A great turnout with nearly 60 runners taking part in Tuesdays 3 k time trial. All athletes were asked to predict their times and Donantas was the closest athlete predicting his time to the second. Full results below
“A winter’s day in a deep and dark December….I am a Rock”, go the words of the famous Simon and Garfunkel song; and rocks indeed were our runners on Sunday in the National Novices XC held in late afternoon down on a hilly course next to WIT in Carriganore just outside Waterford. We had seen the course before a few years back but had forgotten to some extent how tough it is. The 1500m full lap takes runners down into a field from the start on a slight zig zag, lasting some 500m or so, followed by a steep bank of about 20m onto a slight plateau and then round a corner up an inexorable hill of more than 300m and then down a fast descent back to the start. The course was made even tougher by the fact that, following overnight rain, it was extremely muddy nearly everywhere and particularly on the long drag where it was deep and truly strength-sapping. There was also standing water on one of the corners coming off the descent, where shoes (and even a pair of glasses) were lost by several runners. Also, because it was run effectively on the side of a hill, little of it was flat, so runners had to cope with a camber in places. Long spikes were vital! The women were up first and in calm and mild conditions for their 4km race the field of 108 runners had to negotiate one short loop (which missed out the zigzag detour) of 1000m, followed by two full laps. From the start Catherine Thornton and Niamh Corby established decent positions towards the middle of the top half of the field and were able to pick off targets throughout the race, indeed both taking 2 or 3 runners in the final run in. A little further back came Lesley Ann Doughan who also ran a gritty race on the back of little hill training, followed by Amy Wright, having taken a last minute decision to confirm her entry. She was glad she did, because although it was an exceedingly tough race, Amy was able to come home as 4th scorer in the bronze medal-winning team. After having led our contingent from gun to tape Catherine was first home in 16th (16:39), followed by Niamh (24th in 16:54), a tremendous result again for our master athlete, Lesley Ann (40th in 17:13) and Amy (56th in 17:53). Rachel Yorke ran with Niamh Aspell for most of the race just pulling ahead towards the end, Rachel taking 63rd (18:12) and Niamh just behind in 67th (18:24). Grainne Regan was not too far behind either, taking 71st spot (18:34). Lisa Shine and Dee Ni Chearbhaill also spent the race working together with women’s captain Lisa coming home in 81st position (19:02), followed by Dee in 83rd (19:08). The 13-strong contingent was completed by a Cru B team led home by Emer Kenny (88th in 19:20) and Emer was followed by Ruth Dwyer, making her XC debut (94th in 19:42) and also picking off runners in the final sprint, Darina Scully (97th in 19:50) and Carina Davidson (101st in 20:21). When the smoke had cleared, Cru A finished in 3rd place on 136 points, 9 points behind 2nd place Leevale (127), whilst the overall victory went to Sportsworld (91). The men’s team suffered slightly from a few last minute pullouts for injury reasons, but the 11 Crusaders who were able to participate made a good go of it in the 6k (3 full laps) race. There was a substantial field of nearly 190 runners, with a strong club representation from all over Ireland despite the event being held so far south. Karl Fahy had been selected to run for Dublin as well as the club, but decided the risk of becoming ineligible for future races was too big to take and asked to be taken off before the race. In the final event, he was proved right as Dublin took gold (Indeed the same thing could have happened to Catherine in the women’s race. Dublin finished out of the medals, but would have taken gold if she had been selected, which fortunately was not the case. Such an outcome would certainly have been bittersweet for the girl from Galway). Karl was first Crusader home for the men in a solid 18th place (20:38), followed by men's captain Michael Kiely (27th in 21:01), who also managed an extremely steady performance. Jason Kehoe, for whom the course may well have been designed with his experience of mountain running (!), found himself coming through the field and finishing 3rd scorer for the team (46th in 21:39). As with his fiancée Amy in the women’s race, Vinnie McGuinness came home as 4th scorer (52nd in 21:50) and the team was able to take 5th place on 143 points, 13 points behind Finn Valley in 4th and only 17 points off bronze position. Next home was Ciaran Diviney in his 7th county, province, national or international XC race in 2 months (72nd in 22:08) and Ciaran was followed closely by Swedish newcomer and XC debutant, Albin Ingmarsson (75th in 22:10). Michael Wycherley (101st in 22:38) had an adventure, losing his shoe not once but twice, finally deciding to abandon it with two laps to go. The contingent was completed by Garret Dunne (115th in 23:00) and Joe McDermott (139th in 23:49). Spare a thought for Niall O’Connell, one of our runners who had to pull out of the race after a couple of laps with an asthma attack but also suffering from having been spiked early on in the race. There didn’t appear to be much if any in the way of road racing over the weekend. If anyone participated in a race, please let the club know. We do know, however, that Leo Lundy's year is ending on a good note when he participated in yet another ultra marathon at the weekend. This one was in Kent in the "Usual Suspects" Ultra around Dover. 33.75 miles in near perfect conditions was good enough for 4th place overall from 122 starters. A result from last weekend that was missed occurred in Texas, USA. One of our two Dallas exiles, Yvonne Macauley, took part in the Dallas half marathon, placing 54th overall in the field exceeding 6,500 runners, 7th woman home, in a super PB time of 1:24:57, her first time breaking 85 minutes. 23 club members took part in 5 parkruns on Saturday. One of the runs of the day came from Daniel Lowe who placed first finisher among the nearly 80 runners who took part in the event in Lough Key. Daniel’s time was 17:52. Then in Poolbeg Louise Dobbyn came home in 2nd place (21st overall) in 22:15 behind the return from long-term injury of elite Raheny athlete Fiona Roche. In the same event, with its field of nearly 70 runners, David Timony took 7th place (19:22), followed by Dave Tilly (11th in 19:50), Padraig Walsh (16th in 21:37), Russell Murphy (25th in 22:36), Fiona Bane (33rd overall, 6th woman, in 24:41), Gillian Errity (38th overall, 7th woman finisher, in 25:16), Cuan Moore (43rd in 26:24) and Zalan Kovacs (44th in 26:45). We had 7 runners in the field of nearly 350 in Marlay. First home was Neil Brown (30th in 21:52), followed by Paul Kelly (206th in 27:48), Mairead Cashman (230th overall, 65th woman, in 28:20), Aoife Quinn just behind (232nd overall, 67th woman, in 28:21), Kris Ryan (233rd overall, 68th woman, in 28:21), in her last parkrun for the moment before her return to her native Australia shortly, Kate Murray (235th overall, 69th woman, in 28:22) and Fiona Shine (237th overall, 70th woman, in 28:23), just coming back from injury. Darina Scully prepared for the following day’s XC by running alongside Maria Pertl and more than 90 other runners in Poppintree. Darina came home in 44th place overall (8th woman) in 26:26, whilst Maria mopped up the back markers (94th overall, 31st woman) in 49:31. Finally, in St. Anne’s we had 4 runners, led home by Peter O’Toole. Peter took 4th place out of more than 260 participants in a time of 18:08. Peter was followed by Matt Cranley, with yet another strong run pushing his baby in a buggy (30th in 20:19), Denis Murphy (35th in 20:40) and Colm Kernan (41st in 21:14). National Novices XC (women’s 4k) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Nakita Burke 1 00:15:41 Crusaders AC runners 16 Catherine Thornton 00:16:39 24 Niamh Corby 00:16:54 40 Lesley Ann Doughan 00:17:13 56 Amy Wright 00:17:53 63 Rachel Yorke 00:18:12 67 Niamh Aspell 00:18:24 71 Grainne Regan 00:18:34 81 Lisa Shine 00:19:02 83 Dee Ni Chearbhaill 00:19:08 88 Emer Kenny 00:19:20 94 Ruth Dwyer 00:19:42 97 Darina Scully 00:19:50 101 Carina Davidson 00:20:21 Full results here: http://www.athleticsireland.ie/downloads/eshop/Novice_Women.pdf National Novices XC (men’s 6k) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Jack MacGabhann 1 00:19:55 Crusaders AC runners 18 Karl Fahy 00:20:38 27 Michael Kiely 00:21:01 46 Jason Kehoe 00:21:39 52 Vinnie McGuinness 00:21:50 72 Ciaran Diviney 00:22:08 75 Albin Ingmarsson 00:22:10 101 Michael Wycherley 00:22:38 115 Garret Dunne 00:23:00 139 Joe McDermott 00:23:49 Full results here: http://www.athleticsireland.ie/downloads/eshop/Novice_Men.pdf Marlay Parkrun #237 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Enda Marren 1 00:17:26 10 Amy Moran 1 00:19:50 Crusaders AC runners 30 Neil Brown 00:21:52 206 Paul Kelly 00:27:48 230 Mairead Cashman 00:28:20 (65) 232 Aoife Quinn 00:28:21 (67) 233 Kris Ryan 00:28:21 (68) 235 Kate Murray 00:28:22 (69) 237 Fiona Shine 00:28:23 (70) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/marlay/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=237 Poppintree Parkrun #163 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Tom McKenna 1 00:18:41 18 Karen Slye 1 00:22:43 Crusaders AC runners 44 Darina Scully 00:26:26 (8) 94 Maria Pertl 00:49:31 (31) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/poppintree/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=163 Lough Key Parkrun #82 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Daniel Lowe 1 00:17:52 12 Noreen Colreavy 1 00:23:49 Crusaders AC runner 1 Daniel Lowe 00:17:52 Full results here: 2 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime St. Anne’s Parkrun #212 1 Graham O’Dwyer 1 00:17:23 10 Lucy Barrett 1 00:19:10 Crusaders AC runners 4 Peter O’Toole 00:18:08 30 Matt Cranley 00:20:19 35 Denis Murphy 00:20:40 41 Colm Kernan 00:21:14 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/stannes/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=212 Poolbeg Parkrun #17 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Peter Kern 1 00:18:22 12 Fiona Roche 00:20:12 Crusaders AC runners 7 David Timoney 00:19:22 11 Dave Tilly 00:19:50 16 Padraig Walsh 00:21:37 21 Louise Dobbyn 00:22:15 (2) 25 Russell Murphy 00:22:36 33 Fiona Bane 00:24:41 (6) 38 Gillian Errity 00:25:16 (7) 43 Cuan Moore 00:26:24 44 Zalan Kovacs 00:26:45 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/poolbeg/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=17 It was largely a quiet weekend for racing and, apart from the parkruns, there are only a couple of road races on which to report. However, we should also congratulate Olwyn Dunne (next year’s Women’s Mini Marathon race director) who this week received an award from Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown for her contribution to volunteering, particularly in relation to the Cabinteely Parkrun which she helped to establish and run. Olwyn is clearly well-known in the club for this effort along with her pacing support in numerous events. A well-deserved recognition indeed! We should also note that hurdler Matthew Behan came close to being named U23 Irish athlete of the year at last week's Athletics Ireland ceremony. Congratulations on making the shortlist to Matt. At the same event, Al Guy, a long term administrator at Irish, European and Olympic levels and still a member of the club was given a lifetime achievement award. Many congratulations to him! In chilly, but calm and dry conditions on Saturday morning the charity, Aware, staged two events in the northern end of the Phoenix Park. We had runners in the 10k, which involved two laps of a 5k course. Joe Walsh was first Crusader home of the 4 who ran. In a field of more than 800 runners, Joe took 19th place in 39:15 and he was followed by Olwyn Dunne who placed 122nd overall, 15th woman finisher, in 46:26 and by Mary and Lorraine Fitzsimons who respectively placed 158th overall (20th female) in 47:31 and 683rd overall (323rd female) in 1:05:30. On the same day, in marked contrast, Dave Cuddy joined nearly 800 runners in the warm conditions of the Canary Islands to run in the Lanzarote Half marathon, which was completed on a course along the coast beside the airport. Dave ran 1:42:35 and featured in the top 150. Readers will be interested to know that Gary O’Hanlon won the marathon there in 2:27:20. So, even in the parkruns we did not have so many participants. Poolbeg saw the largest number of Cru runners. In a small field under 70, we had 6 from the club. Simon Kenny led the contingent home in 5th place in a time of 20:25 and he was followed by Zalan Kovacs (17th in 21:51) and David Timoney (36th in 24:29) who may well have paced Aisling O’Connor (37th overall, 8th female, in 24:31). Next came Gillian Curran with a large improvement over her time last week (47th overall, 12th female, in 25:40) and Gillian was followed by Don Anderton (64th in 33:38). The next largest participation was in St. Anne’s where we had 5 runners. Colm Kernan took 22nd place in a field of nearly 280 and a time of 19:31. Colm was followed by the buggy-pushing Matt Cranley (35th in his fastest time pushing the buggy in 21:10) and by Darina Scully (51st overall, 4th female, in 22:18), Fiona Bane (79th overall, 8th female, in 23:29) and finally Maria Pertl who understandably continues to approach these events easily (276th overall, 96th female, in 50:00). Sharon Woods ran in Tymon along with nearly 90 other participants, placing 32nd overall, 4th female finisher, in 24:41, whilst Lisa Shine took on Bushy Dublin, taking 22nd place overall in a field exceeding 70, 5th female finisher, in a time of 23:42. Denis Murphy was also a lone Crusader in Fairview where he placed 10th out of just under 50 runners in a time of 22:36. Finally, Aidan Hudner, our Glaswegian exile, continues to run in Victoria Park in Glasgow. Last week Aidan placed 57th out of 220 in 22:29. This week he took 39th spot out of a field of nearly 170 and a time of 22:12. Next Sunday we are looking forward to the National Novices XC down in Waterford and will be fielding large teams for the event. Best of luck to all! Aware Christmas Run 10K Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 David Flynn 1 00:32:19 27 Ruth Kelly 1 00:39:57 Crusaders AC runners 19 Joe Walsh 00:39:15 122 Olwyn Dunne 00:46:26 158 Mary Fitzsimons 00:47:31 683 Lorraine Fitzsimons 01:05:30 Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/aware_christmas_run/2421/results Tymon Parkrun #181 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Timothy Morahan 1 00:19:35 7 Vanessa Sallier 1 00:20:22 Crusaders AC runner 32 Sharon Woods 00:24:41(4) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/tymon/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=181 Bushy Dublin Parkrun #41 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Valter Valente 1 00:19:14 8 Christine Kinsella 1 00:21:29 Crusaders AC runner 22 Lisa Shine 00:23:42 (5) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/bushydublin/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=41 Fairview Parkrun #22 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Peter Kern 1 00:18:49 12 Catherine O’Neill 1 00:23:30 Crusaders AC runner 10 Denis Murphy 00:22:36 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/fairview/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=22 St Anne’s Parkrun #211 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Paul Cowhie 1 00:17:20 20 Aoibhinn McGoldrick 1 00:19:27 Crusaders AC runners 22 Colm Kernan 00:19:31 35 Matt Cranley 00:21:10 51 Darina Scully 00:22:18 (4) 79 Fiona Bane 00:23:29 (8) 276 Maria Pertl 00:50:00 (96) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/stannes/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=211 Poolbeg Parkrun #16 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Noel Marum 1 00:18:33 23 Helen McHenry 1 00:23:12 Crusaders AC runners 5 Simon Kenny 00:20:25 17 Zalan Kovacs 00:21:51 36 David Timoney 00:24:29 37 Aisling O’Connor 00:24:31 (8) 47 Gillian Curran 00:25:40 (12) 64 Don Anderton 00:33:38 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/poolbeg/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=16 On a wet and windy Wednesday night on 22nd November at least 4 Crusaders took part alongside more than 3,100 other participants in the latest edition of the Run in the Dark 10K which took place in Dublin’s Docklands, in aid of the charity supporting research into a cure for paralysis, spearheaded by visually-impaired and paraplegic Mark Pollock. Once again, Brian O’Kelly distinguished himself with a win (in 32:43). He was followed by Peter O’Toole (10th in 35:27), Michael Wycherley (13th in a PB time of 35:50) and newcomer Patrick Needham (89th in 39:56). The following Saturday, Colm Foley ran in the Clontarf 5 miler, placing 24th in a field of nearly 600 in a time of 37:55, whilst Micheal Killeen participated in the half marathon event, along with more than 1,500 runners, taking 34th spot in a time of 1:29:23. The races take in a mix of tarmac and sand (up and down Dollymount Strand for part of the event). On the same day, we had a small contingent head to the Dublin Mountains for races supporting mountain rescue. The long course, measuring 26k, took in Two Rock, Three Rock and Tibradden Mountain, whilst the shorter course (13k) left out Tibradden. John McAuley and Colm Kernan took on the long course with more than 260 other runners, with John placing 6th in 2:16:40, followed by Colm in 130th place (3:01:41). Meanwhile, in the short course race, Denis Murphy was our lone competitor, placing 57th in a field of 242 and a time of 1:19:23. That same weekend, the national senior cross-country championships took place in Abbotstown, the event determining places for the upcoming European Championships. In cold conditions, three club members took part in the men’s 10K race, won by Paul Pollock in 31:43. In a strong field of nearly 170 runners, men’s club captain Michael Kiely led our contingent home in 88th place (35:58), with our other two runners, Ciaran Diviney and Vinnie McGuinness within a minute behind (Ciaran, 100th in 36:33 and Vinnie, 107th in 36:58). On the same day, Gian Piero Allerta ran in the Florence marathon, less than a month after Dublin, coming home in a time of 3:37:38 in a race during which it rained non-stop. Also, just before the weekend, Leo Lundy and Kris Ryan started an epic challenge of 10 ultra-marathons (individually timed events) in 10 days along the south coast of England. Although 100-150 or so participants started each day, there were about 70 competitors taking on the whole challenge. Having started out in pretty good weather conditions the runners experienced a deterioration and the weather turned colder and windier after the first 3 days. Each ultra event appeared to be between 30-35 miles and by midway Kris was in the lead in the women’s race with a cushion of some 15 miles. The attrition rate, however, was high with the weather being generally bad in the latter stages. Leo's total mileage was 301.55 for 10th spot overall, managing 9 days with consecutive ultras and fully completing the challenge with a marathon on the last day. Kris totaled 336.05 miles for 2nd spot overall and 1st female (by a margin of 26.05 miles), managing an ultra marathon each day. Kris podiumed in every race and had 5 race wins. On Day 8 she ran her 100th official marathon and as a result was inducted into the Irish 100 marathon club. Both runners were inducted into the 10 marathons in 10 days club. So, hats off to both our intrepid marathoners! For several of us, however, the weekend marked the start of the annual Lanzarote International Running Challenge, organised by Club La Santa in the north of the volcanic island, involving 4 races of differing lengths and surfaces in 4 days. The races on the first two days, a 10k road race on tarmac involving 3 laps of a lagoon and a 13k ridge run requiring runners to follow a route on trail and road from the resort to a volcanic ridge 500m above sea level, took place in warm, gale force, conditions. Some of the runners, notably Orla Drumm and Niall O’Connell, who weren’t intending to run in all 4 races, performed admirable pacing duties and in particular helping some of us to be shielded from the headwind, which hit us particularly almost the entire climb to the ridge and slightly further beyond in the descent as we came over the ridge. The tricky volcanic terrain in windy conditions on the ridge itself challenged the runners and several lost their footing, including notably Joe McDermott who slightly twisted his ankle there. A large number of Crusaders participated in the 10K race which started and finished on the track and the most notable performance came from Ilona McElroy who won her age group. James Cottle discovered that he was in a highly competitive age group during this race with the winner of the M60 category coming home in 37:18 and the second place only 4 seconds behind. They both featured among the top 20 for the race which had more than 300 participants, both of them ranking number one in their respective countries, the UK and Netherlands. The following day’s ridge run saw perhaps an even stronger wind than the day before and some of us had to apply additional pins to our numbers to prevent them acting like wind brakes or parachutes. There was quite a bit of dust in our faces on the trail sections on the way up and then we found several parts of the course on the way down thick with soft sand blown onto the trails. It is hard (since the individual race results have now disappeared!) to recall where runners stood in their respective categories after the second race, but in a competition where the winner of each age category takes all, there was at least one runner heading his or her respective category. Catherine Thornton was leading hers, whilst Rob Cross, Dominick Branigan (carrying a calf injury), Olwyn Dunne and James Cottle could be described as being on the podium. We were also lying well in terms of teams. Our women’s team of Catherine, Grainne Regan, Dee Ni Chearbhaill and guest runner from Donore, Alma Hanevy, was lying 2nd to Sportsworld A, whilst building up a significant cushion over the team in 3rd place out of the 7 club teams from Ireland, UK, Netherlands, Germany and Denmark, Sportsworld B. Our men’s team of Dominick, Rob, Joe and Will Owens was also standing well, never moving below 4th place during the competition. The third day saw a major change in the weather. Whilst remaining warm with cloud cover, the wind dropped significantly for the 5k beach race that took place in the south of the island. A short coach ride took us to Puerta del Carmen for the 10 o’clock start, where we found that the sand in places was as soupy as ever, particularly at the start and coming into the finish, along with the turn at the furthest point along the beach on the 2.5k loop. Thankfully, the surface was reasonably hard at the back of the beach along which we had perhaps 800m or more of recovery and the sliver of wet sand alongside the sea that we had to run along on the way out from the start was not too congested and only a few of us were forced to get wet as we negotiated it. Rob got a slight scare during this race as he also hurt his foot, but it did not seem to provide any long term consequences whilst Joe managed to get through the race with heavy strapping around his ankle. All three members of the men's team were, therefore, carrying an injury at some point. The respective positions of our runners did not change much during this race, with Catherine once again holding the lead in her age category but facing a surge from the British girl who had been lying in 3rd place. The women’s team consolidated its position in second place, whilst the men realised that they would have to run well on the last day of the challenge the following day to make it onto the podium. The benign wind conditions were maintained for the 21k race the following day, but, despite the earlier 9 am start, the temperatures began to soar, so that towards the end we were running in 35 degrees Celsius and no shade. One or two of us suffered in the heat on what was effectively a net downhill course, but which saw quite a few undulations on rough road in the first 4k or so and then a reasonably challenging hill with about 7k to go. The new course was run on a mix of trail and tarmac and took in parts of the ridge run towards the end. With team and age category positions at stake, our runners performed well. Rob Cross came 3rd overall in the race, with Dominick in 15th and Joe in 22nd, meaning that when the smoke cleared the men’s team ended up with the bronze medal behind a Danish team and Sportsworld’s A team. The women maintained the second place position which had been established from the start, with Alma placing 7th in the last race, followed by Catherine (9th) and Grainne (17th). Running her furthest distance race since the birth of her daughter, Dee also ran extremely well to place 20th followed by Olwyn in 32nd place. In addition to the team success, Rob had clearly won his age group in the last race and then took 2nd place overall, splitting a couple of young Danes. Catherine also held her place as winner of her age category, despite a strong attack from the British woman in the last race, so that the margin of her win was only just over 1 minute over a contest lasting three and a half hours. Dee, Olwyn and Joe all made podium positions in their respective age categories, whilst James had to settle for 4th, having started the day in 2nd place but then suffering in the heat of the 21k race. The morning after our return from Lanzarote, several of us decided to join another 50 or so Crusaders in the Donore Harriers-organised 5k, the Jingle Bells race. It is held in the Phoenix Park and, since it takes place on a net downhill course (beginning near the Papal Cross, heading up Chesterfield onto the Ordnance Survey Road and then down the Upper Glen road to finish below the hospital behind the start line), it is widely regarded as a PB race and attracts a substantial and quality field. In cool but not so windy conditions, this proved to be the case again, hosting more than 1,050 finishers. Additionally, those of us who had run the 21k race on Wednesday in such tough conditions, ran well to get decent times, even if we did not necessarily achieve PBs. Among the 60 or so Cru finishers at least 26 of us recorded times below 20 minutes, led home by Brian O’Kelly (12th in 15:18) and Michael Kiely right behind (13th in a PB of 15:19). Vinnie McGuinness placed 24th (and 4th in his age category) in 15:52, whilst Rob Cross, fresh from his Lanzarote success, took 33rd place (1st in his age category) in 15:57, followed by Ciaran Diviney who placed 34th (2nd in his age category) in 15:58. There were good runs from newcomer Jasper de Taeye (41st in 16:09), Jason Kehoe (45th in a PB time of 16:16) and another newcomer, Albin Ingmarsson (58th in 16:42) as well as John McAuley (68th in 16:48) and Garret Dunne (73rd in 17:00) to complete top 100 positions. Barry McGuire recorded a PB (106th in 17:35), as did Brendan Glynn (210th in 19:28), Neil Brown (298th in 20:32) and Paul Kelly (600th in 26:33) to name but a few, most likely. It was also good to see Kieran Martin back after a long term injury (307th in 20:45). Our men’s team apparently also placed 2nd overall. Cru women were led home by Catherine Thornton (202nd overall, 25th female, in 19:18) and there were also top 100 places for Katie McElroy (274th overall, 43rd female, in 20:14), Amy Brogan (311th overall, 58th female, in 20:54), Emer Kenny (336th overall, 69th female, in 21:05), Ruth Dwyer (343rd overall, 70th female, in 21:21), Darina Scully (380th overall, 88th female, in 21:59), Maria Kennedy (389th overall, 93rd female, in 22:04) and Ciara Lehane (391st overall, 94th female, just behind in 22:04). There was a PB for at least one of our female runners: Miriam Logan placed 497th overall, 147th woman finisher, in a PB time of 24:50. Fiona Bane reports that she ran in the Waterford AC half marathon on Saturday, recording a time of 1:47:59 and placing 922nd overall in a field of nearly 2,200. The last major event of the weekend was the Dublin Intermediate XC race that took place on Sunday in cool and damp but calm conditions in Tymon Park. The now familiar course near the National Basketball Arena involved one short loop and two larger ones to cover a distance of 5k for the women. 6 plucky Crusaders turned out for the club on the day in a field of 54 runners. Niamh Corby ran a super race, taking an early position of around 7th in the race, falling back to 9th at the end of the first lap, but then working her way steadily through the field. As she came to the last 300m, Niamh felt she needed to protect 4th position from the girl behind and was concentrating on this, but was advised by at least one supporter, Ilona McElroy, that she had a good chance of passing the girl in third. A great sprint for the line ensued, won by Niamh convincingly and she came home with a well-deserved bronze medal. Second Crusader across the line was Lesley Ann Doughan who also had a great race working her way through the field, finishing in 6th place, followed by Lisa Shine and Kate Murray (both finishing with great sprints for the line) with Amy Wright in between. Unfortunately, after a strong start, Amy suffered from several stitches throughout the race and did extremely well to hang on and finish. Our final competitor was Darina Scully who was not too far behind. Full results have yet to appear, but we believe the team came home in a highly creditable 4th place, behind Raheny, Sportsworld, in first and second, the latter fielding the overall winner of the race, Kate Kelly, who ran with us in Lanzarote. The parkrun results of the last two weeks are outlined below. We had a few first or second finishers: With a time of 23:32, Lisa Shine placed 5th overall (1st female) in a modest field under 40 in Glengariff. Fiona Bane took 15th overall (2nd female) in 23:50 in the nearly 70-strong field in Tramore. In a similar sized field in River Valley Brian Scanlan took 3rd in 19:59 (following the previous week’s first finisher place for Darina Scully in the same parkrun in a field of nearly 60 (12th overall, in 23:53)) , whilst Olwyn took 2nd female (28th overall in 24:49) in the inaugural run in Russborough with its 85 participants. Alban Coghlan finished in 2nd place among a field exceeding 350 in Marlay, with a time of 18:03. Finally, Mairead Cashman ran in her 50th parkrun in Marlay, placing 247th overall out of 410, 61st woman finisher, in 27:45. Run in the Dark 10K Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Brian O’Kelly 1 00:32:43 33 Zoe Quinn 1 00:37:55 Crusaders AC runners 1 Brian O’Kelly 00:32:43 10 Peter O’Toole 00:35:27 13 Michael Wycherley 00:35:50 (PB) 89 Patrick Needham 00:39:56 Full results here: https://results.runinthedark.ie/?_ga=2.131983823.1940862401.1512232033-1250109273.1512232033 Clontarf 5 mile Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Brian Martin 1 00:29:14 11 Caitriona Costello 1 00:34:41 Crusaders AC runner 24 Colm Foley 00:37:55 Full results here: http://www.redtagtiming.com/results/2017_Nov_Clontarf_5Mile.pdf Clontarf Half Marathon Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 John Whelan 1 01:16:33 16 Shirley Coyle 1 01:25:42 Crusaders AC runner 34 Micheal Killeen 01:29:23 Full results here: http://www.redtagtiming.com/results/2017_Nov_Clontarf_Half.pdf Run the Line 26K Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Adrian Hennessy 1 02:09:15 14 Carolyn Hayes 1 02:23:54 Crusaders AC runners 6 John McAuley 02:16:40 130 Colm Kernan 03:01:41 Full results here: http://runtheline.ie/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/RTL2017_ProvisionalResults_Long_v3.pdf Run the Line 13K Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Conall Murphy 1 00:57:38 31 Lorraine Horan 1 01:13:25 Crusaders AC runner 57 Denis Murphy 01:19:23 Full results here http://runtheline.ie/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/RTL2017_ProvisionalResults_Short_v3.pdf: Jingle Bells 5K Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Mark Hanrahan 1 00:14:13 36 Fionnualla McCormack 1 00:15:58 Crusaders AC runners 12 Brian O’Kelly 00:15:18 13 Michael Kiely 00:15:19 (PB) 24 Vinnie McGuinness 00:15:52 33 Rob Cross 00:15:57 34 Ciaran Diviney 00:15:58 41 Jasper de Taeye 00:16:09 45 Jason Kehoe 00:16:16 (PB) 58 Albin Ingmarsson 00:16:42 68 John McAuley 00:16:48 73 Garret Dunne 00:17:00 102 Paul Dempsey 00:17:30 106 Barry McGuire 00:17:35 (PB) 108 John Fahy 00:17:33 113 Hugh Larkin 00:17:41 143 Brian Carroll 00:18:09 147 Niall O’Connell 00:18:19 149 Paul Flynn 00:18:17 170 Neil Monahan 00:18:51 172 Brian McGuckin 00:18:45 174 Michael Maughan 00:18:54 178 Zlatko Kulic 00:18:58 195 Philip Hamilton 00:19:07 202 Catherine Thornton 00:19:18 (25) 210 Brendan Glynn 00:19:28 (PB) 213 James Cottle 00:19:26 230 Liam O’Brien 00:19:39 231 Anthony Owens 00:19:38 271 Phelim Murray 00:20:16 274 Katie McElroy 00:20:14 (43) 298 Neil Brown 00:20:32 (PB) 300 Robbie Moore 00:20:47 307 Kieran Martin 00:20:45 311 Amy Brogan 00:20:54 (58) 336 Emer Kenny 00:21:05 (69) 343 Ruth Dwyer 00:21:21 (70) 359 Donal Foley 00:21:41 368 Eanna Farrell 00:21:42 377 Luke Haran 00:20:09 380 Darina Scully 00:21:59 (88) 389 Maria Kennedy 00:22:01 (93) 391 Ciara Lehane 00:22:04 (94) 450 Celine Bonce 00:23:11 (124) 451 Orlaith de Burca 00:23:21 (125) 454 Niamh Quinn 00:23:21 (128) 472 Carina Davidson 00:23:49 (136) 497 Miriam Logan 00:24:50 (PB) (147) 509 Keira Gleeson 00:24:01 (154) 515 Jean Devlin 00:24:41 (156) 585 Sharon Woods 00:26:01 (197) 600 Paul Kelly 00:26:33 (PB) 603 Siobhan Russell 00:26:37 (206) 610 Cathy Mannion 00:26:16 (208) 695 Pablo Sanchez 00:26:24 725 Lorraine Fitzsimons 00:30:36 (279) 727 Mary Fitzsimons 00:30:17 (281) 728 John Fitzsimons 00:30:16 879 Don Anderton 00:34:10 908 Denis Murphy 00:35:41 Full results here: https://www.popupraces.ie/race-results/ Dublin Intermediates XC (Women’s 5K) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Kate Kelly 00:19:43 Crusaders AC runners 3 Niamh Corby 00:20:07 6 Lesley Ann Doughan 00:20:47 28 Lisa Shine 00:22:13 33 Amy Wright 00:22:44 34 Kate Murray 00:22:54 39 Darina Scully 0:23:17 Full results here: https://www.dublinathletics.com/attachments/article/489/Intermediate%20Cross%20Country%20Results%202017.pdf Waterford Half Marathon Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Paddy Hamilton 1 01:06:26 31 Maria McCambridge 1 01:17:45 Crusaders AC runner 922 Fiona Bane 01:47:59 Full results here: http://www.totaltiming.ie/results/2017/waterford_ac_half_marathon_2017_fullresults.htm Marlay Parkrun #234 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Emmett Dunleavy 1 00:16:46 9 Dee Grady 1 00:19:15 Crusaders AC runner 101 Kate Murray 00:23:30 (11) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/marlay/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=234 Ballincollig Parkrun #75 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Aidan Robert Cahill 1 00:18:00 37 Brigita Lukste 1 00:22:42 Crusaders AC runner 173 Emma O’Mahony 00:29:36 (52) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/ballincollig/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=75 Glengariff Parkrun #93 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Enda Fitzmaurice 1 00:19:40 5 Lisa Shine 1 00:23:32 Crusaders AC runner 5 Lisa Shine 00:23:32 (1) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/glengariff/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=93 St Anne’s Parkrun #209 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Feidhlim Kelly 1 00:16:04 35 Nicola Hickey Crowe 1 00:19:54 Crusaders AC runners 31 Matt Cranley 00:19:29 211 Aoife Quinn 00:27:20 (57) 295 Lorraine Fitzsimons 00:29:59 (92) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/stannes/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=209 Tramore Parkrun #98 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Barry O’Shea 1 00:17:11 9 Jeannette Feighery 1 00:21:21 Crusaders AC runner 15 Fiona Bane 00:23:50 (2) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/tramore/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=98 Shanganagh Parkrun #139 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Ronan King 1 00:18:25 8 Brid Meehan 1 00:20:48 Crusaders AC runner 48 Orlaith de Burca 00:25:51 (9) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/shanganagh/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=139 Porterstown Parkrun #110 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Alan Kenny 1 00:17:53 12 Caroline Kelly 1 00:22:31 Crusaders AC runners 39 Kevin Flynn 00:27:28 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/porterstown/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=110 Poolbeg Parkrun #14 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Chris Tighe 1 00:17:44 32 Sarah Flaherty 1 00:23:45 Crusaders AC runners 10 David Timoney 00:20:35 18 Zalan Kovacs 00:21:47 23 Russell Murphy 00:22:24 35 Gillian Errity 00:24:15 (2) 67 Gillian Curran 00:27:15 (16) 94 Ciara McElligott 00:32:27 (30) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/poolbeg/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=14 River Valley Parkrun #70 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Stephen Ryan 1 00:20:49 12 Darina Scully 1 00:23:53 Crusaders AC runner 12 Darina Scully 00:23:53 (1) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/rivervalley/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=70 Derry City Parkrun #231 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Sam Cole 1 00:18:24 12 Dawn Houston 1 00:21:13 Crusaders AC runner 55 Mairead Cashman 00:28:51 (12) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/derrycity/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=231 Marlay Parkrun #235 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Damian Bourke 1 00:17:50 8 Sarah Healy 1 00:19:24 Crusaders AC runners 2 Alban Coghlan 00:18:03 15 Killian Barry 00:20:25 17 Ronan Moynihan 00:20:31 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/marlay/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=235 St. Anne’s Parkrun #210 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Andrew Hyland 1 00:16:57 23 Kate Martin 1 00:20:37 Crusaders AC runner 44 Matt Cranley 00:21:34 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/stannes/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=210 Poppintree Parkrun #161 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Tom McKenna 1 00:18:30 10 Aisling Andrews 1 00:20:39 Crusaders AC runners 4 Diarmuid Byrne 00:20:02 78 Maria Pertl 00:41:32 (34) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/poppintree/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=161 Porterstown Parkrun #111 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Stephen Farrell 1 00:19:23 13 Cliona Larkin 1 00:23:14 Crusaders AC runner 32 Kevin Flynn 00:27:09 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/porterstown/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=111 River Valley Parkrun #71 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Dean Keogh 1 00:19:37 12 Orla Smith 1 00:24:43 Crusaders AC runner 3 Brian Scanlan 00:19:59 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/rivervalleyresults/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=71 Russborough Parkrun #1 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Michael Lawlor 1 00:17:52 25 Maura Ginty 1 00:24:33 Crusaders AC runner 28 Olwyn Dunne 00:24:49 (2) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/russborough/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=1 Poolbeg Parkrun #15 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Paul Brophy 1 00:18:10 27 Anne McGarr 1 00:22:05 Crusaders AC runners 15 Simon Kenny 00:20:45 35 Zalan Kovacs 00:23:33 54 Aisling O’Connor 00:25:49 (13) 57 Gillian Curran 00:26:24 (16) 61 Edwina Quinlan 00:27:11 (18) Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/poolbeg/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=15 |