Cross Country season gets off to a great start

3/10/2016

In warm and sunny conditions with a little breeze on Sunday afternoon, we fielded both men’s and women’s teams for the Dublin novices XC that took place near the Magazine in the Phoenix Park. The 4K women’s race went off first with 76 competitors, 9 of whom were representing the club. From the start Niamh Corby was able to establish a position in a second group after a group of 4 runners (representing Rathfarnham, Dublin City Harriers together with 2 sisters from Sportsworld), broke away and developed a clear lead which was not to be overcome. The Rathfarnham girl, Clare Sullivan, won in 14:42, followed by the two Brouder sisters (helping their team to first place). With a little back and forth in the group throughout the race Niamh was able to hold on for 8th place (in 15:57) at the finish. Finishing strongly behind her, after only a couple of weeks of training with Crusaders, came Sinead Keane in 25th place (16:45) and Sinead was followed by Gillian Earley (37th in 17:11). Our 4th scorer was Grainne Regan, but her result is missing from the results page (soon to be updated). The chances are it has no bearing on the outcome and the team came home in a highly creditable 6th place. Behind Grainne came Edel Haverty who placed 44th in 17:26. Geraldine Clements was next in 52nd (17:48), followed closely by Dee Ni Chearbhaill (54th in 17:50), Emer Kenny (57th in 17:55) and Darina Scully, enjoying a baptism of fire (62nd in 18:14).

In the men’s race we fielded 11 runners in a field of 93. Again, there was a breakaway group of 4 runners, but this time we had a Crusader in the mix. Vinnie McGuinness, clearly well on the way to full recovery from his recent injury, briefly led the field but in time had to settle for 4th place (in 20:40), but well clear of the second group which had contained John Mulvihill. John managed a top 10 place (10th in 21:04) and the two other scorers, not so far behind were Michael O’Conor, who briefly had a rough patch but who finished strongly (17th in 21:24) and a fast finishing Ger Forde who’s having an excellent year (20th in 21:32). The 4 scorers were able to bring home team bronze for the club with 51 points, only 5 points off Raheny in second place, Rathfarnham taking team gold. Peter O’Toole quietly got on with the business and ran a solid race placing 31st in 21:53 and he was followed by our recent Berlin marathoner (and who will also run in Dublin later in the month), Ian Kinsella (33rd in 21:56). Eddie Nugent was next with a great sprint for the line (45th in 22:29), followed by John McAuley (50th in 22:35) who was just not able to hold Eddie off at the end. Garret Dunne also found the going challenging but pushed hard (51st in 22:44) and our team was completed by Neill Monahan and Simon Everard (69th and 86th respectively in 23:49 and 25:55, respectively).

On Thursday evening on a twisty course in Sandyford in breezy conditions we had several runners take part in the DSD-organised Twilight team Challenge. Just over 500 runners took part in the evening event which included Irene Gorman who placed 18th overall (6th female finisher) in 19:18, Matthew Morrow, in marathon training for Dublin, 36th in 19:58, Helena Walsh, 59th overall (214th woman) in 20:48, Jocelyn Dufetel (83rd in 21:38), Suzanne Martin coming back from injury (93rd overall, 20th woman, in 21:50), Kevin O’Connor (112th in 22:19) and Leo Lundy, on a training run before another marathon exploit at the weekend (132nd in 22:55).

Saturday in the Phoenix Park, and near where we train, saw the Simon community 5 miler. It took place on a reasonably challenging course starting on the Acres Road, then following up Chesterfield Ave, leading down the Upper Glen road, along the snake and up the Khyber pass. Thankfully, it was dry after a wet early morning and not too windy. In a field exceeding 1,000 participants, our two intrepid runners acquitted themselves well. Seamus MacFloinn (who last ran anonymously in the recent Grant Thornton 5K..spotted but not timed!) placed 13th in a time of 29:33 and John Fahy took 33rd place in 32:34.

Also, on Saturday, Catherine Thornton was our sole representative in one of the 3 events in the Run Galway festival. Catherine took part in the 10K and in a field of more than 1,330 runners came home after a steady race in 32nd place overall, 8th woman finisher behind women’s race winner Siobhan O’Doherty, in an excellent time of 41:51, which would have been even better had the course not measured about 200m long (as reported by several participants). It was a pity, as the conditions for racing were excellent, a crisp sunny morning with little wind on a fast and flat out-and-back route along the coast from Galway city through Salthill.

On Sunday Kris Ryan and Leo Lundy took part in the Monaghan Marathon (part of the Monaghan marathon festival). In a field of 102 finishers, Kris managed 3:49:09 for 24th place overall (4th woman) and Leo found himself in some difficulty and placed 51st. The race took place in and around Rossmore park which included a brass band, bag pipes and 2 cheile bands en-route. It was a hilly course on a crisp but nice day. Unfortunately, Leo developed a leg issue around 10 miles and hobbled to a 4:21:42 finish. Nevertheless, both our runners had course PBs.

James Cahill reports that he ran in the Cologne Half marathon on Sunday, recording a PB time of 1:28:46, a solid improvement of 5 minutes over his time last week in the Dublin race series half.

After last week’s hiatus we had plenty of participants in Saturday’s parkruns. Mairin, Lisa and Fiona Shine made a welcome return to competitive running, with Fiona placing as first woman finisher (7th overall) in Cabinteely in a time of 21:30. In a field of 64, Mairin and Lisa came in side by side in 50th and 51st places overall (18th and 19th female finishers), with the same time of 29:27. Orla Kennedy matched Fiona by placing first woman finisher in Lees Road, Ennis, Co. Clare. Orla was just one second off her PB in 20:13, and 3rd overall in a field of 45 runners. Dave Cuddy placed 3rd in Athlone out of a field of 49. Dave’s time was 20:13. Darina Scully warmed up for the following day’s cross-country, running 22:00 and placing 2nd female finisher (98th overall) in a field of 53 in the Father Collins parkrun. Dave Tuohy took on the challenging Knocknacarra parkrun in Galway, placing 3rd in 20:36 among 78 other runners. In Cardiff Sharon Woods placed 174th overall (30th woman) in 25:35 among a field of 475 runners, whilst in Glasgow, Aidan Hudner continues to pound the trails of Victoria park, coming home in 68th out of 237 runners in a time of 23:07. Finally, in St. Anne’s Raheny, Denis Murphy placed 43rd in 22:51 followed by Emer Kenny who walked the entire event with her mother to celebrate the latter’s milestone birthday, coming home in 242nd (out of 244), with her mother just ahead, in a time of 47:44.

Twilight Team Challenge
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Ian O’Leary 1 00:17:21
3 Ide Nic Dhomhnaill 1 00:18:04
Crusaders AC runners
18 Irene Gorman 00:19:18
36 Matthew Morrow 00:19:58
59 Helena Walsh 00:20:58
83 Jocelyn Dufetel 00:21:38
93 Suzanne Martin 00:21:50
112 Kevin O’Connor 00:22:19
132 Leo Lundy 00:22:55
Full results here: http://www.myrunresults.com/events/twilight_team_challenge_5k_/1807/results

Run Galway Bay 10K
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Freddie Sittuk 1 00:31:18
5 Siobhan O’Doherty 1 00:35:05
Crusaders AC runner
32 Catherine Thornton 00:41:51
Full results here: http://www.redtagtiming.com/results/RunGalwayBay2016_10km.pdf

Dublin Simon Community 5 mile
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Ian Conroy 1 00:25:50
12 fiona Clinton 1 00:29:28
Crusaders AC runners
13 Seamus MacFloinn 00:29:33
33 John Fahy 00:32:34
Full results here: http://www.myrunresults.com/events/dublin_simon_5_mile/1831/results

Knocknacarra Parkrun #123
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Jerome Debize 1 00:18:31
7 Helen Corbett 00:21:02
Crusaders AC runner
3 David Tuohy 00:20:36
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/knocknacarra/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=123

Cabinteely Parkrun #79
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Nicola Piana Agostinetti 1 00:19:07
7 Fiona Shine 1 00:21:30
Crusaders AC runners
7 Fiona Shine 00:21:30
34 Kate Murray 00:26:17
50 Mairin Shine 00:29:27
51 Lisa Shine 00:29:27
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/cabinteely/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=79

Lees Road Parkrun #76
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Peter Clinton 1 00:19:39
3 Orla Kennedy 1 00:20:13
Crusaders AC runner
3 Orla Kennedy 00:20:13
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/leesroad/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=76

St Annes’s Parkrun #150
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Damien Martin 1 00:17:24
12 Orla Walsh 1 00:20:15
Crusaders AC runners
43 Denis Murphy 00:22:51
242 Emer Kenny 00:47:44
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/stannes/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=150

Father Collins Parkrun #53
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Paul Cullen 1 00:19:12
4 cecile ollagnier 1 00:20:27
Crusaders AC runner
8 Darina Scully 00:22:00
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/fathercollins/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=53

Athlone Parkrun #60
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Artur Kasperki 1 00:19:39
11 Rebecca Carolan 00:22:22
Crusaders AC runner
3 Dave Cuddy 00:20:13
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/athlone/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=60