History made in the Dublin Seniors

5/11/2018

Niamh Corby, Orla Drumm, Caroline Crowley, Anna Reddin, Niamh Allen, Catherine Thornton

This was an event we had all been looking forward to for some time. On Sunday afternoon, Santry Demesne, next to the Morton Stadium, was host ground to the Dublin Seniors XC, traditionally a well-supported and high quality series of races. The club had a great deal of confidence in its senior men’s and women’s teams off the back of some excellent results in recent XC races and ultimately our confidence was well rewarded.

The weather co-operated, dry with only a light breeze, which in fact made conditions somewhat close as the temperature was quite mild. Underfoot, the ground was quite firm, so that some of our runners did not resort to spikes, particularly as the chosen 1500m course had a longish drag on the back side of the field, but no really steep hill about which to worry. Indeed, the hill down by a garden wall that has been a feature of previous years was no longer on the course. No doubt, however, it will come back into play in the upcoming BHAA XC race on 17 November.

The women’s 6k race was first, involving 4 loops of the course. The field, although of some quality, was perhaps a little depleted (but only marginally versus 2017) with only 7 clubs represented and only 6 scoring teams. Raheny and ourselves were the only clubs to have more than 4 runners (the necessary number to score) in the race.

The race got off to a furious start, with Niamh Allen leading a bunch of 4 runners including Anna Reddin and across the duration of two laps she built up a reasonable lead. However, ultimate race winner Ide Nic Dhomhnaill of Donore broke away from the pack on the second lap, hunting our runner down, whilst Anna stayed with what remained of the group. Ultimately Niamh found herself in difficulty and a stitch forced her to stop momentarily as Ide was catching her. It’s testimony though to Niamh’s mental strength that she was able to pick herself up and although the 3 other girls, including Anna, came past, Niamh was still able to hold on for a hugely respectable finish in 5th place and second scorer behind Anna who placed 3rd, ahead of Olympian marathoner Linda Byrne. Orla Drumm, was able to take a Donore athlete in the closing stages and finished in 6th place and 3rd scorer for the team, whilst Caroline Crowley, making an excellent return to the scene, finished strongly ahead of two DSD athletes (the club’s 3rd and 4th scorers) for a top 10 finish in 9th place. It is interesting to note that the winning gold medal performance of our scorers could have been so different if the DSD girls had finished ahead of Caroline as we would have finished on exactly the same number of points as DSD, only to lose on countback. But, then again XC is always about the narrowest of margins and every place being critical. In the field of 29, where even last place ran a decent race at an average 4:17 per km, Catherine Thornton placed 23rd and Niamh Corby, 26th, both having strong runs, which would likely have been rewarded in a larger field. So, Crusaders won the team gold with 23 points (finishing one place better than last year), from DSD on 27 and Donore finishing on 33 points in 3rd place.

The men’s race was 10k, with a larger field of 52 runners, but perhaps still down a little on previous years (last week’s marathon potentially depriving the race of a few athletes). As with the women, there were 7 clubs, but only 6 fielding teams of at least 6, the minimum needing to score. We had 11 athletes in the race and although the outcome of the team gold was pretty much a foregone conclusion early on in the race, the battle for silver and bronze was extremely exciting and even after the race had finished it was still by no means clear who would join Clonliffe on the podium. When the smoke had cleared, Clonliffe had finished on 65 points, whilst DSD had 109 and Crusaders had 118. 4th place went to Raheny on 163. Still, we had won our first Dublin senior medal in a long time (no one can remember if we have ever won a medal in this race in the past). Interestingly, although DSD’s 6th scorer finished in 49th place, even if he had finished last the result would not have changed because they had 3 scorers ahead of our first and although we were well-bunched, it was not quite enough, but we’ll take it!

As with the women’s team our men, led home by mens’ captain Michael Kiely, did us proud. Mike was 12th after a sprint finish that was last minute but apparently was not over until well into the chute, such was the drive, ahead of teammate Brendan Murphy in 13th. Italo Giancaterina was next in 19th with another healthy rivalry being evidenced behind him between Vinnie McGuinness (23rd) and Michael O’Conor (24th). All these sprints were fun to watch. Our last scorer was Fearghal O’Hare in 27th place. Next came Peter O’Toole with an excellent run to place 30th ahead of John Mulvihill (31st) and Tony Carter (33rd), with Frank Hague (37th) and Joe McDermott (40th) not too far behind.

On the same day, several of us were eagerly tracking the runs of our clubmates who were participating in the 50,000-strong New York Marathon. We had 8 athletes in the event which by all accounts took place in ideal conditions. Nevertheless, it is a tough marathon with a lot of hills, particularly at the back end in Central Park, but also not underestimating the many bridges that have to be crossed. Kieran Little, hot on the heels of his strong performance in Budapest recently, achieved another PB by running 2:33. He was followed by Paul Dempsey who ran close to his PB in 2:52 with our Milanese exile Federico Corradini not too far behind in 2:57. Next to cross the line was TJ Bourke (3:34) who ran in Dublin last week, followed by Maria del Carmen Jimenez Campos (3:49), a recent recruit to the club, with a super result. Mick Blighe (3:53), whose training through the recent months has been somewhat interrupted, was next, followed by Maura Cleary (4:32), another relative newcomer, and Bob Manson (4:56), who ran 3 marathons in 2 weeks (Amsterdam, Dublin and New York).

A bit closer to home, Leo Lundy also ran a marathon over the weekend, meant to be a recovery after Dublin, but turning into quite a tough and wet one in Ballinasloe (5:20).

Then, a bit further away again, news came in from Stephen Moore, our Berlin exile, who ran in the Hasenheide XC 10.7km, his first XC race in 3 years, taking first place in a time of 39:12.

We had the usual suspects turn out for the Saturday morning parkruns. A first finisher place went to Robert Browne, a week after his great marathon performance in Dublin. Robert ran a super 18:22 in Shanganagh. Daniel Lowe also produced the same result in Lough Key in a time of 18:08, whilst Serena Moloney was also a first finisher in Templemore (7th overall, in 22:24). To complete the picture, we had a fourth first finisher in Sarah Lyons who ran in Tolka Valley, coming home in 9th place overall in a time of 22:42. In the same event Phelim Murray placed 5th in 21:29, whilst Cormac McGuire, another Dublin marathoner, placed 11th in 23:23. Besides Daniel in Lough Key, we also had yet another Dublin marathoner, Kate Murray, placing 3rd (20th overall) in 24:58. We had the usual substantial turnout in Poolbeg. Fiona Bane placed 2nd (30th overall in 22:40). Fiona was preceded by Gavan Doherty (6th in 20:00) and followed by two athletes coming back from injury: Bram d’Hoedt (35th in 22:56) and Brian O’Kelly (37th in 22:58). Zalan Kovacs was next (38th in 23:08), followed by Sharon Woods (53rd overall, 10th female, in 24:58), Mari Hansen (66th overall, 17th female, in 26:11), Cliodhna O’Reilly (69th overall, 19th female, in 26:20) and the tail walker Don Anderton (113th in 39:53). Matt Cranley was back to his buggy-pushing in Father Collins, a week after Dublin, placing 10th in 21:45, whilst Kris Ryan placed 48th overall, 6th female finisher, in 24:07 in Paradise Point in Australia in a field of 240. Mairead Cashman placed 102nd overall, 24th female, in 27:59 in Ballincollig, whilst Emilie Fournier placed 257th overall, 69th female, in 28:22 in St. Anne’s. Luke Davis (7th in 19:25) led a small contingent of Crusaders home in Marlay. Luke was followed by Killian Barry (12th in 19:55), Olwyn Dunne (263rd overall, 51st female, in 27:38), another runner to have run the Dublin marathon last week, and by Darina Scully (290th overall, 66th female, in 28:12). Newly-weds Aoife Quinn and her husband Paul Kelly ran in Poppintree, Aoife placing 43rd overall, 6th female, in 24:27, followed by Paul (54th in 24:57). Finally, we had 2 runners in Cabinteely. Emma O’Mahony placed 69th overall, 21st woman, in 28:38, whilst Mairin Shine ran 46:43 for 124th place overall, 49th woman.

Dublin Seniors XC (Men 10k) (52)
Overall place Name Guntime
1 Colm Rooney 00:30:50
Crusaders AC runners
12 Michael Kiely 00:33:04
13 Brendan Murphy 00:33:05
19 Italo Giancaterina 00:33:38
23 Vinnie McGuinness 00:34:12
24 Michael O’Conor 00:34:16
27 Fearghal O’Hare 00:34:51
30 Peter O’Toole 00:35:09
31 John Mulvihill 00:35:15
33 Tony Carter 00:35:34
37 Frank Hague 00:36:11
40 Joe McDermott 00:36:35
Full results here: https://www.dublinathletics.com/attachments/article/523/Dublin%20Senior%20Mens%20%20%20CC%202018.pdf
Dublin Seniors XC (Women 6k) (29)
Overall place Name Guntime
1 ide Nic Dhomhnaill 00:20:34
Crusaders AC runners
3 Anna Reddin 00:20:51
5 Niamh Allen 00:21:18
6 Orla Drumm 00:21:25
9 Caroline Crowley 00:22:26
23 Catherine Thornton 00:23:27
26 Niamh Corby 00:24:31
Full results here: https://www.dublinathletics.com/attachments/article/523/Dublin%20Senior%20Womens%20%20%20CC%202018.pdf
New York marathon
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Lelisa Desisa 1 02:05:59
X Mary Keitany 1 02:22:48
Crusaders AC runners
Kieran Little 02:33:53
Paul Dempsey 02:52:25
Federico Corradini 02:57:47
TJ Bourke 03:34:25
Maria del Carmen Jimenez Campos 03:49:28
Mick Blighe 03:53:53
Maura Cleary 04:32:52
Bob Manson: 04:55:50
Templemore Parkrun #93 (51)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Peter Madden 1 00:19:15
7 Serena Moloney 1 00:22:24
Crusaders AC runner
7 Serena Moloney 00:22:24 (1)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/templemore/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=93
Marlay Parkrun #279 (476)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Paul Stephenson 1 00:16:49
22 Lorraine Nolan 1 00:20:50
Crusaders AC runners
7 Luke Davis 00:19:25
12 Killian Barry 00:19:55
263 Olwyn Dunne 00:27:38 (51)
290 Darina Scully 00:28:12 (66)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/marlay/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=279
Poolbeg Parkrun #62 (113)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Mark Furnish 1 00:18:11
18 Aine Kenny 1 00:21:06
Crusaders AC runners
6 Gavan Doherty
30 Fiona Bane 00:22:40 (2)
35 Bram d’Hoedt 00:22:56
37 Brian O’Kelly 00:22:58
38 Zalan Kovacs 00:23:08
53 Sharon Woods 00:24:58 (10)
66 Mari Hansen 00:26:11 (17)
69 Cliodhna O’Reilly 00:26:20 (19)
113 Don Anderton 00:39:53
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/poolbeg/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=62
St Annes’s Parkrun #256 (465)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Paul Cowhie 1 00:17:05
24 Deborah Monaghan 1 00:20:09
Crusaders AC runners
257 Emilie Fournier 00:28:22 (69)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/stannes/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=256
Shanganagh Parkrun #187 (135)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Robert Browne 1 00:18:22
3 Ann Marie Kenny 1 00:20:34
Crusaders AC runner
1 Robert Browne 00:18:22
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/shanganagh/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=187
Ballincollig Parkrun #123 (222)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Denis Buckley 1 00:18:33
5 Riina Kuuselo 1 00:20:08
Crusaders AC runner
102 Mairead Cashman 00:27:59 (24)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/ballicollig/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=123
Tolka Valley Parkrun #37 (46)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Philip Doyle 1 00:18:40
9 Sarah Lyons 1 00:22:42
Crusaders AC runners
5 Phelim Murray 00:21:29
9 Sarah Lyons 00:22:42 (1)
11 Cormac McGuire 00:23:23
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/tolkavalley/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=37
Father Collins Parkrun #163 (80)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Declan Power 1 00:17:56
19 Denise Kelleher 1 00:23:47
Crusaders AC runner
10 Matt Cranley 00:21:45
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/fathercollins/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=163
Lough Key Parkrun #126 (131)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Daniel Lowe 1 00:18:08
16 Joan Boyd 1 00:24:03
Crusaders AC runners
1 Daniel Lowe 00:18:08
20 Kate Murray 00:24:58 (3)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/loughkey/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=126
Cabinteely Parkrun #187 (128)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Ted Burke 1 00:19:14
2 Orna Dilworth 1 00:20:18
Crusaders AC runners
69 Emma O’Mahony 00:28:38 (21)
124 Mairin Shine 00:46:43 (49)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/cabinteely/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=187
Poppintree Parkrun #207 (166)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Marcus Bishop 1 00:18:10
20 Kate Cleary 1 00:22:38
Crusaders AC runners
43 Aoife Quinn 00:24:27 (6)
54 Paul Kelly 00:24:57
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/poppintree/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=207