Brewing up a storm

29/11/2024

L-R: Kevin Lambe, Daniel Cullen, Anna Brown, Ailish Hassett, Ciara Regan, Phelim Murray

There was limited competition last weekend as at least one scheduled race was cancelled in the face of Storm Bert. Parkrun numbers were also halved. Having said that, surprisingly there was a race that took place in the Wicklow mountains without incident and also we had a decent showing in two of the races that did take place in Co. Kildare, with success.

We start with the two races that were organised by Clane GAA in Co. Kildare. In windy and damp conditions on a mildly undulating anti-clockwise looped course that wended its way out of the town and into the countryside and round, coming to a downhill finish at the GAA club, we had at least 2 runners take part in the 5k on offer and at least 8 in the 10k.

Anna Brown and Ailish Hassett ran the 5k, and in a field of 225, Anna placed 52nd overall, 11th female finisher, in a time of 23:43, followed by Ailish who placed 69th and 17th in 26:05. Then, in the 10k, Felipe De Sousa led our contingent across the line, placing 24th in a field of 244. Felipe’s time was 40:04 and he was followed by Tom Gleeson 21 seconds later (27th in 40:25). In turn, Phelim Murray came home in 29th spot in a time of 40:57 and he was followed closely by the women’s race winner, Ciara Regan, who took 30th place overall in a time of 41:00. Kevin Lambe was next, placing 32nd in 40:59 and also finishing 4th M50, whilst Daniel O’Mahony also participated, coming across the line in 36th in a time of 41:59. Further back came Daniel Cullen (59th in 44:57) and he was followed by Oisin Browne (114th in 50:38).

Further afield, one of our French exiles, Valentin Akdim, ran in the La Rochelle marathon which he completed in an excellent 2:57, the first time he had broken 3 hours.

The mountain races were organised by IMRA and took place over and around Djouce Mountain and Crone Wood in Co. Wicklow, and known as Powerscourt Ridge. There were two races taking places in gale-force conditions. The long course measured 15.3k and had a total climb of 860m, whilst the short course measured 7.6k and just took in Crone Wood. The longer race enjoyed a field of 146, with Donatas Jocius placing 9th overall and 1st M35 in a time of 1:31:59. Donatas was followed by Brian McGuckin who placed 50th and 2nd M55 in a time of 1:48:14 and by Gavan Doherty (96th in 2:02:21).

Clare Sullivan was our lone runner on the short course, where, in a field of 40, she placed 17th and 9th in 57:59.

As mentioned, numbers of participants in parkruns (those that went ahead) were on average about half the normal fields. We did not have any first finishers this week, but we did record some podium places.

In Bushy Park, Kev Moore and Mary Donnelly joined 84 other runners, where Kev placed 5th in 21:52 and Mary finished in 16th and 2nd in 23:26. Meanwhile, John Fahy ran alongside 49 other participants in Brickfields, where he placed 3rd in 19:44.

As usual, our largest contingent ran in Poolbeg, where Stephen Hurley took 3rd spot in 18:31 and Fiona Bane took 28th overall and 2nd place in the women’s field in 23:39. In a field of 107, Stephen was followed by Kenan Furlong who placed 6th in 18:57 and then, further back, came Kabir Sala (14th in 21:20). Piarais Neary was next, placing 15th in 21:32, and he was followed in 27th place by Ryan Hoey who recorded a PB time of 23:35 on his birthday. Behind Fiona came Bo Chicoine who placed 49th in 25:45, followed by Kevin Kenny (52nd in 26:02), Franky Keane (56th in 26:23), Tanja Narancic (57th and 6th in 26:24), Olwyn Dunne (58th and 7th in 26:26), Ellen Walsh (67th and 11th in 27:33) and Sharon Woods, tailwalking.

Ryan Preston joined 69 other runners in Kilkenny where he placed 8th in 22:17, whilst our London exile Jeanie Watson placed 73rd and 4th in 22:30 in the 513-strong field in Finsbury Park. Also, in the UK, Toby Benham ran alongside 97 other participants in Rugby, where he placed 10th in 22:53, and then, in London, one of our other exiles, Rob Glascott, ran in Burgess Hill where, in a field of 506, he placed 60th in 20:20.

Back home, David Carter took 11th spot in the 100-strong field of runners in Shanganagh in a time of 20:47. He was followed by Janet McManus (40th and 4th in 25:30), whilst, in River Valley, Darina Scully with her buggy placed 41st and 12th in a time of 31:45. The field there measured 67. Paul and Aoife Kelly joined 118 other runners in Poppintree once again, where Paul placed 31st in 26:58 and Aoife ran 29:52 for 51st and 18th spots. Finally, Luke Clarke ran in Marlay Park, alongside 231 other participants, where he recorded a time of 23:52 in placing 44th.

Clane 10k (244)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Martin Hoare 1 00:31:46
30 Ciara Regan 1 00:41:00
Crusaders AC runners
24 Felipe De Sousa 00:40:04
27 Tom Gleeson 00:40:25
29 Phelim Murray 00:40:57
30 Ciara Regan 00:41:00 (1)
32 Kevin Lambe 00:40:59
36 Daniel O’Mahony 00:41:59
59 Daniel Cullen 00:44:57
114 Oisin Browne 00:50:38
Full results here: https://www.popupraces.ie/race/clane-gaa-10k-5k-walk-run-2024/
Clane 5k (225)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Dmytro Moyseyev 1 00:15:29
13 Catherine O’Connor 1 00:19:11
Crusaders AC runners
52 Anna Brown 00:23:43 (11)
69 Ailish Hassett 00:26:05 (17)
Full results here: https://www.popupraces.ie/race/clane-gaa-10k-5k-walk-run-2024/
IMRA Powerscourt Ridge Long Course 15.3k (146)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Sasha Chepelin 1 01:12:32
21 Tilly Hamilton 1 01:38:15
Crusaders AC runners
9 Donatas Jocius 01:39:59
50 Brian McGuckin 01:48:14
96 Gavan Doherty 02:02:21
Full results here: https://www.imra.ie/events/results/id/2479/
IMRA Powerscourt Ridge Short Course 7.5k (40)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Niall McGuinness 1 00:45:26
6 Anna-May Woods 1 00:52:18
Crusaders AC runner
17 Clare Sullivan 00:57:59 (9)
Full results here: https://www.imra.ie/events/results/id/2479/
Kilkenny Parkrun (70)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Breda McDonald 1 00:19:49
2 Graham Bourne 1 00:20:29
Crusaders AC runner
8 Ryan Preston 00:22:17
Poolbeg Parkrun (107)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Leo Timmins 1 00:17:07
18 Maura Ginty 1 00:22:54
Crusaders AC runners
3 Stephen Hurley 00:18:31
6 Kenan Furlong 00:18:57
14 Kabir Sala 00:21:20
15 Piarais Neary 00:21:32
27 Ryan Hoey 00:23:35 (PB)
28 Fiona Bane 00:23:39 (2)
49 Bo Chicoine 00:25:45
52 Kevin Kenny 00:26:02
56 Franky Keane 00:26:23
57 Tanja Narancic 00:26:24 (6)
58 Olwyn Dunne 00:26:26 (7)
67 Ellen Walsh 00:27:33 (11)
107 Sharon Woods 00:44:33
Shanganagh Parkrun (100)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Paul McKenna 1 00:18:11
20 Aoife McCarthy 1 00:23:09
Crusaders AC runners
11 David Carter 00:20:47
40 Janet McManus 00:25:30 (4)
River Valley Parkrun (67)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Jo Temple 1 00:20:11
2 Alan O’Mahoney 1 00:20:27
Crusaders AC runner
41 Darina Scully 00:31:45 (12)
Bushy Parkrun (86)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Michael McGroary 1 00:18:34
11 Fiona Kavanagh 1 00:22:53
Crusaders AC runners
5 Kev Moore 00:21:52
16 Mary Donnelly 00:23:26 (2)
Poppintree Parkrun (120)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Aidan McGrath 1 00:19:57
6 Mya O’Reilly 1 00:21:41
Crusaders AC runners
31 Paul F. Kelly 00:26:58
51 Aoife Kelly 00:29:52 (18)
Marlay Parkrun (232)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Ruben Bartelink 1 00:17:47
6 Ava Rose Clarke 1 00:20:05
Crusaders AC runner
44 Luke Clarke 00:23:52
Brickfields Parkrun (50)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Ciaran Aylward 1 00:18:51
19 Megan Skinnader 1 00:25:16
Crusaders AC runner
3 John Fahy 00:19:44