Multiple Choice

30/6/2025

L-R: Luke Clarke, Kabir Sala, Neil Brown, Michael Wycherley, Lorraine McMahon, Thomas Vogée, Joe McDermott, Margaret Foley, Sean Brady, Paul E. Kelly, Kevin Kavanagh, Kevin Fitzgibbon, Kathryn Gibbons, A.N. Other

A few classic road races were staged last week and over the weekend. They included the 10k in Clonee and the 5k in Kilcock, always favourites among Crusaders. The National 5-mile championships also took place on Sunday morning. In addition, there was plenty of action in the Morton stadium last week, on Wednesday for the latest Dublin graded meet and then again on Saturday, where Crusaders supported an Irish Milers Club meet, with club participation across the board.

So, on Wednesday evening we had 5 athletes involved in the 6th graded meet. Eva Griffin competed in the women’s 400m grade D race which she won in 61.14, whilst we also had a winner in the men’s 400m grade B race, with Jack Byrne recording a time of 51.84. Jack was followed home, in third place, by Leo Gormley who ran 53.34. Daniel Murphy placed 2nd in the 5kg hammer with a throw of 51.84m, followed by Matthew Westlake who threw 27.36m with the same weight. Finally, Harry Moylan won the 5kg shot put competition with a throw of 11.48m.

Then, on Saturday, at the IMC meet, Orla Walsh placed 7th in the women’s 3000m in a time of 10:30.14. Saoirse McGrath placed 5th in the women’s 800m grade B race in a time of 2:20.92. We had at least two athletes who recorded PBs on the day. Colm Parnell placed 2nd in the men’s 5000m B race in a PB time of 14:54.30, whilst Alex Ainsworth recorded yet another PB, this time in the men’s 1500m C race with a placing of 7th in 4:05.71. Finally, Annie Hughes also placed 7th in the women’s B race of the same distance in 4:46.54, possibly a PB. Barry McCarthy also raced alongside Alex. However, his result appears not to have been recorded.

In terms of road-racing, the week kicked off on Thursday evening in damp conditions in Clonee. In a field of 527 for the 10k there, Sean Murphy finished in 105th spot in a time of 40:06, followed not too far back by Ciara Regan who ran 40:29 for 110th place overall and 8th female finisher. David O’Donnell was next, placing 201st in 44:49, with Stephen Ryan (269th in 48:53) and Aitor Arribas Velasco (272nd in 48:47) following in behind.

There were better conditions for the St. Cocas AC-organised 5k the following evening, the race always one of the highlights of the season, this year enjoying a field of 602, among them at least 15 Crusaders.

Kevin Kavanagh led the contingent across the line in 49th place in a great time of 16:16, just ahead of Kevin Fitzgibbon (50th in 16:18). Next came Michael O’Conor (66th in 16:34), followed by Michael Wycherley (76th and 2nd M50 in 16:39). Joe McDermott placed 83rd in 16:42 and he was followed by Thomas Vogée (107th in 17:04). Luke Clarke was next, just behind Thomas, in 17:07 for 112th spot, and he was followed by Kathryn Gibbons (256th overall, 24th female in 19:00), Eoghan Corrigan (344th in 20:00), just ahead of Kabir Sala (345th in 20:03), with Neil Brown a little further behind (372nd in 20:37). Next came Mags Foley (379th and 56th in 20:41), followed by Sean Brady (455th in 22:12), Lorraine McMahon (575th and 147th in 28:14) and Paul E. Kelly (579th in 28:21). The men’s team placed 7th in a competition involving 25 club teams.

Saturday witnessed the running of the Roscommon Harriers 10-miler featuring Triona Quill, Kate Murray, Liz Nixon and Richard Kavanagh. In the field of 490, Triona placed 117th and 23rd in 75:22, followed by Kate who placed 202nd and 56th in 83:50, Liz (205th and 58th in 84:05) and Richard (212th in 84:36).

We had a good few runners on Sunday in the 5-mile national championships held in the Phoenix Park again. In the field of 1804, our contingent was led across the finish line by Mikel Crisostomo (95th in 30:20) and Mikel was closely followed by Peter O’Toole (99th in 30:26) and then by Felipe De Sousa (129th in 31:17). Edward Forester was next (167th in 32:01), followed by James Sherry (316th in 31:19), Noel Carr (328th in 35:34), Orla O’Flynn (344th and 62nd in 36:06), David O’Donnell (374th in 36:30), Olwyn Dunne (430th and 91st in 38:06), Chris Bannon (482nd in 39:10), Kevin Kenny (710th in 41:18), Ian Smith (802nd in 39:53), Mauro Verrocchio (956th in 42:40), Charles Cartledge (1065th in 45:20) and Djinn Von Noorden (1075th and 325th in 45:30).

Also, on Sunday, a couple of our western Ireland-based exiles took part in the Born to Run series of races in Tralee. Tim Francony placed 5th in 88:58 in the 94-strong field in the half marathon, whilst Jim Stagg took 3rd spot in the 5k with its field of 103. Jim ran 20:20 for the distance.

Further afield, two of our Spanish exiles ran in the 4.75k Carrera Cala Del Moral in Rincon de la Victoria, with Esther Requena Ferri placing 3rd in the women’s race in 18:03 and Cristian Vilchez Ceballos recording a time of 16:40. The previous day, both had run in the 6.4k Carrera Canilla de Aceituno, which Cristian completed in 26:23 for 1st M35 and 4th overall, whilst Esther won the women’s race in 28:35. Also, in Switzerland, our exile there, Lukasz Batruch, ran in the ZKB Rann de Uetliberg 10.3k trail race which he completed in 49:49.

Up in the local mountains last week, we had several athletes take part in the midweek race, this time around the Glen of the Downs in Co. Wicklow. The race involved a climb of 292m on a course measuring over 8k and enjoyed a field of 186. Clare Sullivan won the women’s race, placing 29th overall in a time of 44:52, whilst Donatas Jocius placed 3rd overall in 39:39. Paul Flynn took 18th spot in 42;21, followed after Clare by Brian McGuckin (46th in 47:37), Caoimhe Dempsey (62nd and 6th in 50:34) and Gavan Doherty (113th in 57:34). Áine Kenny ran in an IMRA race on Knockma in Galway over the weekend, placing 10th overall and 2nd female finisher in a field of 26 on a course of just over 9.5k.

The weekend saw another good turn-out of Crusaders in Saturday morning’s parkruns. Over in London, one of our exiles there, Richard Morrissey led the field of 325 home in Brockwell Park in a time of 18:00. Meanwhile, Ivan Kinehan did the same in St. Anne’s where he recorded a time of 17:26. Behind him in the field of 537 came Michael Maughan (147th in 25:02) and Laura O’Malley (149th and 31st in 25:04). Another first finisher was Ger Forde, who ran 18:32 ahead of the field of 95 in Russborough, whilst John O’Donnell placed 2nd in 19:46 in the 77-strong field in Claremorris.

We had a good number in Poolbeg, with Kenan Furlong placing 2nd in the field of 242 in a time of 17:39. Aoife McCarthy placed 39th and 3rd in 23:07 in the same event. Kenan was followed by Jan Manschot (5th in 18:23), and then further back came John Lohan (29th in 22:22), Aoife, young Alice Beddy (53rd and 6th in 23:57), Louise O’Riordan (55th and 7th in 24:05), Franky Keane (59th in 24:09), Josie Ward (62nd and 8th in 24:16) and Emma Rowe (67th and 11th in 24:37).

Sharon Woods placed 79th and 17th in 25:05, followed by Gerard Moore (82nd in 25:11), Lisa Branigan and Aaron Farrell (88th and 89th (and 20th) in 25:43), Aitor Arribas Velasco (118th in 26:45), Djinn Von Noorden (133rd and 39th in 27:26), Tara Murphy (140th and 42nd in 27:51), Kevin Kenny (174th in 30:00 and Maureen McGinley (196th and 78th in 31:47).

Up in Armagh, Ross Neill placed 3rd in the 64-strong field there, his time being 20:01, whilst, in Fethard Town, Mairead Cashman placed 14th and 3rd in a time of 29:49. Kev Moore completed the 5k course in Bushy Park in 19:41 for 5th spot, followed in the 329-strong field by Mary Donnelly (30th and 4th in 22:41).

Martina White joined 39 other runners on the Sport Ireland Campus where she placed 33rd and 15th in 33:46, whilst Colm Foley ran in Corkagh park, placing 54th in 24:32 alongside 295 other participants. Lisa and Máirín Shine joined a field of 105 in Avondale Forest, where Lisa placed 36th and 11th in 30:19 followed by Máirín who placed 38th and 13th in 30:24, whilst Paul and Aoife Kelly participated in the SETU Arena in Waterford where, in a field of 75, Paul placed 22nd in 27:53 and Aoife tailwalked. Carina Davidson joined 177 other runners in Cabinteely, where she placed 102nd and 24th in 30:35, whilst, in Shanganagh, with 334 runners, Orlaith de Burca ran 31:46 for 229th and 69th places, followed by Jill Nason (234th and 72nd in 31:58). Finally, Tim O’Donnell, on a trip to Edinburgh, ran in the Holyrood parkrun, placing 39th in a field of 517, with a time of 21:08, whilst in Porterstown, with 118 runners, Kevin Flynn placed 103rd in 42:34.

Clonee 10k (527)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Michael Fox 1 00:31:14
72 Jane Bandila 1 00:38:53
Crusaders AC runners
105 Sean Murphy 00:40:06
110 Ciara Regan 00:40:29 (8)
201 David O’Donnell 00:44:49
269 Stephen Ryan 00:48:53
272 Aitor Arribas Velasco 00:48:47
Full results here: https://myrunresults.com/events/clonee_10k_2025/5735/results
St. Cocas AC Kilcock 5k (602)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Tadgh Donnelly 1 00:14:04
27 Ide Nic Dhomhnaill 1 00:15:52
Crusaders AC runners
49 Kevin Kavanagh 00:16:16
50 Kevin Fitzgibbon 00:16:18
66 Michael O’Conor 00:16:34
76 Michael Wycherley 00:16:39
83 Joe McDermott 00:16:42
107 Thomas Vogée 00:17:04
112 Luke Clarke 00:17:07
256 Kathryn Gibbons 00:19:00 (24)
344 Eoghan Corrigan 00:20:00
345 Kabir Sala 00:20:03
372 Neil Brown 00:20:37
379 Margaret Foley 00:20:41 (56)
455 Sean Brady 00:22:12
575 Lorraine McMahon 00:28:14 (147)
579 Paul E. Kelly 00:28:21
Full results here: https://myrunresults.com/events/st_cocas_kilcock_5k_2025/5607/results
Irish Runner 5-mile (National Championships) (1804)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Emmet Jennings 1 00:24:19
31 Patricia Jackman 1 00:27:16
Crusaders AC runners
95 Mikel Crisostomo 00:30:20
99 Peter O’Toole 00:30:26
129 Felipe De Sousa 00:31:17
131 James Sherry 00:31:19
167 Edward Forester 00:32:01
328 Noel Carr 00:35:34
344 Orla O’Flynn 00:36:06 (62)
374 David O’Donnell 00:36:30
430 Olwyn Dunne 00:38:06 (91)
482 Chris Bannon 00:39:10
710 Kevin Kenny 00:41:18
802 Ian Smith 00:39:53
956 Mauro Verrocchio 00:42:40
1065 Charles Cartledge 00:45:20
1075 Djinn Von Noorden 00:45:30 (325)
Full results here: https://myrunresults.com/events/biofreeze_irish_runner_5_mile_2025/5299/results
Roscommon Harriers 10-miler (490)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Hugh Armstrong 1 00:49:28
9 Ann-Marie McGlynn 1 00:56:39
Crusaders AC runners
117 Triona Quill 01:15:22 (23)
202 Kate Murray 01:23:50 (56)
205 Liz Nixon 01:24:05 (58)
212 Richard Kavanagh 01:24:36
Full results here: https://www.popupraces.ie/race/roscommon-harriers-10-miler-2025/
Tralee Born To Run Half marathon (94)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Ed Goddard 1 01:08:48
9 Anna Clark 1 01:34:00
Crusaders AC runner
5 Tim Francony 01:28:58
Full results here: https://myrunresults.com/events/born_to_run_tralee_____full__half_marathon__10km_and_5km/5865/results
Tralee Born To Run 5k (103)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Eoghan O’Leary 1 00:18:19
4 Izzy Murphy 1 00:21:02
Crusaders AC runner
3 Jim Stagg 00:20:20
Full results here: https://myrunresults.com/events/born_to_run_tralee_____full__half_marathon__10km_and_5km/5865/results
IMRA Glen of the Downs 8.15k (186)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Eoghan Whelan 1 00:36:36
29 Clare Sullivan 1 00:44:52
Crusaders AC runners
3 Donatas Jocius 00:39:39
18 Paul Flynn 00:42:21
29 Clare Sullivan 00:44:52 (1)
46 Brian McGuckin 00:47:37
62 Caoimhe Dempsey 00:50:34 (6)
113 Gavan Doherty 00:57:34
Full results here: https://www.imra.ie/events/results/id/2657
IMRA Knockma 9.6k (26)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 John Brennan 1 00:41:31
8 Sinead Egan 1 00:48:31
Crusaders AC runner
10 Áine Kenny 00:49:20 (2)
Full results here: https://www.imra.ie/events/results/id/2734
Armagh Parkrun (64)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Daniel Keys 1 00:18:45
2 Dearbhla Cox 1 00:19:02
Crusaders AC runner
3 Ross Neill 00:20:01
Russborough Parkrun (95)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Ger Forde 1 00:18:32
11 Janelle Flanagan Gowran 1 00:23;56
Crusaders AC runner
1 Ger Forde 00:18:32
Claremorris Parkrun (77)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Denis O’Driscoll 1 00:18:15
5 Rachel Breslin 1 00:20:51
Crusaders AC runner
2 John O’Donnell 00:19:46
Poolbeg Parkrun (242)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Dimitri Jeannon 1 00:17:09
32 Heather Walden 1 00:22:44
Crusaders AC runners
2 Kenan Furlong 00:17:39
5 Jan Manschot 00:18:23
29 John Lohan 00:22:22
39 Aoife McCarthy 00:23:07 (3)
53 Alice Beddy 00:23:57 (6)
55 Louise O’Riordan 00:24:05 (7)
59 Franky Keane 00:24:09
62 Josie Ward 00:24:16 (8)
67 Emma Rowe 00:24:37 (11)
79 Sharon Woods 00:25:05 (17)
82 Gerard Moore 00:25:11
88 Lisa Branigan 00:25:43 (20)
89 Aaron Farrell 00:25:43
118 Aitor Arribas Velasco 00:26:45
133 Djinn Von Noorden 00:27:26 (39)
140 Tara Murphy 00:27:51 (42)
174 Kevin Kenny 00:30:00
196 Maureen McGinley 00:31:47 (78)
Corkagh Parkrun (296)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 August Benedicto 1 00:18:15
3 Aine O’Connor 1 00:19:00
Crusaders AC runner
54 Colm Foley 00:24:32
Ballincollig Parkrun (309)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Alan O’Brien 1 00:17:48
29 Deirdre Duff 1 00:22:35
Crusaders AC runner
172 Aitor Arribas Velasco 00:30:19
Avondale Forest Parkrun (105)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
2 Mick Byrne 1 00:18
12 Donna McCarthy 00:23:36
Crusaders AC runners
36 Lisa Shine 00:30:19 (11)
38 Máirín Shine 00:30:24 (13)
St. Anne’s Parkrun (537)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Ivan Kinehan 1 00:17:26
33 Georgina Bruen Liston 1 00:21:17
Crusaders AC runners
1 Ivan Kinehan 00:17:26
147 Michael Maughan 00:25:02
149 Laura O’Malley 00:25:04 (31)
Porterstown Parkrun (118)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Oleksandr Kyriushyn 1 00:19:17
4 Caroline McCarthy 1 00:20:56
Crusaders AC runner
103 Kevin Flynn 00:42:34
Bushy Parkrun (329)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Sean Black 1 00:18:55
24 Ellen Woulfe 1 00:22:15
Crusaders AC runners
5 Kev Moore 00:19:41
30 Mary Donnelly 00:22:41 (4)
SETU Arena (75)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Hayden Scadding 1 00:20:08
8 Eileen Nolan 1 00:24:33
Crusaders AC runners
22 Paul F. Kelly 00:27:53
72 Aoife Kelly 00:50:59
Shanganagh Parkrun (334)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Charlie Bornemann 1 00:18:10
28 Geraldine Cullen 1 00:21:31
Crusaders AC runners
229 Orlaith de Burca 00:31:46 (69)
234 Jill Nason 00:31:58 (72)
Cabinteely Parkrun (178)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 David Walsh 1 00:18:39
25 Rachel Jones 1 00:23:40
Crusaders AC runner
102 Carina Davidson 00:30:55 (24)
Fethard Town Parkrun (38)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Eoghan Ryan 1 00:19:15
11 Theresa Coffey 1 00:27:43
Crusaders AC runner
14 Mairead Cashman 00:29:49 (3)