 Crusaders in the time of Coronavirus In many ways this newsletter is a celebration of the wonderful spirit our club has shown during the past few months. Through virtual time trials, quizzes, zooms, WhatsApps, and dressing up for our virtual club dinner, we have celebrated in style, together, though apart. Our thanks to Lisa Shine for inspiring us to swap the elasticated waistbands for, oh wait, yes, more elasticated waistbands, but red and white ones, in order to celebrate the club dinner from afar!! This beautiful collage is a wonderful reminder of the smiles that Crusaders shared through lockdown, and beyond. A special mention to those who went to great lengths for the natural windswept hairstyles!!  Docklands Virtual 5K The Docklands Virtual 5k now has a Crusaders-only competition! Register for the race here, then email [email protected] to let us know that you've signed up, so that we can find the Cru in the results. It's a "predict your time" competition, and those closest to their predicted time will win a prize. All will be entered in the individual competition, but there is also a team competition. Those wishing to enter the team competition should email the names of the three team members, and their combined predicted time, to the email address above. Good luck all!  Crusaders Night of 5ks Starved of races? Want an accurate 5k time? Want to test your fitness? Read on…. On Tuesday July 7th, our training night will be magically turned into an extravaganza Night of 5ks. Pre-booking will still be required, as is now the Covid norm for our training. We will have different race slots to cater for the differing abilities. To make the evening even more interesting, why not do this in conjunction with our Virtual Docklands 5K fundraiser? Enter now at http://www.crusadersac.ie/docklands5k-virtualrun.html The entry fee goes directly to our Club House fund. There is an option to buy T shirt and medal, the club does not benefit from these. There is also an option to donate, where the first €5 goes to St James's Hospital Foundation, and the balance goes directly to our Club House fund. This evening of 5ks is only open to club members, and you must pre-register as usual. So, put the date into your diary, we will open pre-registration on July 1st. And yes, we will send out a reminder before July 1st!!! Pictured above are our fabulous Docklands 5k pacers from last year.  Quiz nights huge thanks to our Crusader Quizzers, who have provided hours of entertainment, and mental training, on Tuesday nights throughout the last few months. There was no shortage of competitive spirit amongst our Cru - James Cottle almost had enough material for a weekly quiz report, in which he would have modestly described his own success in the third person on more than one occasion!! While the quiz nights have drawn to a close, we are happy to share a Crusader-special round, thanks to the quizmaster, Brendan Glynn (answers at the end of the newsletter).
 Social Corner Huge congratulations to Mary Horgan and her husband Rob Lee on the arrival, mid lockdown, of baby Sibeal Lee. The photo on the right shows baby Sibeal at 2 weeks old, with her proud parents. This photo of Mary was taken last November, after she finished the Dublin Senior Cross country championships, on a grueling course. What we didnt know was it was Sibeal's first 'race' as Mary was 10 weeks pregnant - she's some woman!!!   Virtual Challenges Our thanks to Susan and Brendan, who, over the last few months have kept us on our toes with time trial, and relay challenges. The messages of encouragement, as everyone posted their time each week, really helped to keep spirits, and motivation levels up. Thanks for helping us stay connected, while running in isolation. Relay team winners: 1 mile, 3k, 5k: Aine Kenny, James Cottle, Luke Davis 1 mile, 3k, 5k: Rebecca Fleming, Brendan Glynn, Luke Davis 1 mile, 3k, 3k: Dee Ni Chearbhail, Maura Mahony, Brian Hyland 3 x 1 mile: Lisa Shine, Shane Collins, Rachel Yorke  Meet your committee - Rebecca Fleming Role: Ladies Captain Q: When did you start your running journey? A: I believe it was sometime in 2011 Q: Did anything in particular prompt you to start? A: I was asked to join a relay team for the Dublin Staff Relay which involved running 5k. Q: What made you join a club? A: In October 2014, I completed my first (and only and probably last) marathon in Poland. I really enjoyed the training so decided to join a club. Q: When did you join Crusaders? And, why Crusaders? A: December 2014, I’ll never forget it. The track was closed at the time and we trained in Ringsend Park on Tuesday evenings. I took part in the Dublin Race Series in the summer of 2014 and always remember seeing lots of Crusaders singlets in the races and thought ok let’s check these guys out. Plus anyone I spoke to was always so friendly! Q: What's your favourite distance to run? A: This changes for me all the time - in terms of a race I do love 800m and At the moment I am really enjoying 3k after these virtual challenges. Q: What's your favourite club session? A: I love 12x400m Q: What's your favourite race? A: I always enjoy the MSB St Patricks Day 5km - running around the streets of Dublin is such a buzz and it’s a flat course. It’s also a memorable race as it was my first race in 2015 in my Cru singlet. Q: What is your most memorable race? A: I think it has to be the last race of the women’s Meet and Train Winter League in 2016 in Templelogue - we won the league that year and it was pretty close between us and Sportsworld, which added to the excitement of the race! Q: Is there any race that you'd rather forget? (Sorry for bringing it up!) A: None that pop to mind - I’ve definitely had moments during plenty of races where I thought this is the worst race of my life but as soon as I cross the line, catch my breath and have the chats with the Cru about their race and share my race experience I forget all about any tough moments. Q: Do you prefer training in the winter or the summer? A: 100% summer! Q: Does anyone else in your family run? A: My sister and brother run so we get to enjoy that together from time to time. Q: Do / did you participate in any other sports? A: I played basketball for a good few years during school and I was an Irish dancer too. Q: Have you been running more or less during lockdown? A: I’ve been able to enjoy more of a routine with no work travel which means I have been running more and I am loving it! Q: How did your 2K and 5K limit work out for you? A: I was lucky to have the coast and some local parks within the limits so it was pretty good and I could vary my running routes. Q: Where did you grow up? A: I grew up in Celbridge Co. Kildare. Up the Lilly Whites! Q: Where is your favourite place in the world to visit? (not necessarily running related) A: Oh wow, so many places - I do love Barcelona, one of my favourite cities. I would like to get back to New Zealand again too. Q: If you didn't live in Ireland where would you like to live? A: Barcelona Q: How was running in Malta? What sort of training and racing did you do there? A: If it wasn’t for running I wouldn’t have met so many people during my time in Malta. I joined a local running club and we trained twice a week on a track and met for a long runs on a Sunday which was such a nice way to explore the island. Racing season was from October to May and then there was very little races during the summer months - it was too hot. I took part in road races - 5k, 10k and the Malta half marathon a few times which is the largest running event on the island and attracts lots of runners from abroad. I don’t miss 5:30am runs to beat the sun during the summer months though! Or the hills....they were everywhere! Q: What makes you excited to be the ladies captain? A: Our fantastic group of ladies in the club. What a team!! The enthusiasm to race, especially during the gruelling cross country season, is just wonderful! Every place counts girls Training Thanks to the amazing work of our coaches we've enjoyed the return to socially distant training, with Tuesday nights on the track, and Saturday mornings in the Phoenix park. Pre-booking is required. All details can be found here. We will keep you up to date with any changes that arise due to the further easing of restrictions. Please note, Dublin City Council have informed us that the stadium will remain closed until July 20th. Unfortunately this means there will be no toilet or shower facilities available until they reopen. Answers to Crusaders Quiz
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