Crusaders Run for the Hills

19/11/2018

Rob Cross (4529) and the M45 silver medal winning team

The BHAA should have been delighted this weekend with the number of Crusaders who turned out for the combined Irish Life 6K XC in Santry Demesne. Indeed, with our 24 or more runners, we represented more than 10% of the field of nearly 230 participants.

The race is held on a slightly different course from that of the Dublin Seniors, in that the hill next to the walled garden came into play on the 1.5km loop, making for some excellent opportunities for runners to make strategic moves and by all accounts the course wasn’t as muddy as in previous years.

Our first runner home was Ger Forde in 14th place (21:21) ahead of Frank Halligan, in his first outing since his super run in the Dublin marathon (16th in 21:28). Diarmuid O’Foghlu has got over his recent leg injury and took 38th spot in 22:18, followed by John McAuley (44th in 22:34). Enda Currid was next (55th in 22:58), followed by our first female athlete, Caroline Crowley (61st overall, 4th woman home, in 23:18), with Michael Maughan hot on her heels (62nd in 23:19). A short gap opened up before our next runner, David Long, crossed the line (75th in 23:51, and 4th in his age category) who came in ahead of a bunch led by TJ Bourke (99th in 24:58) together with Tim O’Donnell (100th in 24:59), Marius McNicholas (101st in 25:00) and Niamh Corby (102nd overall, 6th woman, and 1st in her age category, in 25:01). The final places were completed by Rachel Yorke with another strong run (108th overall, 7th woman, in 25:21), Tom Dunne (119th in 25:50), Phelim Murray (133rd in 26:17), Brendan Glynn (139th in 26:51), Sarah Lyons (143rd overall, 9th woman, in 27:01), Pat Quill (145th in 27:08), Robbie Moore (155th in 27:29), Kate Murray (158th overall, 14th woman and 3rd in her age cat, in 27:37), Emer Kenny (160th overall, 15th woman, in 27:40), Maria Kennedy (169th overall, 18th woman, in 28:11), Mairead Cashman (218th overall, 35th woman and 4th in her age cat, in 34:53) and Paul Kelly (228th in 42:19).

Also, on Saturday morning, in Swansea in South Wales, Rob Cross and James Cottle took part in the annual British and Irish masters international cross country competition, having qualified to run in the recent Open XC race in Abbottstown a week before the Dublin marathon. This year the event was being hosted by Wales and next year it will be the turn of the English in Southport. It is due to return to Santry (likely to be the same course as the BHAA) in 2020. Each race comprised at least 3 age categories, with a minimum generally of 60 runners on a course that was extremely challenging. Each loop was 2k and following a downhill start halfway up the park it zigzagged in a series of switchbacks up approx. 1km, then across a ridge for about 100m and then down the other side for approx. 700m to a flattish continuation or finish near the start line. At the bottom of the course there was plenty of mud (stirred up by the racers) and the terrain was uneven everywhere with us having to jump the odd ditch and avoid potholes. A few plastic sheets were laid down to help us across at least 4 paths and there were some tight corners in places as well. We enjoyed sunny and mild conditions with a fresh breeze that was into our faces on the descent to the finish.

After the women’s race which also comprised the M65 category, James’ race went off with the M50s, M55s and his category, the M60s. We were all generally in teams of 4 with 3 to score. It was always going to be a fast and furious start and there was at least one casualty, a Welshman, being tripped to the ground within 50m of the gun. James decided to take it steady and rely on runners coming back to him. He didn’t panic too much when he realised that 200m from the start he was definitely in last place. However, his even splits around the course did pay off as he was able to haul in 5 runners (2 Welsh (including their 3rd scorer) and 2 Northern Irish (their 2nd and 3rd scorers)) and, on the line, one of our own M55 team. When the smoke had cleared, the Irish team had taken 3rd place and a bronze medal behind two strong teams from England and Scotland and ahead of Northern Ireland and Wales. Rob, then went off in the 3rd race of the day, the 3 categories in the range from 35 to 49, with teams of as many as 6 runners, 4 to score. Although, like James, Rob was a non-scorer for the team, he acquitted himself well considering he was suffering from a recurrent Achilles injury, made worse on such a challenging course and like James, spoiled at least one country’s scoring place. The M45s team, in which Rob was a member, did extremely well, taking silver, again behind a dominant English squad. So, after adding up all the scores, the Irish team came second in both men’s and women’s events and second overall, behind England. A highly successful and satisfactory outcome!

Other successful and satisfactory outcomes over the weekend included that of our exile, Stephen Moore, our man in Berlin, who ran in the Grunewald forest marathon. Showing that he really hasn’t lost much of his edge, if at all, he won the event in a course record time of 2:44:47 on a course that was held on a mixture of forest trails and hills in chilly conditions. We also produced another winner at the weekend. Fresh from his recent success in the NY marathon, Kieran Little made use of his residual endurance to win the Clontarf half marathon on Saturday morning. Kieran’s time of 1:12:13 was singularly impressive given that the race is run on a mixture of tarmac, concrete and sand and on a course where the wind always seems to be in your face. Kieran was followed home by Rob Browne who had yet another excellent outing. In a field of more than 1600 finishers, Rob placed 26th in 1:25:17 and he was followed by Luke Davis (55th in 1:28:31), Patrick Needham (57th in 1:28:40) in his fastest time for that particular race, Aidan Flynn (118th in 1:33:40) and Olwyn and Joe Dunne who paced the sub-2 hour runners coming home in an identical time of 1:59:43. There was, as usual, a 5 mile race added on for good measure and it attracted more than 750 finishers. Gemma Cooper placed 116th overall, 36th female, in 40:23, whilst Deborah Little placed 219th overall, 86th female, in 53:54.

Elsewhere, Leslie Lluyd Hughes placed 26th in a time of 46:12 in the Gingerbread 10k run, with its field of nearly 650 runners, whilst in the half marathon, Gillian Lyons joined approx. 800 other runners, finishing in 161st place overall, 30th female, in 1:44:53.

Further afield, our exile in Canada, Ian Kinsella ran in the Aravaipa Running pass Mountain 50k, taking 6th spot in a strong field, whilst Leo Lundy ran in yet another Ultra, this time the “Winter is Coming” race outside London.

Finally, here is a round-up of the weekend’s parkrun action. Karl Walsh headed off to South Africa for a delayed honeymoon and took time off to come home as first finisher in a field of 183 in Krysna. Karl’s winning time was 19:08. In Glasgow, Aidan Hudner joined more than 400 other runners and placed 119th in 23:37. Closer to home, Dee Lawlor took 2nd place in Cabinteely in a time cof 18:14, followed by Maria del Carmen Jimenez Campos, who placed 17th overall, 3rd woman, in 23:12. Adam Flanagan also took 2nd place in a time of 18:13 in Monaghan, whilst Edwina Quinlan replicated the feat placing 46th overall, 2nd female, in 22:41 in Poolbeg. In the same event, Fiona Bane took 4th place (51st overall) in 22:54 and the two were joined by Zlatko Kulic (17th in 20:14), David O’Donnell (35th in 21:49), Louise Van Der Wildersmeersch (61st overall, 9th woman, in 24:00), Ali May Hannigan (71st overall, 13th female, in 25:03), Cliodhna O’Reilly (79th overall, 18th woman, in 25:47) and Gillian Curran (82nd overall, 20th woman, in 26:01). David Carter took 3rd spot in 19:13 in Navan, whilst Cormac McGuire finished in 8th place in Tolka valley with a time of 24:36. In Malahide, Brian Scanlan ran to 18th place in 20:34, followed by Darina Scully (273rd overall, 105th woman, in 31:59). Maria Pertl finished 66th overall, 22nd woman, in 29:23 in Poppintree, whilst Matt Cranley pushed his buggy into 23rd place in 20:04 in St. Anne’s. We finish with Orlaith de Burca’s result in Shanganagh, where she finished 67th overall, 10th female, in 25:53.

BHAA Irish Life 6k (229)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Darragh Rennicks 1 00:19:41
13 Laura Shaughnessy 1 00:21:15
Crusaders AC runners
14 Ger Forde 00:21:21
16 Frank Halligan 00:21:28
38 Diarmuid O’Foghlu 00:22:18
44 John McAuley 00:22:34
55 Enda Currid 00:22:58
61 Caroline Crowley 00:23:18 (4)
62 Michael Maughan 00:23:19
75 David Long 00:23:51
99 TJ Bourke 00:24:58
100 Tim O’Donnell 00:24:59
101 Marius McNicholas 00:25:00
102 Niamh Corby 00:25:01 (6)
108 Rachel Yorke 00:25:21 (7)
119 Tomas Dunne 00:25:50
133 Phelim Murray 00:26:17
139 Brendan Glynn 00:26:51
143 Sarah Lyons 00:27:01 (9)
145 Pat Quill 00:27:08
155 Robbie Moore 00:27:29
158 Kate Murray 00:27:37 (14)
160 Emer Kenny 00:27:40 (15)
169 Maria Kennedy 00:28:11 (18)
218 Mairead Cashman 00:34:53 (35)
228 Paul Kelly 00:42:19
Full results here: https://bhaa.ie/race/irish-life-6km-2018/
Clontarf 5 mile (766)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Roger Gabarra 1 00:29:17
5 Zoe Quinn 1 00:30:33
Crusaders AC runners
116 Gemma Cooper 00:40:23 (36)
219 Deborah Little 00:43:54 (86)
Full results here: http://www.redtagtiming.com/
Clontarf Half marathon (1605)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Kieran Little 1 01:12:13
18 Louisa MacKenzie 1 01:18:18
Crusaders AC runners
1 Kieran Little 01:12:13
26 Robert Browne 01:25:17
55 Luke Davis 01:28:31
57 Patrick Needham 01:28:40
118 Aidan Flynn 01:33:40
1045 Olwyn Dunne 01:59:43 (pacer)
1046 Joe Dunne 01:59:43 (pacer)
Full results here: http://www.redtagtiming.com/
Gingerbread Run 10k (633)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
Mick Kelly 1 00:34:40
24 Alicia Ashmore 1 00:46:23
Crusaders AC runner
26 Leslie Lluyd Hughes 00:46:12
Full results here: https://www.popupraces.ie/the-gingerbread-run-2018/#1_7336A4
Gingerbread Run Half marathon (812)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Alexander Wallace 1 01:11:40
14 Sharon Kiely 1 01:28:39
Crusaders AC runner
161 Gillian Lyons 01:44:53 (30)
Full results here: https://www.popupraces.ie/the-gingerbread-run-2018/#2_9D70EA
Malahide Parkrun #314 (321)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Sean Dockrell 1 00:18:21
28 Aileen Dooley 1 00:21:14
Crusaders AC runners
18 Brian Scanlan 00:20:34
273 Darina Scully 00:31:59 (105)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/malahide/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=314
Navan Parkrun #158 (121)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Matthew Kelly 1 00:17:10
25 Paula Hegarty 1 00:21:14
Crusaders AC runner
3 David Carter 00:19:13
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/navan/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=158
Poolbeg Parkrun #64 (128)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 John Lenehan 1 00:16:08
27 Aine Kenny 1 00:20:59
Crusaders AC runners
17 Zlatko Kulic 00:20:14
35 David O’Donnell 00:21:49
46 Edwina Quinlan 00:22:41 (2)
51 Fiona Bane 00:22:54 (4)
61 Louise Van Der Wildersmeersch 00:24:00 (9)
71 Ali May Hannigan 00:25:03 (13)
79 Cliodhna O’Reilly 00:25:47 (18)
82 Gillian Curran 00:26:01 (20)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/poolbeg/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=64
St Annes’s Parkrun #258 (377)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Paul Cowhie1 00:17:12
24 Hannah Craddock 1 00:20:06
Crusaders AC runner
23 Matt Cranley 00:20:04
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/stannes/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=258
Shanganagh Parkrun #189 (132)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Liam Blackburn 1 00:17:07
20 Sarah O’Connor 1 00:21:05
Crusaders AC runner
67 Orlaith de Burca 00:25:53 (10)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/shanganagh/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=189
Poppintree Parkrun #209 (151)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Philip Doyle 1 00:18:35
16 Julie Cleary 1 00:21:41
Crusaders AC runner
66 Maria Pertl 00:29:23 (22)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/poppintree/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=209
Tolka Valley Parkrun #39 (35)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Kevin Deery 1 00:19:12
7 Miriam Kearney 1 00:24:03
Crusaders AC runner
8 Cormac McGuire 00:24:36
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/tolkavalley/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=39
Cabinteely Parkrun #189 (125)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Byron Edwards 1 00:17:32
3 Orna Dilworth 1 00:19:49
Crusaders AC runners
2 Derek Lawlor 00:18:14
17 Maria del Carmen Jimenez Campos 00:23:12 (3)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/cabinteely/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=189
Monaghan Parkrun #56 (60)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Eskander Turki 1 00:16:38
10 Eimear O’Brien 1 00:21:24
Crusaders AC runner
2 Adam Flanagan 00:18:13
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/monaghan/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=56