 90% of our runners came home in under 4 hours (49 out of 58), with 11 finishing inside 3 hours and 31 (or more than 50%) inside 3:30. We are reasonably confident that among the results we’ll have produced a couple of national age category champions (both as it happens, marathon coaches!) with a good chance of some medals at provincial and county level too. The report will be updated once confirmed. Conditions for the race were probably as good as you’re likely to get. The northerly Arctic wind had dropped considerably. It was cold at the start, but got warmer through the morning, so that hats and gloves were the principal items discarded on route. The weather conditions probably explain the significant number of PBs, since the course is definitely not easy, with a lot of hills in the first half and several again towards the end. The hills are so steep in places that it was quite a challenge for the wheelchair racers who found themselves struggling on the uphills and then flying down among the runners (particularly on Knockmaroon Hill) at breakneck speed with no apparent ability to stop and runners parting hurriedly to get out of their way or risk being taken out! Crusaders enjoyed the best conditions of all, as our supporters, who are second to none, were literally everywhere and calling out with great gusto. The runners felt themselves humble and privileged to get so much encouragement wearing the red and white singlet that can be seen for miles. Our top 10 men included Frank Halligan with a PB time of 2:35 (and a 1 minute differential in the splits), followed by Ciaran Diviney who ran 2:36 in even splits as usual on the back of Berlin 6 weeks ago, for 2nd place in the M45s and likely national, Leinster and Dublin champion as a result. Both spent some time helping to run with Lizzie Lee, first Irish female athlete home. Albin Ingmarsson, in his 2nd marathon, ran a PB of 2:40, followed by Padraig Sheehan (a PB of 2:43) who ran in Chicago earlier in the month in 2:50 and Rob Cross who, despite an inflamed Achilles, pulled out a 2:47 result. After some confusion, Frank, Ciaran and Albin won senior men's team bronze medals in Leinster and Dublin. Seamus MacFloinn was next also in 2:47 (which may be a PB), followed by Adam Flanagan (2:49 and a PB) and Dee Lawlor (who definitely did get a PB and had to dash off for a flight to Lisbon which he just made immediately afterwards). Dee was followed by the ever-dependable Warren Swords (2:56), followed himself by Stephen O’Kennedy (2:57 and a PB) and, then, one of the most improved runners of the year, Rob Browne, was next also in 2:57, running slightly negative splits for a 13 minute PB improvement. We should also note that Declan Ryan of Thurles, one our visually-impaired friends who trains with us, ran a super 2:51 as well. Just outside 3 hours came Niall Murphy (3:00), whose calf seized up outside the RTE complex, but he managed to hold on. Karl Walsh and Turlough Bolger were next, both in 3:02, followed by James Cottle, who, in his 50th marathon (completed admittedly over 20 years), specifically targeted to occur in Dublin, and again another Berlin runner, was only 13 seconds off his PB in 3:03 and won his age category with surprising ease, taking the 3 titles available with the victory. Behind James came Seamus Moore (3:05), Brian Scanlan (a PB of 3:09), Bob Cahill, coming back from injury (3:10), Patrick Needham (a PB of 3:11), Tom Clarke (3:12), Matt Cranley (without the buggy in a PB of 3:12), Pat Quill (3:13), Micheal Killeen (3:24), Damien Fitzgibbon (3:25), Gian Piero Allerta (in a PB time of 3:29), Joe O’Donoghue (3:29), T.J. Bourke (3:29), on the back of training impacted by hamstring difficulties but in advance of running the marathon in New York this coming weekend, Donatas Jocius (3:31), Tommy Faherty (3:40), newcomers Tim Duggan (3:41) and Cormac McGuire (3:32), Gerard White (3:52), Barry O’Neill (3:47), Dave Tuohy (3:53), Mike Stewart, recovering from injury (3:55), Bob Manson (4:05), a week after Amsterdam, Joe Dunne (3:59) successfully pacing the 4 hour runners again with wife Olwyn (3:59), newcomer Colin Maguire (4:07), Russell Murphy (4:08), Leo Lundy (5:11) and Lesley Lluyd Hughes (6:59). There was also an excellent turnout of Cru women in the race (particularly bearing in mind that this year’s medal reproduced an image of Countess Markiewicz), with at least 17 (or nearly a third of our contingent) running in the event for the club. There were some excellent results which might otherwise have produced medals but for the fact that prizes are awarded on gun time, not chip, and so anyone not in the first wave would be unlikely to receive anything. Adrienne Jordan, who suffered for a while in the second half, was our first woman home in 3:14, picking up a silver F40 medal in Leinster and a senior bronze in Dublin, along with a Dublin senior bronze team medal. Newcomer Jemma Lyons also distinguished herself with a PB of 3:23 but she started quite far back and her guntime does not help the result. F50 runner, Triona Quill was next with a PB of 3:27 (again, a winner of both Dublin and Leinster golds for her age category as well as a senior team bronze in Dublin), followed by Aoife Clarke with a PB of 3:28 and the 3rd scorer of the senior bronze medal-winning team in Dublin. Niamh Aspell ran an excellent 3:32, followed by London exile Maeve Curry who surprised herself with a 3:35 PB finish. Kate Murray ran a super 3:35 too (PB?), as did Aifric O’Sullivan (3:48) and Liz Nixon (3:54) another Berlin marathoner. Mary Fitzsimons ran 3:56, whilst Miriam Logan (3:53) produced an improvement of 6 minutes over her recent Berlin PB. Carina Davidson (3:54) was another runner with a PB, followed by newcomer Gillian Lyons (4:11), Maria Esteban (PB of 4:15), Michelle Geoghegan (4:45) and Aisling O’Connor (5:06) another Berlin runner and who accompanied her sisters around the course. Support from clubmates around the course was immense! Runners should also thank Bob Manson for once again letting us use his office facilities for changing and bag drop. What a great day and capped by Susan Walsh’s excellent and knowledgeable commentary on the race’s YouTube livestream in which many Crusaders featured! We also had a runner in Frankfurt on the same day. Barry McGuire ran an excellent 2:56. Bearing mind the major races taking place this weekend, there was still a good participation in the parkruns, even including one or two runners who took part in the marathon the following day (Brian Scanlan and Olwyn Dunne). Laura Flannelly (along with husband Brian) was a first finisher again (7th overall), this time in Porterstown in a time of 20:47. Brian Langton (60th in 27:17) and Kevin Flynn (109th in 40:500 also participated. Brian Scanlan placed 7th in 21:49 in River Valley, whilst Olwyn Dunne placed 76th overall, 18th female, in 26:04 in Bushy Dublin. Mairead Cashman also ran there just before heading up to Navan for the XC, placing 105th overall, 28th woman, in 28:20. David Carter took 3rd place in Cabinteely in 20:15, whilst Orlaith de Burca also ran before Saturday Leinster Novices in Shanganagh, placing 85th overall, 17th female finisher, in 27:12. Aidan Hudner ran once again in Glasgow, placing 73rd in field of 164 in 22:23, whilst Darina Scully took 199th spot overall, 54th woman, in 27:42 in Malahide. We had 3 runners in Marlay. Luke Davis came home in 8th place in 18:57, followed by David Long (10th in 19:19) and Killian Barry (12th in 19:23). Meanwhile we had 2 runners in St. Anne’s. Donal Foley was 42nd in 21:05, followed by Aoife Quinn (164th overall, 34th woman, in 25:15). Diarmuid Byrne (6th in 21:56) and Maria Pertl (27th overall, 11th woman, in 28:03) took on Tolka valley, whilst we had 6 participants in Poolbeg. The contingent was led across the line by Zlatko Kulic (19th in 19:35), followed by Tim O’Donnell (25th in 20:09), Sharon Woods (55th overall, 7th woman, in 23:40), Lisa Shine (74th overall, 12th woman, in 24:54), Iseult Ni Chuinneagain (111th overall, 30th woman, in 28:28) and Mairin Shine, on the road back to recovery (150th overall, 54th woman, in 45:55). Leinster Novices XC (Men 6k) (115 finishers) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Cormac Dalton 1 00:19:19 2 Mitchell Byrne 2 00:19:24 Crusaders AC runners 10 Michael Kiely 00:20:30 14 Fearghal O’Hare 00:20:40 18 Italo Giancaterina 00:20:54 19 Michael O’Conor 00:20:54 28 Tony Carter 00:21:19 38 Michael Wycherley 00:21:43 65 Joe McDermott 00:22:27 77 Daniel Lowe 00:22:49 86 Diarmuid O'Foghlu 00:23:19 91 Eddie Nugent 00:23:29 94 Michael Maughan 00:23:36 99 Kevin Darcy 00:24:07 108 Gary Park 00:25:24 112 Phelim Murray 00:26:09 Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/leinster_cross_country_novice/2925/results Leinster Novices XC (Women 4k) (106 finishers) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Nadine Donegan 1 00:15:05 2 Kevin Costello 2 00:15:07 Crusaders AC runners 15 Julie McGrath 00:15:57 23 Kiera Roche 00:16:18 31 Rachael Yorke 00:16:34 34 Jane Wallace 00:16:39 50 Katie McElroy 00:17:11 55 Serena Moloney 00:17:19 60 Sarah Lyons 00:17:30 52 Grainne Regan 00:17:33 75 Maeve Muldowney 00:18:10 79 Emer Kenny 00:18:21 98 Anna Shine 00:20:28 101 Aisling Dilworth 00:20:44 105 Mairead Cashman 00:22:25 Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/leinster_cross_country_novice/2925/results Dublin marathon (16435) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Asefe Bekele 1 02:13:23 57 Mesera Dubiso 1 02:33:48 Crusaders AC runners 71 Frank Halligan 02:35:59 (PB) 77 Ciaran Diviney 02:36:23 118 Albin Ingmarsson 02:40:47 (PB) 151 Padraig Sheehan 02:43:45 (PB) 218 Rob Cross 02:47:46 226 Seamus MacFloinn 02:47:58 248 Adam Flanagan 02:49:19 301 Dee Lawlor 02:51:55 (PB) 440 Warren Swords 02:56:17 476 Stephen O’Kennedy 02:57:16 493 Rob Browne 02:57:13 (PB) 711 Niall Murphy 03:00:31 739 Karl Walsh 03:02:02 772 Turlough Bolger 03:02:59 781 James Cottle 03:03:31 859 Seamus Moore 03:05:12 1092 Brian Scanlan 03:09:52 (PB) 1103 Bob Cahill 03:10:39 1118 Patrick Needham 03:11:03 (PB) 1185 Thomas Clarke 03:12:24 1206 Matt Cranley 03:12:38 (PB) 1276 Pat Quill 03:13:57 1286 Adrienne Jordan 03:14:08 (74) 2012 Micheal Killeen 03:24:51 2106 Damien Fitzgibbon 03:25:55 2272 Triona Quill 03:27:24 (PB) (181) 2297 T.J.Bourke 03:29:21 2319 Gian Piero Allerta 3:29:09 (PB) 2320 Joe O’Donoghue 03:29:40 2468 Aoife Clarke 03:28:07 (PB) (206) 2475 Donatas Jocius 03:31:29 (PB) 2602 Niamh Aspell 03:32:34 (PB) (227) 2760 Kate Murray 03:35:09 (PB) (247) 2922 Jemma Lyons 03:23:38 (PB) (264) 3084 Tomas Faherty 03:40:14 3205 Tim Duggan 03:41:46 3542 Cormac McGuire 03:32:41 3814 Maeve Curry 03:35:35 (PB) (411) 3909 Gerard White 03:52:31 4155 Liz Nixon 03:54:11 (480) 4926 Barry O’Neill 03:47:42 5092 Aifric O’Sullivan 03:48 33 (696) 5622 Carina Davidson 03:54:51 (PB) (836) 5444 Dave Tuohy 03:53:07 5783 Mike Stewart 03:55:30 6041 Mary Fitzsimons 03:56:29 (964) 6747 Bob Manson 04:05:42 7012 Miriam Logan 03:53:47 (PB) (1248) 7030 Colin Maguire 04:07:08 7158 Russell Murphy 04:08:00 7350 Gillian Lyons 04:11:00 (1349) 7802 Olwyn Dunne 03:59:51 (pacer) 7807 Joe Dunne 03:59:52 (pacer) 10690 Maria Esteban 04:15:11 (PB) (2634) 11780 Leo Lundy 05:11:33 12995 Michelle Geoghegan 04:45:18 (3749) 13571 Aisling O’Connor 05:06:53 (4046) 16160 Leslie Lluyd Hughes 06:59:59 Full results here: Malahide Parkrun #311 (306) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Conor Fitzpatrick 1 00:16:54 3 Annette Kealy 1 00:18:31 Crusaders AC runner 199 Darina Scully 00:27:42 (54) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/malahide/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=311 Marlay Parkrun #278 (439) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Valter Valente 1 00:17:48 13 Ciara Hickey 1 00:18:06 Crusaders AC runners 8 Luke Davis 00:18:57 10 David Long 0:19:19 12 Killian Barry 00:19:23 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/marlay/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=278 Poolbeg Parkrun #61 (152) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Matthew Rees 1 00:16:24 7 Kerry O’Flaherty 1 00:17:56 Crusaders AC runners 19 Zlatko Kulic 00:19:35 25 Tim O’Donnell 00:20:09 55 Sharon Woods 00:23:40 (7) 74 Lisa Shine 00:24:54 (12) 111 Iseult Ni Chuinneagain 00:28:28 (30) 150 Mairin Shine 00:45:55 (54) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/poolbeg/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=61 St Annes’s Parkrun #255 (411) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Brian Leahy 1 00:16:23 24 Deborah Monaghan 1 00:20:00 Crusaders AC runners 42 Donal Foley 00:21:05 164 Aoife Quinn 00:25:15 (34) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/stannes/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=255 Shanganagh Parkrun #186 (164) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Louis Byrne 1 00:18:48 22 Marie Louise Maddison 1 00:22:12 Crusaders AC runner 85 Orlaith de Burca 00:27:12 (17) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/shanganagh/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=186 Porterstown Parkrun #158 (121) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Brian Flannelly 1 00:18:01 7 Laura Flannelly 1 00:20:47 Crusaders AC runners 7 Laura Flannelly 00:20:47 (1) 60 Brian Langton 00:27:17 109 Kevin Flynn 00:40:50 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/porterstownt/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=158 Tolka Valley Parkrun #36 (37) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Aaron Mullan 1 00:19:27 10 Aoife Donaghy 1 00:22:36 Crusaders AC runners 6 Diarmuid Byrne 00:21:56 27 Maria Pertl 00:28:03 (11) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/tolkavalley/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=36 Bushy Parkrun #87 (190) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Aiden O’Donnell 1 00:19:01 4 Orna Dilworth 1 00:19:38 Crusaders AC runner 105 Mairead Cashman 00:28:20 (28) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/bushydublin/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=87 River Valley Parkrun #117 (114) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Luke Murphy 1 00:20:13 4 Cecile Ollagnier 1 00:21:20 Crusaders AC runner 6 Brian Scanlan 00:21:49 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/rivervalley/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=117 Cabinteely Parkrun #186 (129) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Mark Sheridan 1 00:18:51 12 Christine Hannelly 1 00:22:53 Crusaders AC runner 3 David Carter 00:20:15 (3) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/cabinteely/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=186 The club saw some success on Sunday in the Abbottstown Men’s Open XC, which doubled up as the Irish trials for the 5 Nations International in November for masters athletes. When the smoke had cleared, we continued the success of recent years in getting athletes into the team with at least two runners representing us in Swansea as members of the Irish team along with the possibilities of a third who is currently a second reserve. We fielded 10 athletes in the men’s race which was contested on the Abbottstown purpose-built XC course within the National Sports Campus near Tyrrelstown. The first half of the counter-clockwise 1.5k loop is a mix of downhill and flat, but with quantities of sand and potentially mud to negotiate. The second half is more undulating with a couple of noticeable climbs, one short and sharp and the other more gradual. The finish itself is on an uphill. The men’s race was a duel over 7.5k and featured more than 170 starters from seniors through to the M60 age category and the course was in pristine condition, with no impact from the overnight and morning rain, and the sand and churned up area alongside a wall under trees (about halfway round the loop) was no bother at all to the runners. Brendan Murphy was our first man home in 25:13 (59th overall), followed by Italo Giancaterina (63rd in 25:28) and Michael O’Conor (70th in 25:45). Rob Cross was next (78th in 25:58), taking automatic 6th place in the M45 team to head to Wales. Slightly further back came John Mulvihill (92nd in 26:28), followed by Michael Wycherley (98th in 26:44), who, by virtue of his 8th place in the M45 trials, is second reserve for the Irish team. One never knows. After Michael came Ger Forde (99th in 26:50) who will be running in the Dublin marathon next weekend after his Berlin exploits. Peter O’Toole (104th in 27:01) followed Ger, ahead of James Cottle (147th in 29:58 and 4th in the M60 age category). Like Rob, James qualified for the Irish team (with 4 to go from the age group), this his first time and a week before embarking on the Dublin marathon too. It was interesting in that James started out at the back and worked his way through the field, almost making it to 3rd place after a dogfight on the last lap. 2nd through 6th places were separated by only 12 seconds, so a really tight and tough race. A couple of us had talked before the race and decided that to qualify we had to run sub-30 minutes and so it proved. James improved his time over last year by over a minute to do so. Just slightly behind James came David Long (150th in 30:13), having another excellent outing as an M55 following his Dublin novices race, and to complete the contingent came Tim O’Donnell (164th in 32:01). It was also a great day for our colleagues in Amsterdam, where conditions were also friendly for marathoners. Mick Smyth ran a blinder with almost even splits to finish in 2:55:04. Mick was followed by the stalwart Bob Manson (3:08:14), Lydia Bigley (3:53:03), a Front Runner who trains with us, with a 4 minute PB improvement, Mary Dolan (4:19:37) and Joe O’Reilly (4:38:42) who both perhaps suffered a little in the second half. Leo Lundy also ran a long distance race over the weekend. This time it was the Achill to Westport ultra-marathon along the Greenway, which Leo described as right up there. Jon Lawrence in the UK ran in the Great South Run around Portsmouth. He completed the 10-miler in just over 1:09. Further afield, our exile in Canada, Ian Kinsella, ran in the Toronto marathon, coming home, after a difficult second half, in 2:48. We had one Crusader in a much shorter race closer to home. Jim Stagg took part in the Longwood Village 5k with its 170 competitors, placing 5th in a time of 19:29. Numbers participating in the parkruns on Saturday were back to normal levels after runners having been put off last week by the deluge. As usual, we had some excellent results. Kieran Little set a new course record in Poolbeg with his 16:05 finish, whilst we had both men’s and women’s first finishers in Avondale Forest near Rathdrum in Co. Wicklow. Donatas Jocius, in preparation for the Dublin marathon on Sunday, ran 19:29, whilst Sarah Lyons ran 22:17, placing 9th overall. Another of our first finishers was Catherine Thornton in Knocknacarra in Galway. Catherine ran at tempo pace but still managed an overall 6th placing and a time of 20:31. A podium place went to Serena Moloney who ran in Templemore, Co. Tipperary, taking 7th spot overall and 2nd woman home in a time of 21:47, whilst Maria Pertl was just outside a podium position when she placed 4th woman (19th overall) in Brickfields in 26:46. Diamruid byrne ran with Maria, finishing in 21st place in 26:55, whilst Phelim Murray also ran in Avondale Forest, taking 8th spot in 22:12.There was large crowd from the club in Poolbeg this week. Behind Kieran came Luke Davis (9th in 19:13), Zlatko Kulic (12th in 19:29), Pat Quill, another Dublin marathoner in preparation (13th in 19:49), Eoin McQuaid (21st in 20:27), Antonios Gkogkakis (34th in 21:39), Russell Murphy (again an athlete preparing himself for the marathon) (42nd in 22:30), John McQuaid (55th in 23:59), Fiona Bane (56th overall, 4th female, in 24:05) and Mari Hansen (11th overall, 34th woman, in 30:03). Solo athletes from the club ran in Ballincollig (Lisa Shine, 129th overall, 25th woman, in 26:25), Bushy Park (Mairead Cashman, 101st overall, 22nd woman, in 28:22), Marlay (Killian Barry, 16th in 19:38), Griffeen (Colm Foley, 25th in 22:14) and in Victoria Park, Glasgow (Aidan Hudner, 61st overall, in 22:13, in a field of 370). In St. Anne’s Matt Cranley, another runner due to run next Sunday) took it easy and placed 63rd in 22:13 (without the buggy), whilst Brian Carroll (not running in the marathon) did likewise and placed 64th in 22:15. Finally, we had 3 participants in Porterstown. Donal Foley was our first runner across the line, 16th place, in a time of 22:16. He was followed by Darina Scully (77th overall, 18th female, in 26:52) and Kevin Flynn who walked (172nd in 39:10). Abbottstown Open Men’s XC Senior-M60 7.5k (169) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Sean Tobin 1 00:21:45 2 Kevin Dooney 2 00:22:21 Crusaders AC runners 59 Brendan Murphy 00:25:13 63 Italo Giancaterina 00:25:28 70 Michael O’Conor 00:25:45 78 Rob Cross 00:25:58 98 Michael Wycherley 00:26:44 99 Ger Forde 00:26:50 104 Peter O’Toole 00:27:01 147 James Cottle 00:29:58 150 David Long 00:30:13 164 Tim O’Donnell 00:32:01 Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/athletics_ireland_autumn_open_cross_country_/2794/results Longwood Village 5k (170) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Bernard Healy 1 00:18:22 10 Mary Hanley 1 00:20:28 Crusaders AC runner 5 Jim Stagg 00:19:29 Full results here: https://www.popupraces.ie/longwood-village-10k-5k-race-fun-run-2018/#1_7336A4 Griffeen Parkrun #279 (177) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Gary Farrell 1 00:17:23 5 Mairead Diver 1 00:20:09 Crusaders AC runner 25 Colm Foley 00:22:14 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/griffeen/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=279 Marlay Parkrun #277 (481) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Valter Valente 1 00:16:57 13 Ciara Brady 1 00:19:34 Crusaders AC runner 16 Killian Barry 00:19:38 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/marlay/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=277 Poolbeg Parkrun #60 (128) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Kieran Little 1 00:16:05 (CR) 20 Jackie O’Neill 1 00:20:25 Crusaders AC runners 1 Kieran Little 00:16:05 9 Luke Davis 00:19:13 12 Zlatko Kulic 00:19:28 13 Pat Quill 00:19:49 21 Eoin McQuaid 00:20:27 34 Antonios Gkogkakis 00:21:39 42 Russell Murphy 00:22:30 55 John McQuaid 00:23:59 56 Fiona Bane 00:24:05 (4) 111 Mari Hansen 00:30:03 (34) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/poolbeg/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=60 St Annes’s Parkrun #254 (376) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 John Clarke 1 00:17:20 47 Jean Murphy 1 00:21:23 Crusaders AC runners 63 Matt Cranley 00:22:13 64 Brian Carroll 00:22:15 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/stannes/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=254 Knocknacarra Parkrun #225 (97) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Cillian Jordan 1 00:19:38 6 Catherine Thornton 1 00:20:31 Crusaders AC runner 6 Catherine Thornton 00:20:31 (1) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/knocknacarra/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=225 Porterstown Parkrun #157 (186) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Alan Bernie 1 00:18:20 11 Aislinn Ahern1 0:21:19 Crusaders AC runners 16 Donal Foley 00:22:16 77 Darina Scully 0:26:52 (18) 172 Kevin Flynn 00:39:10 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/porterstownt/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=157 Ballincollig Parkrun #121 (316) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Unknown 1 00:17:45 24 Rebecca McEvoy 1 00:21:48 Crusaders AC runner 129 Lisa Shine 00:26:25 (25) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/ballincollig/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=121 Bushy Parkrun #86 (163) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Gary Crossan 1 00:16:59 24 Christine Kinsella 1 00:21:54 Crusaders AC runner 101 Mairead Cashman 00:28:22 (22) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/bushydublin/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=86 Templemore Parkrun #91 (60) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Larry Stapleton 1 00:19:46 3 Ciara Cummins 1 00:20:24 Crusaders AC runner 7 Serena Moloney 00:21:47 (2) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/templemore/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=91 Brickfields Parkrun #40 (69) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Karl Chatterton 1 00:18:34 6 Jennifer O’Malley 1 00:22:03 Crusaders AC runners 19 Maria Pertl 00:26:46 (4) 21 Diarmuid Byrne 00:26:55 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/brickfields/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=40 Avondale ForestParkrun #24 (58) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Donatas Jocius 1 00:19:29 9 Sarah Lyons 1 00:22:17 Crusaders AC runners 1 Donatas Jocius 00:19:29 8 Phelim Murray 00:22:12 9 Sarah Lyons 00:22:17 (1) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/avondaleforest/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=24 After all the excitement of last weekend there is much less activity on which to report this week, not helped by the cancellation, unfortunately, of the first BHAA cross-country race of the season in Castleknock College next to the Phoenix Park, an event, in which we had expected to field a considerable number of runners, with the usual fine spread to follow. Nevertheless, we had some decent results all the same in the races which remained. Saturday morning saw quite a lot of rain everywhere, the remnants of Storm Callum (which reportedly had been the reason for the cancellation of the BHAA event). The rain affected the turnout in the parkruns and possibly in the unchipped Pink Run (the results of which are yet to appear). Undeterred by the weather, Katie McElroy headed over to the Donadea Forest 10K in Co. Kildare and in a field of 183 runners, smaller than the usual 500+, managed to take 2nd place on the line in the women’s race, coming home in a time of 44:32 and 20th overall, an excellent result. Kate described the conditions as tough, with a continuous downpour on the course, a mix of road and gravel trails. At least the reward (apart from financial consideration!) was hot soup, hot tea and fruit cake. On the same day, we saw at least 3 participants from the club run in the Gaelforce Howth Summit 10K, a challenging up and down race, quite slippery in places with the wet conditions. Our cosmopolitan group was led home by Daan Van Schie who placed 6th in 43:50 (the winner being the only athlete to have broken 40 mins, 2 mins ahead of the runner in 2nd place). In the field of nearly 500 participants, Zlatko Kulic took 13th spot in 47:26, with Louise Van Wildersmeersch coming home in 201st overall in 1:02:47. Further afield, on the day that Irish-born (but running for Australia) Sinead Diver won the Melbourne marasthon in 2:25, John Keogh ran in the 35th edition of the Eindhoven marathon. In dry and sunny conditions, he just crept in under the 4 hour mark in 3:59:34. Hats off to John. Also, on the continent, the Shine family headed over to Munich to run in the marathon relay held in conjunction with the Munich marathon. By all accounts, they had a fun time. Because of the rain, the parkruns were generally reduced in numbers, but we had a lot of podium places all the same. Kate Murray was first finisher in Lough Key in 23:32 (13th overall), as was Kiera Roche in Poolbeg (5th overall) in 19:33. Niamh Corby placed 3rd (8th overall) in 20:02 in the same event. Joe Walsh was first finisher in Brickfields in 18:46, whilst Diarmuid Byrne did the same in Poppintree in 19:06, as did Olwyn Dunne in the Progression parkrun in a local prison, a most unusual event, not open to the general public. Olwyn’s time was 24:13 (18th overall) and she was preceded by husband Joe Dunne (13th in 22:52). Another first finisher (among the 6 we had on the day) was Aoife Quinn in Westport (14th overall, in 22:18). Kris Ryan placed 3rd in Coomera (18th overall in a field of 84). Kris’ time was 23:30, whilst Sarah Lyons placed 2nd in Fairview (13th overall) in a time of 24:07. Phelim Murray ran in the same event, taking 9th spot in 23:45. Mairead Cashman was our sole runner in Bushy Park where she placed 68th overall (25th female finisher) in 29:21, whilst Colm Foley ran in Griffeen, taking 23rd place in 23:22. Aidan Hudner ran in Glasgow, taking 71st place out of a field of 334 in a time of 22:29, whilst Andrej Kujikis also ran in Scotland, this time in Edinburgh, where, in a field of 253, he placed 11th in 19:30. With Diarmuid in Poppintree were Maria Pertl and Darina Scully. Maria placed 38th overall, 10th woman, in 27:33, followed closely by Darina (39th overall, 11th woman) in 27:34. With Kiera and Niamh in Poolbeg we saw Gerald Hoare run 20:11 for 9th place, followed by David O’Donnell (14th in 20:46), Fiona Bane (33rd overall, 8th female, in 23:12), Sharon Woods (35th overall, 10th woman, in 23:35), Cliodhna O’Reilly (50th overall, 14th woman, in 25:52) and Mari Hansen (67th overall, 23rd female, in 30:05). Finally, Matt Cranley maintained his buggy-pushing exploits in Father Collins, placing 5th in a time of 19:55. Donadea 10K (183) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Dermot Gorman 1 00:35:15 18 Jill Kiernan 1 00:44:12 Crusaders AC runner 20 Katie McElroy 00:44:32 (2) Full results here: https://www.popupraces.ie/donadea-running-club-10k-2018/#1_0B1C8D Gaelforce Howth Summit 10K (493) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Eoin Durkan 1 00:39:27 9 Isobel Oakes 1 00:44:47 Crusaders AC runners 6 Daan Van Schie 00:43:50 13 Zlatko Kulic 00:47:26 201 Louise Van Wildersmeersch 01:02:47 Full results here: http://www.redtagtiming.com/results/GF_Howth2018.pdf Griffeen Parkrun #278 (109) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Stephen Lawlor 1 00:17:16 12 Breda Smyth 1 00:21:05 Crusaders AC runner 23 Colm Foley 00:23:22 (22) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/griffeen/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=278 Poppintree Parkrun #204 (56) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Diarmuid Byrne 1 00:19:06 6 Kate Cleary 1 00:21:57 Crusaders AC runner 1 Diarmuid Byrne 00:19:06 (1) 38 Maria Pertl 00:27:33 (10) 39 Darina Scully 00:27:34(11) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/poppintree/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=204 Poolbeg Parkrun #59 (76) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Ashley Hayes 1 00:18:17 5 Kiera Roche 1 00:19:33 Crusaders AC runners 5 Kiera Roche 00:19:33 (1) 8 Niamh Corby 00:20:02 (3) 9 Gerald Hoare 00:20:11 14 David O’Donnell 00:20:46 33 Fiona Bane 00:23:12 (8) 35 Sharon Woods 00:23:35 (10) 52 Donna Barry 00:25:30 (7) 50 Cliodhna O’Reilly 00:25:52 (14) 67 Mari Hansen 00:30:05 (23) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/poolbeg/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=59 Father Collins Parkrun #160 (55) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Wesley Grant 1 00:17:55 12 Sorcha Prendiville 1 00:21:51 Crusaders AC runner 5 Matt Cranley 00:19:55 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/fathercollins/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=160 Progression Parkrun #7(25) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 David Tracey 1 00:21:30 18 Olwyn Dunne 1 00:24:13 Crusaders AC runners 13 Joe Dunne 00:22:52 18 Olwyn Dunne 00:24:13 (1) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/progression/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=7 Westport Parkrun #259 (79) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Rory Brickenden 1 00:19:29 14 Aoife Quinn 1 00:22:18 Crusaders AC runner 14 Aoife Quinn 00:22:18 (1) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/westport/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=259 Lough Key Parkrun #123 (106) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Ross Dolan 1 00:19:08 13 Kate Murray 1 00:23:32 Crusaders AC runner 13 Kate Murray 00:23:32 (1) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/loughkey/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=123 Bushy Parkrun #85 (109) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Andrew Brett 1 00:19:13 13 Christine Kinsella 1 00:22:32 Crusaders AC runner 68 Mairead Cashman 00:29:21 (25) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/bushydublin/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=85 Fairview Parkrun #64 (37) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Rachel McGuinness 1 00:20:35 2 Dominic Bosher 1 00:20:57 Crusaders AC runner 9 Phelim Murray 00:23:45 13 Sarah Lyons 00:24:07 (2) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/fairview/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=64 Brickfields Parkrun #39 (40) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Joe Walsh 1 00:18:46 13 Jessica Martin-Smith 1 00:24:37 Crusaders AC runner 1 Joe Walsh 00:18:46 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/brickfields/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=39 There was a lot going on this Sunday, topped off by a successful defence by the men of their team gold medal in the Dublin Novices. Indeed the women didn’t do badly either, taking 4th place in their event. There were also some super performances in other races on the day too. We start with the Dublin Novices. It has lately become a key event for the club and our participation is getting more and more impressive. A healthy development this year was also to use the event (and others to follow) as a replacement for the now, sadly, defunct Women’s Meet and Train races and so it was great to see several of the clubs join in our initiative and encourage other such runners to participate and benefit from the hugely valuable experience of cross country running. By any standards we were able to field huge teams for both races, representing nearly 20% in total. On a breezy but dry (especially underfoot) day, but where the runners mostly experienced a crosswind, the women’s race went off first. It was meant to be a 4Km event, but for some reason officials had not moved fast enough to add the necessary short 1km loop at the start and so it became a 3K race, meaning there were 2 undulating loops of equal length. It didn’t take Rathfarnham’s Carla Sweeney too long to get to the front and even over such a short distance she was able to dominate the race, coming home 14 seconds in front of the DSD runner in 2nd place. After briefly leading the field, newcomer Julie McGrath settled back and for the first loop was the leading Crusader in the field. Long distance runner Kiera Roche set off at a steady pace and worked her way through runners, so that she took over the role later in the race. However, Julie had excellent finishing speed and was only a second off Kiera by the end, both girls finishing well, with Kiera in 10th place and Julie in 11th. Fiona Shine and Jane Wallace also had excellent races too, placing 20th and 23rd, and scoring for the team, enabling Crusaders to take 4th place out of 10 club teams entered. They were a good bit ahead of Clonliffe in 5th place. Interestingly, gold and silver had to be decided on a countback between Raheny and Rathfarnham. Both teams had 35 points, but Raheny’s 4th scorer was 16th, whilst Rathfarnham’s was 19th (only 8 seconds between them, but every place counts!). Serena Moloney wasn’t too far behind in 26th, followed by Katie McElroy in 33rd, both enjoying super races. To complete the picture, Sarah Lyons took 43rd spot, with Kathryn Sweeney, another recent member, in 52nd. Kate Murray was next, in 58th, followed by Maria Kennedy, on the back of the Berlin marathon, in 66th and Lisa Shine hard on her heels in 68th. More newcomers followed, including Gemma Cooper (80th), just ahead of Aisling Dilworth (81st), followed by Anna Shine (87th) and Mari Hansen (88th). The men’s race, involving a field of 114 finishers, was the usual distance of 6k and covered 4 large loops of 1.5k. As has been pointed out elsewhere, Crusaders made up 36% of the first 25 to cross the line, which is a significant achievement. Not only did we take the team gold medal, but if we had had a B team, it would have finished in 4th place, an excellent depth being shown. So, we had 23 runners in the race, including, like with the women’s team, some new members and others new to cross-country. Fearghal O’Hare ran much of the race on his own, with newcomer Italo Giancaterina finally hard on his heels. Fearghal took an excellent 6th place, with Italo 3 seconds back in 7th. Berlin marathoners John Mulvihill in 10th place and Ger Forde in 13th, having worked his way through the field towards the end, were our next scorers and they made up the gold winning quartet. A major role was played by Tony Carter in 16th in that he also helped to push back the 2nd place team’s 4th scorer so that he winning margin over Donore was 3 points in the end. The club packed the top and middle of the field with Michael Wycherley also maintaining his excellent form (19th), along with Frank Hague (21st), newcomers Aurelien Admirat (22nd), Paul Reidy (24th) and Diarmuid O'Foghlu (34th). Then Joe McDermott came home in 40th, Daniel Lowe in his first cross country, 56th, Eddie Nugent running strongly as usual (63rd) followed by new member Derek Ryan (69th). David Long, a key member of our O/50 team, was next, running with great freedom and hugely enjoying the experience, (82nd), followed by solid runs from Eanna Farrell (89th) who just got the better at the end of Tim O'Donnell (90th), whom he had accompanied around the course. Patrick Carthy (98th), Dave Tilly (99th), Phelim Murray(100th) just coming back from injury, together with Noel Reilly (104th), making a welcome return to racing, completed the men's team. A super turnout and an excellent performance by both teams. We had one runner in the Budapest marathon. Kieran Little had had to pull out of the Berlin marathon because of other commitments, so he cast around for another at about the same time and alighted on Budapest. On Sunday he joined nearly five and half thousand other runners to follow a course along the Danube and the city centre. We should not have been surprised by his result as he has shown tremendous form this year since joining the club, including a phenomenal run in Boston in atrocious weather conditions. On Sunday Kieran placed 5th in a super PB time of 2:36:35, knocking about 13 minutes off his previous best. Most impressively (and apparently it wasn’t deliberate as he suffered a bit in the first half), his two half splits were identical to the second (1:18:17 x 2). Conditions were favourable on what he described as a course that was excellent except for a lot of tight bends and some steep ramps between roads (along with distracting relay runners!). There was more to come on the marathon front that day as we had 5 runners at least in Chicago. In rainy and chilly conditions, Tim Francony and Padraig Sheehan also had pretty even splits for their super races, with Tim finishing in 2:45:14 and Padraig, 2:50:35. Damien O’Brien, a Crusader who currently is on secondment in Chicago, was not too far behind in 3:11:10, another PB result for all 3. Another Crusader to run well was Eoghan Kerins who completed the course in 3:21:12 with a 1 minute negative split. Leo Lundy also took part. Leo had hoped to run in a double ultra the previous day but his travel arrangements got messed around by the airline and so had to be content with just the marathon, his time being 5:23:39. Sarah Telle was another Crusader who ran in a marathon on Sunday, her first. Sarah ran 5:02:09 in Bournemouth in England. Several runners in preparation for Dublin and other marathons embarked, as their long run before the usual taper, on the Irish ¾ marathon, a race that started life in Athlone but has recently moved to Enfield in Co. Meath. In previous years it had a rather notorious reputation for runners competing too aggressively and leaving their Dublin marathon in Athlone. This year, however, it seems that most people behaved correctly and used it as a long run, not pushing too hard and getting to experience some hills before the real thing. So a lot of the results should be treated with caution. Nevertheless, we did have some useful performances among our runners who joined more than 1,300 for the occasion, notably including Frank Halligan who took 5th place in a time of 2:00:08. Frank was followed by Pat Quill (74th in 2:21:33), Gavan Doherty (101st in 2:25:52), Damien Fitzgibbon (129th in 2:30:02) and Brian Scanlan (142nd in 2:31:50). Aoife Clarke was our first woman home, in 204th place overall (14th female finisher) and a time of 2:39:30. Carina Davidson followed (322nd overall, 44th woman, in 2:47:16). Liz Nixon took it really easily, placing 503rd overall, 101st female, in 2:57:51 and she was followed by newcomer Gillian Lyons (562nd overall, 121st female, in 3:00:48). The remaining runners included Russell Murphy (700th in 3:07:41), along with pacers Joe and Olwyn Dunne (respectively 755th and 756th (Olwyn being 211th female finisher) in 3:09:46 and 3:09:53 and Emilie Fournier (1224th overall, 544th woman, in 3:52:29). A pleasant day out in the country was had by all, topped off by crisp sandwiches (not a bad idea in fact, as the salt would be really helpful)! A half marathon race in the mountains under the auspices of IMRA also took place on Sunday. It was interestingly entitled the Dublin Mountain Half to Hell with the Fairies and was staged on a mix of fire and forest trails, open-mountain and about 200m of road, involving a 650m climb. Once again, Becky Quinn distinguished herself by finishing in 15th place overall and winning the women’s race in 1:52:29. In a field of 115 finishers, Berndt Heim placed 113th in a time of 3:14:16. There was a race on Saturday in which we fielded at least one participant. That was the annual Simon Community 5 mile race in the Phoenix Park, held on the usual one lap course involving Chesterfield Avenue, the Military Road and finishing at the top of the Khyber Pass by the Papal Cross. On a dry but breezy day, Matt Cranley finished 40th in a field of more than 1300 runners and in a time of 34:17. We had some good results in the parkruns on Saturday. A podium place went to Fiona Bane who was first female finisher in Poolbeg (36th overall, in a time of 22:51) along with Sharon Woods (42nd overall, 3rd woman, in 23:43). Also in the event were Zalan Kovacs who placed 31st in 22:20 and he was followed by Fiona, Sharon, Donna Barry (52nd overall, 7th woman, in 25:30), Aisling O’Riordan (72nd overall, 17th woman, in 28:23) and Don Anderton (85th in 32:34). Alban Coghlan took 3rd place in Marlay in 17:14, followed by Luke Davis (10th in 18:42), whilst Diarmuid Byrne placed 3rd in 19:08 in Tolka Valley, followed by Cormac McGuire (12th in 21:29) and Maria Pertl (57th overall, 21st woman, in 32:08). Olwyn Dunne ran in Athlone, taking 22nd spot overall, 16th woman, in a time of 25:23 and prospective Dublin marathoner Dee Lawlor ran in Cabinteely, placing 11th in 21:19. Brian Scanlan also ran well in River valley, coming across the line in 12th place in 22:01, whilst Mairead Cashman ran in Bushy Park finishing in 116th spot overall (31st woman) in 29:32. Aidan Hudner in Glasgow kept up his park-running, placing 120th out of a field of 407 in 23:10. Kevin Flynn picked up back markers in Porterstown in 38:31, whilst Lorraine Fitzsimons took 236th place overall, 70th woman, in 28:26 in St. Anne’s. Finally, Gillian Lyons took 4th place (24th overall) in 25:04 in Fairview. Irish ¾ Marathon (1307) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Gary O’Hanlon 1 01:47:19 35 Caroline Donellan 1 02:14:23 Crusaders AC runners 6 Frank Halligan 02:00:08 74 Pat Quill 02:21:33 101 Gavan Doherty 02:25:52 129 Damien Fitzgibbon 02:30:02 142 Brian Scanlan 02:31:50 204 Aoife Clarke 02:39:30 (14) 322 Carina Davidson 02:47:16 (44) 503 Liz Nixon 02:57:51 (101) 562 Gillian Lyons 03:00:48 (121) 700 Russell Murphy 03:07:41 755 Joe Dunne 03:09:46 (pacer) 756 Olwyn Dunne 03:09:53 (211) (pacer) 1224 Emilie Fournier 03:52:29 (544) Full results here: http://www.redtagtiming.com/results/3Quarter2018.pdf Simon Community 5 mile (1321) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Sean Hehir 1 00:25:37 7 Una Britton 1 00:28:58 Crusaders AC runner 40 Matt Cranley 00:34:17 Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/simon_community_fun_run_2018/2747/results IMRA Dublin Mountain Half (115) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Shane Lynch 1 01:38:23 15 Becky Quinn 1 01:52:29 Crusaders AC runners 15 Becky Quinn 01:52:29 (1) 113 Berndt Heim 03:14:16 Full results here: https://www.imra.ie/events/results/id/1620/ Marlay Parkrun #275 (446) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Charlie McGowan 1 00:16:53 19 Ruth Kelly 1 00:19:27 Crusaders AC runners 3 Alban Coghlan 00:17:14 10 Luke Davis 00:18:42 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/marlay/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=275 Athlone Parkrun #160 (74) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Paul Heavey 1 00:19:07 3 Olivia McCartin 1 00:20:14 Crusaders AC runner 22 Olwyn Dunne 00:25:23 (16) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/athlone/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=160 Poolbeg Parkrun #58 (91) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Stephen Hurley 1 00:17:10 36 Fiona Bane 1 00:22:51 Crusaders AC runners 31 Zalan Kovacs 00:22:20 36 Fiona Bane 00:22:51 (1) 42 Sharon Woods 00:23:43 (3) 52 Donna Barry 00:25:30 (7) 72 Aisling O’Riordan 00:28:23 (17) 85 Don Anderton 00:32:34 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/poolbeg/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=58 St. Annes Parkrun #252 (380) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Catherina McKiernan 1 00:17:36 2 Bobby Bedford 1 00:17:47 Crusaders AC runner 236 Lorraine Fitzsimons 00:28:26 (70) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/stannes/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=252 Cabinteely Parkrun #183 (161) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Nick Bowker 1 00:17:03 8 Malika Hammani 1 00:21:13 Crusaders AC runner 11 Derek Lawlor 00:21:19 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/cabinteely/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=183 Porterstown Parkrun #155 (100) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Kieran Brennan 1 00:18:20 14 Miriam Finnerty 1 00:23:11 Crusaders AC runner 96 Kevin Flynn 00:38:31 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/porterstown/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=155 River Valley Parkrun #114 (123) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Luke Murphy 1 00:19:14 21 Muireann Ni Scanaill 1 00:23:45 Crusaders AC runner 12 Brian Scanlan 00:22:01 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/rivervalley/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=114 Bushy Parkrun #84 (162) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Peter Gray 1 00:18:56 25 Christine Kinsella 1 00:22:33 Crusaders AC runner 116 Mairead Cashman 00:29:32 (31) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/bushydublin/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=84 Fairview Parkrun #63 (81) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Sean Boyne 1 00:20:20 13 Aoife Mulroy 1 00:23:39 Crusaders AC runner 24 Gillian Lyons 00:25:04 (4) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/fairview/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=63 Tolka Valley Parkrun #33 (79) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 David moody 1 00:18:04 19 Amiee Peters 1 00:22:30 Crusaders AC runners 3 Diarmuid Byrne 00:19:08 12 Cormac McGuire 00:21:29 57 Maria Pertl 00:32:08 (21) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/tolkavalley/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=33 There were quite a few 5ks on offer during the past few days, but none of them as iconic as the annual 5k organised on Sunday morning by Rathfarnham WSAF, which event continues to churn out fast times for everyone since its inception in 1998, despite the course not being that flat (indeed there was quite a drag into the wind on the Templeogue Road). However, there aren’t too many turns and the downhills seem to come at the right time in the race.
On a day which saw an increasing blustery wind, but thankfully did not have too much of an impression at the time we were running, and otherwise dry and cool (indeed excellent conditions), we fielded a significant number of runners and came away with kudos, several PBs, even if only a few prizes. It was a truly a race of quality with 31 male and 12 female athletes (in a field of nearly 950) breaking 16 minutes and 18 minutes respectively. We fielded a an extremely strong women’s team which had its work cut out against Donore and Raheny in particular, but where all our members broke 25 minutes. One of our newest club-mates, Niamh Allen, led the girls home in 83rd place overall (6th woman) in a PB time of 17:05, followed by the ever-dependable Orla Drumm (96th overall, 9th woman, in 17:19). The third scorer in the team across the line was Catherine Thornton (176th overall, 22nd woman, in 19:06) running strongly and helping the three to record 2nd place in the team event, out of 18 club teams, only 2 points behind Donore. Rachael Yorke ran a PB to come home in 232nd place overall (37th woman) in a time of 20:06, followed by Emer Kenny (309th overall, 75th woman, in 21:40) after a recent break, Donna Barry (326th overall, 71st woman, in 22:05), Kate Murray (340th overall, 75th woman, 3rd in her age category, in a super 22:10), Olwyn Dunne (380th overall, 86th woman, 5th in her age category, in 23:06), Louise Van der Wildersmeerch (389th overall, 89th woman, in 23:14), running her first race for the club, Aisling Dilworth (407th overall, 94th woman, in 23:31) and Deborah Little, another runner in her first race for the club (494th overall, 127th woman, in a PB time of 24:58). The men’s team, led home by Brendan Murphy, took 7th place out of 24, a decent showing considering that two of the 3 scorers, Rob Cross and Michael Wycherley are masters’ athletes, finishing 5th and 6th in their age category. Brendan placed 23rd in 15:43, followed by Rob in 46th in a time of 16:14, with Michael not too far behind in 52nd in a PB time of 16:23. Garret Dunne was next (56th in 16:28), followed by Ger Forde (65th in a PB time of 16:48), off the back of the Berlin marathon PB he recorded 14 days ago, demonstrating that marathoners really can benefit from residual endurance for a few weeks following a marathon and run speedy times in shorter distance races. Joe McDermott was only a few seconds off a PB in placing 75th in 16:58, and he was followed closely by Frank Hague, breaking 17 minutes for the first time (a PB of 16:59 for 76th place). John McAuley demonstrated that he is still in good form, running 17:03 for 81st place, followed by Seamus MacFloinn, in training for the Dublin marathon, who, on the back of a long run the previous day, ran 17:23 for 99th spot. Newcomer Daan Van Schie was next in 121st place and a time of 17:49, followed by Enda Currid who gave himself a boost from his Berlin experience, placing 132nd in a great time of 18:02. Enda was followed closely by another Berlin veteran, Joe Walsh (134th in 18:04), another super time. Barry McGuirk also ran a satisfying 18:16, to place 148th and further back came James Cottle, another marathoner from Berlin and in training for Dublin, who ran steadily with a strong last km to finish only a second off his PB and winning his age category in a time of 18:53 (164th place). Tim O’Donnell followed James in 213th in a time of 19:46, followed by Patrick Carthy, proudly wearing the club colours for the first time (234th in 20:06), Donal Foley (293rd in an excellent 21:17), Joe Dunne (306th in 21:28) going from strength to strength, newcomer Killian Stokes (403rd in 23:27) and Roland Cottle, just getting back into competitive running after a long lay-off (744th in 28:44). Looking at some of the other 5k races last week, we had participants in the Age Action Sunset 5k in Sandymount on Thursday. The event started and finished in Sean Moore Park and also took in a significant swathe of Sandymount beach. In an event where the winner of the women’s race was Aisling Dilworth’s sister, Orna Dignam, in a total field of 225, Philip Matthews ran well to place 12th in 21:27. Earlier on in the week, we had at least 4 runners in the Sandyford 5k with its field of nearly 600 participants. Luke Davis was first Crusader across the line, placing 17th in 18:53, followed by Leslie Hughes (93rd in 21:22) and Stephen Mulligan (116th in 22:07). Olwyn Dunne also ran, in a team of parkrunners, coming home in 23:30 (164th overall and 22nd female finisher). Further afield, Jon Lawrence ran in the Windsor Half marathon over the weekend, finishing in a time of 1:35, whilst in Birstonas, Lithuania, Donatas Jocius ran in a 10k, finishing in a time of 41:24. Up in his native Monaghan on Sunday Adam Flanagan took part in the Phoenix marathon and winning the event with its field of 67 runners in a great time of 2:51:39. Perhaps because of all the 5ks around, there was less enthusiasm this week around the club for the parkruns, and participation was slightly down from the usual. We had one podium placing, but not in Ireland. Sarah Lyons ran in Milton Keynes with more than 450 other runners, placing 3rd woman finisher (44th overall) in 22:06. Elsewhere, we had 5 participants in Cabinteely. Emma O’Mahony placed 64th overall, 15th woman, in 26:33 and Emma was followed by Fiona Shine (100th overall, 29th woman, in 29:11), Olwyn Dunne (106th overall, 32nd woman, in 29:30), Dee Lawlor, taking it easy (109th in 29:45) and Mairead Cashman was the tail marker (153rd overall, 57th woman, in 48:12). Another packed parkrun was in Poolbeg where Zlatko Kulic led four of our number home. Zlatko ran 19:14 to place 4th, followed by Sharon Woods (36th overall, 5th woman, in 23:34), Ali May Hannigan (45th overall, 9th woman, in 24:47) and Donna Barry (55th overall, 14th woman, in 26:05). Fiona Bane ran in Lees Road, placing 22nd overall, 5th woman, in 23:53, whilst Emer Kenny took part in Castletown taking 167th place overall, 73rd woman, in 34:52. Equally, Colm Foley ran on his own in Griffeen, placing 30th in 23:18. Finally, in St. Anne’s Raheny we had 7 participants. Russell Murphy crossed the line in 73rd place in a time of 21:36, ahead of Colm Kernan (142nd in 23:57), Maria Pertl (185th overall, 32nd woman, in 25:07), Diarmuid Byrne (186th in 25:09), Cliodhna O’Reilly (213th, 42nd woman, in 26:07), Aoife Quinn (335th overall, 89th woman, in 28:55) and Kevin Flynn, another mopper-upper (467th in 37:15). Rathfarnham 5K (946) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Kevin Dooney 1 00:14:29 55 Catherine Mullen 1 00:16:27 Crusaders AC runners 23 Brendan Murphy 00:15:43 46 Rob Cross 00:16:47 52 Michael Wycherley 00:16:23 (PB) 56 Garret Dunne 00:16:28 65 Ger Forde 00:16:48 (PB) 75 Joe McDermott 00:16:58 76 Frank Hague 00:16:59 (PB) 81 John McAuley 00:17:03 83 Niamh Allen 00:17:05 (PB) (6) 96 Orla Drumm 00:17:19 (9) 99 Seamus MacFloinn 00:17:23 121 Daan Van Schie 00:17:49 132 Enda Currid 00:18:02 134 Joe Walsh 00:18:04 148 Barry McGuirk 00:18:16 164 James Cottle 00:18:53 176 Catherine Thornton 00:19:06 (22) 213 Tim O’Donnell 00:19:46 217 Eanna Farrell 00:19:49 (PB) 232 Rachael Yorke 00:20:06 (PB) (37) 234 Patrick Carthy 00:20:06 293 Donal Foley 00:21:17 306 Joe Dunne 00:21:28 309 Emer Kenny 00:21:40 (62) 326 Donna Barry 00:22:05 (71) 340 Kate Murray 00:22:10 (75) 380 Olwyn Dunne 00:23:06 (86) 389 Louise Van der Wildersmeerch 00:23:14 (89) 403 Killian Stokes 00:23:27 407 Aisling Dilworth 00:23:31 (94) 494 Deborah Little 00:24:58 (PB) (127) 744 Roland Cottle 00:28:44 Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/rathfarnham_5k_2018/2754/results Monaghan Phoenix Marathon (67 ) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Adam Flanagan 1 02:51:39 3 Louise Smith 1 02:59:11 Crusaders AC runner 1 Adam Flanagan 02:51:39 Full results here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1sbHk2mgEOG0Uztx3AffFsdUfiN3iNF6-1tzeJLkx5Gs/edit#gid=850612018 Age Action Sunset 5k (225) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Paul O’Neill 1 00:18:18 10 Orna Dignam 1 00:20:44 Crusaders AC runner 12 Philip Matthews 00:21:27 Full results here: http://www.redtagtiming.com/results/AgeAction5km_2018.pdf Sandyford 5k (594) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Robert Corbally 1 00:15:31 28 Aileen Gittens 1 00:19:22 Crusaders AC runners 17 Luke Davis 00:18:53 93 Leslie Hughes 00:21:22 116 Stephen Mulligan 00:22:07 164 Olwyn Dunne 00:23:30 (22) Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/sandyford_5k/2738/results Griffeen Parkrun #276 (147) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Stephen Lawlor 1 00:17:57 27 Amanda Bruce 1 00:23:10 Crusaders AC runner 30 Colm Foley 00:23:18 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/griffeen/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=276 Lees Road Parkrun #176 (80) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Alexiy Budovskiy 1 00:19:33 7 Mary Cahill 1 00:20:48 Crusaders AC runner 22 Fiona Bane 00:23:53 (5) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/leesroad/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=176 Poolbeg Parkrun #57 (93) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Stephen Hurley 1 00:17:05 3 Shona Ni Fhloinn 1 00:19:12 Crusaders AC runners 4 Zlatko Kulic 00:19:14 36 Sharon Woods 00:23:34 (5) 45 Ali May Hannigan 00:24:47 (9) 55 Donna Barry 00:26:05 (14) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/poolbeg/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=57 St. Annes Parkrun #251 (482) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 James Gillanders 1 00:16:49 15 Lucy Barrett 1 00:18:33 Crusaders AC runners 73 Russell Murphy 00:21:36 142 Colm Kernan 00:23:57 185 Maria Pertl 00:25:07 (32) 186 Diarmuid Byrne 00:25:09 213 Cliodhna O’Reilly 00:26:07 (42) 335 Aoife Quinn 00:28:55 (89) 467 Kevin Flynn 00:37:15 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/stannes/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=251 Cabinteely Parkrun #182 (153) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Ted Burke 1 00:19:17 8 Jean Murphy 1 00:21:52 Crusaders AC runners 64 Emma O’Mahony 00:26:33 (15) 100 Fiona Shine 00:29:11 (29) 106 Olwyn Dunne 00:29:30 (32) 109 Derek Lawlor 00:29:45 153 Mairead Cashman 00:48:12 (57) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/cabinteely/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=181 Castletown Parkrun #144 (232) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Gavin Kelly 1 00:18:40 25 Cliodhna Carthy 1 00:22:52 Crusaders AC runner 167 Emer Kenny 00:34:50 (73) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/castletown/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=144 |