Course Management Success

11/9/2017

Niall O'Connell

We have three serious fund-raising events each year. One of them is the Docklands 5K which we organise ourselves, another is the club calendar and the third is providing Athletics Ireland with enough stewards to ensure that the Grant Thornton 5K, held each September, goes smoothly. It is fair to say that we do an excellent job and that, in no small part, is thanks to Jim O’Neill, who celebrates his 76th birthday today and who is a superb organiser of the stewarding activities. Thanks should also go to all the members who turned out on the night and performed their duties well, sometimes with considerable difficulty from local residents or office workers wanting to move their cars during the race.

Last week’s event went off without a hitch and more than 4,000 participants enjoyed a well-organised race that took in parts of the Docklands course, but also added in the Samuel Beckett Bridge, which was twice crossed, as well as some running round the houses on the south side of the Liffey off Sir John Rogerson’s Quay. Conditions were excellent and the high winds that had been present during the day abated somewhat as the runners came along the North Wall Quay. With the twists and turns it is probably a slower course than the Docklands 5K, but it certainly attracts a lot of runners, prizes for whom were only available in teams. This is an important consideration as women’s race winner Catherina McKiernan in particular might have had a bit of a shock reading the results to see that she was theoretically beaten by an unknown female runner. In fact, the runner was a man, and, as long as each team got the right numbers, in the grand scheme of things, it effectively did not matter which participant got which number as there were only bragging rights for individuals and no prizes. For the record, all the same, the overall race was won by Rathfarnham’s Louis McCarthy in 15:25 from ex-Crusader Ray Hynes who was some distance back in 15:36.

We had at least 16 clubmates in the race. Ciaran Diviney (8th in 16:03), John Mulvihill (14th in 16:21) and Vinnie McGuinness (16th in 16:30) were all well within sight of each other throughout the race and they were joined in the top 50 finishers by John Mannion in his first race in an age (having had a nasty leg injury for some time) (50th in 17:13). Joe McDermott (69th in 17:37), John Thuillier (77th in 17:46) ran well, as did Joe Walsh (109th in 18:09) whose mixed team, which included his wife, Donore’s Alma Hanevy, picked up a podium trophy. The male contingent was completed by Diarmuid Byrne (132nd in 18:27), David Carter (133rd in 18:28), Andrew Kinneen (like Diarmuid, in marathon training) (142nd in 18:37), Tomas Mahony (145th in 18:39), Gary Park (177th in 18:57) and Jocelyn Dufetel (830th in 21:59). We did not have many female club members in the race, but those that did run performed well. Amy Wright placed 405th overall in 20:21 and Amy was followed by Emer Kenny who ran a season’s best 21:38 (709th overall) and by Louise Dobbyn who is still getting back into competitive running (1,175th overall, in 23:03)

Over the weekend we likely had runners (including Fiona Bane) in the Great Pink Run in the Phoenix Park which involved two events (a 5K and a 10K), but results are yet to appear. Once they are published, the report will be updated.

On Saturday, John Fahy took part in the John Buckley Cork City 10 mile race. On a blustery day, in a field involving more than 550 finishers, John ran 1:03:59 to place 31st, behind race winner Mark Hanrahan (49:39). Also on Saturday, Olwyn Dunne, next year’s mini marathon race director, went on a scouting trip to France to participate in Paris’ version of the event, La Parisienne. In a field of nearly 21,000, Olwyn completed the unusual distance of 7k in a time of 36:38 and placed 170th. Of note, Barbara Sanchez placed 2nd in the race in 24:28.

Also on Saturday we had much success in the BHAA 5k organised by Pfizer on its campus in Newbridge. The 104-strong race was won by Karl Fahy in 15:59 (a 4 second margin of victory), with his partner Niamh Boland, placing 2nd in the women’s race (15th overall in 18:23). So, a great success for Sage’s parents! Pablo Sanchez, another runner returning to the racing stage after a longish absence, placed 5th in 16:09 and Pablo was followed by Ronan O’Reilly (24th in 19:42), Robbie Moore (52nd in 21:41) and Paul Kelly (91st in 27:26).

On Sunday, several Crusaders trooped down to Blessington, Co. Wicklow to take part in the Lakes 10k along with nearly 360 other runners. In extremely wet and highly windy conditions, Kiera Roche (34th overall in 39:01) and Ilona McElroy (38th overall in 39:31) placed respectively 3rd and 4th behind female winner Laura Shaughnessy and runner-up Sarah Mulligan. Dee Ni Chearbhaill placed 7th woman finisher (68th overall) in 43:59, winning her new age category. On the men’s side, Peter O’Toole took 16th spot in 37:08, followed by Brian Leonard, a runner who has run this race before and knows it well but in better weather conditions (22nd in 38:05) and Tom Dunne (60th in 42:48).

Further afield, club president Niall O’Connell reports that, the day after getting off a flight to Canada, he placed 2nd in the 6th event of Ontario’s MEC 5K race series. In a field of approx. 250 runners, on a flat out-and-back course on a nature reserve on Lake Ontario in excellent weather conditions, Niall put in a time of 18:40, a great time as he comes back from injury.

For Leo Lundy, this week’s fun was at the city marathon in Wroclaw in southern Poland. It is one of the bigger events on Poland and Leo was reminded a lot of Berlin (architecture and route) and Amsterdam (canals, bridges and tram tracks), but maybe not quite as grand. The start and finish was in the Olympic stadium. Chip time was 4:35 which Leo felt was significantly better than recent outings and is hoping that a sub 4 result in Dublin could still be on.

As usual, we had a decent turnout in the weekend’s offering of parkruns, 15 at least spread over 10 events. Our best performances came in the new Poolbeg parkrun, with Ciaran Diviney taking first place (16:31) ahead of 55 other runners, followed by John Mulvihill (2nd in 16:37) and Shane Collins (3rd in an unspecified time, but likely below 17 minutes). Seamus McFloinn, who is in marathon training, equally distinguished himself well with a first place finish (19:10) ahead of 118 other runners in Bushy Dublin. In the same event Ronan Gill placed 48th in 26:38. In Fairview, Aoife Quinn came 2nd (13th overall) in a field of nearly 50 runners. Aoife’s time was 26:25. Brian Carroll ran 18:52 in a field of 167 in Griffeen to place 4th, whilst, in Marlay, John McAuley also placed 4th in a time of 18:12 in a field of nearly 450. Another marathoner, Darina Scully, ran 31:04 to place 159th overall, 50th woman, in Malahide along with 233 other runners, whilst Ciara Bolger came home in 123rd place overall, 18th woman, in 25:01 in the 331-strong field in St. Anne’s. Maria Kennedy ran on her own in Kilkenny, taking 49th overall out of 188 (10th woman) in a time of 24:45, whilst Donal Foley placed 8th (21:47) and Martina White, 31st overall (7th woman), in 26:47 in the 65-strong field in Porterstown. Finally, Maria Pertl continues to distinguish herself by running parkruns, placing 80th overall (34th woman) in 34:46 in a field exceeding 100. Maria’s partner Diarmuid came in just behind her in 34:47.

Grant Thornton 5K
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Louis McCarthy 1 00:15:25
62 Catherina McKiernan 1 00:17:28
Crusaders AC runners
8 Ciaran Diviney 00:16:03
14 John Mulvihill 00:16:21
16 Vinnie McGuinness 00:16:30
50 John Mannion 00:17:13
69 Joe McDermott 00:17:37
77 John Thuillier 00:17:46
109 Joe Walsh 00:18:09
132 Diarmuid Byrne 00:18:27
133 David Carter 00:18:28
142 Andrew Kinneen 00:18:37
145 Tomas Mahony 00:18:39
177 Gary Park 00:18:57
405 Amy Wright 00:20:21
709 Emer Kenny 00:21:38
830 Jocelyn Dufetel 00:21:59
1175 Louise Dobbyn 00:23:03
Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/grant_thornton_corporate_5k_team_challenge/2247/results
Cork City 10 mile
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Mark Hanrahan 1 00:49:39
44 Sorcha Kearney 1 01:04:53
Crusaders AC runner
31 John Fahy 01:03:59
Full results here: https://corkcity10miler.com/results/2017-results/
The Lakes 10k
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Mick Clohisey 1 00:30:49
4 Laura O’Shaughnessy 1 00:34:34
Crusaders AC runner
16 Peter O’Toole 00:37:08
22 Brian Leonard 00:38:05
34 Kiera Roche 00:39:01 (3)
38 Ilona McElroy 00:39:31 (4)
60 Tomas Dunne 00:42:48
68 Dee Ni Chearbhaill 00:43:59 (7)
Full results here: https://www.popupraces.ie/race-results/
BHAA Pfizer 5K
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Karl Fahy 1 00:15:59
14 Michelle Cox 1 00:18:20
Crusaders AC runners
1 Karl Fahy 00:15:59
5 Pablo Sanchez 00:16:09
15 Niamh Boland 00:18:23 (2)
24 Ronan O’Reilly 00:19:42
52 Robbie Moore 00:21:41
91 Paul Kelly 00:27:26
Full results here: https://bhaa.ie/events/pfizer-5k-2017/
Marlay Parkrun #224
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Brian Lenihan 1 00:17:21
16 Sarah Baryga 1 00:19:45
Crusaders AC runner
4 John McAuley 00:18:12
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/marlay/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=224
Malahide Parkrun #253
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Claudio Rivelli 1 00:17:34
14 Joyce O’Hare 1 00:19:49
Crusaders AC runner
159 Darina Scully 00:31:04 (50)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/malahide/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=253
Griffeen Parkrun #221
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Patrick O’Donoghue 1 00:18:06
31 Kathleen Trunk 1 00:22:31
Crusaders AC runner
4 Brian Carroll 00:18:52
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/griffeen/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=221
St Anne’s Parkrun #198
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Graham O’Dwyer 1 00:16:35
12 Caitriona Costello 1 00:19:56
Crusaders AC runner
123 Ciara Bolger 00:25:01 (18)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/stannes/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=198
Kilkenny Parkrun #150
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Michael Ryan 1 00:17:18
17 Catriona Muldowney 1 00:21:02
Crusaders AC runner
49 Maria Kennedy 00:24:45 (10)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/kilkenny/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=150
Poppintree Parkrun #149
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Niall Fitzgerald 1 00:19:11
7 Elizabeth Daly 1 00:21:47
Crusaders AC runners
80 Maria Pertl 00:34:46 (34)
81 Diarmuid Byrne 00:34:47
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/poppintree/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=149
Porterstown Parkrun #99
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Alan Bernie 1 00:17:46
6 Siobhan Coman 1 00:21:39
Crusaders AC runners
8 Donal Foley 00:21:47
31 Martina White 00:26:47 (7)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/porterstown/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=99
Bushy Dublin Parkrun #29
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Seamus MacFloinn 1 00:19:10
Crusaders AC runners
1 Seamus MacFloinn 00:19:10
48 Ronan Gill 00:26:38
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/bushydublin/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=29
Fairview Parkrun #9
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Eoin O’Malley 1 00:20:39
5 Ciara McGrath 1 00:23:36
Crusaders AC runner
13 Aoife Quinn 00:26:25 (2)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/fairview/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=9
Poolbeg Parkrun #3
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Ciaran Diviney 1 00:16:31
16 Tara Murphy 1 00:24:05
Crusaders AC runners
1 Ciaran Diviney 00:16:31
2 John Mulvihill 00:16:37
3 Shane Collins (sub 00:17:04)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/poolbeg/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=3