Nothing by Half – Cru going the distance

26/9/2021

Brendan Murphy

At last we have some decent numbers racing in the Irish countryside. Indeed, this weekend runners were spoilt for choice among the half marathons, the distance events in the hills and the parkruns (with some familiar names participating) on offer. Crusaders also made their mark in 5k and 10k road races too.

On the roads, the first event of the weekend was the Mullingar half marathon, postponed from the Spring. 4 Crusaders took part. Overcast weather with a slight drizzle at the 9:00 am start made for good running conditions on a one looped undulating course. Brendan Murphy led our contingent home in 6th place in a decent field for the times of 533. He crossed the line in a strong 1:13:58, followed by Daragh O’Reilly in an equally good time of 1:15:20 for 9th place. Julie McGrath, just back from holiday, used the race for a “detox” and duly recorded 1:30:19 for 70th place overall and 5th female finisher. Triona Quill found the going tough after being lured into running with a pacer who was supposed to be pacing for a 1:40 finish but instead ran a 1:29 pace for the first 5k. Triona was thankful to finish in 1:40:40 for 151st place overall, 18th female and 5th F50.

Then, on Sunday, another half marathon took place down in Charleville, more or less on the same date as previous years. It’s held on an east/west out-and-back course with a loop at the far end of the course. Again, it’s undulating and on country roads, but generally produces fast times depending on the wind. Ciarain Kelly was our only representative, but he ran well, despite finding the second half tough, to come home in 24th place in a field of 327 and a super time of 1:19:48, just ahead of Olympian marathoner Aoife Cooke. Well done to the half marathoners.

Later in the day, we had two Crusaders compete in the Naas Town 5k and 10k races organised around the local GAA club to the west of the town. In extremely windy conditions, the 5k race was won by Kieran Little in a time of 16:13 ahead of 201 other participants, whilst, in the 10k, Ger Forde placed 5th in a time of 35:48 in a field of 373. Many congrats to them too.

Also, on Sunday, many of us were glued to our phones and computer screens following the livestream (believe it or not from Kenyan TV) to watch a dramatic contest between Ethiopians and Kenyans in the Berlin marathon. An overly fast pace for the first half put paid to a world record in quite warm and humid conditions, but still it was a good watch. Members will be interested to know that we had a sometime Crusader in the race in Niall Murphy, who ran 2:52:55. Several of us had registered for the race but ultimately decided to defer to next year. Closer to home, in London, our London-based exile, Thom Martini ran in the Ealing half marathon and finished in a time of 1:41. Members may also recall Maeve Curry who also moved to London. She participated on Sunday in the Surrey half marathon in Woking where she recorded a PB time of 1:43. Finally, Conor Parle took on the Hackney Half marathon in London where he ran 1:42:46.

In the hills this weekend we turn to the Eco trailruns in Wicklow involving Sugar Loaf Mountain and other local hilly sites. 4 distances were on offer from 18k to 80k and for the most part there was excellent participation in each event, although we had only one runner in each of the 3 shorter races. 265 runners contested the 18k race, with Josie Ward taking 100th place overall (19th female) in a time of 2:22:44. In the 28k event, Simon Kenny, in his first race since having suffered from Covid, took 129th spot in a field of 256. Simon’s time was 3:58:26. We also saw Paul O’Meara run in the 45k race, placing 26th in a field of 250 and a time of 5:05:56. The distances for each event turned out to be approximate and our clubmates should be congratulated on their stamina!

Lastly, we turn to the parkruns of which there were many on offer and where we saw significant participation by club members. Clubmates will be interested to learn that our Kiwi exile in Scotland, Andrej Kujikis placed 160th in a field of 481 and a time of 24:02 in Edinburgh. Back home, we had runners in at least 12 parkruns. The standout results were recorded by Aine Crotty and fiancé Cian Coughlin in Ballincollig. In a field of 283, Aine was the first female finisher in 21:01 (16th overall) and Cian placed 5th in 19:26. We should also make a point of mentioning that Caroline Crowley, in the latter stages of pregnancy, turned out to run with partner Eoghan Corrigan in Tolka Valley. In a field of 60, Eoghan placed 28th in 25:09, with Caroline not too far behind in 34th (10th female) in 27:01. They were joined by Cormac McGuire who ran 23:36 for 14th place. Kevin Kavanagh gave himself a boost for next weekend’s national marathon championships in Belfast by running 18:44 (possibly a PB) and taking 5th place in a field of 316 in St. Anne’s. He was followed by Michael Maughan (41st in 22:09). Paul O’Hara placed 3rd in Bushy Park in a field of 132 and a time of 19:14, whilst Lisa Shine was 2nd woman across the line (21st overall) in Glen River in a time of 24:55. In the field of 73, Mairead Cashman placed 49th and 14th in 30:12. Then, down in Wexford on the racecourse there, in a time of 21:49, Fiona Shine placed 3rd woman and 15th overall among 94 participants, whilst Mairin Shine joined Emma O’Mahony in Cabinteely where Emma placed 84th and 19th and Mairin, 100th and 27th, out of 135 in respective times of 30:24 and 32:29. Liam Lyster ran 28:55 to place 13th in a field of 46 in Strokestown, whilst Brian Scanlan ran 23:08 to place 18th in River Valley with its field of 128. Phil Sykes ran 23:31 to place 80th in Marlay in a field of 299, whilst Susanne English ran in Oldbridge where she took 60th spot overall (16th female finisher) in 30:15. The field was 96. Finally, in Malahide, Deirdre Kennedy and Darina Scully joined 291 other runners where Deirdre placed 125th and 32nd and Darina, 215th and 72nd, in respective times of 26:33 and 31:28.

AON Mullingar Half marathon (533)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Mick Fogarty 1 01:10:38
31 Aine O’Reilly 1 01:25:01
Crusaders AC runners
6 Brendan Murphy 01:13:58
9 Daragh O’Reilly 01:15:20
70 Julie McGrath 01:30:19 (5)
151 Triona Quill 01:40:40 (18)
Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/aon_mullingar_half_marathon/4116/results
Charleville Half marathon (327)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Yared Derese 1 01:05:15
26 Aoife Cooke 1 01:20:26
Crusaders AC runner
24 Ciarain Kelly 01:19:48
Full results here: https://www.sportsplits.com/races/charleville-international-half-marathon-2021/events/1?fbclid=IwAR3wXGokKGnF97sAILnA8Dk3LlI7bk6vYBaJoS7zKT_RimcJYc0bCrggsS4&page=7
Naas Town 5k (202)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Kieran Little 1 00:16:13
10 Sue McDonald 1 00:20:44
Crusaders AC runner
1 Kieran Little 00:16:13
Full results here: https://www.popupraces.ie/race/the-naas-town-10km-and-5km-family-fun-run-2021/#2_9D70EA
Naas Town 10k (373)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Stephen Conroy 1 00:33:47
6 Mary Mulhare 1 00:36:09
Crusaders AC runner
5 Ger Forde 00:35:48
Full results here: https://www.popupraces.ie/race/the-naas-town-10km-and-5km-family-fun-run-2021/#2_9D70EA
Ecotrail 18k (265)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Kate Purcell 1 01:34:42
2 Kieran James 1 01:35:36
Crusaders AC runner
100 Josie Ward 02:22:44 (19)
Full results here: http://redtagtiming.com/results/2021EcoTrail_18km.html
Ecotrail 28k (256)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Ruairi Long 1 02:29:31
19 Roisin Montague 1 03:09:43
Crusaders AC runner
129 Simon Kenny 03:58:26
Full results here: http://redtagtiming.com/results/2021EcoTrail_28km.html
Ecotrail 45k (250)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Barry Minnock 1 04:18:12
30 Niamh Marrs 1 05:08:50
Crusaders AC runner
26 Paul O’Meara 05:05:56
Full results here: http://redtagtiming.com/results/2021EcoTrail_45km.html
Malahide Parkrun (291)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Evan Reid 1 00:16:29
9 Annette Kealy 1 00:18:14
Crusaders AC runners
125 Deirdre Kennedy 00:26:33 (32)
215 Darina Scully 00:31:28 (72)
Marlay Parkrun (299)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Ruben Bartelink 1 00:17:16
15 Amy Moran 1 00:19:00
Crusaders AC runner
80 Phil Sykes 00:23:31
St. Anne’s Parkrun (316)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 David Kirwin 1 00:16:25
23 Fiona Stack 1 00:20:56
Crusaders AC runners
5 Kevin Kavanagh 00:18:44
41 Michael Maughan 00:22:09
Oldbridge Parkrun (96)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Padraig O’Mahoney 1 00:19:13
5 Erinn Leary 1 00:20:33
Crusaders AC runner
60 Susanne English 00:30:15 (16)
Wexford Racecourse Parkrun (94)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 David Mahon 1 00:15:47
9 Annaleigh Hore 1 00:20:47
Crusaders AC runner
15 Fiona Shine 00:21:49 (3)
Cabinteely Parkrun (135)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Bryan O’Connor 1 00:17:39
8 Malika Hammani 1 00:21:02
Crusaders AC runners
84 Emma O’Mahony 00:30:24 (19)
100 Mairin Shine 00:32:29 (27)
River Valley Parkrun (128)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Ciaran McCarthy 1 00:17:15
8 Karen Crossan 1 00:21:27
Crusaders AC runner
18 Brian Scanlan 00:23:08
Tolka Valley Parkrun (60)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Paul Foran 1 00:18:56
12 Hazel Kenny 00:21:57
Crusaders AC runners
14 Cormac McGuire 00:23:36
28 Eoghan Corrigan 00:25:09
34 Caroline Crowley 00:27:01 (10)
Bushy Parkrun (132)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Erwan Kinsella 1 00:18:48
8 Clara Kinsella 1 00:20:14
Crusaders AC runner
3 Paul O’Hara 00:19:14
Strokestown Parkrun (46)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Ed Payne 1 00:19:03
7 Jacinta Glover 1 00:25:02
Crusaders AC runners
13 Liam Lyster 00:28:55
Glen River Parkrun (73)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Willie Walsh 1 00:18:53
19 Clare Keaveney-Jimenez 1 00:24:24
Crusaders AC runners
21 Lisa Shine 00:24:55 (2)
49 Mairead Cashman 00:30:12 (14)
Ballincollig Parkrun (283)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Peter Smallcombe 1 00:16:40
16 Aine Crotty 1 00:21:01
Crusaders AC runners
5 Cian Coughlan 00:19:26
16 Aine Crotty 00:21:01 (1)