Oh What Fun in Jingle Bells and WM&T

8/12/2019

Standing: Neil Brown, Kathryn Sweeney, Olwyn Dunne, Joanne Carey, Amy McGuinness, Michael O'Conor, Jason Kehoe, Vinnie McGuinness, Tim O'Donnell, Tomas Bradley. Kneeling: Rachael Yorke, Maura Mahoney, Paul E.Kelly, Maria Kennedy

There was quite a strong wind and cool conditions for the Jingle Bells 5k on a course that had had to be adjusted this year to take into account road works at the top of the Upper Glen Road. So, instead of the race turning left on the roundabout near the Castleknock Gate and following the Ordnance Survey Road down the Upper Glen Road all the way to the finish, race organisers, Donore Harriers, were forced to route runners along the Furze Road, before the roundabout, and having everyone run to the Knockmaroon Gate where they turned hard left down past the lake in the Furry Glen and hitting the 4k mark on the hill connecting the Furry Glen to the Upper Glen. At this point runners re-joined the original route to its famous downhill finish. With its net elevation loss of 7m it was still a net downhill event, but it is surprising, particularly with the steep hill at 4k, that several runners recorded PBs or faster times than last year. The strong westerly wind may have helped as it was really only in runners’ faces on the Furze Road.

We had an amazing turnout from the club for the event, with more than 60 running on the day, one third women. The overall field measured 2,226 which means that we had nearly 5% of it. Moreover, the performances were exceptional, with both men and women’s teams podiuming, the women winning and the men coming third. Indeed, more than 30 of our runners finished under 20 minutes, which is some feat.

In the women’s race, it was good to see Ilona McElroy back running strongly for 7th place (122nd overall) in a great time of 17:47. Ilona also placed 2nd in her F35 category and she was followed by Adrienne Jordan who only registered on the day after having slept through her alarm, set so that she could get down to Waterford for the half marathon. Her compensation was 9th place (129th) and 1st F40. Ilona and Adrienne were joined by the ever-improving Maura Mahoney (26th and 239th) who ran a PB time of 19:42 to win first prize in the team competition. They were followed by Grainne Regan (33rd and 271st in 20:17), Rachael Yorke (36th and 278th in 20:23), Kathryn Sweeney (38th and 282nd in 20:25), just behind, and alongside Amy McGuinness (39th and 284th in 20:24), Sarah Lyons (57th and 332nd in 21:21), Maria del Carmen Jimenez Campos (72nd and 368th in 22:11), Ciara Lehane (80th and 388th in 22:36), Joanne Carey (87th and 402nd in 22:47), Maria Kennedy (92nd and 414th in 23:00) and Mary Fitzsimons (96th and 419th in 23:02) to complete the top 100. Then came Ruth Dwyer (109th and 451st in 23:33) in her first race in ages and only just retrieving her bib as the gun went off (obliging her to carry it in one hand). Ruth was followed by Olwyn Dunne (113th and 457th in 23:38) who also ran the parkrun in Brickfields before the Jingle Bells race, Carina Davidson (148th and 527th in 25:28), totally in the zone, Donna Barry (160th and 552nd in 25:49), Michelle Geoghegan (191st and 599th in 26:27), Mairead Cashman (221st and 644th in 28:48), another Brickfields runner, and Roisin Ni She (318th and 781st in 31:38). Our teams did extremely well, with our 2nd team coming 6th, followed by teams that came 10th, 17th and 21st out of a total complement of 68.

The men were led home by Brian O’Kelly, running strongly for 8th place in 14:46, only a few seconds off his PB, behind race winner Hiko Tonosa (14:16) who won a great duel with clubmate at DSD, Emmet Jennings (14:18). Michael Kiely was next (25th in 15:36), followed by Vinnie McGuinness (27th in 15:42). Top 50 places went also to John Mulvihill (34th in a PB time of 15:55), Stephen Hurley (38th in a PB time of 16:06), Rob Cross (46th and 2nd M45 in 16:23), Ciaran Diviney (49th and 3rd M45 in 16:25). Michael Wycherley (51st and 4th M45 in 16:26) also ran a super race, taking some good scalps. He was followed by Brian Hyland (58th in a PB time of 16:36) and top 100 places went also to John McAuley (61st in 16:38), Garret Dunne (69th in 16:49), Jason Kehoe (74th in 16:58), Michael O’Conor (76th in 17:00), Paul Reidy (79th in 17:03), Adam Flanagan (81st in 17:07), nursing a nagging niggle, Seamus MacFloinn (82nd in a PB time of 17:04), Joe McDermott (83rd in 17:09), Dee Lawlor (87th in 17:09) and Rob Browne (89th in 17:10). Other notable runs came from Peter Barry (101st in 17:23), Barry McGuire (104th in 17:27), Tom Bradley (131st in 18:03), Luke Davis (146th in 18:23), Kevin Lambe (161st in a PB time of 18:33), Michael Fitzsimons (180th in 19:02), Michael Maughan (183rd in 18:55), Kieran Martin (201st in 19:11), making an excellent comeback from injury, Brian McGuckin (246th in 19:46) and Tim O’Donnell (250th in 19:52). There was also a PB for Paul Kelly (486th in 24:40), who certainly can bring his times down further.

The men’s team of Brian, Michael K. and Vinnie placed 3rd out of 84 teams, with our other teams ranking 6th, 10th, 14th, 17th, 20th and 24th. A great showing for the club.
Also on Saturday, Joe Walsh and Alma Hanevy headed down to Waterford to run the hilly and windy half marathon, organised by Waterford AC. In a field of 2,226 finishers and a race won by Yared Derese in 64:02 with Mick Clohisey (65:23) not too far behind, Joe placed 114th in 87:08, whilst Alma crossed the line in 120th place overall, 8th female finisher and winner of her F40 age category.

On Sunday morning, the weather changed completely, in advance of storm Atiyah which finally arrived in the afternoon, we nevertheless experienced extremely cold strong winds and from time to time between sunny spells the heavens opened with chilling rain of monsoon proportions. Indeed, it could be said thsat we experienced 4 seasons in an hour, let alone a day. Out on the Irishtown Nature Reserve those of us stewarding there were particularly exposed to the elements for the second race in the Women’s Meet and Train winter league, organised by Crusaders AC. The race involved one loop of Sean Moore Park after starting from the Poolbeg Parkrun startline on the path to the nature reserve. Runners then had to double back then to complete a loop of the nature reserve, flying down the steep hill there and finishing in the same place where they started, a total distance of some 2 miles. Although official results are yet to appear, we can confidently say that our teams remain well positioned after two races. In a field of around 130 runners, we fielded no fewer than 23 participants, all generally well-placed. For the A team, Fiona Shine enjoyed a super sprint to the line to take 2nd place, followed by Sarah Lyons who ran a steady race for 4th. Ciara Lynch was 12th and Lisa Shine 24th. In between, came Esther Requena Ferri, running as an independent, who placed 11th. The B team also ran strongly, with Maria del Carmen Jimenez Campos placing 23rd, followed by Dorothy Maguire, in great shape after her recent cycling accident (43rd), Emer Kenny (55th) and Olwyn Dunne (58th). In between came some of the C runners, led home by Georgina Hawkins (20th) and followed by Marie Theresa Murphy (49th), Laura O’Malley (59th) and Geraldine Clements (64th). Carina Davidson would have been further up the field had she not unfortunately had a late arrival, but ran gamely for 121st place. Louise O’Riordan (51s) was best placed of the D team, and she was followed by Tanja Narancic (78th), Anna Shine (84th) and Dierdre Kennedy (96th). The remaining runners were Mary Dolan (98th), Maureen McGinley (117th), Iseult Ni Chuinneagain (119th), Gillian Archbold (120th) and Mairead Cashman (124th). By all accounts, the club put on a fine spread after the event in the local primary school. Despite the foul weather conditions, the event was declared a huge success and surprisingly enjoyable for the runners!

Because of Jingle Bells no doubt, along with the WM&T the following day, there were fewer participants from the club in Saturday’s parkruns. No first finisher positions were recorded either. However, we did have some podium places, nonetheless. Orla Kennedy placed 2nd (7th overall) in Brickfields in 21:45, followed by Olwyn Dunne (26th and 5th in 26:09) and Mairead Cashman (35th and 9th in 30:21). In Poolbeg, Esther Requena Ferri placed 2nd (and 19th) in 21:28. Esther was jonied by Cristian Vilchez Ceballos (5th in 18:16), Kenan Furlong (8th in 18:46), David O’Donnell (15th in 20:55), Ava Rose Clarke (50th and 10th in 24:22), Cliodhna O’Reilly (66th and 15th in 26:53), Maureen McGinley (73rd and 18th in 27:37), Jean Devlin (75th and 23rd in 27:39) and Aisling O’Riordan (82nd and 23rd in 29:05). Elsewhere, Orlaith de Burca ran 27:36 for 78th and 18th in Shanganagh, whilst, in San Francisco, Brian Scanlan ran 22:09 for 19th place in the 82-strong field in Chrissy Park. Liam Lyster placed 8th in Strokestown in 26:46, whilst, in Finland, Mari Hansen ran 25:59 for 3rd place and 15th places in a field of 45 in Tokoinranta in Helsinki. Andrej Kujikis joined 578 other runers in Edinburgh where he placed 142nd in 23:14, whilst Colm Foley took 22nd spot in Griffeen in a time of 23:26. Kieran Finucane crossed the line in 9th place in a time of 20:14 in Knocknacarra, whilst, in Poppintree, Gillian Lyons placed 12th and 47th in 27:08. Finally, Mairin and Lisa Shine ran in Ardgillan, where Mairin placed 55th and 15th in 31:51, followed by Lisa who ran 31:57 for 56th and 16th places.

Jingle Bells 5k (1083)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Hiko Tonosa 1 00:14:16
55 Cliona Murphy 1 00:16:29
Crusaders AC runners
8 Brian O’Kelly 00:14:46
25 Michael Kiely 00:15:36
27 Vinnie McGuinness 00:15:42
34 John Mulvihill 00:15:55 (PB)
38 Stephen Hurley 00:16:06 (PB)
46 Rob Cross 00:16:23
49 Ciaran Diviney 00:16:25
51 Michael Wycherley 00:16:26
58 Brian Hyland 00:16:36 (PB)
61 John McAuley 00:16:38
69 Garret Dunne 00:16:49
74 Jason Kehoe 00:16:58
76 Michael O’Conor 00:17:00
79 Paul Reidy 00:17:03
81 Adam Flanagan 00:17:07
82 Seamus MacFloinn 00:17:04 (PB)
83 Joe McDermott 00:17:09
87 Dee Lawlor 00:17:09
89 Rob Browne 00:17:10
101 Peter Barry 00:17:23
104 Barry McGuire 00:17:27
122 Ilona McElroy 00:17:47 (7)
129 Adrienne Jordan 00:18:02 (9)
131 Tomas Bradley 00:18:03
146 Luke Davis 00:18:23
161 Kevin Lambe 00:18:33 (PB)
180 Michael Fitzsimons 00:19:02
183 Michael Maughan 00:18:55
201 Kieran Martin 00:19:11
239 Maura Mahoney 00:19:42 (PB) (26)
246 Brian McGuckin 00:19:46
250 Tim O’Donnell 00:19:52
269 Phelim Murray 00:20:17
271 Grainne Regan 00:20:17 (33)
276 Zlatko Kulic 00:20:22
278 Rachael Yorke 00:20:23 (36)
279 Nick Ackroyd 00:20:19
282 Kathryn Sweeney 00:20:25 (PB) (38)
284 Amy McGuinness 00:20:24 (39)
286 Karl Walsh 00:20:32
311 Brendan Glynn 00:21:02
324 Neil Brown 00:21:13
326 Conor Parle 00:21:11
332 Sarah Lyons 00:21:21 (57)
334 Alessandro Nappi 00:21:20
353 Robbie Moore 00:21:51
368 Maria del Carmen Jimenez Campos 00:22:11 (72)
388 Ciara Lehane 00:22:36 (80)
391 Cormac McGuire 00:22:18
402 Joanne Carey 00:22:47 (87)
414 Maria Kennedy 00:23:00 (92)
419 Mary Fitzsimons 00:23:02 (96)
451 Ruth Dwyer 00:23:33 (109)
457 Olwyn Dunne 00:23:38 (113)
486 Paul E. Kelly 00:24:40 (PB)
527 Carina Davidson 00:25:28 (148)
552 Donna Barry 00:25:49 (160)
599 Michelle Geoghegan 00:26:27 (191)
611 Roland Cottle 00:27:36
644 Mairead Cashman 00:28:48 (221)
781 Roisin Ni She 00:31:38 (318)
1062 Donal Foley 00:53:20
Full results here: https://www.popupraces.ie/race/jingle-bells-5k-2019/#1_AC8A88
Waterford Half marathon (2226)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Yared Derese 1 01:04:12
35 Ruth Fitzgerald 1 01:19:58
Crusaders AC runners
114 Joe Walsh 01:27:08
120 Alma Hanevy 01:27:21 (8)
Full results here: http://www.totaltiming.ie/results/2019/waterford_ac_half_2019_fullresults.htm
Griffeen Parkrun #339 (155)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Eamon Ryan 1 00:18:58
10 Deirdre Collins 1 00:21:27
Crusaders AC runner
22 Colm Foley 00:23:26
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/griffeen/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=339
Ardgillan Parkrun #302 (70)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Stephen Kelly 1 00:18:13
20 Ramune Zolbiene 1 00:24:26
Crusaders AC runners
55 Mairin Shine 00:31:51 (15)
56 Lisa Shine 00:31:57 (16)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/ardgillan/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=302
Knocknacarra Parkrun #284 (95)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Barry Murphy 1 00:17:23
32 Leah Kerr 1 00:24:59
Crusaders AC runner
9 Kieran Finucane 00:20:14
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/knocknacarra/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=284
Poppintree Parkrun #264 (128)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Noel Selorm 1 00:18:54
12 Kate Cleary 1 00:22:03
Crusaders AC runner
47 Gillian Lyons 00:27:08 (12)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/poppintree/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=264
Poolbeg Parkrun #120 (157)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Jafer Abdelshakur 1 00:16:37
13 Deena Blacking 1 00:20:15
Crusaders AC runners
5 Cristian Vilchez Ceballos 00:18:16
8 Kenan Furlong 00:18:46
15 David O’Donnell 00:20:55
19 Esther Requena Ferri 00:21:28 (2)
50 Ava Rose Clarke 00:24:22 (10)
66 Cliodhna O’Reilly 00:26:53 (15)
73 Maureen McGinley 00:27:37 (18)
75 Jean Devlin 00:27:39 (19)
82 Aisling O’Riordan 00:29:05 (23)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/poolbeg/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=120
Shanganagh Parkrun #242 (157)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Darren Cullen 1 00:16:54
26 Agnieszka Sobolewska 1 00:23:09
Crusaders AC runner
78 Orlaith de Burca 00:27:36 (18)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/shanganagh/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=242
Brickfields Parkrun #99 (63)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Wesley Harrison 1 00:19:23
6 Roslyn Faulkner 1 00:21:39
Crusaders AC runners
7 Orla Kennedy 00:21:45 (2)
26 Olwyn Dunne 00:26:09 (5)
35 Mairead Cashman 00:30:21 (9)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/brickfields/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=99
Strokestown Parkrun #63 (34)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Kieran-James Wallace 1 00:19:59
9 Loretta Dowd 1 00:26:59
Crusaders AC runner
8 Liam Lyster 00:26:46
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/strokestown/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=63