Concrete participation on a challenging Sunday afternoon in the National Road Relays

29/4/2019

Niamh Allen

There were no medals this year, but a great deal of fun all the same, in the National Road Relays that were held as usual around a flat 1 mile course near St. Anne’s Park Raheny on Sunday afternoon. The road surface is mostly, if not entirely, concrete, which is extremely unforgiving on the legs and this fact had a bearing on determining the composition of one or two teams where runners ran on either the two mile or one mile legs (and for the senior men, one of the legs was three miles). The first two races involved the masters runners. We had two teams in each of the O/35 events, which also included O/50 teams, one of which ran for us in the men’s race. In the women’s event, involving 19 O/35 and 5 O/50 teams, the A team of Dee Ni Chearbhaill, Aine Kenny and last minute substitute women’s club captain Lisa Shine (replacing Niamh Corby who had injured her knee) acquitted themselves well in placing 9th, whilst the B team of Emer Kenny, Maria Kennedy and Maria del Carmen Jimenez Campos also ran well to place 14th, ahead of some clubs’ A teams. In calm conditions but increasingly cool temperatures, the next race involved the masters’ men, where in a substantial field of 31 O/35 teams, our men placed 7th and 21st, a truly noble effort by all,. The masters races involved a one mile leg, followed by a two mile leg, finishing with a one mile sprint to the finish(!). Our A team was made up of Peter O’Toole, Ciaran Diviney and Joe McDermott, whilst the B team involved Tim O’Donnell, John McAuley and Eddie Nugent on the anchor leg. Our O/50 men competed in the same race placing 12th out of the 14 teams entered, but importantly, also finishing ahead of two of the O/35 teams to boot. In a baptism of fire, Neil Brown was the first runner, handing over to veteran relay runner, Pat Quill, who handed over to a similar veteran, Robbie Moore, to bring the team home. The senior women’s race was next on the agenda, and where, such is the depth of women’s running in the club, we were able to field 3 teams in a field of 19. We never really expected a medal, despite Niamh Allen coming home 10 seconds ahead of the field for the A team on the first leg and the team duly finished in 5th place. It was a position that was probably to be expected because the gap at the end to a medal position was more than 40 seconds, which would have been challenging to bridge against such strong teams ahead of us. In a race of the same format as the masters events, our three woman team included Catherine Thornton on the longer leg and 800m runner Mary Horgan on the last one mile leg. It was a spirited effort in a quality field. Members will be interested to hear that Niamh's 5:02 time for the first leg was the fastest since Becky Quinn's 5:01 in 2014 when the Clonliffe team came 7th. In 2009 Hazel Murphy ran 5:03 to help her UCD team to victory. No other times have come close since Becky's and Niamh's. We also had a decent B team in the race involving Fiona Shine, Irene Gorman and Rachel Yorke who finished about 75 seconds behind the A team in 13th place, followed by a similarly good showing from the C team a further minute and a half or so back in 17th. This was a team made up of Serena Moloney, Rebecca Fleming and Sarah Lyons. The last race of the day involved the senior men. As with the senior women’s event, this was also a race of the highest quality with an excellent sprint finish between Raheny and Donore for the win. For the A team Shane Collins ran the first two mile leg, followed by Fearghal O’Hare on the 2nd, one mile, leg. Fearghal was followed by men’s club captain Michael Kiely for the 3 mile leg and the team was brought home by recent transferee Stephen O’Kennedy running two miles. The team finished an excellent 14th place, exactly halfway through the field of 28. Our B team also ran well to place 25th, led by Daniel Lowe and followed by Eanna Farrell, Tomas Bradley and Paul Reidy. Several of our 17 men and 15 women were running in the relays for the first time and all fully enjoyed the experience. There was also super support around the course from club members, which added to the occasion.
This week’s races in fact kicked off on Wednesday evening in the mountains of Wicklow in Tiglin around the Devil’s Glen. This was an 8k race, the second in this year’s Leinster trail league, and involved a climb of some 283m on relatively easy terrain. In a field of 136, and a race won overall by Barry Minnock, Becky Quinn was back to winning ways, placing 18th overall and placing first woman in a time of 36:17. In the women’s race, Becky was followed by Laura Flannelly (48th and 4th in 39:28) and Kate Murray (89th and 13th in 44:56). Kate also placed 6th in her age category. The first Crusader across the line, however, once again, was Warren Swords (5th overall and 3rd M40) in a time of 32:04. Warren was followed by John McAuley (claiming 9th spot yet again in 33:24), Michael Maughan (32nd in 37:45), Anthony O’Reilly (37th in 38:22), Brian McGuckin (43rd in 39:01 and 5th M50), Ollie McGrath (60th in 40:38) and Berndt Heim (127th in 55:07).
The following day saw the 128th running of the iconic Clonliffe 2 mile race that took runners on the roads around the Santry Demesne. In dry and mild conditions, perfect running weather, there were 143 athletes in the field and our 4-person contingent was led home by Philip Matthews who took 38th place in a time of 12:09. Philip was followed by Paul E. Kelly who crossed the line in 132nd place in a time of 17:21, with Gill Archbold (136th and 46th in 17:32) close behind and Iseult Ni Chuinneagain (137th and 48th in 17:42) just behind Gill.
We then had two more road races on Sunday 28th April on which to report. Anthony O’Reilly was our sole representative in the Run with Catherina (McKiernan) 5k which took place in Catherina’s native Cavan and she naturally won the women’s race. In a field of 477, Anthony placed 28th in a time of 19:50. Late on Sunday, at least 11 Crusaders participated in the Dublin Night Run 10k that was held in the Docklands area of Dublin and winding its way variously through Ringsend, over the East Link toll bridge and also up beyond the Point towards the port tunnel. After her sterling effort in the National Road Relays during the afternoon, Catherine Thornton fulfilled a work commitment to run in the evening race, and despite approaching the race as a tempo run, surprised herself with an excellent 40:16 finish to place 68th overall in a field of nearly 3,800 runners and 2nd behind an American international athlete from Portland Oregon who ran 34:56. Catherine was also over 2 minutes ahead of the Clonliffe runner in 3rd place. A newcomer to the race report, Meghann Barber, was 10th in the women’s race (270th overall) in a time of 44:46, whilst Mairead Cashman ran 57:44 to place 1,725th and 340th. Donna Barry completed the women’s contingent, coming across the line in 2,887th place (836th woman) in 62:32. Our men were led home by Ollie McGrath (36th in 38:45), followed by Graham Crowley (44th in 39:01), Luke Davis (52nd in 39:12), Gian Piero Allerta (107th in 42:17), Dave Tuohy (149th in 42:48), Antonios Gkogkakis (238th in 44:28) and Jonathan Sykes (241st in 44:27).
We had several runners participating in marathons on Sunday. It was good to hear that Leo Lundy ran his 100th road marathon on the flat course in Zurich around the lake. Leo ran 5:126. Meanwhile, in Hamburg on a rainy day, Darran Lovely recorded a PB with his time of 3:08:08. There were also super PBs for Paul Dempsey and James Cahill in London, with Paul running a 3 minute positive split but achieving a 5 minute improvement in 2:47:23, whilst James ran even splits to come home in 2:57:17. We also had two Crusaders, Mike O’Conor and Ger Forde, help to pace Declan Ryan, a Thurles visually impaired runner who trains with Crusaders, to a 2:45 time, in a bid to make the Tokyo Paralympic squad. Only time will tell, but it’s a quality result. This was Mike and Ger’s first experience of guiding a visually impaired runner and they did a magnificent job (each running a half marathon leg accompanying Declan and attached to him by a 50cm tether). Declan needed a guide or guides with Irish nationality and it was also critical that neither guide crossed the line ahead of the guided runner, who might otherwise be disqualified, as happened to Declan in the same race last year, something extremely hard to swallow after 42.2km of serious running! Another super effort on the day was recorded by Donnacha McCarthy, who, together with his guide, Dave Tilly, picked up a silver medal in the World Duathlon Championships in Pontevedra in Spain. Congrats to all!
Participation in the weekend’s parkruns remains high. Aine Kenny was first finisher once again in Poolbeg (22nd overall) in 21:58, whilst we had podium finishes from Ronan Moynihan in Malahide (3rd in 18:42) and Kate Murray, our sole representative in Castletown (23rd and 2nd in 24:57). Olwyn Dunne was also on the podium in Avondale Forest, as our only runner, placing 21st and 2nd in 24:12. Joining Aine in Poolbeg were Sharon Woods (45th and 6th in 24:06), Ava Rose Clarke (65th and 12th in 25:04), Gillian Curran (79th and 18th in 25:45), Brendan Glynn (119th in 28:37), Ciara McElligott (143rd and 50th in 31:02), Maureen McGinley (148th and 54th in 31:28), Karla Woods (165th and 68th in 33;36) and Fiona Bane as tailwalker. Participating with Ronan in Malahide was the new mum Darina Scully who came home in 43:37 (285th and 136th). In London’s Bushy Park Anna and Lisa Shine placed 827th (241st) and 828th (242nd) in 29:24 and 29:27 in a huge field of 1,274 runners, whilst in Dublin’s Bushy Park, Mairead Cashman placed 197th (and 52nd) in 29:56. Further afield, Kris Ryan ran in another parkrun in Australia (Main Beach) where she placed 50th overall (8th woman) in 24:26 in a field of 323 participants. Mairin Shine ran in Gorey, taking 40th place (16th) in 41:08, whilst Aoife and Paul F. Kelly rain in St. Anne’s where Aoife placed 56th and 5th in 22:37 and Paul, 233rd in 28:06. Cathal Murphy was our only runner in Clonmel where he placed 23rd in 27:31, whilst Phelim Murray and Sarah Lyons ran in Fairview, where Phelim placed 10th in 23:09 and Sarah, 55th and 16th in 28:28. Gillian Lyons placed 32nd and 8th in Brickfields in a time of 29:46, whilst, finally, Maria Pertl and Diarmuid Byrne ran in Tolka Valley, where Maria placed 24th (10th) in 30:04 and Diarmuid, 25th in 30:05.
Clonliffe 2 mile race (143)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Andrew Corcoran 1 00:09:13
13 Nadia Power 1 00:10:46
Crusaders AC runners
38 Philip Matthews 00:12:09
132 Paul E. Kelly 00:17:21
136 Gill Archbold 00:17:32 (46)
137 Iseult Ni Chuinneagain 00:17:42 (48)
Full results here: https://clonliffeharriersac.com/category/clonliffe-2-mile-road-race/
Run with Catherina 2019 5k (477)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Paul Magee 1 00:16:05
6 Catherina McKiernan 1 00:17:26
Crusaders AC runner
28 Anthony O’Reilly 00:19:50
Full results here: https://www.popupraces.ie/race/run-with-catherina-2019/
Dublin Night Run 10k (3769)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 David Power 1 00:33:56
4 Theresa Hailey 1 00:34:56
Crusaders AC runners
36 Ollie McGrath 00:38:45
44 Graham Crowley 00:39:01
52 Luke Davis 00:39:12
68 Catherine Thornton 00:40:16 (2)
107 Gian Piero Allerta 00:42:17
149 David Tuohy 00:42:48
238 Antonios Gkogkakis 00:44:28
241 Jonathan Sykes 00:44:27
270 Meghann Barber 00:44:46 (10)
1725 Mairead Cashman 00:57:44 (340)
2887 Donna Barry 01:02:32 (836)
Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/dublin_night_run_2019/3041/results
IMRA Devil’s Glen Tig Lin 8k (136)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Barry Minnock 1 00:30:49
18 Becky Quinn 1 00:36:17
Crusaders AC runners
5 Warren Swords 00:32:04
9 John McAuley 00:33:24
18 Becky Quinn 00:36:17 (1)
32 Michael Maughan 00:37:45
37 Anthony O’Reilly 00:38:22
43 Brian McGuckin 00:39:01
48 Laura Flannelly 00:39:28 (4)
60 Ollie McGrath 00:40:38
89 Kate Murray 00:44:56 (13)
127 Berndt Heim 00:55:07
Full results here: https://www.imra.ie/events/results/id/1712/category/O/
Malahide Parkrun #338 (287)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Wesley O’Brien 1 00:17:37
6 Eimear Griffin 1 00:19:49
Crusaders AC runners
3 Ronan Moynihan 00:18:42
285 Darina Scully 00:43:37 (136)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.org.uk/malahide/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=338
St. Anne’s Parkrun #281 (338)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Martin McKenna 1 00:17:33
30 Aisling McNally 1 00:21:12
Crusaders AC runners
56 Aoife Kelly 00:22:37 (5)
233 Paul F. Kelly 00:28:06
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/stannes/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=281
Castletown Parkrun #172 (161)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Ryan Van Haeften 1 00:19:17
17 Jan Corcoran 1 00:24:01
Crusaders AC runner
23 Kate Murray 00:24:57
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/castletown/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=172
Gorey Parkrun #124 (46)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Tomas Kavanagh 1 00:17:49
10 Ciara Mas 1 00:23:24
Crusaders AC runner
40 Mairin Shine 00:41:08 (16)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/gorey/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=124
Poolbeg Parkrun #88 (185)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 unknown 1 00:17:56
22 Aine Kenny 1 00:21:58
Crusaders AC runners
22 Aine Kenny 00:21:58 (1)
45 Sharon Woods 00:24:06 (6)
65va Rose Clarke 00:25:04 (12)
79 Gillian Curran 00:25:45 (18)
119 Brendan Glynn 00:28:37
143 Ciara McElligott 00:31:02 (50)
148 Maureen McGinley 00:31:28 (54)
165 Karla Woods 00:33:36 (68)
181 Fiona Bane 00:42:1 (76)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/poolbeg/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=88
Bushy Dublin Parkrun #114 (316)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Valter Valente 1 00:17:17
29 Christine Kinsella 1 00:21:33
Crusaders AC runner
197 Mairead Cashman 00:29:56 (52)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/bushydublin/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=114
Clonmel Parkrun #101 (60)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Justin Cleary 1 00:18:25
11 Jennifer McDonnell 1 00:23:28
Crusaders AC runner
23 Cathal Murphy 00:27:31
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/clonmel/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=101
Fairview Parkrun #91 (111)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Brian Sexton 1 00:19:13
8 Esther Requena Ferri 1 00:22:52
Crusaders AC runners
10 Phelim Murray 00:23:09
55 Sarah Lyons 00:28:28 (16)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/fairview/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=91
Tolka Valley Parkrun #62 (42)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Eoghan Byrne 1 00:21:44
6 Maura Ginty 1 00:23:49
Crusaders AC runners
24 Maria Pertl 00:30:04 (10)
25 Diarmuid Byrne 00:30:05
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/tolkavalley/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=62
Brickfields Parkrun #67 (77)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 unknown 1 00:19:10
7 Siobhan McNamara 1 00:21:49
Crusaders AC runner
32 Gillian Lyons 00:29:46 (8)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/brickfields/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=67
Avondale Forest Parkrun #48 (130)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 unknown 1 00:19:00
18 Grainne Macklin 1 00:23:47
Crusaders AC runner
21 Olwyn Dunne 00:24:12 (2)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/avondaleforest/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=48