Embarrassment of riches with National Indoor titles and podium finishes around the country

18/2/2018

Adam McMullen, Matthew Behan, Andrew Mellon and Jason Harvey

The most important news of the weekend was the stunning 10 minutes or so on the second day of the National Senior Indoors Championships in the National Indoor Arena in Abbotstown. In his last jump of the day, Adam McMullen managed a PB jump of 7.99m (a new Cru record) to confirm a title (defended for the umpteenth time) that was established with a 7.73 opening leap. No one else came close and each of Adam’s jumps would have been enough to win. This victory was on the back of a silver medal (7.75) behind Olympic champion Greg Rutherford (7.80) in the British championships the day before. It was likely the longest ever jump on Irish sand by an Irishman indoors, narrowly missing out on breaking the national record of 8.0m set by Ciaran McDonough in the USA in 2006. The spectacular leap came seconds before Matt Behan’s surprise victory (for some) over favourite Ben Reynolds with a PB (and Cru record) of 7.84 in the 60mH. Matt was fastest out of the blocks and was not at all upset by knocking over one of the early hurdles, leading from gun to tape. A few minutes later, our two finalists in the men’s 400m distinguished themselves with super runs to take gold and bronze. Andrew Mellon was just able to hold off the runner in second for the victory in 47.32m, whilst Jason Harvey was able to sneak through on the inside having been in 5th position on the last bend to take 3rd place (49.04). Kevin Woods nearly made it onto the podium in the men’s 800m with a courageous effort to take on Mark English, John Fitzsimons and Karl Griffin, leading for much of the race, eventually placing a solid 4th (1:57.15), well ahead of the rest of the field. Earlier, Niamh Boland took her place in the women’s 1500m final as a fastest loser (by 300ths of a second!), but she failed to improve on her time in the semi-final and finished at the back of the field (4:50.11). Still, it was excellent experience for her to run in such a strong field.

The previous day, the club had also podiumed with Oisin Taylor winning bronze in the triple jump with a leap of 13.90m. Andrew Mellon (48.25) and Jason Harvey (49.25) qualified as winners of their respective 400m heats. Nick Ennis unfortunately failed to qualify, having placed 2nd in his heat (50.73), along with John O'Loughlin (5th in 57.66). Kevin Woods (1:58.65) qualified in the 800m behind Mark English whom he cleverly used to pull him along. Garret Dunne (2:09.95) unfortunately failed to go through in the same race. John O’Loughlin (26.36) gamely took on the 200m but failed to go through in the same heat as Thomas Barr. Anna Reddin finished in 6th place in the 3k in 9:55.86 behind the inspirational run of teenager Sarah Healy who finished ahead of Olympian Kerry O’Flaherty. Niamh Boland (4:42.61) finished as a fastest loser in the same 1500m heat as Kerry O’ Flaherty (who was taking on two distances) with an indoor PB, whilst Mary Horgan stepped down a distance to run in the 400m heats, but was unable to qualify (59.99).

Back on Thursday evening on a fast and flat oval course, the Annual Armagh International Road races took place, attracting athletes from all over. The qualifying standard for the men’s 5k was 16 minutes and we had three athletes who ventured up to the event. It is likely that a world record was set for the number of finishers who broke 15 minutes (in a gun-to-chip timed event, so necessitating a start as close to the front as possible), with the winner coming home in 13:59. Altogether, 208 finishers were recorded (several runners falling by the wayside during the event) with 94 runners breaking 15 minutes. As an example of the quality of the field, the top Irishman home was John Travers in 17th place, a man who was to take the 3k title once again in the National Indoor Championships on Sunday. 40-year old master and Kilkenny farmer Brian Maher placed 24th. Our own runners acquitted themselves well in such a prestigious event, despite their placings. Michael Kiely ran 15:40 to take 178th spot, followed by Ciaran Diviney (200th in 16:10) and Vinnie McGuinness (206th in 16:38). There was also a nearly 200-strong men’s 3K race, in which Pablo Sanchez distinguished himself with a 19th place finish in 9:21.

Leading up to the BHAA ALSAA XC races on Saturday there had been rumours of a new course being planned as a consequence of the possibility of a need for new carparks in the sports grounds at the airport, but in the event the route remained unchanged, for the time being. Not only that, but there had also been an expectation of there being ground water as has been experienced in previous years, particularly given the heavy rainfall we have seen this winter, but in fact the surface just displayed its usual sponginess and was otherwise not especially muddy. The weather was kind enough too, with not too strong a wind and a milder temperature than we have experienced of late.

The first race was the women’s 2 miler with a small field of 42 runners, among them 4 Crusaders. Irene Gorman seems indefatigable at present, winning her third straight BHAA race in a row in 13:32. Yet again her victory was emphatic with an 18 second margin over Raheny’s Aine Crimin in 2nd place. Rachael Yorke just missed out on 3rd place with a strong run through the field to take 4th in 14:05, one second off the podium. Our two other participants were Sarah Lyons (17th in 15:37) and Miriam Logan in quite possibly her first cross country race (21st in 15:52).

The mixed 5 mile race to follow measured about 400m long but it didn’t seem to worry the runners unduly. Albin Ingmarsson (29:59) was just narrowly held off by Eoin Devlin (29:57) for the win and Albin was followed by John Mulvihill with a fine run to place 3rd in 30:04. Next came Michael O’Conor (7th 30:54) for a top 10 position. Further back in the 114-strong field came Karl Walsh (18th in 33:14), Michael Maughan (21st in 33:18), Brendan Glynn (43rd in 36:20) and TJ Bourke (44th in 36:26) making a return to racing. Our complement of 12 racers was completed by Tim O’Donnell (54th in 37:17), Neil Brown (69th in 38:41), Phelim Murray (77th in 39:31), Robbie Moore (80th in 39:38) and Michael McGovern (82nd in 39:54), inching ever closer to Robbie to renew their past friendly rivalry.

Other results over the weekend to note: As part of training for some bigger events next month (including a race from Belfast to Dublin) Leo Lundy took part in the movie-themed 4 day festival of running on the Thames tow path in England’s Home Counties. In sub-zero temperatures and a flooded route in parts (read really muddy), Leo ran the first 3 days managing a 30 mile ultra each day. Day 1 "breakfast club" he came home 5th overall. Day 2 "grease" saw him 6th overall. Day 3 "Jaws" he was 18th overall. Around 100 finished each day.

As part of his Boston marathon preparation, Barry McGuire took part in the East of Ireland series Lusk half marathon on Saturday, recording a PB time of 1:23:51, placing 5th in a field of 95 runners. On Sunday Daniel Lowe demonstrated his continuing good form with victory in the Tony McGowan 10K in Co. Leitrim. Daniel took on a field of 123 and came home a couple of seconds ahead of the 2nd placed runner in a time of 37:03.

A challenging IMRA race took place on Saturday morning up and down Trooperstown Hill in Wicklow. We had at least three Crusaders in the 9.7km race, with its climb of 380m: Gavan Doherty, Becky Quinn and Laura Flannelly. Results have yet to be published and, once done, the report will be updated.

There were podium runs in several parkruns on Saturday morning. One notable feat was that of Catherine Thornton who, on the challenging Knocknacarra circuit in Galway, pulled out a first finisher placing over the entire field in a course PB time for her of 19:41, having the satisfaction of having reeled in two male runners with about a km to go, including one whose line made the course considerably shorter than intended. Other noteworthy runs came from Peter O’Toole who took 2nd place in Belfast’s Waterworks Parkrun, Eddie Nugent (a man swearing never to run XC again after the national masters last week in Galway!) who was 3rd in the hilly Cabinteely in 19:42, Helena Walsh, who placed 20th overall, 2nd female finisher, in Limerick in 21:30, Sean Smith, who placed 3rd in Fairview in 21:10 (followed by Colm Kiernan in 6th in 21:54) and Kieran Little who placed 2nd in Poolbeg. Kieran was joined by Russell Murphy (30th in 22:27), Colm Foley (37th in 22:52), Kate Healy (73rd overall, 15th female, in 26:09), Ali May Hannigan (80th overall, 18th female, in 27:01), Louise O’Riordan (93rd overall, 27th female, in 28:36) and Mairin Shine, mopping up the back markers (142nd overall, 58th female, in 44:38). Aidan Hudner placed 58th in a field of 317 in a time of 22:02 in Victoria Park, Glasgow, whilst Amy Brogan took 29th place overall, 8th female, in 26:05 in Waterstown. We also had one runner in Malahide. Aisling O’Connor placed 193rd overall, 53rd woman, in 28:55. Likewise, Donal Foley was the lone Crusader in Porterstown, taking 16th spot in 23:20. Marius McNicholas continues to improve his times, when he ran 20:56 to place 14th in Bushy Park, followed by Mairead Cashman who took 81st spot overall, 15th woman, in 28:12. We had 3 runners in St. Anne’s Raheny. Matt Cranley led the charge in 23rd place with his buggy and getting a buggy-pushing PB (first time under 20 minutes) in 19:55. Matt was followed by Noel Reilly (46th in 21:10) and Sharon Woods (168th overall, 27th woman, in 25:37). Finally, 6 Crusaders joined the field for the inaugural parkrun in the picturesque Tolka Valley. Denis Murphy was the first of our number home in 18th spot (21:28), followed by Fiona Bane (48th overall, 7th female, in 23:50), Aoife Quinn (82nd overall, 16th female, in 27:24), Don Anderton (133rd in 35:15) and then lastly the two pickers up: Kevin Flynn (164th in 49:09) and Diarmuid Byrne (165th in 51:44).

BHAA ALSAA women’s 2 mile XC race (42)
Overall place Name Chiptime
1 Irene Gorman 1 00:13:32
Crusaders AC runners
1 Irene Gorman 00:13:32
4 Rachael Yorke 00:14:05
17 Sarah Lyons 00:15:37
21 Miriam Logan 00:15:52
Full results here: https://bhaa.ie/events/alsaa-cc-2018/
BHAA ALSAA mixed 5 mile XC race (114)
Overall place Name Chiptime
1 Eoin Devlin 00:29:57
Crusaders AC runners
2 Albin Ingmarsson 00:29:59
3 John Mulvihill 00:30:04
7 Michael O’Conor 00:30:54
18 Karl Walsh 00:33:14
21 Michael Maughan 00:33:18
43 Brendan Glynn 00:36:20
44 TJ Bourke 00:36:26
54 Tim O’Donnell 00:37:17
69 Neil Brown 00:38:41
77 Phelim Murray 00:39:31
80 Robbie Moore 00:39:38
82 Michael McGovern 00:39:54
Full results here: https://bhaa.ie/events/alsaa-cc-2018/
Armagh Men’s International 5k (208)
Overall place Name Chiptime
1 Sam Stabler 00:13:59
Crusaders AC runners
178 Michael Kiely 00:15:40
200 Ciaran Diviney 00:16:10
206 Vinnie McGuinness 00:16:38
Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/brooks_armagh_5k_international_road_race/2495/results
Armagh Men’s 3k race (189)
Overall place Name Chiptime
1 Michal Rozmys 00:08:30
Crusaders AC runner
19 Pablo Sanchez 00:09:21
Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/brooks_armagh_5k_international_road_race/2495/results
Allen Gaels Tony McGowan 10K (123)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Daniel Lowe 1 00:37:03
14 Dympna Kelly 1 00:41:50
Crusaders AC runner
1 Daniel Lowe 00:37:03
Full results here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LBiq14sBtdPBajrCnw-iH093ncyJlM85/view
Lusk Half marathon (95)
Overall Place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 David Fitzpatrick 1 01:19:19
4 Ruth Howlin 1 01:23:27
Crusaders AC runner
5 Barry McGuire 01:23:51 (PB)
Full results here: https://www.webscorer.com/racedetails?raceid=127931&did=140270
Malahide Parkrun #276 (312)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 William Walsh 1 00:16:55
3 Catherina McKiernan 1 00:17:47
Crusaders AC runner
193 Aisling O’Connor 00:28:55 (53)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/malahide/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=276
Knocknacarra Parkrun #191 (92)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Catherine Thornton 1 00:19:41
2 Aonghus Fahy 1 00:20:00
Crusaders AC runner
1 Catherine Thornton 00:19:41 (1)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/knocknacarra/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=191
St. Anne’s Parkrun #222 (456)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Graham O’Dwyer 1 00:16:41
12 Lucy Barrett 1 00:19:09
Crusaders AC runners
23 Matt Cranley 00:19:55
46 Noel Reilly 00:21:10
168 Sharon Woods 00:25:37 (27)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/stannes/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=222
Porterstown Parkrun #123 (114)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Sean O’Connor 1 00:18:38
27 Ellen McLoughlin 1 00:24:31
Crusaders AC runner
16 Donal Foley 00:23:20
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/porterstown/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=123
Waterworks Parkrun #382 (237)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Conall McClean 1 00:16:26
23 Geraldine Branagh 1 00:20:53
Crusaders AC runner
2 Peter O’Toole 00:17:47
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/waterworks/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=382
Poolbeg Parkrun #26 (142)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Donal Foley 1 00:17:01
24 Deirdre Nally 1 00:21:48
Crusaders AC runners
2 Kieran Little 00:17:08
30 Russell Murphy 00:22:27
37 Colm Foley 00:22:52
73 Kate Healy 00:26:09 (15)
80 Ali May Hannigan 00:27:01 (18)
93 Louise O’Riordan 00:28:10 (24)
97 Iseult Ni Chuinneagain 00:28:36 (27)
142 Mairin Shine 00:44:38 (27)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/poolbeg/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=26
Cabinteely Parkrun #151 (137)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Ted Burke 1 00:19:17
4 Ciara Brady 1 00:19:59
Crusaders AC runner
3 Eddie Nugent 00:19:42
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/cabinteely/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=151
Bushy Dublin Parkrun #52 (163)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Tiernan Swan 1 00:18:18
25 Christine Kinsella 1 00:22:37
Crusaders AC runners
14 Marius McNicholas 00:20:56
81 Mairead Cashman 00:28:12 (15)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/bushydublin/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=52
Fairview Parkrun #32 (65)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Eoin Callaghan 1 00:17:41
12 Aoife Mulvoy 1 00:23:38
Crusaders AC runners
3 Sean Smith 00:21:10
6 Colm Kernan 00:21:54
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/fairview/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=32
Limerick Parkrun #107 (183)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Paul Fitzgerald 1 00:17:00
13 Shona Ni Fhloinn 1 00:20:36
Crusaders AC runner
20 Helena Walsh 00:21:30 (2)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/limerick/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=107
Waterstown Parkrun #191 (92)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Stephen Connon 1 00:18:44
5 Karen Clarke 1 00:21:46
Crusaders AC runner
29 Amy Brogan 00:26:05 (8)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/waterstown/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=191
Tolka Valley Parkrun #1 (177)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Gerard Martin 1 00:17:40
15 Agnieszka Prycinska 1 00:21:22
Crusaders AC runners
18 Denis Murphy 00:21:28
48 Fiona Bane 00:23:50 (7)
82 Aoife Quinn 00:27:24 (16)
133 Don Anderton 00:35:15
164 Kevin Flynn 00:49:09
165 Diarmuid Byrne 00:51:44
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/tolkavalley/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=1