Two weeks of racing to be reported and it was an action-packed period for the club. We start with last weekend’s National Cross-Country championships, held in Abbotstown, which also doubled up as both the intercounty competition and the Irish trials for the European XC championships to be held in Chia, Sardinia this month. Despite a last minute injury for Caroline Crowley, which unfortunately put paid to her hopes of representing Ireland again this year, the Cru women’s team ran well, placing 8th overall. In coming home in 25th place (30:12) Limerick native Orla Drumm was even able to score for the gold winning Co. Dublin team. On a challenging tough 8K course in cold conditions, both Irene Gorman and Adrienne Jordan also had a stormer of a race, with Irene placing 44th in 31:29 and Adrienne, 50th in 32:03. Ilona McElroy bravely took on the race with an existing painful ankle injury, placing 65th in the 94-strong field in a time of 33:33. We had only two men in the 10K race, with Vinnie McGuinness taking 87th spot (35:31) in a top quality field of 154, whilst Jim Stagg placed 128th in 37:57. On the same day, we were also represented in the start of the winter league of the Women’s Meet and Train, held in Cow Park, Dunboyne. We had 12 participants in the race but because several runners were travelling or otherwise unavailable only our C Team had the full complement of 4 runners, which was of course a great start for them. Unfortunately, for the other teams we did not have the full number which will mean they will have to run fast in the remaining 3 races. Nevertheless, we believe it is the first time that Crusaders have had 4 teams running in Meet and Train. It was extremely dry, as opposed to last year, and some wore spikes whilst others wore trainers. The course involved 2 big loops. The grass was, unfortunately, long and had formed big piles on the ground so that a few spike wearers found this a hazard and actually got their spikes entangled in the long grass. This happened to Geraldine Clements and she took a nasty fall on a corner on the first lap, when her spikes got caught. However, she quickly recovered and pulled herself up before the possibility arose of being trampled on. First time runner Emily Ferghan took the lead in the first lap then settled in as local women from Dunboyne gained on her and comfortably won. There were roughly 121 runners in the event and all the Cru women did brilliantly, especially the first timers, whilst Maria Pertl ran strongly, gaining on runners throughout the race, coming home in 10th. The results were as follows: Maria Pertl 10th 14.11 Geraldine Clements 18th 14.25 Kate Murray 23rd 14.37 Emily Ferghan 25th 14.40 Emma O'Mahony 29th 14.58 Kris Ryan 37th 15.19 Ailís Fagan 44th 15.37 Arwen Cusack 54th 16.02 Rhona Mcgrath 62nd 16.31 Helena O'Keeffe 67th 16.42 Fiona Craven 69th 16.45 Lorraine Fitzsimons 104th 21.27 Also, last weekend, there was some excellent mountain running by Crusaders down in Wicklow. They were taking part in the annual Run the Line mountain races in aid of mountain rescue services. There were 2 courses, one long at 26km with an elevation gain of over 1,000m and the other short at 13km with a lot of the elevation gain eliminated. In the long course race, Ian Kinsella placed 2nd in a field of 256 runners and a time of 2:11:20, whilst Paul O’Meara placed 31st in 2:35:21. Other notable participants included ex-Crusader Torben Dahl, who placed 13th in 2:25:28. Meanwhile, on the short course there was a win for Warren Swords who took the victory with a time of 1:02:14. The field there comprised 226 runners. Apart from the annual Cru trip to Club La Santa in Lanzarote, of which more to come below, the Cru ran internationally last weekend and before. On Thanksgiving Day Eddie Nugent, having packed his runners, took advantage of a trip to Texas, participating in the YMCA Dallas Turkey Trot. In a field of nearly 2,800 runners Eddie won his age category, placing 25th overall in a time of 19:06 for the 5K distance. Further west, Leo Lundy took part for the 2nd time, his 166th marathon distance event, in the Quad Dipsea in Marin County near San Francisco in California. In the worst conditions in its 32 year history it rained for only the 3rd time. It was a monsoon that made the 10,000ft of climb a trudge through a river of mud as the trail got washed away and the downhill was treacherous. Leo managed 07:55 over the 28.4 mile course for a mid-pack finish in exactly the same time (within 10 secs) as 2 years ago (in much better conditions). Some famous runners in the event included Dean Kanizares and Catra Corbett, which was exciting. Leo then stopped off in Margate on the way back and ran the St Andrews Day Ultra. Given that he couldn’t really walk after the Quad Dipsea the previous Saturday and was straight off the plane, this was some feat. His 33.8 miles was good enough for 5th place out of 92 finishers. The temperature read minus 5 degrees Celsius at the start and didn’t warm up much of the day. There was a small turnout from the club in last weekend’s parkruns. Emma Flynn and Maria Pertl were among 432 runners in Marlay, with Emma coming home in 61st overall (6th woman) in 21:05 and Maria placing 129th overall (16th woman) in 23:37. Colm Kernan and Denis Murphy joined 271 other runners in St. Anne’s, Colm finishing in 62nd place (23:02) and Denis, 104th in 24:48. Sharon Woods was our lone representative in Tymon taking 38th place overall (5th woman) in a field of 111 runners (23:47), as was Neil Brown in Waterstown. Neil placed 17th out of 56 in a time of 24:43. Continuing the trend for the day, Darina Scully, Brendan Kieran and Tom Dunne, likewise ran solo in, respectively, Letterkenny, Poppintree and Cabinteely. Darina took 6th place overall (2nd woman) out of 27 participants in 22:46. Brendan placed 24th out of 67 in 24:01 and Tom took 7th place in a field of 69 in 21:53. This weekend witnessed the 26th running of the Donore Harriers-organised 5K Jingle Bells Run and we had a massive Cru turnout for it, as well as some well-placed really helpful support from clubmates along the fast route in the Phoenix park. This race is always billed as one for PB potential because of its net downhill feature and this year, in extremely benign (i.e. windless) but cool conditions, it did not disappoint for many of us. It was also surprising that several of us who had returned home from Lanzarote late the previous night, following an intense 4 days of racing over 50k during the week, were still able to put in some excellent PB times among the group. The well-known route starts on the Acres Road near the Papal Cross (and where the stags in the various bachelor herds of deer often congregate on a Saturday morning, three of them tearing across the road just missing runners doing their warm up). The route heads towards the Phoenix roundabout, turning north up the Chesterfield Road and then west along the Ordnance Survey Road at the next roundabout, eventually finishing at the bottom of the Upper Glen Road just below the hospital. Nearly 900 competitors took part in a truly impressive field of quality runners headed on the men’s side by Donore’s John Travers and on the women’s by Ciara Mageean and Lizzie Lee (who brought a women’s elite squad of 4 runners up from Cork…duly winning the women’s team event). There were some great performances by the over 30-strong Cru contingent, with at least 13 PBs (probably more...please let us know). Brian O’Kelly led us all home, placing 21st in a PB time of 15:45, beating on the line Rob Cross, fresh from his exploits in Lanzarote, who placed 22nd in the same time. Rob also took 2nd in his age category. Recovering from injury, Frank Halligan came home in 63rd in a PB time of 16:58, followed closely by Jim Stagg (64th in 16:58). Other notable runs came from Alan Sheehy (96th in a PB time of 17:41), Eddie Nugent (104th in a PB time of 17:48) who just pipped Niamh Boland on the line (105th overall, 17th woman and 2nd in her age category in a PB time of 17:50). Michael Maughan also got a PB result (111th in 17:57), as did Niall O’Connell (114th in 18:03), and there was a huge 40 second improvement in her PB by Orla Kennedy (135th overall, 19th woman, in a fabulous 18:31). Following Pat Quill (146th in 18:44), a few seconds off his PB, came James Cottle, with a 30 second PB improvement and winning his age category (153rd in 18:52). PB results also came for Luca Marchesotti (174th in 19:12), Matt Cranley (193rd in19:40), Geraldine Clements (238th overall, 45th woman and 2nd in her age category, in 20:44), Emer Kenny (240th overall, 47th woman, in 20:48), Grainne Regan (248th overall, 50th woman, in 21:05) and Donal Foley (242nd in 20:50 and breaking 21 minutes for the first time). On Sunday, a new course was created by Rathfarnham WSAF in Tymon Park for the Dublin Intermediate championships and by all accounts it met with unanimous approval, even though it presented some challenges. The council had prepared the park well and there was plenty of mulch wherever the route crossed or went along a tarmac path. The women went first and their 5K race initially involved a 1K loop which undulated a bit on relatively hard ground. There was one particular hill where spikes were obligatory as it was quite a steep descent. The following two laps added an extra loop involving a short but steep descent into an area run around a football pitch followed by a short climb back up to continue on the original loop. The men had to run 4 laps of the 2K route for their 8k race. In the 40-strong women’s event, held in calm, dry but cool conditions, Clare Sullivan, Rathfarnham’s winner of this year’s Dublin novices, established a clear lead from early on, being pursued by two girls from Sportsworld, Sinead Tangney and Catherine Bambrick, later to be joined by a third teammate, Noreen Brouder. The first two runners were well ahead of the field at the end (19:18 and 19:25) and Sportsworld, understandably, took home team gold (with only 21 points) as well as individual silver and bronze. Our small and doughty team was led home by Catherine Thornton, who, having been in or around 9th spot for much of the first two laps, pushed ahead, reeling in other runners, to have a fierce run for the line with a Raheny athlete, Aine Crimin, Catherine just losing out in the final metres, taking 6th place overall (20:39), 1 second behind the Raheny girl and only 6 seconds off 4th spot. Fiona Shine was home next in 18th (21:37), managing also to reel in other runners, just ahead of plucky sister Lisa who placed 20th (21:53) with a committed last 200m sprint. Our final runner was only drafted in at the last minute and had already committed to playing in a hockey final the day before that went to extra time (winning on penalties, the win contributed to by our athlete). Darina Scully certainly felt the challenge but ran really well, placing 31st (22:37) and holding off several attacks from other runners in the final stages. It was an excellent outing for the team. Once the smoke cleared, they came home in 6th place, only beaten by 1 point by Raheny and only 6 points behind 4th placed Rathfarnham WSAF. Brian Carroll was our sole intrepid runner in the men’s 8K. In a race with a thrilling finish for first and second place (Rossa Hurley of Donore losing out on the line to Clonliffe’s Conor McGuinness) and in a field of 59 runners, Brian placed 39th in 29:44. We had 9 participants in the parkruns this Saturday. Most notable that finally after several attempts Diarmuid Byrne and Maria Pertl came home as joint first finishers in a parkrun, this time in Poppintree. Diarmuid ran a super 18:25, whilst Maria ran an excellent 22:15 to place 12th overall in a field of 63 runners. Susanne English took on Tralee, placing 45th overall (6th woman) in a 165-strong field and a time of 24:24, whilst Suzanne Collins ran with 257 others in Malahide, coming home in 178th spot (47th woman) in 28:05. Two runners coming back from injury took on, respectively, Marlay and St. Anne’s. In the former it was great to see David Long (just in time for the masters XC in January!) running 24:04 to place 109th in a field of nearly 350, whilst Kieran Martin also made an encouraging effort in St. Anne’s with a 7th place finish in a field of 238 (19:21). Mairin and Lisa Shine had a relatively easy outing in Cabinteely, with both finishing in the same time of 33:46 and placing, respectively, 80th and 81st overall (31st and 32nd women) in a field of nearly 90. Finally, in Athlone, Dave Cuddy took 3rd place among a small field of 18 runners in a time of 20:01. So, we come to the annual Cru trip to Lanzarote. This year, apart from an extremely heavy rainstorm on the first morning, the sun shone for most of the week, and we enjoyed weather conditions that that we had not witnessed for several years. Indeed, the usual strong winds were not really in evidence either, which meant for some challenging warm weather racing, averaging temperatures for the events exceeding 21 degrees Celsius. In all, 12 of us registered for the 4 race series, but in the event, because of an outbreak of the vomiting virus that only seemed to affect the Cru, only 11 of us started the overall event, and then, because of a combination of the virus and injury only 9 of us were able to complete all 4 races. Still, despite that, we had some super results over the 4 days, which included those of Rob Cross who took part in the last two races, the 5k beach race and also the half marathon, in which he actually placed 2nd. Our biggest casualty was Philip Matthews who was laid low so badly that he was unable to take part in any of the races. It really hit him hard (as it did coach Susan Walsh). Will Owens managed 3 of the 4 races for the same reason, missing out on the 5k beach run on the 3rd day. James Cottle and Michael O’Conor also suffered at different times. James was fortunate that it only really affected the outcome of the first race, the 10k, a race which he had to take carefully (although he did take a tumble at one point, leading to an extremely bloody outcome), but he was able to limit the damage to a loss of only just over a minute to his principal rivals. Mike was affected in the second race, the 13K Ridge run, involving a climb on road and trail to the top of an inland cliff which must have formed part of a volcano at some point. The 7 minute resulting gap between himself and John Mulvihill surely would have been narrower had Mike been in better health and the result potentially had an impact on both age category and overall team positions at the end. So, the 4 race formula was what we have grown to expect and is a hugely enjoyable event. However, we have also come to expect that the organisers seem incapable of maintaining both the route and the true distance for the 10K. It was no different this year, and, in fact, because of local road resurfacing and police unwillingness to turn out in force, the 10k road race became an “adventure” race, held on a combination of concrete pavement and volcanic trail. It also measured 5.9 miles. Anyway, next year we understand the race will have a firmer footing (on tarmac) and hopefully some meaningful PBs. The 13K ridge run stuck to the route we know but ended on the 1km trail finish of the 10K and measured closer to 14K. The beach run was unchanged, but the half marathon measured closer to 14 miles (22k), all because of the changes brought about by the roadworks at the finish. Although we all ran together, results were produced by gender. In the 150-strong men’s field for the 4 races Ciaran Diviney took 3rd place overall (3:00:37) after making it onto the podium only by virtue of a 4th place finish in the half marathon. Ciaran knew that he had a deficit of just over a minute to make up on his German rival for bronze overall and in the event, after taking him in the last 2.5k, Ciaran was able, by virtue of a desperate sprint at the finish, to beat him by 4 seconds, which, over 50k of racing, is pretty amazing. Ciaran was also 2nd in his age group behind the Danish runner who placed 2nd overall. After an incredibly tough half marathon effort John Mulvihill (3:06:03) placed 5th overall and won his age group, whilst Mike O’Conor finished 13th overall, 4th in the same age category as John, in 3:16:25. The 3 runners took second place in the team event behind a Danish team. The difference at the end between 1st and 2nd was only 1 minute, after there being 6 minutes between the teams going into the half marathon. Sportsworld were third. Joe Walsh placed 18th overall (3:20:31), 8th in his age group, and had super results in each of the 4 events. Joe was followed by James Cottle who placed 52nd overall (3:42:33), winning his age group by a margin of exactly 6 minutes over his German rival, having taken a 90 second lead into the last race. Pauline Curley of Tullamore won the overall women’s event in 3:17:21. In the 94-strong field Yvonne Macauley (3:32:49) placed 7th overall, dominating her age category throughout all the races except the beach 5K and winning by a margin of 10 minutes. Yvonne was followed by Donore guest runner (and Joe Walsh’s wife), Alma Hanevy, who was a great addition to the team. Alma ran 3:40:20 and she placed 11th overall, 3rd in her age category. Grainne Regan was third scorer for the team, placing 21st overall in 3:57:01 (7th in her age category) and between them the women managed to take second spot behind a strong Sportsworld team. Olwyn Dunne took 32nd overall (4:12:30), finishing in 4th place in her age category. As mentioned, Rob Cross ran in two of the races, whilst Rebecca Fleming and Dee Ni Chearbhaill acquitted themselves well in the races in which they participated. Neil Monahan ran strongly in the 10K but was injured in the Ridge run. We also had the welcome participation of “official photographer” Paul Larkins and his wife Hilary. Unfortunately, the results for those running only part of the challenge are no longer available. Of interest to all will be news that Emer Kenny took part in a duathlon (run, bike, run) and performed magnificently, finishing in 3rd place overall, first woman, in a field of 21 participants, whilst Dee’s husband Sean added to the awards brought home with an emphatic win in the week’s aquathon (swim, run). Run the Line (Long Course) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Des Kennedy 1 02:08:06 62 Niamh O’Boyle 1 02:46:06 Crusaders AC runners 2 Ian Kinsella 02:11:20 31 Paul O’Meara 02:35:21 Full results here: http://runtheline.ie/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/RTL2016_ProvisionalResults_Long_v2.pdf Run the Line (Short Course) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Warren Swords 1 01:02:14 11 Donna Mahon 01:11:31 Crusaders AC runner 1 Warren Swords 01:02:14 Full results here: http://runtheline.ie/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/RTL2016_ProvisionalResults_Short.pdf National XC Championships (Men) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Mark Christie 1 00:30:41 Crusaders AC runners 87 Vinnie McGuinness 00:35:31 128 Jim Stagg 00:37:57 Full results here: http://www.athleticsireland.ie/downloads/other/Senior_Men_and_U23.pdf National XC Championships (Women) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Shona Heaslip 1 00:28:13 Crusaders AC runners 25 Orla Drumm 00:30:12 44 Irene Gorman 00:31:29 50 Adrienne Jordan 00:32:03 65 Ilona McElroy 00:33:33 Full results here: http://www.athleticsireland.ie/downloads/results/Senior_Women_Revised.pdf Jingle Bells 5K Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 John Travers 1 00:14:08 24 Ciara Mageean 1 00:15:58 Crusaders AC runners 21 Brian O’Kelly 00:15:45 (PB) 22 Rob Cross 00:15:45 63 Frank Halligan 00:16:57 (PB) 64 Jim Stagg 00:16:58 96 Alan Sheehy 00:17:41 (PB) 104 Eddie Nugent 00:17:48 (PB) 105 Niamh Boland 00:17:50 (PB) 111 Michael Maughan 00:17:57 (PB) 114 Niall O’Connell 00:18:03 (PB) 135 Orla Kennedy 00:18:31 (PB) 146 Pat Quill 00:18:44 153 James Cottle 00:18:52 (PB) 174 Luca Marchesotti 00:19:12 (PB) 181 Colm Kernan 00:19:27 193 Matt Cranley 00:19:40 (PB) 200 Tony Owens 00:19:43 218 Marius McNicholas 00:20:22 220 Denis Murphy 00:20:23 (PB) 237 Liam O’Brien 00:20:31 238 Geraldine Clements 00:20:44 (PB) 240 Emer Kenny 00:20:48 (PB) 242 Donal Foley 00:20:50 (PB) 248 Grainne Regan 00:21:05 (PB) 318 Neil Brown 00:22:50 333 Helena Maier 00:22:30 392 Phelim Murray 00:24:46 548 John Fitzsimons 00:28:29 573 Paul Kelly 00:28:48 580 Kelly Brown 00:29:47 581 Lindsey Brown 00:29:47 602 Lorraine Fitzsimons 00:30:09 611 Sharon Woods 00:29:55 Full results here: http://www.championchipireland.com/results/index.php Dublin Intermediate XC Championships (women) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Clare Sullivan 1 00:19:18 Crusaders AC runners 6 Catherine Thornton 00:20:39 18 Fiona Shine 00:21:37 20 Lisa Shine 00:21:53 31 Darina Scully 00:22:37 Full results here: http://www.dublinathletics.com/ Dublin Intermediate XC Championships (men) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Conor McGuinness 1 00:26:31 Crusaders AC runner 39 Brian Carroll 00:29:44 Full results here: http://www.dublinathletics.com/ Tymon Parkrun #128 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Tristan Druet 1 00:17:18 19 Caoimhe Weakliam 1 00:21:08 Crusaders AC runner 38 Sharon Woods 00:23:47 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/tymon/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=128 Marlay Parkrun #185 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Arnaud Malinconi 1 00 :17 :05 18 Lynne Hennessy 1 00 :19 :12 Crusaders AC runners 61 Emma Flynn 00:21:05 129 Maria Pertl 00:23:37 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/marlay/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=185 Cabinteely Parkrun #87 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Vincent McKie 1 00:19:28 5 Malika Hammani 1 00:21:01 Crusaders AC runner 7 Tomas Dunne 00:21:53 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/cabinteely/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=87 St Anne’s Parkrun #158 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Unknown 1 00:17:31 10 Marian Rowan 1 00:19:44 Crusaders AC runners 62 Colm Kernan 00:23:02 104 Denis Murphy 00:24:48 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/stannes/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=158 Waterstown Parkrun #125 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Colin Townsend 1 00:20:09 4 Caitriona Ni Mhurchu 1 00:22:28 Crusaders AC runner 17 Neil Brown 00:24:43 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/waterstown/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=125 Letterkenny Parkrun #43 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Sive Brassil 1 00:19:28 2 Matthew Geever 1 00:21:43 Crusaders AC runner 6 Darina Scully 00:22:46 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/letterkenny/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=43 Poppintree Parkrun #108 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Gerard Daly 1 00:18:16 12 Ciara McGrath 1 00:21:57 Crusaders AC runner 24 Brendan Kieran 00:24:01 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/poppintree/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=108 St Anne’s Parkrun #159 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Karl Nolan 1 00:17:25 17 Zoe Quinn 1 00:20:02 Crusaders AC runner 7 Kieran Martin 00:19:21 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/stannes/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=159 Malahide Parkrun #213 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Robert Frewen 1 00:17:20 23 Tillie Clark 1 00:21:27 Crusaders AC runner 178 Suzanne Collins 00:28:05 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/malahide/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=213 Marlay Parkrun #186 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Cathal McHale 1 00:17:11 15 Sarah Baryga 1 00:19:24 Crusaders AC runner 109 David Long 00:24:04 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/marlay/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=186 Cabinteely Parkrun #88 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Barry Thornton 1 00:18:51 13 Ciara Brady 1 00:23:22 Crusaders AC runners 80 Mairin Shine 00:33:46 81 Lisa Shine 00:33:46 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/cabinteely/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=88 Poppintree Parkrun #109 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Diarmuid Byrne 1 00:18:25 12 Maria Pertl 1 00:22:15 Crusaders AC runners 1 Diarmuid Byrne 00:18:25 12 Maria Pertl 00:22:15 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/poppintree/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=109 Tralee Parkrun #96 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Tim Francony 1 00:18:44 20 Fiona Kavanagh 1 00:22:13 Crusaders AC runner 45 Susanne English 00:24:24 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/tralee/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=96 Athlone Parkrun #69 Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Paul Heavey 1 00:18:45 9 Colette Anderson 1 00:25:14 Crusaders AC runner 3 Dave Cuddy 00:20:01 Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/athlone/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=69 Comments are closed.
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