New faces join the usual stalwarts to make an impact for Crusaders in Dublin Masters Cross Country Championships

6/1/2019

Back row: Bob Manson, TJ Bourke, Gary Park, Joe Dunne, Eddie Nugent, Joe McDermott, Robbie Moore, Karl Walsh, , Diarmuid Byrne, Stephen Hurley, Peter Barry. Front row: Peter O'Toole, Ciaran Diviney, James Cottle, Pat Quill, Tim O'Donnell, Ger Forde, John Healy and Kevin D'Arcy

Another super day in St. Anne’s Raheny for the annual running of the County Dublin Masters cross country championships. The fields this year were larger than ever, marginally so for the men at 292, but nearly 50 more than last year for the women. Indeed, we fielded a women’s O/50 team for the first time, possibly in any competition, this year.

Conditions were so different from what we would normally expect to see, but, surprisingly, times were no faster (for some, slower), perhaps because the first laps were reasonably congested. It was mild at 11 degrees Celsius and clearly there has been little rain in the past few days. So, apart from a couple of muddy spots within the first 200m of each 1500m lap, conditions were quite dry, allowing several of us to ditch our spikes in favour of racing flats. It was comforting for those of us in flats, having come through the slightly slippery mud, to hear the clacking of spikes on the hard trail surface which greeted us on the third turn of the loop as we headed into the protected are under the trees for the majority of the remainder of the lap. The log across the path under the trees posed no real challenge, except on the first lap, when, for the men in particular we had to queue up to jump over it because the path at that point was so narrow and there were so many runners.

The women’s race went off first, having to negotiate 2 laps for a distance of 3K. More than 200 women participated, including 9 Crusaders. It was an exciting finish as international 800m specialist Siobhan Eviston of Raheny took the win by overcoming Sportsworld’s Noreen Brouder just before the line in a thrilling sprint. Grainne Regan had the honour of leading our teams across the line in 24th place having had a steady run throughout. Next came last minute recruit and relative newcomer to the club, Aine Kenny, who prefers much longer distance races. Aine placed 56th having taken 15 runners during the race. Dee Ni Chearbhaill was next in 62nd, followed closely by Maria Kennedy who also had a great run to take 64th. Emer Kenny also worked her way through the field picking up 13 places over the two laps to record 95th place, followed by Susan Walsh who was on fire in 113th, finishing 4th O/55 and also having overcome 18 runners. Olwyn Dunne had similar success, working her way through 13 runners to place 157th, followed by Mairead Cashman (187th) and Maureen McGinley, a Crusader veteran making a welcome return to competitive running (196th). So when the smoke had cleared, the 4 scoring runners of the O/35 team of Grainne, Aine, Dee and Maria took 10th place out of 18 teams, whilst our O/50 scorers (Susan, Olwyn, Mairead and Maureen) placed 6th. A great start to a new tradition. Members will be interested to know that Lydia Bigley of the Dublin Front Runners placed 116th.

This was not the first time we have fielded both an O/35 and an O/50 men's team, but both continue to hold their own even though there were no team medals this year. Just as with the women’s teams it was great to see some new faces in the Crusader line up. All remarked on what a great time they had and how phenomenal the Cru support was around the course. Second to none.

Despite tremendous packing in the first 20 places, our M35 team of scorers Stephen Hurley (13th), Ciaran Diviney (14th), Peter O’Toole (15th) and Ger Forde (19th), just missed out on a medal spot, taking 4th place out of 19 teams, whilst our M50 team of scorers John Healy (77th), Pat Quill (138th), James Cottle (151st) and Bob Manson (153rd) came home in 5th place out of 13, narrowly missing out on a podium position by only 22 points.

There were some great runs. The first 4 noted above ran in a group together around the course, with the leader Stephen running in a Cru singlet for the first time and they were followed home by Joe McDermott (47th) who continues to recover slowly from a chest infection. Behind Joe, in the 292-strong field, came Peter Barry who placed 61st, having a tough outing but who managed to hold off a charging Karl Walsh (63rd). John McAuley (65th) was next, also experiencing some difficulties, but who headed Eddie Nugent who reeled in 37 other runners over the course of 4 laps. 1500m specialist John Healy, who will turn 60 in the 4th quarter of this year, also ran extraordinarily well as our first O/50 scorer to take 77th place and the M55 bronze medal. Behind John came Kevin D’Arcy (92nd) and Gary Park (125th) and then our 2nd O/50 scorer Pat Quill (138th) who overtook 33 runners after a slow-ish first lap. Diarmuid Byrne did even better, by reeling in 60 other athletes to place 142nd, followed by Tim O’Donnell (149th) and then James Cottle (151st) and Bob Manson (153rd) who enjoyed a great sprint for the line and who were the 3rd and 4th scorers for the O/50 team. James also ran a steady race in egative splits, reeling in 16 other athletes, winning the silver medal for 2nd place in the O/60 age category, whilst Bob ran past 22 other runners in his efforts. TJ Bourke was next in 178th, having reeled in 64 other runners, followed by Joe Dunne (239th) who just made the start after a warm up running from the local Dart station. The squad was completed by Robbie Moore who came home in 247th spot. A super run from all.

Apart from Leo Lundy's run in the Start Me Up Ultra marathon that took place in the Hillingdon Cyclopark in Hayes Middx, there don’t appear to have been any other races on which to report this weekend. If this is incorrect, please let us know.

New Year’s resolutions were much in evidence in the parkruns on Saturday where we witnessed some pretty large fields. As usual, we had a decent number of participants.

The results of note start with Fairview where Adam Flanagan was first finisher with a time of 18:24. Gillian Lyons also ran, placing 50th overall, 12th female finisher, in 26:30. Serena Moloney was first finisher (10th overall) once again in Templemore in a time of 21:28. Katie Rogers joined 9 other Crusaders to come home first finisher (25th overall) in 20:19. Katie was joined by Michael Wycherley (6th in 18:18), Tim O’Donnell (23rd in 20:02), Kieran Finucane (35th in 20:54), Sharon Woods (67th overall, 8th woman, in 23:55), Mari Hansen (75th overall, 11th woman, in 24:13), Mary Dolan (94th overall, 19th woman, in 25:33), Paul Kelly (130th in 28:11), Iseult Ni Chuinneagain (140th overall, 42nd woman, in 29:03) and Ciara McElligott (182nd overall, 64th woman, in 34:49). Olwyn Dunne placed 3rd (28th overall) in 24:14 in Brickfields, whilst Maria Pertl came home in 5th (37th overall) in 27:55, alongside Diarmuid Byrne (38th in the same time). David Carter ran well in Cabinteely to place 6th in 20:04, followed by Emma O’Mahony (75th overall, 10th woman, in 27:14). Further afield, Kris Ryan ran in Australia’s Paradise Point and in a field of 265, Kris ran 23:18 to place 39th overall and 11th female finisher, whilst Aidan Hudner went back this week to Glasgow, placing 110th in a field of 499 in a time of 22:10. Fiona Bane took 4th place (19th overall) in Armagh in a time of 24:13, whilst in Shanganagh, Orlaith de Burca ran 28:31 to record 128th place overall, 29th female finisher. We had 3 runners in Malahide. Brian Scanlan placed 16th in 19:54, followed closely by Ronan Moynihan who took 18th spot in 19:56. They were both followed by Darina Scully who placed 269th (61st woman) in 28:32, a great result for Darina as she continues to run during her pregnancy. Luke Davis placed 6th in 18:17 in Marlay, followed by Rory Goldsmith (13th in 19:11), Kate Murray (140th overall, 10th woman, in 23:10), Mairead Cashman (369th overall, 74th woman, in 27:55) and Mary Noelle Rohan (491st overall, 136th woman finisher, in 30:41).

Dublin Masters XC Championship 3k women’s race (202)
Overall place Name Guntime
1 Siobhan Eviston 00:11:45
Crusaders AC runners
24 Grainne Regan 00:12:55
56 Aine Kenny 00:13:46
62 Dee Ni Chearbhaill 00:13:57
64 Maria Kennedy 00:14:03
95 Emer Kenny 00:14:42
113 Susan Walsh 00:14:56
157 Olwyn Dunne 00:15:40
187 Mairead Cashman 00:16:51
196 Maureen McGinley 00:18:04
Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/dublin_masters_cross_country/2966/results
Dublin Masters XC Championship 6k men’s race (292)
Overall place Name Guntime
1 Rossa Hurley 00:22:16
Crusaders AC runners
13 Stephen Hurley 00:22:16
14 Ciaran Diviney 00:22:29
15 Peter O’Toole 00:22:35
19 Ger Forde 00:22:45
47 Joe McDermott 00:23:44
61 Peter Barry 00:24:14
63 Karl Walsh 00:24:19
65 John McAuley 00:24:23
74 Eddie Nugent 00:24:32
77 John Healy 00:24:34
92 Kevin D’Arcy 00:25:02
125 Gary Park 00:25:50
138 Pat Quill 00:26:03
142 Diarmuid Byrne 00:26:12
149 Tim O’Donnell 00:26:28
151 James Cottle 00:26:31
153 Bob Manson 00:26:31
178 TJ Bourke 00:27:08
239 Joe Dunne 00:29:31
247 Robbie Moore 00:29:49
Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/dublin_masters_cross_country/2966/results
Malahide Parkrun #322 (432)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Gavin Eccles 1 00:17:07
14 Amanda Maher Owen 1 00:19:49
Crusaders AC runners
16 Brian Scanlan 00:19:54
18 Ronan Moynihan 00:19:56
269 Darina Scully 00:28:32 (61)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/malahide/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=322
Marlay Parkrun #287 (669)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Valter Valente 1 00:17:30
29 Paul Prendergast 1 00:19:56
Crusaders AC runners
6 Luke Davis 00:18:17
13 Rory Goldsmith 00:19:11
140 Kate Murray 00:23:10 (10)
369 Mairead Cashman 00:27:55 (74)
491 Mary Noelle Rohan 00:30:41 (136)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/marlay/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=287
Armagh Parkrun #264 (105)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 unknown 1 00:19:26
7 Siobhan Hughes 1 00:21:58
Crusaders AC runner
19 Fiona Bane 00:24:13 (4)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/armagh/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=264
Shanganagh Parkrun #195 (223)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Martin McKenna 1 00:17:27
9 Sarah Baryga 1 00:19:18
Crusaders AC runner
128 Orlaith de Burca 00:28:31 (29)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/shanganagh/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=195
Cabinteely Parkrun #196 (209)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 unknown 1 00:18:19
7 Malika Hammani 1 00:20:53
Crusaders AC runners
6 David Carter 00:20:04
75 Emma O’Mahony 00:27:14 (10)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/cabinteely/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=196
Templemore Parkrun #102 (79)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Alan Kelly 1 00:18:29
10 Serena Moloney 1 00:21:28
Crusaders AC runner
10 Serena Moloney 00:21:28 (1)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/templemore/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=102
Tolka Valley Parkrun #46 (91)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Graham Mahon 1 00:18:57
16 Ann Foran 1 00:23:26
Crusaders AC runners
37 Maria Pertl 00:27:55 (5)
38 Diarmuid Byrne 00:27:55
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/tolkavalley/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=46
Fairview Parkrun #75 (145)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Adam Flanagan 1 00:18:24
2 Chloe Price 1 00:19:56
Crusaders AC runners
1 Adam Flanagan 00:19:56
50 Gillian Lyons 00:26:30 (12)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/fairview/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=75
Brickfields Parkrun #51 (123)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Louis O’Loughlin 1 00:17:31
21 Jean McAdam 1 00:23:23
Crusaders AC runner
28 Olwyn Dunne 00:24:14 (3)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/brickfields/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=51
Porterstown Parkrun #169 (150)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Tommy Carey 1 00:18:48
20 Aoife Delaney 1 00:23:04
Crusaders AC runner
141 Kevin Flynn 00:40:56
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/porterstown/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=169
Poolbeg Parkrun #72 (196)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Paddy Walsh 1 00:17:54
25 Katie Rogers 1 00:20:19
Crusaders AC runners
6 Michael Wycherley 00:18:18
23 Tim O’Donnell 00:20:02
25 Katie Rogers 00:20:19 (1)
35 Kieran Finucane 00:20:54
67 Sharon Woods 00:23:55 (8)
75 Mari Hansen 00:24:13 (11)
94 Mary Dolan 00:25:33 (19)
130 Paul Kelly 00:28:11
140 Iseult Ni Chuinneagain 00:29:03 (42)
182 Ciara McElligott 00:34:49 (64)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/poolbeg/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=72