Decent results indoors and out

12/2/2024

Margaret Foley

The iconic Donadea 50k, which doubles as the 50k national championships, took place this weekend, whilst the start of the week heralded the first of this year women’s mini marathon events, this being held in Galway, appropriately on St. Brigid’s Day. There were plenty of other races taking place during this period too.

We start, however, as is our custom, with events on the track, indoors for the present. Midweek saw Meet 7 of the Track and Field (graded) competition at the National Indoor Arena. There were two heats of the women’s 800m and in the second, the faster of the two, Claire Mooney led home a field of 8 in a super time of 2:07.42. Mary Horgan also took part, and the masters athlete placed 4th in 2:11.84, just behind her training partner, Ellie Hartnett (2:10.87). Then, in heat 2 of 3 heats in the men’s 800m, Enda Clarke, another masters athlete, took 7th place in 2:06.37.

Mention was made above of the Women’s mini-marathon in Galway. We had one runner in the event which enjoyed a substantial field of 556. As she prepares for the London Marathon in April, Mags Foley excelled herself over the 10k course, recording a PB time of 41:51 and 8th place in the race.

On Saturday, Olwyn Dunne, Kevin Kenny and Joe Dunne featured in the Donadea 50k national championships. Likely because of recent bad weather, the course on forest trails this year had to be slightly changed so that, instead of the usual 10 laps of 5k, this year’s course (without the usual hill) began with 1 lap of just over 1km, followed by 13 laps of just over 3.75km. As a result of this, it might have led Kevin to miscounting his laps, ending up outside the cutoff time of 5 hours as he still had one lap to go as he crossed the line. Easily done, but a tough outcome. Joe paced the 5-hour runners, pulling out after about 42k, which was all that was required of him. Olwyn, therefore, was our sole recorded finisher and the former champion finished in 107th spot overall, 12th female across the line of the 261 recorded finishers, and also taking the silver medal in the F50 category.

On the same day, Ciarain Kelly ran alongside 306 other runners in the Rathcoffey GAA 10k, outside Clane in Co. Kildare, where, on an undulating east-west out-and-back course with a large anti-clockwise loop at its furthest end, he recorded a PB time of 34:25 for 7th place overall.

Then, on Sunday, Aoife Cleary, a recent member, took on the challenging hilly Gap of Dunloe half marathon in Co. Kerry, placing 5th overall in a race with a field of 243 and winning the women’s race in a time of 1:32:49, only a couple of minutes behind the overall winner.

Further afield, we had at least 3 runners in the 34th edition of the Barcelona half marathon. Brian O’Kelly completed the distance in 1:14:40 to place 374th, followed by Nina Holmes who ran a super time of 1:28:59 to place 2,878th and 212th female finisher. Not much further back came Maeve Lochrie who ran 1:31:10 for 3499th and 277th. It was quite cool at the start at 8 degrees Celsius, with a strong-ish west-north-westerly breeze which would have been in runners’ faces for long pieces of the race. The day before, down in Australia, Maurice Kelter took part in the NSW State community 5k race, where he placed 2nd overall in a PB time of 16:18.

We have been neglectful of a few IMRA results in recent weeks. A Leinster Spring League race that took place on 21 January, known as the Brockagh Burst in Co. Wicklow, covering a distance of 6k and a climb of 200m, involved Brendan Holton who took 36th place in the 149-strong field. Then, last weekend, in Mullaghmeen, Co. Meath, a race in the same league was conducted over 11.45k and involved a climb of nearly 450m. Becky Quinn ran in that, placing 17th and 2nd female finisher in a field of 99. Becky also won the F50 category.

This weekend, two IMRA-organised races took place, for both of which we now have the results.

The first race was the Trooperstown Winter 9.7k with a climb of 380m, another race in the Leinster Spring League. Once again, Becky Quinn, made an impact in the race, this time behind women’s race winner Clare Sullivan. In a field of 160, Clare placed 27th overall in 50:40, with Becky placing 33rd, 2nd and 1st F50 in a time of 51:56.

The second event was the Slí Chorcaí Ultra, in Co. Cork, being the first round of the Irish ultra championships. In a field of 77 finishers Donatas Jocius placed 10th in a time of 7:39:45 (3rd M35), followed by Raghnall O'Donoghue who placed 26th (3rd M45) in a time of 8:28:56. The race involved a climb of over 2000m over a distance of over 70k.

Crusaders’ participation in parkruns was down this weekend, but we still had some excellent results.

Kieran Little made an appearance in Shanganagh and, in a field of 270, he led everyone home in a time of 18:05. Towards the back of the field came Carina Davidson in 253rd and 108th places in 43:02. Áine Kenny was also a first finisher, placing 4th overall in Mountbellew Forest. In a field of 47, Áine ran 22:03. Ross Neill ran once again in Ormeau Park in Belfast where, in a field of 550, he placed 2nd in a time of 18:01, whilst Darina Scully placed 13th and 2nd in the 125-strong field in River Valley in a time of 24:12. In a modest field of 15 in Narin Beach, Hannah Jones took 4th and 2nd places in 23:27, whilst in an equally modest field of 20 in Farfalle in Italy, Maureen McGinley placed 14th and 6th in 31:16.

Our largest contingent was, as usual, running in Poolbeg. We had at least 14 take part in a field of 222. Kenan Furlong added the parkrun to his LSR, placing 27th in 21:36. He was followed by Michael Fitzsimons (41st in 22:28), Dale Whelehan (48th in 23:07), Franky Keane (49th in 23:14), John McDowell (65th in 24:10), Fiona Bane (70th and 8th in 24:28), Josie Ward (71st and 9th in 24:29), Louise O’Riordan (77th and 13th in 24:50), Kate Healy (83rd and 15th in 25:15), Kelly Brown (100th and 22nd in 26:14), Tara Murphy (109th and 27th in 26:41), Aisling O’Riordan (132nd and 39th in 28:48), Anna Hernick (147th and 52nd in 29:25) and Cynthia Perucca (194th and 77th in 33:55).

We had a couple of runners in St. Anne’s Raheny. Michael Maughan placed 88th in a field of 559 and in a time of 24:25, followed by Irene Gorman (399th and 152nd in 32:33), whilst we also had two runners in Fairview. In a field of 186, Andy Deuser placed 25th in 23:31, followed by Garret Connolly, most like with a buggy (85th in 28:38).

Mairead Cashman was our lone runner in Glen River alongside 75 other participants, where she placed 53rd and 11th in 32:19, whilst Eoghan Corrigan placed 108th in 25:49 in the 309-strong field in Malahide (again, Eoghan was likely pushing a buggy too). Finally, Toby Benham ran leisurely in Tramore Valley, Cork, where, in a field of 204, he placed 117th in 28:52.

Galway Women’s Mini marathon (556)
Overall place Name Chiptime
1 Isobel Oakes 00:37:06
Crusaders AC runner
8 Margaret Foley 00:41:51 (PB)
Full results here: https://www.popupraces.ie/race/galway-womens-mini-marathon-2024/
Rathcoffey GAA 10k (307)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Colin Maher 1 00:31:05
27 Michelle Keenan 1 00:39:14
Crusaders AC runner
7 Ciarain Kelly 00:34:25 (PB)
Full results here: https://www.popupraces.ie/race/rathcoffey-gaa-10k-5k-2024/
Donadea 50K (National Championships) (258)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Ian Fitzgerald 1 03:04:40
9 Sorcha Loughnane 1 03:18:00
Crusaders AC runner
107 Olwyn Dunne 04:26:20 (12)
Full results here: https://www.popupraces.ie/race/donadea50k-2024/
Gap of Dunloe Half marathon (243)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Barry Kelly 1 01:28:31
5 Aoife Cleary 1 01:32:49
Crusaders AC runner
5 Aoife Cleary 01:32:49
Full results here: https://my.raceresult.com/277586/
IMRA Brockagh Burst 6k (149)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Enda Cloake 1 00:28:16
38 Niamh Brophy 1 00:38:48
Crusaders AC runner
36 Brendan Holton 00:38:22
Full results here: https://www.imra.ie/events/results/id/2462/category/O/
IMRA Mullaghmeen 11.45k (99)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Enda Cloake 1 00:53:40
8 Sarah Flanagan 1 01:02:42
Crusaders AC runner
17 Becky Quinn 01:05:27 (2)
Full results here: https://www.imra.ie/events/results/id/2464/category/O/
IMRA Trooperstown Winter 9.7k (160)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Matthew McConnell 1 00:39:48
27 Clare Sullivan 1 00:50:40
Crusaders AC runners
27 Clare Sullivan 00:50:40 (1)
33 Becky Quinn 00:51:56 (2)
Full results here: https://www.imra.ie/events/results/id/2465/category/O/
IMRA Slí Chorcaí Ultra 71.5k (77)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1Enda Cloake 1 06:14:00
13 Lianne Van Dijk 1 07:45:00
Crusaders AC runners
10 Donatas Jocius 07:39:45
26 Raghnall O'Donoghue 08:28:56
Full results here: https://www.imra.ie/events/results/id/2423/category/O/
Poolbeg Parkrun (222)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Jack Fullerton 1 00:17:18
16 Niamh Cotter 1 00:20:26
Crusaders AC runners
27 Kenan Furlong 00:21:36
41 Michael Fitzsimons 00:22:28
48 Dale Whelehan 00:23:07
49 Franky Keane 00:23:14
65 John McDowell 00:24:10
70 Fiona Bane 00:24:28 (8)
71 Josie Ward 00:24:29 (9)
77 Louise O’Riordan 00:24:50 (13)
83 Kate Healy 00:25:15 (15)
100 Kelly Brown 00:26:14 (22)
109 Tara Murphy 00:26:41 (27)
132 Aisling O’Riordan 00:28:48 (39)
147 Anna Hernick 00:29:25 (52)
194 Cynthia Perucca 00:33:55 (77)
Shanganagh Parkrun (270)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Kieran Little 1 00:18:05
11 Sarah Baryga 1 00:20:36
Crusaders AC runners
1 Kieran Little 00:18:05
199 Orlaith de Burca 00:32:19 (75)
253 Carina Davidson 00:43:02 (108)
St. Anne’s Parkrun (559)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Jamie Gahan 1 00:15:28
16 Jane Gormley 1 00:20:02
Crusaders AC runners
88 Michael Maughan 00:24:25
399 Irene Gorman 00:32:33 (152)
Fairview Parkrun (186)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Mark Darcy 1 00:19:30
8 Lydia Blythe 1 00:21:56
Crusaders AC runners
25 Andy Deuser 00:23:31
85 Garret Connolly 00:28:38
Ormeau Parkrun (550)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Chris Anderson 1 00:17:26
15 Clare Lavery 1 00:20:01
Crusaders AC runner
2 Ross Neill 00:18:01
River Valley Parkrun (125)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Nicholas Ruiter 1 00:19:15
7 Sarah Rossiter 1 00:22:55
Crusaders AC runner
13 Darina Scully 00:24:12 (2)
Glen River Parkrun (76)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Tadhg Crowley 1 00:18:44
12 Charlotte Bishop 1 00:23:28
Crusaders AC runner
53 Mairead Cashman 00:32:19 (11)
Malahide Parkrun (309)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Hugh Driver 1 00:18:28
9 Aine Crimin 1 00:19:45
Crusaders AC runner
108 Eoghan Corrigan 00:25:49
Narin Beach Parkrun (15)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Eimear Marie English 1 00:20:32
2 Donal Cape 1 00:20:50
Crusaders AC runner
4 Hannah Jones 00:23:27 (2)
Mountbellew Forest Parkrun (47)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Adrian Smith 1 00:18:43
4 Áine Kenny 1 00:22:03
Crusaders AC runner
4 Áine Kenny 00:22:03 (1)
Tramore Valley, Cork Parkrun (204)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Andy Goulding 1 00:17:13
5 Orla Byrne 1 00:18:50
Crusaders AC runner
117 Toby Benham 00:28:52