![]() Well, that was great fun! It was a most enjoyable experience on Sunday morning in the Phoenix Park supporting the last of this year’s Race Series events, the iconic Half Marathon, the traditional precursor to the Dublin Marathon. Interest in the race this year was huge and, given such interest, it is commendable that, partly with thanks to Paula Bradshaw and her lists, we managed to field more than 40 runners in the race, at least 13 of whom recorded PBs; there were probably more. It is perhaps surprising that we did see so many PBs on what can be considered a challenging course, where, inter alia, runners had to climb out of the Furry Glen twice during the race (at 7k and 20k) and who also faced a strongish headwind on the Acres. The weather was, otherwise, kind and the temperature during the race was quite comfortable this year. The field amounted to nearly 6,400, all sent on their way in 3 waves, separated by at least 5 minutes. If there is any slight criticism of the event it is that the lead runners came down the Ordnance Survey Road and into the Furry Glen in the 19th and 20th kilometres, having to overtake a large number of runners from the third wave still to complete the first 5k of the race. Thankfully, the leaders were able to get though without any collision, but they did have to weave a bit. Nine of the first eleven Crusaders home recorded PB times. The contingent was led home by Gary Mills who placed 21st in a super PB time of 77:40. Gary was followed by Rory O’Kennedy (27th in a 4 minutes improved time of 78:24), Dee Lawler (31st in 78:30), Eugene McDonough (53rd in 80:33), Shane Egan (55th in a PB time of 80:26), Derek Boland (in a PB time of 81:43), Alby Allan (70th in a PB time of 81:49), John O’Donnell (141st in a PB time of 85:14), Garret Connolly (184th, recording a PB of 86:24), Adrian Groarke (250th in a PB of 88:34) and Sarah Diamond (304th overall and 15th female finisher, like Adrian, breaking 90 minutes for the first time in a PB time of 89:06). Michael Judge was next (90:39), followed by Simon Kenny (379th in 90:49), David Carter (614th in 95:49) and Rachael Yorke (622nd and 60th in 96:02) who all found the second half challenging but recorded excellent times nonetheless, and they were followed by Ian Weldon (686th in 97:12), Cría Dowling (791st and 84th in 98:47), Lisa Branigan (878th and 109th in 99:30), Judy O’Connell (1:41:02), Noel Carr (972nd in a PB time of 1:41:31), Charlotte Rufié (1184th and 170th in 1:42:51), Brian O’Neill (1250th in 1:44:35), Liam O’Brien (1447th in 1:40:58), Liam Nagle (1:45:25) and David McDonald (1:46:00). Bo Chicoine also recorded a PB by placing 1989th in a a time of 1:48:30 and he was followed by John Corish (2024th in 1:54:41), Louise Dobbyn (2038th and 424th in 1:48:55), Olwyn Dunne who paced the 1:50 runners (2159th overall, 462nd female finisher and 4th F55), Rebecca Kelly (2245th and 495th in a PB time of 1:49:05), Emily Glen and Franky Keane who both used the race as part of a longer run in marathon preparation (Emily placing 2277th and 500th in 1:58:22 and Franky placing 2286th in 1:58:25), Ryan Hoey (2530th in 1:53:31), Kevin Kenny (2912th in 1:57:10), Orla O’Neill (3192nd and 895th in 1:57:52), Amy O’Donoghue (3557th in 2:03:47), Evelyn Neary (2:03:51), Djinn Von Noorden (3952nd and 1290th in 2:07:53) and young Ruby Sweeney O’Brien in her first half marathon (4787th and 1774th in 2:08:43). The contingent was completed by Paul Campbell (4866th and 2:09:55) and Joe Dunne (4873rd in 2:10:01) who paced the 2:10 runners. Many of the runners are preparing for the Dublin marathon and will have drawn a great deal of confidence from their experience in the half. All the best to everyone for the end of October. The Race Series Half was not the only half marathon on the day. We had two Crusaders take part in the 5382-strong Belfast marathon, held in warm and sunny conditions. Ciara Regan recorded a PB in placing 280th overall and 23rd female finisher in a time of 88:28, followed by Kathryn Tomkins (née Sweeney) in 489th and 59th in 93:39. Also, on Sunday, 41 years after its inauguration, the Griffith Avenue Mile race took place. The original event in 1983 was won by Sydney Maree in 3:49.30, with Ray Flynn in 3rd place and Eamonn Coghlan, 5th. This year’s race was won in 4:04 by Juan Ignacio Pena in 4:04, with the first woman home being Cheryl Nolan in 21st place in a field of 272 in a time of 4:48. Not too far behind came our Charlotte Myers in 28th and 2nd places in a great time of 5:03, followed by Annie Hughes who recorded a super PB time of 5:13 to place 42nd overall and 8th female finisher. Aoife and Paul Kelly helped to pace in the race, recording times, respectively, of 7:36 and 7:37 for 176th and 177th places. To complete the weekend's road racing action in Ireland, Ross Neill and Fiona Bane joined 3331 other participants in the Sligo Coast2Coast 10-miler, with Ross placing 3rd in 56:46 and Fiona taking 144th and 30th spots in 84:43. Further afield over the weekend, we had three Crusaders take part in the Oslo Half Marathon, celebrating Áine Crotty’s birthday. Áine’s husband, Cian Coughlan, ran 89:58, followed by Phelim Murray who recorded a time of 96:04 and then by Áine herself in 1:47:38. Also, Daniel O’Mahony took part in a long-distance event in the Julian Alps in Slovenia, collecting stones for next year’s UTMB, covering the challenging distance of approx. 23.5k in 2:36:33. Closer to home, Brendan Glynn and Josie Ward competed in the latest edition in Wicklow of the Hell and Back obstacle race. Earlier in the week, we had a few Crusaders take part in a Google 5k internal challenge held coincidentally on our 1k training loop used for tempo sessions on Thursdays. The race took place on Wednesday lunchtime in warm and sunny conditions and naturally involved 5 laps. Crusaders helped out with the dynamic warm up for the 99 runners who took part. The first club member home was Daniel Cullen (8th in 21:35), followed by Kevin Lynch (12th in 22:20), Phil Sykes (14th in 22:59), Ryan Hoey (28th in 25:12) and Lieze Verberght (60th and 9th in 27:20). Poolbeg enjoyed another big turnout of Crusaders for its parkrun on Saturday morning, but this week did not produce any first finishers. The honours instead went to Kenan Furlong who led the field of 101 home on Wexford Racecourse in a time of 18:00, Saoirse McGrath who placed 12th and 1st in 19:24 in the 445-strong field in Marlay Park and Ciaran Diviney who was first across the line in Mallow Castle. Ciaran’s time was 19:11, ahead of 57 other runners. Stephen Hurley was our first runner home in Poolbeg where he placed 3rd in the field of 160 in a time of 17:44. Ronan Walsh was next (11th in 19:51) and he was followed by Piarais Neary (16th in 20:39), Ryan Preston (20th in 20:55), Zlatko Kulic (29th in 21:48), Sharon Woods (70th and 10th in 25:55), Tanja Narancic (78th and 12th in 26:29), Louise O’Riordan (84th and 15th in 26:46), Franky Keane (85th in 26:49), Djinn Von Noorden (100th and 26th in 27:51), Lorraine McMahon (112th and 34th in 29:28), Cynthia Perucca (118th and 38th in 29:46), Maureen McGinley (122nd and 41st in 29:58) and Anna Hernick (135th and 49th in 32:04). Don Anderton returned to parkrunning, placing 150th in 39:13. Kev Moore placed 5th in the 158-strong field in the Limerick parkrun held on the grounds of the university. His time was 20:08 and he was followed by Mary Donnelly (18th and 4th in 21:53), whilst, in Tolka Valley Park, Felipe De Sousa took 4th place in a time of 20:28 in a field of 56. Maria Kennedy ran once again in Kilkenny where, in a field of 153, she placed 43rd and 9th in 26:21, whilst, in Brickfields, Eoghan Corrigan was our lone representative where, in a field of 88, he placed 9th in 22:53. Toby Benham paced another runner in Tramore Valley, where, in a field of 194, he placed 7th in 19:00, whilst, in Sligo, Ross Neill placed 8th in 21:41. Fiona Bane tailwalked in an event that attracted 91 participants this week. In Father Collins Park, Mikel Cristosomo took 8th spot in a time of 21:27 in a field of 101, whilst, in St. Anne’s, Michael Maughan returned to the stage, placing 107th in a field of 419 in a time of 25:30. Over in Dulwich, Richard Morrissey joined 589 other runners, placing 7th in 17:15, whilst, on Clapham Common, Rob Glascott took 437th place in a field of 865 participants in a time of 28:06. Colm Foley was a singleton runner for us in Griffeen Park, where he placed 30th in a field of 169 and in a time of 23:22, whilst we had two runners in Fairview. In a field of 140 participants, Lieze Verberght placed 78th and 16th in 28:50, followed closely behind by Fanny Trébouet who placed 79th and 17th in 28:51. Finally, we had at least 9 runners in Cabinteely on Saturday morning. They were led home in the field of 166 by John Lohan (18th in 23:10) who was followed by Stephen Mulligan (34th in 24:42), Fiona Shine (76th and 16th in 28:28), Tara Murphy (92nd and 28th in 29:40), Olwyn (96th and 29th in 29:53) and Joe Dunne, pacing (97th in 29:54), Carina Davidson (148th and 63rd in 41:35), Lisa Shine (157th and 69th in 49:20) and Máirín Shine (158th and 70th in the same time). Google 5k (99) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Matt Kane 1 00:16:46 23 Anna Nilsson 1 00:24:15 Crusaders AC runners 8 Daniel Cullen 00:21:35 12 Kevin Lynch 00:22:20 14 Phil Sykes 00:22:59 28 Ryan Hoey 00:25:12 60 Lieze Verberght 00:27:20 (9) Full results here: Irish Life Race Series Half Marathon (6364) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Hugh Donovan 1 01:06:23 13 Michelle Finn 1 01:15:42 Crusaders AC runners 21 Gary Mills 01:17:40 (PB) 27 Rory O’Kennedy 01:18:24 (PB) 31 Derek Lawlor 01:18:30 53 Eugene McDonough 01:20:33 55 Shane Egan 01:20:26 (PB) XX Derek Boland 01:21:43 (PB) 70 Alby Allan 01:21:49 (PB) 141 John O’Donnell 01:25:14 (PB) 184 Garret Connolly 01:26:24 (PB) 250 Adrian Groarke 01:28:34 (PB) 304 Sarah Diamond 01:29:06 (PB) (15) XXX Michael Judge 01:30:39 379 Simon Kenny 01:30:49 614 David Carter 01:35:49 622 Rachael Yorke 01:36:02 (60) 686 Ian Weldon 01:37:12 791 Cría Dowling 01:38:47 (84) 878 Lisa Branigan 01:39:30 (109) XXX Judy O’Connell 01:41:02 972 Noel Carr 01:41:31 (PB) 1184 Charlotte Rufié 01:42:51 (170) 1250 Brian O’Neill 01:44:35 1447 Liam O’Brien 01:40:58 XXXX Liam Nagle 01:45:25 XXXX David McDonald 01:46:00 1989 Bo Chicoine 01:48:30 (PB) 2024 John Corish 01:54:41 2038 Louise Dobbyn 01:48:55 (424) 2159 Olwyn Dunne 01:49:53 (462) PACER 2245 Rebecca Kelly 01:49:05 (PB) (495) 2277 Emily Glen 01:58:22 (500) 2286 Franky Keane 01:58:25 2530 Ryan Hoey 01:53:31 2912 Kevin Kenny 01:57:10 3192 Orla O’Neill 01:57:52 (895) 3557 Amy O’Donoghue 02:03:47 XXXX Evelyn Neary 02:03:51 3952 Djinn Von Noorden 02:07:53 (1290) 4787 Ruby Sweeney O’Brien 02:08:43 (1774) 4866 Paul Campbell 02:09:55 PACER 4873 Joe Dunne 02:10:01 PACER Full results here: https://www.tdleventservices.co.uk/en/results-embed.php?event=4067#0_68258A Belfast Half Marathon (5382) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Barnaba Kipkoech 1 01:03:48 10 Natasha Cockram 1 01:12:47 Crusaders AC runners 280 Ciara Regan 01:28:28 (PB) (23) 479 Kathryn Tomkins 01:33:39 (59) Full results here: https://www.popupraces.ie/race/moy-park-belfast-city-half-marathon-2024/ Sligo Coast2Coast 10-miler (333) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Matthew McMeekin 1 00:52:19 5 Aoife Kilgallon 1 00:57:12 Crusaders AC runners 3 Ross Neill 00:56:46 144 Fiona Bane 01:24:43 (30) Full results here: https://my.raceresult.com/310140/#1_356EFE Griffith Avenue Mile (272) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Juan Ignacio Pena 1 00:04:04 21 Cheryl Nolan 1 00:04:48 Crusaders AC runners 28 Charlotte Myers 00:05:03 (2) 42 Annie Hughes 00:05:13 (PB) (8) 176 Aoife Kelly 00:07:36 PACER 177 Paul F. Kelly 00:7:37 PACER Full results here: https://myrunresults.com/events/griffith_avenue_mile__family_fun_mile_2024/5292/results Wexford Racecourse Parkrun (101) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Kenan Furlong 1 00:18:00 10 Emily Midwinter 1 00:22:53 Crusaders AC runner 1 Kenan Furlong 00:18:00 Marlay Parkrun (445) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 2 Barry McCartin 1 00:17:50 12 Saoirse McGrath 1 00:19:24 Crusaders AC runner 12 Saoirse McGrath 00:19:24 (1) Griffeen Parkrun (169) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Aoife Coffey 1 00:17:56 2 Oliver Warren 1 00:18:05 Crusaders AC runner 30 Colm Foley 00:23:22 Poolbeg Parkrun (160) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 August Benedicto 1 00:17:40 22 Ava Rose Clarke 1 00:21:02 Crusaders AC runners 3 Stephen Hurley 00:17:44 11 Ronan Walsh 00:19:51 16 Piarais Neary 00:20:39 20 Ryan Preston 00:20:55 29 Zlatko Kulic 00:21:48 70 Sharon Woods 00:25:55 (10) 78 Tanja Narancic 00:26:29 (12) 84 Louise O’Riordan 00:26:46 (15) 85 Franky Keane 00:26:49 100 Djinn Von Noorden 00:27:51 (26) 112 Lorraine McMahon 00:29:28 (34) 118 Cynthia Perucca 00:29:46 (38) 122 Maureen McGinley 00:29:58 (41) 135 Anna Hernick 00:32:04 (49) 150 Don Anderton 00:39:13 Limerick Parkrun (148) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Cian Aherne 1 00:16:15 8 Tanya Cox 1 00:20:27 Crusaders AC runners 5 Kev Moore 00:20:08 18 Mary Donnelly 00:21:53 (4) Brickfields Parkrun (88) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Jamie Kavanagh Shiels 1 00:18:15 7 Stephanie Bergin 1 00:21:55 Crusaders AC runner 9 Eoghan Corrigan 00:22:53 St. Anne’s Parkrun (419) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Brendan Colreavy 1 00:18:24 21 Rachel Costello 1 00:20:47 Crusaders AC runner 107 Michael Maughan 00:25:30 Cabinteely Parkrun (166) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Sean Terek 1 00:18:35 4 Robyn Kennedy 1 00:19:29 Crusaders AC runners 18 John Lohan 00:23:10 34 Stephen Mulligan 00:24:42 76 Fiona Shine 00:28:28 (16) 92 Tara Murphy 00:29:40 (28) 96 Olwyn Dunne 00:29:53 (29) 97 Joe Dunne 00:29:54 148 Carina Davidson 00:41:35 (63) 157 Lisa Shine 00:49:20 (69) 158 Máirín Shine 00:49:21 (70) Kilkenny Parkrun (153) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Evan Walsh 1 00:19:34 6 Lenka Táborská 1 00:21:09 Crusaders AC runner 43 Maria Kennedy 00:26:21 (9) Tolka Valley Parkrun (56) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Glenn Barden 1 00:18:59 15 Laura O’Malley 1 00:24:33 Crusaders AC runner 4 Felipe De Sousa 00:20:28 Poppintree Parkrun (222) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Cathal McHale 1 00:17:17 14 Mairead Butler 1 00:21:14 Crusaders AC runners 59 Paul F. Kelly 00:27:03 134 Aoife Kelly 00:32:25 (55) Sligo Parkrun (91) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Rob Cross 1 00:17:27 11 Aisling Layden 1 00:23:31 Crusaders AC runners 8 Ross Neill 00:21:41 91 Fiona Bane 01:06:07 (41) Tramore Valley, Cork Parkrun (194) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Simon Partridge 1 00:17:10 11 Ailbhe McDaid 1 00:19:25 Crusaders AC runner 7 Toby Benham 00:19:00 Fairview Parkrun (140) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 John Davies 1 00:17:40 30 Rachael Moloney 1 00:23:49 Crusaders AC runners 78 Lieze Verberght 00:28:50 (16) 79 Fanny Trébouet 00:28:51 (17) Mallow Castle Parkrun (58) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Ciaran Diviney 1 00:19:11 15 Maria Buckley 1 00:24:27 Crusaders AC runner 1 Ciaran Diviney 00:19:11 Father Collins Parkrun (101) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Shaun Conaghan 1 00:19:14 27 Magarita Belousova 1 00:25:11 Crusaders AC runner 8 Mikel Cristosomo 00:21:27 Comments are closed.
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