History (nearly) Repeated

26/9/2016

Crusaders were out racing in force this last weekend. In two of the several events covered by the report this week we had at least 70 members competing and we made our presence felt.

This has been a year when there has been noticeably less wind to contend with in races in Dublin. It has also been largely dry for our events. However, in both recent Dublin Race Series races, the Frank Duffy 10 miler and this Saturday’s Half Marathon, we have had gale force winds to face on what have been arguably tougher courses than in previous years. Despite that, we had some remarkable times recorded, including some great PBs, which will give significant confidence for the marathoners who made up a large majority of the 47 runners we entered for the race. The one thing we expected, but which did not really affect us, was the rain. It had been a deluge in the Frank Duffy. In the Half, it was noticeably humid that morning and we did experience a shower as we appeared to be kept on the start line for what seemed an age, but even though it may have been damp during the race, it was really only the southerly wind that could be considered a challenge and even then it had a refreshing effect.

Apart from a small detour outside Farmleigh down to the Knockmaroon Gate, the race took place wholly in the Phoenix Park. It involved most of the hills we know and love, including the Snake, the road from the Khyber Pass up to the Wellesley monument and the Upper Glen Road, but did not involve this year the long rather boring trip along Conyngham Road. We also had the wind heavily in our faces as we ran down Chesterfield Ave and the Acres in the last 3 miles. So, it is surprising we had so many PBs, but then again we know the park so well from our long runs.

Because there were so many of us in the race, which measured more than 6,900 finishers, it is hard to mention everyone, but a few stand out. Leading his clubmates home was Joe McDermott. He is training for the New York marathon and his performance on Saturday will have seen his confidence soar. He bettered his previous PB from the Rock and Roll half in August (which had already been a 3 minute improvement) by over 5 minutes to come home in 68th place in a time of 1:20:57. James Moran and Joe Walsh were also able to get top 100 places, with James placing 78th in 1:21:21 and Joe recording a PB time of 1:22:16 to take 95th spot.

Eugene McDonough, Diarmuid Byrne, Pat Quill and Paul Dempsey went off particularly hard at the beginning and all but Eugene found the second half particularly tough as a consequence. Nevertheless, they all had excellent results. Eugene, Diarmuid and Paul produced PB performances, with Eugene taking 200th place in 1:25:55, Diarmuid, 220th in 2:26:23 and Paul, 275th in 1:27:58. Pat also ran well to place 232nd in 1:26:38. James Cottle decided early on not to follow the Cru pack and was feeling the humidity in the first half. All the same, he tried to keep Paul in his sights. After taking a gel at about 6 miles and also briefly reverting to pacing by reducing heart rate (which widened the distance between the two runners for a time) and also being passed on the North Road by a flying TJ Bourke (who came home in a super PB time of 1:25:47 to place 207th), he perked up and, by the 8th mile, he was beginning to catch Paul. At the same time, he spotted his principal adversary for the age category win about 200m ahead as he ran along the Ordnance Survey Road for the second time. By the time he hit the middle of Chesterfield in the 11th mile James had taken both runners, having dramatically taken up the pace to discourage the Sliabh Buidhe athlete (who had already won the age category for the previous 3 race series races, with James in 2nd place in each) from trying to hang on. James was then able to push ahead into the wind down Chesterfield (with some great Cru support on the way), along the Acres, up the Upper Glen Road and onto Furze Road to finish strongly in 1:27:14, only about a minute off his PB for the distance (set on a much flatter course in easier conditions), placing 247th overall and winning his age category by about 2 minutes. He was also delighted that there was no repeat of the nausea experienced in the 10-miler, although he was wary of its possibility until the end. Paul was able to keep in touch with James and also managed a super PB in 1:27:58 to place 275th. Rossen Gamev and Kevin Lynch deserve mention as they turned up late for the race but recorded excellent chip times, not reflected in their gun positions. Rossen ran a PB time of 1:27:14 (but placed 351st) and Kevin ran 1:35:55 (but placed 1,831st). There was a PB for Luke Haran in his first half marathon (706th place in 1:35:48) and Denis Murphy was only 8 seconds outside his PB from last year's race (830th in 1:37:27).

The Cru women in the race also ran well. Emma O’Mahony was first home for the club in 1,111th place overall (107th woman) in a PB time of 1:39:52. Emma was followed by Jane Wallace (1,163rd overall, 117th woman) in 1:40:19, Edwina Quinlan (1,259th overall, 135th woman) in 1:42:38 and by Kris Ryan, in the first of her two races at the weekend (1,266th overall, 137th woman) in 1:42:30. All are training for the marathon, along with club newcomers Katie McElroy and Ruth Dwyer, as well as Ciara Lehane, Celine Bonce, Amy Brogan and Maria Pertl who all got PBs in the race. Katie and Ruth ran together and recorded the same time of 1:43:17, placing 1,857th and 1,858th overall (282nd and 283rd women finishers), respectively. Ciara ran 1:45:00 to place 1,618th overall (222nd woman) and Amy ran 1:45:13 (1,600th overall, 211th woman), whilst Maria ran 1:45:15 to place 1,617th overall (221st woman). Celine ran 1:51:41 to place 2,232nd overall, 395th woman. Finally, mention should go to Paul Campbell and Olwyn and Joe Dunne, all of whom paced the race. All the pacers donated their pay to the Dalkey first responders and our clubmates got their charges home in the targeted times. Paul paced the 1:40 runners and finished in 1:39:09. Olwyn paced the 2 hour runners, finishing in 1:59:21, whilst Joe had responsibility for the 2:10 finishers and he completed the course in 2:09:50. As usual, the Cru support out there (among spectators and stewards alike) was second to none!

The Rathfarnham 5k did not disappoint either. In sunny but blustery conditions on what is a recognizably fast course there was an excellent sprint finish between eventual winner Mark Christie and Freddie Sittuk, both recording the same gun time of 14:26. We had at least 24 runners in the race, with the women, led home by Caroline Crowley (who placed 61st overall, 3rd woman, in a field of more than 900 runners) in a time of 16:45, only 2 seconds behind 2nd place finisher Siobhan Doherty and 15 seconds behind winner Laura Shaughnessy. With Orla Drumm taking 4th spot (68th overall) in 16:58 and Ilona McElroy placing 14th (130th overall) in 18:37, the Cru women were able to take first team place (well ahead of 12 other teams). There were other notable runs from Orla Kennedy and Grainne Regan who both got PBs, Orla placing 153rd overall (21st woman) in 19:12 and Grainne, 262nd overall (49th woman) in 21:10. In fact all our female runners placed in the top 100 in their race. Grainne was preceded by Sinead Keane (204th overall and 32nd woman, in 20:08) and was followed by Emer Kenny who would have been happy with her 289th place overall (58th woman) in 21:40, Kris Ryan, in her 2nd race of the weekend, in 298th place overall (60th woman) in 21:59, Darina Scully, who did a super job of pacing visually-impaired runner Donnacha McCarthy (309th overall, 64th woman, in 22:23, whilst Donnacha finished in 210th place in a time of 22:26), Dee Ni Chearbhaill, whose times are coming down at a rate of knots, despite, in this race, starting far back and having to weave to get through (314th overall, 66th woman, in 22:23), and by Rhona McGrath (377th overall, 94th woman, in 23:42).

On the men’s side, Ciaran Diviney was our first runner home, placing 21st (2nd in his age category) in a great time of 15:40. John Mulvihill reversed the outcome of the recent Grant Thornton 5k and cam in ahead of Michael O’Conor. John placed 44th in 16:17 and Michael was just a second behind in 45th place and Rob Cross made an excellent return to competitive running with a 16:34 finish to place 54th. Our men's team placed 5th out of 17 teams in total. Ger Forde, with yet another PB, was next in 16:54 (64th place), with newcomer Jim Stagg just behind in 17:04 (73rd place) followed by an equally good run from both John McAuley and Hugh Larkin. The pair are coming back from injury and finished side by side (91st and 92nd respectively) in a time of 17:37. Brian MacAlister will be happy with his 18:12 (111th place) as will Michael Maughan with a PB time of 18:18 (115th place). Finally, John Gleeson ran a PB to break 20 minutes, coming home in 19:45 (184th) and Brendan Glynn put in a solid performance to place 276th in a time of 21:40.

Leo Lundy was able to complete a remarkable feat in the UK over the weekend. It started on Thursday with the Tolkien Ultra (Kent). He stopped after 30.7 miles for 5th overall (102 finishers). It was a hot and humid day and he reports that his legs were still shredded from the big effort marathon of the previous Sunday. Then, on Saturday morning in Buckinghamshire he ran in the 40th Anniversary of the Rocky 1 film marathon around the Caldecotte Lakes. He held back throughout the run and finished in a comfortable 4:24. Leo then had 2.5 hours to make it to Surrey and spent the entire time in the car in the car park that was the M25 on that day. His legs totally seized in the car and he arrived 2 minutes before the start of the Phoenix night marathon. As a consequence, Leo’s legs did not free up and it was a slow painful hobble with the last 3 hours in the pitch dark along the Thames towpath with a head torch. But that is 52 marathons in 52 weeks (aged 52) completed.

On Sunday we had 3 runners in the Berlin Marathon. With a negative split Ian Kinsella improved his PB by 8 minutes in warm conditions and in a race where the winner was only 6 seconds off the current world record of 2:02:57. Ian ran 2:46:40. He was followed by Niall Morris who found the going tough at 20 miles, but still managed to finish in 3:38:41. Finally, Marius McNicholas, on the back of little marathon training, accompanied a friend around the course in a time of 3:56:02.

Our recent Malta exile Rebecca Fleming reported that she ran in the St. Patrick’s AC 8k, proudly wearing her Cru singlet. On a severely hilly course in the to-be-expected warm conditions, in a field of 215 runners, Rebecca ran well to place 59th overall, and 4th in the women’s race, in a time of 35:50.

It was good to see two of our members participating in the Donadea Duathlon (run/cycle/run) on Saturday and particularly pleasing that they now appear to be injury-free. Laura Schwirz placed 4th woman (26th overall) and Gillian Early came home in 7th place (35th overall) in a field of nearly 150 finishers.

Finally, on Saturday, Will Owens and Andrea Talpo took part in the Mallorca full Ironman, for Andrea his second in as many months. Will managed to break 10 hours with a time of 9:47:30 and completed the marathon in an impressive 3:16:05, whilst Andrea completed the event in 10:51:02, still breaking the psychologically important 11 hour mark. Andrea ran the marathon leg in 4:04:09.

There were unsurprisingly perhaps no Crusaders evident this weekend in the parkruns.
Congratulations to all who competed!

Dublin Race Series half marathon
Overall Place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Sean Hehir 1 01:07:45
41 Barbara Sanchez 1 01:18:25
Crusaders AC runners
68 Joe McDermott 01:20:57 (PB)
78 James Moran 01:21:21
95 Joe Walsh 01:22:16 (PB)
200 Eugene McDonough 01:25:55 (PB)
207 TJ Bourke 01:25:47 (PB)
247 James Cottle 01:27:14
275 Paul Dempsey 01:27:58 (PB)
351 Rossen Gamev 01:27:14 (PB)
477 Redmond Murphy 01:31:57
623 James Cahill 01:33:55
689 Matt Cranley 01:35:32
706 Luke Haran 01:35:48 (PB)
743 Gavan Doherty 01:36:20
748 Karl Walsh 01:35:28
755 Mike Stewart 01:35:59
764 David Heneghan 01:36:26
830 Denis Murphy 01:37:27
996 Paul Campbell 01:39:09 (Pacer)
1111 Emma O’Mahony 01:39:52 (PB)
1163 Jane Wallace 01:40:19
1166 Phelim Murray 01:31:32
1259 Edwina Quinlan 01:42:38
1266 Kris Ryan 01:42:30
1530 Anthony Owens 01:43:30
1600 Amy Brogan 01:45:13 (PB)
1617 Maria Pertl 01:45:15
1618 Ciara Lehane 01:45:00 (PB)
1831 Kevin Lynch 01:35:55
1857 Katie McElroy 01:43:17 (PB)
1858 Ruth Dwyer 01:43:17 (PB)
1976 Niamh Quinn 01:49:58
2152 Niall Farrell 01:51:28
2232 Celine Bonce 01:51:41 (PB)
2278 Helena Walsh 01:47:43
2388 Tim Madigan 01:48:38
3009 Mairead Cashman 01:59:46
3426 Joe O’Reilly 02:00:50
3435 Keith Miley 01:56:35
3785 Francis Furey 01:58:08
4043 Olwyn Dunne 01:59:21 (Pacer)
4101 Robbie Moore 01:59:52
4121 Aisling O’Connor 02:00:41
4262 Deirdre Monahon 02:02:08
4474 Dearbhla Hynes 02:10:43
4552 Carina Davidson 02:00:37
5196 Joe Dunne 02:09:50 (Pacer)
5772 Aisling Muldowney 02:19:19
Full results here: http://www.tdleventservices.co.uk/race-results.php

Rathfarnham 5k
Overall Place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Mark Christie 1 00:14:26
52 Laura Shaughnessy 1 00:16:30
Crusaders AC runners
21 Ciaran Diviney 00:15:40
44 John Mulvihill 00:16:17
45 Michael O’Conor 00:16:18
54 Rob Cross 00:16:34
61 Caroline Crowley 00:16:45
64 Ger Forde 00:16:54 (PB)
68 Orla Drumm 00:16:58
73 Jim Stagg 00:17:04
91 John McAuley 00:17:37
92 Hugh Larkin 00:17:37
111 Brian MacAlister 00:18:12
115 Michael Maughan 00:18:18 (PB)
130 Ilona McElroy 00:18:37
163 Orla Kennedy 00:19:12 (PB)
184 John Gleeson 00:19:45 (PB)
204 Sinead Keane 00:20:08
262 Grainne Regan 00:21:10 (PB)
276 Brendan Glynn 00:21:40
289 Emer Kenny 00:21:40
298 Kris Ryan 00:21:59
309 Darina Scully 00:22:23
310 Donnacha McCarthy 00:22:26
314 Dee Ni Chearbhaill 00:22:23
377 Rhona McGrath 00:23:42
Full results here: http://www.myrunresults.com/events/rathfarnham_new_ireland_5k_/1778/results