Back to the Future

21/6/2026

L-R: Lucas Huchard, Dee Ni Chearbhaill, Mikel Crisostomo and TJ Bourke

It was such fun in Tullamore on Saturday as Crusaders made a super return to the club league outdoor track and field competition. Saturday marked the preliminary round, with the final to take place in the Morton Stadium on Sunday 9 August, with everyone encouraged either to come and participate or to support.

There is little that is elitist or especially intimidating about the competition, although total novices in a particular event can find themselves competing alongside national and even better standard athletes at times, but it’s also about participating and getting points. As long as you don’t get disqualified then you will score for the club, and you may be surprised, as several found in Tullamore, how many points can be amassed by such novices who took on multiple events.

The competition is divided into club and county teams and we were competing against 15 other clubs, the top 8 places proceeding to the Premier League final in Santry, whilst the bottom 8 would contest the First Division final. The counties were similarly divided up. No athlete can compete in more than 3 events, excluding the relays, and the 3 events can be two track and one field, or two field events and one track. We had several of our 12 men and 9 women multi-tasking on Saturday in order to cover as many of the 20 or so events on offer. The team scores would ultimately be based on the best 16 of the events in which you compete.

So, 17 plucky athletes made the 90 minutes trip to Tullamore, and it was a most enjoyable experience for those of us watching them compete. The sun shone in Tullamore and so did the club!

For the men’s team, the day started really brightly, for, although we had no one in the hammer which started the event rolling, we did have a strong representative in Sean Owens in the 110m hurdles who won his heat by a country mile and on an aggregated time won the event overall, having the lowest time of 14.76 in the 2 heats. In parallel, aspiring decathlete, Alfie Casey, took on the pole vault for the first time, placing 7th overall with a vault of 2m. Next came the 1500m walk and Joe Murphy stepped forward placing 3rd in 9:05.41, having had limited experience but enough not to get disqualified! Joe also took on the 400mH, placing 10th in 73.66 and then, for good measure, the javelin, finishing in 12th place with the 3rd of his 4 throws of 26.33m. He was not done, as he also joined Eoin Carroll, Lucas Ryan and Jack Byrne, running the second leg of the men’s 4 x 400m relay where the team placed 9th overall in 3:37.62.

Eoin, Harry Alexander, Cillian Traynor and Sean had fun taking on the 4 x 100m relay, placing 9th in 46.17. Colm Parnell ran in the 1500m, finishing in 11th spot in 4:09.60, whilst Jack ran in the first heat of the 400m, where he placed 5th in a PB time of 51.38, and 9th overall, whilst Alex Ainsworth made his debut in the men’s 3,000m steeplechase and with aplomb taking 5th spot in an impressive 10:40.59. Eoin ran in the 200m, placing 13th overall after coming home in 5th place in his heat in 24.79, whilst Lucas Ryan ran in the 800m and, in his heat, placing 4th (7th overall) in 1:56.24. Jens Seggewiss ran a steady 17:24.59 for 10th place in the 5000m, whilst Alfie stepped in to run the 100m, taking 13th spot overall (6th in his heat) in 12.10.

Like several others, Cillian was multi-eventing, joining the field in the long jump where he placed 11th with a leap of 4.23m, whilst Alfie participated in his 2nd field event of the day, placing 3rd by overcoming a height of 1.8m, a PB for him in that event. Antonio Santana Otero was another winner on the day. This time it was the shot put and his first put of 17.49m being so far ahead of the field, he felt it disrespectful to continue and was duly the winner of that event. He then took on the discus, a relatively novel experience for him, but he still managed a throw of 35.32m (his 2nd of 4) for 3rd place. Finally, Harry placed 3rd with a leap of 11.63 (his last of 4) in the triple jump. When the smoke had cleared our 184 points were enough to put us in 5th place and meant that we would contest the final of the Premier Division, and everything would be reset, no points being carried over.

The women were back participating in the League after a longer hiatus than the men and with 9 athletes it was harder to compete in as many events as the men, meaning several were not contested. As a consequence, the team placed 11th with 121.5 points, an outstanding result given that the team only participated in 16 events. Hopefully, we can get more athletes out and this can be rectified in the final, where the team will participate in the first division.

Again, as with the men, there was much multi-tasking. The surprise of the day was brand new member, Julia Poradowski, who, having undertaken a decidedly short practice on Thursday in Irishtown stadium, and with limited experience of the event, took on the pole vault, clearing 3 heights (and like Alfie using one of the poles recently donated to the club) and placing 5th in the event, her final vault being 2.15m. It’s super to have the possibility of developing at least two pole vaulters in the club after a gap of at least 10 years. Julia then gamely volunteered to fill the gap in the 3,000m, where she placed 10th in 15:09.72.

Unlike the men, we did have the hammer covered in the women’s team, with Karen Conway placing 3rd with the last of her 4 throws and a distance of 26.97m. Karen went on to compete in the discus and with her first throw (of 4) of 22.32m, she managed to place 4th. Caroline Crowley placed 10th in the 1500m with a time of 5:03.85, whilst Sarah Lyons placed 5th in 2:18.27 in the 800m. Maria Cornado joined the field in the 400m, placing 4th in her heat in 71.80, following that with the weight for distance, where she placed 9th with a throw of 2.5m and capping the day by running in the 4 x 100m relay, where, alongside Elif Eksin, Ada Skrobol and Juliette O’Connor, she contributed to a time of 56.33 for 8th place.

Ada went on to do the high jump, where she placed 8th with a leap of 1.35m, and also the 200m, taking 4th spot in her heat 28.39. Juliette took part in the triple jump, placing 9th with her first leap of two (8.66m), having earlier competed in the long jump where she placed 13th with her 2nd jump (of 4) of 4.19m. Elif ran in the 100m, placing 6th in her heat with 14.61. Finally, Caoilinn Doorley threw the javelin 9.63m (her 3rd of 4 attempts) for 10th place.

Irishtown Stadium hosted a track and field meet on Thursday evening. Men’s vice-captain Charlie Bastow put the event, the Crusaders Summer Meet, together and it went smoothly with some excellent results.

Jade Murphy made her debut in the 400m, placing 3rd in 68.36, followed by Maria in 4th spot with 72.95, marginally slower than her run in the League. Hugo Kirkham placed 4th in the 100m in 12.44, followed by Robert Cervi (5th in 12.97), whilst, in the men’s 400m, Jack ran a PB at the time of 51.41 (improving to 51.38 in the League two days later), with Eoin taking 3rd spot in 54.78. The men’s mile attracted a reasonable field including 5 Crusaders. They were led home by Gerry Cooper (4th in 5:14.66, followed by Cillian (5th in 5:20.57), Phelim Murray (6th in 5:44.72), Myles Nolan (8th in 6:38.61) and Paul E. Kelly (9:05:00). All, but Paul, were running their first proper mile race on the track. Finally, in the field Harry and Robert competed in the long jump with Harry outjumping Robert with his 2nd of 4 leaps (5.44m) to Robert’s 5.09m (his 2nd jump).

Road racing started on Wednesday evening, down in Cork, with the Cork BHAA’s Apple Sport and Social 5k. It attracted a field of 327, among them Ronan Moynihan, who placed 185th in 25:53. Then, on Friday evening we had two runners in the Boyne 5k with a field of 600 runners. Kevin Fitzgibbon placed 5th overall and 1st M40 in 16:25, followed by Sean Brady (148th in 22:20).

On Saturday morning Louise O’Riordan participated in the Cork version of the 5k Grocers Fun Run. In a field of 164, Louise placed 9th and 2nd in 21:27.

Then, on a balmy Saturday evening we had a smaller contingent than in the past head to Dunshaughlin for the iconic 10k there, one of the events in the Peugeot Series of races. Nevertheless, we had reason to cheer as our ladies team came home with first prize in the team competition. The contingent was led home by Kathryn Gibbons who recorded a PB with her time of 38:47 for 158th overall in a field of 1113 finishers and 8th female finisher) and Kathryn was followed by Ollie McGrath (201st in 39:41), Ciara Regan (232nd and 17th in 40:35), Mags Foley (263rd and 22nd in 41:21) and Aoife Quigley (317th and 30th in 43:01) who experienced a couple of interruptions in her run, including a shoe-lace malfunction.

The sun continued to shine on Sunday for the running of the 5-mile national road championships incorporated as usual in the Irish Runner 5-mile race on a tough course in the Phoenix Park. We had at least 16 Crusaders in the field of 1505, including Mikel Crisostomo who placed 59th in an excellent 29:00. Unfortunately, Mikel (along with a few others) had not declared for the National Championships, so his time was not recorded for the team score. A man who enjoys running in warm conditions, TJ Bourke, was next (75th in 29:41) and he was followed by Lucas Huchard (148th in 32:09) and by Isabella Gyori (174th and 16th in 32:30) just ahead of Felipe De Sousa (175th in 32:32). Michael Fitzsimons followed (266th in 34:38), with Sharon Woods following further back (371st and 76th in 36:58) and Dee Ni Chearbhaill (390th and 83rd in 37:35). Just behind Dee came Niall O’Connell (409th in 38:23), followed by Kevin Kenny (670th in 43:35), Mauro Verrocchio (709th in 42:12), Djinn Von Noorden (841st and 202nd in 45:06), Evelyn Neary (920th and 233rd in 47:14), Anousheh Alamir (1052nd and 297th in 47:10), having started further back, Heather Sander (1168th and 366th in 50:52) and Darren Kelly (1298th in 53:30). The men’s senior team placed 16th, whilst the women’s team placed 10th.

Finally, on Sunday, brilliant news from the Déise in the Waterford Viking marathon, where Molly Hyland, after failing to finish recently in Cork, went all out to finish this time and actually won the women's race in a super PB time of 3:01:54, placing 15th overall in a field of 715. It was a huge confidence builder and hopefully has prepared the ground for a sub-3-hour finish next time out. Brian Canny ran 46:20 in the 1480-strong field for the Quarter marathon there, placing 84th overall.

Further afield, one of our Spanish exiles, Laura Garcia, ran in the half marathon de San Fermin in Pamplona on Sunday morning, completing the distance in 97:51.

In the mountains this week, there was an 11k around Ballinastoe Forest near Roundwood in Co. Wicklow midweek, with a climb of over 500m. Gavan Doherty was our lone competitor in the field of 52, placing 50th in 71:56.

There were several first finishers among our parkrunners this week. Gill Earley ran alongside 140 other participants on Wexford Racecourse where she placed 5th and 1st in 21:37, whilst in Mountbellew Forest, Áine Kenny placed 2nd overall and 1st female finisher in 22:03 in a field of 46. Mary Donnelly was another first finisher in Bushy Park, where she placed 27th overall in a field of 316 and in a time of 22:37. Mary was followed by Paula Nolan (72nd and 13th in 25:31) and preceded by Kev Moore (8th in 20:23). Meanwhile, Rob Cross led the field of 178 home in Tramore, Waterford, where he ran 17:48, followed by Fiona Bane (39th and 7th in 24:23), whilst Dee Lawlor also headed the field in Shanganagh. Among 319 other runners he ran 17:19, followed by Órlaith de Burca (170th and 48th in 28:53), whilst, in Poolbeg Kenan Furlong was matching the feat, crossing the line ahead of a field of 267, in a time of 17:36.

Kenan was followed by at least 23 other club members, including Stephen Hurley (2nd in 17:41), Jan Manschot (5th in 18:13) and John Healy (15th in 20:20). Further back came Zlatko Kulic (28th in 22:07) and he was followed by Daniel Littlewood (30th in 22:19), Aaron Farrell (32nd in 22:21), Mark McGovern (52nd in 23:31) just ahead of Kevin Lambe (53rd in 23:37). Next to cross the line was Ashley Hayes (62nd in 24:04) and he was followed by Sharon Woods (71st and 11th in 24:31). Behind Sharon came Josie Ward (89th and 18th in 25:38) and she was followed further back by Emily Glen (106th and 24th in 26:49) alongside Franky Keane (107th in 26:50) and Kabir Sala, running his 100th parkrun (109th in 26:53). Luz Estevan was next (118th and 30th in 27:07) and she was followed by Lisa Branigan (137th and 39th in 28:00), Laura O’Malley (145th and 46th in 28:21), Iseult Ni Chuinneagain (147th and 48th in 28:27), Kevin Kenny (170th in 30:00), Michelle English (174th and 63rd in 30:09), Mari Hansen (193rd and 74th in 31:20), Anousheh Alamir (214th and 89th in 32:43) and Cynthia Perucca (223rd and 95th in 33:04).

Daniel Lowe placed 5th in the 150-strog field in Tymon Park in a time of 18:57, whilst Emer Kenny ran 27:37 for 71st and 16th spots in the field of 155 in Father Collins Park. Meanwhile, Myles Nolan and Kate Murray ran with the other 117 participants in Brickfields, with Myles placing 24th in 24:01 and Kate placing 41st and 11th in 26:02, whilst, in Glen River, Lorraine McMahon and Mairead Cashman celebrated Mairead’s 350th parkrun. In a field of 63, Lorraine placed 35th and 8th in 29:59, with Mairead finishing in 31:56 for 42nd and 15th spots.

Aitor Arribas Velasco placed 17th in 24:49 alongside 58 other runners in Clonakilty, whilst, in Donabate, Brendan Glynn ran 22:57 for 22nd place. The field there measured 208. Finally, Darina Scully ran in the 339-strong field in Malahide where she placed 219th and 69th in 29:01, whilst Ross Neill headed to Belvoir Forest in the UK, placing 70th in 34:12 in a field of 76, Barry O’Neill ran in East Bay Garden in Singapore placing 73rd in 38:34 in a field of 85 and once again Kris Ryan, one of our Australian exiles, ran in Paradise Point, placing 97th and 28th in 25:43 in a field of 348.

Cork BHAA Apple S&S 5k race (106)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Nathan O’Leary 1 00:15:47
10 Michelle Kenny 1 00:18:01
Crusaders AC runner
185 Ronan Moynihan 00:25:53
Full results here: https://www.corkbhaa.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Apple-5k-Results-Jun-16-2026.pdf
Irish Runner (National Championships) 5-mile (1505)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Jake O’Regan 1 00:24:26
24 Heather Murphy 1 00:27:24
Crusaders AC runners
59 Mikel Crisostomo 00:29:00
75 TJ Bourke 00:29:41
148 Lucas Huchard 00:32:09
172 Felipe De Sousa 00:32:32
174 Isabella Gyori 00:32:30 (16)
266 Michael Fitzsimons 00:34:38
371 Sharon Woods 00:36:58 (76)
390 Deirdre Ni Chearbhaill 00:37:35 (83)
409 Niall O’Connell 00:38:23
670 Kevin Kenny 00:43:35
709 Mauro Verrocchio 00:42:12
841 Djinn Von Noorden 00:45:06 (202)
920 Evelyn Neary 00:47:14 (233)
1052 Anousheh Alamir 00:47:10 (297)
1168 Heather Sander 00:50:52 (366)
1298 Darren Kelly 00:53:30
Full results here: https://myrunresults.com/events/irish_runner_5m_challenge_2026/6111/results?class=5%20mile&perPage=100
Dunshaughlin Michael Manning Memorial 10k (1113)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Sean Tobin 1 00:29:08
20 Sorcha Nic Dhomhnaill 1 00:32:50
Crusaders AC runners
158 Kathryn Gibbons 00:38:47 (PB) (8)
201 Ollie McGrath 00:39:41
232 Ciara Regan 00:40:35 (17)
263 Margaret Foley 00:41:21 (22)
317 Aoife Quigley 00:43:01 (30)
Full results here: https://www.popupraces.ie/race/michael-manning-memorial-dunshaughlin-10k-2026/
Cork Grocers Fun Run 5k (164)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Shane Healy 1 00:17:04
7 Maura O’Dea 1 00:21:14
Crusaders AC runner
9 Louise O’Riordan 00:21:27 (2)
Full results here: https://www.popupraces.ie/race/grocers-fun-run-cork-2026/
Boyne 5k (600)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Istvan Szogi 1 00:14:49
22 Alex Murphy 1 00:18:01
Crusaders AC runners
5 Kevin Fitzgibbon 00:16:25
148 Sean Brady 00:22:20
Full results here: https://myrunresults.com/events/boyne_5k_2026/5877/results
Waterford Viking Marathon (715)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Michael Brady 1 02:24:15
15 Molly Hyland 1 03:01:54
Crusaders AC runner
15 Molly Hyland 03:01:54 (1)
Full results here: https://my.raceresult.com/402206/
Waterford Viking Quarter Marathon (1480)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Fergal Campbell 1 00:33:16
38 Carol Molloy 1 00:42:33
Crusaders AC runner
84 Brian Canny 00:46:20
Full results here: https://my.raceresult.com/402206/
IMRA Ballinastoe 11k (52)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Killian Mooney 1 00:51:53
24 Anna-May Woods 1 01:04:16
Crusaders AC runner
50 Gavan Doherty 01:11:56
Full results here: https://www.imra.ie/events/results?id=2846
Tymon Parkrun (150)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Christopher Hamilton 1 00:17:43
11 Grainne Black 1 00:20:43
Crusaders AC runner
5 Daniel Lowe 00:18:57
Wexford Racecourse Parkrun (141)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Anthony Dowd 1 00:18:34
5 Gillian Earley 1 00:21:37
Crusaders AC runner
5 Gillian Earley 00:21:37 (1)
Father Collins Parkrun (155)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Ben Robinson 1 00:18:36
7 Ella Woods 1 00:20:11
Crusaders AC runner
71 Emer Kenny 00:27:37 (16)
Shanganagh Parkrun (320)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Derek Lawlor 1 00:17:19
10 Ciara McGuirk 1 00:19:26
Crusaders AC runners
1 Derek Lawlor 00:17:19
170 Órlaith de Burca 00:28:53 (48)
Malahide Parkrun (339)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Niall Baragwanath 1 00:16:56
13 Jen Preston 1 00:19:35
Crusaders AC runner
219 Darina Scully 00:29:01 (69)
Poolbeg Parkrun (267)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Kenan Furlong 1 00:17:36
25 Terse Doherty 1 00:21:58
Crusaders AC runners
1 Kenan Furlong 00:17:36
2 Stephen Hurley 00:17:41
5 Jan Manschot 00:18:13
15 John Healy 00:20:20
28 Zlatko Kulic 00:22:07
30 Daniel Littlewood 00:22:19
32 Aaron Farrell 00:22:21
52 Mark McGovern 00:23:31
53 Kevin Lambe 00:23:37
62 Ashley Hayes 00:24:04
71 Sharon Woods 00:24:31 (11)
89 Josie Ward 00:25:38 (18)
106 Emily Glen 00:26:49 (24)
107 Franky Keane 00:26:50
109 Kabir Sala 00:26:53
118 Luz Estevan 00:27:07 (30)
137 Lisa Branigan 00:28:00 (39)
145 Laura O’Malley 00:28:21 (46)
147 Iseult Ni Chuinneagain 00:28:27 (48)
170 Kevin Kenny 00:30:00
174 Michelle English 00:30:09 (63)
193 Mari Hansen 00:31:20 (74)
214 Anousheh Alamir 00:32:43 (89)
223 Cynthia Perucca 00:33:04 (95)
Mountbellew Forest Parkrun (46)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Niall Cunningham 1 00:21:35
2 Áine Kenny 1 00:22:03
Crusaders AC runner
2 Áine Kenny 00:22:03 (1)
Brickfields Parkrun (119)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Brad Wilde 1 00:17:59
20 Sheelagh Doyle 1 00:23:39
Crusaders AC runners
24 Myles Nolan 00:24:01
41 Kate Murray 00:26:02 (11)
Glen River Parkrun (63)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Aaron Hornibrook 1 00:19:23
4 Marie-Claire Healy 1 00:20:12
Crusaders AC runners
35 Lorraine McMahon 00:29:59 (8)
42 Mairead Cashman 00:31:56 (15)
Tramore Waterford Parkrun (178)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Rob Cross 1 00:17:48
8 Jean Murphy 1 00:20:36
Crusaders AC runners
1 Rob Cross 00:17:48
39 Fiona Bane 00:24:23 (7)
Clonakilty Parkrun (59)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Gediminas Daskauskas 1 00:19:38
9 Gillian Galvin 1 00:22:55
Crusaders AC runner
17 Aitor Arribas Velasco 00:24:49
Donabate Parkrun (208)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Joe Holt 1 00:18:49
4 Sheila Bourke 1 00:20:13
Crusaders AC runner
22 Brendan Glynn 00:22:57
Bushy Parkrun (316)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Simon Rouse 1 00:18:55
27 Mary Donnelly 00:22:37
Crusaders AC runners
8 Kev Moore 00:20:23
27 Mary Donnelly 00:22:37 (1)
72 Paula Nolan 00:25:31 (13)