Good team effort in GT5K with strong individual performances in the Kia Series Final and 21Ks in Ratoath and the Lakes

9/9/2018

Triona Quill

Crusaders were in evidence all around the course on Wednesday evening for the Grant Thornton 5k corporate challenge. Not only did we have super participation on the stewarding side with over 100 volunteers, for which many thanks on behalf of the club, but the size of the club now being what it is, we had at least 24 athletes running in the event for their employers. We probably had many more even, but it’s difficult to find our runners without club identification to their names, particularly after the effort of scouring the first 2,000.

At 4,413 finishers, the race had a field 4 times the size of our own race, the Docklands 5k, but perhaps because of the weather conditions, more likely perhaps because of the twisty nature of the course, with its new detour off Cardiff Lane and behind the Maldron Hotel, it probably is not as fast and less of a PB potential than ours, its winner, Conor Dooney closer to 16 minutes than 15 whereas the Docklands regularly turns out winners in under 15 minutes. The volume of runners would not have helped either, but the weather did its bit, with a huge cloudburst just as runners were waiting for the roads to be closed and the gun to fire. Runners and stewards alike were totally drenched on a night that was relatively cool.

Be that as it may, we saw some excellent results among our contingent of runners. 2 marathoners Michael O’Conor (Berlin-bound for his first) trailed Kieran Little around the course until the last straight, coming through in the final 400m to take the runner in training for Budapest and finish in 10th place in a time of 16:33. Kieran came home two places later in 16:36. Michael helped his BOI mixed team take gold, whilst Fearghal O’Hare, who placed 15th in 16:43, helped his mixed team from NTMA take silver. Adam Flanagan, in training for Dublin, was next in 35th in 17:12, followed by Joe McDermott (49th in 17:33). Peter O’Toole took 60th in 17:44, followed by Joe Walsh (a Berlin marathoner), whose BOI mixed team came 4th (70th in 17:52), Andrew Kinneen (88th in 18:15), Rob Browne (106th in 18:30) and Enda Currid (108th in 18:31), both in marathon training, with Rob preparing for Dublin and Enda for Berlin. John Thuillier (151st in 19:00) was followed by Barry O’Mahony (157th in 19:03), Barry McGuirk (161st in 19:06), Daniel Lowe (191st in 19:18), Tomas Mahony (197th in 19:19) and David Timoney (197th in 19:51), all finishing in the top 200 and under 20 minutes, great times and representing two-thirds of our contingent. Eanna Farrell just finished outside 20 minutes in 20:10 (349th) and he was followed by Tom Dunne (365th in 20:14). Gill Earley, our first female runner, was next in 811th in 22:04, followed by mother-to-be Amy McGuinness running a great 22:50 (1044th). Amy was followed by Ger Whyte (1440th in 23:53), Sharon Woods (1519th in 24:06), Aisling Dilworth (1806th in 24:50) and Aoife Quinn (1947th in 25:11). If anyone has been missed, please let us know.

Earlier in the week, members of the Shine family took part in the Raheny Shamrock-organised Jim Wall Memorial Handicap two mile race. In a field of 74 runners with a strong gender mix, Fiona placed 26th overall, 11th female finisher, in 19:34 and Lisa placed 55th overall, 24th woman, in 20:19. Their sister, Anna, placed in between in 32nd place overall, 13th female, in 19:40.

The next races on which to report were on Saturday. In the inaugural Ratoath half marathon Kieran Little showed that he had recovered well from the Grant Thornton by placing 2nd in a time of 1:15:16, less than 30 seconds behind the winner. In a field of 660 runners, Kieran was joined by Mick Smyth (another marathoner in training) who placed 13th in a super time of 1:22:17 and by Sean Smith (63rd in 1:31:26). Meanwhile, we had a winner in the Lakes Half marathon in Blessington Co. Wicklow. Triona Quill (again, a marathoner in training) placed 22nd overall and first female in 1:41:00 in a field of 108. In the same race Luke Davis took 9th spot in 1:30:30. The event is better known for its 10k which had a larger field closer to 300. In that race Stephen O’Kennedy took 16th place in 36:46. The last “road” race of Saturday was the West Waterford Greenway half marathon, which, as one can guess, took place on the Greenway itself (in wet conditions). Ian Hennessy, in a welcome return to racing, joined 600 other runners and placed 446th in 2:05:22.

Then, on Sunday, the results are in for the final of the Kia Race Series that took place in Mondello Park on the racing circuit there. The 10k race had a quality field, but was unsurprisingly won by Hiko Tonosa in 30:16 and Kerry O’Flaherty (who may have won each of the races in the series) in 34:34. Frank Halligan distinguished himself with a 9th place finish in 34:28 (quite possibly a PB). Frank was joined in the field exceeding 180 runners by Tom Dunne (36th in 42:05), Russell Murphy (67th in 48:25) and Fiona Bane (68th overall, 13th woman finisher, in 48:31). We even had a runner heading to Berlin next week who ran in the Great North Run in Newcastle and Sunderland on Sunday. Aisling O'Connor ran 2:05:26, to place inside the top 11,000.

The weather clearly had an impact on the turnout for Saturday morning’s parkruns and numbers were in general lower than of late. Still we had decent numbers considering. We had first finishers (Katie McElroy and Matt Cranley) in two parkruns. In Castletown Katie placed 9th overall in 21:51, whilst Matt ran 18:46 (likely without the buggy) in Father Collins. Podium places went to Paul Flynn (2nd in Kilkenny in 19:00), Aoife Quinn (3rd woman, 12th overall, in 24:25, in Tolka Valley) and Barry O’Mahony (2nd in 19:29). Barry was joined in Cabinteely by his wife Emma who placed 55th overall, 9th woman, in 26:57. In Poolbeg, Zlatko Kulic also took a podium place coming home in 3rd in 19:15. Zlatko was followed by Kenan Furlong (working his way back to fitness (5th in 19:33)), Patrick Carthy (10th in 20:19), Zalan Kovacs (26th in 21:58), Olwyn Dunne (getting ready for Berlin) (36th overall, 5th woman, in 24:20), Cliodhna O’Reilly (44th overall, 8th woman, in 26:13), Jennifer Armstrong (67th overall, 23rd woman, in 29:48), Sharon Woods (69th overall, 25th woman, pacing for the 30 minute runners, in 29:58), Mairin Shine (78th overall, 33rd woman, in 35:33) and by Fiona Bane who picked up the stragglers as “tail runner”. John McAuley ran well in Marlay to place 5th in 18:24, whilst Brian Scanlan took 16th spot in Malahide (20:29). Leo Lundy came home in 26th in Fairview in 27:30, whilst, in St. Anne’s, Colm Kernan ran 22:10 to place 43rd, followed by Lorraine Fitzsimons (Dublin-bound) who ran 28:12 to place 179th overall (38th woman). Lisa Shine ran in Ballincollig to take 85th place overall (13th woman) in 26:37. Further afield, Kris Ryan was a tail runner this week in the Surfers Paradise parkrun in Australia, whilst Mari Hansen ran in Oxford placing 227th overall, 48th woman, in 27:28 in a field exceeding 400 runners.

Grant Thornton 5k (4413)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Conor Dooney 1 00:15:50
46 Jill Hodgins 1 00:17:31
Crusaders AC runners
10 Michael O’Conor 00:16:33
12 Kieran Little 00:16:36
15 Fearghal O’Hare 00:16:43
35 Adam Flanagan 00:17:12
49 Joe McDermott 00:17:33
60 Peter O’Toole 00:17:44
70 Joe Walsh 00:17:52
88 Andrew Kinneen 00:18:15
106 Robert Browne 00:18:30
108 Enda Currid 00:18:31
151 John Thuillier 00:19:00
157 Barry O’Mahony 00:19:03
161 Barry McGuirk 00:19:06
191 Daniel Lowe 00:19:18
197 Tomas Mahony 00:19:19
290 David Timoney 00:19:51
349 Eanna Farrell 00:20:10
365 Tomas Dunne 00:20:14
811 Gillian Earley 00:22:04
1044 Amy McGuinness 00:22:50
1440 Ger Whyte 00:23:53
1519 Sharon Woods 00:24:06
1806 Aisling Dilworth 00:24:50
1947 Aoife Quinn 00:25:11
Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/grant_thornton_corporate_challenge_-_dublin/2666/results
The Lakes Half Marathon (108)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Stephen Conroy 1 01:19:54
22 Triona Quill 1 01:41:00
Crusaders AC runners
9 Luke Davis 01:30:30
22 Triona Quill 01:41:00 (1)
Full results here: https://www.popupraces.ie/the-lakes-10km-half-marathon/#1_B50585
The Lakes 10k (289)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Freddy Sittuk 1 00:32:32
23 Sandra Lynch 1 00:38:34
Crusaders AC runner
16 Stephen O’Kennedy 00:36:46
Full results here: https://www.popupraces.ie/the-lakes-10km-half-marathon/#1_B50585
Ratoath Half Marathon (660)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Stephen Kelly 1 01:14:48
65 Aoife Parrella 1 01:31:46
Crusaders AC runners
2 Kieran Little 01:15:16
13 Mick Smyth 01:22:17
63 Sean Smith 01:31:26
Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/ratoath_half_marathon__5k/2475/results
West Waterford Greenway Half Marathon (602)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Trevor Power 1 01:11:25
15 Ruth Fitzgerald 1 01:21:58
Crusaders AC runner
446 Ian Hennessy 02:05:22
Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/west_waterford_greenway_half_marathon/2580/results
Mondello International 10k (181)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Hiko Tonosa 1 00:30:16
10 Kerry O’Flaherty 1 00:34:34
Crusaders AC runners
9 Frank Halligan 00:34:28
36 Tomas Dunne 00:42:05
67 Russell Murphy 00:48:25
68 Fiona Bane 00:48:31 (13)
Full results here: https://www.popupraces.ie/mondello-international-10k-kia-race-series-finale-2018/#0_67F2D5
Jim Wall Memorial Handicap 2 mile (74)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 James Fitzgerald 1 00:18:47
2 Marianne Fanning 1 00:18:49
Crusaders AC runners
26 Fiona Shine 00:19:34 (11)
55 Lisa Shine 00:20:19 (24)
Full results here: http://rahenyshamrock.ie/?p=3005
Marlay Parkrun #271 (351)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Stephen O’Donnell 1 00:17:44
28 Sarah Hade 1 00:21:00
Crusaders AC runner
5 John McAuley 00:18:24
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/marlay/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=271
Malahide Parkrun #304 (187)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Sinead lambe 1 00:18:07
2 Gerry O’Connell 1 00:18:07
Crusaders AC runner
16 Brian Scanlan 00:20:29
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/malahide/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=304
Poolbeg Parkrun #54 (82)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Stephen Hurley 1 00:17:47
6 Ruth Kelly 1 00:19:38
Crusaders AC runners
3 Zlatko Kulic 00:19:15
5 Kenan Furlong 00:19:33
10 Patrick Carthy 00:20:19
26 Zalan Kovacs 00:21:58
36 Olwyn Dunne 00:24:20 (5)
44 Cliodhna O’Reilly 00:26:13 (8)
67 Jennifer Armstrong 00:29:48 (23)
69 Sharon Woods 00:29:58 (25)
78 Mairin Shine 00:35:33 (33)
82 Fiona Bane 00:41:21 (34)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/poolbeg/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=54
St. Annes Parkrun #248 (305)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Rob Samuel 1 00:15:05
29 Jean Murphy 1 00:21:10
Crusaders AC runners
43 Colm Kernan 00:22:10
179 Lorraine Fitzsimons 00:28:12 (38)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/stannes/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=248
Kilkenny Parkrun #200 (133)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 James Kelly 1 00:17:41
14 Lucinda Gahan 1 00:22:05
Crusaders AC runner
2 Paul Flynn 00:19:00
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/kilkenny/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=200
Cabinteely Parkrun #179 (117)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Igor Pashchenko 1 00:18:59
10 Malika Hammani 1 00:21:44
Crusaders AC runners
2 Barry O’Mahony 00:19:29
55 Emma O’Mahony 00:26:57 (9)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/cabinteely/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=179
Ballincollig Parkrun #115 (204)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Trevor Woods 1 00:18:18
11 Sandra Manning 1 00:20:42
Crusaders AC runner
85 Lisa Shine 00:26:37 (13)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/ballincollig/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=115
Father Collins Parkrun #155 (50)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Matt Cranley 1 00:18:46
11 Sorcha Prendiville 1 00:22:14
Crusaders AC runner
1 Matt Cranley 00:18:46
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/fathercollins/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=155
Castletown Parkrun #141 (124)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 John Regan 1 00:18:49
9 Katie McElroy 1 00:21:51
Crusaders AC runner
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/castletown/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=141
Tolka Valley Parkrun #29 (39)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Mick Bermingham 1 00:19:33
7 Ann Foran 1 00:22:25
Crusaders AC runner
12 Aoife Quinn 00:24:25 (3)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/tolkavalley/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=29
Fairview Parkrun #60 (47)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Rory Hearne 1 00:19:14
9 Caroline McIntyre 1 00:23:48
Crusaders AC runner
26 Leo Lundy 00:27:30
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/fairview/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=60