Everyone’s a Winner

1/7/2018

Catherine Thornton, Emer Kenny, Gillian Earley and Rachael Yorke

It was a memorable week for the club. Not only did we stage another successful race in the Docklands, our 4th since taking back responsibility for the event, but also we had some excellent results generally.

We start with the BHAA OPW Runlogic 5K that took place on Tuesday evening in warm conditions (which were maintained throughout the week) on a new trail course in the Phoenix Park. The race involved 2 laps on grass of a slightly undulating course near the cricket pitches opposite the zoo at the southern end of the park. We had at least 9 participants in a field of 172, led home by Karl Walsh in 3rd place (1st M40) in a great time of 17:05. Karl was followed by the reliable Peter O’Toole (7th in 17:34) and by TJ Bourke (16th in 18:43), in the first of two races he was to run during the week. Tony Owens was next (29th in 19:44) and he was followed by Patrick Needham (34th in 20:10), Robbie Moore (46th in 21:09), Phelim Murray (53rd in 21:33), Sarah Lyons (77th overall in 22:52) and by Fiona Lane (140th overall in 27:34).

On Wednesday, there was the usual mid-week mountain race organised by IMRA, this time on a 9k course up and down Trooperstown Hill. The race was completed by 164 participants, among them 4 from the club. On a course with a 430m climb on moderate terrain, Brian McGuckin was first home for us in 30th place (52:03), followed closely by Anthony O’Reilly (32nd in 52:24), then by Gavan Doherty (56th in 56:16) and finally by Berndt Heim (155th in 82:42).

Thursday was a big night for the club as we hosted nearly 1100 runners in our 5k race around Dublin’s Docklands. It is renowned as a fast out and back course and lived up to expectations with male and female wins only a few seconds off course records inside 15 minutes and 17 minutes, respectively. Both our winners came from overseas, Kyle Masterson coming from the USA, whilst Lydia O’Donnell is from New Zealand (finishing only 5 seconds off her 5k PB). Indeed, there was a distinctly international flavour to the race as Lauren Masterson was 2nd woman home followed by two admittedly Irish twins (Eilish and Roisin Flanagan) but who both study in the United States. We received a lot of accolades for the race, principally because it is fast and accurate, but because, thanks to its membership, the club stewarded the race with great enthusiasm and support for the runners. We also were praised for the accurate and helpful pacing that 10 of our clubmates provided. Hopefully, it will have made a decent contribution to our efforts to raise money for the building of our clubhouse and indoor track.

We also had a few of our members in the race and they ran well. Garret Dunne placed 17th in 16:46, followed by Fearghal O’Hare (21st in 16:32), TJ Bourke (67th in 18:12) and Ilona McElroy, having contributed significantly to the fund-raising by helping to enlist over 70 runners from PWC (86th overall, 9th woman home, winner of the F35 masters age-category, in 18:41), Barry McGuirk (100th in 18:58), Dave Tuohy (167th in 19:50), Cormac McGuire (228th in 20:51) and Brian McLoughlin (392nd in 22:40).

The following day, 6 of us trekked out to Kilcock in Co. Kildare to take part in the renowned St Coca’s 5k there. Again, it was another warm evening, possibly slightly warmer than the Docklands as there was no coastal breeze from which to benefit. At one point the girls in the group thought we would be without a team, but, mercifully, our 4th lady turned up. This was to prove critical, as, in the event, all 6 of us were all able to come home financially better off as a result!

In a field of 338, our first runner home on a relatively flat and fast hedge-lined course was Rob Cross who placed 18th and winner of the M45 age category in a super time of 15:58. Rob was followed by Catherine Thornton, who had been one of the reliable 25 minute pacers the night before. At one stage Catherine was lying in 5th place in the women’s race, but managed to reel in two of her adversaries to come home in 3rd place in an impressive PB time of 18:30 (80th overall). Together with Rachael Yorke (130th overall, 8th woman, in 20:10), Gill Earley (146th overall, 14th woman, in 20:41) and Emer Kenny (163rd overall, 19th woman, in 21:15), another pacer from the night before, the 4-woman team were cable to claim 1st prize in the team event. The 6th member of the group was James Cottle who went off steadily from the gun and was not overtaken after the first kilometre, reeling in several runners in the process, including one following a satisfying sprint for the line, to come home in 102nd place and winner of the M60 category in a time of 19:14.

On Saturday in Tullamore we had several athletes compete in the junior and U23 track and field championships with some excellent results. In the junior category Shane Keane took gold in the long jump, whilst Valentinos Goularos equally won the 110mH. In the U23 championships, Alix Hughes took bronze in the shot put, Ciara Barry came 2nd in the 400mH and 3rd in the 200m. Matt Behan won the 110mH. Finally, we fielded the same team of Peter Murphy, Shane, Matt and Valentinos for both the 4x100m and 4x400m U23 relays and won them both!

There were similar successes in the parkruns on Saturday. Katie McElroy was a first finisher (11th overall) in Castletown in a time of 22:04. Poolbeg witnessed an amazing result in that we had 14 runners in the event, with Tim Francony (17:47) and Aoife Clarke (22nd overall in 22:32) both coming in as first finishers, followed by Niamh Quinn (25th overall) in 2nd (22:46) and Fiona Bane (32nd overall) in 4th (23:30). Also running in Poolbeg were David O’Donnell (13th in 21:16), Fin Goulding (18th in 22:14), Colm Foley (34th in 24:04), Neil Brown (39th in 24:31), Pauline McParland (62nd overall, 11th woman, in 26:14), Emma O’Mahony (90th overall, 28th woman, in 28:49), Jennifer Armstrong (102nd overall, 32nd woman, in 30:45), Brian Langton (122nd in 35:53) and Don Anderton (123rd in 36:50). Lisa Shine was a first finisher in Tullow (3rd overall in 24:05), followed by Orlaith de Burca (6th overall, 2nd woman, in 25:21) and Mairin Shine (28th overall, 18th woman, in 37:03). Kate Murray ran well in Lough key to place 2nd woman finisher (13th overall) in 23:28, whilst Sarah Lyons, likewise placed 2nd (33rd overall) in a field of 194 in Aylesbury. Sarah’s time was 22:49. Another 2nd place finisher was Peter O’Toole (17:44) in St. Anne’s and Peter was followed by Eugene O’Neill in a rare foray (19th in 19:16), Denis Murphy (129th in 24:02), Aoife Quinn (145th overall, 33rd woman, in 24:52) and Lorraine Fitzsimons (295th overall, 105th woman, in 29:30). There were no times given in Tolka Valley but Diarmuid Byrne took 3rd place and Maria Pertl was 19th overall there. Killian Barry took 7th spot in Bushy Park (20:12), whilst Tom Dunne was 8th in Cabinteely (21:37). Brian Scanlan came home in 21st in River Valley (24:46), whilst Mairead Cashman took 133rd place overall (36th woman) in 29:33 in Ballincollig. Andrej Kujikis took 29th place in Brickfields in 29:24, whilst Aidan Hudner finished in 78th place in 22:44 in a field of 335 in Glasgow’s Victoria Park. Leo Lundy took 28th place in Fairview in 27:36, whilst his former partner in crime, Kris Ryan, our Australian exile, mopped up the back markers in Coomera.

Thanks to Peter Mooney and Eithne for some of the photos.

BHAA OPW Runlogic 5k (172)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Sean Doran 1 00:16:49
20 Karla Doran 1 00:19:08
Crusaders AC runners
3 Karl Walsh 00:17:05
7 Peter O’Toole 00:17:34
16 TJ Bourke 00:18:43
29 Anthony Owens 00:19:44
34 Patrick Needham 00:20:10
46 Robbie Moore 00:21:09
53 Phelim Murray 00:21:33
77 Sarah Lyons 00:22:52
140 Fiona Lane 00:27:34
163 Niamh Boland 00:31:35
Full results here: https://bhaa.ie/race/opw-runlogic-5km-trail-2018/
Docklands 5k (1078)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Gross time
1 Kyle Masterson 1 00:14:39
10 Lydia O’Donnell 1 00:16:31
Crusaders AC runners
17 Garret Dunne 00:16:46
21 Fearghal O’Hare 00:16:32
67 TJ Bourke 00:18:12
86 Ilona McElroy 00:18:41 (9)
100 Barry McGuirk 00:18:58
167 David Tuohy 00:19:50
228 Cormac McGuire 00:20:51
392 Brian McLoughlin 00:22:40
Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/dublin_docklands_5k_2018/2681/results
IMRA Trooperstown Hill (164)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Dan Anderson 1 00:42:43
26 Aoife McCavana 1 00:51:22
Crusaders AC runners
30 Brian McGuckin 00:57:03
32 Anthony O’Reilly 00:52:24
56 Gavan Doherty 00:56:16
155 Berndt Heim 01:22:42
Full results here: https://www.imra.ie/events/results/id/1603/
St Coca’s 5K Kilcock (338)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Freddy Sittuk 1 00:14:52
57 Fiona Kehoe 1 00:17:33
Crusaders AC runners
18 Rob Cross 00:15:58
80 Catherine Thornton 00:18:30 (PB) (3)
102 James Cottle 00:19:14
130 Rachael Yorke 00:20:10 (8)
146 Gillian Earley 00:20:41 (14)
163 Emer Kenny 00:21:15 (19)
Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/st._cocas_5k_(kilcock)/2595/results
Fairview Parkrun #50 (82)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Raddon Stephenson 1 00:20:27
12 Gillian McMahon 1 00:24:04
Crusaders AC runner
28 Leo Lundy 00:27:36
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/fairview/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=50
St. Anne’s Parkrun #239 (425)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Anthony Doyle 1 00:17:37
11 Deirdre Byrne 1 00:18:28
Crusaders AC runners
2 Peter O’Toole 00:17:44
19 Eugene O’Neill 00:19:16
129 Denis Murphy 00:24:02
145 Aoife Quinn 00:24:52 (33)
295 Lorraine Fitzsimons 00:29:30 (105)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/stannes/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=239
Tolka Valley Parkrun #19 (41)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Deiric O’Nuallain
11 Janette Strickland
Crusaders AC runners
3 Diarmuid Byrne
19 Maria Pertl
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/tolkavalley/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=19
Poolbeg Parkrun #44 (125)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Tim Francony 1 00:17:47
22 Aoife Clarke 1 00:22:32
Crusaders AC runners
1 Tim Francony 00:17:47
13 David O’Donnell 00:21:16
18 Fin Goulding 00:21:55
21 Russell Murphy 00:22:14
22 Aoife Clarke 00:22:32 (1)
25 Niamh Quinn 00:22:46 (2)
32 Fiona Bane 00:23:30 (4)
34 Colm Foley 00:24:04
39 Neil Brown 00:24:31
62 Pauline McParland 00:26:14 (15)
90 Emma O’Mahony 00:28:49 (28)
102 Jennifer Armstrong 00:30:45 (32)
122 Brian Langton 00:35:53
123 Don Anderton 00:36:50
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/poolbeg/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=44
River Valley Parkrun #100 (105)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Sean Carrigg 1 00:16:37
6 Cecile Ollagnier 1 00:20:38
Crusaders AC runner
21 Brian Scanlan 00:24:46
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/rivervalley/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=100
Castletown Parkrun #131 (165)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Brian McCormick 1 00:20:32
11 Katie McElroy 1 00:22:04
Crusaders AC runner
11 Katie McElroy 00:22:04 (1)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/castletown/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=131
Brickfields Parkrun #25 (52)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Karl Chatterton 1 00:18:02
11 Janice Doyle 1 00:24:20
Crusaders AC runner
29 Andrej Kujikis 00:29:24
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/brickfields/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=25
Lough Key Parkrun #109 (131)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Patrick Meehan 1 00:19:49
6 Helen Carr 1 00:21:35
Crusaders AC runner
13 Kate Murray 00:23:28 (2)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/loughkey/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=109
Cabinteely Parkrun #169 (152)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Igor Pashchenko 1 00:18:15
22 Joanne Ryan 1 00:22:52
Crusaders AC runner
8 Tomas Dunne 00:21:37
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/cabinteely/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=169
Ballincollig Parkrun #105 (212)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Nathan O’Leary 1 00:18:05
15 Helen Walsh 1 00:21:09
Crusaders AC runner
133 Mairead Cashman 00:29:33 (36)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/ballincollig/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=105
Tullow Parkrun #63 (37)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Stephen Kennedy 1 00:23:06
3 Lisa Shine 1 00:24:05
Crusaders AC runners
3 Lisa Shine 00:24:05 (1)
6 Orlaith de Burca 00:25:21 (2)
28 Mairin Shine 00:37:03 (18)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/tullow/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=63
Bushy Dublin Parkrun #70 (207)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Gary Farrell 1 00:18:21
19 Holly Newton 1 00:21:51
Crusaders AC runner
7 Killian Barry 00:20:12
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/bushydublin/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=70

Karl Walsh (915)

Phelim Murray

Robbie Moore (377)

Sarah Lyons (372)

TJ Bourke (802)

Tony Owens (858)

Karl Walsh (915)

TJ Bourke (802)

Back row: Caroline Crowley, James Murphy, Hugh Larkin, Lisa Shine, Joe Dunne, Emer Kenny. Front row: John McAuley, Orla Kennedy and Catherine Thornton

Ilona McElroy (1048)

Michael Fitzsimons

Left group: Lisa Shine, Joe Dunne, James Murphy and John McAuley. Right group: Caroline Crowley, Emer Kenny, Hugh Larkin, Michael Fitzsimons, Orla Kennedy, Catherine Thornton