What a super start to 2024, with a brilliant afternoon of cross-country racing in St. Anne’s Park in Raheny! Tradition has the Dublin Masters Championship hosted by Raheny Shamrocks there on the first weekend of each year after the holidays. In some years the conditions can be quite benign, particularly as there are no hills on the course and, if there has been no rain or snow, the ground underfoot can be hard and dry. Some years there is no need for spikes of any length. This year wasn’t one of them. Not only did we see some lovely deep mud in places, but also the log across the wooded part of the course, an obstacle that has featured in years gone by, has made a return, albeit a slight shadow of its former self. The course and the cold crispy conditions made for an exciting afternoon of racing, which did not disappoint the masses who turned out to support. The first event of the day was the combined women’s O/50 and men’s O/65 3k. They were probably quite grateful to go off first as the ground where the mud was deepest had yet to be as badly churned as it became for the men’s O/35 race at the end. We had 5 of our club mates in the women’s race involving a field of 66. As usual, Raheny’s Annette Kiely, an international athlete at senior level in her day, stormed ahead of the field to finish well ahead by the end. Our first runner home was Kate Murray in 16th place and in a time of 13:49, just 90 seconds behind Annette. Olwyn Dunne was next, in 30th place in a time of 14:28 and Olwyn was followed home by Aoife Cowhie (58th in 16:17), Máirín Shine (60th and 4th F65 in 17:22) and Mairead Cashman (62nd in 17:57). No medals on this occasion, but a great effort. The second race, for the men’s O/50, involved 4 of our fellow members. They were advised just before the race that the distance would be 7k, and not the 6k previously advertised and experienced in recent editions. Indeed, the starting point of this race and those that followed was much different from previous years. This race was brought back to the home straight (and the women’s O/35 race started even further back), whereas before the start had been in an open field at right angles to the 1500m loop. Ciaran Diviney maintained a strong second place in the race more or less from the outset and, despite a nasty fall in the wooded section, he had enough of a distance margin over the third placed runner, Trevor Sweeney of Sportsworld, for it not to impact the outcome. Ciaran placed 2nd overall and took the silver medal in the M50 category with a time of 26:13. He was followed in 8th place overall by Paul Cowhie, who, as a 59-year-old, soon to be 60, won the M55 category in 27:11. Neil Brown followed in 54th place in a time of 32:13, taking some scalps in the process, and the contingent was completed by Robbie Moore (75th in 34:46). The team of Ciaran, Paul and Neil placed 7th out of 14. We had 9 runners in the field of 105 in the women’s O/35 race which measured nearly 4k. Alongside each other for much of the race, both Aoife Quigley and Clare Sullivan demonstrated loads of confidence negotiating the deep and sticky mud at the start of the home straight of each loop. In a pair of borrowed spikes, Aoife led the Cru contingent across the line in 8th place overall, taking the F35 gold medal in a time of 15:54. Just behind her at the finish in 10th place came Clare in a time of 16:04, and then, further back, came Nina Holmes (18th in 16:47), just ahead of Amy McGuinness (20th overall and 4th F35 in a time of 16:56). The four runners won the team bronze medal, agonisingly missing out on silver by 1 point to Sportsworld who were a further 14 points behind Raheny. There were 13 club teams in the race. The remaining runners all had a good outing, with at least one of them running in a cross-country event for the first time. Joanne Carey placed 35th in 17:45, followed by Mags Foley, running her first XC race, in 47th place in 18:20. Mags was followed by Dee Ni Chearbhaill, no stranger to this event, who ran 18:37 for 52nd place, and who managed to pip Sophia Morgan (53rd in 18:38) at the post. Finally, Darina Scully, in her first masters’ event, ran 19:45 for 74th spot. The final race of the day was the men’s O/35 7k, which enjoyed a large field of 179 runners. We had 6 athletes in the event, led to the finish by John Mulvihill who placed 23rd in 26:19. John was followed by Kevin Fitzgibbon (35th in 27:14), Peter O’Toole (55th in 28:14) and Joe McDermott (81st in 29:13), who was obliged to race in normal runners as his Achilles flared up after initially putting on his spikes. It meant that Joe had to tread quite carefully through the sticky places on the course and this affected his time. Eddie Nugent was next, placing 93rd in 29:39, and he was followed by Gary Park (107th in 30:16), who had an inspiring sprint for the line, passing at least 4 other competitors. The team of John, Kevin, Peter and Joe placed 8th in a competition involving 18 clubs. Many congrats to everyone who ran in the Championships. It was a great effort and enormous fun to watch and support! There was a major uptick in numbers participating on Saturday morning in parkruns. New Year’s resolutions may have had something to do with it! As usual, our largest contingent appeared in Poolbeg, where, once again, we enjoyed a Crusader finishing first in their category. This was Emma Rowe who placed 6th overall and first female runner home in a time of 19:36. In a significant field of 236, Emma was followed closely by Tom Gleeson (7th in 19:46) and then by Adrian Groarke (21st in 21:07), John Lohan (33rd in 22:07), Pat Quill (41st in 23:07), Jessica Norris (51st and 6th in 23:45), Josie Ward (60th and 9th in 24;07), Fiona Bane (73rd and 16th in 24:36), Franky Keane (74th in 24:38) right behind Fiona, Tara Murphy (115th and 35th in 27:00), Louise O’Riordan (118th and 38th in 27:03), Maureen McGinley (186th and 78th in 31:06), Anna Hernick (187th and 79th in 31:08), Gillian Curran (191st and 82nd in 31:11) and Cynthia Perucca (214th and 95th in 34:34). Rob Glascott also ran in Poolbeg, as part of a much longer run, but his result has not been recorded. In a much smaller field (but a higher number than in previous weeks) Áine Kenny placed 4th and 1st in a field of 41 in Mountbellew Forest in a time of 22:09, whilst Serena Molony joined the field of 93 in Templemore in her native county of Tipperary where she placed 22nd and 4th in a time of 24:45. Tomás Bradley took 3rd place in the field of 42 in Tolka Valley Park in a time of 20:54, followed by Fiona Shine (18th and 7th in 28:00), Gillian Lyons (29th and 12th in 32:14) and Máirín Shine (31st and 14th in 33:42). We had 4 runners in Shanganagh alongside 243 other participants. Our athletes were led home by Chris Russell in 10th place in a time of 19:58 and Chris was followed by Eoghan Corrigan (78th in 25:46), Orlaith de Burca (148th and 32nd in 28:59) and Carina Davidson (227th and 73rd in 37:42). Darina Scully tailwalked in Malahide, whilst Colm Foley took 55th place in the 231-strong field in Griffeen Park, where he finished in a time of 24:54. Olwyn Dunne and Irene Gorman ran in the 560-strong field in St. Anne’s where Olwyn placed 136th and 21st in 25:05 and Irene, 353rd and 111th in 30:57. Paul and Aoife Kelly took to the paths of Poppintree where, alongside 223 other runners, Paul placed 26th in 23:06 and Aoife placed 70th and 10th in 27:34. Meanwhile, Gian Piero Allerta returned from his new home in Cork to run in Cabinteely along with 191 other participants. Gian Piero placed 49th in 25:30. Then, in Donabate, Brendan Glynn placed 54th in 24:26 in a field of 253, whilst Mairead Cashman took on Bushy Park where she placed 184th and 52nd in a time of 34:08 in a field of 247. Finally, and further afield, Aidan Hudner ran once again in Pollok in Glasgow where, in a field of 408, he placed 76th in a time of 24:27, whilst Kris Ryan ran in Paradise Point in Queensland Australia once again, where, in a field of 355, she placed 86th and 14th in a time of 26:09. Women’s O/50 3k (66) Overall place Name Guntime 1 Annette Kealy 00:12:19 Crusaders AC runners 16 Kate Murray 00:13:49 30 Olwyn Dunne 00:14:28 58 Aoife Cowhie 00:16:17 60 Máirín Shine 00:17:22 62 Mairead Cashman 00:17:57 Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/dublin_masters_xc_champs_2024/4995/club-team-results?runnerClass=women%27s%2050%2B&type=Team&category=OVER_ALL Men’s O/50 7k (88) Overall place Name Guntime 1 Ciaran McCarthy 00:25:53 Crusaders AC runners 2 Ciaran Diviney 00:26:13 8 Paul Cowhie 00:27:11 54 Neil Brown 00:32:13 75 Robbie Moore 00:34:46 Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/dublin_masters_xc_champs_2024/4995/club-team-results?runnerClass=women%27s%2050%2B&type=Team&category=OVER_ALL Women’s O/35 4k (105) Overall place Name Guntime 1 Maria McCambridge 00:14:47 Crusaders AC runners 8 Aoife Quigley 00:15:54 10 Clare Sullivan 00:16:04 18 Nina Holmes 00:16:47 20 Amy McGuinness 00:16:56 35 Joanne Carey 00:17:45 47 Margaret Foley 00:18:20 52 Dee Ni Chearbhaill 00:18:37 53 Sophia Morgan 00:18:38 74 Darina Scully 00:19:45 Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/dublin_masters_xc_champs_2024/4995/club-team-results?runnerClass=women%27s%2050%2B&type=Team&category=OVER_ALL Men’s O/35 7k (179) Overall place Name Guntime 1 Paul Stephenson 00:23:58 Crusaders AC runners 23 John Mulvihill 00:26:19 35 Kevin Fitzgibbon 00:27:14 55 Peter O’Toole 00:28:14 81 Joe McDermott 00:29:13 93 Eddie Nugent 00:29:35 107 Gary Park 00:30:16 Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/dublin_masters_xc_champs_2024/4995/club-team-results?runnerClass=women%27s%2050%2B&type=Team&category=OVER_ALL Poolbeg Parkrun (236) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Ashley Hayes 1 00:18:02 6 Emma Rowe 1 00:19:36 Crusaders AC runners 6 Emma Rowe 00:19:36 (1) 7 Tom Gleeson 00:19:46 10 Paul O’Hara 00:20:03 21 Adrian Groarke 00:21:07 33 John Lohan 00:22:07 41 Pat Quill 00:23:07 51 Jessica Norris 00:23:45 (6) 60 Josie Ward 00:24:07 (9) 73 Fiona Bane 00:24:36 (16) 74 Franky Keane 00:24:38 115 Tara Murphy 00:27:00 (35) 118 Louise O’Riordan 00:27:03 (38) 186 Maureen McGinley 00:31:06 (78) 187 Anna Hernick 00:31:08 (79) 191 Gillian Curran 00:31:11 (82) 214 Cynthia Perucca 00:34:34 (95) Shanganagh Parkrun (247) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 George Callery 1 00:17:37 25 Emily Feighan 1 00:22:12 Crusaders AC runners 10 Chris Russell 00:19:58 78 Eoghan Corrigan 00:25:46 148 Orlaith de Burca 00:28:59 (32) 227 Carina Davidson 00:37:42 (73) St. Anne’s Parkrun (560) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Mark Naylor 1 00:17:54 12 Helen Marshall 1 00:19:22 Crusaders AC runners 136 Olwyn Dunne 00:25:05 (21) 353 Irene Gorman 00:30:57 (111) Mountbellew Forest Parkrun (41) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 2 Gary McDonnell 1 00:19:59 4 Áine Kenny 1 00:22:09 Crusaders AC runner 4 Áine Kenny 00:22:09 (1) Templemore Parkrun (93) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Garoid Pierse 1 00:19:43 3 Eileen McCullagh 1 00:20:00 Crusaders AC runner 22 Serena Moloney 24:45 (4) Donabate Parkrun (253) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 S. Jenkinson 1 00:18:33 9 Julia Masotti 1 00:21:08 Crusaders AC runner 54 Brendan Glynn 00:24:26 Malahide Parkrun (393) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Fergal Cassin 1 00:18:35 24 Sarah Hawkshaw 1 00:20:39 Crusaders AC runner 390 Darina Scully 00:51:26 (tailwalking) Cabinteely Parkrun (192) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Bryan O’Connor 1 00:18:24 30 Deirdre McGing 1 00:23:50 Crusaders AC runner 49 Gian Piero Allerta 00:25:30 Griffeen Parkrun (231) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Eoghan Gallagher 1 00:18:11 9 Ana Jones 1 00:21:27 Crusaders AC runner 55 Colm Foley 00:24:54 Tolka Valley Parkrun (42) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Aaron Mullan 1 00:18:51 10 Elise Phillips 1 00:25:34 Crusaders AC runners 3 Tomás Bradley 00:20:54 18 Fiona Shine 00:28:00 29 Gillian Lyons 00:32:14 (12) 31 Máirín Shine 00:33:42 (14) Bushy Parkrun (247) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Simon Ollo 1 00:19:14 21 Anne Linton 1 00:23:34 Crusaders AC runner 184 Mairead Cashman 00:34:08 (52) Poppintree Parkrun (225) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 David Branock 1 00:19:32 19 Paulette Thomson 1 00:22:24 Crusaders AC runner 26 Paul F. Kelly 00:23:06 70 Aoife Kelly 00:27:34 (10) Following another hugely successful Goal Mile organised by Jim O’Neill on Christmas Day, the competitive element of the festive period really began on St. Stephen’s Day with a plethora of races around the country and finished on New Year’s Day with the Tom Brennan Memorial 5k, organised by Liffey Valley AC in the Phoenix Park to kickstart the year with a bang! The major event on St. Stephen’s Day was the Fields of Athenry 10k with its field of nearly 1500 finishers. We had three runners in the event, with Joe McDermott leading the charge in 54th place in a time of 36:22. He was followed by Áine Kenny (238th and 30th female finisher in 42:32). Quite possibly, Áine placed 3rd in the F40 category. Finally, the contingent was completed by Brendan Glynn who took 476th place in 47:51. Members may be interested to learn that Catherine Thornton, the ex-Crusader, now with GCH, who trains with us periodically, finished 3rd woman home (62nd overall) in a time of 36:52. Over in Tipperary, Eddie Nugent ran once again in the Clonmel AC-organised 4-mile road race. In a race won by Sean Tobin in 17:46 and with Shona Heaslip marking her 20:46 finish with a course record, Eddie placed 73rd in 24:45, just ahead of the legendary Joe Gough. Going round the country, Kathryn Gibbons ran in the Finn Valley 5k in County Donegal, where she placed 18th overall and 4th female finisher, behind the Flanagan twins, in a great time of 18:47. Rachael Yorke won the women’s race in the Longford-based Shane Brennan 5k. In a field measuring 341 runners, Rachael placed 21st overall in a time of 19:42. On the same day, we had two runners in the Farranfore-Maine Valley AC-organised 5k in Tralee, Co. Kerry. In a field of 293, Tomás Bradley placed 63rd in 19:22, followed by Margaret Foley with yet another PB result, placing 69th and 10th in 19:37. Finally, on that day, Ciara Regan won the women’s race in the South Sligo 5k in a time of 19:11. Full results have, unfortunately, not been posted for this event. A day later, we had 3 runners take part in the demanding Fat Turkey Run 10k up and down Howth Head. In a field of 370, Olwyn Dunne placed 123rd overall in 50:02 and quite likely 2nd F55, and Olwyn was followed by Emer Kenny (135th in 50:58) and Darina Scully (156th in 53:03). On Sunday 31 December, Togher AC hosted its end of year 5k with 663 runners choosing to take part. We had two athletes in the event: Colm Parnell placed 6th in 15:52 and he was followed by Tim O’Donnell who placed 104th in 19:25 in an event in which at least 125 runners ran under 20 minutes. Again, on Sunday, Olwyn Dunne participated in the Across the Years Marathon that took place entirely on the le Chéile track in Leixlip. Olwyn’s time was 3:44:16. Leo Lundy also ran in the event (his 381st marathon). Further afield, during this period, our two exiles in Spain, Esther Requena Ferri and Cristian Vilchez Ceballos, have been busy competing in a myriad of races. On 23 December Esther ran in a 5k in Novelda, finishing in 20:05. A day later she took part in the San Silvestre Monovera 5k, placing 2nd in 21:15. On 28 December, Cristian placed 2nd in the San Silvestre Las Gabias 4k, running 13:59 for the distance and then the following day Esther placed 3rd in the San Silvestre Canals 3.5k where she ran 13:07. Finally, Esther took 3rd place in the San Silvestre Villena street race of just under 7k where she ran 28:11, whilst Cristian ran on the track in the San Silvestre Atarfe 9.5k, finishing in a time of 33:08. Two of our German members, Thomas Vogée and Anna Hoesl- ran in races on Sunday 31 December. Thomas ran in a race measuring about 10.8k, the Silvestre Lauf 2023, in Bietighheim-Bissingen just north of Stuttgart. His finishing time was 44:33. Anna ran in Munich, near the Olympic Village, in a 10k which she completed in 44:03. Finally, on New Years Day, at least 14 members of the club ran in a field of 654 in the annual Tom Brennan Memorial 5k organised by Liffey Valley AC in the Phoenix Park, conducted on 2 laps of the Furze, Ordnance Survey and Chesterfield Roads. Our first runner home was Brian O’Kelly who placed 14th in 15:09. Brian, who is also in training for the Barcelona Half marathon, finished as 1st M40 too. He was followed by Luke Corcoran (26th in 15:47) and by Ciarain Kelly (30th in 15:58). The three of them placed 6th as a team out of 18 clubs. Ciarain was followed by Kieran Little (68th in 17:10) and then by William Quill (80th in 17:26). Saoirse McGrath was our first female runner across the line, in 8th place, 87th overall, in a time of 17:40, to be followed by Clare Sullivan who must have started further back too (90th and 9th in 17:39), but who also took 2nd place in the F40 age category. Together with Dee Ni Chearbhaill who placed 211th and 47th in 21:16, the ladies’ team came home in 4th place out of 14 clubs. Eoghan Kerins ran 18:42 for 122nd place and he was followed by Michael Keegan (168th in 19:35), Gian Piero Allerta (259th in 22:52), Amy O’Donoghue (308th and 92nd in 24:39), Paul E. Kelly (440th in 28:54) and Lorraine Fitzsimons (481st and 200th in 30:56). We have two weekends and 4 sets of parkruns on which to report, which includes an attempt to list those who ran on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day (not easy to find!). On Saturday 23 December numbers of participants generally were reasonable and in parallel with this we had quite a few of our clubmates out running before the traditional period of over-indulgence. Áine Kenny ran once again in Mountbellew Forest, where, in a field of 38 she was the first woman home in 5th place overall and a time of 22:59. Meanwhile, in Poolbeg, Stephen Hurley, once again, led the field, which measured 118, across the line. Stephen recorded a time of 17:57 and he was followed by Kenan Furlong in 2nd place (18:00) , Alby Allan (5th in 19:23), Kevin Lambe (6th in 19:31), John Lohan (10th in 21:30), Lisa Branigan (18th and 3rd female in 22:28), Emily Glen (34th and 6th in 23:58), Josie Ward (35th and 7th in 23:59) just behind, Russell Murphy (48th in 25:07), Tara Murphy (71st and 24th in 27:47) and Maureen McGinley (88th and 31st in 30:20). Sarah Lyons and husband Phelim Murray joined 26 other runners in Tolka Valley Park where Sarah placed 6th and 2nd in 23:00, followed by Phelim who placed 9th in 25:02. In Malahide, with its field of 302, Paul Cowhie took 2nd place in 17:56, followed by Dee Ni Chearbhaill (57th and 12th in 22:42) and Aoife Cowhie (143rd and 31st in 25:53). Further away, Hannah Jones joined 8others on a windy Narin Beach, where she placed 5th and 3rd in 33:02, whilst Kate Murray ran in Griffeen Park where, in a field of 201, she placed 42nd and 5th in a time of 23:19. Toby Benham tailwalked in Worthing, whilst Ross Neill took 12th spot in Ormeau Park in Belfast in a time of 18:58. He was joined by 455 other runners. Emma O’Mahony placed 62nd and 17th in a field of 111 in Enniskillen where she recorded a time of 29:53, whilst Barry O’Neill ran in Marlay Park alongside 637 other participants, where he placed 273rd in 26:01. Karl Walsh crossed the line in 6th place in Naas where he ran 18:43, in a field of 154, whilst Mairead Cashman took 131st and 28th spots in 27:44 in the 228-strong field in Tramore Valley, Cork. Dale Whelehan ran in Russborough where, in a field of 106, he placed 7th in 21:57, whilst Luke Haran ran once again in Mungret Park, where he placed 34th in 24:43, in a field of the same size. In Strokestown, Liam Lyster placed 13th in a time of 30:05 and in a field of 47, whilst, in Mullingar, Franky Keane finished in 25th spot in 22:42 in a field of 145. Gillian Lyons joined 319 other participants in Ballincollig where she placed 263rd and 91st in 33:51, whilst Dee Lawlor and Olwyn Dunne took on Cabinteely, where, in a field of 188 runners, Dee placed 47th in 24:07 whilst pacing his daughter, with Olwyn further back in 107th and 23rd places in 29:00. We had a substantial turnout in St. Anne’s Raheny. In a field of 416, our contingent of 10 was led home by Eugene O’Neill (67th in 22:07) and he was followed by Julian Callan (127th in 24:29), Paul F. Kelly (151st in 25:35), Fiona Shine (188th and 45th in 26:44), Anna Shine (300th and 94th in 30:49), Máirín Shine (308th and 99th in 30:57), Emer Kenny (355th and 130th in 34:02), Lisa Shine (357th and 131st in 34:05), Orlaith de Burca (393rd and 155th in 41:08) and Aoife Kelly, tailwalking. Finally, for that morning, we had two runners in Shanganagh. In a field of 212, Jill Nason placed 160th and 43rd in 30:23, followed by Carina Davidson (199th and 65th in 35:50). Then, on Christmas Day, we had runners in at least 3 parkruns. Not realising that parkruns start half an hour earlier in England than in Ireland, Kevin Kavanagh rocked up to the Bury St. Edmunds parkrun at just before 9:00 and starts his warm up well away from the start line. In the end he ran a lot further than everyone else to get to the finish, reeling in masses of participants and placing 23rd in a field of 293 in a time of 21:29. Meanwhile, Gillian Lyons took on Ballincollig where, in a field of 392, she placed 300th and 79th in 31:51. Lastly, Shane Egan took on Sligo, where, in a field of 102, he placed 4th in a time of 19:45. The penultimate set of parkrun results come from this weekend and, although numbers were generally lower than previously, again we still had a decent level of participation with the usual number of podium results. Peter O’Toole headed to Belfast where in the Waterworks Parkrun with its field of 116, he led everyone home in a time of 18:13. Darina Scully ran in River Valley where she placed 8th and 1st in 24:35 in a field of 49. We had some impressive running in Marlay Park in extremely wet and windy conditions. In a field of 265, Kevin Kavanagh was the first Crusader across the line, in 2nd place in a time of 17:51. Kevin was followed by Clare Sullivan who was first female finisher, 10th overall, in a time of 18:58. Clare was followed by Aoife Quigley (12th and 2nd in 19:41) and then by Sarah Lyons (32nd and 4th in 21:51), Alma Hanevy (34th and 5th in 21:59), James Cottle (36th in 22:04), Phelim Murray (43rd in 22:34), Tanja Narancic (60th and 6th in 23:09), Dee Ni Chearbhaill (97th and 17th in 24:51) and Olwyn Dunne (119th and 25th in 25:53). Henry Griffin was first across the line ahead of a field of 89 in the University of Galway, where he ran 19:24 and followed by Barry O’Neill who placed 33rd in 25:59. In Tipperary, in the Fethard Town Parkrun, Joanne Carey placed 12th and 2nd in a field of 60 and in a time of 22:12, whilst Diarmuid Byrne ran in a modest field of 20 in Tolka Valley, where he placed 3rd in 22:58. Dee Lawlor also placed 3rd, in Vandeleur in Co. Clare in a time of 19:06. The field there measured 68. Closer to home, we had a small turnout in a reduced field of 63 in Poolbeg. Stephen Hurley took 3rd spot in 20:16, followed by Lisa Branigan (14th and 3rd in 22:37), Neil Brown (17th in 23:08), Franky Keane (19th in 23:31), Neil’s daughter, Kelly (35th and 11th in 26:12) and Sharon Ward tailwalking. Ross Neill ran once again in Ormeau Park where he placed 7th in 19:23 alongside 183 other runners, whilst Luke Haran came home in 8th place in Mungret in a time of 22:33 and in a field of 84. Mairead Cashman ran in Glen River where, in a field of 55, she placed 36th and 9th in 32:49, whilst Dave Carter took 4th place in the 83-strong field in Cabinteely in a time of 20:34. Kris Ryan ran once again in Coomera in Australia, where, in a field of 88, she placed 28th and 6th in 26:40, whilst Gillian Lyons placed 212th and 63rd in 30:21 in Tramore Valley, Cork in a field of 259. Máirín Shine joined 40 other runners on Jill Nason placed 160th and 43rd in 30:23, followed by Carina Davidson (199th and 65th in 35:50). Finally, Paul and Aoife Kelly ran in St. Anne’s Raheny where, in a field of 253, Paul placed 84th in 25:57 and Aoife finished in 99th and 21st places in a time of 27:24. There were at least four parkruns on New Years’ Day. In Ormeau Park Ross Neill joined 314 other runners, placing 8th in 18:39, whilst we had at least 8 runners in Cabinteely, including some faces from the past. In a field of 224, John Lohan ran 23:30 for 31st spot and he was followed by Andrea Talpo (50th in 24:40), Barry O’Neill (72nd in 26:19), Tara Murphy (98th and 26th in 28:02), Olwyn Dunne (100th and 27th in 28:09) and Marie Hyland (106th and 28th in 28:42). Joe Dunne also ran, but his result was not recorded. Kevin Lambe placed 2nd in a time of 18:56 in Mullingar in a field of 102, whilst we had three runners in Bushy Park. In a field of 180, Kate Murray placed 40th and 4th in 24:55, followed by Orlaith de Burca (116th and 35th in 31:15) and Mairead Cashman (127th and 42nd in 32:53). Fields of Athenry 10k (1481) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 John Travers 1 00:30:00 15 Alice Goodall 1 00:34:12 Crusaders AC runners 54 Joe McDermott 00:36:02 238 Áine Kenny 00:42:32 (30) 476 Brendan Glynn 00:47:51 Full results here: https://redtagtiming.com/results/FoA2023.pdf Clonmel AC 4-mile road race (424) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Sean Tobin 1 00:17:46 19 Shona Heaslip 00:20:46 (CR) Crusaders AC runner 73 Eddie Nugent 00:24:45 Full results here: https://www.premiertimingsystems.ie/2023-Race-Results/MSD-4-Mile-Race-Results Farranfore-Maine Valley AC 5k (293) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Oisin Spillane 1 00:14:44 12 Brigid Dennehy 1 00:16:40 Crusaders AC runners 63 Tomás Bradley 00:19:22 69 Margaret Foley 00:19:37 (PB) (10) Full results here: https://www.sportsplits.com/races/farranfore-maine-valley-ac-5k-2023 Finn Valley 5k (453) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Oisin Toye 1 00:15:44 4 Roisin Flanagan 1 00:16:59 Crusaders AC runner 18 Kathryn Gibbons 00:18:47 (4) Full results here: https://www.facebook.com/FinnValleyAthletics Shane Brennan 5k (341) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Patrick Sharkey 1 00:16:47 21 Rachael Yorke 1 00:19:42 Crusaders AC runner 21 Rachael Yorke 00:19:42 (1) Full results here: https://coretiming.ie/events/shane-brennan-5km-23/ Fat Turkey Run 10k (370) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 David Kirwan 1 00:34:27 17 Carmel Ward 1 00:40:15 Crusaders AC runners 123 Olwyn Dunne 00:50:02 135 Emer Kenny 00:50:58 156 Darina Scully 00:53:03 Full results here: https://fatturkeyrun.files.wordpress.com/2023/12/1-overall-results.pdf Togher AC 5k (663) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 John Durcan 1 00:15:21 25 Lizzie Lee 1 00:17:19 Crusaders AC runners 6 Colm Parnell 00:15:52 104 Tim O’Donnell 00:19:25 Full results here: https://www.corkathletics.org/latest-results/2023/441-december/3057-togher-ac-5k-road-race-results-2023.html?fbclid=IwAR2CaJcouYDOutDcFptImvFFaVhLdlqaJ8yDiPP2JzS_40QXaL-XXbA_ZpE&mibextid=xfxF2i Tom Brennan 5k (654) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Efrem Gidey 1 00:13:43 37 Ciara Wilson 1 00:16:10 Crusaders AC runners 14 Brian O’Kelly 00:15:09 26 Luke Corcoran 00:15:47 30 Ciarain Kelly 00:15:58 68 Kieran Little 00:17:10 80 William Quill 00:17:26 87 Saoirse McGrath 00:17:40 (8) 90 Clare Sullivan 00:17:39 (9) 122 Eoghan Kerins 00:18:42 168 Michael Keegan 00:19:35 211 Dee Ni Chearbhaill 00:21:16 (47) 259 Gian Piero Allerta 00:22:52 440 Paul E. Kelly 00:28:54 481 Lorraine Fitzsimons 00:30:56 (200) Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/tom_brennan_memorial_5k_2024/4933/results 23/12/23 Poolbeg Parkrun (118) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Stephen Hurley 1 00:17:57 13 Ava Rose Clarke 1 00:21:55 Crusaders AC runners 1 Stephen Hurley 00:17:57 2 Kenan Furlong 00:18:00 5 Alby Allan 00:19:23 6 Kevin Lambe 00:19:31 10 John Lohan 00:21:30 18 Lisa Branigan 00:22:28 (3) 34 Emily Glen 00:23:58 (6) 35 Josie Ward 00:23:59 (7) 48 Russell Murphy 00:25:07 71 Tara Murphy 00:27:47 (24) 88 Maureen McGinley 00:30:20 (31) Shanganagh Parkrun (212) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Drew Donohoe 1 00:17:20 23 Ruby Dowd 1 00:20:55 Crusaders AC runners 160 Jill Nason 00:30:23 (43) 199 Carina Davidson 00:35:50 (65) St. Anne’s Parkrun (416) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Karl Nolan 1 00:16:25 16 Beth Reamsbottom 1 00:19:18 Crusaders AC runners 67 Eugene O’Neill 00:22:07 127 Julian Callan 00:24:29 151 Paul F. Kelly 00:25:35 188 Fiona Shine 00:26:44 (45) 300 Anna Shine 00:30:49 (94) 308 Máirín Shine 00:30:57 (99) 355 Emer Kenny 00:34:02 (130) 357 Lisa Shine 00:34:05 (131) 393 Orlaith de Burca 00:41:08 (155) 416 Aoife Kelly 00:56:04 Mountbellew Forest Parkrun (38) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Declan Fahey 1 00:19:53 5 Áine Kenny 1 00:22:59 Crusaders AC runner 5 Áine Kenny 00:22:59 (1) Tramore Valley, Cork Parkrun (228) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Timothy Hawkins 1 00:16:41 7 Michelle Kenny 1 00:17:53 Crusaders AC runner 131 Mairead Cashman 00:27:44 (28) Ormeau Parkrun (456) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Lochlainn Connolly 1 00:16:31 16 Grainne McGrath 1 00:19:29 Crusaders AC runner 12 Ross Neill 00:18:58 Malahide Parkrun (302) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Jack Maughan 1 00:15:52 14 Jenny Johnston 1 00:19:28 Crusaders AC runners 2 Paul Cowhie 00:17:56 57 Dee Ni Chearbhaill 00:22:42 (12) 143 Aoife Cowhie 00:25:53 (31) Enniskillen Parkrun (111) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Jason Wilson 1 00:18:47 4 Nadine McIntyre 1 00:19:31 Crusaders AC runner 62 Emma O’Mahony 00:29:53 (17) Naas Parkrun (154) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Shane Coffey 1 00:15:08 5 Deirdre McDermot 1 00:18:22 Crusaders AC runner 6 Karl Walsh 00:18:43 Cabinteely Parkrun (188) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Alex Mulvihill 1 00:17:58 9 Noreen Brouder 1 00:20:25 Crusaders AC runners 47 Derek Lawlor 00:24:07 107 Olwyn Dunne 00:29:00 (23) Narin Beach Parkrun (9) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Keith Boyle 1 00:24:21 2 Claire Tonry 1 00:28:13 Crusaders AC runner 5 Hannah Jones 00:33:02 (3) Strokestown Parkrun (47) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Brian Farrell 1 00:20:47 5 Sarah Dixon 1 00:24:39 Crusaders AC runner 13 Liam Lyster 00:30:05 Marlay Parkrun (638) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Karl Ennis 1 00:16:32 38 Caoimhe McCormack 1 00:19:32 Crusaders AC runner 273 Barry O’Neill 00:26:01 Griffeen Parkrun (201) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Michal Gil 1 00:17:40 19 Breda Smyth 1 00:21:34 Crusaders AC runner 42 Kate Murray 00:23:19 (5) Mullingar Parkrun (145) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Matthew Molloy 1 00:17:10 8 Amy Mahony 1 00:20:15 Crusaders AC runner 25 Franky Keane 00:22:42 Ballincollig Parkrun (320) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Conrad Watt 1 00:17:27 37 Pamela Lopes 1 00:21:46 Crusaders AC runner 263 Gillian Lyons 00:33:51 (91) Russborough Parkrun (106) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Liam Mooney 1 00:18:30 23 Shania Cashin 1 00:25:47 Crusaders AC runner 7 Dale Whelehan 00:21:57. Tolka Valley Parkrun (28) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Kieron Sexton-Campbell 1 00:16:40 5 Aoife Donaghy 1 00:22:17 Crusaders AC runners 6 Sarah Lyons 00:23:00 (2) 9 Phelim Murray 00:25:02 Mungret Parkrun (106) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 James Kelly 1 00:16:47 11 Mary Donnelly 1 00:21:32 Crusaders AC runner 34 Luke Haran 00:24:43 25/12/23 Ballincollig Parkrun (392) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Sean Twohig 1 00:17:46 30 Jane O’Connor 1 00:20:40 Crusaders AC runner 300 Gillian Lyons 00:31:51 (79) Sligo Parkrun (102) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Brian Kinsella 1 00:17:18 22 Aoife Burns 1 00:23:15 Crusaders AC runner 4 Shane Egan 00:19:45 30/12/23 Poolbeg Parkrun (118) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Stephen Hurley 1 00:17:57 13 Ava Rose Clarke 1 00:21:55 Crusaders AC runners 1 Stephen Hurley 00:17:57 2 Kenan Furlong 00:18:00 5 Alby Allan 00:19:23 6 Kevin Lambe 00:19:31 10 John Lohan 00:21:30 18 Lisa Branigan 00:22:28 (3) 34 Emily Glen 00:23:58 (6) 35 Josie Ward 00:23:59 (7) 48 Russell Murphy 00:25:07 71 Tara Murphy 00:27:47 (24) 88 Maureen McGinley 00:30:20 (31) Shanganagh Parkrun (212) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Drew Donohoe 1 00:17:20 23 Ruby Dowd 1 00:20:55 Crusaders AC runners 160 Jill Nason 00:30:23 (43) 199 Carina Davidson 00:35:50 (65) St. Anne’s Parkrun (253) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Stephen Butler 1 00:16:55 13 Carmel Ward 1 00:20:12 Crusaders AC runners 84 Paul F. Kelly 00:25:57 99 Aoife Kelly 00:27:24 (21) Marlay Parkrun (265) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Ruben Bartelink 1 00:17:38 10 Clare Sullivan 1 00:18:58 Crusaders AC runners 2 Kevin Kavanagh 00:17:51 10 Clare Sullivan 00:18:58 12 Aoife Quigley 00:19:41 (2) 32 Sarah Lyons 00:21:51 (4) 34 Alma Hanevy 00:21:59 (5) 36 James Cottle 00:22:04 43 Phelim Murray 00:22:34 60 Tanja Narancic 00:23:09 (6) 97 Dee Ni Chearbhaill 00:24:51 (17) 119 Olwyn Dunne 00:25:53 (25) Wexford Racecourse Parkrun (41) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 George Callery 1 00:17:40 10 Annemarie Doyle 1 00:23:45 Crusaders AC runner 29 Máirín Shine 00:29:48 (11) Tramore Valley, Cork Parkrun (259) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Fintan Kerins 1 00:16:07 12 Teresa Murphy 1 00:19:50 Crusaders AC runner 212 Gillian Lyons 00:30:21 (63) Ormeau Parkrun (456) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Neill Weir 1 00:17:46 17 Lia Campbell 1 00:22:38 Crusaders AC runner 7 Ross Neill 00:19:23 Waterworks Belfast Parkrun (116) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Peter O’Toole 1 00:18:13 10 Fionnuala O’Hare 1 00:22:17 Crusaders AC runner 1 Peter O’Toole 00:18:13 Vandeleur Parkrun (68) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Gerard Dunne 1 00:17:01 7 Dympna O’Dwyer 1 00:21:54 Crusaders AC runner 3 Derek Lawlor 00:19:06 Fethard Town Parkrun (60) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Joe Meagher 1 00:19:44 3 Angela McCann 1 00:20:07 Crusaders AC runner 12 Joanne Carey 00:22:12 (2) Cabinteely Parkrun (83) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Tom Moran 1 00:19:51 6 Ciara Brady 1 00:22:07 Crusaders AC runner 4 David Carter 00:20:34 University of Galway Parkrun (89) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Henry Griffin 1 00:19:24 5 Elizabeth Maher 1 00:19:55 Crusaders AC runner 33 Barry O’Neill 00:25:59 Glen River Parkrun (55) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Kieran Ruby 1 00:20:52 11 Deborah O 1 00:25:31 Crusaders AC runner 36 Mairead Cashman 00:32:49 (9) River Valley Parkrun (49) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Daniel O’Brien 1 00:17:26 8 Darina Scully 1 00:24:35 Crusaders AC runner 8 Darina Scully 00:24:35 (1) Tolka Valley Parkrun (20) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Dermot Twomey 1 00:16:50 7 Mary Gavin 1 00:24:51 Crusaders AC runner 3 Diarmuid Byrne 00:22:58 Mungret Parkrun (106) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Kieran O’Brien 1 00:18:28 10 Gillian O’Regan 1 00:22:39 Crusaders AC runner 8 Luke Haran 00:22:33 01/01/24 Ormeau Parkrun (315) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Luke Watts 1 00:16:48 27 Georgina Garland 1 00:21:09 Crusaders AC runner 8 Ross Neill 00:18:39 Cabinteely Parkrun (224) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Ian Hurley 1 00:17:57 6 Robyn Kennedy 1 00:21:01 Crusaders AC runners 31 John Lohan 00:23:30 50 Andrea Talpo 00:24:40 72 Barry O’Neill 00:26:19 98 Tara Murphy 00:28:02 (26) 100 Olwyn Dunne 00:28:09 (27) 106 Marie Hyland 00:28:42 (28) Mullingar Parkrun (102) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Evan McCormack 1 00:18:46 6 Fiona Nevin 1 00:19:54 Crusaders AC runner 2 Kevin Lambe 00:18:56 Bushy Parkrun (180) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 David Kearney 1 00:18:52 15 Susan Murnane 1 00:21:48 Crusaders AC runners 40 Kate Murray 00:24:55 (4) 116 Orlaith de Burca 00:31:15 (35) 127 Mairead Cashman 00:32:53 (42) It should come as no surprise that, with there being few races on offer in Ireland now this side of Christmas, this short report is almost exclusively focused on parkruns around the country and elsewhere. Indeed, our members seemed to be out in force on Saturday morning and, as usual, several featured on the podiums. Clearly, numbers were up generally around the country in mostly ideal running conditions.
There was, however, at least one race event outside Ireland in which a Crusader featured. Aitor Arribas Velasco ran in the Pisa Half marathon on Sunday morning, recording a chiptime of 1:57:18. Conditions looked great for running. Back to park-running, and we had at least 6 first finishers on the day. Ciarain Kelly headed a field of 85 in Vicarstown where he recorded a time of 17:09, with Dale Whelehan following behind in 8th place in 22:06. Dee Lawlor crossed the line ahead of 127 other runners in Cabinteely in a time of 18:27, whilst Darina Scully took the opportunity of a trip to Finland to run in the Puolarmaari parkrun there, placing 10th and first finisher in 27:37 in a field of 25. Saoirse McGrath ran once again in Marlay Park where, in a field of 477, she placed 12th and 1st in a time of 18:32, followed by Killian Barry who took 21st spot in 19:51. Meanwhile, Aine Kenny placed 5th and 1st in the 27-strong field in Mountbellew Forest in a time of 23:30. Naturally, we had a first finisher once again in Poolbeg from the contingent of at least 20 Crusaders who took part in a field of 169. Ella Quinn placed 6th and 1st in 19:33, preceded by Kenan Furlong (2nd in 17:58), followed closely by Ciara Regan (7th and 2nd female finisher in 19:41), and then by Adrian Groarke (18th in 20:45), Luke Corcoran (20th in 20:57), just ahead of Ross Neill and Kevin Kavanagh (21st and 22nd in the same time of 20:58), Cría Dowling (31st and 6th in 22:05), Joanne Carey (32nd and 7th in 22:07), John Lohan (35th in 22:58), Lisa Branigan (39th and 8th in 23:12), Paul Campbell (41st in 23:21), Josie Ward (49th and 10th in 23:46), Fiona Bane (56th and 13th in 24:15), Franky Keane (81st in 26:15), Maureen McGinley (109th and 41st in 29:38), Cynthia Perucca (132nd and 56th in 32:33) and Niamh Trihy (142nd and 64th in 34:58), with Mari Hansen (on her birthday) and Tara Murphy tailwalking. Karl Walsh took 2nd place in a time of 18:31 in Naas, with its field of 120, whilst Peter O’Toole, along with Paul F. Kelly and Michael Maughan joined 395 other runners in St. Anne’s. Peter placed 3rd in 17:45, followed by Paul (51st in 21:31) and Michael (131st in 25:55). Máirín, Fiona and Lisa Shine joined 88 other runners in Darndale where Máirín placed 39th and 4th in 30:08, followed by Fiona (40th and 5th in 30:09) and Lisa (41st and 6th in 30:10), whilst Hannah Jones ran in Fairview alongside 128 other participants. Hannah placed 45th and 6th in 25:42, whilst Kevin Lambe also placed 6th in Sligo with its field of 83. Kevin’s time was 20:06. Our Scottish exile, Aidan Hudner, ran in the 309-strong field in Pollok in Glasgow, where he recorded a time of 24:25 for 76th spot, whilst Toby Benham ran in Tramore Valley, Cork, where, in a field of 147, he placed 28th in a time of 22:16. Janet McManus ran with 233 other runners in Shanganagh, placing 98th and 17th in 24:35, whilst, further afield, in Karkarook near Melbourne, Martina White Placed 93rd and 17th in a field of 328 there. Finally, whilst visiting family on the west coast, Mairead Cashman took part in only the third running of the University of Galway parkrun, where, in a field of 92, she placed 69th and 19th in 29:37. Poolbeg Parkrun (169) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Matthew McCullagh 1 00:17:35 6 Ella Quinn 1 00:19:33 Crusaders AC runners 2 Kenan Furlong 00:17:58 6 Ella Quinn 00:19:33 (1) 7 Ciara Regan 00:19:41 (2) 18 Adrian Groarke 00:20:45 20 Luke Corcoran 00:20:57 21 Ross Neill 00:20:58 22 Kevin Kavanagh 00:20:58 31 Cría Dowling 00:22:05 (6) 32 Joanne Carey 00:22:07 (7) 35 John Lohan 00:22:58 39 Lisa Branigan 00:23:12 (8) 41 Paul Campbell 00:23:21 49 Josie Ward 00:23:46 (10) 56 Fiona Bane 00:24:15 (13) 81 Franky Keane 00:26:15 109 Maureen McGinley 00:29:38 (41) 132 Cynthia Perucca 00:32:33 (56) 142 Niamh Trihy 00:34:58 (64) 165 Mari Hansen 00:53:27 (75) 168 Tara Murphy 00:53:37 (77) Shanganagh Parkrun (234) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Nickolas Colyn 1 00:15:35 12 Eleanor Foot 1 00:19:17 Crusaders AC runner 98 Janet McManus 00:24:35 (17) St. Anne’s Parkrun (398) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Daniel Horgan 1 00:17:10 12 Maire Nic Amhlaoibhe 1 00:18:48 Crusaders AC runners 3 Peter O’Toole 00:17:45 51 Paul F. Kelly 00:21:31 131 Michael Maughan 00:25:55 Mountbellew Forest Parkrun (27) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Gary McDonnell 1 00:21:40 5 Áine Kenny 1 00:23:30 Crusaders AC runner 5 Áine Kenny 00:23:30 (1) Tramore Valley, Cork Parkrun (57) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Michael Byrne 1 00:17:38 25 Lara Byrne 1 00:21:58 Crusaders AC runner 28 Toby Benham 00:22:16 Darndale Parkrun (91) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 John Lyons 1 00:20:38 14 Annabelle O’Toole 1 00:24:40 Crusaders AC runners 39 Máirín Shine 00:30:08 (4) 40 Fiona Shine 00:30:09 (5) 41 Lisa Shine 00:30:10 (6) University of Galway Parkrun (92) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Chris Jonker 1 00:16:44 20 Claire O’Sullivan 1 00:23:38 Crusaders AC runner 69 Mairead Cashman 00:29:37 (19) Fairview Parkrun (129) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Daniel Toal 1 00:18:38 8 Roisin Vance 1 00:21:45 Crusaders AC runner 45 Hannah Jones 00:25:42 (6) Naas Parkrun (120) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Cian Connolly 1 00:18:25 25 Siobhan O’Sullivan 1 00:23:06 Crusaders AC runner 2 Karl Walsh 00:18:31 Cabinteely Parkrun (128) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Derek Lawlor 1 00:18:27 21 Naoise Ni Bhroin 1 00:22:27 Crusaders AC runner 1 Derek Lawlor 00:18:27 Sligo Parkrun (81) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Oskar Szmyt 1 00:18:20 5 Caroline Coulter 1 00:19:56 Crusaders AC runner 6 Kevin Lambe 00:20:06 Vicarstown Parkrun (85) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Ciarain Kelly 1 00:17:09 10 Paula Guinan 1 00:22:54 Crusaders AC runners 1 Ciarain Kelly 00:17:09 8 Dale Whelehan 00:22:06 Marlay Parkrun (477) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 August Benedicto 1 00:17:04 12 Saoirse McGrath 1 00:18:32 Crusaders AC runners 12 Saoirse McGrath 00:18:32 (1) 21 Killian Barry 00:19:51 Understandably, perhaps, there are few races on offer in the weeks leading into the festive period and we had a Crusader in only one local event that took place last weekend, the Aware Christmas 5k, conducted around Leopardstown Racecourse. Indeed, even the number of runners in parkruns during this time was much reduced. However, events in Australia seem to come thick and fast at this time, perhaps because of longer days in the southern hemisphere sun. Southern Spain also continues to provide significant competition, as we saw last week with Valencia and repeated in Malaga. In the Aware 5k Carina Davidson was our lone runner, joining 186 other participants, placing 15th overall and 6th female finisher, recording a time of 22:58. Down under, we had just two exiled members in the Port Stephens Marathon in New South Wales but they were both winners. In a field of 99 runners, Maurice Kelter recorded a guntime and course record of 2:54:52 to lead the field home and he was followed in second place overall, winner of the women’s race, by Niamh Allen, possibly running her first marathon, in a guntime of 3:01:46 and, like Maurice, continuing to record considerable success in 2023. The race was conducted along two largely flat out-and-back halves along the coastline road of Nelson Bay. Closer to home, Charles-Edouard Cattier followed up his recent Dublin marathon success by running in the Malaga marathon where he recorded a time of 3:14:35. Otherwise, we had several runners, but fewer than usual, participating in parkruns last Saturday, nevertheless, again with success. Ella Quinn was one of our first finishers, also placing 3rd overall in a field of 104 in a time of 19:43. Ella was joined by Paul F. Kelly who placed 43rd in 26:21. Then, in Poolbeg, where we saw at least 20 Crusaders run, Saoirse McGrath led the women home in a time of 19:02, placing 5th overall in a field of 125. Saoirse was joined by Stephen Hurley who crossed the line in 2nd place overall in 18:11 and he was followed by Kenan Furlong (3rd in 18:15), Oisin Corish (7th in 19:22), Oisin Browne (14th in 22:15), John Lohan (16th in 22:22), Ross Neill (27th in 23:43), Josie Ward (36th and 3rd in 23:58), Andrea Talpo (35th in 24:25), Franky Keane (40th in 24:52), Tanja Narancic (41st and 7th in the same time), Olwyn Dunne (71st and 21st in 28:29), Evelyn Neary (75th and 25th in 28:40), Michael Fitzsimons (76th in the same time), Anna Hernick (80th and 29th in 29:35), Maureen McGinley (90th and 33rd in 30:37), Linda Walsh (94th and 37th in 31:20), Cynthia Perucca (109th and 49th in 34:28), Niamh Trihy (110th and 50th in 34:53) and Kevin Kenny (111th in 34:34). Sarah Lyons appeared on the podium in Avondale Forest, placing 8th overall and 2nd female finisher in a time of 23:32. In the field of 57, Sarah was joined by Phelim Murray who placed 11th in 26:11. Darina Scully also placed 2nd female finisher in River Valley Park, where she also took 13th place in the field of 88 and in a time of 24:21. Janet McManus ran in Shanganagh where, alongside 141 other participants, she placed 53rd and 4th in 25:41, whilst Eoghan Corrigan finished in 8th spot in Waterstown. In a field of 68, Eoghan ran 22:34. Irene Gorman was our sole runner in the 346-strong St. Anne’s parkrun where she placed 221st and 67th in 29:58, whilst three members of the Shine family ran in the Sport Ireland Campus parkrun, where, in a field of 47, Lisa placed 24th and 11th in 31:55, Fiona placed 32nd and 15th in 34:47 and Máirín placed 33rd and 16th in the same time. Finally, Mairead Cashman took on Poppintree, where, in a field 156-strong, she placed 101st and 29th in 30:56. Aware Christmas 5k (187) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Matthe Dunne 1 00:18:24 4 Muireann O’Sullivan 1 00:20:46 Crusaders AC runner 15 Carina Davidson 00:22:58 (6) Full results here: https://www.popupraces.ie/race/aware-christmas-5k-2023/ Poolbeg Parkrun (125) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Ashley Hayes 1 00:17:52 5 Saoirse McGrath 1 00:19:02 Crusaders AC runners 2 Stephen Hurley 00:18:11 3 Kenan Furlong 00:18:15 7 Oisin Corish 00:19:22 14 Oisin Browne 00:22:15 16 John Lohan 00:22:22 27 Ross Neill 00:23:43 31 Josie Ward 00:23:58 (3) 35 Andrea Talpo 00:24:25 40 Franky Keane 00:24:52 41 Tanja Narancic 00:24:52 (7) 71 Olwyn Dunne 00:28:29 (21) 75 Evelyn Neary 00:28:40 (25) 76 Michael Fitzsimons 00:28:40 80 Anna Hernick 00:29:35 (29) 90 Maureen McGinley 00:30:37 (33) 94 Linda Walsh 00:31:20 (37) 109 Cynthia Perucca 00:34:28 (49) 110 Niamh Trihy 00:34:53 (50) 111 Kevin Kenny 00:34:54 Shanganagh Parkrun (141) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Stephen McQuinn 1 00:18:15 27 Sandra Armstrong 1 00:24:03 Crusaders AC runner 53 Janet McManus 00:25:41 (4) St. Anne’s Parkrun (346) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Anthony Brady 1 00:17:19 13 Helen Marshall 1 00:19:19 Crusaders AC runner 221 Irene Gorman 00:29:58 (67) Waterstown Parkrun (68) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Michael Comer 1 00:19:05 14 Katarzyna Zaremba 1 00:26:39 Crusaders AC runner 8 Eoghan Corrigan 00:22:34 Avondale Forest Parkrun (57) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Conor Walter 1 00:18:49 7 Alaoise Geraghty 1 00:21:57 Crusaders AC runners 8 Sarah Lyons 00:23:32 (2) 11 Phelim Murray 00:26:11 Sport Ireland Campus Parkrun (47) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Bob Brannigan 1 00:22:53 6 Eva Crowe 1 00:23:30 Crusaders AC runners 24 Lisa Shine 00:31:55 (11) 32 Fiona Shine 00:34:47 (15) 33 Máirín Shine 00:34:47 (16) Poppintree Parkrun (156) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Mahad Mohamed 1 00:15:58 8 Fiona Hayden 1 00:22:23 Crusaders AC runner 101 Mairead Cashman 00:30:56 (29) Fairview Parkrun (104) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Daniel Toal 1 00:18:34 3 Ella Quinn 1 00:19:43 Crusaders AC runners 3 Ella Quinn 00:19:43 (1) 43 Paul F. Kelly 00:26:21 River Valley Parkrun (88) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Viktoras Kuzminas 1 00:20:06 4 Cecile Ollagnier 1 00:22:43 Crusaders AC runner 13 Darina Scully 00:24:28 (2) This week’s report is two for the price of one. Readers will be interested to know that we have two weeks of racing covered in one rather long read. Apologies to those who prefer bite size chunks and for any confusion in the presentation. We start with the events of this weekend, followed by the highlights of last weekend and finishing with a report on the International Running Challenge that took place over four days in Lanzarote last week. The collated results are presented below in the same order. On Sunday, we sent two teams to run in the National XC Novices in Navan. The events took place on a golf course and is familiar to many of our athletes, having been used for the Leinster Novices in the past. It is hilly, and conditions on Sunday were chilly with a light northeasterly breeze. Thankfully, the underfoot conditions were reasonably firm. The women’s race was staged first, and, in the field of 106 runners, we had five of our clubmates. They were led home in the 4k race (involving 3 loops of the course) by women’s club captain Kathryn Gibbons in 31st place in a time of 16:26. Kathryn was followed by Saoirse McGrath (47th in 16:58), and then by Kim Hickey (54th in 17:12) with Nina Holmes not too far behind (60th in 17:22). Carina Davidson also ran, placing 105th in 22:04 and the women’s team placed 7th. The men’s race enjoyed a larger field of 154 and conducted on 4 loops of the same course over 6k. Colm Parnell distinguished himself once again, placing 19th overall in 20:20 and 4th scorer on the gold-winning Co. Dublin team. Colm was followed by Barry McCarthy (23rd in 20:37), Andrea Rondina (69th in 22:12), John Mulvihill (74th in 22:21), Dee Lawlor (112th in 23:53), men’s club captain Joe McDermott (114th in 24:01) and Eddie Nugent (140th in 25:32). The men’s team also placed 7th. The start of this weekend was marked by the 31st running of the iconic Donore Harriers-organised Jingle Bells 5k on Saturday morning. Because of the cold snap that had arrived since the beginning of the week and freezing conditions at night, there had been fears that the race might be at risk of cancellation. As it turned out, although conditions were cold, worries about an icy course were unjustified and possibly one could not have asked for a faster race environment. Nearly 1300 runners, including a quality club field, set out along the narrow start on the Acres, hemmed in by the grassy banks along the Acres Road. Once clear of the Papal Cross carpark, however, and turning at the Phoenix roundabout to head towards the Castleknock Gate, the elongated field was able to expand. The course is fast and furious, as, although the route that takes runners up along Chesterfield Avenue, the main drag, is a bit of a climb, it does not take long to get into a stride and power on down the Ordnance Survey Road and then allows the athletes to hurtle down the Upper Glen Road to the finish line, which is at the end of a deceptively long and flattish straight below St. Mary’s Hospital. The finish line is well below the start, but, because of the initial climb on Chesterfield and a part of the Ordnance Survey Road, the race is only a marginally net downhill and is a PB opportunity. We had at least 36 runners from the club who took part in cold but sunny conditions with only a light wind from the southwest refreshing runners as they headed for home down the Upper Glen Road. The contingent was led home by Brian O’Kelly who placed 17th and 1st M40 in a time of 15:02. Brian was followed further back by Chris Russell (60th in 16:10), Ciarain Kelly (72nd in 16:23), just ahead of Patrick Conlon (73rd in a PB time of 16:26), with Stephen Hurley just behind (76th in 16:27) along with Kevin Kavanagh (78th in 16:29). Newcomer William Quill was next (174th in 17:43), followed by Gerard White (177th in the same chiptime), Kevin Lambe (246th in a PB time of 18:14), Paul Reidy (258th in 18:20), Rachael Yorke (280th and 36th female finisher in a PB time of 18:40). Rachael was just ahead of 3 other female clubmates who finished close together, starting with Annie Hughes (283rd and 38th in a PB time of 18:43), Aoife Quigley (287th and 39th just a couple of seconds off her time last year, in a time of 18:46) and finishing with Amy McGuinness (299th and 44th in a PB time of 18:49, encouraged by husband Vinnie). The team of Rachael, Annie and Aoife placed 6th in the 102-strong competition, whilst the men’s team of Brian, Ciarain and Patrick took 9th spot in the competition of 111 teams. Next across the line came Simon Kenny (315th in 18:58) and he was followed by Tim O’Donnell, like Patrick Conlon just back from racing in Lanzarote (335th in 19:16). Behind Tim we saw Paul Campbell (359th in 19:20) and Carolyn O’Reilly (364th and 55th in a PB time of 19:27) to complete the sub-20 results (of which we had at least 19 out of the 35 who took part). The next runner to complete the course was Will Holton (440th in 20:16) and he was followed by Joanne Carey (448th and 86th in 20:22), Daniel Cullen who started further back (476th in 20:21), Sophie Morgan (535th and 118th in 21:17), David O’Donnell (536th in 20:54), Franky Keane (540th in a PB time of 21:03), Tanja Narancic, another runner to record a PB (543rd and 121st in 21:04), Hannah Jones (574th and 138th in a likely PB time of 21:13), Joe Green (579th in 21:27), Justin O’Connor (590th in 21:28), Emily Glen (599th and 147th in 21:43), Darina Scully (662nd and 189th in 22:29), Kevin Kenny (767th in 24:18), Catriona Egan (859th and 319th in 25:53), Linda Walsh (958th and 395th in 27:42), Paul E. Kelly (986th in 28:22) and Maureen McGinley (1074th and 475th in 31:17). On the same day, Conor Macguinness headed down to Waterford to join more than 1750 runners in the Waterford AC-organised half marathon there. Conor ran a decent tine of 1:28:09 to place 182nd. Further afield over this weekend, we had runners in two marathons. In Valencia, Rory Goldsmith thought he might have been denied a PB by a false start, runners being called back, but the clock possibly not stopping and he was originally given a time of 2:51:53. Common sense, however, prevailed and he was subsequently recorded having run a super PB time of 2:51:27 (a 7s improvement on his previous best) in perfect conditions (chilly but sunny on a flat course). Rory was followed home by Joe Dunne who was hoping to break 3:40 on the day and did so with a time of 3:37:37 in negative splits and like Rory with almost metronomic pacing, his fastest times coming towards the end. Then, in Sacramento on Sunday, one of our exiles in the USA, Cormac McGuire, ran in the California International Marathon which he completed in 3:24:54. Luke Davis reported that he participated in another hyrox event, this time in Stockholm, completing the challenge in a PB time of 71 minutes, 12 minutes behind the winner. Because of the Jingle Bells race, there was much lower participation by the club in parkruns on Saturday morning than would be considered usual. As it happens, the largest turnout was as might be expected in Poolbeg, with our only first finisher of the morning. Anna Gallo placed 18th overall in 20:41 in a field of 146, and witnessed by her father who was visiting from Italy who also took part. Kenan Furlong took 2nd spot overall in 17:47 and he was followed by Kevin Lynch (17th in 20:32), Anna, Rachel Calvey (31st and 5th in 21:56), Josie Ward (56th and 8th in 24:00), Russell Murphy (62nd in 24:40), Una McCullagh (115th and 46th in 30:12), Louise O’Riordan (118th and 48th in 30:28), Evelyn Neary (124th and 53rd in 31:48), Cynthia Perucca (129th and 57th in 32:51) and Niamh Trihy (135th and 63rd in 35:10). Nevertheless, we had some podium finishes. Dave Carter joined a field of 124 to place 3rd in 19:53 in Cabinteely. Ross Neill headed back to Northern Ireland where he ran in Ormeau Park in Belfast, placing 3rd in a field of 384 and a time of 18:27. Whilst placing 24th overall, Kate Murray took 3rd spot in 23:34 in the 148-strong field in Griffeen Park. Then, Orlaith de Burca ran in Shanganagh where, alongside 176 other runners, she placed 116th and 30th in 29:22, whilst Irene Gorman, in the middle stages of pregnancy, placed 131st and 28th in 25:30 in St. Anne’s where the field measured 352. Finally, several runners joined Brendan Glynn in his new home parkrun in Donabate. Brendan ran 23:10 for 29th place in the field of 135, and he was followed by Máirín Shine (75th and 16th in 28:18), Fiona Shine (76th and 17th in 28:19), Emer Kenny (82nd and 21st in 28:32) and Lisa Shine (83rd and 22nd in 28:33). Moving on now to the events of last weekend, Emer Kenny took part in the Florence Marathon and finished it in almost perfectly even splits in an excellent time of 3:30:09. On the same weekend, both Esther Requena Ferri and Cristian Vilchez Ceballos, our Spanish exiles, achieved PBs in the Cordoba Half marathon, where Esther placed 10th female in 1:26:41 and Cristian ran 1:17:47. Then, two of our French runners took part in races in France. In Chantepie near Rennes in the north part of the country, Sébastien Le Roy made a welcome return to racing with a 38:14 finish in a 10k there, whilst Clément Rincé ran in the Bois de Boulogne Half marathon in Paris where he finished in 1:11:25. Indeed, he then went on to run a cross country race this weekend just west of Paris, placing 3rd on the 4.3k course in 14:14. Because of the lack of much road racing last weekend in Ireland, we had a reasonable amount of participation in parkruns, with the usual amount of podium finishes. Saoirse McGrath ran in Marlay Park, where, in a field of 530, she placed 8th overall and first female finisher in 18:44, whilst we had a big turnout in Poolbeg with podium finishes included. In a field of 153, Stephen Hurley took 2nd place in 17:30, whilst Kenan Furlong placed 4th in 17:49. Further back came Paul O’Hara in 5th place with a time of 18:43 and he was followed by Paul Campbell (13th in 20:23), John Lohan (24th in 21:27), Tanja Narancic (37th and 2nd in 22:04), Jessica Norris (57th and 7th in 23:50), Russell Murphy (70th in 25:14), Tara Murphy (72nd and 14th in 25:22), Kevin Kenny (78th in 25:53), Linda Walsh (107th and 26th in 28:39), Anna Hernick (119th and 33rd in 29:43), Una McCullagh (135th and 42nd in 30:58), Maureen McGinley (143rd and 46th in 32:46) and Cynthia Perucca (144th and 47th in 32:47). Along with Tanja, we had 3 more female runners placing second in each of their respective parkruns. Aoife Quigley ran in Tramore Valley in her native Cork, where she placed 9th and 2nd in a field of 155 in 19:11, whilst Áine Kenny ran once again in Mountbellew Forest where, in a field of 45, she placed 8th and 2nd in 24:39. Not to be outdone, Lisa .Shine joined 24 other runners in Deerpark Forest, Virginia, where she placed 10th and 2nd in 25:55. We had 3 runners in Shanganagh alongside 174 other participants. Dee Lawlor placed 5th in 18:32 and he was followed by Joe Dunne (29th in 22:18) and Orlaith de Burca (117th and 38th in 29:10). Meanwhile, in Vicarstown, Dale Whelehan ran 22:14 for 8th place in a field of 65, whilst we had 3 runners in St. Anne’s. Ross Neill led the contingent home in 12th place in 19:04, followed by Michael Maughan (66th in 22:25) and Irene Gorman (327th and 124th in 32:14). The field there measured 427. Paul F. Kelly took part in the 131-strong field in Poppintree where he placed 16th in 20:34, whilst Gian Piero Allerta, on his last weekend in Dublin before heading down to Cork to work, ran 24:46 for 33rd place in the 141-strong field in Cabinteely. The 34th running of the International Running Challenge, organised by Club La Santa at the northern end of the island of Lanzarote, took place last week. As members may be aware, the overall Challenge is 4 races of different lengths and terrain conducted over 4 days (from Sunday through Wednesday), but it is possible to run just one or two of the races. There is also a team element involved in the overall Challenge. So, we had two men’s teams, one of 4 and one of 3, with 3 to score, and 2 women’s teams of 4, with 3 to score. 15 Crusaders completed the full Challenge. The races are described as 10k, 13k, 5k and half marathon. However, it has always amused us that not one of them is accurate. The 10k, depending on the line being taken, rarely measures more than 9.8k, the 13k ridge run is actually 13.2k, the 5k beach run measures differently each year depending on the tidal conditions and how much of the beach has been naturally eroded and this year measured 4.6k, whilst the half marathon has never measured more than 20k! The event is well contested between large contingents from Ireland (including for example Sportsworld, Tullamore, Edenderry, Drogheda and Galway City Harriers) and the UK, as well as good representation from the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, France and Sweden, to name a few. Teams from different clubs will unite just for the occasion, so that we were up against a combined team from Offaly and also a team from Leighton Buzzard and Milton Keynes, two different clubs, but with their own special singlet: the Leighton Buzzards. Prizes are given each day for podium places and age category winners and the winners of the overall challenge are those with the lowest aggregate times over the 4 days. It becomes quite clear that those who master the last race of 20k have a distinct edge, assuming they have not given their opponents too big a lead after the first three days. A 2 minutes cushion can evaporate quickly! Last year the races had taken place in almost gale force conditions, whilst this year the wind was not a major factor in the outcome. It was however, much sunnier and warmer than recently experienced, with the average temperature for each race being about 20-21 degrees Celsius. We had only one day to get acclimatised! The first race was the 10k, starting and finishing on 300m of a 400m track in the sports complex and thereafter conducted on 3 asphalt loops of just over 3k around a lagoon that borders the resort. There is a descent early on in the loop but matched by a long drag on the far side of the clockwise route. Thankfully, on the drag we were facing into the northeasterly wind that was more refreshing than a hindrance. 18 Crusaders contested the race, including guest runner Catherine Thornton who actually easily won the women’s event following behind Colm Parnell who was the overall winner of the race, having caught at least 3 other runners coming on to the track. 323 runners took part overall with Colm placing 1st, Patrick Conlon was 11th, Eugene McDonough came home in 19th, followed by Catherine (30th overall), Eddie Nugent (34th), Phelim Murray, who enjoyed a stormer of a race (51st), Simon Everard (56th), James Cottle (58th), Ciara Regan (64th and 8th), Sarah Lyons (70th and 9th), Margaret Foley (92nd and 17th), Philip Matthews (130th), Olwyn Dunne (131st and 30th), Cría Dowling (133rd and 32nd), Maeve Lochrie (141st and 34th), Dee Ni Chearbhaill (158th and 38th), Louise O'Riordan (175th and 50th) and Fanny Trébouet (247th and 83rd). Once the smoke cleared, we had a few runners doing well in their age categories, with two of our number (Cría and James) building a lead over their age cat opposition. The following day’s race was the 13k ridge run, conducted about 70% on trail and 30% on road, involving a 6.5k climb from the track to the ridge of an extinct volcano and then a return around the back of the ridge down towards sea level and the finish as usual on the track. The final climb to the top of the ridge can be run, but a lot of the athletes end up walking the last 30 odd metres. Then there is a perilous run along the ridge and a sharp slippery descent on the sandy and rocky surface of the volcano. The race was completed with a climb up a steep ramp to the track. The winner of the 340-strong race, an Englishman, took off like a bat out of hell, not realising that, the man who had beaten him the previous day, Colm, had decided to run the race as an easy training run with Patrick Conlon and ran for a while alongside Catherine, who once again won the women’s race. Eugene was our first runner home in 13th place, followed by Patrick and Colm (26th and 27th), Catherine (28th overall), Simon (46th, the 400m specialist continuing to surprise us with his endurance!), Eddie (50th), James (56th), Tim (70th), Phelim (84th), Ciara (92nd and 16th), Sarah (97th and 19th), Mags (101st and 21st), Maeve (105th and 23rd), Philip (122nd), Olwyn (128th and 29th), Cría (138th and 32nd), Dee (146th and 36th), Robbie Moore (149th), Brendan Glynn (173rd), Fanny (246th and 85th) and Mairead Cashman (284th and 104th). Age category winners on the day were Ciara, Cría and James. James was trying to build up a cushion over one of his adversaries who had beaten him overall the last time they raced together in 2018. He had a 1-minute lead over the Dane going into the second race and they were both a long way clear of their opposition. In the second race, James managed to build a gap of about 40s at one point only to see his opponent come barrelling past him with less than 600m to go. Surprisingly, however, the Dane suddenly stopped 40m later as he had put too much effort to narrow the gap. Still, he got his act together after James had retaken the lead to finish only 6s behind James at the finish. James’ lead was then only about 70s going into the third race the following day down in Puerto del Carmen on the beach there. It was hard to work out what was happening in the team competition. However, we were confident that our women’s A team was leading the competition and one of our men’s team was midpack in theirs. This year’s conditions for the beach race were arguably better for the most part than they have been in recent years. We had hard sand for most of each of the two loops. However, where it was soft, it was like running through treacle and we had these conditions for at least 300m from the start line and then at the furthest turn after about 1k and then again heading back to the finish. The race is somewhat surreal in that the tight turns at each end of the beach closely pass by sunbathers on recliners who patiently accept the disruption to their morning. There were 302 participants in the beach race, with Eugene, once again, leading our contingent home in 14th place. Catherine placed 35th overall and came home in 2nd place, with little damage to her overall lead. Amazingly, Simon was next (38th), followed by Tim (57th), James (64th and 5 seconds ahead of his adversary), Eddie (69th), Phelim (74th), Mags (79th and 11th), Maeve (86th and 14th), Ciara (87th and 15th), Sarah (92nd and 18th), Philip (125th), Olwyn (138th and 35th), Cría (141st and 36th), Dee (149th and 39th), Fanny (208th and 70th) and Mairead (250th and 94th). Once again, Cría and James were age category winners, Cría having an enormous cushion going into the last race, whilst James’ lead was only 76s and he was up against a Dane who specialises in mountain and trail running, a feature of the last race. The 20k, a point-to-point from the village of Tinajo south of La Santa to finish on the track, enjoyed a field of 273 runners. Although, the race is a net downhill, there are several relatively steep climbs on the way down, ending with the steep ramp to the track used for the Ridge run. 200m from the start there is a sharp right-hand bend and James found himself boxed in, having to resort to climbing over a low wall and, taking it slightly awkwardly, hyperextending his knee. Still, although an irritation, it was not a major impediment, just a distraction throughout the race. James was able to stay with his adversary for 6k, but then the Danish runner surged hard twice for 2k each time and James was obliged to let the runner go. The difference in finishing times gave the overall age category to the Dane. It had been a good battle all the same with mutual respect and the two runners finished the challenge only about 90s apart, but half an hour ahead of the rest of the field. Once again, Eugene led our runners home in 17th place, followed by Catherine who won the women’s race and the overall competition (26th in the race), Ciara (storming across the line for 57th and 11th and taking the age category win), James (60th), Sarah (65th and 14th), Eddie (67th), Phelim (68th), Tim (69th), Simon (80th), Mags (83rd and 16th), Maeve (87th and 18th), Olwyn (101st and 24th), Cría (121st and 32nd and winner of her age cat. in the race and overall), Dee (131st and 35th), Philip (likely 132nd), Robbie (138th), Brendan (178th), Fanny (200th and 66th) and Neil Brown (216th). The women’s team of Catherine, Ciara, Sarah and Mags placed 1st, ahead of Sportsworld and Milton Buzzards, with the team of Maeve, Olwyn, Cría and Dee placing 4th, whilst the men’s team of Eugene, Eddie, Tim and James placed 6th and it is likely that the team of Simon, Philip and Phelim took 12th place in the men’s competition. Although Catherine, Ciara and Cría were the only outright individual winners, we had several runners take podium age category places: Olwyn (2nd), James (2nd), Sarah (2nd), Mags (3rd) and Maeve (3rd). It had been another classic series of races! Donore Harriers Jingle Bells 5k (1265) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Mitchell Byrne 1 00:14:13 49 Ann-Marie McGlynn 1 00:15:56 Crusaders AC runners 17 Brian O’Kelly 00:15:02 60 Chris Russell 00:16:10 72 Ciarain Kelly 00:16:23 73 Patrick Conlon 00:16:26 (PB) 76 Stephen Hurley 00:16:27 78 Kevin Kavanagh 00:16:29 134 Derek Lawlor 00:17:13 174 William Quill 00:17:43 177 Gerard White 00:17:43 246 Kevin Lambe 00:18:14 (PB) 258 Paul Reidy 00:18:20 280 Rachael Yorke 00:18:40 (PB) (36) 283 Annie Hughes 00:18:43 (PB) (38) 287 Aoife Quigley 00:18:46 (39) 299 Amy McGuinness 00:18:49 315 Simon Kenny 00:18:58 335 Tim O’Donnell 00:19:16 359 Paul Campbell 00:19:20 364 Carolyn O’Reilly 00:19:27 (PB) (55) 440 Will Holton 00:20:16 448 Joanne Carey 00:20:22 (86) 476 Daniel Cullen 00:20:21 535 Sophia Morgan 00:21:17 (118) 536 David O’Donnell 00:20:54 540 Franky Keane 00:21:03 (PB) 543 Tanja Narancic 00:21:04 (PB) (121) 574 Hannah Jones 00:21:13 (138) 579 Joe Green 00:21:27 590 Justin O’Connor 00:21:28 599 Emily Glen 00:21:43 (147) 662 Darina Scully 00:22:29 (189) 767 Kevin Kenny 00:24:18 859 Catriona Egan 00:25:53 (319) 958 Linda Walsh 00:27:42 (395) 986 Paul E. Kelly 00:28:22 1074 Maureen McGinley 00:31:17 (475) Full results here: https://www.popupraces.ie/race/donore-harriers-jingle-bells-5km-2023/#1_7336A4 Waterford Half Marathon (1767) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 David McGlynn 1 01:05:26 21 Ciara Wilson 1 01:16:43 Crusaders AC runner 182 Conor Macguinness 01:28:09 Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/waterford__ac_half_marathon_2023/4942/results Women’s National Novices XC 4k (106) Overall place Name Guntime 1 Lucy Holmes 00:14:43 Crusaders AC runners 31 Kathryn Gibbons 00:16:26 47 Saoirse McGrath 00:16:58 54 Kim Hickey 00:17:12 60 Nina Holmes 00:17:22 105 Carina Davidson 00:22:04 Men’s National Novices XC 6k (154) Overall place Name Guntime 1 Kevin McGrath 00:19:32 Crusaders AC runners 19 Colm Parnell 00:20:20 23 Barry McCarthy 00:20:37 69 Andrea Rondina 00:22:12 74 John Mulvihill 00:22:21 112 Derek Lawlor 00:23:53 114 Joe McDermott 00:24:01 140 Eddie Nugent 00:25:32 Poolbeg Parkrun (146) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Jared Dobson 1 00:17:41 18 Anna Gallo 1 00:20:41 Crusaders AC runners 2 Kenan Furlong 00:17:47 17 Kevin Lynch 00:20:32 18 Anna Gallo 00:20:41 (1) 31 Rachel Calvey 00:21:56 (5) 56 Josie Ward 00:24:00 (8) 52 Russell Murphy 00:24:40 115 Una McCullagh 00:30:12 (46) 118 Louise O’Riordan 00:30:28 (48) 124 Evelyn Neary 00:31:48 (53) 129 Cynthia Perucca 00:32:51 (57) 135 Niamh Trihy 00:35:10 (63) Shanganagh Parkrun (177) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Risteard MacEoin 1 00:18:48 15 Suzanne Foot 1 00:21:06 Crusaders AC runner 116 Orlaith de Burca 00:29:22 (30) St. Anne’s Parkrun (352) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Karl Swan 1 00:18:07 21 Ciara Brady 1 00:20:39 Crusaders AC runner 131 Irene Gorman 00:25:30 (28) Ormeau Parkrun (384) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Reuben Crothers 1 00:17:58 13 Shileen O’Kane 1 00:20:01 Crusaders AC runner 3 Ross Neill 00:18:27 Cabinteely Parkrun (124) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 George Callery 1 00:18:11 23 Heather Crowley 1 00:24:10 Crusaders AC runner 3 David Carter 00:19:53 Griffeen Parkrun (148) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Gary Farrell 1 00:18:58 19 Nicola Kavanagh 1 00:22:52 Crusaders AC runner 24 Kate Murray 00:23:34 (3) Donabate Parkrun (135) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Vincent Mulvey 1 00:18:21 8 Deirdre Deegan 1 00:20:53 Crusaders AC runners 29 Brendan Glynn 00:23;10 75 Máirín Shine 00:28:18 (16) 76 Fiona Shine 00:28:19 (17) 82 Emer Kenny 00:28:32 (21) 83 Lisa Shine 00:28:33 (22) Vicarstown Parkrun (65) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Kristian Redmond 1 00:18:29 11 Maria Cuddy 1 00:23:23 Crusader AC runner 8 Dale Whelehan 00:22:14 Brickfields Parkrun (88) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Matthew Dunne 1 00:17:40 18 Rachel Agnew 1 00:23:51 Crusaders AC runner 11 Eoghan Corrigan 00:22:23 Tramore Valley, Cork Parkrun (155) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Barry Twohig 1 00:16:07 4 Nicole Dinan 1 00:17:47 Crusaders AC runner 9 Aoife Quigley 00:19:11 (2) Bushy Parkrun (139) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Alfie Davis 1 00:19:06 27 Emer Fitzpatrick 1 00:23:33 Crusaders AC runner 30 Kate Murray 00:23:41 (2) Mountbellew Forest Parkrun (45) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Niall Cunningham 1 00:19:00 5 Catherine Finnerty 1 00:23:43 Crusaders AC runner 8 Áine Kenny 00:24:39 (2) Poolbeg Parkrun (153) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Ashley Hayes 1 00:17:28 27 Ava Rose Clarke 1 00:21:34 Crusaders AC runners 2 Stephen Hurley 00:17:30 4 Kenan Furlong 00:17:49 5 Paul O’Hara 00:18:43 13 Paul Campbell 00:20:23 24 John Lohan 00:21:27 37 Tanja Narancic 00:22:04 (2) 57 Jessica Norris 00:23:50 (7) 70 Russell Murphy 00:25:14 72 Tara Murphy 00:25:22 (14) 78 Kevin Kenny 00:25:53 107 Linda Walsh 00:28:39 (26) 119 Anna Hernick 00:29:43 (33) 135 Una McCullagh 00:30:58 (42) 143 Maureen McGinley 00:32:46 (46) 144 Cynthia Perucca 00:32:47 (47) Deerpark Forest, Virginia Parkrun (25) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Joseph Hopkins 1 00:21:14 9 Sinéad Lynch 1 00:25:08 Crusaders AC runner 10 Lisa Shine 00:25:55 (2) Shanganagh Parkrun (177) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Nickolas Colyn 1 00:15:36 23 Ciara Kennedy 1 00:21:34 Crusaders AC runners 5 Dee Lawlor 00:18:32 29 Joe Dunne 00:22:18 117 Orlaith de Burca 00:29:10 (38) Poppintree Parkrun (131) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Cathal McHale 1 00:15:51 18 Maura Matthews 1 00:20:51 Crusaders AC runner 16 Paul F. Kelly 00:20:34 St. Anne’s Parkrun (427) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Daniel Toal 1 00:17:18 8 Carmel Ward 1 00:18:46 Crusaders AC runners 12 Ross Neill 00:19:04 66 Michael Maughan 00:22:25 327 Irene Gorman 00:32:14 (124) Fairview Parkrun (133) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Dom Truslove 21 00:18:30 21 Patrick Gaynor 1 00:22:16 Crusaders AC runner 22 Andy Deuser 00:22:22 Cabinteely Parkrun (141) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Rían MacMaolain 1 00:17:47 6 Robyn Kennedy 1 00:20:30 Crusaders AC runner 33 Gian Piero Allerta 00:24:46 Porterstown Parkrun (108) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Niall Sherlock 1 00:18:33 15 Joan O’Callaghan 1 00:22:06 Crusaders AC runners 34 Martina White 00:26:13 (8) Marlay Parkrun (530) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Ruben Bartelink 1 00:16:34 8 Saoirse McGrath 1 00:18:44 Crusaders AC runner 8 Saoirse McGrath 00:18:44 (1) River Valley Parkrun (99) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Stephen Ryan 1 00:19:18 5 Cecile Ollagnier 1 00:22:25 Crusaders AC runner 10 Darina Scully 00:23:33 (2) Back row L-R: Paul Campbell, Emily Glen, Tanja Narancic, Franky Keane, Rachael Yorke, Stephen Hurley, Sophia Morgan, Aoife Quigley, Darina Scully, Patrick Conlon, Kieran Martin. Middle row L_R: Tim O'Donnell, Joanne Carey, Paul E. Kelly, Joe Green. Front row, L-R: Catriona Egan, Kevin Kenny, Amy McGuinness, Kevin Lambe, Vinnie McGuinness Back row standing L-R: Philip Matthews, Susan Walsh, Tim O'Donnell, Eddie Nugent, Eugene McDonough, Louise O'Riordan, Colm Parnell, Fanny Trébouet, Olwyn Dunne, Patrick Conlon, Mike McGovern. Middle row: Dee Ni Chearbhaill, Maeve Lochrie. Front row kneeling L-R: Ilona McElroy, Phelim Murray, Sarah Lyons, James Cottle, Margaret Foley, Ciara Regan, Cría Dowling, Catherine Thornton and Rebecca Fleming. There was a decent amount of choice this weekend for those looking to race, from cross-country, to roads, paths and beach and to events in the mountains, and we had strength in some numbers, running in windy conditions. The first event of the racing week, however, took place on the Dublin quays, using the entirety of the route we use for the Docklands 5k, but also bringing in the inclines of the Samuel Beckett bridge and starting and finishing at the Point. There were two races on offer on Tuesday evening, the latest edition of Dublin’s contribution to the Run in the Dark in aid of research on behalf of Mark Pollock, and, as usual, they did not fail to produce their brand of mayhem. The first race to go was the 10k, which may have been a mistake, in that, because the race was an out-and-back two laps, the front runners soon came up against the back markers in the following race, the 5k, and so did the front runners in the 5k come across the back markers in the 10k. A total bottleneck by all accounts! It seems inexplicable that the organisers persist with two different races on the same course and involving over 4000 runners! It’s the same each year. Also, in years gone by, some of the 10k runners ended up running only 5k because of the confusion on the course. This may well have happened again this year and, for this reason, along with the fact that at least one male runner finished up on the women’s podium of the 5k, it is hard to trust the results. In addition, for some reason, at least 3 of our clubmates who did not run on the night had their bibs used by others without their knowledge although their names appeared in the results. So, it appears that the following Crusaders did run on the night: Will Owens was our first runner home in the 10k in 43rd place in a field of more than 1900 participants. Will’s time was given as 40:47. He was followed by Tom Gleeson (67th in 41:55), Adrian Groarke (100th in 43:37) and Kevin Kenny (889th in 54:59). It is possible that Anna Hoesl ran in the race too, finishing in 43:38. However, her result and that of Daniel Gleeson has not been recorded. We had at least 2 runners in the 2105-strong 5k, and it is possible that Annie Hughes won the women’s race, although, officially, she was placed 4th in 20:03 (26th overall). The recorded winner (running under the name of one of our athletes!) was actually a man (and we have ignored his result in the results below) and it is possible that the runners awarded second and third places finished the 10k early. Given that the results are essentially gun-time, it is impossible to tell. The other runner was Kelly Brown who placed 256th overall and 60th female finisher in 25:53. Another event that may have had more than its fair share of critics over the years, but, like the RITD, remains popular all the same, is the Clontarf half marathon and 5 miler, conducted back and forth along the Tolka estuary coast. There has often been congestion with the front runners and back markers clashing on the narrow paths on the route, without there being adequate demarcation between those running out and those running back. However, this year, there do not appear to have been any major complaints on a course that traditionally experiences quite windy conditions, Saturday’s event being little different. Indeed, we even saw some PB results amongst our finishers. We had at least 7 runners take part in the half, led home by Jamie Symmons who placed 74th in the field of 2821, in a time of 1:29:36. Jamie was followed by Annie Hughes, in her second race of the week, recording a PB time of 1:33:14 for 126th and 10th places. Just behind Annie came Anna Gallo, who really enjoyed the race, placing 152nd and 12th in a PB time of 1:34:18, and she was followed by Gareth Phelan (353rd in 1:41:52). Next to cross the line was Diarmuid Fahey, who placed 399th in 1:43:26, and he was followed by another runner with a PB, Séamas Bulaeir. Séamas ran 1:46:37 FOR 614th place. Finally, Phil Sykes recorded a time of 1:53:15, placing 1463rd. The 5-miler also produced a PB, this time for Alex Ainsworth. Alex placed 3rd in a field of 1116 and in a great time of 28:22. He was followed by Ronan Smith, making a welcome return to racing, who placed 50th in 35:32. Much more straightforward was the combined 6k cross-country race held in Tymon Park on Saturday morning, the first race of the cross-country season organised by the BHAA. Having said that, it is a shame that the fields for such events nowadays are reasonably modest, with only 111 turning out on the day, given that the BHAA cross-country races are really the only game in town outside of the county, provincial and national championship events. Still, it was enjoyable for those who did get to race, completing four and a bit laps of the course used by the Dublin novices on the west side of the park across the M50, near the national basketball arena. It is quite hilly in places and a true test of cross-country racing. Our clubmates made up nearly 10% of the field, led across the line by Joe Walsh in 16th place and in a time of 23:05. Joe placed 2nd M45. He was followed by Donatas Jocius who ran 23:37 for 21st place and then by the third-placed M45, Eddie Nugent, who took 29th spot overall in 24:39. Rachael Yorke was next, placing 37th and 3rd female finisher in 25:32, and further back came a bunch of Crusaders led by David O’Donnell. David placed 65th in 28:14, ahead of Neil Brown (66th in 28:22), Kate Murray (69th overall, 11th woman home and 2nd F50 in 28:30) and Robbie Moore (70th and given the same time). The contingent was completed by Mairead Cashman (107th, 24th and 4th F55 in 38:01) in her second run of the day, having completed the Bushy Park parkrun just over an hour earlier. Members may be interested to know that Sean Murphy, who sometimes trains with us, ran 25:42 for 38th spot. The other major event to take place on Saturday was the Run the Line in aid of the Dublin and Wicklow mountain rescue teams, in the mountains of Co. Dublin, on two courses starting and finishing in Glencullen. The short course of 13k took in a loop around Three Rock Mountain and Ticknock, whilst the long course added another loop to the west around Tibradden Mountain and Cruagh Wood. It was quite a windy affair. At least 5 Crusaders took on the short course, and they were led across the line by Conor Macguinness, placing 14th in a field of 679 and in a time of 63:13. Conor was followed closely by Dave Carter who placed 16th in 63:31. Slightly further back came Kim Hickey who took 2nd place in the women’s race, placing 29th overall, in a time of 65:26, and Kim was followed home by Áine Kenny (105th and 19th in 74:31) and Daniel Gleeson, in 149th spot (77:16) in what was likely to have been his second race of the week. The long course enjoyed a field of 523 and among the participants were at least 3 Crusaders. Aaron Farrell was our first athlete home, in 44th spot, with a time of 2:30:10. Aaron was followed by Kevin Fitzgibbon (64th in 2:33:26) and Kevin Kenny, further back in 3:29:46, placing 395th. Further afield over the weekend, we saw a super result from Maurice Kelter who ran the 30k race in the Stromlo Running festival, west of Canberra, Australia. On an undulating series of loops on trails, Maurice completed the distance in 2:05:18, taking 2nd place in the race (reporting, that for the first time he saw kangaroos in the wild!). Members may be interested to learn that Maurice’s partner, Pauline Parker, ran in the 15k event which she completed in 1:40:31. On Sunday, our Italian exile, Italo Giancaterina, ran in the Verona Marathon where he placed 10th overall, 2nd M35, in a fabulous time of 2:23:04, a new PB. Earlier in the weekend, and much further west, one of our exiles in the USA, Damien O’Brien, took part in the Philadelphia Half Marathon which he completed in an excellent 1:23:54. Although numbers in the parkruns on Saturday morning appeared generally to be down, there was no real shortage of Crusaders taking part. As usual, we had a number of first and podium finishers across the board. Saoirse Mcgrath placed 59th and first in Marlay Park, with its field of 473. Saoirse’s time was 19:17, and she was followed by Gary Park who took 22nd spot in 20:13. Then in the Mountjoy Prison Progression parkrun, in a field of 38, Sarah Lyons placed 7th and 1st in 22:22. Sarah was joined by husband Phelim Murray (9th in 22:45) and Mags Foley (10th and 2nd in 22:52). Finally, completing the first finishers, Tara Murphy ran once again in the US, in the Delaware and Raritan Canal parkrun. In a field of 68, Tara placed 13th and first in 25:29. Other podium place finishers were recorded by several Crusaders. Toby Benham placed 2nd in 19:19, alongside 47 other runners, in Pobalscoil na Tríonóide down in Youghal, whilst Emer Kenny placed 38th and 2nd in Ardgillan in a time of 25:50. Emer was followed home, in the field of 174, by Lisa Shine (44th and 3rd in 26:10), Fiona Shine (77th and 6th in 29:46) and Máirín Shine (81st and 8th in 30:01). We had 10 club-mates running in the 147-strong field in Poolbeg, led home by Stephen Hurley in 2nd place in a time of 17:31. Close behind came Kenan Furling, for third place, in 17:53 and he was followed a little further back by Oisin Corish (6th in 19:38). Kevin Lynch was the next runner home in 11th place in a time of 20:45 and he was followed by Louise O’Riordan (54th and 7th in 25:04), Franky Keane (56th in 25:06), Caitlin Ni Mhurchu (77th and 19th in 27:59), Una McCullagh (96th and 28th in 29:24), Jeanie Watson (103rd and 35th in 29:51) and Evelyn Neary (115th and 42nd in 30:27). Ross Neill ran in Woking in Surrey where, in a field of 270, he placed 5th in 19:10, whilst Richard Morrissey ran once again in Brockwell, Herne Hill, where he also placed 5th in 17:55 in a field of 353. Another 5th place performance came from Kevin Lambe, fresh from his marathon exploits in Athens. Kevin joined 91 other runners in Mullingar where he finished in a time- of 19:52. Dale Whelehan took 7th spot in a time of 21:56 in the 98-strong field in Vicarstown, whilst Maria Pertl also placed 7th (30th overall) in 33:02 in the 43-strong field in Tolka Valley. Enda Currid ran 25:54 in Brickfields for 32nd place in a field of 98, whilst Darina Scully placed 59th and 8th in 23:43 in the 295-strong field in Malahide. We had 2 runners in St. Anne’s where Zlatko Kulic took 51st spot in 20:49 and Michael Maughan crossed the line in 22:52 for 90th place. The field there measured 385. Meanwhile, we had 3 runners in Shanganagh. Alongside 207 other runners, Tanja Narancic placed 80th and 19th in 25:26, followed by Olwyn Dunne (88th and 22nd in 25:47) and Carina Davidson (178th and 74th in 33:33). Andy Deuser finished in 12th place in a time of 22:11 in Fairview alongside 110 other participants, whilst Eoghan Corrigan took 31st spot in 23:05 in Poppintree with its field of 173. Finally, as reported above, Mairead Cashman ran in Bushy Park where, in a field of 166, she placed 106th and 32nd in 31:43, whilst our exile in Scotland, Aidan Hudner, ran once again in Pollok, Glasgow, where, in a field of 260, he placed 54th in 24:21. BHAA Eir AC Combined 6k XC (111) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Sean Doran 1 00:21:08 14 Laura McDonnell 1 00:2:50 Crusaders AC runners 16 Joe Walsh 00:23:05 21 Donatas Jocius 00:23:37 29 Eddie Nugent 00:24:39 37 Rachael Yorke 00:25:32 (3) 65 David Odonnell 00:28:14 66 Neil Brown 00:28:22 69 Kate Murray 00:28:30 (11) 70 Robbie Moore 00:28:30 107 Mairead Cashman 00:38:01 (24) Full results here: https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:EU:9a51d0af-747b-4d22-967c-2235b94cadc7?fbclid=IwAR1asuwD7Hy_-RvoNVyAovNrGNWboW_6mjcaIgP0YcKMQaB1vT3UE4fBJCs Run the Line Short Course 13k (679) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Alex Gray 1 00:49:14 13 Niamh Murphy 1 01:03:10 Crusaders AC runners 14 Conor Macguinness 01:03:13 16 David Carter 01:03:31 29 Kim Hickey 01:05:26 (2) 105 Áine Kenny 01:14:31 (19) 149 Daniel Gleeson 01:17:16 Full results here: https://www.popupraces.ie/race/run-the-line-2023/#2_9D70EA Run the Line Long Course 26k (523) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Killian Mooney 1 01:52:50 24 Elizabeth Wheeler 1 02:25:20 Crusaders AC runners 44 Aaron Farrell 02:30:10 64 Kevin Fitzgibbon 02:33:26 395 Kevin Kenny 03:29:46 Full results here: https://www.popupraces.ie/race/run-the-line-2023/#2_9D70EA Clontarf Half Marathon (2821) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Anthony O’Brien 1 01:10:34 9 Becky Woods 1 01:21:28 Crusaders AC runners 74 Jamie Symmons 01:29:36 126 Annie Hughes 01:33:14 (PB) (10) 152 Anna Gallo 01:34:18 (PB) (12) 353 Gareth Phelan 01:41:52 399 Diarmuid Fahey 01:43:26 614 Séamas Bulaeir 01:46:37 (PB) 1463 Phil Sykes 01:53:15 Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/the_joe_duffy_bmw_clontarf_half_marathon__5_mile/4767/results Clontarf 5-mile race (1116) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Johnpaul Williamson 1 00:25:45 28 Sive Duncan 1 00:33:51 Crusaders AC runners 3 Alex Ainsworth 00:28:22 (PB) 50 Ronan Smith 00:35:32 Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/the_joe_duffy_bmw_clontarf_half_marathon__5_mile/4767/results Run in the Dark 10k (1903) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Evan Reid 1 00:34:21 2 Sinead Fitzpatrick 1 00:34:28 Crusaders AC runners 43 Will Owens 00:40:47 67 Tom Gleeson 00:41:55 100 Adrian Groarke 00:43:37 889 Kevin Kenny 00:54:59 Full results here: https://www.sportsplits.com/races/run-in-the-dark-dublin-2023/events/1?page=1 Run in the Dark 5k (2105) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Jack Maughan 1 00:16:07 9 Lynette Richardson 1 00:18:18 Crusaders AC runners 26 Annie Hughes 00:20:03 (3) 256 Kelly Brown 00:25:53 (60) Full results here: https://www.sportsplits.com/races/run-in-the-dark-dublin-2023/events/2/ Vicarstown Parkrun (98) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Kristian Redmond 1 00:19:05 3 Niamh O’Boyle 1 00:21:11 Crusader AC runner 7 Dale Whelehan 00:21:56 Brickfields Parkrun (98) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Christopher McMahon 1 00:18:13 24 Mairead Conlon 1 00:24:42 Crusaders AC runner 32 Enda Currid 00:25:54 Malahide Parkrun (295) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Liam Duffy 1 00:17:53 27 Caroline Hynes 1 00:21:40 Crusaders AC runner 59 Darina Scully 00:23:43 (8) Bushy Parkrun (166) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 2 Daniel Tallon 1 00:19:36 28 Anne Linton 1 00:23:53 Crusaders AC runner 106 Mairead Cashman 00:31:43 (32) Pobalscoil na Tríonóide Parkrun (48) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Jack Murphy 1 00:19:04 11 Ornaith Keane 1 00:23:30 Crusaders AC runner 2 Toby Benham 00:19:19 Poolbeg Parkrun (147) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Ashley Hayes 1 00:17:29 24 Ava Rose Clarke 1 00:22:20 Crusaders AC runners 2 Stephen Hurley 00:17:31 3 Kenan Furlong 00:17:53 6 Oisin Corish 00:19:38 11 Kevin Lynch 00:20:45 54 Louise O’Riordan 00:25:04 (7) 56 Franky Keane 00:25:06 77 Caitlin Ni Mhurchu 00:27:59 (19) 96 Una McCullagh 00:29:24 (28) 103 Jeanie Watson 00:29:51 (35) 115 Evelyn Neary 00:30:27 (42) Tolka Valley Parkrun (43) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Owen Robinson 1 00:19:31 18 Kate Brazier 1 00:26:06 Crusaders AC runner 30 Maria Pertl 00:33:02 Shanganagh Parkrun (209) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Rían MacMaoláin 1 00:17:33 6 Sarah Baryga 1 00:20:03 Crusaders AC runners 80 Tanja Narancic 00:25:26 (19) 88 Olwyn Dunne 00:25:47 (22) 178 Carina Davidson 00:33:33 (74) Poppintree Parkrun (173) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Dermot Coffey 1 00:17:33 16 Maura Matthews 1 00:21:23 Crusaders AC runner 31 Eoghan Corrigan 00:23:05 St. Anne’s Parkrun (385) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Oisin McKinley 1 00:15:41 24 Aisling Ahern 1 00:19:29 Crusaders AC runners 51 Zlatko Kulic 00:20:49 90 Michael Maughan 00:22:52 Fairview Parkrun (111) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Jake Butler 1 00:19:04 30 Orla Deighan 1 00:23:32 Crusaders AC runner 12 Andy Deuser 00:22:11 Mullingar Parkrun (92) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Eddie Newman 1 00:18:00 26 Mia Flynn 1 00:25:29 Crusaders AC runner 5 Kevin Lambe 00:19:52 Ardgillan Parkrun (174) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 K. Downey 1 00:19:31 37 Loretto Lacey 1 00:25:47 Crusaders AC runners 38 Emer Kenny 00:25:50 (2) 44 Lisa Shine 00:26:10 (3) 77 Fiona Shine 00:29:46 (6) 81 Máirín Shine 00:30:01 (8) Marlay Parkrun (473) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Ruben Bartelink 1 00:16:39 15 Saoirse McGrath 1 00:19:17 Crusaders AC runners 15 Saoirse McGrath 00:19:17 (1) 22 Gary Park 00:20:13 Progression Parkrun (38) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 2 Timothée Laurent 1 00:20:15 7 Sarah Lyons 1 00:22:22 Crusaders AC runners 7 Sarah Lyons 00:22:22 (1) 9 Phelim Murray 00:22:45 10 Margaret Foley 00:22:52 On Saturday morning, continuing a recently-established tradition of Crusaders athletes participating in the annual British and Irish International Masters Cross-Country competition between age-categorised teams from Ireland, Northern Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales, we had two runners take part in the competition, hosted this year in Tollcross Park in Glasgow. Our two intrepid athletes representing Ireland were Brian O’Kelly in the M40 age category and Paul Cowhie in the M55 category. Both had qualified for the contest in the trials held in Abbotstown as part of the Autumn Open in mid-October and Brian was running in the Irish vest for the first time. It is great to be able to say that, on the day, both were members of bronze-medal-winning teams competing on what was quite a tough hilly course, held in otherwise dry and sunny conditions. Both had to run 8k and, in a field of 29, Brian, who is currently training for a Spring marathon, placed 13th overall and was 5th placed in the 6-man team, in a time of 26:51, whilst Paul placed 10th overall and was 2nd scorer in a time of 29:03, in a field of 20 runners in his age category. Many congrats to them! Kathryn Gibbons travelled up to her native Co. Donegal over the weekend and competed in the Finn Valley AC-organised 10k Remembrance Run on Sunday morning. In rainy and chilly conditions and east-south-easterly breeze on a slightly undulating anticlockwise loop, Kathryn joined 359 other runners, placing 19th and 3rd female finisher in a super time of 39:42. Also, on Sunday, we saw the start of the Women’s Meet & Train winter (cross-country) league. Sixteen of our fellow clubmates ran in Tymon Park alongside 101 other club runners on a 3k course, taking in three and a bit laps of the cross country course used for the recent novices races beside the national basketball arena. They were led home by Jeanie Watson in her first ever XC in 4th place in 12:23 and Jeanie was followed by Rebecca Fleming (11th in 12:40), Joanne Carey (16th in 12:48), Tanja Narancic (22nd in 13:09), Cría Dowling (25th in 13:12), Hannah Jones (27th in 13:16), Laura Gobbi (32nd in 13:26), Lisa Shine (37th in 13:30), Louise O’Riordan (40th in 13:32), Darina Scully (44th in 13:41), Emer Liddy (67th in 14:23), Anna Shine (82nd in 14:54), Carina Davidson (85th in 14:58), Catriona Egan (102nd in 15:42), Máirín Shine (108th in 16:25) and Zara Lou McGrath (117th in 20:01). On Sunday morning we had at least 5 Crusaders take on the iconic Athens marathon which as one would expect is a point to point from Marathon in the north to Athens in the south, finishing in the original Olympic stadium. Conditions were extremely warm with a light headwind (which may actually have been more refreshing than a real hindrance) on what is a hilly course with a significant 200m climb over 12k from 19k (after a 75m climb over about 9k just before it), but ending with a 10k descent to the finish. Leo Lundy who ran just over 6 hours on little preparation but a veteran of 377 previous marathons, reported that he had never seen so many people walking after halfway. Joe McDermott found the last few kms really tough, finishing in a creditable 3:00:36 (chiptime). Guntime results were provided for Richie Phelan (3:08:57), Kevin Lambe (3:39:35) and Lisa Branigan (3:52:45). Lisa ran an amazing negative split of over 4 minutes in Athens, on top of completing a 3:46 result in the Dublin marathon only two weeks earlier. Also, outside Ireland, Chris Russell ran in the annual Edinburgh University-organised Braids Hill XC 5k run on Saturday morning, where he completed the event, held on a golf course, in 17:31. There were a couple of hill races organised by IMRA on Saturday around Powerscourt in Co. Wicklow. One of the courses, involving 2 loops over difficult terrain and including an overall climb of 860m, measured 15k (the “long course”) and we had at least four runners involved in that. Donatas Jocius led our contingent home in 15th place in a field of 161, running a time of 1:26:01. He was followed by Paul Flynn (46th in 1:36:39) and by Brian McGuckin (60th in 1:41:55) and Anna Gallo (63rd and 6th in 1:43:32). The other course (the “short course”) involved only one of the two loops and measured 7.5k. Warren Swords ran in that race, recording a time of 38:35 for the win, ahead of a field of 39 in total. Dee Lawlor led home the field of 139 in the Cabinteely parkrun on Saturday morning, recording a time of 18:41. He was followed by Padraig Walsh (38th in 24:46) and Kevin Kenny, tailwalking. Ciara Regan was first female finisher in Poolbeg in a time of 19:48. She also placed 6th overall in the field of 168. Ahead of Ciara came Oisin Corish who placed 3rd in 19:25 and then behind her came Zlatko Kulic (15th in 20:57), John Lohan (29th in 22:32), Sharon Woods (31st and 3rd in 22:44), Pat Quill (33rd in 22:48), Josie Ward (44th and 4th in 23:26), Tanja Narancic (51st and 7th in 24:04), Franky Keane (63rd in 24:37), Kenan Furlong (66th in 24:50), Gillian Curran (69th and 11th in 25:13), Fanny Trébouet (92nd and 23rd in 27:24), Caitlin Ni Mhurchu (93rd and 24th in 27:31), Djinn Von Noorden (96th and 26th in 27:35), Linda Walsh (125th and 42nd in 29:55) and Una McCullagh (142nd and 52nd in 32:15). Tara Murphy was also a first finisher, running again in her native New Jersey in the Delaware and Raritan Canal parkrun. The field there measured 55 and Tara placed 7th overall in 25:30. Podium places were recorded by Tomás Bradley in Tolka Valley and Richard Morrissey in Brockwell, Herne Hill near London. Tomás placed 2nd in 19:55 in Tolka Valley where he finished ahead of Phelim Murray (8th in 22:16) and Sarah Lyons (38th and 11th in 31:26) in a field of 58, whilst Richard, more generally known as an international sprinter for the club in his day, joined a field of 447, placing 3rd in 18:11. Dave Carter ran in Strathclyde in Scotland where, in a field of 288, he placed 4th in 18:57, whilst Daniel Lowe also placed 4th in Bushy Park. In the field of 174, Daniel recorded a time of 20:08. Olwyn Dunne placed 24th and 5th in a time of 24:06 in the 100-strong field in Knocknacarra, whilst Dale Whelehan also placed 5th in the field of 66 in Glengarriff. Dale’s time was 22:53. Kate Murray placed 44th and 6th in 23:00 in Griffeen Park where the field measured 221. Enda Currid took on Brickfields again, where, in a field of 69, he placed 10th in a time of 22:25, whilst Orlaith de Burca joined 40 runners in the Edwin Carolan Community parkrun in Mullagh, Co. Cavan, where she placed 19th and 7th in 30:20. In Strokestown, with its field of 79, Liam Lyster placed 28th in 28:47, whilst Brian Scanlan ran 26:47 for 31st place in River Valley Park where he joined 89 other participants. We had 7 runners in the 184-strong field in Poppintree. They were led home by Julian Callan (37th in 24:05), followed by Diarmuid Byrne (43rd in 24:41), Emer Kenny (50th and 8th in 25:04), Máirín Shine (108th and 27th in 30:31), Fiona Shine (109th and 28th in 30:36), Lisa Shine (110th and 29th in the same time) and Maria Pertl (144th and 47th in 34:15). Andy Deuser took 9th spot in 22:02 in Fairview alongside 146 other runners, whilst Brendan Glynn placed 35th in the 212-strong field in Donabate in a time of 23:22. Phil Sykes ran in Marlay Park, where, alongside 496 other participants, he recorded a time of 23:06 for 92nd place, whilst Helena O’Keeffe took 86th and 18th spots in 27:14 in the field of 236 in Tralee. A large field of 524 in St. Anne’s included Eoghan Corrigan who ran 23:04 for 39th spot and he was followed by Caroline Crowley and Irene Gorman, both of whom are in various stages of pregnancy. Caroline placed 363rd and 136th in 31:25, alongside Irene who placed 364th and 137th in 31:26. We had two runners in each of Tramore Valley in Cork and in Shanganagh with similar size fields. In Tramore Valley, Toby Benham placed 32nd in 22:50, followed by Mairead Cashman (113th and 24th in 28:29). The field there measured 203. Then, in Shanganagh, Jill Nason ran 29:10, placing 134th and 34th, with Carina Davidson taking 196th and 75th spots in 38:01. The field there measured 209. Finn Valley AC 10k Remembrance Run (360) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Danny Mooney 1 00:32:43 19 Leoni Cooke 1 00:37:50 Crusaders AC runner 29 Kathryn Gibbons 00:39:42 (3) Full results here: Women’s Meet and Train 3k (117) Overall place Name Guntime 1 Sophie McGovern 00:11:49 Crusaders AC runners 4 Jeanie Watson 00:12:23 11 Rebecca Fleming 00:12:40 16 Joanne Carey 00:12:48 22 Tanja Narancic 00:13:09 25 Cría Dowling 00:13:12 27 Hannah Jones 00:13:16 32 Laura Gobbi 00:13:26 37 Lisa Shine 00:13:30 40 Louise O’Riordan 00:13:32 44 Darina Scully 00:13:41 67 Emer Liddy 00:14:23 82 Anna Shine 00:14:54 85 Carina Davidson 00:14:58 102 Catriona Egan 00:15:42 108 Máirín Shine 00:16:25 117 Zara Lou McGrath 00:20:01 IMRA Powerscourt Ridge Long Course (161) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Killian Mooney 1 01:13:25 6 Sarah McCormack 1 01:19:04 Crusaders AC runners 15 Donatas Jocius 01:26:01 46 Paul Flynn 01:36:39 60 Brian McGuckin 01:41:55 63 Anna Gallo 01:43:32 (6) Full results here: https://www.imra.ie/events/results/id/2335/category/O/ IMRA Powerscourt Ridge Short course (39) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Warren Swords 1 00:38:35 5 Niamh Murphy 1 00:43:46 Crusaders AC runner 1 Warren Swords 00:38:35 Full results here: https://www.imra.ie/events/results/id/2335/category/O/ Strokestown Parkrun (79) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 John Feeney 1 00:21:09 7 Sarah Dixon 1 00:24:44 Crusader AC runner 28 Liam Lyster 00:28:47 Donabate Parkrun (212) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Conor McGuirk 1 00:16:16 10 Dara Ann Harford 1 00:20:20 Crusaders AC runner 35 Brendan Glynn 00:23:22 Knocknacarra Parkrun (100) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Joe Warne 1 00:16:58 8 Aining Zhan 1 00:21:24 Crusaders AC runner 24 Olwyn Dunne 00:24:06 (5) Bushy Parkrun (174) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Edwin Keville 1 00:18:03 19 Victoria Hepburn 1 00:23:01 Crusaders AC runner 4 Daniel Lowe 00:20:08 Cabinteely Parkrun (139) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Derek Lawlor 1 00:18:41 3 Robyn Kennedy 1 00:19:47 Crusaders AC runners 1 Derek Lawlor 00:18:41 38 Padraig Walsh 00:24:46 139 Kevin Kenny 01:02:07 Poolbeg Parkrun (168) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Seán Cahill 1 00:18:51 6 Ciara Regan 1 00:19:48 Crusaders AC runners 3 Oisin Corish 00:19:25 6 Ciara Regan 00:19:41 (1) 15 Zlatko Kulic 00:20:57 29 John Lohan 00:22:32 31 Sharon Woods 00:22:44 (3) 33 Pat Quill 00:22:48 44 Josie Ward 00:23:26 (4) 51 Tanja Narancic 00:24:04 (7) 63 Franky Keane 00:24:37 66 Kenan Furlong 00:24:50 69 Gillian Curran 00:25:13 (11) 92 Fanny Trébouet 00:27:24 (23) 93 Caitlin Ni Mhurchu 00:27:31 (24) 96 Djinn Von Noorden 00:27:35 (26) 125 Linda Walsh 00:29:55 (42) 142 Una McCullagh 00:32:15 (52) Tolka Valley Parkrun (58) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Matthew Dunne 1 00:17:27 13 Grace Haughey 1 00:24:23 Crusaders AC runners 2 Tomás Bradley 00:19:55 8 Phelim Murray 00:22:16 38 Sarah Lyons 00:31:26 (11) Shanganagh Parkrun (209) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Nickolas Colyn 1 00:16:01 23 Sheelagh Jones 1 00:21:37 Crusaders AC runners 134 Jill Nason 00:29:10 (34) 196 Carina Davidson 00:38:01 (75) Poppintree Parkrun (184) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Bobby Bedford 1 00:18:19 20 Kate Cleary 1 00:21:58 Crusaders AC runners 37 Julian Callan 00:24:05 43 Diarmuid Byrne 00:24:41 50 Emer Kenny 00:25:04 (8) 108 Máirín Shine 00:30:31 (27) 109 Fiona Shine 00:30:36 (28) 110 Lisa Shine 00:30:36 (29) 144 Maria Pertl 00:34:15 (47) St. Anne’s Parkrun (524) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Evan Reid 1 00:16:20 8 Fiona Stack 1 00:19:02 Crusaders AC runners 39 Eoghan Corrigan 00:21:16 84 Michael Maughan 00:23:04 363 Caroline Crowley 00:31:25 (136) 364 Irene Gorman 00:31:26 (137) Fairview Parkrun (147) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Seán Byrne 1 00:18:55 16 Aine Ni Ghloinn 1 00:22:53 Crusaders AC runner 9 Andy Deuser 00:22:02 Glengarriff Parkrun (66) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Peter Little 1 00:19:27 6 Alice Coppinger 1 00:23:19 Crusaders AC runner 5 Dale Whelehan 00:22:53 Brickfields Parkrun (69) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 2 Christopher McMahon 1 00:19:19 18 Sinead Tyrrell 1 00:23:41 Crusaders AC runner 10 Enda Currid 00:22:25 River Valley Parkrun (90) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Viktoras Kuzminas 1 00:20:37 3 Cecile Ollagnier 1 00:22:14 Crusaders AC runner 31 Brian Scanlan 00:26:47 Edwin Carolan Community Parkrun (41) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Gerry O’Connell 1 00:19:56 8 Shirley Farnan 1 00:25:14 Crusaders AC runner 19 Orlaith de Burca 00:30:20 (7) Griffeen Parkrun (221) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Gary Farrell 1 00:18:21 22 Ruby Kelly 1 00:21:18 Crusaders AC runner 44 Kate Murray 00:23:00 (6) Tralee Parkrun (236) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Tadhg Connolly 1 00:17:18 12 Mary Kilkenny Barrett 1 00:21:03 Crusaders AC runner 86 Helena O’Keeffe 00:27:14 (18) Marlay Parkrun (497) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 August Benedicto 1 00:16:37 37 Muirna Twomey 1 00:20:53 Crusaders AC runner 92 Phil Sykes 00:23:06 Tramore Valley, Cork Parkrun (203) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Ben Leen Smith 1 00:15:46 20 Katie Walsh 1 00:21:26 Crusaders AC runners 32 Toby Benham 00:22:50 113 Mairead Cashman 00:28:29 (24) As only to be expected, with all the rain we suffered this week from Storm Ciarán all the weekend running events would be impacted. The two major cross-country events of the weekend, the Leinster Senior and the Dublin Senior XC championships, both presented waterlogged and muddy courses. So, it was true cross-country necessitating the wearing of spikes. Nothing quite like it! First up for Crusaders was the women’s 6k race in the Leinster championships on Saturday afternoon. It took place on a course with which we are extremely familiar just outside Dunboyne and aptly named Cowpark. It’s not particularly hilly, but it does often present quite a lot of spongy grass and mud on the tight corners even without the rainfall we had experienced. We fielded a team of 5, with 4 to score and although we did not win any medals the team did us proud, mid-packing in a bunch and, as a consequence, placing 4th, only 7 points off the podium. In the field of 44, they were led home by Rachael Yorke who crossed the line in 21st spot in a time of 28:19. Rachael was followed home by Lorraine Healy just 3 seconds behind in 22nd place (28:22) and Kathryn Gibbons a little further back (25th in 28:34). Saoirse McGrath was next in 27th place in 28:46, followed by Ciara Regan (31st in 29:37), meaning that only about 78 seconds separated our first and final runner. Interestingly, the second placed team, Mullingar, finished level with the 3rd placed team, Sportsworld, on 88 points, but won the silver medal on countback, Mullingar’s 4th scorer finishing in 33rd spot, 2 places ahead of Sportsworld’s 4th scoring athlete. It goes to show that every place counts! On Sunday, we just had the one athlete take part in the men’s 9k race in the Dublin senior XC Championships held in Santry Demesne. By all accounts, it was as muddy as it could ever get and, therefore, tough as a consequence. In another small field of 50 runners, Dee Lawlor joined the fray, placing 46th in a time of 37:57. There appear to have been no road races in Ireland during the last week with Crusaders involvement on which to report, but, as usual, if anyone has a result he or she would like to have recorded, please let us know. Further afield, our Spanish exiles, Esther Requena Ferri and Cristian Vilchez Ceballos, ran in a 7k street race in the sun in Vélez-Málaga, just in the hinterland north of Torre del Mar. Esther placed 2nd woman in a time of 27:48, whilst Cristian completed the course in 24:14. Also, we had two runners in the New York marathon. In brilliant sunshine and increasingly warm conditions (around 18 degrees), Brian Rainey ran 3:49:12, whilst Bob van der Helm completed the distance in 4:41:45. Well done to them. At least two of Saturday morning’s parkruns (Poolbeg and St. Anne’s) celebrated runners from last weekend’s marathon, and, in anticipation of this, we had a fabulous turnout of Crusaders in Poolbeg. Indeed, in Poolbeg, in a field of 176, in otherwise swampy conditions, including deep puddles on all the paths, no fewer than 28 runners from the club turned out, at least 18 of whom who had participated in the marathon. Because of the conditions, the organisers were close to cancelling the event. However, everyone was delighted it went ahead, although we were all cautioned not to try and achieve PBs in such slippery conditions (at least one of our runners did slip in the mud!). In any event, most of the marathoners were taking it carefully anyway! The first finisher in the event was Stephen Hurley in 18:15 and he was followed in 2nd place by Kevin Kavanagh (18:29) and in 3rd by Ross Neill (18:36). Further back came Kieran Martin (8th in 20:04), Adrian Groarke (14th in 20:51), Kevin Fitzgibbon (15th in 20:53), James Cottle (26th in 21:56), Kevin Lynch (31st in 22:27), Sharon Woods (37th and 4th female finisher in 23:21), Josie Ward (46th and 8th in 24:17), Joanne Carey (65th and 14th in 25:36), Olwyn Dunne (73rd and 16th in 26:27), Franky Keane (74th in the same time of 26:27), Rebecca Fleming just behind (75th and 17th in 26:28), Tara Murphy (76th and 18th in 26:28 too), Richard Kavanagh (79th in 26:35), Dee Ni Chearbhaill (82nd and 20th in 26:53), Kevin Kenny (85th in 27:22), Alby Allan (92nd in 27:50), Paul Campbell (93rd in 27:51), Christina Campbell (96th and 27th in 27:59), Tanja Narancic (100th and 30th in 28:10), Cian Coughlan (104th in 28:12), Áine Crotty (134th and 49th in 30:25), Niamh Trihy (154th and 65th in 36:04) and Cynthia Perucca (155th and 66th in 36:22). Joe Dunne and David Timoney also ran, but their times were not recorded. We had a first finisher in St. Anne’s too. Ruben Vega led the field of 406 home in a time of 17:11. He was followed by Michael Maughan (93rd in 24:18), and Paul and Aoife Kelly. Paul placed 139th in 26:09 and Aoife ran 33:36 for 332nd and 115th spots. We did have podium finishers elsewhere. Garret Connolly placed 2nd in 21:05 in the 112-strong field in Fairview. Garret was followed by Andy Deuser in 18th place in a time of 23:01. Then, in Cabinteely, in preparation for the following day’s challenge, Dee Lawlor placed 2nd in a field of 114 in a time of 19:05. Kevin Lambe, who will be running in the Athens marathon next week, got a good shakeout in Mullingar, where he placed 2nd in 19:56 in a field of 80. Finally, Luke Corcoran took 3rd place in Bushy Park. In a field of 135, Luke ran 19:35, followed by Kate Murray, who ran 25:23 for 43rd and 5th places. Back home for a brief while from Australia, Steven Walker ran in the 241-strong field in Portrush where he placed 4th in 20:26, whilst, in Tolka Valley, Diarmuid Byrne joined 48 other runners to place 6th in 23:25. Brendan Glynn ran in Donabate with 129 other participants where he placed 19th in 23:23, whilst members of the Shine family ran once again together, this time in Kilcock on the Royal Canal. In a field of 124, Máirín placed 51st and 16th in 28:09, followed by Lisa (52nd and 17th in the same time) and Fiona (54th and 19th in 28:11) just slightly behind. We had two runners in Shanganagh. Carina Davidson placed 79th and 20th in 27:12, followed by Aoife Clarke who ran 27:57 for 87th and 24th places. The field there measured 141. Meanwhile, further afield, Áine Kenny ran in Manchester in the Heaton Parkrun where she placed 173rd and 27th in 25:36 in a field of 688. Then, in Pollok in Glasgow, Aidan Hudner ran 27:07 for 141st place in the 328-strong field there. Finally, Kris Ryan, our Australian exile, ran in the Main Beach Parkrun in Queensland where she recorded a time of 32:39 for 127th and 32nd places. Leinster Senior Women XC Championships 6k (44) Overall place Name Guntime 1 Claire Fagan 00:23:51 Crusaders AC runners 21 Rachael Yorke 00:28:19 22 Lorraine Healy 00:28:22 25 Kathryn Gibbons 00:28:34 27 Saoirse McGrath 00:28:46 31 Ciara Regan 00:29:37 Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/leinster_senior_xc_championships_2023/4980/results Dublin Senior Men XC Championships 9k (50) Overall place Name Guntime 1 Efrem Gidey 00:28:50 Crusaders AC runner 46 Derek Lawlor 00:37:57 Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/dublin_uneven_age__junior__senior__xc_championships_2023/4911/results Portrush Parkrun (241) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Scott Rankin 1 00:17:31 17 Fiona Prue 1 00:22:31 Crusader AC runner 4 Steven Walker 00:20:26 Donabate Parkrun (130) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Derek Nolan 1 00:18:56 16 Katie Halpin 1 00:22:55 Crusaders AC runner 19 Brendan Glynn 00:23:23 Mullingar Parkrun (80) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Micheal Forde 1 00:19:15 21 Mia Flynn 1 00:25:42 Crusaders AC runners 2 Kevin Lambe 00:19:56 Bushy Parkrun (135) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Jonathan Kearsley 1 00:17:22 6 Rachel Sidebotham 1 00:20:31 Crusaders AC runner 43 Kate Murray 00:25:23 (5) Cabinteely Parkrun (114) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 George Callery 1 00:18:47 6 Derval Devaney 1 00:21:40 Crusaders AC runner 2 Derek Lawlor 00:19:05 Poolbeg Parkrun (176) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Stephen Hurley 1 00:18:15 16 Laura Behan 1 00:20:59 Crusaders AC runners 1 Stephen Hurley 00:18:15 2 Kevin Kavanagh 00:18:29 3 Ross Neill 00:18:36 8 Kieran Martin 00:20:04 14 Adrian Groarke 00:20:51 15 Kevin Fitzgibbon 00:20:53 26 James Cottle 00:21:56 31 Kevin Lynch 00:22:27 37 Sharon Woods 00:23:21 (4) 46 Josie Ward 00:24:17 (8) 65 Joanne Carey 00:25:36 (14) 73 Olwyn Dunne 00:26:27 (16) 74 Franky Keane 00:26:27 75 Rebecca Fleming 00:26:28 (17) 76 Tara Murphy 00:26:28 (18) 79 Richard Kavanagh 00:26:35 82 Dee Ni Chearbhaill 00:26:53 (20) 85 Kevin Kenny 00:27:22 92 Alby Allan 00:27:50 93 Paul Campbell 00:27:51 96 Christina Campbell 00:27:59 (27) 100 Tanja Narancic 00:28:10 (30) 104 Cian Coughlan 00:28:12 134 Áine Crotty 00:30:25 (49) 154 Niamh Trihy 00:36:04 (65) 155 Cynthia Perucca 00:36:22 (66) Tolka Valley Parkrun (49) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Owen Robinson 1 00:19:29 8 Mary Gavin 1 00:24:53 Crusaders AC runner 6 Diarmuid Byrne 00:23:25 Shanganagh Parkrun (141) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Mark Kelly 1 00:19:21 5 Lynne Hennessy 1 00:19:54 Crusaders AC runners 79 Carina Davidson 00:27:12 (20) 87 Aoife Clarke 00:27:57 (24) Royal Canal, Kilcock Parkrun (124) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 John Regan 1 00:18:30 11 Emma Finlay 1 00:21:53 Crusaders AC runners 51 Máirín Shine 00:28:09 (16) 52 Lisa Shine 00:28:09 (17) 54 Fiona Shine 00:28:11 (19) St. Anne’s Parkrun (406) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Ruben Vega 1 00:17:11 19 Helen Marshall 1 00:19:30 Crusaders AC runners 1 Ruben Vega 00:17:11 93 Michael Maughan 00:24:18 139 Paul F. Kelly 00:26:09 332 Aoife Kelly 00:33:36 (115) Fairview Parkrun (112) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Paddy Murphy 1 00:20:49 3 Kirsty Beattie 1 00:21:13 Crusaders AC runner 18 Andy Deuser 00:23:01 Where to start? This weekend’s Dublin City Marathon was really the only game in town, in terms of road racing at least if not also in terms of one of the highlights of the year for Dublin’s fair city. It did not disappoint, even though we were forecast perhaps longer dry spells throughout the race on Sunday morning than we got and when the rains came, they came with a vengeance. All of us who ran were not particularly bothered about the conditions ourselves; in fact, a bit of rain can be quite refreshing in such an event. Indeed, we were more worried that the weather would prevent our supporters from coming out. They are a vital element of the experience for us and everyone running for the club on the day was encouraged to wear the Crusaders singlet because we are always so amazingly well-supported along the full length of the course. Maith thú to all who braved the elements on Sunday to give us encouragement. It makes such a difference. The day didn’t start out like that and for the early starters in wave one, the damp conditions just after the gun at 8:45 were reasonably soft. The later waves, however, were to bear the brunt of the heavy showers. It made the otherwise light (super) shoes quite heavy at times. Many of us took advantage of the use of Pembroke Hall close to the start line in Fitzwilliam Square generously donated for about the 10th time by Bob Manson. It provided us with a really comfortable and warm changing environment (with showers) and a safe bag drop. It’s a super privilege and we are so grateful for Bob to let us use it. So, on the day we actually had at least 105 Crusaders start the race with no fewer than 104 of us finishing, an unprecedented result. This year, we welcomed quite a large number of newcomers to marathon racing, but even without their results we recorded a significant number of PBs. Of the 40+ PBs reported, at least a third came from those who had completed the distance before. It’s surprising because no one would suggest that Dublin is a PB course with its multitude of horrible hills in the first half (up to Christchurch and then up through Blackhall, the drag through the Phoenix Park, the really steep climb at Ballyfermot, another at Kilmainham and in Crumlin, the drag along through Dolphins Barn, the list is long) and then a couple late on just to sort the men from the boys in Milltown, Clonskeagh and the famous one at Roebuck. Admittedly there are some recovery-assisting downhills, particularly around the Phoenix Park (Knockmaroon Hill coming off a climb in Castleknock and then the Upper Glen Road) as well as Fosters Avenue and Nutley towards the end, but they just play havoc with your quads! Nevertheless, with all the support out there, our runners turned in some fabulous performances. It's going to be difficult to list everyone here (although in principle they are listed!) and all the results are shown below, but we should point out that we had at least 16 runners who broke 3 hours, led home by Vinnie McGuinness in 34th place overall with a time of 2:29:27, just a little off his PB for the distance. Vinnie was followed by Ciaran Diviney, the 51-year-old placing 72nd and 2nd in his M50 age category, meaning that he won national silver and Leinster and Dublin gold medals, as the lead runner in the category was from a Northern club. Behind Ciaran came Kevin Fitzgibbon (92nd in a PB time of 2:39:46) and Ciarain Kelly (just behind in 93rd in a PB time of 2:39:53). Fingers crossed that we might have picked up a medal at least provincially or locally for the O/35 team. Others to break 3 hours were Robert Browne (155th in 2:44:49) and Thomas Vogée (another runner with a PB result of 2:45:37 for 171st place). They were followed by Eugene McDonough (222nd in 2:47:49) who was suffering the effects of a head-cold, Daragh O’Reilly (255th in 2:49:15), Shane Egan with a PB time of 2:52:17 for 346th place, TJ Bourke, another runner with a PB (363rd with 2:52:55), Warren Swords (378th in 2:53:21), Kieran Martin (422nd in 2:54:36), Michael Reilly (425th in a PB time of 2:54:28), Donatas Jocius, who ran in the second wave (602nd in 2:58:09), Charles-Edouard Cattier who knocked off over 10 minutes from his previous best in a PB time of 2:57:52 for 603rd place and also celebrating becoming a father a few days earlier, John O’Donnell, another runner with a PB time of 2:58:20 in 654th spot and, finally, young Matthew Ryan. The 18-year-old runner recorded a five seconds PB improvement to register a time of 2:59:22, placing 785th, despite being plagued by a pair of shorts that kept continuously trying to slip down. We had at least 40 female athletes in our contingent, a percentage greater than the overall gender mix in the marathon (70:30, male to female), and more than half finished inside 4 hours (well inside the top 25% of all the female runners in the race). Indeed, we had 7 female athletes who broke the 3:30 barrier. They were just behind the following athletes: Aaron Farrell (827th in a PB time of 3:01:36), Conor Macguinness (891st in 3:03:08), James Cottle (937th in 3:04:46), who, despite having difficulties crossing the line as he was throwing up (too many gels probably!), ran about 2 minutes faster than last year, in 2nd place overall in the M65 age category (to a runner from the north like Ciaran) and thereby claiming, like Ciaran, national silver and Leinster and Dublin gold medals, Mick Smyth (965th in 3:04:29), James Donlon (997th in 3:05:05), and then Paul O’Hara (1003rd with a time of 3:06:09), Oisin Corish (1117th in a time of 3:08:10) and Eddie Nugent (1173rd in 3:08:45), all three running their first marathon. Despite being weakened by a heavy bout of sinusitis, which had prevented her from running in Berlin, Adrienne Jordan gamely tackled Dublin, placing 1202nd overall and 74th female finisher in 3:09:22. Ado was followed by Will Owens (1216th in 3:09:40), Alby Allan (1328th in a PB time of 3:10:44), Michael Fitzsimons (1388th also with a PB of 3:12:06) and then by Áine Kenny (1738th and 128th in 3:17:36) and Aoife Quigley (1758th and 131st in 3:18:22). With a bit of luck our O/35 women’s team may have podiumed in the Co. Dublin championships. To be seen. Aoife was followed by Seamus Moore (1886th in 3:19:41), Carolyn O’Reilly (another runner with a PB, placing 1982nd and 163rd in 3:19:16), Paul Moloney (2075th in 3:21:30), who was a runner with an interrupted training schedule with a slight injury, Gerard Moore (2,341st in 3:23:55), Jeanie Watson who surprised herself with her PB time of 3:24:39, placing 2344th and 210th, Paul F. Kelly (2365th in a PB time of 3:25:19), Oisin Browne (Carolyn’s fiancé) with a PB time of 3:24:31 to place 2404th, Ciara Lynch in her first marathon (2421st with a time of 3:24:04), Paul Campbell, pacing the 3:30 finishers (2852nd in 3:29:17), Kevin Lynch (2862nd in 3:27:36), Ruadhán Mac Cormaic, another novice marathoner who found getting in the training challenging and who was rightly delighted with his time of 3:28:45 for 2912nd place, and Paula Bradshaw, who has done so much to help the marathoners get to the start line. Paula broke 3:30 for the first time with a 3:29:28 finish for 3014th and 8315th places. A large-ish group ran together for much of the race, comprising of Áine Crotty and her fiancé Cian Coughlan (3251st and 361st and 3252nd respectively) in the same time of 3:31:02, Joanne Carey (3303rd and 369th in 3:31:40), Ciara Lehane, with a PB time of 3:33:11 for 3357th and 380th and Rebecca Fleming with a PB time of 3:32:31 for 3375th and 382nd. Shivananda Pukhrem finished close to the group, placing 3338th in 3:33:52 in his first marathon having been guided for much of the race by Paul. Just ahead of Shiva came Adrian Groarke, placing 3315th in 3:32:05. Next came Karl Walsh (3496th in 3:34:46), Daniel O’Mahony (3534th in 3:34:20), Ian Weldon (3782nd in 3:37:35, a PB improvement of about 17 minutes), Tara Gavin (3870th and 477th in a PB time of 3:37:35), David Tuohy (4589th in 3:43:22), Triona Quill (4720th and 666th in 3:43:14, a time that may have gained her a Dublin medal), Jessica Norris (4742nd and 674th in a PB time of 3:43:48), Maeve Lochrie, another newcomer to marathon running, who suffered a bit in the race from an interrupted training schedule in the build-up (4829th and 692nd in 3:41:30), Lisa Branigan (4972nd and 724th in 3:46:03), Carmel Higgins (5186th and 7773rd in a PB time of 3:47:29), James Bradshaw (Paula’s husband), another newbie, who ran 3:47:08 for 5222nd place, Liam Nagle (5291st in 3:48:52), Emily Glen (5395th and 819th in a PB time (by 1 second) of 3:48:14), Tanja Narancic (5491st and 839th in a PB time of 3:48:42), Joe Green (5546th in 3:49:04 in his first marathon), Fiona Collins (5547th and 847th in her second marathon (10 years after the first) in a huge PB time improvement of 3:48:56), David McDonald (5911th in 3:51:47), Hannah Jones (6116th and 998th in 3:54:13), Liam O’Brien (6429th in 3:56:20), Ciara Black (3:57:24 in her first marathon, placing 6557th and 1131st), Mary Fitzsimons (6635th and 1158th in 3:55:50), Christina Campbell (another runner delighted with her PB time of 3:58:00 for 6656th and 1163rd), Franky Keane (6666th in 3:57:16), Mark Browne (6854th in 3:58:44), Joe and Olwyn Dunne, who were pacing the 4-hour finishers, with Joe placing 7012th in 3:59:36 and Olwyn, 7029th and 1265th in 3:59:45, and Gillian Curran who completed the sub-4-hour contingent by placing 7264th and 1336th in a PB time of 3:58:43. We had at least 7 more PBs in the contingent that followed, including Lindsay Butler who placed 8011th and 1568th in 4:06:09. Lindsay was followed by John Kennedy (8326th in 4:07:35), Gillian McDarby (8497th and 1725th in 4:10:06), Mike Stewart, on his way back from injury (8525th in 4:09:49), David Pepper (8537th in his first marathon in 4:09:00), Lieze Verberght (another marathon novice, who ran 4:16:17 for 9129th and 1954th places), Kevin Kenny (9188th in 4:14:11), Avril Ryan (9502nd and 2106th in her first marathon in a time of 4:19:14), John Corish (another newbie, with a time of 4:18:59 for 9640th), Tara Murphy (9759th and 2206th in 4:20:02), Evelyn Neary (9946th and 2271st in a PB time of 4:22:04, definitely enjoying the experience this year), Aitor Arribas Velasco (10792nd in 4:29:42), Daniel Cullen (10894th in 4:29:49), Anna Hernick (11217th and 2788th in a huge PB improved time of 4:33:09), Fanny Trébouet, who knocked 50 minutes off her previous best time in Connemara to record a PB of 4:34:40 for 11587th and 2927th places, Darina Scully (11628th and 2940th in 4:37:13) and Djinn von Noorden, whose training has been impacted by a whole summer spent in the heavy heat of south-west France (11671st and 2960th in 4:36:26). Martin Joyce was next in a PB time of 4:36:24 for 11686th place, and he was followed by Mairead Cashman (12329th and 3222nd in 4:42:57), Barbara Walsh with a PB run of 4:48:18 for 12712th and 3400th, Joe O’Reilly (14542nd in 5:14:15), Linda Walsh (14639th and 4356th in 5:14:42), Leo Lundy, running his umpteenth marathon (15428th in 5:44:34), Patrick Needham (15540th in 5:50:33), Niamh Quinn (15610th and 4834th in 5:53:54), Rachel Kelly, several months pregnant (15543rd and 4770th in 5:43:04) and Lorraine Fitzsimons (15891st and 5002nd in 6:12:23). Well done to all. Roll on 2024!! Elsewhere over the weekend, we have news from Spain that Esther Requena Ferri and her partner in exile Cristian Vilchez Ceballos both achieved PBs in the Malaga half marathon. Esther ran 1:27:31 and Cristian ran 1:19:14. Luke Davis reported that he competed in another Hyrox event in Dublin, finishing 111th out of 778 competitors. Understandably, most of the marathoners did not take part in parkruns on Saturday morning. However, there were exceptions. Cian Coughlan and Áine Crotty joined 399 other participants in St. Anne’s where respectively they placed 260th and 261st (and 100th female finisher) in 31:47 and 31:48. It was Cian’s 50th parkrun. Then, in Cabinteely, Olwyn Dunne placed 46th and 7th in 27:34. The first finisher in the event was Dee Lawlor who ran 18:52 ahead of a field of 112 which also included David Carter who ran 19:40 for 4th place. Julie McGrath was another first finisher, placing 11th overall in 21:38 in what she described as muddy and hilly conditions. In the field of 170, Dublin marathoner Mairead Cashman also ran, placing 123rd and 45th in 33:46. Paul Cowhie led the field of 463 home in Marlay Park in a time of 17:57 and he was followed by his wife, Aoife, in 25:29 for 145th and 25th places. As usual, Poolbeg didn’t disappoint. Luke Corcoran and Ciara Regan were first finishers there. In a substantial field of 197, Luke crossed the line first in 17:43 and Ciara placed 15th overall in 20:23. They were followed by John Lohan (36th in 22:43), Sharon woods (42nd and 4th in 23:22), Josie Ward (48th and 5th in 23:54), Russell Murphy (57th in 24:26), Mary Dolan (108th and 29th in 28:36) and Cynthia Perucca (150th and 57th in 32:42). Ross Neill placed 4th in Ormeau Park in Belfast in a time of 17:48. The field there measured 414, whilst Toby Benham headed to Worthing on the English south coast where he placed 5th in a field of 379 and in a time of 18:08. Gemma Cooper was our lone runner in Tramore, Waterford, placing 52nd and 6th in a time of 27:04 and in a field of 144, whilst Eoghan Corrigan joined 149 other runners in Kilkenny where he placed 18th in 22:42. Members of the Shine family joined 182 other runners in Griffeen Park on Saturday morning. Lisa came home in 68th and 15th places in 26:28, followed by Máirín in 82nd and 21st in 28:24 and Fiona in 83rd and 22nd places in 28:25. Louise O’Riordan placed 183rd and 70th in Ballincollig. Louise’s time was 32:38 and the field there measured 221, whilst Luke Haran ran once again in Mungret where, in a field of 109, he placed 5th in 21:15. Andy Deuser joined 127 other participants in Fairview, where he placed 12th in 22:47, whilst Carina Davidson was a participant in Shanganagh. In her d70th parkrun, Carina ran 37:37 to place 166th and 70th in a field of 184 runners. Irish Life Dublin City Marathon (16356) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Kemal Husen 1 02:06:50 (CR) 18 Amente Sorome Negash 1 02:26:21 Crusaders AC runners 34 Vinnie McGuinness 02:29:27 72 Ciaran Diviney 02:37:33 92 Kevin Fitzgibbon 02:39:46 (PB) 93 Ciarain Kelly 02:39:53 155 Robert Browne 02:44:49 171 Thomas Vogée 02:45:37 (PB) 222 Eugene McDonough 02:47:49 255 Daragh O’Reilly 02:49:15 346 Shane Egan 02:52:17 (PB) 363 TJ Bourke 02:52:55 (PB) 378 Warren Swords 02:53:21 422 Kieran Martin 02:54:36 425 Michael Reilly 02:54:28 (PB) 602 Donatas Jocius 02:58:09 603 Charles-Edouard Cattier 02:57:52 (PB) 654 John O’Donnell 02:58:20 (PB) 785 Matthew Ryan 02:59:22 (PB) 827 Aaron Farrell 03:01:36 (PB) 891 Conor Macguinness 03:03:08 947 James Cottle 03:04:46 965 Mick Smyth 03:04:29 997 James Donlon 03:05:05 1003 Paul O’Hara 03:06:09 (PB) 1117 Oisin Corish 03:08:10 (PB) 1173 Eddie Nugent 03:08:45 (PB) 1202 Adrienne Jordan 03:09:22 (74) 1216 Will Owens 03:09:40 1328 Alby Allan 03:10:44 (PB) 1388 Michael Fitzsimons 03:12:06 (PB) 1738 Áine Kenny 03:17:36 (128) 1758 Aoife Quigley 03:18:22 (131) 1886 Seamus Moore 03:19:41 1982 Carolyn O’Reilly 03:19:16 (PB) (163) 2075 Paul Moloney 03:21:30 2341 Gerard Moore 03:23:55 2344 Jeanie Watson 03:24:39 (PB) (210) 2365 Paul F. Kelly 03:25:19 (PB) 2404 Oisin Browne 03:24:31 (PB) 2421 Ciara Lynch 03:24:04 (PB) (19X) 2852 Paul Campbell 03:29:17 (PACER) 2862 Kevin Lynch 03:27:36 2912 Ruadhán Mac Cormaic 03:28:45 (PB) 3014 Paula Bradshaw 03:29:28 (PB) (315) 3251 Áine Crotty 03:31:02 (361) 3252 Cian Coughlan 03:31:02 3303 Joanne Carey 03:31:40 (369) 3315 Adrian Groarke 03:32:05 3338 Shivananda Pukhrem 03:33:52 (PB) 3357 Ciara Lehane 03:33:11 (PB) (380) 3375 Rebecca Fleming 03:32:31 (PB) (382) 3496 Karl Walsh 03:34:46 3534 Daniel O’Mahony 03:34:20 3782 Ian Weldon 03:37:53 (PB) 3870 Tara Gavin 03:37:35 (PB) (477) 4589 David Tuohy 03:43:22 4720 Triona Quill 03:43:14 (666) 4742 Jessica Norris 03:43:48 (PB) (674) 4829 Maeve Lochrie 03:41:30 (PB) (692) 4972 Lisa Branigan 03:46:03 (724) 5186 Carmel Higgins 03:47:29 (PB) (773) 5222 James Bradshaw 03:47:08 (PB) 5291 Liam Nagle 03:48:52 5395 Emily Glen 03:48:14 (PB) (819) 5491 Tanja Narancic 03:48:42 (PB) (839) 5546 Joe Green 03:49:04 (PB) 5547 Fiona Collins 03:48:56 (PB) (847) 5911 David McDonald 03:51:47 6116 Hannah Jones 03:54:13 (998) 6429 Liam O’Brien 03:56:20 6557 Ciara Black 03:57:24 (PB) (1131) 6635 Mary Fitzsimons 03:55:50 (1158) 6656 Christina Campbell 03:58:00 (PB) (1163) 6666 Franky Keane 03:57:16 6854 Mark Browne 03:58:44 7012 Joe Dunne 03:59:36 (PACER) 7029 Olwyn Dunne 03:59:45 (PACER) (1265) 7264 Gillian Curran 03:58:43 (PB) (1336) 8011 Lindsay Butler 04:06:09 (PB) (1568) 8326 John Kennedy 04:07:35 8497 Gillian McDarby 04:10:06 (1725) 8525 Mike Stewart 04:09:49 8537 David Pepper 04:09:00 (PB) 9129 Lieze Verberght 04:16:17 (PB) (1954) 9188 Kevin Kenny 04:14:11 9502 Avril Ryan 04:19:14 (PB) (2106) 9640 John Corish 04:18:59 9759 Tara Murphy 04:20:02 (2206) 9946 Evelyn Neary 04:22:04 (2271) 10792 Aitor Arribas Velasco 04:29:42 10894 Daniel Cullen 04:29:49 11217 Anna Hernick 04:33:09 (PB) (2788) 11587 Fanny Trébouet 04:34:40 (PB) (2927) 11628 Darina Scully 04:37:13 (2940) 11671 Djinn von Noorden 04:36:26 (2960) 11686 Martin Joyce 04:36:24 (PB) 12329 Mairead Cashman 04:42:57 (3222) 12712 Barbara Walsh 04:48:18 (PB) (3400) 14542 Joe O’Reilly 05:14:15 14639 Linda Walsh 05:14:42 (4356) 15428 Leo Lundy 05:44:34 15540 Patrick Needham 05:50:33 15543 Rachel Kelly 05:43:04 (4770) 15610 Niamh Quinn 05:53:54 (4834) 15891 Lorraine Fitzsimons 06:12:23 (5002) Full results here: https://www.tdleventservices.co.uk/en/results-embed.php?event=3985#0_C42451 Ballincollig Parkrun (221) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Gerard Geary 1 00:18:45 5 Rachel Finn 1 00:20:07 Crusader AC runner 183 Louise O’Riordan 00:32:38 (70) Ormeau Parkrun (414) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Daniel Molloy 1 00:17:08 18 Shileen O’Kane 1 00:20:03 Crusaders AC runner 4 Ross Neill 00:17:48 Marlay Parkrun (463) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Paul Cowhie 1 00:17:57 15 Martha Moore 1 00:20:14 Crusaders AC runners 1 Paul Cowhie 00:17:57 145 Aoife Cowhie 00:25:29 (25) Bushy Parkrun (170) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Alfie Davis 1 00:19:22 11 Julie McGrath 1 00:21:38 Crusaders AC runners 11 Julie McGrath 00:21:38 (1) 123 Mairead Cashman 00:33:46 (45) Cabinteely Parkrun (112) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Derek Lawlor 1 00:18:52 6 Robyn Kennedy 1 00:20:35 Crusaders AC runners 1 Derek Lawlor 00:18:52 4 David Carter 00:19:40 46 Olwyn Dunne 00:27:34 (7) Poolbeg Parkrun (197) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Luke Corcoran 1 00:17:43 15 Ciara Regan 1 00:20:23 Crusaders AC runners 1 Luke Corcoran 00:17:43 15 Ciara Regan 00:20:23 (1) 36 John Lohan 00:22:43 42 Sharon Woods 00:23:22 (4) 48 Josie Ward 00:23:54 (5) 57 Russell Murphy 00:24:26 108 Mary Dolan 00:28:36 (29) 150 Cynthia Perucca 00:32:42 (57) Mungret Parkrun (109) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 John Whittaker 1 00:18:23 9 Kate O’Brien 1 00:22:02 Crusaders AC runner 5 Luke Haran 00:21:15 Shanganagh Parkrun (184) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Will Foot 1 00:18:19 16 Liadh Fitzmaurice 1 00:21:45 Crusaders AC runners 166 Carina Davidson 00:37:37 (70) Kilkenny Parkrun (150) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Mike Cullen 1 00:18:44 3 Meghan McCarthy 1 00:19:30 Crusaders AC runner 19 Eoghan Corrigan 00:22:42 Griffeen Parkrun (185) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 John Canny 1 00:18:16 8 Niamh Murphy 1 00:20:24 Crusaders AC runners 68 Lisa Shine 00:26:28 (15) 82 Máirín Shine 00:28:24 (21) 83 Fiona Shine 00:28:25 (22) St. Anne’s Parkrun (401) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Dermot Coffey 1 00:17:37 9 Helen Marshall 1 00:19:18 Crusaders AC runners 260 Cian Coughlan 00:31:47 261 Áine Crotty 00:31:48 (100) Tramore, Waterford Parkrun (144) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Damian Bourke 1 00:19:50 15 Amy Storey 1 00:23:31 Crusaders AC runner 52 Gemma Cooper 00:27:04 (6) Fairview Parkrun (128) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Aoife O’Connor 1 00:20:19 2 Peter Fenyvesi 1 00:20:30 Crusaders AC runner 12 Andy Deuser 00:22:47 L-R: Emily Glen, Gillian Curran, Paula Bradshaw, Mairead Cashman, Jessica Norris, Tara Gavin, Tanja Narancic, Fiona Collins, Ciara Lehane, Rebecca Fleming, Christina Campbell, Carmel Higgins, Lindsay Butler, Avril Ryan, Lieze Verberght, Anna Hernick, Carolyn O'Reilly, Triona Quill, Joanne Carey, Ciara Lynch, Aoife Quigley The cross-country course in Ballyhale in Co. Kilkenny on Saturday morning was surprisingly dry, given the fierce weather conditions that had erupted in the couple of days beforehand across the island. The occasion was the Leinster Novices and the location on a golf course was familiar to some as it has been used as a venue before, but for the uninitiated its hilly challenges would have come as a bit of a shock, with little flat ground and the course itself inevitably avoiding any spike damage to the pristine fairways, sticking to the deep rough! Nevertheless, the 10 runners representing the club embraced the challenges and performed extremely well. First up was the women’s 4k race with a total field of 68 runners from around 9 or 10 clubs. Our 5 women packed well behind Kathryn Gibbons who took 12th place in 17:21. The 4 other members finished within 6 places of each other, with Annie Hughes taking 23rd spot in 17:54, followed immediately by Saoirse McGrath in 24th one second behind in 17:55 and Kim Hickey just 1 second further back in 25th in 17:56. Only 6 seconds further back came Rachael Yorke (28th in 18:02), acting as an effective spoiler. The net result was that, although it would have been difficult to contest the gold medal place which inevitably went to DCH on 14 points (all their scorers finishing in the top 10), the first four of our runners were able to win the silver medal with a score of 84 points, ahead of St. Senan’s on 92 (their 3rd scorer finishing just behind Rachael) in a team competition between 9 clubs. The men’s race yielded a couple more medals, in respect of the county competition. The team itself placed a creditable 4th in a competition involving 15 clubs, so no medals there. However, Colm Parnell, who led our 5-man contingent home in 5th place in the 6k event in 21:11, along with our next finisher, John Mulvihill (24th in 23:04), picked up a gold medal with the Co. Dublin team. In the field of 110, Patrick Conlon was our next scorer, placing 35th in 23:32, followed by Ross Neill (46th in 23:46) and Alex Ainsworth (67th in 25:06). The 4th place finish of the team came from a score of 109 points, 9 behind Newbridge in 3rd place and 3 ahead of Kilkenny in 5th. Well done to all! So, the XC season is well and truly upon us. One might describe the Sandymount Night 10k as something of a hybrid XC, in that it takes in a lot of beach and paths around Sandymount Strand and Seán Moore Park. In many ways it resembles the series of races that take place during the year in Clontarf which also is conducted on the beach and also narrow bike paths with runners and walkers going in all directions. Last Tuesday’s 5k and 10k races in Sandymount enjoyed an aggregate field of 852, with 467 of the runners taking part in the 10k. Among them were at least 5 Crusaders. They were led across the line by Tom Gleeson who placed 28th in 42:51, and he was followed by Daniel O’Mahony who ran 45:10, but who didn’t get a chiptimed result. Next over the line was Charlotte Rufié (91st overall and 14th female finisher in 49:07) followed closely by Cría Dowling (94th and 16th in a chiptime of 48:54). Tom’s brother, Daniel, completed the picture with a 53:12 finish for 163rd spot. On Sunday, Philp Matthews signed up at the last minute for the Clonliffe 2-mile road race. It is the oldest continuous road race in Ireland, having commenced in 1891 as a club race, soon becoming an invitational race, originally conducted over a distance of 1.75 miles and eventually becoming a 2-mile event. In a field of 242 and in relatively sunny, warm and wind-less conditions, Philip placed 73rd in a time of 13:09. As usual, we had some great results further afield over the weekend. Kevin Kavanagh travelled to Valencia for Sunday’s half marathon there, producing a wonderful result of 1:18:57 to take 808th place in a field of nearly 24,000 runners. In achieving his new PB, Kevin registered remarkably even 5k splits. Italo Giancaterina, our Italian exile, actually won the Maratona di Pescara over the weekend in a time of 2:35:08, whilst Clément Rincé had a top 30 finish in the French National 5k championships in St. Omer near Calais with a time of 15:16. Down in Spain our inveterate racing exiles, Cristian Vilchez Ceballos and Esther Requena Ferri could not resist running in a 10k race around the streets of Malaga, with Cristian completing the distance in 35:39 and Esther running 40:11. No one was expecting the relatively benign conditions for parkrunning on Saturday morning and perhaps some of the fields were smaller as a consequence. Nevertheless, we enjoyed a good turnout, particularly those getting a good shakeout before embarking on next weekend’s Dublin City Marathon (we have at least 85 Crusaders listed as registered for the race). Husband and wife duo, Vinnie and Amy McGuinness, shared the spoils this week in St. Anne’s. In a field of 376, Vinnie was first across the line in 17:03, with Amy placing 15th and first female finisher in 19:39. We had three other club members in the event. Sarah Lyons placed 140th and 28th in 26:06, followed by Rebecca Fleming (266th and 80th in 30:56) and Áine Crotty (267th and 81st in the same time). Another first finisher was Fiona Collins, like Vinnie, Rebecca and Áine preparing for next week’s marathon. Fiona ran in the 28-strong field in Rostrevor where she placed 8th overall in a time of 24:56. Kate Murray finished on the podium in Mullingar. In a field of 107, Kate placed 13th and 2nd in 22:14, whilst, in Griffeen Park in Lucan, Alby Allan placed 3rd out of 186 runners in a time of 19:07. Tanja Narancic got a real boost of confidence as she placed 27th and 2nd in 22:31 in Shanganagh, followed, in the field of 200, by Olwyn Dunne (45th and 7th in 23:47) and Carina Davidson (83rd and 18th in 26:42). We had at least 15 Crusaders run in the field of 160 in Poolbeg. Michael Wycherley enjoyed a course PB with a time of 17:45 for 3rd place along side Stephen Hurley awarded the same time for 4th spot. Eddie Nugent was next, in 9th place in a time of 19:24, and he was followed by Christina Campbell (43rd and 6th in 23:26), Ailsa Berkeley (44th and 7th in 23:35), Josie Ward (52nd and 9th in 24:06), Fiona Bane (57th and 11th in 24:23), Julian Callan (60th in 24:52), Kevin Kenny (63rd in 25:08), Gillian Curran (65th and 14th in 25:14), Louise O’Riordan (83rd and 21st in 26:34), Anna Hernick (100th and 29th in 28:50), Maureen McGinley (119th and 43rd in 30:34), Cynthia Perucca (134th and 54th in 32:13) and Niamh Trihy (148th and 65th in 35:36). Dave Carter took 5th place in Cabinteely in 20:10 where he ran with 140 other participants, whilst, in Naas, in a similar field of 137, John Lohan placed 19th in 21:56, followed by Karl Walsh (23rd in 22:14) and Tara Murphy (48th and 5th in 25:19). We had two runners in Malahide with its field of 285. Hannah Jones placed 48th and 7th in 22:08, whilst Darina Scully placed 66th and 14th in 23:24. Mairead Cashman ran in Ireland’s most unusual parkrun, the Progression parkrun set in the confines of Mountjoy Prison. In a field of 48, Mairead placed 38th and 7th in 30:58, whilst in Bushy Park, the Shine family joined 120 other runners there. Máirín placed 93rd and 26th in 34:31. In the same time one place behind in 94th and 71st came Fiona, with Lisa a little further back (99th and 30th in 35:02). Eoghan Corrigan took 68th spot in a time of 28:43 in Kilcock, with its field of 147, whilst Martina White placed 101st and 33rd in 30:14 in almost the same size field (148) in Porterstown. Finally, it was great to see Kris Ryan recording another parkrun. Our Australian exile ran in Main Beach in Queensland where, in a field of 319, she ran 32;40 for 188th and 56th places. Leinster XC Novices Women’s 4k (68) Overall place Name Guntime 1 Faye Dervan 00:15:22 Crusaders AC runners 12 Kathryn Gibbons 00:17:21 23 Annie Hughes 00:17:54 24 Saoirse McGrath 00:17:55 25 Kim Hickey 00:17:56 28 Rachael Yorke 00:18:02 Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/leinster_nov_jnr__u18_xc_chmps_2023/4691/results Leinster XC Novices Men’s 6k (105) Overall place Name Guntime 1 Michael Murphy 00:20:25 Crusaders AC runners 5 Colm Parnell 00:21:11 24 John Mulvihill 00:23:04 35 Patrick Conlon 00:23:32 46 Ross Neill 00:23:46 67 Alex Ainsworth 00:25:06 Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/leinster_nov_jnr__u18_xc_chmps_2023/4691/results Sandymount Night Run 10k (467) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Mihail Sprincean 1 00:33:49 6 Niamh Chambers 1 00:35:51 Crusaders AC runners 28 Tom Gleeson 00:42:51 XX Daniel O’Mahony 00:45:10 91 Charlotte Rufié 00:49:07 (14) 94 Cría Dowling 00:48:54 (16) 163 Daniel Gleeson 00:53:12 Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/sandymount_night_run_5k__10k_2023/4929/results Clonliffe 2-miler (242) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Cathal Doyle 1 00:08:46 21 Carla Sweeney 1 00:10:34 Crusaders AC runner 73 Philip Matthews 00:13:09 Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/clonliffe_2_mile_2023/4956/results Malahide Parkrun (285) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Matthew Glitz 1 00:17:06 4 Annette Kealy 1 00:18:47 Crusader AC runners 48 Hannah Jones 00:22:08 (7) 66 Darina Scully 00:23:24 (14) Rostrevor Parkrun (28) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 David Walker 1 00:19:40 8 Fiona Collins 1 00:24:56 Crusaders AC runner 8 Fiona Collins 00:24:56 (1) Progression Parkrun (48) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Owen Fletcher 1 00:19:49 10 Emma Finlay 1 00:24:15 Crusaders AC runner 38 Mairead Cashman 00:30:58 (7) Bushy Parkrun (123) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 2 Paul Wilson 1 00:19:52 9 Christine Kinsella 1 00:22:20 Crusaders AC runners 93 Máirín Shine 00:34:31 (26) 94 Fiona Shine 00:34:31 (27) 99 Lisa Shine 00:35:02 (30) Cabinteely Parkrun (141) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Sean Terek 1 00:19:08 7 Robyn Kennedy 1 00:21:05 Crusaders AC runner 5 David Carter 00:20:10 Poolbeg Parkrun (160) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Alexander Simon 1 00:16:59 20 Ava Rose Clarke 1 00:21:13 Crusaders AC runners 3 Michael Wycherley 00:17:45 4 Stephen Hurley 00:17:45 9 Eddie Nugent 00:19:24 43 Christina Campbell 00:23:26 (6) 44 Ailsa Berkeley 00:23:35 (7) 52 Josie Ward 00:24:06 (9) 57 Fiona Bane 00:24:23 (11) 60 Julian Callan 00:24:52 63 Kevin Kenny 00:25:08 65 Gillian Curran 00:25:14 (14) 83 Louise O’Riordan 00:26:34 (21) 100 Anna Hernick 00:28:50 (29) 119 Maureen McGinley 00:30:34 (43) 134 Cynthia Perucca 00:32:13 (54) 148 Niamh Trihy 00:35:36 (65) Mullingar Parkrun (107) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Mark Deacon 1 00:18:41 9 Geraldine Carthy 1 00:21:06 Crusaders AC runner 13 Kate Murray 00:22:14 (2) Shanganagh Parkrun (200) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 James Burke 1 00:17:46 11 Emily Kane 1 00:20:10 Crusaders AC runners 27 Tanja Narancic 00:22:31 (2) 45 Olwyn Dunne 00:23:47 (7) 83 Carina Davidson 00:26:42 (18) Porterstown Parkrun (148) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Kevin Kelly 1 00:19:01 6 Joan O’Callaghan 1 00:21:57 Crusaders AC runner 101 Martina White 00:30:14 (33) Griffeen Parkrun (186) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Michael Gil 1 00:18:00 21 Mary Browne 1 00:22:31 Crusaders AC runner 3 Alby Allan 00:19:07 St. Anne’s Parkrun (376) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Vinnie McGuinness 1 00:17:03 15 Amy Wright 1 00:19:39 Crusaders AC runners 1 Vinnie McGuinness 00:17:03 15 Amy Wright 00:19:39 (1) 140 Sarah Lyons 00:26:06 (28) 266 Rebecca Fleming 00:30:56 (80) 267 Áine Crotty 00:30:56 (81) Naas Parkrun (137) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Peter Tuohy 1 00:16:50 4 Alison Duff 1 00:19:36 Crusaders AC runners 19 John Lohan 00:21:56 23 Karl Walsh 00:22:14 48 Tara Murphy 00:25:19 (5) Royal Canal, Kilcock Parkrun (147) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Tommy Walsh 1 00:18:14 3 Louise Reilly 1 00:19:36 Crusaders AC runner 68 Eoghan Corrigan 00:28:43 |