On Track for Success

4/5/2025

Emily Sheils

The May bank holiday weekend witnessed two outdoor track and field events, one in the Morton Stadium in Santry and the other in Clonmel. We had athletes in both. We also had club members take part in the marathons and half marathons in Belfast and Limerick that are also a traditional feature of this time of year.

We start with events on the track and in the field in Santry, the first Co. Dublin graded meeting of the year. On a windy day, Juliette McCloskey was active in a couple of events, placing 2nd in heat 1 of the first round of the grade C 100m in a time of 13:20, followed by a 4th place (and bronze in the Dublin championships) in the women’s long jump with a distance of 4.62m in her first jump of the competition. Juliette did not contest the second round of the 100m. It was great to see Emily Sheils back in competitive action, placing 2nd in the grade A 3,000m and winning the gold medal in the Dublin championships with a time of 10:25.20. Ladies’ captain Kathryn Gibbons also took part in the same race, where she placed 9th in 11:12.88. There were 2 rounds in the men’s 100m too. In the grade A first round heat 1, Luke Timlin placed 4th in 10.81, and then placing 7th in round 2 heat 2 in 10.83, whilst Cillian Doherty and Sean Owens ran in heat 2 in the first round, with Cillian placing 2nd in 10.67, followed by Sean (4th in 10.79). Then, in round 2, Cillian placed 5th in heat 1 in a PB time of 10.61, whilst Sean ran in the same heat as Luke, placing 3rd in 10.72.

In rounds 1 and 2 of the grade B 100m, Charlie Bastow won both his races. In heat 1 of the first round he ran 11.19, followed by 11.00 in the second round. Saad Ashraf also won his grade C first round heat in 11.47, followed by another win in the second round in 11.39. Masahiro ran 11.55 for 4th place in his grade C first round event, followed by 11.52 for 4th in the second round. Finally, Dan Sheridan ran in two races of the grade D 100m where he placed, respectively, 5th in 12.35 and 7th in 13.55.

In the men’s 3,000m, Luke Clarke ran in the A grade event where he placed 14th in 9:33.67. Then in the grade B race, Brian Regan recorded a PB with his 4th place finish in 9:36.54. In the same race, men's captain Joe McDermott placed 12th in 10:07.56, followed by Shane Carroll (14th in 11:00.81). Henry Griffin ran in heat 2 of the grade C 800m where he placed 8th in 2:09.80, and Karl Fitzmaurice placed 5th in 2:20.14 in heat 1 of the grade D event. Gary Park took part in the 2,000m steeplechase, where he placed 3rd in 7:43.30. Finally, on the track, Luke Timlin joined as anchor leg on the Irish (Green) U20 4 x100m relay team which placed 3rd in 40.88.

In the field on the day, Dylan Jones placed 3rd with his 3rd throw of 44.12m in the hammer, whilst we occupied the two top podium positions in the men’s shot put. Conor Quinn won the event with his 4th throw of 14.18m and Henry Moylan took 2nd place with a throw of 11.04 on his 6th and final attempt.

The Irish Milers Club staged an event, again the first of the season, in Clonmel on Saturday afternoon. Alex Ainsworth placed 6th in the D grade 1,500m in a time of 4:14.98. Then, in the grade C race Barry McCarthy ran 4:19.56 for 10th spot. In the women’s 800m A race, Charlotte Myers placed 4th in 2:10.03, her fastest run since coming to Ireland, whilst in the B race of the same distance Annie Hughes took 5th spot in 2:19.34, followed closely by Saoirse McGrath (6th in 2:22.06), both recording PB times.

In terms of road racing this weekend, there was the Belfast marathon, where, in a field of 5218 finishers, on the hilly course Marcus Phelan improved his marathon time by 8 minutes to 3:25:27 for 712th spot, and he was followed by Ryan Preston (1545th in 3:46:26) and Lloyd Hamilton (3327th in 4:25:11).

Down in Limerick we had runners in the full and half marathons there. In the full marathon, Mark Culleton ran a 3-minute PB improvement with 3:03:56 for 97th place in a field of 1,412 finishers. Then in the half we had at least 10 participants. In the field of 4,537 finishers, the contingent was led home by Paul Reidy in 55th place with a time of 82:29 and he was followed by Eugene McDonough who held on during the tough second half to place 71st in 83:39. Eugene was followed by Kev Moore (161st in 88:55) and by Mary Donnelly (365th overall and 37th female finisher in 94:51), Kevin Kavanagh pacing his brother Joseph (588th in 99:10), Luke Haran (625th in 99:45), Emily Glen (634th and 84th female finisher in 99:54), Aoife McCarthy (1347th and 248th in 1:49:23), and then by Lisa Shine (2388th and 678th in 1:59:21) and Máirín Shine (3522nd overall, 1,315th female finisher and 4th F65 in 2:13:55). In the warm conditions in Limerick, apparently there were plenty of local residents on the route with their hose pipes out to keep everyone cool in the sunshine! In the enormous field of 7,439, Lorraine McMahon ran in the 6-mile race, where she placed 1941st overall and 190th female finisher in 56:23.

Elsewhere, Donatas Jocius took part in a 2-day ultra in Co. Kerry, the Waterville Trail Running festival. On the first day he ran 25.5k in 2h20m and then on the second he ran 42.8k in 4h46m. Daniel O’Mahony took part in the same event where he ran respectively 2h27m and 5h46m. The festival may be a qualifying event for the UTMB. On the subject of ultra running, Charles Cartledge took part in the Thames towpath 100 miles ultra marathon over the weekend in the UK. Despite feeling slightly unwell about 60k into the event, Charles finished the race in 29 hours and 45 minutes, 15 minutes before the cut off time! Then, Ciara Regan ran in the West of Ireland women’s mini marathon in Co. Mayo. In the 10k race, Ciara recorded a time of 41:46 on the windy and hilly course to place 7th overall. The full results are yet to be published, and, once they are, the report will be updated. Eddie Nugent joined more than 1500 runners for the Drogheda 10k where he placed 60th in 40:45. Finally, on Bank Holiday Monday, Kiera Roche, who is 34 weeks pregnant, joined a field of more than 1200 runners in the North West 10k in Donegal where she helped pace her sister, running an amazing 53:28. Results are yet to be published.

There were several Wings for Life runs around Europe over the weekend. Anna Hoesl ran 30.6k in 2h27m in Germany, whilst Lukasz Batruch paced the 20k runners in Switzerland, which he did in 1h47m. Also, far afield, Esther Requena Ferri and Cristian Vilchez Ceballos, two of our Spanish exiles, ran in a couple of races in the past few days. Midweek they ran in the 10k Torre del Mar in Velez-Malaga, with Cristian placing 3rd overall in 36:41 and Esther winning the female race in 39:55. Then, over the weekend, Cristian placed 3rd again in the Carrera Cruz de Humilladero. The distance was about 4.7k and Esther ran 17:35 and Cristian, 15:36. In London, Phelim Murray and Sarah Lyons ran in the Victoria Park 5k. Phelim’s result was not recorded, but Sarah ran 22:20 for 29th and 4th spots in a field of just under 200.

There was another midweek race in the Irish mountains last week. The event was an 8k race in the Dublin mountains around Carrickgollogan with a climb of 280m. 170 runners completed the event, among them at least 8 Crusaders. The contingent was led home by Brendan Murphy in 4th place with a time of 34:15 about 40s behind the winner. Brendan was followed by Jason Kehoe (18th in 38:20), with Clare Sullivan and Becky Quinn next. Clare placed 23rd overall and 2nd female finisher in 39:00, followed by Becky (25th and 3rd in 39:09). On a return from injury, Warren Swords placed 34th in 41:01, followed by Ollie McGrath (41st in41:49). The contingent was completed by Caoimhe Dempsey (62nd and 11th in 45:19) and Gavan Doherty (90th in 49:34). Finally, in Southern France, Valentin Akdim, our exile in Bordeaux, ran in the Trail de Mourtis, where he placed 18th in 6h28m on the 46km course in the mountains.

Taking advantage of the good bank holiday weather, parkrunners were out in force on Saturday morning. However, Michael O’Conor was our only first finisher in ireland, running in his native Listowel where he headed a field of 42 in 17:49. Nevertheless, we also had a first finisher in the UK, where Thomas Vogée ran in Kesgrave once again, crossing the line ahead of 327 other runners in a time of 17:48. Dee Lawlor ran in Marlay Park where, in a field of 610, he placed 3rd in 17:40, followed by Lisa Branigan and Aaron Farrell running side by side. Lisa placed 316th and 90th in 28:50, with Aaron being given 317th spot in the same time. As usual we had our biggest contingent in the 232-strong field in Poolbeg. Kenan Furlong took 3rd place in 17:51, followed by Stephen Hurley (4th in 18:08). Next came Pat Quill (20th in 21:37), followed by John Lohan (31st in 22:12), Josie Ward (39th and 2nd in 22:49), Kevin Kenny (54th in 23:38), Sharon Woods (63rd and 4th in 24:15), Franky Keane (85th in 25:28), Alan Martin (96th in 26:11), Djinn Von Noorden (105th and 19th in 26:31) and Tanja Narancic (118th and 24th in 27:06) alongside Aitor Arribas Velasco (119th in 27:07). Aisling O’Riordan (128th and 29th in 27:38) was next, followed by Mari Hansen (163rd and 49th in 29:47) and Maureen McGinley (179th and 61st in 30:45) completing the picture.

In Father Collins Park, Mikel Crisostomo placed 23rd in 22:34 as part of a longer run, followed, in the field of 156, by Emer Kenny (61st and 13th in 26:45). Chris Bannon and Darina Scully joined 131 other runners in River Valley Park, where Chris placed 21st in 24:23, whilst Darina helped pace the 28 minutes runners, placing 50th and 15th in 27:36. Maria Pertl was our sole runner in Tolka Valley Park where, alongside 67 other participants, she placed 36th and 11th in 28:49. Ciara McElligott ran in Killarney House parkrun, where, in a field of 147, she placed 111th and 41st in 32:46.

Meanwhile, before running in the Limerick half on Sunday, Máirín and Lisa Shine joined 50 other runners in Illanmanaugh near Limerick, where Máirín placed 25th and 13th in 35:01, followed by Lisa who placed 27th and 14th in 35:03. In Midleton Greenway Lorraine McMahon placed 55th and 14th in 28:09 in a field of 142, whilst Ross Neill joined a substantial field of 617 in Ormeau Park in Belfast where he placed 12th in 19:03.

Mairead Cashman headed to Bere Island in Co. Cork where she ran 33:36 for 31st and 16th spots in a field of 84, whilst, in a field of 626, we had three Crusaders in St. Anne’s Raheny. Kabir Sala placed 97th in 22:59, followed by Michael Maughan (121st in 23:24) and Bo Chicoine (204th in 26:06). Paul F. Kelly joined 229 other runners in Poppintree where he placed 59th in 25:03, whilst Olwyn Dunne placed 105th and 28th in 30:06, pacing the 30-minute runners, in Cabinteely. Olwyn was joined by Carina Davidson in the 203-strong field, with Carina placing 169th and 64th in 40:13 as she continues her rehab.
We had two runners in Shanganagh with its field of 341 participants. Aoife McCarthy ran 23:35 for 73rd and 19th spots, followed by Jill Nason (223rd and 75th in 29:31). Meanwhile, in London, our exiles ran in Gunnersbury and Battersea. In the former, Thom Martini ran 36:05 for 635th spot in a field of 761, whilst in the latter with its field of 1,000 participants, Rob Glascott placed 71st in 19:24.

Limerick Half marathon (4537)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Chris Leuken 1 01:08:40
33 Alex Murphy 1 01:19:55
Crusaders AC runners
55 Paul Reidy 01:22:29
71 Eugene McDonough 01:23:39
161 Kev Moore 01:28:55
365 Mary Donnelly 01:34:51 (37)
588 Kevin Kavanagh 01:39:10
625 Luke Haran 01:39:45
634 Emily Glen 01:39:54 (84)
1347 Aoife McCarthy 01:49:23 (248)
2388 Lisa Shine 01:59:21 (678)
3522 Máirín Shine 02:13:55 (1315)
Full results here: https://greatlimerickrun.com/
Limerick marathon (1412)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Pawel Kosek 1 02:25:54
16 Ava Crean 1 02:43:39
Crusaders AC runner
97 Mark Culleton 03:03:56 (PB)
Full results here: https://greatlimerickrun.com/
Limerick 6-miler (7439)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 John Travers 1 00:29:24
12 Sinead O’Connor 1 00:34:32
Crusaders AC runner
1941 Lorraine McMahon 00:56:23 (190)
Full results here: https://greatlimerickrun.com/
Belfast Marathon (5218)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Tilahun Nigussie 1 02:13:37
19 Millicent Kibet 1 02:38:30
Crusaders AC runners
712 Marcus Phelan 03:25:27 (PB)
1545 Ryan Preston 03:46:26
3327 Lloyd Hamilton 04:25:11
Full results here: https://www.popupraces.ie/race/moy-park-belfast-city-marathon-2025/#1_D4F9EC
West of Ireland Women's Mini Marathon (TBD)
Overall place Name Chiptime
1 Freya Renton 00:36:12
Crusaders AC runner
7 Ciara Regan 00:41:46
Full results here: TBD
Drogheda 10k (1531)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Sean Doran 1 00:32:13
6 Aine Cotter 1 00:36:02
Crusaders AC runner
60 Eddie Nugent 00:40:45
Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/drogheda_10k_2025/5522/results
IMRA Carrickgollen 8k (170)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Daire Finn 1 00:33:36
15 Sorcha Loughnane 1 00:37:39
Crusaders AC runners
4 Brendan Murphy 00:34:15
18 Jason Kehoe 00:38:20
23 Clare Sullivan 00:39:00 (2)
25 Becky Quinn 00:39:09 (3)
34 Warren Swords 00:41:01
41 Ollie McGrath 00:41:49
62 Caoimhe Dempsey 00:45:19 (11)
90 Gavan Doherty 00:49:34
Full results here: https://www.imra.ie/events/results/id/2655
Illanmanaugh Parkrun (52)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Eamonn Morgan 1 00:21:33
2 Amy Meaney 1 00:21:35
Crusaders AC runners
25 Máirín Shine 00:35:01 (13)
27 Lisa Shine 00:35:03 (14)
Tolka Valley Parkrun (68)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Fumiaki Fujita 1 00:16:36
12 Aleksandra Sobota 1 00:23:15
Crusaders AC runner
36 Maria Pertl 00:28:49 (11)
Listowel Parkrun (42)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Michael O’Conor 1 00:17:49
9 Stephanie Hawkins 1 00:23:05
Crusaders AC runner
1 Michael O’Conor 00:17:49
Killarney House Parkrun (147)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 James Grufferty 1 00:17:57
13 Grainne Byrne 1 00:21:44
Crusaders AC runner
111 Ciara McElligott 00:32:46 (41)
Poolbeg Parkrun (232)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Tom Rehal 1 00:17:24
33 Ella Jennings 1 00:22:21
Crusaders AC runners
3 Kenan Furlong 00:17:51
4 Stephen Hurley 00:18:08
20 Pat Quill 00:21:37
31 John Lohan 00:22:12
39 Josie Ward 00:22:49 (2)
54 Kevin Kenny 00:23:38
63 Sharon Woods 00:24:15 (4)
85 Franky Keane 00:25:28
96 Alan Martin 00:26:11
105 Djinn Von Noorden 00:26:31 (19)
118 Tanja Narancic 00:27:06 (24)
119 Aitor Arribas Velasco 00:27:07
128 Aisling O’Riordan 00:27:38 (29)
163 Mari Hansen 00:29:47 (49)
179 Maureen McGinley 00:30:45 (61)
Bere Island Parkrun (84)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Cyril McNamara 1 00:22:00
3 Laura O’Sullivan Fenton 1 00:22:44
Crusaders AC runner
31 Mairead Cashman 00:33:36 (16)
Malahide Parkrun (355)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Kenneth Nolan 1 00:17:17
3 Annette Kealy 1 00:18:35
Crusaders AC runner
149 Aoife Cowhie 00:25:42 (33)
Marlay Parkrun (610)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Mark McDonald 1 00:16:45
50 Ellie Woulfe 1 00:21:45
Crusaders AC runners
3 Derek Lawlor 00:17:40
316 Lisa Branigan 00:28:50 (90)
317 Aaron Farrell 00:28:50
St. Anne’s Parkrun (626)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Barry Meehan 1 00:16:47
22 Claire O’Leary 1 00:19:23
Crusaders AC runners
97 Kabir Sala 00:22:59
121 Michael Maughan 00:23:24
204 Bo Chicoine 00:26:06
Ormeau Parkrun (617)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 David Hudson 1 00:16:55
15 Harriet Buswell 1 00:19:36
Crusaders AC runner
12 Ross Neill 00:19:03
Cabinteely Parkrun (203)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 John Golden 1 00:19:32
3 Eleanor Early 1 00:19:52
Crusaders AC runners
105 Olwyn Dunne 00:30:06 (28)
169 Carina Davidson 00:40:13 (64)
Poppintree Parkrun (230)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Pádraig MacCriostail 1 00:18:12
12 Peigi Allen 1 00:21:15
Crusaders AC runner
59 Paul F. Kelly 00:25:03
Father Collins Parkrun (156)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Sean Kelly 1 00:17:14
10 Roisin Vance 1 00:21:03
Crusaders AC runners
23 Mikel Crisostomo 00:22:34
61 Emer Kenny 00:26:45 (13)
River Valley Parkrun (133)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Brian O’Reilly 1 00:19:12
13 Cecile Ollagnier 1 00:22:54
Crusaders AC runner
21 Chris Bannon 00:24:23
50 Darina Scully 00:27:36 (15)
Midleton Greenway Parkrun (142)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Nadine Forde 1 00:18:40
2 Michael Harty 1 00:18:40
Crusaders AC runner
55 Lorraine McMahon 00:28:09 (14)
Shanganagh Parkrun (341)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Drew Donohoe 1 00:16:51
18 Liadh Fitzmaurice 1 00:19:47
Crusaders AC runners
73 Aoife McCarthy 00:23:35 (19)
223 Jill Nason 00:29:31 (75)