Fast … and Furious (and also with the weather)

7/8/2023

Margaret Foley and Robbie Moore

The deluge and gale force winds that were experienced in Dublin early on Saturday morning and then periodically across the weekend came as quite a shock, given that we are now in August. The weather certainly had an impact on participation in Saturday morning’s parkruns. Thankfully, however, the weather did hold up for the races that took place around the country earlier in the week and also in the west over the weekend where we had participants.

Our results round-up start, as usual, on the track. The last Dublin Athletics graded meet, the eighth, of the season, took place on Wednesday evening at the Morton Stadium in Santry. We had a few runners take part with some success. Claire Mooney won the women’s grade B 400m event in a time of 56.30, whilst Donnacha McCarthy, who is visually impaired, won the grade D edition of the men’s 3000m, well ahead of second place, in a time of 10:01.88. We had several runners in the D grade standard of the men's 400m. In each of the 4 heats a Crusader appeared. In heat 1, Liam Beaumont placed 3rd in 59.22. Then in the 2nd heat, Paul Kelly placed 6th in 89.54, whilst in the 3rd heat John O'Loughlin took 6th place in 63:30. Meanwhile, Leo Gormley ran 55.27 for 3rd place in the last heat. The mile proved to be a popular event. Laura Garcia Gonzalez placed 2nd in the grade D race in a time of 5:52.10, whilst Paul Cowhie came home in 13th spot in the men’s grade C contest, running 5:09.21. Gary park placed 3rd in the second heat of the D grade in 5:12.20. Finally, Paul E. Kelly placed 9th in the first heat of the grade D race in a time of 7:57.00, in the process winning the prize for the most races run at the graded meets this season.

Onto the roads and there were two 5k races on Friday evening in which Crusaders appeared. Brian O’Kelly led home a field of 375 in the Streets of Athboy 5k in Co. Meath. Brian’s time was 15:35 and he was followed by Michael Wycherley, making a welcome return to racing, albeit briefly as he prepares for an imminent operation on a troublesome foot, who placed 22nd and 4th M45 in 16:55. Further back came Ronan Smith (112th in 19:27) and he was followed by Emer Kenny (162nd overall, 37th female finisher and 6th F35). The other 5k race took place in Birr, Co. Offaly, where Tim O’Donnell joined 322 other runners in the latest event in the Offaly 5k race series. Tim placed 52nd in a time of 18:55.

On Sunday, we had two runners down in Co. Kerry taking part in the Banna Run 10k. In a field of 166 Margaret Foley ran yet another PB with a time of 43:11 to place 35th overall and 4th female across the line. Mags was followed by Robbie Moore who took 56th spot in 46:59. Mairead Cashman was also down in Kerry on Sunday for the Tri-Kingdom Come event, where she won the swim/run element of the competition (1000m swim and 5k run).

Further afield, Marty James, our Australian exile in Melbourne, ran in the Ballarat 15k conducted around Lake Wendouree in the town near Melbourne. Marty’s time was 1:02:52 for the distance.

In the mountains, we had just the one runner in the Dargle 4 Peaks 15k race in Co. Wicklow on Sunday, the Leinster Championship event organised by IMRA (with 4 seasons in a day!). The one-loop race took in Djouce, War Hill, Tonduff and Maulin and involved a climb of 800m. Gerald Hoare joined the small field of 35, where he placed 29th in a time of 2:53:45.

Numbers were unsurprisingly down in the Dublin region for the parkruns run there on Saturday morning, but seemed not to have been affected elsewhere. Those in which club members participated yielded a lot of decent performances and several 2nd place finishes as well as first finishers.

Poolbeg had a field roughly two thirds of its normal size in 105 and the first runner home was Luke Corcoran in 17:24. Luke was followed by Sharon Woods (30th and 3rd in 24:10), Josie Ward (35th and 5th in 24:28), Ailsa Berkeley (37th and 7th in 24:34) just behind, Maureen McGinley (64th and 18th in her 250th parkrun and in a time of 27:56) and Louise O’Riordan (92nd and 34th in 32:36).

Another first finisher (but 2nd overall to Aoife Cooke) was Toby Benham in Tramore Valley where he crossed the line in a time of 18:15. Joining Toby in the field of 226 was Orla Drumm who placed 7th and 2nd in 19:51. Áine Crotty and Cian Coughlan paid a visit to Co. Leitrim where they ran in the 48-strong field in the Ballinamore Greenway Parkrun, with Áine placing 3rd overall and first female finisher in 23:00, followed by Cian who placed 4th in 23:36. Kathryn Sweeney ran in her native Omagh where she also placed first female finisher and 2nd overall in a time of 19:11. There were 75 participants there. Another first finisher on Saturday morning was Ruben Vega in Fairview. In a field of 92 Ruben ran 19:04, followed by Andy Deuser (13th in 22:22) and Tim Hyland (50th in 28:18).

Second places went to Ross Neill in Sligo, where he ran 17:46 in a field of 143, to Lisa Shine, where she ran 25:10 in a field of 68 and placing 9th overall, to Máirín Shine in Knockanacree Woods where she ran 32:49 in a modest field of 18 and placing 10th overall, to Kate Murray in Bushy Park, where she ran 23:57 in a field of 108 and placing 21st overall and to Sarah Lyons where she ran 24:25 in a field of 45 and placing 9th overall.

Luke Haran ran in Mungret once again. In a field of 73, Luke placed 6th in 20:59, whilst, in Kilcock, Eoghan Corrigan placed 12th in a field of 92 and in a time of 22:42. Michael Maughan ran in Father Collins Park, placing 14th in a time of 24:11 alongside 80 other runners, whilst David O’Donnell ran in Dungloe wher, in a field of 78, he placed 17th in a time of 22:47. In Mountlucas, with its modest field of 19, Mía Zoladz took 10th and 6th places in 27:46, followed by Cynthia Perucca (16th and 10th in 35:58), whilst Carina Davidson ran once again in Shanganagh. Alongside 117 other participants, Carina placed 68th and 16th in 27:19.

Streets of Athboy 5k (375)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Brian O’Kelly 1 00:15:35
14 Aine Cotter 1 00:16:46
Crusaders AC runners
1 Brian O’Kelly 00:15:35
22 Michael Wycherley 00:16:55
112 Ronan Smith 00:19:27
162 Emer Kenny 00:20:57 (37)
Full results here: https://www.popupraces.ie/race/streets-of-athboy-5k-2023/
Offaly 5k Race Series Birr 5k (323)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Peter Somba 1 00:15:14
12 Niamh O’Connor 1 00:16:41
Crusaders AC runner
52 Tim O’Donnell 00:18:55
Full results here: https://www.popupraces.ie/race/buildmore-offaly-5k-race-series-birr-5k/
Banna Run 10k (166)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Carl Lenihan 1 00:33:50
23 Aoife O’Connor 1 00:40:57
Crusaders AC runners
35 Margaret Foley 00:43:11 (PB) (4)
56 Robbie Moore 00:46:59
Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/banna_run_2023_10k_5k/4853/results
IMRA Dargle 4 Peaks (35)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Brian Furey 1 01:43:07
5 Niamh Honer 1 01:51:40
Crusaders AC runner
29 Gerald Hoare 02:53:45
Full results here: https://www.imra.ie/events/results/id/2318/
Navan Parkrun (68)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Niamh Shoemark 1 00:21:28
2 John Byrne 1 00:21:47
Crusader AC runner
9 Lisa Shine 00:25:10 (2)
Knockanacree Woods Parkrun (18)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Eamon Costello 1 00:24:54
8 Isobel Cahill 1 00:32:02
Crusaders AC runner
10 Máirín Shine 00:32:49 (2)
Ballinamore Greenway Parkrun (48)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Mark Ahern 1 00:21:37
3 Áine Crotty 1 00:23:00
Crusaders AC runners
3 Áine Crotty 00:23:00 (1)
4 Cian Coughlan 00:23:36
Omagh Parkrun (75)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Aidan Molloy 1 00:18:59
2 Kathryn Sweeney 1 00:19:11
Crusaders AC runner
2 Kathryn Sweeney 00:19:11 (1)
Mountlucas Parkrun (19)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Kevin Cronly 1 00:22:24
2 Mia Gallagher 1 00:22:43
Crusaders AC runners
10 Mía Zoladz 00:27:46 (6)
16 Cynthia Perucca 00:35:58 (10)
Father Collins Parkrun (81)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Shane Wakefield 1 00:20:52
8 Aileen Hooper 1 00:22:18
Crusaders AC runner
14 Michael Maughan 00:24:11
Dungloe Parkrun (78)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Mark Ward 1 00:18:27
7 Niamh Brown 1 00:20:08
Crusaders AC runner
17 David O’Donnell 00:22:47
Poolbeg Parkrun (105)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Luke Corcoran 1 00:17:24
26 Ava Rose Clarke 1 00:22:57
Crusaders AC runners
1 Luke Corcoran 00:17:24
30 Sharon Woods 00:24:10 (3)
35 Josie Ward 00:24:28 (5)
37 Ailsa Berkeley 00:24:34 (7)
64 Maureen McGinley 00:27:56 (18)
92 Louise O’Riordan 00:32:36 (34)
Sligo Parkrun (143)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Gearoid Tuohy 1 00:17:02
11 Susan Scollan 1 00:21:44
Crusaders AC runner
2 Ross Neill 00:17:46
Mungret Parkrun (73)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Colm Costello 1 00:17:24
8 Ellie Woulfe 1 00:22:46
Crusaders AC runner
6 Luke Haran 00:20:59
Fairview Parkrun (92)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Ruben Vega 1 00:19:04
22 Orla Deighan 1 00:23:50
Crusaders AC runners
1 Ruben Vega 00:19:04
13 Andy Deuser 00:22:22
50 Tim Hyland 00:28:18
Royal Canal Kilcock Parkrun (92)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Adam Lowings 1 00:19:50
3 Denise Fox 1 00:21:13
Crusaders AC runner
12 Eoghan Corrigan 00:22:42
Tolka Valley Parkrun (45)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Paul Fleming 1 00:17:55
6 Liadh Fitzmaurice 1 00:22:54
Crusaders AC runner
9 Sarah Lyons 00:24:25 (2)
Bushy Parkrun (103)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Richard Healy 1 00:19:47
18 Mary Donnelly 1 00:23:43
Crusaders AC runner
21 Kate Murray 00:23:57 (2)
Shanganagh Parkrun (118)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Brian Caulfield 1 00:17:40
9 Emily Kane 1 00:20:56
Crusaders AC runner
68 Carina Davidson 00:27:19 (16)
Tramore Valley, Cork Parkrun (226)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Aoife Cooke 1 00:17:27
2 Toby Benham 1 00:18:15
Crusaders AC runners
2 Toby Benham 00:18:15
7 Orla Drumm 00:19:51 (2)