In Dublin, a really good moving picture

Back row L-R: Shane Egan, John O'Donnell, Rebecca Kelly, Judy O'Connell, Kevin Fitzgibbon, John Kennedy, Noel Carr, James Bradshaw; Next row L-R: Gianpiero Allerta, Rory O'Kennedy, Emily Glen, Tara Gavin, Lisa Branigan, Aoife Hoare, Eddie Nugent; Next row L-R: Aoife Quigley, Ciara Lynch, Ciara Regan, Franky Keane, Will Owens; next row: L-R: Kieran Martin, Julie McGrath, James Cottle, Eugene McDonough; On pavement L-R: Adrienne Jordan, Paula Bradshaw, Ruadhán McCormaic, Triona Quill, Dee Lawlor, Garret Connolly

 This year’s Dublin marathon, its 43rd, will be remembered as the year that it was graced by Colin Farrell running for his friend Emma Fogarty and the charity Debra. It will also be remembered by Crusaders as yet another incredible event for the club with so many of our members on the course, along with the unbeatable support of our clubmates along its full length!

For 90% of the 17744 finishers the rain held off, but the wind was getting up steadily throughout the race and conditions felt a lot cooler than the temperature recorded. The race started at about 7 degrees, but seemed colder than that.

The day didn’t start out too positively for us as a group, with a slight altercation with a steward anxious to control access to Fitzwilliam Square West where we had our warm and secure changing facilities. The misunderstanding was however cleared up quickly enough! The facility is a godsend and many of us took full advantage of it.  It has been provided by Crusader Bob Manson each year for at least the last 10 years and those of us who take advantage of it are deeply grateful for it. Although access to Pembroke Hall was made slightly more challenging this year, its position actually made it easier for one or two of us to access the start line with the new start to the race at the top of Leeson Street. A couple of us at least were able to start right at the front alongside Colin.

Although the course is exceptionally challenging with several of its hills (Chapelizod to Ballyfermot in particular) tough, the fact that we have so many clubmates and friends and family around the course, giving us the most incredible lift, for many of our runners it was a highly enjoyable event, but spare a thought for a few who had more than their fair share of difficulties.  Feeling under the weather, Emily Glen had to pull out, but, also, John O’Donnell’s hip went in the second half and he gamely continued to the end, as did Noel Carr with similar difficulties. Oisin Browne was plagued with ankle issues, whilst Eoghan Corrigan felt so nauseous in the last 15k that he had to walk at times. There were others too who had to dig in deep.

Along with the new start line there were a couple of other minor changes to this year’s course. For a start, we were able to avoid the quad-busting descent down Lower Bridge Street to the quays, being directed instead along the much flatter Parliament Street.  Apparently, the new finish line on Mount Street behind the Pepper Canister Church, was designed to reduce the sprint finish for runners who, if seeing a long run in to a finish line, will often collapse before they get there!

The results are all outlined below, and we may be missing a few. However, we had at least 107 runners in the field of 17,744 finishers, which is amazing. We won’t go into every individual result, but a few stand out. The entire contingent was headed home by recent member Marc Geraghty, whose preparations for the race had been rather shortened. Marc ran an excellent 2:36:18 for 80th place. Not too far behind came the dependable Ger Forde (98th in 2:38:23) and then by two runners who changed positions twice in the dying moments in a sprint finish for the line. Kevin Fitzgibbon placed 136th in 2:42:08, whilst Rory O’Kennedy recorded a 13-minute PB improvement by placing 140th in 2:42:22. Between them, Marc, Ger and Kevin picked up the O/35 men's team Leinster and Dublin Championships bronze medals. We had at least 16 athletes who finished under 3 hours, including Dee Lawlor (248th in a 6-minute PB improvement of 2:24:44), Derek Boland with a PB (613th in 2:56:53) along with Alby Allan who broke 3 hours for the first time in a time of 2:58:12 for 718th spot. Alby will also be heading to run the Valencia marathon in December, and we wish him all the best in that. Among the 16 were our first two female finishers, Julie McGrath (710th and 37th in 2:58:15) and Adrienne Jordan (872nd and 46th in 2:58:54). Impressively, Julie placed 2nd F35 overall, meaning she also recorded national silver in her age category and gold in the Leinster and Dublin championships. Adrienne was just coming off the back of a run in the Berlin marathon at the end of September.

Other PB times were recorded among those 33 runners to follow who all broke 3:30. The first of these was Aoife Quigley in a PB time of 3:02:31 for 51st female finisher, and she was followed by Mark Culleton whose PB improved by over eleven and a half minutes (3:07:17). Despite suffering hamstring difficulties, Eddie Nugent likely recorded a PB with his 3:10:32, followed by Phelim Murray whose 3:11:13 definitely was one. Ciara Lynch also enjoyed a PB with her 3:13:23, as did Aoife Hoare, whose 3:14:32 was 21 minutes faster than her previous best. Likewise, Adrian Groarke recorded a PB with his time of 3:14:20. Orla Walsh ran 3:15:40 in her first marathon and Maeve Lochrie ran well for her PB of 3:20:12, as did Daniel O'Mahoney (3:18:09) and Kev Moore (3:21:41), along with Tadhg Molony who improved his marathon time from 2013 by about 2 minutes to 3:18:58. Finally, in that group, Ronan Walsh (3:24:05), Ruadhán McCormaic (3:26:48) and Tara Gavin (3:28:08) all recorded PB times. Noteworthy is Ronan Moynihan's 2 minute negative split for his 3:12:21. By running 3:29:45, Triona Quill helped Julie, Aoife and herself to the O/35 women's team bronze medals in all of the National, Leinster and Dublin Championships. Also, in that contingent, James Cottle, who had a rather miserable first half to the race, suffering from nausea (which unexpectedly and rather dramatically came home to roost a few times in the last 800m), managed generally to get his act together in the second half and came home in a time of 3:10:56, which was sufficient enough to reward him with the overall victory in the M65 age category, capturing national, Leinster and Dublin gold medals in the process. Of note, it was also Joanne Carey's birthday on the day she ran 3:33:26.

In the next sub-4 hours contingent, Marcus Phelan recorded a 14 minutes improvement (3:34:00), followed by Judy O’Connell (3:35:32) and Cría Dowling. Cría’s improvement was also an incredible 63 minutes on her previous time! Then came James Bradshaw with a 9-minute improved PB (3:38:06), followed by Brian O’Neill (in a PB time of 3:47:22). Even with his difficulties, Eoghan Corrigan still managed a PB with his time of 3:53:08, and he was followed by Kevin Kenny breaking 4 hours for the first time (3:58:23). All in all, at least 72 of our athletes broke 4 hours on the day.

There were also PBs further down the field, recorded by Camilla Henry in her first marathon (4:01:38) along with Divya Sardana (4:16:44), Djinn Von Noorden (4:19:50), Catriona Egan (4:26:08) and Alan Martin (4:57:01). Zara Hennigan was paced by Doireann Hughes to a 4:13:47 PB time too. There were likely more all the way through the field and if any more come to light the report will be updated. We should note that Ciara Black's 4:09:18 was run whilst she was 16 weeks pregnant. Finally, the club is indebted to Paula Bradshaw, whose birthday was celebrated the day following the marathon, and who gave everyone so much motivation leading up to and on the day. Paula had hoped to compete in the marathon, but will be setting her sights on running well in Boston in the Spring of next year and enjoying the support of her clubmates in the process.

The week’s racing actually started out on Tuesday with the rather messy Sandymount Night Run 10k and 5k events, taking place on a mix of path and beach starting and finishing in Seán Moore Park. In the 481-strong 5k, Jessica Higgins placed 125th and 39th female finisher in 28:48, followed by Lorraine McMahon (141st and 47th in 29:53) and Alan Martin (strangely in a time of 27:56) for 302nd place. The 10k enjoyed a field of 560, and Kevin O’Sullivan placed 13th in that event in a time of 41:23.

There was one event in the local mountains on Friday evening, starting at 8pm. It was the 8k IMRA-organised Hellfire Spooky Challenge in Co. Wicklow. With a climb of 200m on easy terrain it enjoyed a field of 118 runners, among them 4 Crusaders. The contingent was led home by Donatas Jocius (8th in 34:18 and 2nd M35) and he was followed by Caoimhe Dempsey (25th and 3rd in 38:55), Brian McGuckin (31st and 4th M55 in 39:48) and Clare Sullivan (51st, 9th and 3rd F40 in 44:48).

Further afield over the weekend, news come from Katie Rogers in Australia, where she ran a leg of 23:2km in the 6-leg relay between Bondi and Manly (the Bondi2Manly Ultra Relay). Katie’s time was 2:09 and her team won the women’s competition. Anna Hernick ran in the iconic Marine Corps Marathon in Washington DC on Sunday, on a route that enables runners to see nearly all the monuments and memorials there. Anna ran 4:12:18, a PB result for her. Meanwhile, Conor Parle, another of our London exiles, ran in the Frankfurt marathon where he ran 3:56:51. Finally, another London exile, Kate O’Malley, ran in the New Forest 10-miler, where she finished 9th female finisher in a time of 67:39. Lastly, on the same day as the Dublin marathon, Brian Regan recorded a PB time of 77:26 in the Valencia half marathon.

We had the usual level of success in the parkruns on Saturday morning in windyish conditions. Stephen Hurley was a first finisher in Bere Island in a field of 41. Stephen ran 20:13, whilst, in St. Anne’s it was good to see Brian O’Kelly heading a substantial field of 531, where he recorded a time of 16:57. Brian was followed by Peter O’Toole (5th in 18:05), Felipe De Sousa (15th in 18:51), Mikel Crisostomo (76th in 22:16), Michael Maughan (115th in 23:55), Grainne Regan (193rd and 47th female finisher in 26:11), Paul F. Kelly (214th in 26:50, pacing the 27 minutes runners), Áine Crotty (330th and 111th in 29:55) and Cian Coughlan (331st in 29:56) right behind.

We also had some podium places. Louise Dobbyn placed 15th and 3rd in the 187-strong field in Cabinteely, running 23:33, and followed by Carina Davidson (144th and 47th in 37:41).  In Bushy Park, Daniel Lowe took 2nd place in 19:51. In the 202-strong field there, Mary Donnelly ran 22:24 for 25th and 2nd. Susanne English placed 14th and 2nd in 26:19 alongside 65 other runners in Laytown Beach, whilst, in Poolbeg, with at least 19 Crusaders taking part, Ross Neill placed 2nd in the field of 240 in a time of 18:09. Ross was followed by Jade Murphy who also placed 2nd (25th overall) in 21:42. Between them came Simon Kenny (4th in 19:05), Tom Gleeson (12th in 20:16), Zlatko Kulic (15th in 20:41) and David Timoney (23rd in 21:27). Jade was followed by Kabir Sala (31st in 22:12), Fiona Bane (44th and 4th in 23:16), Tim O’Donnell (46th in 23:31), Josie Ward (48th and 5th in 23:35), Bo Chicoine (49th in 23:41), Gillian Curran (83rd and 12th in 25:18), Louise O’Riordan (108th and 22nd in 26:41), Sophia Morgan (110th and 23rd in 26:51), Cliodhna O’Reilly (117th and 25th in 27:15), Maureen McGinley (133rd and 38th in 28:04), Cynthia Perucca (182nd and 70th in 31:46), Sharon Woods, coming back from injury (223rd and 92nd in 44:07) and Kevin Kenny, tailwalking.

Toby Benham placed 10th in the 632-strong field in Preston Park, Brighton, where he ran 18:50, whilst Thom Martini placed 121st in 26:44 in Osterley with its field of 355. Meanwhile, Darina Scully placed 27th and 4th in the 117-strong field in River Valley Park, where she ran 26:24, whilst Mairead Cashman took 53rd and 16th places in 29:42. Maria Kennedy ran once again in Kilkenny where, alongside 198 other participants, she placed 70th and 11th in 25:38. In Tolka Valley Park, Sarah Lyons ran alongside each other, both finishing in 30:33 with Sarah placing 32nd and 10th and Phelim, the day before his marathon PB, placing 33rd. The field there measured 44. Aoife Cowhie joined 292 other runners in Malahide where she placed 115th and 15th in 25:55, whilst Olwyn Dunne ran in a field of 231 in Shanganagh, where she placed 84th and 17th in 6:14.  Máirín and Lisa Shine ran in Ballincollig, placing 188th and 51st in 30:49 and 196th and 54th in 31:15, respectively. Interestingly, the field there of 306, was led home by ex-Crusader Shane Collins in 18:56. Shane went on the following day to placed 24th in the Dublin marathon in a time of 2:25:08.

Barry O’Neill ran in Pobalscoil ni Tríonóide with its field of 76, placing 16th in 24:35, and he was followed by Lorraine McMahon (38th and 14th in 29:08). Our latest London exile, Jeanie Watson, ran once again in Finsbury Park. In a field of 744, Jeanie placed 98th and 8th in 22:37, whilst, in Naas, Karl Walsh took 13th spot in a field of 155. Karl’s time was 20:21. Finally, Aoife Cowhie joined 292 other runners in Malahide, where she placed 115th and 15th in 25:55.

Irish Life Dublin City Marathon (17744)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Moses Kemei 1 02:08:47
22 Sorome Negash 1 02:24:43
Crusaders AC runners
80 Marc Geraghty 02:36:18
98 Ger Forde 02:38:23
136 Kevin Fitzgibbon 02:42:08
140 Rory O’Kennedy 02:42:22 (PB)
248 Derek Lawlor 02:47:44 (PB)
275 Gary Mills 02:48:42
300 Eugene McDonough 02:49:22
442 Kieran Martin 02:53:49
528 Shane Egan 02:55:26
613 Derek Boland 02:56:53 (PB)
673 Rory Goldsmith 02:57:37
692 Kenan Furlong 02:57:47
710 Julie McGrath 02:58:15 (37)
718 Alby Allan 02:58:15 (PB)
820 Will Owens 02:58:29
872 Adrienne Jordan 02:58:54 (46)
XXX[950] Donnacha McCarthy/Sean Husband (guide) 3:01:18
1009 Aoife Quigley 03:02:33 (PB) (51)
1237 Mark Culleton 03:07:17 (PB)
1268 Luke Clarke 03:07:39
1441 James Cottle 03:10:56
1459 Eddie Nugent 03:10:32 (PB)
1463 Phelim Murray 03:11:13 (PB)
1483 David Healy 03:10:41
1672 Ciara Lynch 03:13:23 (PB) (110)
1704 Ronan Moynihan 03:12:21
1739 Adrian Groarke 03:14:20 (PB)
1771 Aoife Hoare 03:14:32 (PB) (120)
1795 Orla Walsh 03:15:40 (PB) (122)
1960 Eoghan Kerins 03:15:08
1975 Niall Fitzgerald 03:16:59
2095 Sarah Diamond 03:19:06 (151)
2111 Michael Fitzsimons 03:18:39
2154 Ciara Regan 03:19:06 (159)
2200 Maeve Lochrie 03:20:12 (PB) (168)
2214 Daniel O’Mahony 03:18:09 (PB)
2252 Gerard Moore 03:18:55
2370 Tadhg Molony 03:18:58 (PB)
2380 Kev Moore 03:21:41 (PB)
2599 Warren Swords 03:22:53
2615 David Carter 03:22:37
2850 Jamie Symmons 03:24:29
2902 Ian Weldon 03:25:53
2932 John O’Donnell 03:26:46
2948 Ronan Walsh 03:24:05 (PB)
3065 Liam Nagle 03:27:19
3155 Ruadhán MacCormaic 03:26:48 (PB)
3180 Tara Gavin 03:28:08 (PB) (315)
3345 Paul Campbell 03:29:21 (PACER)
3607 Triona Quill 03:29:45 (385)
3984 Joanne Carey 03:33:26 (459)
4084 Marcus Phelan 03:34:00 (PB)
4122 Judy O’Connell 03:35:32 (PB) (489)
4275 Lisa Branigan 03:36:09 (523)
4406 Cría Dowling 03:38:14 (PB) (550)
4466 James Bradshaw 03:38:06 (PB)
4898 Diarmuid Sheehan 03:41:43
5114 Kevin Lynch 03:43:04
5200 Thomas O'Dwyer 03:42:48
5529 John Lohan 03:42:58
5578 Orla O’Flynn 03:45:56 (798)
5708 Oisin Browne 03:47:41
5754 Florian Mormont 03:47:09
5842 Brian O’Neill 03:47:22 (PB)
6188 David McDonald 03:48:09
6380 Luke Haran 03:51:17
6421 Gianpiero Allerta 03:51:37
6485 Garret Connolly 03:50:14
6524 Kate Murray 03:52:42 (1035)
6623 Eoghan Corrigan 03:53:08 (PB)
7048 Carmel Higgins 03:53:58 (1185)
7276 Sunil Rama 03:51:39
7378 Liam O’Brien 03:37:44
7679 Kevin Kenny 03:58:23 (PB)
7899 Joe Dunne 03:59:32 (PACER)
7900 Olwyn Dunne 03:59:33 (1417) (PACER)
8051 Claire Reidy 03:57:21 (1450)
8179 John Corish 04:00:47
8220 Franky Keane 04:00:18
8741 Phil Sykes 04:01:56
8847 Suzanne Martin 04:05:09 (1683)
8857 Camilla Henry 04:01:38 (PB) (1689)
9024 Patrick Needham 04:05:54
9407 Ciara Black 04:09:18 (1884)
9855 Rebecca Kelly 04:09:07 (2053)
9932 Shivananda Pukhrem 04:12:25
10247 Colin Maguire 04:15:19
10290 Doireann Hughes 04:13:46 (2208)
10292 Zara Hennigan 04:13:47 (PB) (2210)
10399 Claire Godfrey 04:12:21 (2247)
10483 Divya Sardana 04:16:44 (PB) (2271)
10604 John Kennedy 04:15:54
11099 Djinn Von Noorden 04:19:50 (PB) (2492)
11415 Tara Murphy 04:23:55 (2614)
11458 Patricia Velaquez 04:21:10 (2636)
11599 Peter Rosenshine 04:26:11
11616 Anna Nilsson 04:21:19 (2691)
12162 Catriona Egan 04:26:08 (PB) (2895)
12409 Aitor Arribas Velasco 04:29:36
12438 Gavan Doherty 04:29:31
12980 Evelyn Neary 04:35:07 (3227)
13159 Mike Stewart 04:36:40
14230 Noel Carr 04:50:16
14724 Martin Joyce 04:56:21
15175 Amy Forde 05:01:22 (4213)
15180 Alan Martin 04:57:01 (PB)
16922 Tung Le 05:50:03
Full results here: https://www.tdleventservices.co.uk/en/results-embed.php?event=4075
Sandymount Night Run 5k (481)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Rory Lush 1 00:17:18
13 Louise Dervan 1 00:21:10
Crusaders AC runners
125 Jessica Higgins 00:28:48 (39)
141 Lorraine McMahon 00:29:53 (47)
302 Alan Martin 00:27:56
Full results here: https://myrunresults.com/events/sandymount_night_run_5k__10k_2024/5096/results
Sandymount Night Run 10k (560)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Sadanand Magee 1 00:34:34
11 Roisin McMahon 1 00:40:15
Crusaders AC runner
13 Kevin O’Sullivan 00:41:23
Full results here: https://myrunresults.com/events/sandymount_night_run_5k__10k_2024/5096/results
IMRA Hellfire Spooky Challenge (118)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Luke Mercer 1 00:29:41
14 Niamh Murphy 1 00:36:11
Crusaders AC runners
8 Donatas Jocius 00:34:18
25 Caoimhe Dempsey 00:38:55 (3)
31 Brian McGuckin 00:39:48
51 Clare Sullivan 00:44:48 (9)
Full results here: https://www.imra.ie/events/results/id/2586/category/O/
Ballincollig Parkrun (306)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Shane Collins 1 00:18:56
21 Marie Howard 1 00:21:34
Crusaders AC runners
188 Máirín Shine 00:30:49 (51)
196 Lisa Shine 00:31:15 (54)
Laytown Beach Parkrun (66)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Gordon O’Rourke 1 00:18:38
11 Fikriye Hayes 1 00:24:35
Crusaders AC runner
14 Susanne English 00:26:19 (2)
Tolka Valley Parkrun (44)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Joseph Cramp 1 00:17:51
13 Orenicia Ferreira 1 00:25:36
Crusaders AC runners
32 Sarah Lyons 00:30:33 (10)
33 Phelim Murray 00:30:33
Poolbeg Parkrun (240)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Rob Cross 1 00:17:12
8 Ava Rose Clarke 1 00:19:46
Crusaders AC runners
2 Ross Neill 00:18:09
4 Simon Kenny 00:19:05
12 Tom Gleeson 00:20:16
15 Zlatko Kulic 00:20:41
23 David Timoney 00:21:27
25 Jade Murphy 00:21:42 (2)
31 Kabir Sala 00:22:12
44 Fiona Bane 00:23:16
46 Tim O’Donnell 00:23:31
48 Josie Ward 00:23:35 (5)
49 Bo Chicoine 00:23:41
83 Gillian Curran 00:25:18 (12)
108 Louise O’Riordan 00:26:41 (22)
110 Sophia Morgan 00:26:51 (23)
117 Cliodhna O’Reilly 00:27:15 (25)
133 Maureen McGinley 00:28:04 (38)
182 Cynthia Perucca 00:31:46 (70)
223 Sharon Woods 00:44:07 (92)
235 Kevin Kenny 00:57:07
Pobalscoil  na Tríonóide Parkrun (76)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 James O’Mahony 1 00:19:04
5 Maria Quinlan 1 00:21:51
Crusaders AC runners
16 Barry O’Neill 00:24:35
38 Lorraine McMahon 00:29:08 (14)
Naas Parkrun (155)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Seamus Cardiff 1 00:17:42
19 Ruth O’Loughlin 1 00:21:01
Crusaders AC runner
13 Karl Walsh 00:20:21
St. Anne’s Parkrun (531)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Brian O’Kelly 1 00:16:57
14 Zoe Quinn 1 00:18:50
Crusaders AC runners
1 Brian O’Kelly 1 00:16:57
15 Felipe De Sousa 00:18:05
76 Mikel Crisostomo 00:22:16
115 Michael Maughan 00:23:55
193 Grainne Regan 00:26:11 (47)
214 Paul F. Kelly 00:26:50
330 Áine Crotty 00:29:55 (111)
331 Cian Coughlan 00:29:56
Bere Island Parkrun (41)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Stephen Hurley 1 00:20:13
2 Michelagh Murphy 1 00:21:08
Crusaders AC runner
1 Stephen Hurley 00:20:13
Wexford Racecourse Parkrun (93)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Cathal Dowd 1 00:17:35
5 Ciara Brady 1 00:21:02
Crusaders AC runner
53 Mairead Cashman 00:29:42 (16)
River Valley Parkrun (117)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Viktoras Kuzminas 1 00:18:05
13 Muireann Spence 1 00:23:46
Crusaders AC runner
27 Darina Scully 00:26:24 (4)
Shanganagh Parkrun (231)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Conor Crowe 1 00:19:45
21 Mella Garvey 1 00:22:07
Crusaders AC runner
84 Olwyn Dunne 00:26:14 (17)
Kilkenny Parkrun (199)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Peter Henebry 1 00:19:04
8 Louise Fogarty 1 00:20:06
Crusaders AC runner
70 Maria Kennedy 00:25:38 (11)
Bushy Parkrun (202)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Joe Collery 1 00:18:47
22 Sinead Staunton 1 00:22:06
Crusaders AC runners
3 Daniel Lowe 00:19:51
25 Mary Donnelly 00:22:24 (2)
Cabinteely Parkrun (163)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Alan McAndrew 1 00:19:35
2 Malika Hammani 1 00:20:53
Crusaders AC runners
15 Louise Dobbyn 00:23:33 (3)
144 Carina Davidson 00:37:41 (47)
Malahide Parkrun (293)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Daire Bermingham 1 00:16:29
20 Natasha Toole 1 00:20:28
Crusaders AC runner
115 Aoife Cowhie 00:25:55 (15)