Northern Lights - Another Cru tour brings success

31/8/2021

Back row: Cian Coughlan, Tim O'Donnell, Miriam Logan, Olwyn Dunne, Joe Dunne. Front row: Kevin Kavanagh, Aine Crotty, Liz Nixon, Rebecca Fleming, Tanja Narancic and Sarah Lyons

You wait all year for a decent race to come along and then 3 half marathons arrive on the same weekend. Crusaders were spoiled for choice, but the chance to run on one of the fastest courses and to have a weekend away was not lost on many of our clubmates who headed up to Larne to run in the Antrim Coast Half. As well as the race being conducted on a relatively flat out and back course (although with some notable hilly bits early on and a severe descent towards the end), conditions were otherwise superb with little wind to worry about and an agreeable temperature. It is no surprise that 20 of the 32 who ran for the club achieved PBs, in some cases spectacular improvements. We will start with that race, but should not forget that there was also a half down in Wexford with one of our clubmates returning from injury to run, as well as the challenging IMRA-organised Wicklow half. It is fair to say that the club made its presence felt in each of the events. We also had runners involved in a few other races too, again with some success.

The Antrim Half was actually divided into 2 races. The gun for the first went off at 8 am and involved an international elite field of 57 runners, including Stephen Scullion who came in 10 seconds behind the winner of the women’s race who recorded a new world record. The overall race was won in a contested sprint by Ethiopian Jemal Yimer in a time of 60:30, whilst his compatriot, Yalemzerf Yehualaw, won the women’s race in a world record time of 63:44. The so-called “mass” event then started at 9:30 with a field nearly 3,000 strong, numbers we only dream about down south right now. Despite a rather chaotic wave start, the event lived up to its expectations and produced some phenomenal times. However, one of our runners, who could have expected a low-80-minute PB on the course, Eddie Nugent, unfortunately lost his car key out of his pocket 50m after the start and had to wait for the entire field behind him to pass before he could go looking to retrieve it. In the meantime, the key was picked up by another runner and handed in to a member of the PSNI and so Eddie had to deal with that. Even though he lost about 10 minutes overall, he still managed to turn in a decent sub-1:33 chiptime.

The results are outlined below, but some are noteworthy of mention, particularly the PBs. Our first male competitor across the line was Brian O’Kelly, currently training for Berlin, who ran within himself and still recorded a time of 1:11:53 and 32nd place. He was followed by Ciarain Kelly who placed 134th in a PB time of 1:16:33. Other top 500 runners with PBs among the men included Rory Goldsmith (292nd), in training for the London marathon, with a PB time of 1:21:46, Enda Clarke whose PB time was 1:21:40 (299th), Daniel Lowe with a PB of 1:21:51 (313th) and Maurice Kelter who surprised himself by running 1:22:34 and placing 329th. There were other PBs too among the men, namely Kevin Kavanagh, who’s currently aiming to run the Belfast marathon, who recorded 1:27:58 (564), Tim O’Donnell (1:31:40 for 701st), Cian Coughlan (1:33:50 for 776th) and James Moran (1:41:15 for 1,226th). The women were led home by Catherine Thornton who has been training with Rory in Galway. Catherine ran one of her best races ever by recording a 5 minute PB and running a super 1:22:16, placing 310th overall and 9th woman finisher. Her 10 mile split of 62 minutes was a PB too, a feat likely replicated by several of our clubmates. Julie McGrath was next with a PB time of 1:25:04, placing 426th and 20th, followed closely behind by Maura Mahoney whose PB of 1:25:21 (438th and 21st) was over fourteen and a half minutes faster than her previous best set in 2016. Aine Kenny broke 1:30 for the first time and recorded a PB time of 1:28:56 for 620th overall and a top 50 place among the women (46th). Other noteworthy PBs were recorded by Aine Crotty who ran with Cian Coughlan (her time being 1:33:51 for 778th place overall and 66th female finisher), by Ciara Lynch (1:34:38 for 831st and 74th), by Rebecca Fleming (1:36:11 for 864th and 82nd), by Emer Kenny, in training for the Paris marathon (1:39:19 for 1,028th and 124th), Margaret Foley (1:42:35 for 1,248th and 176th), Miriam Logan (1:43:51 for 1,313th and 195th) and, despite a severe stitch in the first half and foot cramp in the second, by Tanja Narancic who recorded an 8-minute PB time of 1:45:32 for 1,381st and 219th. Olwyn Dunne, in training for the London marathon (1079th and 134th in 1:39:32), Sarah Lyons (1,349th and 208th in 1:45:37) and Liz Nixon (1,383rd and 221st in 1:45:39) also finished among the top 250 female finishers. It should be noted that a lot of male names appear among the female results which may have skewed some of the finishing positions, but the chances are that everything evens out in the end. In any event, major congrats to everyone who took part!

It is possible that it might now become an annual fixture for the club, particularly as the race was followed by a party laid on by the organisers and our athletes got to mingle with the likes of Mo Farah and Jo Pavey, the former having won the elite race the year before and the latter having paced the 2-hour runners in the mass event this year, both ambassadors for the race.

As mentioned above, the half in Antrim was not the only event taking place on the roads recently. Down in Wexford, Kim Hickey, returning from a recent injury, managed to take 2nd place in the women’s event, just 30 seconds behind the winner having run neck and neck with her for most of the race. Kim ran 1:30:41, first F40, for 51st overall in a field of 119. Brendan Glynn ran in the 10k race that was part of the day’s activities on Sunday and he crossed the line in 21st place overall in a time of 45:28 in a field of 119 finishers. John Gallagher ran in the Celbridge AC-organised 5k road race over the weekend where he placed 224th in a field of 331 and a time of 24:25. The race was won by Hiko Tonosa in 14:27, with the women’s race won by Sorcha Nic Dhomhnaill in 15:59. John described it as a hillier course than expected. In another 5k race, the An Riocht AC-organised event down in Co. Kerry on Friday evening, Tomas Bradley ran 18:06 to place 10th in a field 80-strong.

Finally, in respect of road racing, many congrats should go to our Italian exile, Italo Giancaterina who won the 40th running of the Straccitadine in Trasacco in Italy. He ran the twisty undulating 3-lap course measuring about 8.5k in 30:07.

Next, we come to mountain running with two races on which to report. The first was the rather quirky 1-mile Downshill uphill race in Co. Wicklow, where runners had to ascend 127m over 1.61k on relatively easy terrain. 45 runners contested the event, including Warren Swords who placed 4th in 7.20 and Donatas Jocius who came across the line in 6th place in a time of 7.30. The winner overall was Barry Minnock who ran 6.53. Then, on Sunday, we had 4 runners in the Wicklow Way half. The field measured 178 and Warren placed 4th again and 1st M40 in 1:47:36, followed by Brian McGuckin who placed 25th and winner of his M50 category in 2:07:50, John McAuley (57th in 2:21:42) and Michael Maughan (76th in 2:29:31). Members will be interested to read that Andrea Talpo, who now runs with TT racers, placed 33rd in 2:10:42. The race, held in misty conditions at times, was run from Lough Tay to Crone and back along the Wicklow Way. It involved a climb of 840m over 22k on easy terrain.

Louise O’Riordan took part in the Quest 12 Beara over the weekend down in West Cork. This was a race involving a mixture of running, cycling and kayaking and Louise was delighted to cross the finish line at the end of the 150km event in 12h30mins and 11th woman home. One of our inveterate ultra marathoners, Pat Quill, reported that unfortunately he had to pull out of the UTMB around Mont Blanc in the French Alps over the weekend after having completed 100k, persistent stomach issues being the reason.

We round up with parkrun results. A few of our members took part in parkruns outside of Ireland (where they are still suspended) on Saturday morning. Because the events start at 9 am in the UK, Olwyn Dunne was able to warm up for the Antrim half marathon with a run in Rostrevor, where, in a field of 65 participants, she ran 25:20 to place 26th overall and 5th female finisher. On Wimbledon Common, our London exile, Louise Van Wildermeersch, joined 448 other runners where she placed 96th overall and 12th woman home in a time of 22:48, whilst, further north, James Cottle, in Shrewsbury for a wedding, decided last minute to take part in the parkrun there. In a field of 614 and on a reasonably hilly course, the 65-year old placed 37th in a time of 19:52, finishing just behind the first woman home and ahead of everyone else over the age of 50.

Antrim Coast Half Marathon (Mass run) (2984)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Liam Aldridge 1 01:07:04
116 Claire McGuigan 1 01:16:05
Crusaders AC runners
32 Brian O’Kelly 01:11:53
134 Ciarain Kelly 01:16:33 (PB)
150 Adam Flanagan 01:17:29
210 Paul Dempsey 01:19:35
292 Rory Goldsmith 01:21:46 (PB)
299 Enda Clarke 01:21:40 (PB)
310 Catherine Thornton 01:22:16 (PB) (9)
313 Daniel Lowe 01:21:51 (PB)
329 Maurice Kelter 01:22:34 (PB)
426 Julie McGrath 01:25:04 (PB) (20)
438 Maura Mahoney 01:25:21 (PB) (21)
554 Marty James 01:28:15
564 Kevin Kavanagh 01:27:58 (PB)
620 Aine Kenny 01:28:56 (PB) (46)
701 Tim O’Donnell 01:31:40 (PB)
776 Cian Coughlan 01:33:50 (PB)
778 Aine Crotty 01:33:51 (PB) (66)
831 Ciara Lynch 01:34:38 (PB) (74)
864 Rebecca Fleming 01:36:11 (PB) (82)
899 Eddie Nugent 01:32:43
907 Phelim Murray 01:37:15
963 Patrick Needham 01:37:56
978 Joe Dunne 01:37:32
1028 Emer Kenny 01:39:19 (PB) (124)
1079 Olwyn Dunne 01:39:32 (134)
1226 James Moran 01:41:15 (PB)
1248 Margaret Foley 01:42:35 (PB) (176)
1313 Miriam Logan 01:43:51 (PB) (195)
1349 Sarah Lyons 01:45:37 (208)
1381 Tanja Narancic 01:45:32 (PB) (219)
1383 Liz Nixon 01:45:39 (221)
1825 Maria Kennedy 01:53:27 (359)
Full results here: https://www.popupraces.ie/race/antrim-coast-half-marathon-2021/
Downshill Uphill Mile (IMRA race) (45)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Barry Minnock 1 00:06:53
11 Grace O’Rourke 1 00:08:14
Crusaders AC runners
4 Warren Swords 00:07:20
6 Donatas Jocius 00:07:30
Full results here: https://www.imra.ie/events/results/id/2096
Celbridge AC 5k (331)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Hiko Tonosa 1 00:14:27
12 Sorcha Nic Dhomhnaill 1 00:15:59
Crusaders AC runner
224 John Gallagher 00:24:25
Full results here: https://www.popupraces.ie/race/nallys-supervalu-celbridge-ac-5k-road-race-2021/
Wicklow Way Half (IMRA race) (178)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Edward O’Connor 1 01:41:40
13 Kate Cronin 1 01:57:35
Crusaders AC runners
4 Warren Swords 01:47:36
25 Brian McGuckin 02:07:15
33 Andrea Talpo 02:10:42
57 John McAuley 02:21:42
76 Michael Maughan 02:29:31
Full results here: https://www.imra.ie/events/results/id/2080/category/O/
Oylegate Half Marathon (119)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Colin Maher 1 01:10:19
49 Niamh Murphy 1 01:30:10
Crusaders AC runner
51 Kim Hickey 01:30:41 (2)
Full results here: https://www.popupraces.ie/race/oylegate-10k-half-marathon-2021/#2_9D70EA
Oylegate 10k (74)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Adam O’Connor 1 00:34:35
31 Marie Kinsella 00:49:08
Crusaders AC runner
21 Brendan Glynn 00:45:28
Full results here: https://www.popupraces.ie/race/oylegate-10k-half-marathon-2021/#1_7336A4

Brian O'Kelly and Aine Kenny

Back row: Maria Kennedy, Miriam Logan, Phelim Murray, Joe Dunne, Cian Coughlan Liz Nixon, Kevin Kavanagh. Front row: Emer Kenny, Olwyn Dunne, Maura Mahoney, Aine Crotty, Sarah Lyons, Tanja Narancic