First Footing in the Dublin Masters XC Championships

8/1/2024

L-R: Dee Ni Chearbhaill, Amy McGuinness, Sophia Morgan, Joanne Carey, Clare Sullivan, Margaret Foley, Aoife Quigley, Nina Holmes, Darina Scully

What a super start to 2024, with a brilliant afternoon of cross-country racing in St. Anne’s Park in Raheny! Tradition has the Dublin Masters Championship hosted by Raheny Shamrocks there on the first weekend of each year after the holidays. In some years the conditions can be quite benign, particularly as there are no hills on the course and, if there has been no rain or snow, the ground underfoot can be hard and dry. Some years there is no need for spikes of any length.

This year wasn’t one of them. Not only did we see some lovely deep mud in places, but also the log across the wooded part of the course, an obstacle that has featured in years gone by, has made a return, albeit a slight shadow of its former self. The course and the cold crispy conditions made for an exciting afternoon of racing, which did not disappoint the masses who turned out to support.

The first event of the day was the combined women’s O/50 and men’s O/65 3k. They were probably quite grateful to go off first as the ground where the mud was deepest had yet to be as badly churned as it became for the men’s O/35 race at the end. We had 5 of our club mates in the women’s race involving a field of 66. As usual, Raheny’s Annette Kiely, an international athlete at senior level in her day, stormed ahead of the field to finish well ahead by the end. Our first runner home was Kate Murray in 16th place and in a time of 13:49, just 90 seconds behind Annette. Olwyn Dunne was next, in 30th place in a time of 14:28 and Olwyn was followed home by Aoife Cowhie (58th in 16:17), Máirín Shine (60th and 4th F65 in 17:22) and Mairead Cashman (62nd in 17:57). No medals on this occasion, but a great effort.

The second race, for the men’s O/50, involved 4 of our fellow members. They were advised just before the race that the distance would be 7k, and not the 6k previously advertised and experienced in recent editions. Indeed, the starting point of this race and those that followed was much different from previous years. This race was brought back to the home straight (and the women’s O/35 race started even further back), whereas before the start had been in an open field at right angles to the 1500m loop.

Ciaran Diviney maintained a strong second place in the race more or less from the outset and, despite a nasty fall in the wooded section, he had enough of a distance margin over the third placed runner, Trevor Sweeney of Sportsworld, for it not to impact the outcome. Ciaran placed 2nd overall and took the silver medal in the M50 category with a time of 26:13. He was followed in 8th place overall by Paul Cowhie, who, as a 59-year-old, soon to be 60, won the M55 category in 27:11. Neil Brown followed in 54th place in a time of 32:13, taking some scalps in the process, and the contingent was completed by Robbie Moore (75th in 34:46). The team of Ciaran, Paul and Neil placed 7th out of 14.

We had 9 runners in the field of 105 in the women’s O/35 race which measured nearly 4k. Alongside each other for much of the race, both Aoife Quigley and Clare Sullivan demonstrated loads of confidence negotiating the deep and sticky mud at the start of the home straight of each loop. In a pair of borrowed spikes, Aoife led the Cru contingent across the line in 8th place overall, taking the F35 gold medal in a time of 15:54. Just behind her at the finish in 10th place came Clare in a time of 16:04, and then, further back, came Nina Holmes (18th in 16:47), just ahead of Amy McGuinness (20th overall and 4th F35 in a time of 16:56). The four runners won the team bronze medal, agonisingly missing out on silver by 1 point to Sportsworld who were a further 14 points behind Raheny. There were 13 club teams in the race. The remaining runners all had a good outing, with at least one of them running in a cross-country event for the first time. Joanne Carey placed 35th in 17:45, followed by Mags Foley, running her first XC race, in 47th place in 18:20. Mags was followed by Dee Ni Chearbhaill, no stranger to this event, who ran 18:37 for 52nd place, and who managed to pip Sophia Morgan (53rd in 18:38) at the post. Finally, Darina Scully, in her first masters’ event, ran 19:45 for 74th spot.

The final race of the day was the men’s O/35 7k, which enjoyed a large field of 179 runners. We had 6 athletes in the event, led to the finish by John Mulvihill who placed 23rd in 26:19. John was followed by Kevin Fitzgibbon (35th in 27:14), Peter O’Toole (55th in 28:14) and Joe McDermott (81st in 29:13), who was obliged to race in normal runners as his Achilles flared up after initially putting on his spikes. It meant that Joe had to tread quite carefully through the sticky places on the course and this affected his time. Eddie Nugent was next, placing 93rd in 29:39, and he was followed by Gary Park (107th in 30:16), who had an inspiring sprint for the line, passing at least 4 other competitors. The team of John, Kevin, Peter and Joe placed 8th in a competition involving 18 clubs.

Many congrats to everyone who ran in the Championships. It was a great effort and enormous fun to watch and support!

There was a major uptick in numbers participating on Saturday morning in parkruns. New Year’s resolutions may have had something to do with it!

As usual, our largest contingent appeared in Poolbeg, where, once again, we enjoyed a Crusader finishing first in their category. This was Emma Rowe who placed 6th overall and first female runner home in a time of 19:36. In a significant field of 236, Emma was followed closely by Tom Gleeson (7th in 19:46) and then by Adrian Groarke (21st in 21:07), John Lohan (33rd in 22:07), Pat Quill (41st in 23:07), Jessica Norris (51st and 6th in 23:45), Josie Ward (60th and 9th in 24;07), Fiona Bane (73rd and 16th in 24:36), Franky Keane (74th in 24:38) right behind Fiona, Tara Murphy (115th and 35th in 27:00), Louise O’Riordan (118th and 38th in 27:03), Maureen McGinley (186th and 78th in 31:06), Anna Hernick (187th and 79th in 31:08), Gillian Curran (191st and 82nd in 31:11) and Cynthia Perucca (214th and 95th in 34:34). Rob Glascott also ran in Poolbeg, as part of a much longer run, but his result has not been recorded.

In a much smaller field (but a higher number than in previous weeks) Áine Kenny placed 4th and 1st in a field of 41 in Mountbellew Forest in a time of 22:09, whilst Serena Molony joined the field of 93 in Templemore in her native county of Tipperary where she placed 22nd and 4th in a time of 24:45. Tomás Bradley took 3rd place in the field of 42 in Tolka Valley Park in a time of 20:54, followed by Fiona Shine (18th and 7th in 28:00), Gillian Lyons (29th and 12th in 32:14) and Máirín Shine (31st and 14th in 33:42).

We had 4 runners in Shanganagh alongside 243 other participants. Our athletes were led home by Chris Russell in 10th place in a time of 19:58 and Chris was followed by Eoghan Corrigan (78th in 25:46), Orlaith de Burca (148th and 32nd in 28:59) and Carina Davidson (227th and 73rd in 37:42). Darina Scully tailwalked in Malahide, whilst Colm Foley took 55th place in the 231-strong field in Griffeen Park, where he finished in a time of 24:54. Olwyn Dunne and Irene Gorman ran in the 560-strong field in St. Anne’s where Olwyn placed 136th and 21st in 25:05 and Irene, 353rd and 111th in 30:57.

Paul and Aoife Kelly took to the paths of Poppintree where, alongside 223 other runners, Paul placed 26th in 23:06 and Aoife placed 70th and 10th in 27:34. Meanwhile, Gian Piero Allerta returned from his new home in Cork to run in Cabinteely along with 191 other participants. Gian Piero placed 49th in 25:30. Then, in Donabate, Brendan Glynn placed 54th in 24:26 in a field of 253, whilst Mairead Cashman took on Bushy Park where she placed 184th and 52nd in a time of 34:08 in a field of 247. Finally, and further afield, Aidan Hudner ran once again in Pollok in Glasgow where, in a field of 408, he placed 76th in a time of 24:27, whilst Kris Ryan ran in Paradise Point in Queensland Australia once again, where, in a field of 355, she placed 86th and 14th in a time of 26:09.

Women’s O/50 3k (66)
Overall place Name Guntime
1 Annette Kealy 00:12:19
Crusaders AC runners
16 Kate Murray 00:13:49
30 Olwyn Dunne 00:14:28
58 Aoife Cowhie 00:16:17
60 Máirín Shine 00:17:22
62 Mairead Cashman 00:17:57
Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/dublin_masters_xc_champs_2024/4995/club-team-results?runnerClass=women%27s%2050%2B&type=Team&category=OVER_ALL
Men’s O/50 7k (88)
Overall place Name Guntime
1 Ciaran McCarthy 00:25:53
Crusaders AC runners
2 Ciaran Diviney 00:26:13
8 Paul Cowhie 00:27:11
54 Neil Brown 00:32:13
75 Robbie Moore 00:34:46
Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/dublin_masters_xc_champs_2024/4995/club-team-results?runnerClass=women%27s%2050%2B&type=Team&category=OVER_ALL
Women’s O/35 4k (105)
Overall place Name Guntime
1 Maria McCambridge 00:14:47
Crusaders AC runners
8 Aoife Quigley 00:15:54
10 Clare Sullivan 00:16:04
18 Nina Holmes 00:16:47
20 Amy McGuinness 00:16:56
35 Joanne Carey 00:17:45
47 Margaret Foley 00:18:20
52 Dee Ni Chearbhaill 00:18:37
53 Sophia Morgan 00:18:38
74 Darina Scully 00:19:45
Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/dublin_masters_xc_champs_2024/4995/club-team-results?runnerClass=women%27s%2050%2B&type=Team&category=OVER_ALL
Men’s O/35 7k (179)
Overall place Name Guntime
1 Paul Stephenson 00:23:58
Crusaders AC runners
23 John Mulvihill 00:26:19
35 Kevin Fitzgibbon 00:27:14
55 Peter O’Toole 00:28:14
81 Joe McDermott 00:29:13
93 Eddie Nugent 00:29:35
107 Gary Park 00:30:16
Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/dublin_masters_xc_champs_2024/4995/club-team-results?runnerClass=women%27s%2050%2B&type=Team&category=OVER_ALL
Poolbeg Parkrun (236)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Ashley Hayes 1 00:18:02
6 Emma Rowe 1 00:19:36
Crusaders AC runners
6 Emma Rowe 00:19:36 (1)
7 Tom Gleeson 00:19:46
10 Paul O’Hara 00:20:03
21 Adrian Groarke 00:21:07
33 John Lohan 00:22:07
41 Pat Quill 00:23:07
51 Jessica Norris 00:23:45 (6)
60 Josie Ward 00:24:07 (9)
73 Fiona Bane 00:24:36 (16)
74 Franky Keane 00:24:38
115 Tara Murphy 00:27:00 (35)
118 Louise O’Riordan 00:27:03 (38)
186 Maureen McGinley 00:31:06 (78)
187 Anna Hernick 00:31:08 (79)
191 Gillian Curran 00:31:11 (82)
214 Cynthia Perucca 00:34:34 (95)
Shanganagh Parkrun (247)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 George Callery 1 00:17:37
25 Emily Feighan 1 00:22:12
Crusaders AC runners
10 Chris Russell 00:19:58
78 Eoghan Corrigan 00:25:46
148 Orlaith de Burca 00:28:59 (32)
227 Carina Davidson 00:37:42 (73)
St. Anne’s Parkrun (560)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Mark Naylor 1 00:17:54
12 Helen Marshall 1 00:19:22
Crusaders AC runners
136 Olwyn Dunne 00:25:05 (21)
353 Irene Gorman 00:30:57 (111)
Mountbellew Forest Parkrun (41)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
2 Gary McDonnell 1 00:19:59
4 Áine Kenny 1 00:22:09
Crusaders AC runner
4 Áine Kenny 00:22:09 (1)
Templemore Parkrun (93)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Garoid Pierse 1 00:19:43
3 Eileen McCullagh 1 00:20:00
Crusaders AC runner
22 Serena Moloney 24:45 (4)
Donabate Parkrun (253)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 S. Jenkinson 1 00:18:33
9 Julia Masotti 1 00:21:08
Crusaders AC runner
54 Brendan Glynn 00:24:26
Malahide Parkrun (393)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Fergal Cassin 1 00:18:35
24 Sarah Hawkshaw 1 00:20:39
Crusaders AC runner
390 Darina Scully 00:51:26 (tailwalking)
Cabinteely Parkrun (192)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Bryan O’Connor 1 00:18:24
30 Deirdre McGing 1 00:23:50
Crusaders AC runner
49 Gian Piero Allerta 00:25:30
Griffeen Parkrun (231)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Eoghan Gallagher 1 00:18:11
9 Ana Jones 1 00:21:27
Crusaders AC runner
55 Colm Foley 00:24:54
Tolka Valley Parkrun (42)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Aaron Mullan 1 00:18:51
10 Elise Phillips 1 00:25:34
Crusaders AC runners
3 Tomás Bradley 00:20:54
18 Fiona Shine 00:28:00
29 Gillian Lyons 00:32:14 (12)
31 Máirín Shine 00:33:42 (14)
Bushy Parkrun (247)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Simon Ollo 1 00:19:14
21 Anne Linton 1 00:23:34
Crusaders AC runner
184 Mairead Cashman 00:34:08 (52)
Poppintree Parkrun (225)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 David Branock 1 00:19:32
19 Paulette Thomson 1 00:22:24
Crusaders AC runner
26 Paul F. Kelly 00:23:06
70 Aoife Kelly 00:27:34 (10)