![]() There was a tinge of irony on Sunday morning. It was a day for the Manchester marathon, a race with historical measuring problems, that went off without a hitch this year, and also for the Great Ireland Run, the annual 10k race incorporating the national championships, which, for the first time (and hopefully last), had more than its fair share of issues. It was such a shame that that the 10k ended up measuring short as weather conditions were perfect for the event at 12 degrees Celsius and only a light southwesterly breeze on a dry day. Essentially, a short triangle at the start that should have been fully covered for a distance of 3k (which even if it had been maintained might have had lead runners coming up behind the last wave, but that’s another issue given that the OPW requires such races to be crammed into a much smaller area of the park since the pandemic) saw runners only running on two sides of it. Instead of turning from Chesterfield back onto the Furze Road (where the race had started) to complete the triangle and then run down the Upper Glen Road to Chapelizod, a barrier was not removed at the entrance to Furze from Chesterfield and runners kept going along the main road south to the zoo roundabout, eventually ending up on the Upper Glen Road, but running the course almost entirely in reverse. So, not only was the course run the wrong way round, 1.4k was missed by not completing the initial triangle. An apology from the AAI came out on the day, but the championship results were voided. A disappointing situation for all involved and it will be interesting to see if the championships will be re-run. We had at least 12 runners in the race in a field of 1822 finishers. Once again, Andrea Rondina led our contingent home in 18th place (27:57 for 8.6k). Joe McDermott was further back (68th in 29:54), followed closely by Paul Cowhie (70th in 30:01) who came home second in his M55 age category. Eddie Nugent was next (148th in 32:23), with Brian McGuckin further back in 245th spot (34:54). Kevin Kavanagh followed shortly afterwards (253rd in 35:10), just ahead of Daniel Lowe (256th in 35:13). Gillian Earley was our first female athlete across the line (273rd and 36th female finisher in 35:24), 8th in her age F40 category, and she was followed by Gian Piero Allerta (494th in 39:51), Emily Glen (496th and 104th in 39:47), Sarah Lyons (670th and 141st in 40:41), running for charity, and Elad Solomon (807th in 45:01). In Ireland we had runners in a few other races over the weekend. Kathryn Gibbons ran the Convoy AC 10k in her native Donegal, where, in a field of 152, she ran an excellent 39:58 for 37th place overall (5th female finisher), whilst Kathryn Sweeney also found a 5k race in Co. Donegal, taking part in the Ballyshannon 5k. In a field of 248, Kathryn placed 27th and 6th in another sub-19 minutes time (18:48). Meanwhile, Sam Carvill took part in a 10k Gaelforce Kippure trail run. In a field of 545, Sam placed 30th in a time of 54:56. Isabelle Cairns also featured in a duathlon again this weekend, this time in Athy. Placing 1st in her age category and 4th female finisher, Isabelle completed the two 3k runs in the event (run, bike, run) in 12:42 and 11:56. Further afield, Kevin Fitzgibbon recorded a major PB improvement in the Rotterdam marathon on Sunday morning. Kevin ran a 2 minutes negative split for an excellent time of 2:40:37. In Rotterdam on the same day, Ronan Smith took on the ¼ marathon where he ran 43:43 for the distance (covering 10k in 41:44). On Friday, Richard Phelan and Daniel O'Mahony took on the Istria trail marathon, part of the UTMB series, which included at least two 300m climbs on a highly mountainous route. Richard placed 63rd out of 517 finishers in a time of 4:16:55, with Daniel not too far behind in 89th position, in 4:16:55. We also had two athletes in Manchester for the marathon there. Triona Quill ran a super 3:30:29, whilst Kevin Kenny recorded yet another PB with a finishing time of 4:04:46. In Spain on Sunday two of our exiles, Esther Requena Ferri and Cristian Vilchez Ceballos, found themselves on the podium of the 6k Ultima Carrera del Circuito Fuengirola. Esther won her race in 23:10, whilst Cristian placed 3rd in 21:07. Lastly, we had at least one runner in the 127th Boston marathon. Aaron Farrell, a recent member, ran 3:17:29 in what proved a tough day for all concerned. It was cold and rainy, but also with a slight headwind on a point-to-point course that has severe climbs in the second half. Members may be interested to hear that Katie McElroy, who used to run for Crusaders, ran 3:29:53, having found the second half of the race particularly tough, despite a really steady and conservative start, such is the nature of the course. There was also a race in the mountains over the weekend following one in midweek. On Sunday IMRA organised a 22.6k point-to-point Leinster Championship race around Aughavannagh in Co. Wicklow. On a course described as extreme and unmarked and involving a climb of over 1000m, Becky Quinn won the women’s race in 2:37:57, whilst Paul Flynn placed 7th in the field of 40, in a time of 2:35:29. Earlier in the week, on Wednesday evening, there was a Leinster League race, one known as Belmont and Little Sugar Loaf, involving an out-and-back with a loop of Little Sugar Loaf on moderate terrain on a marked course over 8.6k with a climb of 360m. We had at least 3 runners in the field of 176. Warren Swords placed 7th in 43:12, followed by Paul Flynn (19th in 46:16) and Gavan Doherty (127th in 66:17). We had a decent number of runners in parkruns on Saturday morning, notably in Poolbeg, and again, as usual, we had some podium finishers. Ross Neill ran once again in Ormeau Park in Belfast wher he led the field of 463 home in 17:48, whilst Caroline Crowley was a first finisher in Griffeen Park. Caroline placed 8th overall in a field of 141 and was followed by partner Eoghan Corrigan (22nd in 22:45). Elsewhere, Miriam Logan placed 9th and 2nd in 20:41 in Templemore with its field of 70, whilst Darina Scully ran in River Valley, taking 13th and 3rd spots in 24:23 in a field of 93. In the UK, Olwyn Dunne ran in Church Mead. In a mudfest, Olwyn placed 14th and 3rd in a field of 73 and in a time of 27:21, whilst Kate O’Malley, our London-based exile, ran with 824 other runners on Clapham Common, where she placed 33rd and 3rd in 19:39. As mentioned, Pollbeg had a large contingent of Crusaders, at least 20 in a field of 162. Stephen Hurley placed 2nd in 17:21 and he was followed by Michael Wycherley (5th in exactly the same time as he recorded last week, 18:58), John McDowell (8th in 19:58), Daniel Sheridan (9th in 20:02), Kieran Finucane (22nd in 22:02), Kenan Furlong (35th in 23:01), Dee Ni Chearbhaill (36th and 10th in 23:09), John Lohan (42nd in 23:24), Josie Ward (43rd and 12th in 23:26), Julian Callan (55th in 24:02), Ali May Hann (61st and 18th in 24:24), Aitor Arribas Velasco (64th in 24:39), Gillian Curran (70th and 22nd in 25:06), Fiona Bane (79th and 25th in 25:51), Tara Murphy (86th and 29th in 26:30), Maureen McGinley (95th and 35th in 27:16), Anna Shine (103rd and 41st in 23:18), Máirín Shine (109th and 44th in 28:34), Niamh Trihy (140th and 61st in 33:06) and Mari Hansen (147th and 67th in 35:58). We had 3 runners this week in Knocknacarra. Lisa Shine placed 31st and 7th in 26:23, with her sister, Fiona, placing 32nd and 8th in the same time. They were followed by Orlaith de Burca (72nd and 21st in 32:33). Once again, Dee Lawlor paced his daughter, this time in Vandeleur in Co. Clare. Dee placed 17th in a field of 47 and in a time of 26:34. Finally, we had 4 runners in Shanganagh. The contingent was led home in a field of 167 by David Carter (14th in 20:02) and he was followed by Tanja Narancic (41st and 5th in 23:12), Carina Davidson (86th and 23rd in 27:07) and by Niamh Quinn (124th and 45th in 30:51). Great Ireland Run (National 10k Championships) (1822)* *(actual distance 8.6k and national results void) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Jake O’Regan 1 00:26:08 47 Karen Blaney 1 00:29:12 Crusaders AC runners 18 Andrea Rondina 00:27:57 68 Joe McDermott 00:29:54 70 Paul Cowhie 00:30:01 148 Eddie Nugent 00:32:23 245 Brian McGuckin 00:34;54 253 Kevin Kavanagh 00:35:10 256 Daniel Lowe 00:35;13 273 Gillian Earley 00:35:24 (36) 494 Gian Piero Allerta 00:39:51 496 Emily Glen 00:39:47 (104) 670 Sarah Lyons 00:40:41 (141) 807 Elad Solomon 00:45:01 Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/great_ireland_run_2023/4629/results Convoy 10k (152) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Declan Ferry 1 00:33:02 10 Noeleen Scanlan 1 00:35:09 Crusaders AC runner 37 Kathryn Gibbons 00:39:58 (5) Full results here: https://www.facebook.com/convoy.ac.1 Ballyshannon 5k (248) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Francis Donoghue 1 00:15:24 4 Teresa Doherty 1 00:16:23 Crusaders AC runner 27 Kathryn Sweeney 00:18:48 (16) Full results here: https://coretiming.ie/events/streets-of-ballyshannon-5km-23/ IMRA Belmont and Little Sugar Loaf 8.6k (176) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Noah Harris 1 00:39:11 27 Jan Corcoran 1 00:48:17 Crusaders AC runners 7 Warren Swords 00:43:12 19 Paul Flynn 00:46:16 127 Gavan Doherty 01:06:17 Full results here: https://www.imra.ie/events/results/id/2302/ IMRA Aughavannagh 22.6k (40) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Adrian Hennessy 1 02:20:20 9 Becky Quinn 1 02:37:57 Crusaders AC runners 7 Paul Flynn 02:35:29 9 Becky Quinn 02:37:57 (1) Full results here: https://www.imra.ie/events/results/id/2303/ Malahide Parkrun (268) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Conor Fitzpatrick 1 00:16:59 8 Cosette Desmond 1 00:19:00 Crusaders AC runner 93 Emer Kenny 00:24:19 (14) Griffeen Parkrun (141) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 David Craven 1 00:18:21 8 Caroline Crowley 1 00:19:50 Crusaders AC runners 8 Caroline Crowley 00:19:50 (1) 22 Eoghan Corrigan 00:22:45 Vandeleur Parkrun (47) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Joseph Crowe 1 00:19:00 2 Barbara Cleary 1 00:19:18 Crusaders AC runner 17 Dee Lawlor 00:26:34 Shanganagh Parkrun (167) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Ben Paviour 1 00:16:27 19 Sarah Baryga 1 00:21:16 Crusaders AC runners 14 David Carter 00:20:02 41 Tanja Narancic 00:23:12 (5) 86 Carina Davidson 00:27:07 (23) 124 Niamh Quinn 00:30:51 (45) Knocknacarra Parkrun (85) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Sean Small 1 00:20:08 11 Marie Sheil 1 00:23:10 Crusaders AC runners 31 Lisa Shine 00:26:23 (7) 32 Fiona Shine 00:26:23 (8) 72 Orlaith de Burca 00:32:33 (21) River Valley Parkrun (93) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Brian O’Reilly 1 00:20:07 2 Cecile Ollagnier 1 00:21:17 Crusaders AC runner 13 Darina Scully 00:24:23 (3) Poolbeg Parkrun (162) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Luke Corcoran 1 00:17:09 12 Carmel Cooney 1 00:20:52 Crusaders AC runners 2 Stephen Hurley 00:17:21 5 Michael Wycherley 00:18:58 8 John McDowell 00:19:58 9 Daniel Sheridan 00:20:02 22 Kieran Finucane 00:22:02 35 Kenan Furlong 00:23:01 36 Dee Ni Chearbhaill 00:23:09 (10) 42 John Lohan 00:23:24 43 Josie Ward 00:23:26 (12) 55 Julian Callan 00:24:02 61 Ali May Hann 00:24:24 (18) 64 Aitor Arribas Velasco 00:24:39 70 Gillian Curran 00:25:06 (22) 79 Fiona Bane 00:25:51 (25) 86 Tara Murphy 00:26:30 (29) 95 Maureen McGinley 00:27:16 (35) 103 Anna Shine 00:28:18 (41) 109 Máirín Shine 00:28:34 (44) 140 Niamh Trihy 00:33:06 (61) 147 Mari Hansen 00:35:58 (67) Templemore Parkrun (70) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Jack Martin 1 00:18:13 8 Louise Mahony 1 00:20:29 Crusaders AC runner 9 Miriam Logan 00:20:41 (2) Ormeau Parkrun (388) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Ross Neill 1 00:17:48 19 Béibhinn Bourke 1 00:20:39 Crusaders AC runner 1 Ross Neill 00:17:48 Comments are closed.
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