Halfway there. Marathon preparation in full swing.

16/9/2019

Brendan Murphy

There is a terrific buzz around the nation's capital at the moment as so many athletes prepare for the marathon at the end of October. This last weekend and next will have seen significant participation by athletes in the half marathons on offer that are a helpful benchmark in charting everyone’s progress to the finish line in Merrion Square. Such races are a great confidence builder for the big day.

Currently, Athletics Ireland has a list of at least 90 Crusaders who have signed up for the Dublin marathon and with it the National, Leinster and Dublin championships (indeed, it is possible on the day for an athlete to have earned up to 6 championship medals, individual and team, just by running in the one race). Several of our members were in action in half marathons over the weekend in preparation.

We start in Ratoath on Saturday morning where the half marathon took place in the environs of the Fairyhouse racecourse. On a fast and flat course with only a little wind, i.e. nearly perfect conditions, we had three runners in the race among the field of more than 800. Ciairain Kelly was our first athlete across the line, placing 27th in 1:20:59, followed by Bob Cahill, currently a prolific half-marathoner, who ran 1:29:22 for 90th place. Our third athlete was Tom Dunne who ran a PB time of 1:34:31 to place 156th. On the same day, Frank Renehan and Triona Quill took on the Mediaeval 30k race (one of a series of races of different distances) in Kilkenny, where in a field of 321 runners, they placed admirably. Frank crossed the line in 33rd spot with a super time of 2:27:26, and Triona performing just as well with 40th place overall, 5th female finisher, in 2:28:14.

On the following day, we had at least 8 runners participating alongside the nearly 1,300 other competitors in the Charleville Half marathon in Cork. In a race which saw a new course record set by David Flynn, our club-mates were led across the line by Brendan Murphy who probably obtained a PB with his time of 70:29 for 12th place. Ciaran Diviney was next, placing 39th in 76:34, followed by another runner with a PB, Rob Browne who ran 78:44, his first half marathon under 80 minutes, and placing 55th. Paul Dempsey was next with a super 79:34 for 63rd as he prepares for Amsterdam the weekend before Dublin. Further back came Brian Carroll who ran 1:27:11 for 170th followed by our Cork exile, Shane Collins, picking up 213th spot with a time of 1:29:25. Katie McElroy was next, placing 397th overall (40th female) in 1:37:55 and she was followed by Kate Murray (656th overall and 109th female) in 1:47:13. Members will be interested to hear that Declan Ryan, the visually-impaired athlete from Thurles who trains with Crusaders, also ran, unguided, picking up 86th place in a time of 1:21:44.

The final half marathon to report on was in Kilkenny again, this time the Danesfort Half which took place on Sunday. Dee Ni Chearbhaill and husband Sean Murphy, who trains with us, took on the race which is as hilly as next week's Race Series half, so a decent substitute. Sean managed to place 2nd in 1:19:07 in the field of 259, whilst Dee placed 69th overall and 5th female finisher in 1:38:48.

There were other excellent results around the country over the weekend. Having looked around for fast and flat 10k races over the past couple of week Brian O’Kelly finally found an event to run. Although it turned out to be hillier than expected, Brian won the race on Saturday, the Wicklow Hospice 10k near Brittas Bay, where he ran an excellent PB time of 31:12, in a smallish field of 38. Tomas O’Dowd came second in 36:55.

We also had a runner in the St. Brigids 5k in Castleknock, where Donal Foley placed 35th in a field of 277 and a time of 22:57. Further afield, Russell Murphy reported that he ran in the Cape Town marathon in South Africa. In warm conditions on a hilly, but scenic course, Russell ran 4:32:18.

The latest and final round of the Leinster mountain championships took place on Sunday in Drumgoff. Although results haven’t yet been posted, we can report that Becky Quinn was the female winner on a course that measured 14.5km and a climb of 650m on moderate terrain. Becky is now the 2019 Leinster champion. Congrats to her. Congratulations should also go to Donnacha McCarthy, the visually-impaired paratriathlete, who successfully defended his national title over the weekend, meaning he has won it three times.

In Saturday’s parkruns, we had just one first finisher Lisa Shine,who ran in Naas, also placed 20th overall in a time of 23:01. Maria Hansen and Mairin Shine ran in the same event, placing respectively 40th (and 3rd) and 96th (and 25th) in 25:14 and 30:24.Elsewhere, though we had plenty of podium finishes. Stephen Hurley was given the same time as the first finisher in Poolbeg where he ran 16:29, whilst Cormac McGuire also placed 2nd in Tolka Valley in 21:26. Fiona Bane took 2nd (11th overall) in 22:16 in Waterford, whilst Aine Kenny tried out Oranmore and did the same thing (12th overall) in 21:25. Close to the medals came Eddie Nugent, Michael Wycherley and Peter Barry. Eddie ran in Cabinteely where he placed 5th in 19:42, whilst Peter took 5th also in River Valley where he ran 18:52, ahead of Brian Scanlan (63rd in 25:20). Meanwhile, Michael finished in 4th spot in Poolbeg behind Stephen, where he ran 18:11. Behind Michael came Zlatko Kulic (9th in 19:03), David O’Donnell (23rd in 20:58), Ali May Hann (60th and 7th in 23:57), Sharon Woods (69th and 10th in 24:30), Ava Rose Clarke (80th and 14th in 25:14), Gillian Curran (86th and 18th in 25:28), Mary Dolan (103rd and 28th in 26:38), Cliodhna O’Reilly (110th and 32nd in 26:59) and Karla Woods (136th and 40th in 29:04).Tony Owens was our sole runner in Fairview where he placed 16th in 22:29, as was Brendan Glynn who placed 6th in Portumna in 22:20. Olwyn Dunne ran in Tyrrelstown where she placed 37th and 11th in 25:49, whilst further afield Thom Martini ran in Ealing in west London in Gunnersbury Park where in a field of 630 he placed 54th in a time of 20:46. Just as far away, our exile in Scotland, Andrej Kujikis, ran again in Edinburgh in a field of 580 where he placed 47th in 20:33, along with Aidan Hudner who once again ran in Glasgow’s Victoria Park where in a field of 385 he placed 65th in 22:10. Maria Pertl ran solo n Poppintree where she placed 54th and 10th in 27:00, whilst Darina Scully did likewise in Malahide where she placed 113th and 22nd in 24:19. Mairead Cashman took on St. Anne’s, finishing in 372nd place overall (137th) in 31:10, whilst in Bushy Park, Aoife and Paul Kelly placed respectively 84th (and 13th) and 172nd, with respective times of 26:28 and 30:57. Finally, it’s great to see Dominick Branigan coming back to form. He ran in Marlay Park with Barry O’Neill. Dominick placed 14th in 19:17, whilst Barry picked up 103rd spot in 22:43.

Charleville Half Marathon (1290)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 David Flynn 1 01:03:46 (CR)
26 Aoife Cooke 1 01:14:39
Crusaders AC runners
12 Brendan Murphy 01:10:29 (PB)
39 Ciaran Diviney 01:16:34
55 Rob Browne 01:18:44 (PB)
63 Paul Dempsey 01:19:34
170 Brian Carroll 01:27:11
213 Shane Collins 01:29:25
397 Katie McElroy 01:37:55 (40)
656 Kate Murray 01:47:13 (109)
Full results here: https://www.sportsplits.com/races/16761/events/1?page=1
Ratoath Half Marathon (821)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Ciaran McKenna 1 01:08:38
29 Niamh Clifford 1 01:21:11
Crusaders AC runners
27 Ciarain Kelly 01:20:59
90 Bob Cahill 01:29:22
156 Tomas Dunne 01:34:31 (PB)
Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/ratoath_half_marathon__5k/2947/results
Mediaeval 30K Kilkenny (321)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 David Browne 1 02:01:04
5 Emma Boland 1 02:10:20
Crusaders AC runner
33 Frank Renehan 02:27:26
40 Triona Quill 02:28:14 (5)
Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/medieval_marathon%2c_30k%2c_half__10k_2019/3035/results
St. Brigids 5k Castleknock (277)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Daire Finn 1 00:15:44
6 Maura Kearns 1 00:18:54
Crusaders AC runner
35 Donal Foley 00:22:57
Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/st._brigids_5k_castleknock_-blanchardstown/3267/results
Wicklow Hospice 10k (38)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Brian O’Kelly 1 00:31:12
9 Mary Kennedy 1 00:45:13
Crusaders AC runners
1 Brian O’Kelly 00:31:12 (PB)
2 Tomas O’Dowd 00:36:55
Full results here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1C2S18yra7ttmxmgu7F-ImL6Q0J9kHyoast15g4K9s-A/edit?fbclid=IwAR3LUgsXVGQOTOf7tu-fI-SV3yOe7_jLH_d3L65QyIe5Dq0ZxjaETYY45bs#gid=1022930636
Danesfort Half Marathon (259)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Andrew Nevin 1 01:18:21
7 Leanne Butler 1 01:22:37
Crusaders AC runner
69 Dee Ni Chearbhaill 01:38:48 (5)
Full results here: https://www.totaltiming.ie/results/2019/jj_reddy_HALF_2019_fullresults.htm
Malahide Parkrun #358 (383)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 David Rooney 1 00:16:28
28 Cindy Hickey 1 00:20:21
Crusaders AC runner
113 Darina Scully 00:24:19 (22)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/malahide/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=358
Marlay Parkrun #319 (554)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Mark Mellor 1 00:16:30
33 Paula Prendergast 1 00:20:11
Crusaders AC runners
14 Dominick Branigan 00:19:17
103 Barry O’Neill 00:22:43
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/marlay/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=319
St. Anne’s Parkrun #299 (488)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Graham O’Dwyer 1 00:16:56
26 Nessa Cahill 1 00:19:46
Crusaders AC runner
372 Mairead Cashman 00:31:10 (137)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/stannes/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=299
Fairview Parkrun #111 (124)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Bobby Bedford 1 00:18:29
12 Emilia Enqvist 1 00:21:34
Crusaders AC runner
16 Anthony Owens 00:22:29
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/fairview/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=111
Poolbeg Parkrun #108 (176)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 John Higgins 1 00:16:29
15 Margaret Galvin 1 00:19:46
Crusaders AC runners
2 Stephen Hurley 00:16:29
4 Michael Wycherley 00:18:11
9 Zlatko Kulic 00:19:03
23 David O’Donnell 00:20:58
60 Ali May Hann 00:23:57 (7)
69 Sharon Woods 00:24:30 (10)
80 Ava Rose Clarke 00:25:14 (14)
86 Gillian Curran 00:25:28 (18)
103 Mary Dolan 00:26:38 (28)
110 Cliodhna O’Reilly 00:26:59 (32)
136 Karla Woods 00:29:04 (40)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/poolbeg/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=108
Poppintree Parkrun #252 (103)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 James Kavanagh 1 00:17:48
16 Kate Cleary 1 00:21:28
Crusaders AC runner
54 Maria Pertl 00:27:00 (10)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/poppintree/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=252
Naas Parkrun #283 (160)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Sean Doyle 1 00:18:02
20 Lisa Shine 1 00:23:01
Crusaders AC runners
40 Mari Hansen 00:25:14 (3)
96 Mairin Shine 00:30:24 (25)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/naas/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=160
Tyrrelstown Parkrun #53 (151)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Kenneth Mulvey 1 00:18:17
13 Jennifer Hurson 1 00:22:50
Crusaders AC runner
37 Olwyn Dunne 00:25:9 (11)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/tyrrelstown/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=53
Waterford Nature Parkrun #3 (179)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Brian Murphy 1 00:16:38
10 Meabh O’Connor 1 00:22:01
Crusaders AC runner
11 Fiona Bane 00:22:16 (2)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/waterfordnature/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=3
Cabinteely Parkrun #231 (172)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Gary Farrell 1 00:17:52
40 Ciara Brady 1 00:24:14
Crusaders AC runner
5 Eddie Nugent 00:19:42
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/cabinteely/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=231
River Valley Parkrun #163 (192)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Ciaran McCarthy 1 00:16:40
12 Malika Hammani 1 00:19:42
Crusaders AC runners
5 Peter Barry 00:18:52
63 Brian Scanlan 00:25:20
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/rivervalley/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=163
Tolka Valley Parkrun #82 (63)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Unknown 1 00:19:31
13 Aisling Murnane 1 00:25:30
Crusaders AC runner
2 Cormac McGuire 00:21:26
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/tolkavalley/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=82
Portumna Parkrun #78 (31)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Sean Mooloy 1 00:18:50
5 Helena O’Keeffe 1 00:21:46
Crusaders AC runner
6 Brendan Glynn 00:22:20
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/portumna/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=78
Oranmore Parkrun #160 (101)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Fergus Kelly 1 00:18:36
11 Siobhan Geaney 1 00:21:09
Crusaders AC runner
12 Aine Kenny 00:21:25
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/oranmore/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=160