Masters Teamwork in the Phoenix Park

22/7/2024

L-R: Nina Holmes, Aoife Quigley, Dee Ni Chearbhaill, Miriam Logan, Ciara Lynch and Clare Sullivan

Runners enjoyed quite cool conditions without too much wind for the 10-mile national road championships held on Sunday in the Phoenix Park in conjunction with the Irish Runner 10-mile race, and the club came away with some notable medals among our masters athletes.

Firstly, though, we start in Lucan, on the track and infield, where the 7th Dublin graded meet of the season took place on Wednesday evening. We had 7 athletes involved in the evening’s events. Harry Moylan won the shot put with a throw of 11.52m, his 4th of 6 efforts. Also, Claire Mooney ably paced the women’s 800m grade A race, which produced some excellent times. Kathryn Gibbons ran well to place 4th in the women’s grade B 3000m, with a time of 10:57.91, whilst Enda Clarke took 2nd spot in the men’s equivalent race over the same distance, in an excellent time of 9:35.73. Joe McDermott took 13th place in the same event in 10:07.60. Then, in the grade D race, Brendan Glynn placed 9th in 13:17.37, and, finally, Paul E. Kelly finished up the field in 8th spot in heat 3 of the men’s 800m in a time of 3:17.89. There is one more graded meet to come.

On Tuesday evening, the BHAA and North Clondalkin Running Club organised a race in Dodder Valley Park in Firhouse under the auspices of South Dublin County Council. The 5k race attracted 132 runners, among them at least 5 Crusaders. The contingent was led home by Karl Walsh (12th in 18:28) and he was followed across the line by Clare Sullivan (in the first of her successes this week) who placed 19th and 2nd female finisher in 18:55. Clare was followed by Robbie Moore (55th in 22:15) and by Sharon Woods (67th, 13th and 2nd F55 in 23:15), with Mairead Cashman completing the contingent (120th and 46th in 29:08).

On Saturday morning, Tim O’Donnell took part in the GAA-organised Dessie McGann Kiltale 10k in Co. Meath. On a hilly course, Tim finished in 15th place in the field of 161, with a time of 41:13.

Then, on Sunday, we had a least 17 clubmates run in the Biofreeze Irish Runner 10-miler that incorporated the National 10-mile championships. There had been some confusion in the lead up to the race as certain bodies, including councils, had been given free entries to distribute, ostensibly to encourage new runners into the sport. However, the initiative backfired somewhat in that the receiving entities handed some of the entries to clubs (confusingly with specific club-linked references). The upshot of this was that those athletes who availed of the offer (10 per club) were then apparently not entered into the Athletics Ireland Championships. This was only made known a couple of days before the race and some, but not all, of those athletes who had taken up the offer, hurriedly had to pay Athletics Ireland €15 to remedy the issue.

The race, held on a challenging twisty course in the Phoenix Park, involving a visit to the Furry Glen, a climb along the Military Road from a descent on the Khyber Pass and then a return up the Upper Glen Road to the finish on Chesterfield to the north of the Phoenix Monument via the Ordnance Survey Road, enjoyed a field of 1778 finishers and was held in coolish conditions (14 degrees or so), with little wind. Our contingent was led across the line by Ciarain Kelly in 43rd place in 57:00, alongside the women’s race winner Grace Lynch, having run in a bunch throughout the event. Ciarain was followed by men’s captain Joe McDermott who surprisingly managed a 3 seconds PB improvement in placing 61st in 58:44. Joe was followed by Dee Lawlor who placed 72nd in 59:16, and the three men, as a masters team, collected the bronze O/35 medal, placing 3rd, behind Raheny in first place and 9 seconds behind Rathfarnham WSAF in second in a competition involving 29 teams.

Behind Dee came Rob Browne who placed 101st in 61:39, and further back came our first female finisher, Clare Sullivan, who took the F40 individual bronze medal (since Fiona Roche of Raheny had finished in 3rd place overall in the women’s race) in placing 175th and 15th in 66:19. The following two female runners, Nina Holmes and Aoife Quigley, combined with Clare to win the O/35 gold medal ahead of Sportsworld and Mullingar in the masters team competition involving 22 clubs. Nina placed 233rd and 28th in 69:32, whilst Aoife took 245th and 32nd spots in 70:16. Many congrats to all our medal winners.

Karl Walsh finished in 207th place in 68:19 and behind Karl, Nina and Aoife came Ciara Lynch who did not produce a chiptime (likely around 320th overall in 72:53) and Orla O’Flynn (360th and 54th in 74:08). Orla was followed by Miriam Logan (370th and 59th in 72:18), treating the race as a training run and starting quite far back in the field. Dee Ni Chearbhaill was next (388th and 63rd in 75:14) and she was followed by Robbie Moore (423rd in 76:24) and by Noel Carr (514th in 77:30) with yet another PB time. Tony Hackett came in next (617th in 79:38) and he was followed across the line by Brendan Glynn (677th in 83:23), Kevin Kenny (890th in 86:06) and Lisa Branigan (1285th and 356th in 98:08).

Further afield, Donatas Jocius headed back to his native Lithuania, where he competed in a 14k trail race, finishing in 2nd place in just over an hour.

The rainy weather on Saturday morning seemed to deter a lot of parkrunners nearly everywhere, but still we had an excellent turnout of Crusaders in the events in which we participated and we were not disappointed with the outcomes.

Seoirse McGrath marked a comeback from injury with a first finisher place in the 350-strong field in Marlay Park, the one parkrun which seemed to buck the trend of lower turnouts this week. Seoirse ran 19:00 for 8th place overall and she was followed home by Barry O’Neill (67th in 24:06). Another first finisher was Dee Lawlor who led the entire field of 224 in Shanganagh across the line in a time of 17:44. Also, first to finish was Áine Kenny in Oughterard where she was first across the line ahead of a field of 24 in a time of 23:06. Not to be outdone, Katie Rogers was 16th overall and a first finisher in the Centennial parkrun in Sydney, Australia, with its field of 383. Our exile there ran 19:17 and she was followed home by another of our exiles, Deirdre Kennedy, who ran 27:35 for 194th place overall and 40th female finisher. Mary Donnelly was our final first finisher, placing 26th overall in a field of 212 in a time of 22:43. Mary was preceded by Kev Moore (7th in 19:50) and followed home by Cynthia Perucca (168th and 50th in 31:47).

We had 14 runners in Poolbeg, where Ross Neill led our contingent home in the field of 182 in a time of 17:17. Ross was followed closely by Stephen Hurley (3rd in 17:22) and by Kenan Furlong (5th in 17:41). Next came Adrian Groarke (13th in 19:43) who was followed by Piarais Neary (20th in 21:12). Jeanie Watson, in her last parkrun in Ireland for the time being before ending her secondment to the Department of Finance and returning to the UK this week, ran 21:29 for 25th and 4th places, and Jeanie was followed by Sharon Woods (39th and 5th in 23:14), Josie Ward (43rd and 7th in 23:34), Kevin Lambe (52nd in 24:19), Kate Healy (69th and 18th in 25:22), Anna Hernick (118th and 41st in 29:21), Maureen McGinley (131st and 49th in 30:53), Siobhan Russell (140th and 53rd in 32:09) and Mari Hansen (158th and 64th in 37:02).

We had a super turnout in Tolka Valley Park in the lashing rain and strong winds to celebrate the upcoming wedding of Ilona McElroy and Paul Fleming. The Rathfarnham WSAF runner, Paul, finished ahead of the field of 45 in 17:38, with Ilona placing 5th overall and 2nnd female finisher in 20:00. Ilona was followed by Sean Murphy, who trains with us (6th in 20:46), and then by Aoife Quigley (7th and 3rd in 21:18) alongside Clare Sullivan (8th and 4th in the same time) enjoying a bunched sprint for the line with James Cottle (9th in 21:19). Next came Caroline Crowley (18th and 7th in 26:20), alongside Miriam Logan (19th and 8th in 26:21) ad Louise Dobbyn (20th and 9th enjoying the same time as Miriam). The contingent was completed by Orla Kennedy (24th and 12th) and Irene Gorman (25th and 13th) recording the same time of 27:49.

Elsewhere, Olwyn Dunne joined Lisa Shine and 87 other participants in Athlone RSC, where she placed 20th and 6th in 24:07, with Lisa tailwalking. Darina Scully ran once again in Avondale Forest, where she placed 32nd and 7th in a time of 25:31, in a field of 105, whilst, in Naas, with its field of 91, Karl Walsh placed 17th in 22:17. Further afield, two of our London-based exiles, Rob Glascott and Thom Martini took part in parkruns on Saturday morning. Thom ran in Gunnersbury where he placed 164th in a field of 598 in a time of 24:40, whilst Rob ran 20:41 for 51st place in the 831-strong field on Clapham Common.

Brendan Glynn took 23rd spot running alongside 136 other participants in Donabate, where his time was 23:22, whilst Emer Kenny ran once again in Father Collins, where, in a field of 183, she placed 117th and 43rd in 30:19. In Cabinteely, with its field of 129, Máirín Shine took 82nd and 25th spots in 31:35, followed by Carina Davidson and Fiona Shine, tailwalking. Finally, Aitor Arribas Velasco ran on Narin Beach where, in a field of 54, he ran 24:33 for 15th place.

Biofreeze Irish Runner 10 mile (national championships) (1778)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Keelan Kilrehill 1 00:49:56
42 Grace Lynch 1 00:56:58
Crusaders AC runners
43 Ciarain Kelly 00:57:00
61 Joe McDermott 00:58:44 (PB)
72 Derek Lawlor 00:59:16
101 Robert Browne 01:01:39
175 Clare Sullivan 01:06:19 (15)
207 Karl Walsh 01:08:19
233 Nina Holmes 01:09:32 (28)
245 Aoife Quigley 01:10:16 (32)
32X Ciara Lynch 01:12:53
360 Orla O’Flynn 01:14:08 (54)
370 Miriam Logan 01:12:18 (59)
388 Deirdre Ni Chearbhaill 01:15:14 (63)
423 Robbie Moore 01:16:24
514 Noel Carr 01:17:30 (PB)
617 Anthony Hackett 01:19:38
677 Brendan Glynn 01:23:23
890 Kevin Kenny 01:26:06
1285 Lisa Branigan 01:38:08 (356)
Full results here: https://myrunresults.com/events/biofreeze_irish_runner_10_mile_2024/4985/results
BHAA SDDC 5k (132)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Sean Doran 1 00:15:57
6 Laura McDonnell 1 00:17:45
Crusaders AC runners
12 Karl Walsh 00:18:28
19 Clare Sullivan 00:18:55 (2)
55 Robbie Moore 00:22:15
67 Sharon Woods 00:23:15 (13)
120 Mairead Cashman 00:29:08 (46)
Full results here: https://irp.cdn-website.com/15e8030f/files/uploaded/SDCC_5k_2024_Results_Final.pdf
The Dessie McGann Kiltale 10k (161)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Sean Doran 1 00:33:31
23 Sarah Dempsey 1 00:44:11
Crusaders AC runner
15 Tim O’Donnell 00:41:13
Full results here: https://www.popupraces.ie/race/the-dessie-mcgann-kiltale-10k/
Narin Beach Parkrun (54)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Eimear Marie English 1 00:19:50
2 Michael Mallon 1 00:20:25
Crusaders AC runner
15 Aitor Arribas Velasco 00:24:33
Shanganagh Parkrun (224)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Derek Lawlor 1 00:17:44
13 Fiona Riordan 1 00:20:30
Crusaders AC runner
1 Derek Lawlor 00:17:44
Father Collins Parkrun (183)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Josh Moore 1 00:18:56
10 Annika Wolberg 1 00:21:18
Crusaders AC runner
117 Emer Kenny 00:30:19 (43)
Poolbeg Parkrun (182)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Ashley Hayes 1 00:17:14
9 Rosa Donaldson 1 00:18:49
Crusaders AC runners
2 Ross Neill 00:17:17
3 Stephen Hurley 00:17:22
5 Kenan Furlong 00:17:41
13 Adrian Groarke 00:19:43
20 Piarais Neary 00:21:12
25 Jeanie Watson 00:21:29 (4)
39 Sharon Woods 00:23:14 (5)
43 Josie Ward 00:23:34 (7)
69 Kate Healy 00:25:22 (18)
118 Anna Hernick 00:29:21 (41)
131 Maureen McGinley 00:30:53 (49)
140 Siobhan Russell 00:32:09 (53)
158 Mari Hansen 00:37:02 (64)
Oughterard Parkrun (24)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Áine Kenny 1 00:23:06
2 Ben Patterson Kyne 1 00:23:22
Crusaders AC runner
1 Áine Kenny 00:23:06 (1)
Bushy Parkrun (212)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 David Weit 1 00:18:56
26 Mary Donnelly 1 00:22:43
Crusaders AC runners
7 Kev Moore 00:19:50
26 Mary Donnelly 00:22:43
168 Cynthia Perucca 00:31:47 (50)
Cabinteely Parkrun (129)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Byron Edwards 1 00:18:19
20 Rachel Jones 1 00:23:47
Crusaders AC runners
82 Máirin Shine 00:31:35 (25)
118 Carina Davidson 00:44:05 (54)
121 Fiona Shine 01:02:48 (57)
Naas Parkrun (91)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Rob O’Brien 1 00:18:44
5 Niamh O’Boyle 1 00:20:00
Crusaders AC runner
17 Karl Walsh 00:22:17
Athlone RSC Parkrun (89)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Michael Moran 1 00:19:12
2 Anna Marie O’Dowd 1 00:21:10
Crusaders AC runners
20 Olwyn Dunne 00:24:07 (6)
87 Lisa Shine 00:49:32 (41)
Donabate Parkrun (137)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 David Rooney 1 00:15:54
16 Geraldine McHale 1 00:21:55
Crusaders AC runner
23 Brendan Glynn 00:23:22
Avondale Forest Parkrun (105)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Eoghan Gribbin 1 00:19:19
4 Lara Buck 1 00:21:03
Crusaders AC runner
32 Darina Scully 00:25:31 (7)
Marlay Parkrun (350)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Barry McCartin 1 00:17:35
8 Seoirse McGrath 1 00:19:00
Crusaders AC runners
8 Seoirse McGrath 00:19:00 (1)
67 Barry O’Neill 00:24:06
Tolka Valley Parkrun (45)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Paul Fleming 1 00:17:38
2 Núria Vizcaino Estrada 1 00:19:17
Crusaders AC runners
5 Ilona McElroy 00:20:00 (2)
7 Aoife Quigley 00:21:18 (3)
8 Clare Sullivan 00:21:18 (4)
9 James Cottle 00:21:19
18 Caroline Crowley 00:26:20 (7)
19 Miriam Logan 00:26:21 (8)
20 Louise Dobbyn 00:26:21 (9)
24 Orla Kennedy 00:27:49 (12)
25 Irene Gorman 00:27:49 (13)