Crusaders Master the Midas Touch

10/1/2017

We managed our largest showing of masters athletes in a long while on Sunday afternoon in the Dublin Masters XC championships. There were two races, a 3k for women and a 6k for men and in respective substantial fields (the largest for many a year) of 149 and 270 we fielded 11 women and 17 men, the latter in two teams of M35s and M50s. We also had a huge group of vocal supporters at every point around the course.

The races as usual were held in a corner of St. Anne’s Park in Raheny and hosted by Raheny Shamrocks. The flat course used is approx. 1450m long of forest trail and edges of open field and the women ran round each loop twice, the men four times in an anti-clockwise direction. To get to the required distances, each race had to start on the edge of a rugby field about 200m from the start of the loop. Last year, we ran the event in incredibly muddy conditions, with images of bow waves being remembered as we ploughed through the quagmire. This year, the conditions were markedly drier for the bulk of the course, but there were several muddy patches, which got worse with each completed lap. The usual log obstacle across a narrow part of the forested path also caught out a few athletes with the odd tumble even among those at the thin end towards the top of the field. The races also started in the same swampy conditions that we’d experienced last year, having to stand at the start line with our shoes immersed. Thankfully, the day was quite mild and no wind. Otherwise we might have been frozen before we got going. The sun even came out just as the men’s race got underway.

The women’s race went off first as would be expected and the eventual winner, Barbara Cleary, established a fierce pace from the gun. Behind for most of the first lap came a group of three or four athletes including our Niamh Boland and Adrienne Jordan. The Cru runners were able eventually to break away from the small group, however, and, although they were never going to catch the Donore athlete, they clearly separated themselves from the rest of the field with a commanding 2nd and 3rd place finish. With Niamh Corby, who found herself for most of the race on her own and who placed 10th, and Grainne Regan who came home in 31st spot, Crusaders were able to take the gold medal in the team event, believed to be our first, whilst Niamh and Adrienne took individual age category 1st and 2nd. The Cru team won with 46 points relegating Donore and Sportsworld to silver and bronze, both clubs scoring 63 and Donore getting the nod on countback. Closely behind Grainne came Dee Ni Chearbhaill in 41st and Dee was followed by Kate Murray (58th), Kris Ryan (66th), Olwyn Dunne (71st), Triona Quill (73rd) enjoying a baptism of fire in her first competitive event for the club, Geraldine Clements (79th) who stepped in at the last moment and Mairin Shine (146th) who also managed to take individual bronze in her age category.

The men took part in a race nearly double the size of the women’s and the organisers admitted later they had not expected such huge numbers. Next year, one suspects that the first turn is going to have to be made wider to accommodate the runners as we found the going extremely congested for the first 400m or so and were down almost to a walk early on. This suited some of us who had determined not to go off too hard. However, it did necessitate a lot of hard work in the later stages to catch runners who had had the benefit of being further upfront at the gun. The backend of the race also experienced a few problems as the chute was slightly too short and one suspects that some of the later times attributed were not quite accurate as it took a while to move up the congested chute to the timer. Nevertheless, the race was a super experience for those of us who were able to finish it.

Our men’s M35 team was initially given the bronze medal behind Raheny and Donore, but after the event it seems clear that there was an error in the additions and third place has likely gone to Rathfarnham, who might otherwise have won the event had not one of their runners in the lead up to the end of the third lap inadvertently miscalculated the distance and was forced to drop out. Our team is likely to be given 4th place, 7 points behind. We spotted the error and have informed the organisers.

Still, we had plenty to cheer about. Ciaran Diviney, who is currently training for the Tokyo marathon in February and is in great shape, was our lead runner, taking 6th place, winning the gold medal in his age category by one second, followed by Vinnie McGuinness (28th), Ger Forde (35th) and Brian Carroll (46th). They were our 4 scorers and the rest of the M35 team was made up of Karl Walsh (56th), running his second race in two days, Eddie Nugent (63rd), newcomer Frank Hague (108th), Colm Kernan (129th) and Niall O’Connell, who unfortunately was forced to drop out with a calf injury. It was really rewarding to be able to field a substantial M50 team. Our 8 members were led by James Cottle (132nd) who made a lot of headway in the race, along with Colm who came past James with 600m to go, the two of them having reeled in loads of runners and James having picked off several targets in his age category, taking individual M60 gold by 4 seconds. James was followed by Pat Quill (146th) who mastered the conditions well despite in retrospect possibly not having the best footwear for the occasion, David Long (166th) who is just getting back from injury, Denis Murphy (211th), Robbie Moore (217th), who like Karl had run in the BHAA XC the day before, Gerry Galligan (238th) and Russell Murphy (239th) both running in an XC race for the first time. The team was complemented by Leo Lundy who came home in 260th place.

There were two or three highlights of Saturday’s BHAA race in Tymon Park. The first was seeing Fiona Shine work her way through the field, taking at least 10 runners as she made her way into 8th place in the women’s 2-miler; the second was seeing Karl Fahy doing much the same thing to get to 4th place in the mixed 4 miler; and the third was witnessing a gutsy, spirited and determined sprint for the line by Paul Kelly, taking on another runner with 250m to go at the end of his particular race in the same event. It proved unsuccessful, not helped by a flailing elbow from his opponent and a wide turn at the end, but it was truly something to watch, a race within a race as so much of our running is all about.

The first event was the ladies 2 miles XC on a course, with a few tweaks, but largely familiar to those of us who have run in BHAA events in that venue in the past. There was little mud on the course but the underfoot conditions were made challenging at times because of the length of the grass and the soft going, particularly on some of the slightly uphill drags.

Fiona did make steady progress through the field on the two lap course and she finished off by taking her final quarry with 100m to go after being more than 50m behind her target with 400m left. It was a super tactical run, with her placing 8th in a small field of 36 runners. We had two other participants in the race. Ailis Fagan, who admitted afterwards that she is over 4 months pregnant, ran extremely well to place 22nd with Susan Walsh, running her first race as a Crusader, a few seconds behind in 23rd place and 3rd in her age category.

In the mixed 4 mile race, with a field reduced from past years to 143 runners, we had a great showing from Karl Fahy to take 4th spot after having been in 11th place at the end of the first of 4 laps. Karl Walsh also ran well to take 22nd place (4th in his age category), just ahead of John McAuley (29th) and Phelim Murray (46th) who also worked his way through the field. Members will be interested to hear that recently transferred (for logistical reasons) ex-Crusader Eamonn McWalter, was next in 52nd and he was followed by Tom Dunne (54th), Michael McGovern (63rd), Robbie Moore (71st) and Paul Kelly (129th). Because of faulty timing equipment the times attributed may not be accurate (possibly too fast) and the BHAA is addressing this.

Members will be interested to know that, on Sunday, Sean Murphy, who trains with the club, placed 11th in the Ferrycarrig 5 mile road race, won by Mick Clohisey a day after representing the European team in the Great Edinburgh Cross county run. Sean's time was 29:04.

As usual, there was a good showing in the parkruns on Saturday, with several of our runners in the XC using the events as prep for the following day. Indeed, the parkrun numbers, perhaps unsurprisingly, seem to be swelling for the first month of the year. We had three participants in Marlay, led home by Killian Barry who took 19th spot among the huge field of nearly 700 runners out there, in a time of 19:55. Killian was followed by David Long in 101st in a time of 23:21 and then by Francis Furey (224th in 25:42). Five Crusaders took on St. Anne’s. Among the 450 runners there, Diarmuid Byrne placed 3rd in 18:41, followed by Denis Murphy (83rd in 23;16), Colm Kernan (85th in 23:17), Fiona Bane (96th overall, 4th female finisher, in 23:35) and Kris Ryan (312th overall, 96th female, in 30:03). In Glasgow Aidan Hudner took 56th place out of nearly 400 finishers in a time of 21:50, whilst, in Knocknacarra, Leo Lundy placed 34th out of a field of 119 runners in a time of 24:44. Natasha Murray was our lone participant in Tymon on Saturday. She placed 160th overall, 52nd woman, in 41:52 in a field of 187 runners, whilst Orlaith Burke took on Shanganagh, placing 86th overall, 17th woman, in a time of 26:31. The field was 173. Max Dunne joined 131 other runners in Cabinteely and placed 31st in a time of 24:32, whilst in Lough Key, Kevin Regan ran in a field of 215 participants, taking 16th spot in a time of 21:57. Finally, Lisa Shine, finished in 100th place overall (17th female finisher) in a time of 25:45 in the 361-strong field in Ballincollig.

Dublin Masters Women’s XC
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Barbara Cleary 1 00:11:40
1 Crusaders AC runners
2 Niamh Boland 00:12:07
3 Adrienne Jordan 00:12:11
10 Niamh Corby 00:12:39
31 Grainne Regan 00:13:27
41 Dee Ni Chearbhaill 00:13:39
58 Kate Murray 00:14:18
66 Kris Ryan 00:14:27
71 Olwyn Dunne 00:14:35
73 Triona Quill 00:14:41
79 Geraldine Clements 00:15:00
146 Mairin Shine 00:18:06
Full results here: http://www.dublinathletics.com/
Dublin Masters Men’s XC
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 John Dunne 1 00:21:05
Crusaders AC runners
6 Ciaran Diviney 00:21:39
28 Vinnie McGuinness 00:22:56
35 Ger Forde 00:23:10
46 Brian Carroll 00:23:38
56 Karl Walsh 00:23:54
63 Eddie Nugent 00:24:09
108 Frank Hague 00:25:37
129 Colm Kernan 00:26:20
132 James Cottle 00:26:26
146 Pat Quill 00:26:51
166 David Long 00:27:32
211 Denis Murphy 00:29:10
217 Robbie Moore 00:29:28
238 Gerry Galligan 00:30:22
239 Russell Murphy 00:30:26
260 Leo Lundy 00:34:42
Full results here: http://www.dublinathletics.com/
BHAA Bank of Ireland XC women’s 2 miles
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Niamh Kearney 1 00:11:29
Crusaders AC runners
8 Fiona Shine 00:12:12
22 Ailis Fagan 00:13:55
23 Susan Walsh 00:14:13
Full results here: https://bhaa.ie/events/bank-of-ireland-cc-2017/
BHAA Bank of Ireland XC men’s 4 miles
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Simon Ryan 1 00:20:47
1 Crusaders AC runners
4 Karl Fahy 00:21:35
22 Karl Walsh 00:23:31
29 John McAuley 00:24:13
46 Phelim Murray 00:25:43
51 Niall McGeorge 00:26:13
54 Tom Dunne 00:26:50
63 Michael McGovern 00:27:28
71 Robbie Moore 00:28:07
139 Paul Kelly 00:36:46
Full results here: https://bhaa.ie/events/bank-of-ireland-cc-2017/
Knocknacarra Parkrun #136
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 David Carter 1 00:18:56
24 Cliodhna Ruane 1 00:23:13
Crusaders AC runner
34 Leo Lundy 00:24:44
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/knocknacarra/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=136
Tymon Parkrun #134
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Paul Martin 1 00:16:53
22 Aisling Coppinger 1 00:22:24
Crusaders AC runner
160 Natasha Murray 00:41:52
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/tymon/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=134
Marlay Parkrun #191
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 James Hunt 1 00:15:20
9 Sarah Baryga 1 00:19:04
Crusaders AC runners
19 Killian Barry 00:19:55
101 David Long 00:23:21
224 Francis Furey 00:25:42
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/marlay/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=191
Shanganagh Parkrun #94
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Stephen O’Kennedy 1 00:18:06
35 Shirley Casey 1 00:22:46
Crusaders AC runner
86 Orlaith Burke 00:26:31
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/shanganagh/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=94
Lough Key #35
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Graham Allen 1 00:19:07
20 Kathleen Horgan 1 00:22:36
Crusaders AC runner
16 Kevin Regan 00:21:57
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/loughkey/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=35
Ballincollig Parkrun #30
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Sean O’Brien 1 00:19:07
15 Jennifer Goggin Walsh 1 00:20:59
Crusaders AC runner
100 Lisa Shine 00:25:45
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/ballincollig/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=30
St Anne’s Parkrun #165
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Graham O’Dwyer 1 00:17:55
65 Melanie Markowitz 1 00:22:16
Crusaders AC runners
3 Diarmuid Byrne 00:18:41
83 Denis Murphy 00:23:16
85 Colm Kernan 00:23:17
96 Fiona Bane 00:23:35
312 Kris Ryan 00:30:03
450 Maria Pertl 00:53:06
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/stannes/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=165
Cabinteely Parkrun #93
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Matt Coughlan 1 00:19:12
11 Malika Hammani 1 00:20:59
Crusaders AC runner
31 Max Dunne 00:24;32
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/cabinteely/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=93