A really Happy Christmas

27/12/2021

Catherine Thornton (on right)

In principle, this is our last race report of 2021, and, given the year we have had, it is super to be able to end this time with news of several races, and success in them too. Let’s all hope that next year will continue the momentum in terms of an increasing number of races, with ever-increasing fields (including our own Docklands 5k, scheduled for mid-June) as well as success for the club to go with them.

One assumes that anyone racing on Stephen’s Day would have made some sacrifice on Christmas Day in anticipation. But this was not necessarily the case and at least one result was apparently fuelled by wine and Lindt!

The largest and most prestigious race taking place on Stephen’s day was the 19th running of the now iconic Fields of Athenry in Co. Galway with a substantial field of 1049 finishers, taking place in light rain with a southerly breeze that would have refreshed runners on the southbound side of the undulating anticlockwise loop on which the race is run. Having been runner up in 2019 to Hugh Armstrong when a new course record of 29:32 was set, and with the race not having been staged last year, Mick Clohisey proved his worth in winning it this year for the 8th time in 30:45, well ahead of the second placed runner, Jamie Fallon of Craughwell, with the women’s race victory being taken by Sligo’s Aoife Kilgallon in a chiptime PB-equalling 33:48 and a new women’s course record (breaking the 34:41 chiptime set by Breege Connolly in 2019).

We had at least 5 runners in the race, three of them known to be Galway natives, and the stand-out performance came from Galway native Catherine Thornton who, recovering from a recent chest infection, surprised herself not only with a PB time of 37:22 (for 43rd place overall) based on even splits, but also with a place on the podium in 3rd spot, taking several scalps in a quality field (where 16 women crossed the line in under 40 minutes) in the process. Another clubmate and member of the tribe, Aine Kenny, also had a great run with a 50 seconds PB improvement based on a significant negative split with a fine sprint for the line, finishing in 41:04 for 130th overall (18 female finisher and 4th O/40). On the men’s side, the contingent was led home by Brian Hyland, another man entitled to wear the maroon and white, who put in a sterling effort to place 29th in 36:16, followed by Brian O’Kelly who treated the event as a tempo run, finishing in 37th place in 36:36 with negative splits. Brendan Glynn and Gian Piero Allerta were our other clubmates in the race, placing, respectively, 225th and 227th in times of 44:43 and 45:29.

Another road race that took place on Sunday morning was the Inbhear Dee Streets of Wicklow 5k with a field of 278. We had at least two runners in that event: Ollie McGrath and Philip Hamilton, with Ollie finishing in 42nd place in 19:00 and Philip crossing the line in 62nd spot in 20:20. We then have to move to Co. Donegal to record a result for native Kathryn Gibbons who ran in the Finn Valley Boxing Day 5k. In a similarly sized field (284) to that of the Streets of Wicklow, the race was won by John Travers in 14:48, whilst the winner of the women’s race was Eilish Flanagan in 3rd place overall in a time of 17:21, with twin sister Roisin placing 4th in the identical time. Kathryn took 36th place overall, 10th woman home, in 21:15 on a relatively flat single lap course outside Ballybofey.

Also, on the same day, Eddie Nugent took part in the MSD 4-mile road race organised by Clonmel AC. There were 318 runners in the race and despite two years beset by injury have gone by for Eddie since he last set his 4-mile PB there, he recorded a 1 second PB improvement this time round, placing 22nd in a great time of 23:22. Aine Crotty also raced on the Sunday, in the Carrigtwohill GAA-organised 5k run in Co. Cork. Although a full list of results has yet to appear, we are delighted to report that Aine finished in first place in the women’s race in a time of 21:47.

Further afield, spending Christmas at home in her native Albacete in Spain, Esther Requena Ferri ran in two races on Stephen’s Day. In the morning she won her local race in Caudete (a distance of approx. 3.4k) in 14:06, followed in the evening by a third-place finish in Villena in a race that measured approx. 5.75k which she ran in 23:39. It seems that Esther, like Catherine, has not been off the podium in any event she has run in 2021.

Then, on Monday there are at least 4 races on which to report. One in the mountains and 3 on the road. We start with the road, in Navan, where we had two athletes take part in the Rita and Robbie 5k that followed a circuit of country roads and finishing on the track in Claremount Stadium. Ciarain Kelly placed 13th in the race in a time of 16:49, followed by Adrienne Jordan who ran 18:56, placing 41st overall, 4th female finisher and winner of the F40 age category. Down in Wexford, in the municipal district of Gorey-Kilmuckridge, Dee Ni Chearbhaill stopped off, en route to see husband Sean’s family in New Ross, to participate in the Croghan 8k road race with a field of 57 runners. On a hilly one lap course, Dee ran 35:54 for 19th place overall and 4th woman home. During the afternoon, David McEvoy and Aine Crotty took part in the Togher AC 5k. In a race with just shy of 500 participants, David ran 19:52 for 98 spot, whilst Aine came home in 20:44 for 125th place overall, 25th female finisher. The race was won overall by Eimhin O'Broin in 14:27 and by Michelle Finn in 16:05, both sharing the spoils for the second time together in December (repeating the feat of Newmarket just before Christmas).

Also, on that day, IMRA staged the Djouce Remembrance run, a distance of some 8k on relatively easy terrain with a climb of 120m, in memory of those members who in recent times have passed away. There were 119 participants in the race including Warren Swords, Ollie McGrath and Emily Glen. Despite wearing a heavy onesie for the occasion, Warren ran a creditable 32:42 to place 9th overall and 4th M40, whilst Ollie won his M45 age category by placing 13th in a time of 34:12. For some reason, Emily wasn't given an official finishing time or position, but she ran 44:15 for the distance.

Earlier last week, to celebrate our last session of the year on Irishtown track, Mike McGovern and Susan Walsh, along with helpers, had organised the usual “blind” 3k time trial for members of the club. Because of the level of interest, two events took place on Tuesday evening in relatively calm but chilly conditions. The events involved each athlete predicting his or her time and then foregoing the use of a watch to help achieve it! It was funny, but at least one of us pressed an invisible button on his wrist automatically at the start and finish, he’s so used to wearing a Garmin. 53 Crusaders took to the track on the night, with some super times, but the winners were the athletes whose results were the closest to their predicted times. We say “winners” because in fact there were two who were 100% accurate: John Fahy who ran 10:45 leading home the field in the first event, and Aaron Cashman who ran 9:50 just behind our fastest runner on the night, Michael Kiely, who ran 9:22 (7 seconds adrift of his prediction). Honourable mentions should go to Dee Lawlor, who was 2 seconds off his predicted time of 11:00, and Kevin Fitzgibbon and Peter O’Toole who were both 4 seconds out (Kevin ran 10:04 instead of 10:00, whilst Peter ran 9:51, having predicted 9:55). Also, we should note that the two fastest women on the night both recorded PBs. Kathryn Sweeney surprised herself by running 11:35 (having predicted 11:45), whilst Aoife Quigley, who stuck to Kathryn for much of the time trial, ran 11:38, having predicted 11:59.

Finally, although many Crusaders no doubt took to running the Goal mile on Christmas Day, there were also some parkruns taking place on Christmas morning, a great way to build up an appetite for the day ahead. Several of us were in the UK for the Christmas break and took advantage of those on offer, all events starting half an hour earlier than in Ireland. Michael Wycherley ran along with 231 other participants in Bognor Regis, where he placed 11th in 20:38, whilst in Aylesbury, local girl Sarah Lyons placed 24th and 3rd, in a field of 216, in 21:46, just behind fiancé Phelim Murray who placed 23rd in 21:40. James Cottle ran with 373 other participants in Finsbury Park in north London on a hilly course in blustery conditions where he placed 37th overall in 21:11, whilst, further afield, in Australia, Kris Ryan ran in Coomera in Queensland where she placed 36th and 7th in a field of 101 parkrunners.

Closer to home, just a few parkruns seemed to be on offer on the day. Our largest contingent headed to Porterstown where, in a field of 97 participants, they were led home by Frank Hague in 4th place in a time of 18:28. Frank was followed home by Paul F. Kelly (28th in 24:13), wife Aoife (53rd and 12th in 26:46), Emer Kenny (76th and 27th in 31:42), Lisa Shine (77th and 28th in 32:09), Anna Shine (79th and 30th in 32:33) and Fiona Shine (80th and 31st in 32:38). Brian Scanlan and Deirdre Kennedy ran in Malahide, where Brian placed 32nd in a field of 217 and a time of 21:26, and Deirdre ran 28:54 for 154th and 32nd places. In Pobalscoil Na Trionoide in Waterford, Tomas Mahoney ran 21:25 for 10th place along with 59 other runners, whilst Mairead Cashman took on Glen River, where, in a field of 56, she placed 37th and 9th in 29:44. Finally, Maureen McGinley ran in a field of 240 in Marlay Park, where she placed 162nd and 43rd in 28:30.

Well done everyone!

As usual, if there are any missed or inaccurately recorded results, please let us know so that the report can be updated or otherwise amended.

Fields of Athenry 10k (1049)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Mick Clohisey 1 00:30:45
18 Aoife Kilgallon 1 00:33:48
Crusaders AC runners
29 Brian Hyland 00:36:16
37 Brian O’Kelly 00:36:36
43 Catherine Thornton 00:37:22 (PB) (3)
130 Aine Kenny 00:41:04 (PB) (18)
225 Brendan Glynn 00:44:43
257 Gian Piero Allerta 00:45:29
Full results here: http://redtagtiming.com/results/FoA2021.html
Finn Valley Boxing Day 5k (284)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 John Travers 1 00:14:48
3 Eilish Flanagan 1 00:17:21
Crusaders AC runner
36 Kathryn Gibbons 00:21:15 (10)
Full results here: https://www.donegallive.ie/news/donegal-sport/711235/travers-leads-the-way-flanagans-inseparable-results-from-finn-valley-ac-5k.html
Inbhear Dee Streets of Wicklow 5k (278)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Tudor Moldovan 1 00:15:28
16 Sheila O’Byrne 1 00:17:19
Crusaders AC runners
42 Ollie McGrath 00:19:00
62 Philip Hamilton 00:20:20
Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/inbhear_dee_streets_of_wicklow_5k/4253/results
MSD 4 mile race (318)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Shay McEvoy 1 00:18:44
16 Dymphna Ryan 1 00:21:56
Crusaders AC runner22 Eddie Nugent 00:23:22 (PB)
Full results here: https://www.premiertimingsystems.ie/2021-Race-Results/MSD-4-Mile-Race-Results
Croghan 8k (57)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 David Mahon 1 00:25:57
7 Sheila O’Byrne 1 00:29:38
Crusaders AC runner
19 Dee Ni Chearbhaill 00:35:54 (4)
Full results here: https://www.justrunsevents.com/the-croghan-chase-8k-results.php
Rita and Robbie 5k (289)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Thomas Moran 1 00:14:46
23 Ava Costello 1 00:17:37
Crusaders AC runners
13 Ciarain Kelly 00:16:49
41 Adrienne Jordan 00:18:56 (4)
Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/rita__robbie_christmas_5k/4205/results
Djouce Remembrance Run 8k (IMRA) (119)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Conor Brown 1 00:30:19
19 Niamh Murphy 1 00:35:25
Crusaders AC runners
9 Warren Swords 00:32:42
13 Ollie McGrath 00:34:12
Full results here: https://www.imra.ie/events/results/id/2089/category/O/
Togher AC 5k (495)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Eimhin O’Broin 1 00:14:27
8 Michelle Finn 1 00:16:05
Crusaders AC runners
98 David McEvoy 00:19:52
125 Aine Crotty 00:20:44 (25)
Full results here: https://www.corkathletics.org/latest-results/2021/407-december/2404-togher-ac-5k-road-race-results-2021.html
Malahide Parkrun (217)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 David Rooney 1 00:16:46
3 Iseult O’Donnell 1 00:17:34
Crusaders AC runners
32 Brian Scanlan 00:21:26
154 Deirdre Kennedy 00:28:54 (32)
Glen River Parkrun (56)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Alan Smith 1 00:19:49
7 Irene Eighan 1 00:21:42
Crusaders AC runner
37 Mairead Cashman 00:29:44 (9)
Porterstown Parkrun (92)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Thomas Sherlock 1 00:16:56
17 Joan O’Callaghan 1 00:23:25
Crusaders AC runners
4 Frank Hague 00:18:28
28 Paul F. Kelly 00:24:13
53 Aoife Kelly 00:26:46 (12)
76 Emer Kenny 00:31:42 (27)
77 Lisa Shine 00:32:09 (28)
79 Anna Shine 00:32:33 (30)
80 Fiona Shine 00:32:38 (31)
Pobalscoil na Trionoide Parkrun (60)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Keith Kelly 1 00:17:15
4 Christine Parsons 1 00:20:23
Crusaders AC runner
10 Tomas Mahony 00:21:25
Marlay Parkrun (240)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Emmet Jennings 1 00:16:22
27 Sophie Hartley-Green 1 00:20:47
Crusaders AC runner
162 Maureen McGinley 00:28:30 (43)