Oh What Fun we had! Rewarding turnout in the Jingle Bells 5k

5/12/2022

Back row: Thomas Vogée, Evelyn Neary, Michael Fitzsimons, Emily Quinlan, Neil Brown, Miriam Logan, Stephen Hurley, Olwyn Dunne, Dee Lawlor, Maureen McGinley, Emily Glen, Emer Kenny, Tanja Narancic, Kieran Martin, Kim Hickey, Aoife Quigley, Cormac McGuire, Ilona McElroy and Emily Sheils. Front row: Sophia Morgan, Paul E. Kelly, Joanne Carey, Donna Barry, Paula Bradshaw, James Cottle and Andy Deuser

Anyone not familiar with racing in Ireland at this time of year might have assumed that the Jingle Bells 5k would be a simple fun run in the lead-up to Christmas, and so it would have been for many of the more than 1,200 participants who turned out on a chilly but sunny Saturday morning this weekend for the 31st running of the Donore Harriers-organised version.

However, despite there being a good presence of festive dress among the runners and the rousing performance of a brass band at the finish, the name belies the meaning of the race for all the club members who descended on the Acres Road for the 9:30 start.

Among the many club runners were at least 57 Crusaders, nearly 5% of the overall field and a significant percentage of the clubs represented in the race. We got our due rewards too, with a second place finish for the men’s team (out of 36) and 6th (out of 34) for the women’s team, with the leading scorer for the women's team, usually an 800m track runner, embarking on the distance for the first time. Also, more than 30 of our runners finished the challenge in under 20 minutes.

We start, however, with the national novice cross country championships that took place down in Garryanne, Conna, Co. Cork. We fielded a men’s team there, and, in a field of 196 runners, the team placed 12th out of 26. Although, unlike in Dublin on Sunday with its torrential showers of rain and hail, the race was held in dry weather. However, the lightly undulating course had seen its fair share of rain beforehand and there was quite a bit of mud along with what looked like a ford in the middle of each of the three 2k laps for the 6k race. We packed the middle of the field, with Colm Parnell leading the team home in 42nd place in a time of 20:56, 2 minutes behind race winner, East Cork’s Paul Hartnett. Barry McCarthy was next, right on Colm’s heels, in 45th in 20:58, a whisker ahead of Clément Rincé (46th in 21:00). Understandably, Thomas Vogée, our 4th scorer, was further back in 123rd place in a time of 23:18, having obtained a PB in the Jingle Bells 5k the previous day. Eddie Nugent and David McEvoy (our “spoilers”) were a little further back still, with Eddie placing 158th in 24:38 and David, 170th in 25:12. A valiant effort after the long journey!

Back to the Phoenix Park, and, as mentioned, we had an excellent turnout from the club, racing in what proved to be a field of extremely high quality in almost perfect conditions. However, because of the narrow start on the Acres (with the route taking the race east (into an easterly breeze) and thereafter turning up Chesterfield, the main drag, to the roundabout before the Castleknock gate, then west along the Ordnance Survey Road to the Upper Glen Road with its descent to the finish just below the hospital near the Chapelizod Gate), there was significant congestion behind the line. Many of us took an age to get going and there were at least two fallers in the opening seconds of the race. It wasn’t really until we had made the turn at the Phoenix Roundabout to head up the drag on Chesterfield that several of us were able to start making progress through the field (and that may have taken its toll slightly for a few runners later on). It is helpful though that the race has a significant downhill finish (at least to 200m before the end), but in truth the course climbs 15m and then descends 30m, so that the net effect is really only 15m overall.

Unsurprisingly, Donore’s John Travers and Paul Robinson battled for the two top spots, with John prevailing, and, then, in the women’s race, Leevale’s Michelle Finn, a week before heading to Turin to represent Ireland in the European XC championships, dominated. Indeed, the organisers had difficulty tying her down for the presentation after she finished, as she headed off for what looked like a long tempo cooldown! She seems to be in great form.

Our runners did the club proud too. Brian O’Kelly led us all home in 18th place and a great time of 15:15, followed closely by Kieran Little (21st in 15:19). Felix Martinez made up the third and final scoring place, coming home in 25th spot in 15:28. Congrats to the three of them. Top 100 places among the men were secured by Kevin Fitzgibbon (69th in 16:17), newly-elected men’s captain Aaron Cashman (appropriately with a PB placing 78th in 16:29), Daniel Lowe (89th in 16:36) and Toby Benham (90th in a chiptime of 16:35 just behind Daniel). For top 150 places we should look to Stephen Hurley (101st in 16:44), Patrick Conlon (102nd in 16:45), Joe McDermott (105th in 16:47), Thomas Vogée (108th in a PB time, also of 16:47), David Willis (109th in 16:49), Paul Cowhie (118th in 16:57) and Ross Neill (another runner with a PB, in 119th with a finishing time of 16:55). So, we had 14 runners in the top 150 male finishers. In 200th place came Luke Davis who registered his second fastest time of 17:42 since his teenage years and he was followed by an excellent run from Kieran Martin (201st in 17:50). PBs were recorded by Sam Carvill (219th in 18:00) knocking off over a minute from his previous best and from Kevin Lambe (340th in 18:57) after a formidable sprint down the Upper Glen Road. Andy Deuser (460th in 20:21) also recorded a PB, as, among other men, did Aitor Arribas Velasco (677th in 23:06) and Paul E. Kelly, our registrar and social officer (764th in 24:36). James Cottle ran his fastest 5k of the year (19:19 for 352nd place), hot in pursuit of a runner who he thought had until this time not beaten him in a race, only to find after crossing the line on his elusive chase that it was a case of mistaken identity. Still, it helped him get a reasonable time, given that he was one of those who found it difficult to make early progress. Indeed, if there had been an M65 category (which there wasn’t) he would have experienced the annoying situation of beating an adversary (another runner in the field in his age group) on chip (by 2 seconds) and losing on gun (by 4 seconds). One never stops learning how essential it is to start as far up the field as possible if you think you might be in contention and where prizes are determined by guntime.

Other male runners in the race were Warren Swords (245th in 18:18) just coming back from injury, Michael Fitzsimons (255th in 18:32), Tim O’Donnell (336th in 19:07) maintaining his good form, Brian McGuckin (405th in 19:35), Cormac McGuire (454th in 20:25), Brendan Glynn (474th in 20:46), Michael Maughan (497th in 20:47), Neil Brown (498th in 20:52), David O’Donnell (513th in 21:01), Daniel Cullen (644th in 22:23) and Eoghan Corrigan (647th in 22:41). Dee Lawlor helped his young daughter get round the course in an excellent time (he placed 921st in 27:54) and it was great to see John Mannion making a long awaited but welcome return to racing and only just back from his honeymoon (281st in 18:44).

21 of the runners in the women’s field came from our club and they were led home by Charlotte Myers, whose excellent time of 17:41 might have been even better had she started further up the field, having to weave significantly through the slower runners at the front for the first 500m or so. Charlotte placed a creditable 196th overall and 21st female finisher in her first ever 5k race. She was followed by Emily Sheils (230th and 29th in 18:01, a possible PB) and our third scorer, Aoife Quigley who most definitely recorded a PB improvement of nearly 30s in placing 282nd and 42nd in 18:44, her first time breaking 19 minutes. Ilona McElroy was on Aoife’s heels (286th and 44th in 18:45) and she was followed by Kim Hickey (306th and 49th in a PB time of 18:53). More PBs were to follow among our female members in the top 150 female finishers. They were recorded by Joanne Carey (446th and 88th in 20:06), Paula Bradshaw (494th and 107th in 20:53) and Sophia Morgan (510th and 113th in 20:59), their first time breaking 21 minutes, Emily Glen (538th and 132nd in 21:30), Tanja Narancic (542nd and 136th in 21:27) and Donna Barry (728th and 141st in 23:59, her first time breaking 24 minutes). Also, in the top 200 were Danielle Hopkins (419th and 75th in 19:37), Miriam Logan (424th and 77th in 19:41), both of whom had recorded PBs in Rathfarnham in September, Irene Gorman (459th and 93rd in 20:20, with a post-baby PB), Ciara Lynch (464th and 94th in 20:18), Emily Quinlan (476th and 99th in 20:29), newly-elected adult representative, Emer Kenny (552nd and 143rd in 21:36), newly-elected president of the club, Olwyn Dunne (580th and 159th in 21:54), Carina Davidson (785th and 181st in 25:00), Evelyn Neary (794th and 184th in 25:35) and Maureen McGinley (932nd in 28:42). Newcomer Avril Ryan, who took part in the Women’s Meet and Train the previous week, also ran, placing 1156th in 36:32.

Members will also be interested to hear that Catherine Thornton, now of GCH, who guested for us in Lanzarote recently, placed 114th and 9th female finisher in a PB time of 16:51, her first time breaking 17 minutes.

The weekend also saw some great racing by Crusaders abroad. Conor Macguinness headed to the Cayman Islands for work and whilst there and only a few hours after getting off his evening flight, on the spur of the moment he lined up at 5 in the morning on Grand Cayman to participate in the Cayman Islands Half Marathon, placing 21st in a time of 1:35:24. Although the terrain would have been pretty flat, it was conducted in a balmy 28 degrees.

Then, in Valencia on Sunday morning, 4 of our intrepid clubmates took part in the flat and wind-free (but rather disorganised!) Valencia marathon, the same race where Sinead Diver recorded a PB of 2:21:34, a new record for her F45 age category and a marathon record for Australia, her adopted country. It was the fastest run by an Irish woman, beating Catherina McKiernan’s old record, set in 1998 in Amsterdam, of 2:22:23. Our fastest run on the day was recorded by Paul Dempsey, recently returning from injury and who ran 2:47 in Dublin at the end of October. Paul ran 2:43:37 in Valencia. He was followed by 3 other runners, each of whom had also run in Dublin. Before his imminent departure for Australia in January, Maurice Kelter recorded a super PB time of 2:49:01, and he was followed by Rory Goldsmith (3:00:32). Finally, John Cunnane took his PB time down to 3:29:48 in the same race. This is certainly an event that marathoners should perhaps target for future PBs.

Given the action in the Phoenix Park on Saturday morning, it is not surprising that there was limited participation in the parkruns in the same hour.

We had no first finishers this weekend. However, we still had one member appearing on the podium. Kenan Furlong placed 2nd in the Poolbeg parkrun with its field of 130. Following, Kenan came Daniel Sheridan (12th in 20:34), Simon Everard (16th in 21:05), Josie Ward (49th and 11th in 24:00), Kevin Kenny (67th in 25:22), Franky Keane (87th in 27:05), Laura O’Malley (95th and 29th in 28:11), Una McCullagh (98th and 32nd in 28:50) and Mari Hansen (120th and 42nd in 32:33). Darina Scully ran in River Valley Park, where she placed 25th and 4th in 24:50 among a field of 96. Karl Walsh took on the 105-strong field in Naas again, where he placed 6th in 19:07. In St. Anne’s we had 3 participants. Joining 324 other runners, Cian Coughlan placed 12th in 19:27, Jenny McCarthy took 246th and 105th spots in 30:53, whilst Áine Crotty tailwalked. Colm Foley ran 23:30 for 28th place in Griffeen Park with its field of 136. Mairead Cashman placed 34th and 8th in Glen River. Mairead’s time was 30:05 in a field of 53. Mairin and Lisa Shine joined 107 other runners in Cabinteely, where Lisa placed 43rd and 12th in 27:12, whilst Mairin took 80th and 30th spots in 33:17. Finally, Jill Nason and Orlaith de Burca ran in Shanganagh with its field of 123. Jill took 62nd and 12th spots in 26:31, whilst Orlaith came home in 106th and 42nd in 31:35.

Jingle Bells 5k (1230)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 John Travers 1 00:13:53
39 Michelle Finn 1 00:15:47
Crusaders AC runners
18 Brian O’Kelly 00:15:15
21 Kieran Little 00:15:19
25 Felix Martinez 00:15:28
69 Kevin Fitzgibbon 00:16:17
78 Aaron Cashman 00:16:29 (PB)
89 Daniel Lowe 00:16:36
90 Toby Benham 00:16:35
101 Stephen Hurley 00:16:44
102 Patrick Conlon 00:16:45
105 Joe McDermott 00:16:47
108 Thomas Vogée 00:16:47 (PB)
109 David Willis 00:16:49
118 Paul Cowhie 00:16:57
119 Ross Neill 00:16:55 (PB)
196 Charlotte Myers 00:17:41 (PB) (21)
200 Luke Davis 00:17:42
201 Kieran Martin 00:17:50
219 Sam Carvill 00:18:00 (PB)
230 Emily Sheils 00:18:01 (29)
245 Warren Swords 00:18:18
255 Michael Fitzsimons 00:18:32
280 John Mannion 00:18:44
282 Aoife Quigley 00:18:44 (PB) (42)
286 Ilona McElroy 00:18:45 (44)
306 Kim Hickey 00:18:53 (PB) (49)
336 Tim O’Donnell 00:19:07
340 Kevin Lambe 00:18:57 (PB)
352 James Cottle 00:19:19
405 Brian McGuckin 00:19:35
419 Danielle Hopkins 00:19:37 (75)
424 Miriam Logan 00:19:41 (77)
446 Joanne Carey 00:20:06 (PB) (88)
454 Cormac McGuire 00:20:25
459 Irene Gorman 00:20:20 (93)
460 Andy Deuser 00:20:21 (PB)
464 Ciara Lynch 00:20:18 (94)
474 Brendan Glynn 00:20:46
476 Emily Quinlan 00:20:29 (99)
494 Paula Bradshaw 00:20:53 (PB) (107)
497 Michael Maughan 00:20:47
498 Neil Brown 00:20:52
510 Sophie Morgan 00:20:59 (PB) (113)
513 David O’Donnell 00:21:01
538 Emily Glen 00:21:30 (PB) (132)
542 Tanja Narancic 00:21:27 (PB) (136)
552 Emer Kenny 00:21:36 (143)
580 Olwyn Dunne 00:21:54 (159)
644 Daniel Cullen 00:22:23
647 Eoghan Corrigan 00:22:41
677 Aitor Arribas Velasco 00:23:06 (PB)
728 Donna Barry 00:23:59 (PB) (141)
764 Paul E. Kelly 00:24:36 (PB)
785 Carina Davidson 00:25:00 (181)
794 Evelyn Neary 00:25:35 (184)
921 Dee Lawlor 00:27:54
932 Maureen McGinley 00:28:42
1156 Avril Ryan 00:36:32
Full results here: https://www.popupraces.ie/race/jingle-bells-5k-2022/
National Novices Men’s 6k XC (196)
Overall place Name Guntime
1 Paul Hartnett 00:18:57
Crusaders AC runners
42 Colm Parnell 00:20:56
45 Barry McCarthy 00:20:58
46 Clément Rincé 00:21:00
123 Thomas Vogée 00:23:18
158 Eddie Nugent 00:24:38
170 David McEvoy 00:25:12
Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/123ie_national_novice_xc_champs/4699/results
St. Anne’s Parkrun (327)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Conall Rogers 1 00:17:30
22 Adrienne Atkins 1 00:20:27
Crusaders AC runners
12 Cian Coughlan 00:19:27
246 Jenny McCarthy 00:30:53 (105)
327 Áine Crotty 00:55:05
Poolbeg Parkrun (130)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Ian Conroy 1 00:17:44
17 Ciara Tierney 1 00:21:29
Crusaders AC runners
2 Kenan Furlong 00:18:03
12 Daniel Sheridan 00:20:34
16 Simon Everard 00:21:05
49 Josie Ward 00:24:00 (11)
67 Kevin Kenny 00:25;22
87 Franky Keane 00:27:05
95 Laura O’Malley 00:28:11 (29)
98 Una McCullagh 00:28:50 (32)
120 Mari Hansen 00:32:33
Griffeen Parkrun (136)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Cillian Murphy 1 00:17:30
14 Breda Smyth 1 00:21:29
Crusaders AC runner
28 Colm Foley 00:23:30
Glen River Parkrun (53)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Cathal O’Connell 1 00:19:45
7 Derval Devaney 1 00:22:12
Crusaders AC runner
34 Mairead Cashman 00:30:05 (8)
Shanganagh Parkrun (123)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Andrew Lawless 1 00:18:45
22 Emily Kane 1 00:21:59
Crusaders AC runners
62 Jill Nason 00:26:31 (12)
106 Orlaith de Burca 00:31:35 (42)
River Valley Parkrun (96)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Stephen Kerr 1 00:20:23
18 Kate Higgins 1 00:23:50
Crusaders AC runner
25 Darina Scully 00:24:50 (4)
Cabinteely Parkrun (109)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Michael Slevin 1 00:19:31
3 Heather Crowley 1 00:20:05
Crusaders AC runners
43 Lisa Shine 00:27:12 (12)
80 Mairin Shine 00:33:17 (30)
Naas Parkrun (105)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Chris O’Sullivan 1 00:17:29
21 Ailbhe Daly 1 00:21:53
Crusaders AC runner
6 Karl Walsh 00:19:07

Irene Gorman, Catherine Thornton, Paul E. Kelly, Tim O'Donnell, Emer Kenny, Cormac McGuire, Ilona McElroy, James Cottle, Danielle Hopkins, Kevin Lambe, Charlotte Myers, Miriam Logan, Donna Barry, Olwyn Dunne, Tanja Narancic, Joanne Carey, Brendan Glynn, Ciara Lynch, Sophia Morgan, Emily Glen, Aoife Quigley, Carina Davidson, Maureen McGinley, Emily Quinlan and Aitor Arribas Velasco