It was hard to find any faults on Saturday morning at the Irish Life-organised BHAA 6K XC in Santry demesne. In spite of the Arctic and windy conditions it was a most enjoyable and accurately-timed race (despite the suspicion of a false start!) on a well-established course that had all the right ingredients for a good cross country race. The attendance was super too, providing some excellent competition for several runners looking to get something under their belts in preparation for next weekend’s interclub senior championships, which as usual will double up as the Irish national trials for the European Cross Country championships to be held in December in Chia in Italy. We also had plenty of Crusaders, at least 24 in all, in the combined men’s and women’s race, covering 4 laps of the 1,500m undulating and, in places, muddy course. Thankfully, the anticlockwise race direction ensured that the strong westerly wind had little impact on us, since the valley about 800m into each lap was quite protected from the wind and then it was only in our faces as we came up off the hill beside the walled garden towards the end of each lap. The mud, quite deep in places, did, however, necessitate the use of relatively long spikes and anyone without them found the going quite treacherous in places. Among a total field of 197 finishers (40 of whom were women) Rob Cross and Adrienne Jordan both podiumed in the race, with Rob 3rd overall in 20:16 and Adrienne 3rd woman (47th overall) in 23:19 to a strong-running Ciara Durkin (21:37), back from a long injury absence, and just behind Niamh Devlin (23:14). Newly-appointed men’s captain Michael Kiely was next in 4th in 20:26, followed by Karl Fahy (7th in 21:05) and Michael O’Conor (10th in 21:23). There were also great runs from Ger Forde (20th in 21:57) and Jim Stagg (25th in 22:13). Michael Maughan (45th in 23:16) and Brian Carroll (46th in 23:18) enjoyed an excellent dogfight and also helped Adrienne to come through strongly, whilst Joe Walsh, in his second outing in 3 days (having run in the Run in the Dark 10K on Wednesday evening) also had a surprisingly strong run to place 60th in 23:47. Joe was followed by Alan Sheehy (62nd in 23:51) and by Niamh Boland (67th overall in 24:04) who was 2nd in her age category and 5th woman home. A few seconds behind Niamh came James Cottle, also, like Joe, coming off the midweek Run in the Dark 10K, in 71st place (24:18), winning his age category, having run a significant negative split and unexpectedly having reeled in lots of runners on the way round. Tom Dunne (109th in 26:23) was next, followed by Lisa Shine (114th overall, 13th woman, in 26:37) and her sister Fiona just behind her (115th overall, 14th woman, in 26:38) and they in turn had Robbie Moore (121st in 26:49) and Jocelyn Dufetel (133rd in 27:26) behind them. A clutch of other Crusaders came in just behind Jocelyn, starting with Geraldine Clements (137th overall, 19th woman, in 27:33) and followed by Emer Kenny (138th overall, 20th woman, in 27:34), Tony Hackett (141st in 27:46) and by Dee Ni Chearbhaill who was just returning from a course of anti-biotics (142nd overall, 21st woman, in 27:49). Kate Murray, runner-up in her age category (156th overall, 24th woman, in 28:29), was next and the contingent was completed by Paul Kelly (195th in 36:05). The week’s racing started, however, with the Run in the Dark, two races, a 5K and a 10K, in support of Mark Pollock, the blind paraplegic ex-athlete. The cause is noble and the races are fun, if a little disorganised and this has been the case every year since inception some 6 years ago. Because it’s a charity event there were no prizes for top finishers, just bragging rights. This year, runners did not have to determine until they were on the course whether to run 5 or 10K. The 5K and 10K routes shared the same course up to 4K, leaving the Customs House in Dublin’s Docklands, heading out east along the North Wall to the new Central Bank headquarters where the route worked its way northwards and then around the Point Village, only to return to the North Wall, heading back into town, runners being expected to keep to the left of the road at this time. After 3K the route then took runners over the Sam Beckett bridge, winding around the Grand Canal area and on to Macken Street (Cardiff Lane) where the respective races split and the 5k finish took place on City Quay near the Grant Thornton building, whilst the 10K runners headed out up Macken Street and left along Ringsend Road over the Grand Canal and Dodder bridges (the only real hills in the race), through Irishtown, turning left at the junction next to Sean Moore Park and back over the East link bridge to finish on the North Wall Quay just before the Custom House. The flaw in the arrangement was that at least the first 50 to 100 finishers, probably more, in the 10K had to work their way through the back markers among the more than 3,300 participants in the 5K. Because they were mostly walkers and they had to cross over to the left at around the 3K mark, they took up quite a lot of the road and the 10K runners, completing their 9th and 10th kilometres, had to weave among them to get past. Additionally, it was clear that several of the walkers and slower 5k runners decided not to cross over the Sam Beckett Bridge at all, but to keep going straight towards the 10K finish on the north side of the river, completing only a distance of perhaps 4k in total. As a consequence, and because all the published results are based on chiptimes, several of the 5K walkers ended up having what appears to be exceedingly fast 10K times, and so the results from quite early on cannot be relied on. This is why we have square bracketed several of the finishing positions below. Additionally, there were male runners wearing numbers otherwise attributed to female competitors. The combination of these issues had a dramatic impact on the outcome, particularly of the women’s race, which was probably won by Catherine Thornton who was being cheered all along the second half by spectators as the leading woman, but who was given 3rd in the results so far behind two unknown (and unlikely) runners who would have had to run extremely well in a highly congested field behind her to produce the times recorded for them. There was an intermediate electronic mat at or around the 6k mark that would have been able to separate out those who did not run the full 10K from those that did, but it appears not to have been active. However, the organisers are looking into the results and hopefully they will be amended shortly. The night was extremely chilly and windy, with the run up Macken Street and along the North Wall Quay heading towards town (which the 10k runners had to experience twice) suffering from the strong headwind. Additionally, the early part of the race was congested for several of our runners, particularly heading towards and around the Point. Nevertheless, those runners from the club that we have been able to identify, 5 in the 5K and 11 in the 10K, acquitted themselves well. Vinnie McGuinness ran a super 5k to place 3rd in 16:47, followed by David Timoney (16th in 19:10), Matt Cranley (52nd in 20:13), Luke Haran (66th in 20:26) and by Zlatko Kulic (90th in 20:54). In the 10K, with its nearly 3,700 competitors, Brian O’Kelly, in the first race of two that he ran in 3 days, came home in 5th place in a great time of 34:33. Also in the top 10 was Johannes Frederking who placed 10th in 36:08. After that the finishing positions become a little more questionable, although the chiptimes (if they were recorded) were fine. Peter O’Toole was next with a PB of 37:30 and a likely sub-20th place, but his chip appears to have failed and we await amendment of the results. Joe Walsh, who went on to run in the BHAA XC on Saturday, also ran a super race to finish with a time of 38:00 (given 20th place), followed by Neil Monahan who was a few seconds off his PB with a time of 38:49 (given 28th place). Luca Marchesotti finished about 50m behind James Cottle, after they both ran alongside each other from the 1K mark up to 7k, but his chiptime was 1 second faster as he started further back. Luca was given 73rd place in 40:30, whilst James, who ran a strong negative split and who also went on to run in the BHAA XC on Saturday, came home in 40:31 (given 74th spot). As mentioned, Catherine Thornton, another runner to compete again at the weekend, likely won the women’s race, but, currently the results show her as in 3rd place and she was also given 91st place overall with a time of 41:01. Simon Kenny, making a welcome return to competitive running, was next (given 142nd in 42:00), followed by Matthew Morrow, just recovered from his marathon ordeal (given 403rd in 45:24). The contingent was completed by Suzanne Martin, who, despite her sore calves, was able to run 46:12 and was given 487th place overall. As mentioned, after his exploits in the Run in the Dark 5K on Wednesday night, on Saturday morning Brian O’Kelly turned out again, this time in the Clontarf half marathon, and, competing with more than 1,600 other runners, went on to win the event easily in an excellent time of 1:17:32. Roisin Harkin and Carina Davidson were our only other clubmates identifiable in the race. Roisin placed 197th overall, 20th woman finisher, in 1:38:32, whilst Carina placed 750th overall, 138th finisher, in 1:55:54. Phelim Murray took part in the 5 mile edition, placing 12th out of 670 runners, in a super time of 32:27. Also on Saturday, in her second race in 3 days, Catherine Thornton took on an 8k challenge in Killannin in Co. Galway, the 3rd annual running of the event hosted by Corrib AC. In a field of nearly 50 participants on a particularly hilly and challenging one loop course that took place on roads and through a forest, Catherine won the women’s race, placing 5th overall in a strong time of 32:45. On Friday morning Leo Lundy took on another ultra marathon, the 34.5 mile Battle of the Somme commemoration in Hampshire. Leo had already run the same course earlier in the year to mark the beginning of the battle. The latest running was to commemorate its end. In any event, Leo ran a commendable 6:29:36 and placed 4th out of 152 finishers. Paul O'Meara took on the undulating and cold EOI Balbriggan half marathon on Saturday morning, finishing 21st out of 56 participants with a great time of 1:27. Further afield, over the weekend Pat Quill took on the JFK 50 miler, the USA’s oldest ultramarathon, held in the Appalachian Mountains in Maryland near the famous Civil War battlefield of Antietam. The weather conditions were relatively benign but Pat suffered from the different surfaces presented in the race, is it moved from technical trail to road and, without a change of footwear (he ran in trail shoes), had to deal with extremely painful knees towards the end. Even so, among the 800 or so starters, Pat placed a creditable 106th in 8:29:04. In keeping with our podium finishes this weekend, the club had considerable success in the parkruns on Saturday morning, with only a few of our clubmates actually taking part. Our newly elected club President, Niall O’Connell, took 18 seconds off his previous time for the course by coming home as first finisher in Cabinteely. In a field of nearly 70 runners on the hilly course, Niall finished in a time of 19:18. Gemma Nagle also improved on her recent time (a 2 minutes improvement over last week) by running 26:40 and placing 41st overall (14th woman). Likewise, in Marlay, Alban Coghlan led home a field of 465 finishers in a time of 16:24. Maria Pertl was our sole representative in St. Anne’s, placing 108th overall out of nearly 250 runners, and 20th woman finisher, in a time of 25:35. In Malahide Colm Kernan continues on the comeback trail, placing 12th out of more than 200 participants in a time of 19:55. Finally, Suzanne Collins placed 158th overall, 54th woman, in Malahide, in a time of 30:17. BHAA Irish Life Combined 6K XC Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Cillian O’Leary 1 00:19:53 15 Ciara Durkin 1 00:21:37 Crusaders AC runners 3 Rob Cross 00:20:16 4 Michael Kiely 00:20:26 7 Karl Fahy 00:21:05 9 Michael O’Conor 00:21:23 20 Ger Forde 00:21:57 25 Jim Stagg 00:22:13 45 Michael Maughan 00:23:16 46 Brian Carroll 00:23:18 47 Adrienne Jordan 00:23:19 60 Joe Walsh 00:23:47 62 Alan Sheehy 00:23:51 67 Niamh Boland 00:24:04 71 James Cottle 00:24:18 109 Tom Dunne 00:26:23 114 Lisa Shine 00:26:37 115 Fiona Shine 00:26:38 121 Robbie Moore 00:26:49 133 Jocelyn Dufetel 00:27:26 137 Geraldine Clements 00:27:33 138 Emer Kenny 00:27:34 141 Tony Hackett 00:27:46 142 Dee Ni Chearbhaill 00:27:49 156 Kate Murray 00:28:29 195 Paul Kelly 00:36:05 Full results here: https://bhaa.ie/events/irish-life-cc-2016/ Run in the Dark Dublin 5K Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Richard Owens 1 00:16:04 35 Jennifer Dillon-Murphy 1 00:19:45 Crusaders AC runners 3 Vinnie McGuinness 00:16:47 16 David Timoney 00:19:10 52 Matt Cranley 00:20:13 66 Luke Haran 00:20:26 90 Zlatko Kulic 00:20:54 Full results here: http://results.runinthedark.ie/?event_id=41 Run in the Dark 10K Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Donal Foley 00:34:07 [[91] Catherine Thornton 1 00:41:01] Crusaders AC runners 5 Brian O’Kelly 00:34:33 10 Johannes Frederking 00:36:08 00 Peter O’Toole 00:37:30 (PB) [20] Joe Walsh 00:38:00 [28] Neil Monahan 00:38:49 [73] Luca Marchesotti 00:40:30 [74] James Cottle 00:40:31 [91] Catherine Thornton 00:41:01 [142] Simon Kenny 00:42:00 [403] Matthew Morrow 00:42:54 [487] Suzanne Martin 00:46:12 Full results here: http://results.runinthedark.ie/?event_id=41 Clontarf Half marathon Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Brian O’Kelly 1 01:17:32 21 Natalie Wangler 01:26:54 Crusaders AC runners 1 Brian O’Kelly 01:17:32 197 Roisin Harkin 01:38:32 750 Carina Davidson 01:55:54 Full results here: http://www.redtagtiming.com/ Clontarf 5 mile Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Conor Healy 1 00:27:02 15 Grace Kennedy 1 00:32:49 Crusaders AC runner 12 Phelim Murray 00:32:27 Full results here: http://www.redtagtiming.com/ Killannin 8K Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Neil O’Leary 1 00:30:09 5 Catherine Thornton 1 00:32:45 Crusaders AC runner 5 Catherine Thornton 00:32:54 Full results here: https://www.facebook.com/corribathleticclub/?fref=ts Malahide Parkrun #211 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Annette Kealy 1 00:18:27 2 Chris Downey 1 00:18:37 Crusaders AC runners 12 Colm Kernan 00:19:55 158 Suzanne Collins 00:30:17 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/malahide/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=211 Marlay Parkrun #184 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Alban Coghlan 1 00:16:24 16 Eimer Fitzmaurice 1 00:19:33 Crusaders AC runner 1 Alban Coghlan 00:16:24 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/marlay/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=184 Cabinteely Parkrun #86 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Niall O’Connell 1 00:19:18 6 Malika Hammani 1 00:21:18 Crusaders AC runner 41 Gemma Nagle 00:26:40 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/cabinteely/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=86 St Anne’s Parkrun #157 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Ian Christopher Conroy 1 00:15:39 17 Jenny Mulryq 1 00:19:29 Crusaders AC runner 108 Maria Pertl 00:25:35 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/stannes/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=157 On Saturday morning, on a challenging hilly course in Tollcross Park in Glasgow, Ciaran Diviney took part in the annual British and Irish Masters Cross Country International, representing Ireland for the first time. Ciaran was the sixth member of the Irish O/40 team which on the day placed 2nd behind England (13 points) and ahead of Scotland (40 points) on countback. Nowhere was it so true that every place counts as in this event as the 4 Scottish scorers came home in 3rd, 7th, 13th and 17th, whilst the 4 scorers for the Irish team (Richard Gorman, Paul Fleming, Paul Buckley and Frank Quinlan) finished in 8th, 9th, 11th and 12th places, respectively. The difference was made by Roibeard Millar and Ciaran finishing in 15th and 16th positions, Ciaran taking the Scottish 4th scorer on the line and ensuring that the Irish team won on countback (the 4th Irish scorer being further up the field than the 4th Scot). Nail-biting stuff and a tremendous credit to Ciaran who had been drafted in as first reserve. The M40 field was 28-strong and included runners from all of the 4 UK home nations as well as from Ireland. Ireland placed 2nd overall in the international competition, behind England and ahead of Sotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Results can be found via the following link: http://scottishmastersathletics.webnode.com/products/british-irish-masters-international-2016-results/ Although we only had two runners in the Leinster Seniors in Tyrrelspass, Co. Westmeath on Sunday, women’s captain Ilona McElroy and Irene Gorman acquitted themselves well. On a familiar, relatively dry but undulating, course among a field of 35 runners and in a race won by Donore’s Barbara Cleary who had placed 3rd behind Ciara Mageean and Caroline Crowley last week in the Dublin seniors, Irene managed to reverse last week’s placings by taking 6th spot, with Ilona just 14 seconds behind in 9th place. It was an excellent workout for the duo, who, by virtue of ineligibility from having run so well in previous races, are limited in the number of county and regional competitions they can enter. On Saturday recent Dublin marathoners Kris Ryan, Leo Lundy and Kate Murray took part in the Festival of running at Tollymore Forest Park in the Mourne mountains. This was on a savage, but stunning, course giving up close to 2,000ft of climb for every 13.1 mile loop. In the half marathon with 427 finishers ex-Crusader (and recently returned to these shores from his native Denmark) Torben Dahl won the race in a highly impressive 1:24 with Kate Murray running strongly for a 1:52:56 result, 119th overall and 20th woman home. Our Ultra runners had a tougher day on the 6,000ft, 3 lap course. Around 100 runners started with only 70 finishing. Kris, who was defending her title, just missed out on a podium place, coming in as 4th woman and 23rd overall in 6:53:25. Leo had a tough day coming home in 43rd spot with what he described as a laboured 7:31:44. Recent Dublin marathoner Brian O’Kelly continues to impress and this week he was first finisher in the St. Anne’s parkrun. In a time of 16:55 he led home a field of 316 runners. Paul O’Meara also had a good outing when he took part in the parkrun in Malahide. Paul placed 8th out of 308 runners in a time of 18:45 and he was accompanied in the event by Sharon Woods (86th overall, 11th female finisher, in 24:10) and by Suzanne Collins (238th overall, 85th female, in 30:54). In Marlay, among a field of 526 runners, David Timoney placed 27th in 20:08 and he was followed by Mary Noelle Rohan (408th overall, 130th woman, in 31:16). In Glasgow, Aidan Hudner placed 71st out of more than 250 participants with a time of 23:06, whilst in Naas Ciara McElligott placed 87th overall, 35th woman, in a time of 32:18. Ciara was running with 110 other participants. With a time of 23:34 Brendan Kieran placed 25th out of more than 90 runners in Poppintree, whilst Donal Foley was also a solo representative for the club in Hartstown, finishing in 13th spot out of nearly 50 runners, in a time of 21:56. Mairead Cashman placed 154th overall, 46th woman, in the 248-strong field in Ballincollig with a time of 29:45, whilst Gemma Nagle placed 65th overall (18th female finisher) out of nearly 100 runners in Cabinteely in a time of 28:33. Finally, our largest contingent took part in Tymon. Among a field of 88 participants, Diarmuid Byrne placed 7th in 19:16, whilst Maria Pertl finished just ahead of Lisa Shine in 31st place overall (5th woman home) in 25:12. Lisa placed 34th overall (7th woman finisher) in 25:33, with Mairin Shine taking 56th spot overall (19th woman) in 28:51. Sunday marked the annual staging of the unchipped and untimed Remembrance Run in the north end of the Phoenix Park and we include a couple of photos from that event. Leinster Seniors Women’s XC Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Barbara Cleary 1 00:17:56 1 Crusaders AC runners 6 Irene Gorman 00:18:51 9 Ilona McElroy 00:19:05 Full results here: http://www.myrunresults.com/events/leinster_cc_senior%2c_jnr__u19_results/1954/results Tollymore Ultra Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Nicki McPeak 05:23:11 Crusaders AC runners 23 Kris Ryan 06:53:25 43 Leo Lundy 07:31:44 Full results here: http://www.26extreme.com/DataEditorUploads/TTMResults2.pdf Tollymore Half Marathon Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Torben Dahl 01:24:08 Crusaders AC runner 119 Kate Murray 01:52:56 Full results here: http://www.26extreme.com/DataEditorUploads/TTMResults2.pdf Naas Parkrun #137 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Philip Niland 1 00:17:09 19 Olivia Archbold 1 00:22:01 Crusaders AC runner 87 Ciara McElligott 00:32:18 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/naas/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=137 Malahide Parkrun #210 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Feidhlim Kelly 1 00:16:35 25 Ashley Pia Ryan 1 00:20:24 Crusaders AC runners 8 Paul O’Meara 00:18:45 86 Sharon Woods 00:24:10 238 Suzanne Collins 00:30:54 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/malahide/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=210 Hartstown Parkrun #105 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Peter Daniel 1 00:18:30 17 Margaret O’Friel 00:24:12 Crusaders AC runner 13 Donal Foley 00:21:56 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/hartstown/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=105 Marlay Parkrun #183 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Arnaud Malinconi 1 00:17:28 19 Shona Keane 1 00:19:30 Crusaders AC runners 27 David Timoney 00:20:08 408 Mary Noelle Ryan 00:31:16 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/marlay/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=183 Cabinteely Parkrun #85 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Jim Quinn 1 00:19:49 6 Malika Hammani 1 00:21:04 Crusaders AC runner 65 Gemma Nagle 00:28:33 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/cabinteely/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=85 Tymon Parkrun #126 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Ronan Kearns 1 00:17:07 10 Lena Sinclair 1 00:20:00 Crusaders AC runners 7 Diarmuid Byrne 00:19:16 31 Maria Pertl 00:25:12 34 Lisa Shine 00:25:33 56 Mairin Shine 00:28:51 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/tymon/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=126 Ballincollig Parkrun #22 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Rory O’Sullivan 1 00:16:44 6 Siobhan Horgan 1 00:19:24 Crusaders AC runner 154 Mairead Cashman 00:29:45 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/ballincollig/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=22 St Anne’s Parkrun #156 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Brian O’Kelly 1 00:16:55 53 Crona Brady 1 00:22:27 Crusaders AC runner 1 Brian O’Kelly 00:16:55 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/stannes/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=156 Poppintree Parkrun #106 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Colm Delaney 1 00:17:18 18 Mairead Doherty 1 00:23:09 Crusaders AC runner 25 Brendan Kieran 00:23:34 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/poppintree/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=106 Were we second or were we third? That was the big question on Crusaders’ lips at the finish of the Women’s Dublin Seniors XC race in Santry on Sunday afternoon. We knew that Donore would pack the race in an effort to win for their club the first presentation of a new trophy named in honour of the late Jim McNamara. Cleary DSD were winners of the gold medal this year (denying Cru women a “threepeat” of the title in the process) with their 4 scorers (4,5,7 and 10) among the first 10 finishers, but Barbara Cleary’s amazing run to place 3rd behind Ciara Mageean and Caroline Crowley threw some doubt as to whether we had taken the silver medal. In the final analysis we held on to win by 7 points (39 to 46), 13 points behind DSD (26). Orla Drumm’s super run to take her from 8th to 6th and, likewise with strong runs, Ilona McElroy (15th) and Irene Gorman (16th) splitting the 3rd and 4th scorers for Donore, was enough. Niamh Boland (27th) and Mary Horgan (32nd) had runs that added to the excitement and anticipation too. There was plenty for us on the sidelines to enjoy in the spectacle. The day was windy, although it did not seem to trouble the runners too much as the demesne appears to be quite well protected in that respect. The course was undulating on one side with a slight climb about 1000m into a 1,500m loop, which the 50 women in the event had to negotiate 4 times in their 6k race. There was virtually no mud on the course, which if there had been might arguably have changed the outcome of the race, as Caroline, who took second place after running for most of the race side by side with Ciara, is extremely strong in muddy conditions, as witnessed by her sterling performance last November in the interclubs. However, Ciara’s track speed paid off for her on Sunday. In stark contrast to the women’s event, the 57-strong 10k men’s race was dominated by Raheny, with an impressive showing from 3 of their athletes, with podium finishes, led by Olympian Mick Clohisey who won by a country mile. Indeed, all 6 of their scorers (46 points in total) placed in the top 20 finishers. Along with 2 runners from Donore (2nd with 110 points), including John Travers, who had to settle for 5th place in the end, they lapped many in the field. Still, our men acquitted themselves well in such a quality race and our 6 scorers placed 6th team overall (177) (only just behind Clonliffe (163) and well ahead of Liffey Valley (257) in 7th). Alban Coghlan managed to pull away from Rob Cross towards the end of the race and take 21st place. Rob, sprinting for the line as though his life depended on it, took 25th spot and he was followed by Vinnie McGuinness running equally as strongly to take 29th. The order for our remaining runners was Ciaran Diviney (32nd), enjoying a decent blowout before his trip to Perth in Scotland next week to represent Ireland in the masters 5 nations tournament. Ciaran was followed by Michael Kiely (33rd), who was in turn followed by John Mulvihill (37th), Michael O’Conor (40th) and Jim Stagg (43rd). On Saturday morning Yvonne Macauley was joined by other members of her family to run in the Movember 10k in the Phoenix Park. We had two Crusaders running among the 563 contestants, Yvonne and Brian O’Kelly, and both won their respective races. The course involved two 5k loops in the north of the park, incorporating the usual Furze Road, Chesterfield Ave, the Furry Glen and part of the Upper Glen Road, so it was by no means flat. The course may have measured slightly long and, in addition, backmarkers from the 5k that started a few minutes before the 10k event combined to force the 10k leaders to weave quite a bit. It was surprising, therefore, that our two runners turned in such excellent times. Brian ran 33:54 and Yvonne placed 9th overall to win the women’s race in 38:51, despite both slowing down a little in the second half. The first Sunday in November sees the running of the New York City marathon, always an incredible spectacle, and Sunday’s running of it, its 47th edition since the first one in 1970, was no exception. 50,000 runners took to the street in bright sunshine and relatively mild temperatures with a little breeze. The race saw its youngest winner at 20, the Eritrean world champion Ghirmay Ghebreslassie, in a time of 2:07:51, with 3 times winner of the women’s race, Mary Keitany also winning easily in 2::24. It’s a challenging race as there are many bridges to cross as the runners pass through the 5 boroughs of New York, from Staten Island, ultimately finishing in Manhattan’s hilly Central Park. Our 5 participants acquitted themselves well, with two of them achieving PBs. Federico Corradini, our Milan-based Italian exile, led our runners home, placing 586th overall in 2:56:19 and running level splits. Federico was followed by the two PB-recording runners, TJ Bourke who achieved 2:59:04 (804th place), also running evenly throughout the race and by Joe McDermott, who was on for a sub-3 hours’ time early on, but found the going tough in the second half. Still, Joe was able to record a significant PB of 3:05:51 (1,277th place). Jane Wallace was a few minutes off last year’s Dublin marathon time, but ran well to place 5,184th overall (847th woman home) in a time of 3:33:27. Finally, Bob Manson in his 50th marathon had a leisurely run, for him, to finish in 3:56:28 (11,712th place). After last week’s marathon adventure, Maria Pertl and Diarmuid Byrne took advantage of a business trip and a well-earned break in Denmark to run in the Amager Faelled parkrun in Copenhagen. In a field of 64 participants, they came in side by side in 23rd and 24th places (Maria placing 4th woman home) in respective times of 25:01 and 25:02. Meanwhile, in New Ross, Dee Ni Chearbhaill, placed first woman finisher in a time of 22:12 and 5th overall in a field of nearly 50 runners. Niall O’Connell also put in a good time in Ballincollig, despite suffering a bit in the second half. Niall placed 9th out more than 300 runners in a time of 19:32. He was joined in the event by Lisa Shine who came home in 70th place (9th female finisher) in a time of 24:15. Donal Foley took on Hartstown. In a field of 42 participants Donal ran an excellent time of 21:42 to place 8th. On a day when numbers in the parkruns were well and truly up again (a nice crisp but chilly morning), Neil Brown and Mary Noelle Rohan joined the nearly 500-strong field in Marlay Park. Neil placed 119th in 23:54 and Mary placed 386th (100th woman) in 30:51. There were 256 runners in Malahide on the day and Darina Scully placed 36th overall, 5th woman home, in another sparkling time of 21:06, knocking 10 seconds off her recent 5k PB. Suzanne Collins also ran, placing 21st overall (66th woman) in 30:47. In Glasgow, Aidan Hudner placed 70th out of 334 runners in a time of 22:22. Olwyn Dunne and Suzanne Martin took on their home parkrun in Cabinteely. Suzanne, nursing an Achilles issue, was still able to place 13th overall (3rd woman home) in a time of 22:45, whilst Olwyn, recovering from her pacing duties in last week’s marathon, ran a sedate (for her) 29:37 to place 60th overall (19th female finisher). The field measured nearly 90 participants. Finally, in St. Anne’s, among more than 300 runners, Fiona Shine came home in 85th place (13th woman) in a time of 22:55. Dublin Seniors Women’s XC Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Ciara Mageean 1 00:19:32 Crusaders AC runners 2 Caroline Crowley 00:19:41 6 Orla Drumm 00:20:40 15 Ilona McElroy 00:21:45 16 Irene Gorman 00:21:48 27 Niamh Boland 00:22:25 32 Mary Horgan 00:23:07 Full results here: http://www.dublinathletics.com/ Dublin Seniors Men’s XC Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Mick Clohisey 1 00:28:47 Crusaders AC runners 21 Alban Coghlan 00:32:21 25 Rob Cross 00:32:35 29 Vinnie McGuinness 00:32:56 32 Ciaran Diviney 00:33:08 33 Michael Kiely 00:33:12 37 John Mulvihill 00:33:42 40 Michael O’Conor 00:34:12 43 Jim Stagg 00:34:51 Full results here: http://www.dublinathletics.com/ Movember Run 10K Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Brian O’Kelly 1 00:33:54 9 Yvonne Macauley 1 00:38:51 Crusaders AC runners 1 Brian O’Kelly 00:33:54 9 Yvonne Macauley 00:38:51 Full results here: https://www.mo-running.com/dublin/results New York Marathon Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Ghirmay Ghebreslassie 1 02:07:51 24 Mary Keitany 1 02:24:26 Crusaders AC runners 586 Federico Corradini 02:56:19 804 TJ Bourke 02:59:04 (PB) 1277 Joe McDermott 03:05:51 (PB) 5184 Jane Wallace 03:33:27 11712 Bob Manson 03:56:28 Full results here: http://web2.nyrrc.org/cgi-bin/htmlos.cgi/07284.1.025912598210810185 Malahide Parkrun #209 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Kevin Thompson 1 00:17:11 4 Isabel Carron 1 00:18:47 Crusaders AC runners 36 Darina Scully 00:21:06 (PB) 221 Suzanne Collins 00:30:47 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/malahide/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=209 Hartstown Parkrun #104 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Jonathan Martin 1 00:19:48 14 Michele McNamee 1 00:24:38 Crusaders AC runner 8 Donal Foley 00:21:42 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/hartstown/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=104 Marlay Parkrun #182 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Arnaud Malinconi 1 00:17:27 22 Paula Prendergast 1 00:19:59 Crusaders AC runners 119 Neil Brown 00:23:54 386 Mary Noelle Rohan 00:30:51 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/marlay/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=182 Cabinteely Parkrun #84 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Matt Coughlan 1 00:19:36 6 Malika Hammani 1 00:20:56 Crusaders AC runners 13 Suzanne Martin 00:22:45 60 Olwyn Dunne 00:29:37 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/cabinteely/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=82 New Ross Parkrun #76 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Brendan Lyng 1 00:19:13 5 Dee Ni Chearbhaill 1 00:22:12 Crusaders AC runner 5 Dee Ni Chearbhaill 00:22:12 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/newross/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=76 Ballincollig Parkrun #21 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Conor Dolan 1 00:17:05 21 Geraldine O’Shea 1 00:20:54 Crusaders AC runners 9 Niall O’Connell 00:19:32 70 Lisa Shine 00:24:15 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/ballincollig/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=21 St Anne’s Parkrun #155 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Peter Leonard 1 00:17:29 23 Caitriona Costello 1 00:20:18 Crusaders AC runner 85 Fiona Shine 00:22:54 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/stannes/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=155 |