More Festive Success

29/12/2016

Niall O'Connell

This is the last race report of 2016 and Crusaders made sure there were plenty of results to cram in to the race report before year-end. There is the usual round-up of Saturday parkruns from Christmas Eve and one or two of us were even able to find a parkrun on Christmas Day. Then we had races on St. Stephen’s Day with some excellent performances, followed by more road racing, including even marathons, to help purge us of any over-indulgence over the festive period.

We start with Leo Lundy and Kris Ryan who ran in the Portumna Forest marathon in Galway over the Christmas break. By all accounts it was a beautiful day for running on the short loop around the forest. Kris ran a steady 3:55 and Leo, in his words, finished in a “reasonable” 4:16. Anyone who runs a marathon on top of Christmas dinner deserves praise, which is also what Olwyn Dunne did when she ran in the East of Ireland Series Christmas marathon in Howth on 27th. It was a tough route and Olwyn took it steadily, coming home in 3:56, finishing with a place on the podium in 3rd in the women's race.

In Galway on Stephen’s Day, we had 3 runners take part in the Fields of Athenry 10K, which is known to be a fast race. Conditions were excellent for the event, cool with a little wind. In a field of more than 1,000 runners, Vinnie McGuinness led our small contingent home in 12th place with a strong 35:32 result, the race having been won by Mick Clohisey for the 2nd year in a row. Catherine Thornton also had an excellent confidence-building race, taking 77th place overall, 7th woman, in a strong quality field, and finishing in a time of 39:48, thanks to a strong sprint to the line and a negative split. Conor Fahy followed closely behind, taking 90th spot in a time of 40:19. Catherine was in action a day later in a 5K on local soil, taking it steady and winning the women's race in a time of around 19:45, later being interviewed afterwards on local Irish language TV.

Also on Stephen's day, our new club president, Niall O’Connell ran with Alan Sheehy in their native Cork, in the Belgooly Dick Copithorne Memorial 4 mile race. Both had good runs, on what is a net uphill course, with Alan clocking a great time of 23:51 for the distance, placing 24th in a field exceeding 550 runners, whilst Niall also placed well, coming home in 42nd spot with a time of 25:02.

Brian O’Kelly continues to podium in races he enters. This time he took 2nd place in the Streets of Wicklow 5k, which featured nearly 400 participants. Brian’s time was 16:01. Meanwhile, in Navan, in the 270-strong field of the Robbie Byrne 5k, David Carr came home in 27th spot in a time of 18:49.

The Clonliffe Christmas Cracker 5k continues, perhaps surprisingly, to attract only small fields, but this year was a slight improvement on last year’s event, with 130 runners in total. Despite the lack of numbers, it’s a super race and relatively fast, taking in the Morton track for start and finish and wending its way on the roads around the outside of the demesne. Even though small, the field was one of quality. We had three runners in the race, partners Karl Fahy and Niamh Boland along with Dee Ni Chearbhaill. Both Karl and Niamh came in 4th in their respective races, with Karl finishing in a strong 16:16 and Niamh, who placed 24th overall, completing the distance in an excellent 18:28. Dee also ran well to take 50th place overall, 11th woman home, in a time of 21:13.

On Wednesday, there was a decent turnout from the club for the Suttonians Fat Turkey 10K around Howth. More than 440 runners took part in the challenging hilly event, which featured possibly 8 of our members. Liam O'Brien was first home in 65th place in a time of 45:47, followed by Maria Pertl who took 82nd place overall (top 20 female finisher) in a time of 47:15. Maria was followed by Kris Ryan (93rd in 47:47), Lisa Shine (115th in 49:13), Darina Scully (121st in 49:21), Orlaith de Burca (228th in 54:46) and Paul Kelly (241st in 55:22). Geraldine Clements also ran, but her time appears not to have been recorded.

Quite a few of our runners took part in the Christmas Eve parkruns. In a small field Diarmuid Byrne and Maria Pertl ran in Dungloe in Co. Donegal, with Maria coming home 1st female finisher in 3rd place overall in a time of 21:48, whilst Diarmuid was just behind her in 4th in 21:49. Peter O’Toole took 3rd place in St. Anne’s with a time of 18:10. He was followed in the 250-strong event, by Matt Cranley (16th in 19:49) and Denis Murphy (192nd in 30:06). Darina Scully and Suzanne Collins ran in Malahide with 270 other participants. Darina placed 53rd overall (5th woman) in 22:26, whilst Suzanne took 199th spot overall (51st woman) in 30:20. Sharon Woods was our only participant in Tymon, placing 61st overall (10th woman) in 28:10, whilst Fiona Bane continued her comeback from surgery with a 35th placing overall (11th woman) in Tramore. The field contained nearly 90 runners and Fiona’s time was 25:00. Kate Murray, similarly, was a lone representative in Lough Key. Kate placed 29th overall (5th woman) out of a field of 131 runners in a time of 23:58. We had 3 runners in Cabinteely in a field of more than 130 runners. Lisa Shine took 42nd spot overall (16th woman) in 27:59 and Lisa was followed by Max Dunne (62nd in 28:14) and by Mairin Shine (86th overall, 31st woman, in 31:41). Finally, on Christmas Day, James Cottle took part in a parkrun on Hampstead Heath in North London. On an extremely hilly and slippery course, which felt like cross country in parts without the luxury of spikes, James placed 12th out of a field of 120 runners in a time of 20:45.

Merry Christmas to all the Cru and a Happy New Year!

Belgooly Dick Copithorne Memorial 4 Mile
Overall Place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Alan O’Shea 1 00:19:46
17 Jill Hodgins 1 00:23:01
Crusaders AC runners
24 Alan Sheehy 00:23:51
42 Niall O’Connell 00:25:02
54 Killian Barry 00:26:04
Full results here: http://www.corkathletics.org/latest-results/42-december/319-dick-copithorne-memorial-belgooly-4-mile-road-race-results-2016.html
Fields of Athenry 10K
Overall Place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Mick Clohisey 1 00:30:35
9 Laura Shaughnessy 1 00:35:03
Crusaders AC runners
12 Vinnie McGuinness 00:35:52
77 Catherine Thornton 00:39:48
90 Conor Fahy 00:40:19
Full results here: http://www.redtagtiming.com/results/FoA2016_Provisional.pdf
Inbhear Dee Streets of Wicklow 5K
Overall Place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Eric Keogh 1 00:15:11
41 Medb O’Keane 00:18:29
Crusaders AC runner
2 Brian O’Kelly 00:16:01
Full results here: http://www.myrunresults.com/events/inbhear_dee_ac_5k_streets_of_wicklow/1943/results
Robbie Byrne 5K
Overall Place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Simon Ryan 1 00:16:05
13 Charlotte Kearney 1 00:18:04
Crusaders AC runner
27 David Carr 00:18:49
Full results here: http://www.myrunresults.com/events/robbie_byrne_5km/1903/results
Clonliffe Xmas Cracker 5K
Overall Place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Adam O’Brien 1 00:15:47
10 Maria McCambridge 1 00:16:53
Crusaders AC runners
4 Karl Fahy 00:16:16
24 Niamh Boland 00:18:28
50 Dee Ni Chearbhaill 00:21:13
Full results here: http://clonliffeharriersac.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Xmas-Cracker-2016.pdf
Fat Turkey 10K
Overall Place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Killian Mooney 1 00:33:49
15 Zoe Quinn 1 00:41:53
Crusaders AC runners
65 Liam O'Brien 00:45:47
82 Maria Pertl 00:47:15
93 Kris Ryan 00:47:47
115 Lisa Shine 00:49:13
121 Darina Scully 00:49:21
228 Orlaith de Burca 00:54:46
241 Paul Kelly 00:55:22
Full results here: http://www.elitetiming.co.uk/Results/Fat_Turkey_2016.pdf
Malahide Parkrun #216
Overall Place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Feidhlim Kelly 1 00:16:14
31 Clodagh Moriarty 1 00:21:33
Crusaders AC runners
53 Darina Scully 00:22:26
199 Suzanne Collins 00:30:20
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/malahide/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=216
St. Anne’s Parkrun #162
Overall Place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
Colum O’Leary 1 00:17:09
Caitriona Costello 1 00:20:33
Crusaders AC runners
3 Peter O’Toole 00:18:10
16 Matt Cranley 00:19:49
192 Denis Murphy 00:30:06
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/stannes/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=162
Tymon Parkrun #132
Overall Place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Unknown 1 00:17:12
8 Sinead Tighe 1 00:20:47
Crusaders AC runner
61 Sharon Woods 00:28:10
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/tymon/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=132
Cabinteely Parkrun #91
Overall Place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Niall McAlinden 1 00:18:49
10 Ciara Brady 1 00:21:24
Crusaders AC runners
42 Lisa Shine 00:27:59
62 Max Dunne 00:28:14
86 Mairin Shine 00:31:41
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/cabinteely/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=91
Tramore Parkrun #51
Overall Place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Damian Bourke 1 00:18:10
10 Cait Caulfield 1 00:21:32
Crusaders AC runner
35 Fiona Bane 00:25:00
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/tramore/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=51
Dungloe Parkrun #43
Overall Place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 John Connaghan 1 00:19:56
3 Maria Pertl 1 00:21:48
Crusaders AC runners
3 Maria Pertl 00:21:48
4 Diarmuid Byrne 00:21:49
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/dungloe/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=43
Lough Key Parkrun #33
Overall Place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Graham Allen 1 00:19:12
5 Ann Wynne 1 00:20:46
Crusaders AC runner
29 Kate Murray 00:23:58
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/loughkey/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=33