Medals in the Nationals and road runners spoiled for choice

30/7/2018

Fearghal O'Hare, Matt Behan, Kevin Woods and Nick Ennis

We had several athletes in action on each of the two days of the National Senior Track and Field championships, both in heats and finals. On the first day, the first final in which a Crusader competed to be settled was the triple jump with Oisin Taylor who maintained his excellent form with a bronze medal following a leap of 13.62m. In windy, and from time to time wet, conditions, on the track we participated in the following events: In the men’s 400mH Jason Harvey took 2nd in his heat in 54.73 and qualified for Sunday’s final. We had one qualifier in 3 of the 4 heats for the men’s 300m. Andrew Mellon won his heat in 48.98, but, unfortunately, Ben Maze narrowly missed out in 2nd place (49.24) in the same heat. John O’Loughlin (7th in 57.58), Nick Ennis (4th in 50.41) and Fearghal O’Hare (6th in 50.69) also missed out in their respective heats. There was a feeling around the stadium and a protest was lodged regarding the outcome of the 3 heats in the men’s 800m. Kevin Woods ran in heat 1, placing 3rd to Mark English in 1:55.96 and, along with Fearghal O’Hare (5th in 1:55.76) in heat 2, was sitting on a fastest losers spot until the outcome of heat 3 was settled. Somehow, it seems a pacer in the form of Timmy Crowe, a well-known 400m runner was given a slot in heat 3 alongside John Fitzsimons who was not only hoping to qualify for the final but who was also going for a European qualifying time (and this was the last weekend in which it could be obtained). Timmy duly pulled the runners along in a fast first 400m and John did qualify, winning the heat and gaining his European standard. However, the whole field benefitted from what had appeared like an almost suicidal first lap, with 3 of the 4 fastest losers qualifying from that heat and knocking Kevin and Fearghal off the list. Questions were asked as to how a pacer could have been allowed to run in the last heat where everyone knew they had to run fast to qualify. We fared better in the women’s 800m, with Mary Horgan running a brilliant race to place 2nd behind Ciara Mageean in her heat in the relatively slow time of 2:17.70. Rachael Yorke ran gamely in the 2nd heat to place 10th in 2:31.31 but failed to move on to Sunday’s final. It was a similar outcome for Michael Kiely in the 2nd heat of the men’s 1500m, where he placed 13th in a time of 4:19.21 and did not progress.

Then on Sunday, we had a mixed bag of results in easier, cooler weather, conditions. Adam McMullen successfully defended his long jump title, with a modest leap for him of 7.68m that still was 28cm further than his nearest rival. Unfortunately, Andrew had injured himself in his previous day’s 400m heat and did not start the final, whilst Jason placed 3rd in the final of the 400mH in a time of 51.99 behind Thomas Barr winning his 8th title. After clattering a few hurdles and taking down the last, Matt Behan was still able to get himself onto the podium with a bronze medal in the 110mH (14.37), whilst the scratch 4x400m relay team of Matt, Nick, Jason and Fearghal was able to take 3rd place (3:21.04) just ahead of Raheny. Other results included Mary’s excellent 5th place in the women’s 800m in a quality field behind Ciara Mageean in the first of her double success on the day. Mary ran close to her PB in 2:12.37, whilst Alix Hughes took 11th spot in the women’s long jump with a leap of 4.47m.

Elsewhere, there was a Leinster League mountain race on Ballinastoe Mountain, Co. Wicklow, on Wednesday. We had 3 runners in the 12k race that involved a 490m climb over difficult terrain. Anthony O’Reilly was our lead runner in 23rd in a field of 141 (64:45), followed not too far behind by John McAuley, a less frequent mountaineer (24th in 65:56), and by Berndt Heim (128th in 93:22).

Also during the week, there were two road/trail races on which to report. The first was the Dublin Central 5k in which Ger Forde ran 17:40 to place 3rd in a field of 328 and the 2nd was the Carton House 6K trail run in which Kate Murray placed 126th overall (20th woman) in a field of 529. Kate’s time was 27:52 and she came home 3rd in her age category.

There were at least 2 PBs amongst our runners on Saturday morning in the Mullingar 10 mile race. It’s generally flat, but conditions would have been a little damp. In a field of 314 and a race inevitably won by Freddie Sittuk, Rob Cross ran well to place 9th in 57:46, followed by Joe McDermott with yet another PB (15th in 58:54) and a huge improvement over his previous time for the distance. Alma Hanevy was next in 62nd place overall (3rd placed woman finisher) in a great time of 66:51, followed by Pat Quill (65th in 67:30). Phelim Murray took 108th spot in 74:02, followed by Aoife Clarke who also ran well with a super PB time of 75:20 (118th overall, 11th woman). Sarah Lyons was the next runner over the line, running 79:00 and placing 147th overall, 21st woman, followed by Russell Murphy (162nd in 80:01) and Fiona Bane (191st overall, 36th woman, in 83:14).

Also on Saturday, Celine Bonce, who is 20 weeks pregnant, ran 54:12 in the Run Killarney 10k. Celine placed 344th overall (116th woman) in a field of 1140. Hats off to her! Then, on Sunday, one of the more recent additions to the BHAA calendar saw the running of the Dublin Fire Brigade 5k around Marino and the Malahide Road. The race was won by Sean Doran who has now seen victory in at least 3 BHAA events in a row. Once again, Karl Walsh placed 4th and his time was 17:32. We had two other participants in the field of 87. Robbie Moore took 32nd spot in 21:18, followed by Neil Brown who crossed the line in 22:11 (41st). Also on Sunday, Dee Ni Chearbhaill and her husband Sean Murphy took part in the United Striders-organised 5 Mile Stride down in New Ross, Co. Wexford. Sean placed 12th out of a field of 155 in 29:14, whilst Dee was the first F40 home (43rd overall, 6th woman) in a time of 35:15.

Other results over the weekend included Katie Eisenhauer showing that she can still run fast and finishing an 8k race in Geelong, Australia, where she now lives, in 30:46, whilst Brian Scanlan ran the San Francisco marathon in a highly creditable 3:24:54 on a not unsurprisingly hilly course and with a pit stop half way through. Leo Lundy took part in two days of marathon running over the weekend in the Sliabh Bawn Ros Run in Roscommon. The races involved 4 loops of a hilly forest trail around Sliabh Bawn Mountain and its wind farm, with terrific scenic views of surrounding counties. Leo found the going tough and ended up as penultimate finisher in a modest field on each of the two days with times of 6:16 and 6:06.

Rain and high winds on Saturday morning appeared to put people off running in the parkruns and numbers seemed to be down generally, but Crusaders took full advantage around the country and we had several first finishers and podium places generally. We should start, however, by mentioning that Kieran Little ran in an 800-strong field in a parkrun (Greenpoint) in South Africa, taking 1st place in a time of 18:17. Closer to home, Derek Lawlor ran in Vandeleur in Kilrush, Co. Clare coming home as first finisher in 18:57. Meanwhile, Kate Murray was a first finisher in Lough Key (19th overall in 23:42), whilst Frank Hague achieved the same outcome in Porterstown (17:49) and Katie McElroy, likewise, in Castletown took the honours (10th overall in 21:00). Sharon Woods placed 2nd (13th overall) in Poolbeg (24:09), running with Mari Hansen (37th overall, 10th woman, in 28:32), whilst Peter O’Toole also took 2nd place in St. Anne’s (17:36). Peter ran with Donal Foley (55th in 21:55), Kieran Martin (61st in 22:12), coming back from recent injury, and Darina Scully (95th overall, 14th woman, in 23:28). Luke Davis was our sole representative in Marlay Park (5th in 19:22), as was Kris Ryan in the 139-strong field in Coomera, Australia, where she placed 33rd overall, 6th woman, in 23:43, as well as David O’Donnell who placed 8th in Dungloe in a time of 21:53. Finally, Diarmuid Byrne took 4th spot in Poppintree in 20:54 and he was followed by Maria Pertl who crossed the line in 21st (5th woman) in a time of 26:02.

BHAA DFB 5k (87)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
Sean Doran 1 00:16:37
17 Elaine Howard 1 00:20:35
Crusaders AC runners
4 Karl Walsh 00:17:32
32 Robbie Moore 00:21:18
41 Neil Brown 00:22:11
Full results here: https://bhaa.ie/race/dublin-fire-brigade-5km-2018/
Mullingar 10 mile (314)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Gross time
1 Freddie Sittuk 1 00:54:49
25 Jane-Ann Meehan 1 01:01:59
Crusaders AC runners
9 Rob Cross 00:57:46
15 Joe McDermott 00:58:54 (PB)
62 Alma Hanevy 01:06:51 (3)
65 Pat Quill 01:07:30
108 Phelim Murray 01:14:02
118 Aoife Clarke 01:15:20 (PB) (11)
147 Sarah Lyons 01:19:00 (21)
162 Russell Murphy 01:20:01
191 Fiona Bane 01:23:14 (36)
Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/mullingar_10_2018/2672/results
IMRA Ballinastoe (141)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Luke Maher 1 00:54:37
30 Tanya Sheridan 1 01:06:59
Crusaders AC runners
23 Anthony O’Reilly 01:04:45
24 John McAuley 01:05:56
128 Berndt Heim 01:33:22
Full results here: https://www.imra.ie/events/results/id/1607/
Dublin Airport Central 5k (328)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Cormac Kelly 1 00:16:26
26 Sigita Zonberga 1 00:26:10
Crusaders AC runner
3 Ger Forde 0:17:40
Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/dublin_airport_central_5k/2735/results
Carton House 6k Trail Run (529)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Eoin Durkan 1 00:19:57
25 Jane Bandilla 1 00:23:05
Crusaders AC runner
126 Kate Murray 00:27:50 (20)
Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/carton_house_6k_trail_race_2018/2680/results
Run Killarney 10k (1140)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Niall Shanahan 1 00:32:24
16 Nerissa O’Donnell 1 00:38:30
Crusaders AC runner
344 Celine Bonce 00:54:12 (116)
Full results here: https://www.sportsplits.com/home/results?c=74&r=402&e=3&cul=en-US
5 Mile Stride (155)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Andrew Connick 1 00:26:07
22 Jackie Carthy 1 00:31:21
Crusaders AC runner
43 Dee Ni Chearbhaill 00:35:15 (6)
Full results here: https://www.facebook.com/372366676280496/photos/pcb.931108747072950/931090403741451/?type=3&theater
Marlay Parkrun #265 (207)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 unknown 1 00:17:49
37 Angela Keane 1 00:22:17
Crusaders AC runner
5 Luke Davis 00:19:22
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/marlay/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=265
St. Anne’s Parkrun #242 (232)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Feidhlim Kelly 1 00:16:57
13 Tara Kennedy 1 00:19:15
Crusaders AC runners
2 Peter O’Toole 00:17:36
55 Donal Foley 00:21:55
61 Kieran Martin 00:22:12
95 Darina Scully 00:23:28 (14)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/stannes/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=242
Poolbeg Parkrun #48 (52)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Justin McKeever 1 00:18:29
2 Shona Ni Fhloinn 1 00:20:01
Crusaders AC runners
13 Sharon Woods 00:24:09 (2)
37 Mari Hansen 00:28:32 (10)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/poolbeg/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=48
Poppintree Parkrun #194 (57)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Stephen Boyne 1 00:19:13
5 Eva McNelis 1 00:20:54
Crusaders AC runners
4 Diarmuid Byrne 00:20:54
21 Maria Pertl 00:26:02 (5)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/poppintree/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=194
Castletown Parkrun #135 (163)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Valdas Tilunas 1 00:19:19
10 Katie McElroy 1 00:21:00
Crusaders AC runner
10 Katie McElroy 00:21:00 (1)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/castletown/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=135
Porterstown Parkrun #145 (87)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Frank Hague 1 00:17:49
12 Marta Rzepka 1 00:22:42
Crusaders AC runner
1 Frank Hague 00:17:49
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/porterstown/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=145
Vandeleur Parkrun #123 (53)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Derek Lawlor 1 00:18:57
6 Maria Wallace 1 00:23:21
Crusaders AC runner
1 Derek Lawlor 00:18:57
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/vandeleur/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=123
Dungloe Parkrun #125 (50)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Paul Bowden 1 00:18:38
15 Laura Bowden 1 00:24:04
Crusaders AC runner
8 David O’Donnell 00:21:53
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/dungloe/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=125
Lough Key Parkrun #113 (140)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 David Ahern 1 00:18:47
19 Kate Murray 1 00:23:42
Crusaders AC runner
19 Kate Murray 00:23:42 (1)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/loughkey/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=113

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