Cru women master National (Ploughing) Championships

12/2/2018

Dee Ni Chearbhaill, Grainne Regan, Adrienne Jordan, Becky Quinn, Ilona McElroy, Niamh Corby

No one expected it to be easy, a stroll in the park. Cross country races at this time of year rarely are. However, equally no one expected there to be virtually no blade of grass visible on the 2Km and 1km loops that made up the new course on the Kilcornan Estate in Clarinbridge for the National Masters and Senior Intermediates Championships. The result of the effects of rain and sleet on an already saturated field hosting 13 races, 9 of them juvenile, was a mudbath and a huge challenge for runners in the later races, getting progressively worse through the afternoon, with racers’ shoes weighed down with heavy mud from the quagmire. In fact several athletes lost shoes around the course. Even the supporters were finding the going tough trying to catch runners in more than one location. If you stood around for too long you would sink in the mud and standing anywhere close to the barrier tape often resulted in a severe splattering as runners sought to find the shallowest route along the edges of the track. It was a truly agricultural experience for everyone and, as Eddie Nugent commented, a character-building experience! In efforts to stop slipping (even with the longest of spikes) runners often had to windmill with their arms and, as Michael Wycherley further pointed out, the lateral movement was as great as the forward movement in the race. Another commented that every step required a conscious decision, it was so hard to run. In addition, there were rocks dotted around in the mud, which made it even more treacherous in places.

The event took place in chilly conditions, with alternating sun and showers of sleet throughout the afternoon on a course that had no real pronounced hills, but two relatively significant drags that sapped the strength of all. No one warmed up on the course and no one cooled down on it. Instead they prepared on the estate's roads, which probably sums it all up really!

Our women’s masters team excelled themselves in the conditions in a race enjoying a field of 180 runners (including O/65 men). We fielded a team of 7 and they came home with the team gold by a significant margin (103 points to Sportsworld’s 130). Indeed, as we say, every place counts and 2nd through 4th-placed teams (Sportsworld 130, St. Finbarrs 131 and Youghal 133) were only 3 points apart. Adrienne Jordan led the charge in the 4k race, placing 16th in 16:57 and the rest of our scorers were well bunched in the field. Adrienne was followed by Ilona McElroy making her debut as a masters runner (22nd in 17:18) and then came Becky Quinn, an accomplished mountain runner for the club, but having limited experience of XC and who turned out in trail shoes with no spikes, surprising us all with 32nd place (17:45) leading a grateful Niamh Corby across the line just behind (33rd in 17:46), the pair having worked together throughout the race. Super runs came from spoilers Grainne Regan (70th in 19:05) and Dee Ni Chearbhaill (91st in 28:10), whilst Mairead Cashman had an extremely tough day, but holding on to place 173rd in 28:10. There was an added bonus for Adrienne and Ilona in winning silver medals with the Dublin county team.

The masters men’s 7k race had an even larger field, with 248 finishers. The 4-man Cru team, without any reserves or spoilers, ran creditably to place 9th out of 24 O/35 teams and they were led home by Ciaran Diviney (32nd in 28:52) who placed 4th in his age category. Ciaran was followed by the usual strong-running and revelation of the season, Michael Wycherley (41st in 29:32), Vinnie McGuinness, who after a difficult first half recovered well in the second to place 48th in 29:52 and Eddie Nugent (127th in 33:25).

Just two women declared for the intermediates in their 5k race. In a small field of 52 runners, Fiona Shine placed 41st in 28:31, followed by Darina Scully (49th in 31:01) and then we had just one finisher in the men’s 80-strong 8k intermediate race. Joe McDermott took 71st spot in 39:06, whilst Frank Hague had to pull out during the event.

Hats off to everyone who took on the challenge yesterday and many congratulations to the women’s masters team!

In finishing in, respectively, 2:54:40 and 3:24:29, both Gary O’Hanlon and Caitriona Jennings set new course records to take the titles the Irish 50 km championships on Saturday in Donadea Forest, Co. Kildare. We had two finishers from the race. Brian Scanlan came home in 36th place out of a field of 184 in a respectable 4:09:15, whilst former national champion Olwyn Dunne placed 136th in 4:57:00 (20th woman finisher and 3rd in her age category), with husband Joe also out on the course helping to pace the race, the day after seeing their son Jack contributing to Ireland’s win over Italy in the U20 rugby with his 2nd international cap (and likely YouTube fame). Further west, in Galway, three of our members took on the Gorgeous Gort 5k on Sunday. The race took place in cold, but otherwise good, road running conditions (and before the snow arrived). Joe Walsh placed 7th and 1st M40 in a field of 175 runners and a great time of 18:19, whilst his wife Alma was 15th overall, 3rd woman finisher behind race winner Sinead Brody from GCH who used to train with the Cru, in 19:28. Both Joe and Alma are in training for the Paris marathon in April. Ultra-marathon runner Leo Lundy took on a shorter distance than usual this weekend, placing 52nd (5th M50) in 23:55.

On Thursday of last week there was another round of indoor races at the National Indoor Arena in Abbotstown. In heat 2 of the 60m dash, Bryan McGetrice placed 3rd in 7.96, followed by John O’Loughlin in 4th place (8.11). John went on to place 3rd in heat 2 of the 400m in a time of 57.98. Finally, Denis Murphy joined the famous Joe Gough in heat 4 of the 800m, placing 7th in a great time of 2:32.25. The 65-year old Gough ran 2:18.19 for the distance, winning the heat.

In the mountains at the weekend, at least two Crusaders joined 94 other runners in Mullaghmeen. On a challenging 10.8km course with its 400m+ ascent in snowy conditions, Laura Flannelly placed 41st overall, 2nd woman finisher, in 1:07:20 behind race winner Javier Hernando (52:59), followed by Olan Callinan (77th in 1:24:01).

The usual sprinkling of Crusaders took part in parkruns on Saturday morning. The most noteworthy performance came from James Murphy, still on holiday in South Africa, where he ran the St. Francis parkrun, on a golf course near Port Elizabeth, returning as first finisher in 19:10 ahead of 135 other runners. Not in the details below was the run of Aidan Hudner who finished the parkrun in Victoria Park Glasgow in 64th place out of 295 runners in a time of 22:46. David Carter placed 2nd in Cabinteely in 19:39, followed by Lisa Shine (146th overall, 62nd woman, in 46:24). Kate Murray took on Bushy Dublin, finishing in 32nd place overall, 3rd woman home, in 24:00, whilst in Fairview Sarah Lyons was 4th woman finisher, 25th overall, in 24:34. Sean Smith placed 6th (21:25) and Phelim Murray, 14th in 23:03, in the same event. We had a large turnout in Poolbeg as usual, with the contingent led home by Anthony Owens (8th in 20:34), followed by Zalan Kovacs (19th in 21:31), Russell Murphy (28th in 22:51), David Timoney (42nd in 24:04), Gillian Errity (60th overall, 15th woman, in 25:24) and Iseult Ni Chuinneagain (101st overall, 34th woman, in 29:59). We had a similarly good showing in Porterstown, where Diarmuid made a welcome return, placing 5th in 20:20, followed by Ciaran Smyth (11th in 21:22), Fiona Bane (28th overall, 3rd woman, in 23:37), Amy Brogan, another returner (40th overall, 7th woman, in 25:19) and Maria Pertl mopping up the back markers (152nd overall, 78th woman, in 51:03). Mairead Cashman prepared for her ordeal in Clarinbridge with a parkrun in Marlay, placing 340th overall, 94th woman, in 28:57, whilst, in Shanganagh, Mike Stewart took 16th spot in 21:41. Leo Lundy took on another 5k in preparation for Gort. On Saturday, he ran in Oranmore, placing 38th in 25:04. Finally, Colm Kernan (117th) and Denis Murphy (118th) placed side-by-side in 24:36 in St. Anne’s, followed by Lorraine Fitzsimons (308th overall, 86th woman, in 31:18).

National Masters women’s 4k XC race (180)
Overall place Name Chiptime
1 Sara Doohan 1 00:15:40
Crusaders AC runners
16 Adrienne Jordan 00:16:57
22 Ilona McElroy 00:17:18
32 Becky Quinn 00:17:45
33 Niamh Corby 00:17:46
70 Grainne Regan 00:19:05
91 Dee Ni Chearbhaill 00:19:58
Full results here: http://www.athleticsireland.ie/competition/results/
National Masters men’s 7k XC race (248)
Overall place Name Chiptime
1 Paul Moloney 1 00:26:03
Crusaders AC runners
32 Ciaran Diviney 00:28:52
41 Michael Wycherley 00:29:32
48 Vinnie McGuinness 00:29:52
127 Eddie Nugent 00:33:25
Full results here: http://www.athleticsireland.ie/competition/results/
National Intermediate women’s 5k XC race (52)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Mary Mulhare 1 00:22:15
Crusaders AC runners
41 Fiona Shine 00:28:31
49 Darina Scully 00:31:01
Full results here: http://www.athleticsireland.ie/competition/results/
National Intermediate men’s 8k XC race (80)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Michael Harty 1 00:30:39
Crusaders AC runners
71 Joe McDermott 00:39:06
Full results here: http://www.athleticsireland.ie/competition/results/
Donadea 50k (184)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Gary O’Hanlon 1 02:54:40
7 Caitriona Jennings 03:24:00
Crusaders AC runners
36 Brian Scanlan 04:09:15
136 Olwyn Dunne 04:57:00 (20)
Full results here: https://www.popupraces.ie/race-results/
Gorgeous Gort 5k (175)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Colm Turner 1 00:16:20
9 Sinead Brody 1 00:18:38
Crusaders AC runners
7 Joe Walsh 00:18:19
15 Alma Hanevy 00:19:28 (3)
52 Leo Lundy 00:23:55
Full results here: https://www.popupraces.ie/race-results/
Marlay Parkrun #245 (596)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 unknown 1 00:18:09
8 Sarah Baryga 1 0:19:10
Crusaders AC runners
68 Neil Brown 0:22:25
340 Mairead Cashman 00:28:57 (94)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/marlay/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=245
Oranmore Parkrun #78 (110)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Conor Dolan 1 00:18:48
4 Eimear O’Leary 1 00:20:41
Crusaders AC runner
38 Leo Lundy 00:25:04
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/oranmore/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=78
St. Anne’s Parkrun #221 (421)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Graham O’Dwyer 1 00:16:55
6 Fiona Stack 1 00:18:33
Crusaders AC runners
117 Colm Kernan 00:24:36
118 Denis Murphy 00:24:36
308 Lorraine Fitzsimons 00:31:18 (86)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/stannes/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=221
Porterstown Parkrun #122 (152)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Unknown 1 00:19:10
18 Ann Foran 1 00:22:31
Crusaders AC runners
5 Diarmuid Byrne 00:20:20
11 Ciaran Smyth 00:21:22
28 Fiona Bane 00:23:37 (3)
40 Amy Brogan 00:25:19 (7)
152 Maria Pertl 00:51:03 (78)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/porterstown/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=122
Shanganagh Parkrun #150 (160)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Andrew Lawless 1 00:17:26
15 Maeve O’Grady 1 00:21:09
Crusaders AC runner
16 Mike Stewart 00:21:41
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/shanganagh/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=150
Poolbeg Parkrun #25 (119)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 St. John Walsh 1 00:18:56
12 Elizabeth Wheeler 1 00:21:02
Crusaders AC runners
8 Anthony Owens 00:20:34
19 Zalan Kovacs 00:21:31
28 Russell Murphy 00:22:51
42 David Timoney 00:24:04
60 Gillian Errity 00:25:24 (15)
101 iseult Ni Chuinneagain 00:29:59 (34)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/poolbeg/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=25
Cabinteely Parkrun #150 (147)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Garrett Banahan 1 00:18:41
7 Luisa Greiss 1 00:21:14
Crusaders AC runners
2 David Carter 00:19:39
146 Lisa Shine 00:46:24 (62)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/cabinteely/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=150
Bushy Dublin Parkrun #51 (170)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Gary Crossan 1 00:17:52
16 Beth Neal 1 00:21:49
Crusaders AC runner
32 Kate Murray 00:24:00 (3)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/bushydublin/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=51
Fairview Parkrun #31 (121)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 unknown 1 00:19:06
12 Aoife Mulvo 1 00:22:44
Crusaders AC runners
6 Sean Smith 00:21:25
14 Phelim Murray 00:23:03
25 Sarah Lyons 00:24:34 (4)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/fairview/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=31