Cru pull together successfully

9/7/2017

Back row: James Murphy, Hugh Larkin, and Joe Dunne. Middle row: Lisa Shine, Emer Kenny, Michael Fitzsimons, Fiona Shine and Adrienne Jordan. Front row: John McAuley, Catherine Thornton and Orla Kenny

It was a quiet week overall for road racing generally around the country but a momentous one for the club, as we hosted the Docklands 5k for the 3rd consecutive year. On a warm and humid, but, most importantly, dry, evening, with a westerly breeze, the race went largely without a hitch and we had sufficient volunteers to ensure generally a great experience for the runners. Since we started organising the event in 2015, we have seen ever faster times generated on the course and this year was no exception. New course records were established by both male and female winners and it is quite possible that we saw the greatest concentration of elite female runners in a 5k in Ireland this year, with the top 5 runners all breaking 17 minutes. The men also distinguished themselves, with a super sprint for the line involving 4 runners, finishing only 8 seconds apart in total. The race was won in a course record time of 14:30 by MSB’s John Coghlan, ahead of Kevin Maunsell (14:32) and Freddie Sittuk (14:37) ahead of a field of 1,558 finishers, the largest number for the race yet. The women’s race was won by another international athlete, Shona Heaslip of An Riocht, who also established a new course record of 16:12, ahead of last year’s winner Laura Shaughnessy (16:34) and another international, Ciara Durkin (3rd in 16:54). It was gratifying to see the first 4 female finishers complete the course in under 17 minutes, with the first 12 running under 19 minutes on chiptime. Indeed, the first 11 men ran under 16 minutes and over 15% of the field finished under 20 minutes, demonstrating that we really do have a fast and flat course.

Apart from the intrepid pacers recruited to try to ensure that runners finished under 20, 25 or 30 minutes, we had a few other Crusaders take part in the race and the ones we have been able to identify included Rob Cross, who ran 15:55 to place 10th and winner of his age category. Rob was followed by Tomas Mahony who took 131st place in 18:54, TJ Bourke (157th in 19:14), Zlatko Kulic (162nd in 19:15), Dave Tuohy (215th in 19:40), Luke Haran (535th in 20:24), Siobhan Russell (900th overall in 25:54), Orlaith de Burca (1,297th overall in 29:46), John Fitzsimons (a super 29:49 in 1,303rd) and Lorraine Fitzsimons (1381st overall in 32:53). The pacers were John McAuley, James Murphy, Adrienne Jordan, Hugh Larkin, Orla Kennedy, Catherine Thornton, Michael Fitzsimons, Fiona Shine, Lisa Shine and Emer Kenny, all expertly managed by Joe Dunne who also ran.

So, we held what has been acclaimed as a well-organised and safe race (although next year we will need to bring the water closer to the finish line), with a fun party afterwards in HQ. One notable observation is that 2 hours after the race our volunteers had removed all the evidence that a race had ever taken place, which hopefully will endear us to DCC, Garda an Siochana and local residents for future running of the event. Thanks to all who took a role in making the event such a huge success.

On Sunday, Dee Ni Chearbhaill reports that she placed 3rd woman finisher in a time of 20:41 in a 5K race (in Craanford in Co. Wexford) organised by Sliabh Buidhe Rovers with a field of nearly 190 runners. In fact, the first 3 women across the line were only 18 seconds apart and they finished one behind the other in 22nd, 23rd and 24th places overall. The overall race was won by Docklands third place finisher, Freddie Sittuk, in 15:06. Also, over the weekend, Kris Ryan competed in the Beach Run Half Marathon on the Gold coast of Australia, placing 3rd overall and first female finisher in a time of 1:54. Finally, on Sunday, Olwyn Dunne celebrated her birthday by running the Wicklow Hospice marathon in the Avondale forest. Olwyn passed through the marathon distance on the 5 mile loop course in 4:06:15, but ended up, for the sheer joy of running, covering at least 51k, indeed probably 54k.

The week started with the 6th graded meet organised by Dublin Athletics, this time in Irishtown stadium, with a plethora of sprints and 800m, together with a 5,000m event. In the 100m, there was a photo finish for 2nd place for Alix Hughes in the women’s 100m A race, Alix edging it in 13.08. Ines Fetahovic was 8th in 15.9 in the same race. Whilst, in the men’s 100m sprint, Abbas Bowen placed 4th in the B grade in 12.1 and, in the C grade, John O’Loughlin took 4th in 12.66, followed closely by novice Alex Romano who took 6th in 12.69. We then come onto the 800m events. The standout performance came from Niamh Boland who dominated her A race with a win close to her PB of 2:16.86, which qualified her for this coming Wednesday’s Morton Games in Santry. Amy Wright also won her C standard event in 2:29.34, at least 2 seconds ahead of 2nd place, with Niamh Aspell taking 5th in 2:33.38 and Grainne Regan, 6th in 2:34.55.

In the women’s B event, Anna King led for most of the race, but had to settle for 2nd place when she was caught within a whisker of the line. In only her 2nd 800m of the season, Anna ran a creditable 2:23.61. In the men’s races, there was a 6th place finish for Kevin Lynch in race 1 of the D grade, with a time of 2:25.61. The multi-disciplined John O’Loughlin took 8th in the same race in a time of 2:30.20. In race 2 of the same grade, Frank Halligan placed 3rd in 2:18.25, with Paul Kelly 7th in 3:04.94. We had 1 runner in the C grade where John Fahy took 7th in 2:14.88. Then, in race 1 of the B grade, Alan Sheehy finished in 7th spot in a time of 2:11.97, whilst, in the 2nd race, Brian Carroll came home in 3rd in 2:07.72. Michael Kiely placed 7th in race 1 of the A standard in a time of 2:05.13, whilst Michael O’Conor cemented his qualification for the Morton Games, running 2:01.83 to place 5th in the second race.

Darina Scully took on the women’s 5,000m and, in the combined B and C race, placing 4th in a time of 21:35.91, whilst, in the men’s equivalent standard event, Brian O’Kelly finished in 2nd place in 16:13.04 with Frank Halligan in 7th (16:51.10) and Joe McDermott, 11th in 17:20.96.

On Saturday junior hurdler Valantinos Goularas won the Greek National U20 110mH. Major congratulations to him.

There were two events in the mountains on which to report. On Wednesday evening, in IMRA’s Leinster League, on a really tough course in Ballinastoe, 158 runners took on a 500m climb over 12km. By all accounts, it was the toughest challenge of the year so far, in warm conditions. Warren Swords placed 12th in 56:57, about 5 minutes behind race winner Laura Kedney (51:49) and 2nd place finisher Michael McCarthy (53:27). The battle of the two Brians was won this week by Brian McGuckin (26th in 1:01:59), with Brian Leonard hot on his heels (28th in 1:02:38). Sonja Fuhrmann was next, placing 50th overall (8th woman) in 1:08:12, followed by Ali Onur Uyar (58th in 1:10:20) and Berndt Heim (155th in 1:37:11). Then on Saturday, Jason Kehoe distinguished himself with a win in the second of two races he has run (both, victories) in the Irish National Championships, this time on Croagh Patrick in Co. Mayo. The race involved challenging terrain with an ascent of more than 500m on a 7Km course. Among 54 competitors, Jason ran 52:58 for the win after a ding-dong battle with Rathfarnham’s Brian Furey (2nd in 53:55). Laura Flannelly’s husband, Brian, ran 1:05:09 to place 12th. We wish Jason, a recent national champion, well for the remaining races.

And so, we come to the parkrun results. A win is a win, no matter how small the field and Denis Murphy came home as first finisher whilst on holiday in southwest France in Cubnezais in the Gironde. At les Dougnes parkrun, a modest 10-person field, Denis ran 23:28. Meanwhile, John McAuley did the same thing in Shanganagh, taking first place ahead of 122 other runners, in a time of 17:35, with Neil Brown placing 52nd in 24:55. We also had a few second place finishes, with John Fahy taking 2nd place in Bushy Dublin in a field of nearly 170 runners and a time of 19:13. Diarmuid Byrne also took 2nd spot, this time in Poppintree where we seemed to have a substantial Cru presence, with some excellent times. Diarmuid’s time was 18:42 and, among the other 115 runners, Ciaran Smyth placed 3rd in 18:46, Aoife Clarke, placed 18th overall (2nd placed woman), in 21:51, Darina Scully placed 22nd overall (3rd placed woman), in 22:22, Fiona Bane took 27th overall (6th placed woman), in 22:54 and Maria Pertl ran a valiant 31:41 to place 95th overall, 46th female finisher. Another good result came from Maria Kennedy who took on the 122-strong field in Kilkenny, placing 20th overall, 3rd female finisher, in 24:02, whilst Sharon Woods was also a lone representative for the club in Tymon, taking 35th place overall (in a field of 119), 6th female finisher, in 24:28. Similarly, Orlaith de Burca was on her own, unusually, in Cabinteely, placing 76th overall out of 103, in a time of 30:59 (22nd female finisher). Finally, we had 3 runners in St. Anne’s. In a field exceeding 300 runners, Noel Reilly placed 13th in 20:15, whilst the venerable John Fitzsimons placed 188th in 28:54 and his daughter Lorraine took 246th spot overall in 32:03 (93rd female finisher).
Docklands 5K
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 John Coghlan 1 00:14:30 (CR)
16 Shona Heaslip1 00:16:12 (CR)
Crusaders AC runners
10 Rob Cross 00:15:55
131 Tomas Mahony 00:18:54
157 TJ Bourke 00:19:14
162 Zlatko Kulic 00:19:15
215 Dave Tuohy 00:19:40
535 Luke Haran 00:20:24
900 Siobhan Russell 00:25:54
1297 Orlaith de Burca 00:29:46
1303 John Fitzsimons 00:29:49
1381 Lorraine Fitzsimons 00:32:53
Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/dublin_docklands_5k/2340/results
Run with Ray 5K
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Freddie Sittuk 1 00:15:06
22 Mary Gorham 1 00:20:23
Crusaders AC runner
24 Dee Ni Chearbhaill 00:20:41 (3)
Full results here: http://www.sbrclub.com/
Tymon Parkrun #159
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Sean Mac Fhearraigh 1 00:19:07
11 Therese Hanly 1 00:21:12
Crusaders AC runner
35 Sharon Woods 00:24:28 (6)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/tymon/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=159
Kilkenny Parkrun #141
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Robbie McGee 1 00:17:32
18 Theresa van Marter 1 00:23:50
Crusaders AC runner
20 Maria Kennedy 00:24:02 (3)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/kilkenny/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=141
Shanganagh Parkrun #120
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 John McAuley 1 00:17:35
26 Noelle Thorpe 1 00:22:00
Crusaders AC runners
1 John McAuley 00:17:35
52 Neil Brown 00:24:55
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/shanganagh/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=120
St Anne’s Parkrun #190
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Damien Martin 1 00:16:44
16 Caitriona Costello 1 00:20:35
Crusaders AC runners
13 Noel Reilly 00:20:15
188 John Fitzsimons 00:28:54
246 Lorraine Fitzsimons 00:32:03 (93)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/stannes/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=189
Cabinteely Parkrun #119
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Angus Tyner 1 00:19:02
8 Ciara Brady 1 00:21:03
Crusaders AC runners
76 Orlaith de Burca 00:30:59 (22)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/cabinteely/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=119
Poppintree Parkrun #140
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Bobby Bedford 1 00:17:19
13 Kate Cleary 1 00:20:52
Crusaders AC runners
2 Diarmuid Byrne 00:18:42
3 Ciaran Smyth 00:18:46
18 Aoife Clarke 00:21:51 (2)
22 Darina Scully 00:22:22 (3)
27 Fiona Bane 00:22:54 (6)
95 Maria Pertl 00:31:41 (46)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/poppintree/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=140
Bushy Dublin Parkrun #20
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Damien Bourke 1 00:18:35
10 Christine Kinsella 1 00:21:02
Crusaders AC runner
2 John Fahy 00:19:13
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/bushydublin/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=20