Country and Western (Dublin) Fun

12/5/2025

L-R: Lisa Shine, Carina Davidson, Lorraine McMahon, Joanne Carey, Olwyn Dunne, Aoife Quigley, Tanja Narancic, Máirín Shine

We were blessed with fine weather over the weekend. Some might have found it even too warm, especially in the Terenure 5 miler that took place on Sunday morning in brilliant sunshine. It might have been overly hot for road racing, but those on the track would have enjoyed it, and it showed.

Saturday saw the second meet of the Irish Milers Club in the annual event organised by the Belfast Milers Club on the Mary Peters Track in Lisburn. We had 6 athletes take part in the races there. Hugo Magee won the men’s International 400m in a super 46.95, whilst both Charlotte Myers and Enda Clarke won their races too. Charlotte ran in the women’s 800m B race, winning in 2:10.00, whilst Enda beat the field in the men’s 800m G race in a time of 2:04.92. Once again, Annie Hughes and Saoirse McGrath ran together in an 800m race, this time the F event, with Annie placing 2nd in a PB time of 2:17.28, followed by Saoirse who ran 2:20.31 for 6th spot. Finally, Alex Ainsworth ran a satisfying 2:01.26 for 3rd place in the 800m F race.

Then, on Sunday, the second afternoon of the Dublin graded meets took place at the Morton Stadium. Emily Lyne won heat 1 of both rounds of the women’s 200m A grade race in, respectively, 24.82 (a PB) and 25.03. In the process, Emily took the Dublin Championship bronze. In the men’s grade C 1500m event, Henry Griffin placed 3rd in 4:28.38. Then, in the grade D races, Edward Forester placed 7th in heat 1 in 4:50.36, whilst Karl Fitzmaurice ran 4:44.53 for 10th place in heat 2.

We had several runners in each of the two rounds of the 200m. In the first heat of round 1 of the grade B event, Saad Ashraf placed 3rd in 23.58, followed by Jack Byrne (4th in 23.69). Leo Gormley ran in the second heat where he placed 2nd in 22.81. Then, in the only heat of round 2, Leo placed 2nd in 23.22, followed by Saad (4th in 23.32) and Jack (6th in 23.87).

Liam Beaumont ran in both rounds of the 200m grade C race, where he placed, respectively 4th in 24.60 and 3rd in 24.54. Finally, on the track, Shane Carroll placed 2nd in 19:23.33 in the 5,000m grade D event.

We had one athlete take part in the field events on offer. James Quinn took 10th spot in the discus with his 5th throw of 6 in 26.79m.

Road racing this week started on Thursday evening with the largely flat Drivalia Sandyford 5k. Aoife Quigley distinguished herself with the win in the women’s race, placing 31st overall in the 673-strong field and recording a time of 19:09. Just ahead of her came Gary Park, placing 29th and 2nd in the M50 age category in 18:57. Next across the line came Joanne Carey in 72nd and 9th places (and likely 2nd F40, with Aoife and another athlete in the same age category podiuming in the women’s race) in 21:04, followed by Tanja Narancic (106th and 14th in 22:14), Olwyn Dunne (125th, 23rd and 3rd F50 in 22:51), Charlotte Rufié (135th and 27th in 23:13), Lisa Shine (258th and 70th in 26:28), Lorraine McMahon (317th and 99th in 27:49), Máirín Shine (381st, 135th and 5th F60 in 28:50), Stephen Hurley (459th in 30:41), Daniel O’Mahony (467th in 30:42) alongside Cecilia Sandre (468th and 182nd in 30:43) and Carina Davidson (533rd and 221st in 33:06). Olwyn was a member of the winning women’s team, whilst Lisa and Máirín were scorers on the third placed women’s team.

There was another evening race on which to report. This was a 5k in Leixlip in which Alan Sheehy and Tomás Bradley competed. In a field of 288, Alan placed 23rd in 17:42, followed by Tom (41st in 18:20).

We had at least 30 club members take part in the annual Sportsworld-organised Terenure 5-mile race, that was staged on Sunday morning. Conditions were quite warm on a course run on two loops with a couple of drags to deal with but otherwise largely flat. Following his recent success in the London Marathon, Daragh O’Reilly ran a super race, placing 6th in 26:14, behind race winner (by a country mile) Pierre Murchan. There was quite a battle for second place between Tomás Fitzpatrick and Peter Somba, with Tom just managing to hold off Peter at the end despite having shielded him for a good part of the last stages of the race.

Daragh was followed by Ciarain Kelly (6th in 26:14) and then by Michael O’Conor not so far back in 20th spot in a time of 28:21. The 4th scorer on the men’s team was Sean Murphy (127th in 32:54) and between them the team took 4th place.

Yvonne Macauley was our first female athlete to cross the line. She placed 84th and 7th in 31:39, followed by Kabir Sala (150th in 33:11), Nina Holmes (153rd, 11th and 3rd F40 in 33:28) and Orla O’Flynn (224th, 20th and 2nd F55 in 35:11). Yvonne, Nina, Orla and Sharon Woods, who placed 297th, 31st and 3rd F55 with a PB time of 36:31), placed 2nd in the senior women’s team competition behind DSD and ahead of Raheny.

Behind Orla came Noel Carr (226th in 35:09) and he was followed immediately by Michael Fitzsimons (227th in 35:15) and then by Neil Brown (296th in 36:11), Sharon, Robbie Moore (330th in 37:26), just ahead of Luke Haran (331st in 36:42), Olwyn Dunne (353rd, 44th and 4th F55 in 37:50), Chris Bannon (413th in 38:49), Kate Murray (447th and 73rd in 39:11), Anna Brown (463rd and 81st in 39:41) and Alan Martin (509th in 39:51).

Next came Kevin Kenny (579th in 41:12) and he was followed by Patrick Needham (601st in 40:55), Kelly Brown (687th and 177th in 43:22), Lorraine McMahon (876th and 289th in 46:06), Carina Davidson (948th and 330th in 47:55) alongside Michelle English (949th and 331st in 47:37). Cynthia Perucca and Paul F. Kelly were our last recorded runners, placing, respectively, 1103rd and 435th in 50:33 and 1112th in 50:48. Lisa Branigan, Niamh Trihy and Aitor Arribas Velasco took part in the race. However, their results were not recorded. As always, there was a fine spread of most inappropriate goodies after the race!

Further afield last week, Toby Benham ran in the Silverstone 10k which took place on the Formula One race track. In a field of 1706, he placed 35th in a PB time of 35:08. Further south, on Wimbledon Common, Kate O’Malley and Rob Glascott, two of our London-based exiles, ran in the first race of the 5-mile trail series there. In a field of 254, Kate placed 49th and 5th in 32:46, with Rob placing 87th in 35:23. Finally, on Sunday, one of our exiles in Switzerland, Lukasz Batruch, took part in the hot Geneva Marathon, where he placed 217th overall in a time of 3:00:34.

There were three races organised in Co. Wicklow by IMRA last week. On Wednesday, there was a 9k race around Sugar Bowl, with a climb of 575m. In a field of 213, Donatas Jocius placed 5th in 54:57, followed by Paul McNamara (32nd in 63:48), Caoimhe Dempsey (70th and 6th in 70:49) and Gavan Doherty (96th in 76:25). The second race took place on Saturday morning on Log Na Coille. The 10.5k race enjoyed a climb of 700m with a field of 59. Jason Kehoe placed 9th in 68:41, followed by Becky Quinn (17th and 2nd in 72:01). Finally, on Sunday, Becky took part in a round of the Munster Championships in Co. Tipperary. On a 10k course with a climb of 580m on Slievanamon, Becky placed 14th and 2nd in a time of 61:03. The field measured 64.

Despite the good weather, numbers generally seemed to be lower than of late in Saturday morning’s parkruns. Nevertheless, we had a decent turnout, with a good few podium places.

Dee Lawlor led the field of 493 home in Marlay Park, finishing with a time of 17:37. He was followed there by Barry O’Neill (215th in 27:30), Ciara Lynch (249th and 65th in 28:27) and Carina Davidson, tailwalking.

Maurice Kelter marked a return to his native Tralee with a first finisher place in 17:05 in a field of 268. Then, Conor Kilkenny crossed the line ahead of the field of 77 in Omagh, running a time of 18:14, whilst Ross Neill was also first to finish on Wexford Racecourse, where he ran 18:44 ahead of 113 other runners.

Our last first finisher was in Poolbeg. Ciara Regan placed 26th and 1st in 21:40 among a field of 207 and at least 21 Crusaders. Kenan Furlong took 2nd spot in 17:48, and he was followed by Alby Allan (5th in 19:45), Adrian Groarke (13th in 20:00), John Lohan (35th in 22:19), Sharon Woods (42nd and 2nd in 23:16), Aoife McCarthy (46th and 3rd in 23:25), Mikel Crisostomo (57th in 23:54), Laura O’Malley (69th and 8th in 24:41), Kabir Sala (72nd in 24:52) alongside Russell Murphy (73rd in the same time), Joanne Carey (80th and 10th in 24:24), Tanja Narancic (81st and 11th in 25:29), ahead of Aitor Arribas Velasco (84th in 25:33) alongside Olwyn Dunne (85th and 14th in 25:34). Next came Tara Murphy (100th and 21st in 26:51), followed by Aisling O’Riordan (103rd and 23rd in 27:13), Fergal Morrissey (109th in 27:23), Djinn Von Noorden (128th and 39th in 28:43), Kevin Kenny (147th in 29:52) and Maureen McGinley (164th and 64th in 31:37).

Luke Clarke headed to Glasgow where he ran alongside 340 other runners in Pollok parkrun, placing 3rd in 18:41, whilst, back home, Irene Gorman took 47th and 3rd spots in St. Anne’s with its field of 518. Irene’s time was 21:28. In Limerick in a 192-strong field, Kev Moore placed 21st in 21:09, followed closely by Mary Donnelly (22nd and 3rd in 21:15), whilst Sarah Lyons and Phelim Murray ran again in Tolka Valley Park, where Phelim placed 11th in 24:47, followed by Sarah who placed 18th and 5th in the field of 56 in 25:38. Niall O’Connell was our lone runner on the Midleton Greenway, where, alongside 148 other participants, he placed 8th in 20:14, whilst Mairead Cashman ran once again in Youghal’s Pobalscoil Na Tríonóide parkrun with its field of 35. Mairead placed 23rd and 10th in 29:27. Kate Murray took on Lough Key, where, in a field of 133, she ran 29:34 for 58th and 23rd spots, whilst, in Fairview, Catriona Egan joined 145 other runners, where she placed 64th and 18th in 28:04.

We had 3 runners in Shanganagh, where David Carter took 12th place in 20:10, Franky Keane placed 32nd in 22:37 and Orlaith de Burca finished in 143rd and 43rd places in 29:25 in the field of 224, whilst, in Cabinteely, Lisa Shine took 132nd and 58th spots in 34:58, followed by Máirín Shine (141st and 62nd in 37:02) in a field of 174.

Paul F. Kelly was joined by Aoife Kelly, making a comeback to parkrunning, in Poppintree with its field of 180. Paul placed 32nd in 23:36, followed by Aoife (129th and 45th in 31:54), whilst, further afield, Toby Benham ran in Rugby where he placed 6th in a field of 210 in a time of 19:47, and Deirdre Kennedy ran once again in Centennial Park in Sydney where, in a field of 477, she placed 233rd in 27:59.

Drivalia Sandyford 5k (673)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Mark Kirwan 1 00:16:08
31 Aoife Quigley 1 00:19:09
Crusaders AC runners
29 Gary Park 00:18:57
31 Aoife Quigley 00:19:09 (1)
72 Joanne Carey 00:21:04 (9)
106 Tanja Narancic 00:22:14 (14)
125 Olwyn Dunne 00:22:51 (23)
135 Charlotte Rufié 00:23:13 (27)
258 Lisa Shine 00:26:28 (70)
317 Lorraine McMahon 00:27:49 (99)
381 Mairín Shine 00:28:50 (135)
459 Stephen Hurley 00:30:41
467 Daniel O’Mahony 00:30:42
468 Cecilia Sandre 00:30:43 (182)
533 Carina Davidson 00:33:06 (221)
Full results here: https://www.popupraces.ie/race/drivalia-sandyford-5k-2025/
Leixlip 5k (288)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Sean Doran 1 00:15:17
8 Aoife Coffey 1 00:16:45
Crusaders AC runners
23 Alan Sheehy 00:17:42
41 Tomás Bradley 00:18:20
Full results here: https://www.popupraces.ie/race/leixlip-5k-road-race-2025/
Sportsworld Terenure 5 miler (1371)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Pierre Murchan 1 00:24:11
28 Meghan Ryan 1 00:28:54
Crusaders AC runners
6 Darah O’Reilly 00:26:14
16 Ciarain Kelly 00:28:03
20 Michael O’Conor 00:28:21
84 Yvonne Macaulay 00:31:39 (7)
127 Sean Murphy 00:32:54
150 Kabir Sala 00:33:11
153 Nina Holmes 00:33:28 (11)
224 Orla O’Flynn 00:35:11 (20)
226 Noel Carr 00:35:09
227 Michael Fitzsimons 00:35:15
296 Neil Brown 00:36:11
297 Sharon Woods 00:36:31 (PB) (31)
330 Robbie Moore 00:37:26
331 Luke Haran 00:36:42
353 Olwyn Dunne 00:37:50 (44)
413 Chris Bannon 00:38:49
447 Kate Murray 00:39:11 (73)
463 Anna Brown 00:39:41 (81)
509 Alan Martin 00:39:51
579 Kevin Kenny 00:41:12
601 Patrick Needham 00:40:51
687 Kelly Brown 00:43:22 (177)
876 Lorraine McMahon 00:46:06 (289)
948 Carina Davidson 00:47:55 (330)
949 Michelle English 00:47:37 (331)
1103 Cynthia Perucca 00:50:33 (435)
1112 Paul E. Kelly 00:50:48
Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/sportsworld_terenure_5_mile_2025/5524/results
IMRA Sugarloaf 9K (213)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Mark McAdden 1 00:52:37
19 Sorcha Loughnane 1 00:59:56
Crusaders AC runners
5 Donatas Jocius 00:54:57
32 Paul McNamara 01:03:48
70 Caoimhe Dempsey 01:10:49 (6)
96 Gavan Doherty 01:16:25
Full results here: https://www.imra.ie/events/results/id/2659
IMRA Log Na Coille (via Ballineddan) 10.5k (59)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Matthew McConnell 1 00:56:54
15 Caroline Harney 1 01:11:12
Crusaders AC runners
9 Jason Kehoe 01:08:41
17 Becky Quinn 01:12:01 (2)
Full results here: https://www.imra.ie/events/results/id/2673
IMRA Slievenamon 10k (64)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Killian Mooney 1 00:47:51
13 Dee Collins 1 01:00:13
Crusaders AC runner
14 Becky Quinn 01:01:03 (2)
Full results here: https://www.imra.ie/events/results/id/2610
Pobalscoil Na Tríonóide Parkrun (35)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Noel Early 1 00:18:57
4 Shannon Sotok 1 00:21:46
Crusaders AC runner
23 Mairead Cashman 00:29:27 (10)
Tolka Valley Parkrun (56)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Paul Fleming 1 00:17:30
5 Aleksandra Sobota 1 00:22:54
Crusaders AC runners
11 Phelim Murray 00:24:47
18 Sarah Lyons 00:25:38 (5)
Lough Key Parkrun (133)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 David Popplewell 1 00:18:50
2 Leah Lawler 1 00:19:17
Crusaders AC runner
58 Kate Murray 00:29:34 (23)
Wexford Racecourse Parkrun (114)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Ross Neill 1 00:18:44
10 Annemarie Doyle 1 00:22:26
Crusaders AC runner
1 Ross Neill 00:18:44
Poolbeg Parkrun (207)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Christopher O’Reilly 1 00:17:40
26 Ciara Regan 1 00:21:40
Crusaders AC runners
2 Kenan Furlong 00:17:48
5 Alby Allan 00:19:45
13 Adrian Groarke 00:20:00
35 John Lohan 00:22:19
42 Sharon Woods 00:23:16 (2)
46 Aoife McCarthy 00:23:25 (3)
57 Mikel Crisostomo 00:23:54
69 Laura O’Malley 00:24:41 (8)
72 Kabir Sala 00:24;52
73 Russell Murphy 00:24:52
80 Joanne Carey 00:25:24 (10)
81 Tanja Narancic 00:25:29 (11)
84 Aitor Arribas Velasco 00:25:33
85 Olwyn Dunne 00:25:34 (14)
100 Tara Murphy 00:26:51 (21)
103 Aisling O’Riordan 00:27:13 (23)
109 Fergal Morrissey 00:27:23
128 Djinn Von Noorden 00:28:43 (39)
147 Kevin Kenny 00:29:52
164 Maureen McGinley 00:31:37 (64)
Omagh Parkrun (77)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Conor Kilkenny 1 00:18:14
19 Heather Beattie 1 00:23:20
Crusaders AC runner
1 Conor Kilkenny 00:18:14
Limerick Parkrun (192)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Barry Murphy 1 00:17:46
8 Anna Feenan 1 00:19:40
Crusaders AC runners
21 Kev Moore 00:21:09
22 Mary Donnelly 00:21:15
Marlay Parkrun (493)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Derek Lawlor 1 00:17:37
10 Lauren McCambridge 1 00:20:18
Crusaders AC runners
1 Derek Lawlor 00:17:37
215 Barry O’Neill 00:27:30
249 Ciara Lynch 00:28:27 (65)
492 Carina Davidson 00:52:57
St. Anne’s Parkrun (518)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Brian Sexton 1 00:17:37
20 Laura White 1 00:19:39
Crusaders AC runner
47 Irene Gorman 00:21:28 (3)
Tralee Parkrun (268)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Maurice Kelter 1 00:17:05
31 Sarah Brosnan 1 00:23:58
Crusaders AC runner
1 Maurice Kelter 00:17:05
Cabinteely Parkrun (174)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 John Golden 1 00:19:29
16 Jennelyn Villocino 1 00:23:21
Crusaders AC runners
132 Lisa Shine 00:34:58 (58)
141 Máirín Shine 00:37:02 (62)
Poppintree Parkrun (180)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Paddy Murphy 1 00:17:55
18 Kate Cleary 1 00:22:27
Crusaders AC runners
32 Paul F. Kelly 00:23:36
129 Aoife Kelly 00:31:54 (45)
Fairview Parkrun (146)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
2 Chun Man Tam 1 00:19:01
9 Ulrike Weiss 1 00:22:24
Crusaders AC runner
64 Catriona Egan 00:28:04 (18)
Midleton Greenway Parkrun (149)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Mark Cronin 1 00:18:04
5 Siobhan Horgan 1 00:19:44
Crusaders AC runner
8 Niall O’Connell 00:20:14
Shanganagh Parkrun (224)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Odhran Caoilte 1 00:18:55
11 Karla Murray 1 00:19:35
Crusaders AC runners
12 David Carter 00:20:10
32 Franky Keane 00:22:37
143 Orlaith de Burca 00:29:25 (43)