The BHAA should have been delighted this weekend with the number of Crusaders who turned out for the combined Irish Life 6K XC in Santry Demesne. Indeed, with our 24 or more runners, we represented more than 10% of the field of nearly 230 participants. The race is held on a slightly different course from that of the Dublin Seniors, in that the hill next to the walled garden came into play on the 1.5km loop, making for some excellent opportunities for runners to make strategic moves and by all accounts the course wasn’t as muddy as in previous years. Our first runner home was Ger Forde in 14th place (21:21) ahead of Frank Halligan, in his first outing since his super run in the Dublin marathon (16th in 21:28). Diarmuid O’Foghlu has got over his recent leg injury and took 38th spot in 22:18, followed by John McAuley (44th in 22:34). Enda Currid was next (55th in 22:58), followed by our first female athlete, Caroline Crowley (61st overall, 4th woman home, in 23:18), with Michael Maughan hot on her heels (62nd in 23:19). A short gap opened up before our next runner, David Long, crossed the line (75th in 23:51, and 4th in his age category) who came in ahead of a bunch led by TJ Bourke (99th in 24:58) together with Tim O’Donnell (100th in 24:59), Marius McNicholas (101st in 25:00) and Niamh Corby (102nd overall, 6th woman, and 1st in her age category, in 25:01). The final places were completed by Rachel Yorke with another strong run (108th overall, 7th woman, in 25:21), Tom Dunne (119th in 25:50), Phelim Murray (133rd in 26:17), Brendan Glynn (139th in 26:51), Sarah Lyons (143rd overall, 9th woman, in 27:01), Pat Quill (145th in 27:08), Robbie Moore (155th in 27:29), Kate Murray (158th overall, 14th woman and 3rd in her age cat, in 27:37), Emer Kenny (160th overall, 15th woman, in 27:40), Maria Kennedy (169th overall, 18th woman, in 28:11), Mairead Cashman (218th overall, 35th woman and 4th in her age cat, in 34:53) and Paul Kelly (228th in 42:19). Also, on Saturday morning, in Swansea in South Wales, Rob Cross and James Cottle took part in the annual British and Irish masters international cross country competition, having qualified to run in the recent Open XC race in Abbottstown a week before the Dublin marathon. This year the event was being hosted by Wales and next year it will be the turn of the English in Southport. It is due to return to Santry (likely to be the same course as the BHAA) in 2020. Each race comprised at least 3 age categories, with a minimum generally of 60 runners on a course that was extremely challenging. Each loop was 2k and following a downhill start halfway up the park it zigzagged in a series of switchbacks up approx. 1km, then across a ridge for about 100m and then down the other side for approx. 700m to a flattish continuation or finish near the start line. At the bottom of the course there was plenty of mud (stirred up by the racers) and the terrain was uneven everywhere with us having to jump the odd ditch and avoid potholes. A few plastic sheets were laid down to help us across at least 4 paths and there were some tight corners in places as well. We enjoyed sunny and mild conditions with a fresh breeze that was into our faces on the descent to the finish. After the women’s race which also comprised the M65 category, James’ race went off with the M50s, M55s and his category, the M60s. We were all generally in teams of 4 with 3 to score. It was always going to be a fast and furious start and there was at least one casualty, a Welshman, being tripped to the ground within 50m of the gun. James decided to take it steady and rely on runners coming back to him. He didn’t panic too much when he realised that 200m from the start he was definitely in last place. However, his even splits around the course did pay off as he was able to haul in 5 runners (2 Welsh (including their 3rd scorer) and 2 Northern Irish (their 2nd and 3rd scorers)) and, on the line, one of our own M55 team. When the smoke had cleared, the Irish team had taken 3rd place and a bronze medal behind two strong teams from England and Scotland and ahead of Northern Ireland and Wales. Rob, then went off in the 3rd race of the day, the 3 categories in the range from 35 to 49, with teams of as many as 6 runners, 4 to score. Although, like James, Rob was a non-scorer for the team, he acquitted himself well considering he was suffering from a recurrent Achilles injury, made worse on such a challenging course and like James, spoiled at least one country’s scoring place. The M45s team, in which Rob was a member, did extremely well, taking silver, again behind a dominant English squad. So, after adding up all the scores, the Irish team came second in both men’s and women’s events and second overall, behind England. A highly successful and satisfactory outcome! Other successful and satisfactory outcomes over the weekend included that of our exile, Stephen Moore, our man in Berlin, who ran in the Grunewald forest marathon. Showing that he really hasn’t lost much of his edge, if at all, he won the event in a course record time of 2:44:47 on a course that was held on a mixture of forest trails and hills in chilly conditions. We also produced another winner at the weekend. Fresh from his recent success in the NY marathon, Kieran Little made use of his residual endurance to win the Clontarf half marathon on Saturday morning. Kieran’s time of 1:12:13 was singularly impressive given that the race is run on a mixture of tarmac, concrete and sand and on a course where the wind always seems to be in your face. Kieran was followed home by Rob Browne who had yet another excellent outing. In a field of more than 1600 finishers, Rob placed 26th in 1:25:17 and he was followed by Luke Davis (55th in 1:28:31), Patrick Needham (57th in 1:28:40) in his fastest time for that particular race, Aidan Flynn (118th in 1:33:40) and Olwyn and Joe Dunne who paced the sub-2 hour runners coming home in an identical time of 1:59:43. There was, as usual, a 5 mile race added on for good measure and it attracted more than 750 finishers. Gemma Cooper placed 116th overall, 36th female, in 40:23, whilst Deborah Little placed 219th overall, 86th female, in 53:54. Elsewhere, Leslie Lluyd Hughes placed 26th in a time of 46:12 in the Gingerbread 10k run, with its field of nearly 650 runners, whilst in the half marathon, Gillian Lyons joined approx. 800 other runners, finishing in 161st place overall, 30th female, in 1:44:53. Further afield, our exile in Canada, Ian Kinsella ran in the Aravaipa Running pass Mountain 50k, taking 6th spot in a strong field, whilst Leo Lundy ran in yet another Ultra, this time the “Winter is Coming” race outside London. Finally, here is a round-up of the weekend’s parkrun action. Karl Walsh headed off to South Africa for a delayed honeymoon and took time off to come home as first finisher in a field of 183 in Krysna. Karl’s winning time was 19:08. In Glasgow, Aidan Hudner joined more than 400 other runners and placed 119th in 23:37. Closer to home, Dee Lawlor took 2nd place in Cabinteely in a time cof 18:14, followed by Maria del Carmen Jimenez Campos, who placed 17th overall, 3rd woman, in 23:12. Adam Flanagan also took 2nd place in a time of 18:13 in Monaghan, whilst Edwina Quinlan replicated the feat placing 46th overall, 2nd female, in 22:41 in Poolbeg. In the same event, Fiona Bane took 4th place (51st overall) in 22:54 and the two were joined by Zlatko Kulic (17th in 20:14), David O’Donnell (35th in 21:49), Louise Van Der Wildersmeersch (61st overall, 9th woman, in 24:00), Ali May Hannigan (71st overall, 13th female, in 25:03), Cliodhna O’Reilly (79th overall, 18th woman, in 25:47) and Gillian Curran (82nd overall, 20th woman, in 26:01). David Carter took 3rd spot in 19:13 in Navan, whilst Cormac McGuire finished in 8th place in Tolka valley with a time of 24:36. In Malahide, Brian Scanlan ran to 18th place in 20:34, followed by Darina Scully (273rd overall, 105th woman, in 31:59). Maria Pertl finished 66th overall, 22nd woman, in 29:23 in Poppintree, whilst Matt Cranley pushed his buggy into 23rd place in 20:04 in St. Anne’s. We finish with Orlaith de Burca’s result in Shanganagh, where she finished 67th overall, 10th female, in 25:53. BHAA Irish Life 6k (229) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Darragh Rennicks 1 00:19:41 13 Laura Shaughnessy 1 00:21:15 Crusaders AC runners 14 Ger Forde 00:21:21 16 Frank Halligan 00:21:28 38 Diarmuid O’Foghlu 00:22:18 44 John McAuley 00:22:34 55 Enda Currid 00:22:58 61 Caroline Crowley 00:23:18 (4) 62 Michael Maughan 00:23:19 75 David Long 00:23:51 99 TJ Bourke 00:24:58 100 Tim O’Donnell 00:24:59 101 Marius McNicholas 00:25:00 102 Niamh Corby 00:25:01 (6) 108 Rachel Yorke 00:25:21 (7) 119 Tomas Dunne 00:25:50 133 Phelim Murray 00:26:17 139 Brendan Glynn 00:26:51 143 Sarah Lyons 00:27:01 (9) 145 Pat Quill 00:27:08 155 Robbie Moore 00:27:29 158 Kate Murray 00:27:37 (14) 160 Emer Kenny 00:27:40 (15) 169 Maria Kennedy 00:28:11 (18) 218 Mairead Cashman 00:34:53 (35) 228 Paul Kelly 00:42:19 Full results here: https://bhaa.ie/race/irish-life-6km-2018/ Clontarf 5 mile (766) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Roger Gabarra 1 00:29:17 5 Zoe Quinn 1 00:30:33 Crusaders AC runners 116 Gemma Cooper 00:40:23 (36) 219 Deborah Little 00:43:54 (86) Full results here: http://www.redtagtiming.com/ Clontarf Half marathon (1605) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Kieran Little 1 01:12:13 18 Louisa MacKenzie 1 01:18:18 Crusaders AC runners 1 Kieran Little 01:12:13 26 Robert Browne 01:25:17 55 Luke Davis 01:28:31 57 Patrick Needham 01:28:40 118 Aidan Flynn 01:33:40 1045 Olwyn Dunne 01:59:43 (pacer) 1046 Joe Dunne 01:59:43 (pacer) Full results here: http://www.redtagtiming.com/ Gingerbread Run 10k (633) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime Mick Kelly 1 00:34:40 24 Alicia Ashmore 1 00:46:23 Crusaders AC runner 26 Leslie Lluyd Hughes 00:46:12 Full results here: https://www.popupraces.ie/the-gingerbread-run-2018/#1_7336A4 Gingerbread Run Half marathon (812) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Alexander Wallace 1 01:11:40 14 Sharon Kiely 1 01:28:39 Crusaders AC runner 161 Gillian Lyons 01:44:53 (30) Full results here: https://www.popupraces.ie/the-gingerbread-run-2018/#2_9D70EA Malahide Parkrun #314 (321) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Sean Dockrell 1 00:18:21 28 Aileen Dooley 1 00:21:14 Crusaders AC runners 18 Brian Scanlan 00:20:34 273 Darina Scully 00:31:59 (105) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/malahide/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=314 Navan Parkrun #158 (121) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Matthew Kelly 1 00:17:10 25 Paula Hegarty 1 00:21:14 Crusaders AC runner 3 David Carter 00:19:13 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/navan/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=158 Poolbeg Parkrun #64 (128) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 John Lenehan 1 00:16:08 27 Aine Kenny 1 00:20:59 Crusaders AC runners 17 Zlatko Kulic 00:20:14 35 David O’Donnell 00:21:49 46 Edwina Quinlan 00:22:41 (2) 51 Fiona Bane 00:22:54 (4) 61 Louise Van Der Wildersmeersch 00:24:00 (9) 71 Ali May Hannigan 00:25:03 (13) 79 Cliodhna O’Reilly 00:25:47 (18) 82 Gillian Curran 00:26:01 (20) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/poolbeg/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=64 St Annes’s Parkrun #258 (377) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Paul Cowhie1 00:17:12 24 Hannah Craddock 1 00:20:06 Crusaders AC runner 23 Matt Cranley 00:20:04 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/stannes/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=258 Shanganagh Parkrun #189 (132) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Liam Blackburn 1 00:17:07 20 Sarah O’Connor 1 00:21:05 Crusaders AC runner 67 Orlaith de Burca 00:25:53 (10) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/shanganagh/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=189 Poppintree Parkrun #209 (151) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Philip Doyle 1 00:18:35 16 Julie Cleary 1 00:21:41 Crusaders AC runner 66 Maria Pertl 00:29:23 (22) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/poppintree/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=209 Tolka Valley Parkrun #39 (35) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Kevin Deery 1 00:19:12 7 Miriam Kearney 1 00:24:03 Crusaders AC runner 8 Cormac McGuire 00:24:36 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/tolkavalley/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=39 Cabinteely Parkrun #189 (125) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Byron Edwards 1 00:17:32 3 Orna Dilworth 1 00:19:49 Crusaders AC runners 2 Derek Lawlor 00:18:14 17 Maria del Carmen Jimenez Campos 00:23:12 (3) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/cabinteely/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=189 Monaghan Parkrun #56 (60) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Eskander Turki 1 00:16:38 10 Eimear O’Brien 1 00:21:24 Crusaders AC runner 2 Adam Flanagan 00:18:13 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/monaghan/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=56 On a night that saw a dramatic break-in at Irishtown stadium, denying the club training the following evening, we had at least 21 Crusaders in the substantial field of nearly 6,600 runners in the annual running (its 5th) of the Run in the Dark (for Mark). It is one of the fund raisers for research into paraplegic injuries involving Mark Pollock. Each year the course changes and this year’s, last Wednesday, was no exception, with lots of twists and turns around Dublin’s docklands and bringing into play Ringsend, the Eastlink Bridge and the Point. It’s not a PB event, particularly with the significant congestion experienced with so many participants in both the 5k and 10k editions of the race. At least conditions were dry on the night, if a little cold and breezy. In the 5k, we had some super performances, notably starting with a 2nd place finish from Peter O’Toole, who had had an excellent run the previous Sunday in the Dublin Seniors XC. Peter ran 17:40, followed by Ollie McGrath (17th in 18:56), Jim Stagg (19th in 19:01), Kenan Furlong (56th in 20:26), Paul Kelly (81st in 21:06) and Aisling O’Connor (989th overall, 293rd female, in 28:18). Then in the 10k, where the bulk of our runners participated, Joe O’Donoghue was our leader across the line. Joe placed 11th in 35:51 and he was followed by Daan Van Schie (29th in 38:14), Barry O’Mahony (55th in 39:46), Barry McGuirk (84th in 40:41), Gavan Doherty (103rd in 41:16), Simon Murtagh (113th in 41:25), just ahead of Dave Carter (114th in 41:39), Phelim Murray (325th in 44:38), Jemma Lyons (459th overall, 52nd female, in 45:55), Fiona Bane (645th overall, 85th female, in 47:24), Joanne Carey (836th overall, 120th female, in 48:39), TJ Bourke, fresh from having run the New York marathon 3 days earlier (on the back of the Dublin marathon the week before) (937th in 49:15), Louise Van der Wildersmeerch (1,147th overall, 196th female, in 50:30), Russell Murphy (1,409th in 52:26) and Roland Cottle (3,085th in 64:52). At the weekend, there were several races on which to report. Daniel Lowe improved on is 2nd place finish last year by winning the Belleek Marathon Challenge Half marathon in Ballina on Saturday morning. Compared with Dublin at that time, which experienced a wet morning, conditions were dry and not too muddy on what is an undulating course on forest trails. Daniel’s time was a creditable 1:26:16 in a field of 52 finishers. Also on Saturday we had three runners in one of the Run the Line mountain races, established as fund raisers for the Dublin mountains rescue team. There were two options (13k and 26k) and our runners selected the former. In a race that started and finished in Glencullen, and a field of more than 2300, Brian Scanlan placed 37th in 1:11:15, whilst Paul Kelly, in his 2nd race of the week, ran 1:28:18 for 143rd place and his wife Aoife Quinn ran 1:34:38 for 204th overall (55th woman home). Further afield, on Sunday morning, Gian Piero Allerta took part in the 36th running of the Athens marathon. After a hectic start, in warm conditions on what is challenging hilly course, particularly in the second half, Gian Piero managed to record 3:44:16 for the race, his second marathon in two weeks. Of course, our most dedicated marathon and ultra runner was out on Sunday. Leo Lundy reported that he ran in the Armistice Marathon in London, the prize being a medal that weighed nearly 1kg. We finish as usual with the parkruns, our participation as strong as ever. Podium places went firstly to Stephen Hurley who was first finisher in Poolbeg in a time of 17:51, whilst Robert Browne placed 2nd in Shanganagh (18:38) and Fiona Bane was 3rd in St Anne’s (58th overall) in 22:01. Additionally, both Emma O’Mahony and husband Barry placed 3rd in Enniskillen. Emma was 28th overall and she finished in a time of 25:53, whilst Barry finished in a time of 19:38. Poolbeg saw a lot of Crusaders on the morning, as did St. Anne’s. In Poolbeg, Stephen was followed by Zlatko Kulic (22nd in 20:54), David O’Donnell (24th in 20:56) closely behind, Sharon Woods (59th overall, 9th woman, in 24:00), Cliodhna O’Reilly (72nd overall, 14th female finisher, in 25:32), Edwina Quinlan (73rd overall, 15th female, just a second behind in 25:33), Gillian Curran (78th overall, 18th female, in 26:07), Don Anderton (108th in 31:42), Aisling O’Connor (109th overall, 36th female, in 31:43) and Mari Hansen (119th overall, 43rd woman, in 41:50), acting as tailwalker. Meanwhile, in St. Anne’s, Fiona was followed by Aoife Clarke (212th overall, 49th woman, in 27:12), Darina Scully (254th overall, 73rd woman, in 29:13), who is a few months pregnant, Diarmuid Byrne (340th in 32:41) and his partner, Maria Pertl (341st overall, 130th woman, in 32:48). In Shanganagh, Robert was followed by Mike Stewart, in his first outing since the Dublin marathon (22nd in 22:58). Mairead Cashman took 83rd place overall (22nd woman) in 28:13, whilst Kevin Flynn appears to have sauntered round Porterstown in 40:11 for 102nd place. Cormac McGuire placed 7th in Tolka valley in a time of 21:55, whilst Colm Foley took 21st place in Griffeen Park in a time of 23:04. Lastly, in Malahide, Fiona Shine crossed the line in 40th place overall for 4th female finisher in 21:33, followed by sister Lisa (111th overall, 23rd woman, in 24:54) and mother Mairin (334th overall, 139th woman) in 44:28. Run in the Dark 10k (3451) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Eoin Devlin 1 00:33:44 50 Niamh Clifford 1 00:39:34 Crusaders AC runners 11 Joe O’Donoghue 00:35:51 29 Daan Van Schie 00:38:14 55 Barry O’Mahony 00:39:46 84 Barry McGuirk 00:40:41 103 Gavan Doherty 00:41:16 113 Simon Murtagh 00:41:25 114 David Carter 00:41:39 325 Phelim Murray 00:44:38 459 Jemma Lyons 00:45:55 (52) 645 Fiona Bane 00:47:24 (85) 836 Joanne Carey 00:48:39 (120) 1147 Louise Van Der Wildersmeerch 00:50:30 (196) 1409 Russell Murphy 00:52:26 3085 Roland Cottle 01:04:52 Full results here: https://www.sportsplits.com/m3/event?c=74&r=429&e=1 Run in the Dark 5k (3130) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Kevin English 1 00:16:53 24 Karla Doran 1 00:19:23 Crusaders AC runners 2 Peter O’Toole 00:17:40 17 Ollie McGrath 00:18:56 19 Jim Stagg 00:19:01 26 Kenan Furlong 00:20:26 81 Paul Kelly 00:21:06 989 Aisling O’Connor 00:28:18 (293) Full results here: https://www.sportsplits.com/m3/event?c=74&r=429&e=2 Belleek Half marathon (53) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Daniel Lowe 1 01:26:16 16 Jillian Brett 1 01:50:26 Crusaders AC runner 1 Daniel Lowe 01:26:16 Full results here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/13CoQuHRNatr9GkwH8PW86pLFTpDqYUwI/view?fbclid=IwAR3yzpGFU9JydNAIKM1OChBxpQDwKo1eXjkLVALtJVf-Io5y99TGwywIaqo Run the Line 13k Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Mark Sheridan 1 00:58:46 8 Eva McNelis 1 01:04:49 Crusaders AC runners 37 Brian Scanlan 01:11:15 143 Paul Kelly 01:28:18 204 Aoife Quinn 01:34:38 (55) Full results here: https://www.popupraces.ie/run-the-line-2018/#1_7336A4 Malahide Parkrun #313 (351) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Robert Frewen 1 00:17:27 19 Amanda Maher Owen 1 00:19:59 Crusaders AC runners 40 Fiona Shine 00:21:33 (4) 11 Lisa Shine 00:24:54 (23) 334 Mairin Shine 00:44:28 (139) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/malahide/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=313 Marlay Parkrun #280 (479) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 unknown 1 00:16:08 3 Una Britton 1 00:17:14 Crusaders AC runners 11 Luke Davis 00:18:48 18 Killian Barry 00:19:20 101 Kate Murray 00:22:53 (9) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/marlay/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=280 Poolbeg Parkrun #63 (119) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Stephen Hurley 1 00:17:51 19 Aine Kenny 1 00:20:40 Crusaders AC runners 1 Stephen Hurley 00:17:51 22 Zlatko Kulic 00:20:54 24 David O’Donnell 00:20:56 59 Sharon Woods 00:24:00 (9) 72 Cliodhna O’Reilly 00:25:32 (14) 73 Edwina Quinlan 00:25:33 (15) 108 Don Anderton 00:31:42 109 Aisling O’Connor 00:31:43 (36) 119 Mari Hansen 00:41:50 (43) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/poolbeg/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=63 St Annes’s Parkrun #257 (391) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 unknown 1 00:16:50 51 Jenny Colbert 1 00:21:46 Crusaders AC runners 58 Fiona Bane 00:22:01 (3) 212 Aoife Clarke 00:27:12 (49) 254 Darina Scully 00:29:13 (73) 340 Diarmuid Byrne 00:32:41 341 Maria Pertl 00:32:48 (130) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/stannes/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=257 Shanganagh Parkrun #188 (128) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Liam Blackburn 1 00:17:04 17 Susanna Murphy 1 00:21:39 Crusaders AC runners 2 Robert Browne 00:18:38 22 Mike Stewart 00:21:58 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/shanganagh/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=188 Bushy Parkrun #89 (151) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Pierre-Antoine Lengrais 1 00:18:50 16 Christine Kinsella 1 00:21:55 Crusaders AC runner 83 Mairead Cashman 00:28:13 (22) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/bushydublin/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=123 Tolka Valley Parkrun #38 (52) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Philip Cohen 1 00:19:34 8 Maeve Walsh 1 00:22:10 Crusaders AC runner 7 Cormac McGuire 00:21:55 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/tolkavalley/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=38 Porterstown Parkrun #160 (115) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Damien Carbery 1 00:18:45 7 Orla Nugent 1 00:21:49 Crusaders AC runner 102 Kevin Flynn 00:40:11 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/porterstown/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=160 Griffeen Parkrun #282 (145) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Pio Carley 1 00:19:05 2 Aoife Coffey 1 00:19:09 Crusaders AC runner 21 Colm Foley 00:23:04 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/griffeen/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=282 Enniskillen Parkrun #278 (79) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Owen Carleton 1 00:18:01 18 Carla Prentice 1 00:24:06 Crusaders AC runners 3 Barry O’Mahony 00:19:38 28 Emma O’Mahony 00:25:53 (3) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/enniskillen/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=278 This was an event we had all been looking forward to for some time. On Sunday afternoon, Santry Demesne, next to the Morton Stadium, was host ground to the Dublin Seniors XC, traditionally a well-supported and high quality series of races. The club had a great deal of confidence in its senior men’s and women’s teams off the back of some excellent results in recent XC races and ultimately our confidence was well rewarded. The weather co-operated, dry with only a light breeze, which in fact made conditions somewhat close as the temperature was quite mild. Underfoot, the ground was quite firm, so that some of our runners did not resort to spikes, particularly as the chosen 1500m course had a longish drag on the back side of the field, but no really steep hill about which to worry. Indeed, the hill down by a garden wall that has been a feature of previous years was no longer on the course. No doubt, however, it will come back into play in the upcoming BHAA XC race on 17 November. The women’s 6k race was first, involving 4 loops of the course. The field, although of some quality, was perhaps a little depleted (but only marginally versus 2017) with only 7 clubs represented and only 6 scoring teams. Raheny and ourselves were the only clubs to have more than 4 runners (the necessary number to score) in the race. The race got off to a furious start, with Niamh Allen leading a bunch of 4 runners including Anna Reddin and across the duration of two laps she built up a reasonable lead. However, ultimate race winner Ide Nic Dhomhnaill of Donore broke away from the pack on the second lap, hunting our runner down, whilst Anna stayed with what remained of the group. Ultimately Niamh found herself in difficulty and a stitch forced her to stop momentarily as Ide was catching her. It’s testimony though to Niamh’s mental strength that she was able to pick herself up and although the 3 other girls, including Anna, came past, Niamh was still able to hold on for a hugely respectable finish in 5th place and second scorer behind Anna who placed 3rd, ahead of Olympian marathoner Linda Byrne. Orla Drumm, was able to take a Donore athlete in the closing stages and finished in 6th place and 3rd scorer for the team, whilst Caroline Crowley, making an excellent return to the scene, finished strongly ahead of two DSD athletes (the club’s 3rd and 4th scorers) for a top 10 finish in 9th place. It is interesting to note that the winning gold medal performance of our scorers could have been so different if the DSD girls had finished ahead of Caroline as we would have finished on exactly the same number of points as DSD, only to lose on countback. But, then again XC is always about the narrowest of margins and every place being critical. In the field of 29, where even last place ran a decent race at an average 4:17 per km, Catherine Thornton placed 23rd and Niamh Corby, 26th, both having strong runs, which would likely have been rewarded in a larger field. So, Crusaders won the team gold with 23 points (finishing one place better than last year), from DSD on 27 and Donore finishing on 33 points in 3rd place. The men’s race was 10k, with a larger field of 52 runners, but perhaps still down a little on previous years (last week’s marathon potentially depriving the race of a few athletes). As with the women, there were 7 clubs, but only 6 fielding teams of at least 6, the minimum needing to score. We had 11 athletes in the race and although the outcome of the team gold was pretty much a foregone conclusion early on in the race, the battle for silver and bronze was extremely exciting and even after the race had finished it was still by no means clear who would join Clonliffe on the podium. When the smoke had cleared, Clonliffe had finished on 65 points, whilst DSD had 109 and Crusaders had 118. 4th place went to Raheny on 163. Still, we had won our first Dublin senior medal in a long time (no one can remember if we have ever won a medal in this race in the past). Interestingly, although DSD’s 6th scorer finished in 49th place, even if he had finished last the result would not have changed because they had 3 scorers ahead of our first and although we were well-bunched, it was not quite enough, but we’ll take it! As with the women’s team our men, led home by mens’ captain Michael Kiely, did us proud. Mike was 12th after a sprint finish that was last minute but apparently was not over until well into the chute, such was the drive, ahead of teammate Brendan Murphy in 13th. Italo Giancaterina was next in 19th with another healthy rivalry being evidenced behind him between Vinnie McGuinness (23rd) and Michael O’Conor (24th). All these sprints were fun to watch. Our last scorer was Fearghal O’Hare in 27th place. Next came Peter O’Toole with an excellent run to place 30th ahead of John Mulvihill (31st) and Tony Carter (33rd), with Frank Hague (37th) and Joe McDermott (40th) not too far behind. On the same day, several of us were eagerly tracking the runs of our clubmates who were participating in the 50,000-strong New York Marathon. We had 8 athletes in the event which by all accounts took place in ideal conditions. Nevertheless, it is a tough marathon with a lot of hills, particularly at the back end in Central Park, but also not underestimating the many bridges that have to be crossed. Kieran Little, hot on the heels of his strong performance in Budapest recently, achieved another PB by running 2:33. He was followed by Paul Dempsey who ran close to his PB in 2:52 with our Milanese exile Federico Corradini not too far behind in 2:57. Next to cross the line was TJ Bourke (3:34) who ran in Dublin last week, followed by Maria del Carmen Jimenez Campos (3:49), a recent recruit to the club, with a super result. Mick Blighe (3:53), whose training through the recent months has been somewhat interrupted, was next, followed by Maura Cleary (4:32), another relative newcomer, and Bob Manson (4:56), who ran 3 marathons in 2 weeks (Amsterdam, Dublin and New York). A bit closer to home, Leo Lundy also ran a marathon over the weekend, meant to be a recovery after Dublin, but turning into quite a tough and wet one in Ballinasloe (5:20). Then, a bit further away again, news came in from Stephen Moore, our Berlin exile, who ran in the Hasenheide XC 10.7km, his first XC race in 3 years, taking first place in a time of 39:12. We had the usual suspects turn out for the Saturday morning parkruns. A first finisher place went to Robert Browne, a week after his great marathon performance in Dublin. Robert ran a super 18:22 in Shanganagh. Daniel Lowe also produced the same result in Lough Key in a time of 18:08, whilst Serena Moloney was also a first finisher in Templemore (7th overall, in 22:24). To complete the picture, we had a fourth first finisher in Sarah Lyons who ran in Tolka Valley, coming home in 9th place overall in a time of 22:42. In the same event Phelim Murray placed 5th in 21:29, whilst Cormac McGuire, another Dublin marathoner, placed 11th in 23:23. Besides Daniel in Lough Key, we also had yet another Dublin marathoner, Kate Murray, placing 3rd (20th overall) in 24:58. We had the usual substantial turnout in Poolbeg. Fiona Bane placed 2nd (30th overall in 22:40). Fiona was preceded by Gavan Doherty (6th in 20:00) and followed by two athletes coming back from injury: Bram d’Hoedt (35th in 22:56) and Brian O’Kelly (37th in 22:58). Zalan Kovacs was next (38th in 23:08), followed by Sharon Woods (53rd overall, 10th female, in 24:58), Mari Hansen (66th overall, 17th female, in 26:11), Cliodhna O’Reilly (69th overall, 19th female, in 26:20) and the tail walker Don Anderton (113th in 39:53). Matt Cranley was back to his buggy-pushing in Father Collins, a week after Dublin, placing 10th in 21:45, whilst Kris Ryan placed 48th overall, 6th female finisher, in 24:07 in Paradise Point in Australia in a field of 240. Mairead Cashman placed 102nd overall, 24th female, in 27:59 in Ballincollig, whilst Emilie Fournier placed 257th overall, 69th female, in 28:22 in St. Anne’s. Luke Davis (7th in 19:25) led a small contingent of Crusaders home in Marlay. Luke was followed by Killian Barry (12th in 19:55), Olwyn Dunne (263rd overall, 51st female, in 27:38), another runner to have run the Dublin marathon last week, and by Darina Scully (290th overall, 66th female, in 28:12). Newly-weds Aoife Quinn and her husband Paul Kelly ran in Poppintree, Aoife placing 43rd overall, 6th female, in 24:27, followed by Paul (54th in 24:57). Finally, we had 2 runners in Cabinteely. Emma O’Mahony placed 69th overall, 21st woman, in 28:38, whilst Mairin Shine ran 46:43 for 124th place overall, 49th woman. Dublin Seniors XC (Men 10k) (52) Overall place Name Guntime 1 Colm Rooney 00:30:50 Crusaders AC runners 12 Michael Kiely 00:33:04 13 Brendan Murphy 00:33:05 19 Italo Giancaterina 00:33:38 23 Vinnie McGuinness 00:34:12 24 Michael O’Conor 00:34:16 27 Fearghal O’Hare 00:34:51 30 Peter O’Toole 00:35:09 31 John Mulvihill 00:35:15 33 Tony Carter 00:35:34 37 Frank Hague 00:36:11 40 Joe McDermott 00:36:35 Full results here: https://www.dublinathletics.com/attachments/article/523/Dublin%20Senior%20Mens%20%20%20CC%202018.pdf Dublin Seniors XC (Women 6k) (29) Overall place Name Guntime 1 ide Nic Dhomhnaill 00:20:34 Crusaders AC runners 3 Anna Reddin 00:20:51 5 Niamh Allen 00:21:18 6 Orla Drumm 00:21:25 9 Caroline Crowley 00:22:26 23 Catherine Thornton 00:23:27 26 Niamh Corby 00:24:31 Full results here: https://www.dublinathletics.com/attachments/article/523/Dublin%20Senior%20Womens%20%20%20CC%202018.pdf New York marathon Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Lelisa Desisa 1 02:05:59 X Mary Keitany 1 02:22:48 Crusaders AC runners Kieran Little 02:33:53 Paul Dempsey 02:52:25 Federico Corradini 02:57:47 TJ Bourke 03:34:25 Maria del Carmen Jimenez Campos 03:49:28 Mick Blighe 03:53:53 Maura Cleary 04:32:52 Bob Manson: 04:55:50 Templemore Parkrun #93 (51) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Peter Madden 1 00:19:15 7 Serena Moloney 1 00:22:24 Crusaders AC runner 7 Serena Moloney 00:22:24 (1) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/templemore/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=93 Marlay Parkrun #279 (476) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Paul Stephenson 1 00:16:49 22 Lorraine Nolan 1 00:20:50 Crusaders AC runners 7 Luke Davis 00:19:25 12 Killian Barry 00:19:55 263 Olwyn Dunne 00:27:38 (51) 290 Darina Scully 00:28:12 (66) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/marlay/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=279 Poolbeg Parkrun #62 (113) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Mark Furnish 1 00:18:11 18 Aine Kenny 1 00:21:06 Crusaders AC runners 6 Gavan Doherty 30 Fiona Bane 00:22:40 (2) 35 Bram d’Hoedt 00:22:56 37 Brian O’Kelly 00:22:58 38 Zalan Kovacs 00:23:08 53 Sharon Woods 00:24:58 (10) 66 Mari Hansen 00:26:11 (17) 69 Cliodhna O’Reilly 00:26:20 (19) 113 Don Anderton 00:39:53 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/poolbeg/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=62 St Annes’s Parkrun #256 (465) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Paul Cowhie 1 00:17:05 24 Deborah Monaghan 1 00:20:09 Crusaders AC runners 257 Emilie Fournier 00:28:22 (69) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/stannes/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=256 Shanganagh Parkrun #187 (135) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Robert Browne 1 00:18:22 3 Ann Marie Kenny 1 00:20:34 Crusaders AC runner 1 Robert Browne 00:18:22 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/shanganagh/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=187 Ballincollig Parkrun #123 (222) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Denis Buckley 1 00:18:33 5 Riina Kuuselo 1 00:20:08 Crusaders AC runner 102 Mairead Cashman 00:27:59 (24) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/ballicollig/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=123 Tolka Valley Parkrun #37 (46) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Philip Doyle 1 00:18:40 9 Sarah Lyons 1 00:22:42 Crusaders AC runners 5 Phelim Murray 00:21:29 9 Sarah Lyons 00:22:42 (1) 11 Cormac McGuire 00:23:23 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/tolkavalley/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=37 Father Collins Parkrun #163 (80) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Declan Power 1 00:17:56 19 Denise Kelleher 1 00:23:47 Crusaders AC runner 10 Matt Cranley 00:21:45 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/fathercollins/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=163 Lough Key Parkrun #126 (131) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Daniel Lowe 1 00:18:08 16 Joan Boyd 1 00:24:03 Crusaders AC runners 1 Daniel Lowe 00:18:08 20 Kate Murray 00:24:58 (3) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/loughkey/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=126 Cabinteely Parkrun #187 (128) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Ted Burke 1 00:19:14 2 Orna Dilworth 1 00:20:18 Crusaders AC runners 69 Emma O’Mahony 00:28:38 (21) 124 Mairin Shine 00:46:43 (49) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/cabinteely/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=187 Poppintree Parkrun #207 (166) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Marcus Bishop 1 00:18:10 20 Kate Cleary 1 00:22:38 Crusaders AC runners 43 Aoife Quinn 00:24:27 (6) 54 Paul Kelly 00:24:57 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/poppintree/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=207 |