Half Way There

11/9/2023

L-R standing: Kieran Martin, Aoife Quigley, Ciara Regan, Brian McGuckin, Kathryn Gibbons. Kneeling: Rebecca Fleming

We’re now in the thick of half marathon racing in the build-up to the various marathons for which runners are preparing. This weekend produced two quality events, one in Ratoath in Co. Meath and the other in Charleville, Co. Cork.

Before we start, however, Leinster Athletics has advised us that Ciarain Kelly joined Ciaran Diviney as a medal winner in the recent Tullamore Half Marathon (incorporating the national and Leinster Championships). Ciaran and Ciarain both were members of the County Dublin O/35 gold-winning team in the race, which will no doubt please the Munster men immensely to learn. As previously mentioned, Ciaran also won O/50 silver in both National and Leinster competitions. Congrats to them both.

On Saturday morning, at least 20 Crusaders joined the field of more than 1200 runners in Ratoath, the scene last year of the national half marathon championships. There was less at stake this year, but the quality of the field remained high on what is considered quite an attractive course, although deceptively challenging with a slight downhill first half and then a long drag to the finish on an anticlockwise course starting and finishing at Fairyhouse racecourse and which involved at least 3k of running on the ambulance track next to the course itself. Conditions were relatively more challenging this year with the weather being much warmer and more humid than last year and little, if any, wind. Times were, as a result, generally slower than last year.

Ciarain Kelly was our first runner home, placing 19th in 78:47 and he was followed by Warren Swords (56th in 82:48). Next came Kieran Martin (70th in 83:56) to be followed by Adrienne Jordan, in training for the Berlin marathon later this month, who ran 87:50 for 124th place overall, 7th female finisher and winner of her F40 age category. In fact, Adrienne hauled in the prizes, leading the women’s team to first place in the club team competition. The other members of the team were Aoife Quigley (145th and 10th in 89:07), Kathryn Gibbons (162nd and 12th in 90:20) and Ciara Regan (198th and 17th in 93:00).

The next athlete home was Brian McGuckin (226th in 94:34) and Brian was followed by Cormac Fenton (255th in 96:11) and Kevin Lynch (345th in 99:42). Three of our athletes ran pretty much together throughout the race. They were Rebecca Fleming (380th and 55th in 1:41:52), Emer Kenny (385th in 1:41:36) and Áine Crotty (386th and 56th in 1:41:34). They were followed by Emily Glen with a surprising PB, given the conditions, of 1:43:44 for 420th and 64th places and by Dee Ni Chearbhaill (553rd and 110th in 1:49:38). Next across the line came Olwyn Dunne who treated the race as part of a longer run (567th and 114th in 1:49:33), followed by Sharon Woods (585th and 120th in 1:51:18), Mary Fitzsimons (594th and 122nd in 1:51:16), close behind, Evelyn Neary (1060th and 351st in 2:20:52) and Lorraine Fitzsimons, unfortunately under the weather (1222nd and 452nd in 3:01:40).

The Charleville Half was run in similar conditions the following day. Similar temperatures and humidity as well as little breeze to alleviate the heat. The course itself, an out-and-back with a loop is similar to Ratoath. It is regarded as generally fast, but also involves an initial descent and then after a spikey climb in the middle has a slight uphill drag to the finish. We had at least 8 Crusaders take part in this event. The contingent was led home by Brendan Murphy in 12th place in a field of nearly 1000 finishers. Brendan’s time was 73:45. He was followed by Robert Browne (48th in 79:41), Joe McDermott, in training for the Athens marathon in November (63rd in 81:00), Eugene McDonough just behind (64th in 81:13), Ciara Lynch (215th and 18th in 90:44), Karl Walsh (376th in 1:40:46), Rachel Calvey (415th and 58th in 1:42:32) and Robbie Moore (519th in 1:48:10).

Further afield, Cormac McGuire took part in the Golden Gate 4-mile XC race in San Francisco, his first ever XC, where he ran 29:05 for the distance, whilst, in Nice, Steven Walker, one of our exiles in Australia, came back to the continent to run in the Ironman World Championships where he completed the ordeal in 11:19:11 and ran the marathon component in 3:40:48. Then, in New York City, before a huge thunderstorm cancelled the remaining mass participation waves, Richard Kavanagh took part in the Fifth Avenue Mile. Although, Richard ran slightly slower than he had hoped, the conditions didn’t help as he had to run in torrential rain to record a time of 7:14. Of note, Irish international athlete Sarah Healy also ran in the event (once the rain had stopped) and recorded a time of 4:20 for second place in the elite women’s competition.

There were two races organised by IMRA over the weekend, for one of which so far we have results. Donatas Jocius placed 9th in the gruelling 23k Galtee Challenge in Co. Limerick. The field of 39 finishers (6 runners recorded a DNF) had to negotiate a course of extreme difficulty with a climb of more 1,760m. Donatas’ time for the race was 3:37:00. The other race was around Luggala in Co. Wicklow, involving a distance of just over 8k and a climb of 700m, and we had at least two members in the event (Gareth Phelan and Will Holton). Once results are published the report will be updated.

There was sparse involvement in parkruns on Saturday morning, but we still recorded some podium finishes. Clare Sullivan celebrated a recent milestone birthday by coming home in 15th and first places in the field of 411 in Marlay Park. Clare’s time was 19:01. Kate Murray was also a first finisher in Ballinamore Greenway Co. Leitrim where she placed 4th overall in a field of 39 and in a time of 23:31, whilst Kevin Fitzgibbon headed to London where he ran in the Ally Pally parkrun. In a field of 328, Kevin ran a time of 19:26 for 3rd place.

Kenan Furlong was our first runner home in Poolbeg where he placed 2nd in 18:02. Kenan was followed in the field of 168 by John Lohan (35th in 23:00), Russell Murphy (56th in 24:33), Franky Keane (79th in 27:00), Kevin Kenny (95th in 28:22), Mía Zoladz (98th sand 20th in 28:39), Cynthia Perucca (144th and 53rd in 35:32), Niamh Trihy (148th and 56th in36;18) and Fiona Bane, tailwalking for the second week in a row.

Toby Benham ran once again in Tramore Valley, Cork, where, in a field of 131, he ran 21:09 for 4th place, whilst Enda Currid took 6th spot in Brickfields. In a field of 61, Enda recorded a time of 22:36. We had at least 4 runners in Shanganagh, where they joined 203 other runners. The group was led across the line by Dee Lawlor (4th in 18:00), and he was followed by Eoghan Corrigan (20th in 21:25), Caroline Crowley, who is several months pregnant (44th and 8th in 23:28) and by Carina Davidson (117th and 39th in 28:19).

David O’Donnell ran alongside 36 other runners in Listowel where he placed 7th in 23:07, whilst Diarmuid Byrne also placed 7th in Tolka Valley with its field of 30 in a time of 22:54. Gemma Cooper placed 66th and 23rd in Tramore, Waterford, where, in a field of 139, she ran a time of 27:51, whilst Luke Haran placed 11th in a time of 21:27 in a field of 91 in Mungret. Dale Whelehan placed 13th in a field of 68 in Vicarstown where he ran a time of 23:59, whilst we had 5 runners in Cabinteely. In a field of 150, Lisa Shine took 43rd and 6th spots in 25:59, followed by Julian Callan (47th in 26:21), Fiona Shine (72nd and 17th in 29:37), Máirín Shine (90th and 25th in 31:15) and Anna Shine (120th and 45th in 38:33).

Ratoath Half Marathon (1231)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Peter Somba 1 01:10:14
22 Grace Lynch 1 01:18:59
Crusaders AC runners
19 Ciarain Kelly 01:18:47
56 Warren Swords 01:22:48
70 Kieran Martin 01:23:56
124 Adrienne Jordan 01:27:50 (7)
145 Aoife Quigley 01:29:07 (10)
162 Kathryn Gibbons 01:30:20 (12)
198 Ciara Regan 01:33:00 (17)
226 Brian McGuckin 01:34:34
255 Cormac Fenton 01:36:11
345 Kevin Lynch 01:39:42
380 Rebecca Fleming 01:41:52 (55)
385 Emer Kenny 01:41:36 (56)
386 Áine Crotty 01:41:34 (57)
420 Emily Glen 01:43:44 (PB) (64)
553 Dee Ni Chearbhaill 01:49:38 (110)
567 Olwyn Dunne 01:49:33 (114)
585 Sharon Woods 01:51:18 (120)
594 Mary Fitzsimons 01:51:16 (122)
1060 Evelyn Neary 02:20:52 (351)
1222 Lorraine Fitzsimons 03:01:40 (452)
Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/ratoath_ac_half_marathon/4807/results
Charleville Half Marathon (998)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Michael Harty 1 01:07:03
44 Barbara Cleary 1 01:19:19
Crusaders AC runners
12 Brendan Murphy 01:13:45
48 Robert Browne 01:19:41
63 Joe McDermott 01:21:00
64 Eugene McDonough 01:21:13
215 Ciara Lynch 01:30:44 (18)
376 Karl Walsh 01:40:46
415 Rachel Calvey 01:42:32 (58)
519 Robbie Moore 01:48:10
Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/charleville_international_half_marathon/4718/results
IMRA Galtee Challenge 23k (39)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Matthew McConnell 1 02:51:34
6 Deirdre O’Gorman 1 03:28:09
Crusaders AC runner
9 Donata Jocius 03:37:00
Full results here: https://www.imra.ie/events/results/id/2350
Vicarstown Parkrun (68)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Kristian Redmond 1 00:19:17
18 Anne Marie Byrne 1 00:26:30
Crusader AC runner
13 Dale Whelehan 00:23:59
Tramore Valley, Cork Parkrun (131)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Michael O’Donoghue 1 00:19:26
7 Clodagh Creedon 1 00:21:31
Crusaders AC runner
4 Toby Benham 00:21:09

Listowel Parkrun (37)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 James Dillon 1 00:18:42
4 Noelle Dillon 1 00:22:02
Crusaders AC runner
7 David O’Donnell 00:23:07
Ballinamore Greenway Parkrun (39)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Eoin McHugh 1 00:22:09
4 Kate Murray 1 00:23:31
Crusaders AC runner
4 Kate Murray 00:23:31(1)
Marlay Parkrun (411)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Sean Healy 1 00:17:06
15 Clare Sullivan 00:19:01
Crusaders AC runner
15 Clare Sullivan 00:19:01 (1)
Poolbeg Parkrun (168)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 August Benedicto 1 00:17:48
15 Ava Rose Clarke 1 00:21:29
Crusaders AC runners
2 Kenan Furlong 00:18:02
35 John Lohan 00:23:00
56 Russell Murphy 00:24:33
79 Franky Keane 00:28:22
95 Kevin Kenny 00:28:22
98 Mía Zoladz 00:28:39 (20)
144 Cynthia Perucca 00:35:32 (53)
148 Niamh Trihy 00:36:18 (56)
168 Fiona Bane 00:51:05
Tramore Waterford Parkrun (139)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Brian Gallagher 1 00:17:36
8 Lucy Clinton 1 00:20:32
Crusaders AC runner
66 Gemma Cooper 00:27:51 (23)
Tolka Valley Parkrun (30)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Anthony Dorran 1 00:19:15
11 Carmen Evelin Rusu 1 00:24:01
Crusaders AC runner
7 Diarmuid Byrne 00:22:54
Mungret Parkrun (91)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Mick Neville 1 00:17:19
19 Jenni Molyneaux 1 00:23:22
Crusaders AC runner
11 Luke Haran 00:21:27
Shanganagh Parkrun (207)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
2 Reuben Whelan 1 00:17:28
3 Laura McDonnell 1 00:17:54
Crusaders AC runners
4 Derek Lawlor 00:18:00
20 Eoghan Corrigan 00:21:25
44 Caroline Crowley 00:23:28 (8)
117 Carina Davidson 00:28:19 (39)
Brickfields Parkrun (61)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Shane Lynam 1 00:20:08
4 Mary Fee 1 00:22:18
Crusaders AC runner
6 Enda Currid 00:22:36
Cabinteely Parkrun (150)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Eoin Healy 1 00:17:29
9 Robyn Kennedy 1 00:21:27
Crusaders AC runners
43 Lisa Shine 00:25:59 (6)
47 Julian Callan 00:26:21
72 Fiona Shine 00:29:37 (17)
90 Máirín Shine 00:31:15 (25)
120 Anna Shine 00:38:33 (45)