Little going far and no trouble for Crusaders in Belfast

24/6/2018

Back row: Miriam Logan, Liz Nixon, James Cottle, Joe McDermott, Rob Cross, Eddie Nugent, Will OWens, Gian Piero Allerta, Frank Hague. Front row: John Mulvihill, Ciara Lehane, Ciaran Diviney, Kieran Little and Catherine Thornton

There’s been so much going on this week, on track and on road, it’s hard to know where to start. Everywhere there have been warm conditions, which for track sprinting has been great, but even for some of the longer distance track racing and for the roads there have been PBs to get.

We clearly must start with the national league first round that took place at the Mary Peters track in Belfast on Sunday. After at least an 8 years' absence we were able to field a women's team, which, because of the absence, had to start in the confusingly titled division 1, whilst the men continued to appear in the division above it, the premier division. After Sunday's performance, however, it is unlikely that the women will remain in the lower division for long, coming out of it at the end as clear winners of their match in the first round and 4th in the two pools combined, whilst the men are currently lying third overall. Both are well placed going into the second round, with 8 teams to go through to the final. For the men, event winners were Adam McMullen in the long jump with a PB and new Crusaders record of 7.88m and in the 100m, Jason Harvey in the 400mH, Oisin Taylor in the triple jump and then for those in the 4x400m relay team of Peter Murphy, Shane Keane, Jason and Adam. Nick Ennis was 2nd in the 400m, along with James Kelly in the shot put and the 4x100m relay team of Peter, Fearghal O'Hare, Ben Maze and Nick. James also went onto place 3rd in the discus along with Fearghal who achieved his 3rd place with a PB in the 800m. There were also excellent points contributions from Shane in the 200m (7th), Garret Dunne in the steeplechase and 1500m (6th in both), Peter in the high jump (7th), Bob Lyne in the walk (5th), 56lb throw (3rd) and Hammer (4th) and Patrick Gilceava in the javelin (4th). We don't have all the details yet from the women's event but there were wins in the 100m (Ciara Barry), 400m (Mary Horgan), 3000m (Ilona McElroy), 200m (Alix Hughes), 800m (Mary again, with possibly a PB) and the 4x400m relay squad (Mary, Ciara, Rachael). 2nd places were achieved in the 400mH (Ciara), 100mH (Alix) and shot (Alix), whilst there were 3rd places for the walk (Lisa Shine in her first attempt!), 1500m (Rachael), discus and triple jump (Ines Fetahovic). In the 4x100m (Lisa, Alix, Ines and Ciara) we placed 6th but otherwise there were 4th place finishes in the javelin (Ciara) and long jump (Ines). Hats off to everyone who contributed and we are really looking forward to repeating the success going forward.

In the 5th Dublin graded meet on Wednesday in Tallaght stadium we had some excellent results. Matt Behan followed up his hurdling exploits of the previous weekend with a sprint on the flat, placing 1st in the men’s A 200m in a time of 22.83. In the men’s 200m C1, Patrick Saunders placed 1st in 25.11, followed by John O’Loughlin (3rd in 26.23) and Paul Kelly (7th in 34.37). In the C2 edition Abbas Bowen won in 25.58, followed by Graham Flynn in 4th (26.88). In the women’s 200m A, Alix Hughes placed 3rd in 28.20. Alix also took on the long jump placing 3rd with a leap of 4.47m, with Inez Fetahovic 4th with a jump of 4.12. Alix also contested the javelin with a throw of 12.76m (5th place). In the men’s 3000m A race Brian O’Kelly ran 9:02.41, a likely PB time for 8th place, whilst in the men’s C race, Frank Halligan (1st in 9:51.46) and Joe McDermott (4th in 10:01.11) both recorded PBs. Ilona McElroy took 6th place in the women’s 3000m (A, B and C), having started out steadily and recording a time of 10:49.42 in her first track race of the season. Frank went on to run in the 800m C race, placing 5th in 2:17.99, whilst Brendan Glynn won his D race in a PB time of 2:27.17, followed by Paul Kelly placed 6th in 3:29.66. Mary Horgan took 2nd place in the 800m A race in a time of 2:18.62, followed by Rachael Yorke (5th in 2:34.94). Finally, Shane Keane contested the long jump, leaping 6.52m to take 3rd place.

We had large turnouts in Dunshaughlin for the Michael Manning 10k and then on the following day at the Irish Runner 5 mile in the Phoenix Park. The man who came second in Dunshaughlin, Freddie Keron Sittuk, actually won the following day, but he was not alone in taking on the two events back to back, as so did our own Kieran Little, who has been amazing us with his recent exploit in the tough conditions of Boston. In Dunshaughlin, Kieran came home in 25th place in a field of 758 finishers to lead our 20-strong contingent across the line in a time of 33:17. Then, on Sunday, he placed 10th out of 1,500, again to lead our 12-strong group home, in a time of 27:49. Other honourable mentions in Dunshaughlin should go to John Mulvihill (30th in 33:36), Ciaran Diviney (35th in 33:54 and 3rd O/45), Rob Cross (47th in 34:27 and 6th in his new age category of O/45), Joe McDermott (90th in 35:59) and Frank Hague (92nd in 36:04), both of whom got PBs. In addition, 4 other men ran under 40 minutes: Paul Flynn (125th in 37:07), Will Owens (159th in 38:15), Luke Davis (175th in 38:4) and Eddie Nugent (177th in 38:48). The first 4 Crusader men across the line also took 3rd place out of 60 teams. Meanwhile, Catherine Thornton led the women’s team home, placing 8th (184th overall) in a PB time of 39:12, with the team of Catherine, Kate Murray (363rd overall, 51st woman, 9th in her age category, in 45:36) and Ciara Lehane (368th overall, 55th woman, in 45:49) placing 5th out of 36 teams. Other notable PBs went to Miriam Logan (449th overall, 82nd woman, in 48:30) and Paul Kelly (673rd in 58:16). Of note, Sean Murphy of Run Hub and United Striders, who trains with the club, came home in 77th place in 35:38.

Behind Kieran in the Irish Runner 5 mile came Ger Forde (20th in 29:00), followed by Karl Walsh (29th in 29:37), Damien Fitzgibbon (79th in 32:12) and Sean Smith (107th in 33:10) Top 200 places in both genders went to Barry McGuirk (164th in 33:02), Sorcha Ni Chuinneagain (571st overall, 145th woman, in 43:23) and Sharon Woods (645th overall, 179th woman, in 44:38).

On Friday evening, Seamus Moore and Dominick Branigan were our representatives in the Dublin Pride 5K in the Phoenix Park, Seamus placing 6th in 17:47 and Dominick coming home at a tempo pace (recovering from his recent ultra-marathon exploit) in 17th place out of 718 runners in a time of 19:20, whilst on Sunday Andrea Talpo and Dee Ni Chearbhaill ran in the Strawberry 10 miler in Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford, both acquitting themselves well. Andrea placed 7th in a field of 217 in a time of 63:39, whilst Dee ran 75:14, to place 37th overall, 4th woman home and 1st F40.

In the mountains last Wednesday, Becky Quinn continued where she left off (the previous Saturday winning on Mount Leinster in 69:47) and won the Howth Summer 9.4km race. Becky placed 19th overall in a field of 147, and she was joined by Karl Walsh (10th in 44:31), Brian McGuckin (24th in 47:54), Jonathan Claridge (30th in 49:25), Ollie McGrath (37th in 50:08), Brian Scanlan (50th in 52:34) and Pat Quill (60th in 53:29). The course involved a climb of 376m with moderate difficulty.

Briefly addressing the parkruns in which we had substantial participation, there were first finisher places for Nina Holmes who ran in a modest field in Italy (Foro Italico) in a time 23:05 and 3rd overall, and for Matt Cranley with his buggy in Father Collins (19:39). Podium results went to Kieran Finucane (2nd in Poolbeg in 19:34) who led 8 other runners home, including Sarah Lyons (28th overall, 2nd woman, in 22:39) and Fiona Bane (34th overall, 3rd woman, in 22:57) and Aoife Quinn (9th overall, 3rd woman, in 23:39) in Dungloe, alongside Denis Murphy who was 4th overall in 20:54. Fiona Shine went to Wales for a Killers concert and took 3rd place (36th overall) in the 334th-strong field in Swansea Bay. Fiona’s time was 21:43. Meanwhile, Kris Ryan ran again in Coomera, taking 5th place (31st overall out of 104) in 23:12, whilst Aidan Hudner travelled to Lancaster to run alongside 334 other runners and placing 67th in 24:49.

Dunshaughlin 10K (758)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Hiko Tonosa 1 00:30:16
52 Kerry O’Flaherty 1 00:34:35
Crusaders AC runners
25 Kieran Little 00:33:17
30 John Mulvihill 00:33:36
35 Ciaran Diviney 00:33:54
47 Rob Cross 00:34:27
90 Joe McDermott 00:35:59 (PB)
92 Frank Hague 00:36:04 (PB)
125 Paul Flynn 00:37:07
159 Will Owens 00:38:15
175 Luke Davis 00:38:42
177 Eddie Nugent 00:38:48
184 Catherine Thornton 00:39:12 (PB) (8)
259 Gian Piero Allerta 00:42:07
274 Tomas Dunne 00:42:36
363 Kate Murray 00:45:36 (51)
368 Ciara Lehane 00:45:49 (55)
449 Miriam Logan 00:48:30 (PB) (82)
469 Liz Nixon 00:48:51 (86)
647 Michelle Geoghegan 00:57:04 (173)
673 Paul Kelly 00:58:16 (PB)
Full results here: https://www.popupraces.ie/michael-manning-memorial-dunshaughlin-10km-roadrace-2018/#1_841826
Irish Runner 5 mile race (1500)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Gross time
1 Freddie Sittuk Keron 1 00:25:08
37 Annette Kealy 1 00:30:11
Crusaders AC runners
10 Kieran Little 00:27:49
20 Ger Forde 00:29:00
29 Karl Walsh 00:29:37
79 Damien Fitzgibbon 00:32:12
107 Sean Smith 00:33:10
164 Barry McGuirk 00:33:02
571 Sorcha Ni Chuinneagain 00:43:23 (145)
645 Sharon Woods 00:44:38 (179)
810 Emilie Fournier 00:45:37 (253)
950 Jean Devlin 00:46:11 (326)
1005 Iseult Ni Chuinneagain 00:51:04 (355)
1073 Emma Peyton 00:51:10 (393)
Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/irish_runner_5_mile/2661/results
IMRA Howth Summer (147)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Brian Furey 1 00:42:57
19 Becky Quinn 1 00:46:56
Crusaders AC runners
10 Karl Walsh 00:44:31
24 Brian McGuckin 00:47:54
30 Jonathan Claridge 00:49:25
37 Ollie McGrath 00:50:08
50 Brian Scanlan 00:52:34
60 Pat Quill 00:53:29
Full results here: https://www.imra.ie/events/view/id/1598
Dublin Pride 5K (718)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 John Paul O’Brien 1 00:17:04
10 Sarah Baryga 1 00:18:14
Crusaders AC runners
6 Seamus Moore 00:17:47
17 Dominick Branigan 00:19:20
Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/dublin_pride_run_2018/2650/results
Strawberry 10 mile race (217)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Sean Hehir 1 00:51:46
5 Linda Byrne 1 01:02:58
Crusaders AC runners
7 Andrea Talpo 01:03:39
37 Dee Ni Chearbhaill 01:15:14 (5)
Full results here: http://www.redtagtiming.com/
St. Anne’s Parkrun #238 (402)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Graham O’Dwyer 1 00:16:40
40 Elaine McNulty 1 00:20:55
Crusaders AC runners
8 Peter O’Toole 00:17:46
76 Darina Scully 00:22:24 (8)
78 Aoife Clarke 00:22:29 (9)
238 Diarmuid Byrne 00:28:17
239 Maria Pertl 00:28:18 (69)
265 Lorraine Fitzsimons 00:29:22 (84)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/stannes/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=238
Enniskillen Parkrun #258 (88)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Adam Johnston 1 00:20:00
11 Denise Kavanagh 1 00:24:33
Crusaders AC runner
53 Emma O’Mahony 00:32:03 (16)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/enniskillen/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=258
Poolbeg Parkrun #43 (124)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Zejun Yao 1 00:18:33
23 Maura Mahoney 1 00:22:31
Crusaders AC runners
2 Kieran Finucane 00:19:34
20 Fin Goulding 00:22:02
25 Russell Murphy 00:22:35
34 Fiona Bane 00:22:57 (3)
69 Sharon Woods 00:26:27 (18)
80 Mari Hansen 00:28:05 (25)
84 Pauline McParland 00:28:51 (26)
115 Ciara McElligott 00:34:55 (43)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/poolbeg/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=43
Poppintree Parkrun #186 (105)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Mick Bermingham 1 00:18:37
16 Maureen Barrett 1 00:22:59
Crusaders AC runners
37 Maria Pertl 00:25:47 (9)
38 Diarmuid Byrne 00:25:48
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/poppintree/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=186
Malahide Parkrun #293 (287)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Jack Maughan 1 00:16:49
3 Annette Kealy 1 00:18:13
Crusaders AC runners
19 Ronan Moynihan 00:20:18
23 Brian Scanlan 00:20:31
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/malahide/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=293
Marlay Parkrun #263 (517)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Damian Bourke 1 00:17:38
8 Giulia Collico 1 00:18:57
Crusaders AC runner
14 Killian Barry 00:19:20
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/marlay/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=263
Father Collins Parkrun #144 (86)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Matt Cranley 1 00:19:39
12 Sorcha Prendiville 1 00:22:39
Crusaders AC runner
1 Matt Cranley 00:19:39
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/fathercollins/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=144
Cabinteely Parkrun #168 (118)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Igor Pashchenko 1 00:18:15
8 Joanne Ryan 1 00:22:19
Crusaders AC runner
105 Mairin Shine 00:35:49 (33)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/cabinteely/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=168
Ballincollig Parkrun #104 (294)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Tobi Grab 1 00:18:19
21 Orla Crosbie 1 00:21:20
Crusaders AC runner
247 Lisa Shine 00:30:09 (23)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/ballincollig/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=104
Dungloe Parkrun #120 (39)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 John Wallace 1 00:20:04
2 Amy Greene 1 00:20:19
Crusaders AC runners
4 Denis Murphy 00:20:54
9 Aoife Quinn 00:23:39 (3)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/dungloe/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=120
Bushy Dublin Parkrun #69 (118)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Paul O’Connell 1 00:19:00
19 Niamh Shea 1 00:21:18
Crusaders AC runner
91 Mairead Cashman 00:30:09 (23)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/bushydublin/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=69