A Close Shave

7/11/2016

Caroline Crowley, Irene Gorman and Ilona McElroy

Were we second or were we third? That was the big question on Crusaders’ lips at the finish of the Women’s Dublin Seniors XC race in Santry on Sunday afternoon. We knew that Donore would pack the race in an effort to win for their club the first presentation of a new trophy named in honour of the late Jim McNamara. Cleary DSD were winners of the gold medal this year (denying Cru women a “threepeat” of the title in the process) with their 4 scorers (4,5,7 and 10) among the first 10 finishers, but Barbara Cleary’s amazing run to place 3rd behind Ciara Mageean and Caroline Crowley threw some doubt as to whether we had taken the silver medal. In the final analysis we held on to win by 7 points (39 to 46), 13 points behind DSD (26). Orla Drumm’s super run to take her from 8th to 6th and, likewise with strong runs, Ilona McElroy (15th) and Irene Gorman (16th) splitting the 3rd and 4th scorers for Donore, was enough. Niamh Boland (27th) and Mary Horgan (32nd) had runs that added to the excitement and anticipation too. There was plenty for us on the sidelines to enjoy in the spectacle.

The day was windy, although it did not seem to trouble the runners too much as the demesne appears to be quite well protected in that respect. The course was undulating on one side with a slight climb about 1000m into a 1,500m loop, which the 50 women in the event had to negotiate 4 times in their 6k race. There was virtually no mud on the course, which if there had been might arguably have changed the outcome of the race, as Caroline, who took second place after running for most of the race side by side with Ciara, is extremely strong in muddy conditions, as witnessed by her sterling performance last November in the interclubs. However, Ciara’s track speed paid off for her on Sunday.

In stark contrast to the women’s event, the 57-strong 10k men’s race was dominated by Raheny, with an impressive showing from 3 of their athletes, with podium finishes, led by Olympian Mick Clohisey who won by a country mile. Indeed, all 6 of their scorers (46 points in total) placed in the top 20 finishers. Along with 2 runners from Donore (2nd with 110 points), including John Travers, who had to settle for 5th place in the end, they lapped many in the field. Still, our men acquitted themselves well in such a quality race and our 6 scorers placed 6th team overall (177) (only just behind Clonliffe (163) and well ahead of Liffey Valley (257) in 7th).

Alban Coghlan managed to pull away from Rob Cross towards the end of the race and take 21st place. Rob, sprinting for the line as though his life depended on it, took 25th spot and he was followed by Vinnie McGuinness running equally as strongly to take 29th. The order for our remaining runners was Ciaran Diviney (32nd), enjoying a decent blowout before his trip to Perth in Scotland next week to represent Ireland in the masters 5 nations tournament. Ciaran was followed by Michael Kiely (33rd), who was in turn followed by John Mulvihill (37th), Michael O’Conor (40th) and Jim Stagg (43rd).

On Saturday morning Yvonne Macauley was joined by other members of her family to run in the Movember 10k in the Phoenix Park. We had two Crusaders running among the 563 contestants, Yvonne and Brian O’Kelly, and both won their respective races. The course involved two 5k loops in the north of the park, incorporating the usual Furze Road, Chesterfield Ave, the Furry Glen and part of the Upper Glen Road, so it was by no means flat. The course may have measured slightly long and, in addition, backmarkers from the 5k that started a few minutes before the 10k event combined to force the 10k leaders to weave quite a bit. It was surprising, therefore, that our two runners turned in such excellent times. Brian ran 33:54 and Yvonne placed 9th overall to win the women’s race in 38:51, despite both slowing down a little in the second half.

The first Sunday in November sees the running of the New York City marathon, always an incredible spectacle, and Sunday’s running of it, its 47th edition since the first one in 1970, was no exception. 50,000 runners took to the street in bright sunshine and relatively mild temperatures with a little breeze. The race saw its youngest winner at 20, the Eritrean world champion Ghirmay Ghebreslassie, in a time of 2:07:51, with 3 times winner of the women’s race, Mary Keitany also winning easily in 2::24. It’s a challenging race as there are many bridges to cross as the runners pass through the 5 boroughs of New York, from Staten Island, ultimately finishing in Manhattan’s hilly Central Park. Our 5 participants acquitted themselves well, with two of them achieving PBs. Federico Corradini, our Milan-based Italian exile, led our runners home, placing 586th overall in 2:56:19 and running level splits. Federico was followed by the two PB-recording runners, TJ Bourke who achieved 2:59:04 (804th place), also running evenly throughout the race and by Joe McDermott, who was on for a sub-3 hours’ time early on, but found the going tough in the second half. Still, Joe was able to record a significant PB of 3:05:51 (1,277th place). Jane Wallace was a few minutes off last year’s Dublin marathon time, but ran well to place 5,184th overall (847th woman home) in a time of 3:33:27. Finally, Bob Manson in his 50th marathon had a leisurely run, for him, to finish in 3:56:28 (11,712th place).

After last week’s marathon adventure, Maria Pertl and Diarmuid Byrne took advantage of a business trip and a well-earned break in Denmark to run in the Amager Faelled parkrun in Copenhagen. In a field of 64 participants, they came in side by side in 23rd and 24th places (Maria placing 4th woman home) in respective times of 25:01 and 25:02. Meanwhile, in New Ross, Dee Ni Chearbhaill, placed first woman finisher in a time of 22:12 and 5th overall in a field of nearly 50 runners. Niall O’Connell also put in a good time in Ballincollig, despite suffering a bit in the second half. Niall placed 9th out more than 300 runners in a time of 19:32. He was joined in the event by Lisa Shine who came home in 70th place (9th female finisher) in a time of 24:15. Donal Foley took on Hartstown. In a field of 42 participants Donal ran an excellent time of 21:42 to place 8th. On a day when numbers in the parkruns were well and truly up again (a nice crisp but chilly morning), Neil Brown and Mary Noelle Rohan joined the nearly 500-strong field in Marlay Park. Neil placed 119th in 23:54 and Mary placed 386th (100th woman) in 30:51. There were 256 runners in Malahide on the day and Darina Scully placed 36th overall, 5th woman home, in another sparkling time of 21:06, knocking 10 seconds off her recent 5k PB. Suzanne Collins also ran, placing 21st overall (66th woman) in 30:47. In Glasgow, Aidan Hudner placed 70th out of 334 runners in a time of 22:22. Olwyn Dunne and Suzanne Martin took on their home parkrun in Cabinteely. Suzanne, nursing an Achilles issue, was still able to place 13th overall (3rd woman home) in a time of 22:45, whilst Olwyn, recovering from her pacing duties in last week’s marathon, ran a sedate (for her) 29:37 to place 60th overall (19th female finisher). The field measured nearly 90 participants. Finally, in St. Anne’s, among more than 300 runners, Fiona Shine came home in 85th place (13th woman) in a time of 22:55.

Dublin Seniors Women’s XC
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Ciara Mageean 1 00:19:32
Crusaders AC runners
2 Caroline Crowley 00:19:41
6 Orla Drumm 00:20:40
15 Ilona McElroy 00:21:45
16 Irene Gorman 00:21:48
27 Niamh Boland 00:22:25
32 Mary Horgan 00:23:07
Full results here: http://www.dublinathletics.com/
Dublin Seniors Men’s XC
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Mick Clohisey 1 00:28:47
Crusaders AC runners
21 Alban Coghlan 00:32:21
25 Rob Cross 00:32:35
29 Vinnie McGuinness 00:32:56
32 Ciaran Diviney 00:33:08
33 Michael Kiely 00:33:12
37 John Mulvihill 00:33:42
40 Michael O’Conor 00:34:12
43 Jim Stagg 00:34:51
Full results here: http://www.dublinathletics.com/
Movember Run 10K
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Brian O’Kelly 1 00:33:54
9 Yvonne Macauley 1 00:38:51
Crusaders AC runners
1 Brian O’Kelly 00:33:54
9 Yvonne Macauley 00:38:51
Full results here: https://www.mo-running.com/dublin/results
New York Marathon
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Ghirmay Ghebreslassie 1 02:07:51
24 Mary Keitany 1 02:24:26
Crusaders AC runners
586 Federico Corradini 02:56:19
804 TJ Bourke 02:59:04 (PB)
1277 Joe McDermott 03:05:51 (PB)
5184 Jane Wallace 03:33:27
11712 Bob Manson 03:56:28
Full results here: http://web2.nyrrc.org/cgi-bin/htmlos.cgi/07284.1.025912598210810185
Malahide Parkrun #209
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Kevin Thompson 1 00:17:11
4 Isabel Carron 1 00:18:47
Crusaders AC runners
36 Darina Scully 00:21:06 (PB)
221 Suzanne Collins 00:30:47
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/malahide/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=209
Hartstown Parkrun #104
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Jonathan Martin 1 00:19:48
14 Michele McNamee 1 00:24:38
Crusaders AC runner
8 Donal Foley 00:21:42
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/hartstown/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=104
Marlay Parkrun #182
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Arnaud Malinconi 1 00:17:27
22 Paula Prendergast 1 00:19:59
Crusaders AC runners
119 Neil Brown 00:23:54
386 Mary Noelle Rohan 00:30:51
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/marlay/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=182
Cabinteely Parkrun #84
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Matt Coughlan 1 00:19:36
6 Malika Hammani 1 00:20:56
Crusaders AC runners
13 Suzanne Martin 00:22:45
60 Olwyn Dunne 00:29:37
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/cabinteely/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=82
New Ross Parkrun #76
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Brendan Lyng 1 00:19:13
5 Dee Ni Chearbhaill 1 00:22:12
Crusaders AC runner
5 Dee Ni Chearbhaill 00:22:12
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/newross/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=76
Ballincollig Parkrun #21
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Conor Dolan 1 00:17:05
21 Geraldine O’Shea 1 00:20:54
Crusaders AC runners
9 Niall O’Connell 00:19:32
70 Lisa Shine 00:24:15
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/ballincollig/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=21
St Anne’s Parkrun #155
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Peter Leonard 1 00:17:29
23 Caitriona Costello 1 00:20:18
Crusaders AC runner
85 Fiona Shine 00:22:54
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/stannes/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=155