![]() As Donore Harriers athlete Frank McNally wrote in his latest Irishman’s Diary column in the Irish Times, “the last days of September and all of October had been cancelled. We had somehow gone straight to November instead”. It certainly has been a chilly few days recently, with a fair amount of wind up until Sunday. Thankfully, anyone racing in the Autumn Open XC races would not have had to experience much in the way of wind, but, definitely, they would have felt the change of seasons. Cross country (with appropriate conditions) is now in full swing! We start, however, with mention of a couple of races on the streets of Longford on Friday evening. Claire Mooney ran in a small, but quality, women’s field for the Ray Flynn Mile, completing the distance in 5:14 to place 7th, whilst Enda Clarke joined a much larger field of 167 to run in an open 5k, where he distinguished himself with a 2nd place finish in a PB time of 16:51. It is probably a reflection that, with the Dublin marathon on the near-time horizon, there are not many road races on offer for the time being, but, thankfully, Crusaders had the opportunity to stretch their legs on Sunday in the Athletic Ireland Autumn Open XC on the purpose-built course in Abbotstown. The overall event, traditionally, used, inter alia, for determining teams for the Masters 5-Nations XC towards the end of the year, also included a 4k “experience” to introduce XC to those who may be less familiar with such competition. We had at least 9 Crusaders in the small field of 67, some running for the first time in XC and all finishing the 2-lap race. Kabir Sala was our first runner across the line in 3rd place with a time of 16:32, followed by Luz Estevan who narrowly missed out on first place in the women’s race, placing 2nd in 17:42, 9 seconds behind the winner of the women’s race and 5th place overall. Luz was followed by Daniele Rietti in 8th place in a time of 18:13. Then, Sean Brady was next, placing 10th in 18:44, followed closely by Bo Chicoine, in a baptism of fire, placing 11th in 18:49. Next to cross the line was Laura O’Malley (18th and 7th in 19:15), followed by Paul E. Kelly (50th in 22:45) and Lorraine McMahon (54th and 23rd in 24:28). Completing the contingent came Darren Kelly (63rd in 28:44). In the masters’ men’s 8k race, involving a field of 94 (4 x 2k laps), Paul Cowhie placed 64th overall, but, more importantly, he has a decent chance of being selected as 3rd M60 runner to represent Ireland in the 5-Nations tournament. Paul’s time was a respectable 30:17, just 16 seconds behind his age category winner, ex-Olympian and holder of several masters World records, Tommy Hughes. Members may also be interested to hear that Catherine Thornton of GCH, who trains with us periodically, placed 4th in her F35 age category in her race (10th overall in a field of 48 in a time of 23:04 for a 6k distance) and will now have to wait and see if she will be selected to represent Ireland at the same event. The 4th place in a 4-person Irish team always depends on whether there is a strong wildcard entry that was notified to the organisers before the race. Fingers crossed. Further afield, we had current members and exiles in action in races outside of Ireland over the weekend. In Chicago, we had at least 6 runners in the marathon, some finding the race quite tough in the second half. Liz Nixon dug deep to finish, whilst TJ. Bourke was forced to start walking around 35k after suffering overnight from a stomach bug. Carolyn O’Reilly was our first runner across the line, recording a great time of 3:11:24, followed by Conor MacGuinness who completed the 42.2k in also an excellent 3:13:06. Triona ran 3:28:25 with a relatively even paced approach and finishing in 15th place in her F55 age category. Our Dubai-based exile, John Cunnane, recorded a PB time of 3:39:27 (his brother Darragh running 3:04:14). One of our South African members, Liam Pardoe, ran in the Budapest marathon along the banks of the Danube, which he completed in 4:17:00, whilst Maurice Kelter took part in the Melbourne marathon, where he recorded another super time of 2:53:10. Then, Barry O’Neill finished the Munich Half marathon in 1:55:00, whilst Brian Regan paced a friend to an 11-minute PB improvement in the Oxford Half marathon, which they completed in 1:45:00. In Spain, 3 of our exiles were in action. Pablo Sanchez won his M40 age category in the Campéon de Madrid de Milla en Ruta, a mile race in Madrid, whilst both Cristian Vilchez Ceballos and his partner Esther Requena Ferri took part in the Carrera Ciudad de Málaga 10k, which Cristian completed in a PB time of 35:08 and Esther ran 40:03. Perhaps, because there were fewer races on offer this weekend, participation figures were up in the parkruns on Saturday morning. There were clearly lots of Crusaders out there (nearly 60 at least), and running well. We had several first and podium finishers. Brian Hyland made a welcome return with a first-place finish in the 82-strong field in Knocknacarra, running 19:49, whilst Ciara Lehane placed 13th overall and first female finisher in Mallow Castle. In a field of 69, Ciara ran 23:28, whilst, in Mullingar, with its field of 115, Kate Murray placed 16th and 1st in 23:10. Aoife Quigley placed 9th and 1st in the 476-strong field in Marlay Park, with a time of 19:34, followed by Daniel Lowe (17th in 20:25) and Sharon Woods (90th and 10th in 24:25), whilst Jade Murphy, placing 27th overall, was a first finisher in Poolbeg. The field there measured 226 and Jade ran 21:36. She was preceded by Stephen Hurley (3rd in 17:32), Michael Wycherley (4th in 17:41), Alby Allan (15th in 20:36), Zlatko Kulic (18th in 20:49) and Kev Moore (24th in 21:27). In an event that saw many of our runners include the parkrun in their marathon preparation long runs, Jade was followed by Mary Donnelly (34th and 2nd in 22:38), Kabir Sala (38th in 22:50), Gerard Moore (41st in 23:04), Paul Campbell (45th in 23:19), Bo Chicoine (48th in 23:22), Fiona Bane (51st and 7th in 23:29), John Lohan (52nd in 23:32), Kevin Kenny (53rd in 23:35), Charles Cartledge (likely 63rd in 24:00), Russell Murphy (94th in 25:55), Franky Keane (95th in 25:56), John Corish (120th in 27:19), Tara Murphy (127th and 32nd in 27:43), Lisa Branigan (139th and 42nd in 28:19), Djinn Von Noorden (140th and 43rd in 28:20), Aisling O’Riordan (142nd and 44th in 28:29) and Maureen McGinley (143rd and 45th in 28:33). We had two first finishers in Tolka Valley Park. Felipe De Sousa ran 19:38 to head the overall field of 55, being followed by Laura O’Malley who headed the women’s field, placing 10th and 1st in 24:14. In between came Phelim Murray (5th in 21:40), with Sarah Lyons a little further back (29th and 10th in 29:35). In addition to those listed above, there were several others with podium places. Preparing for next week’s Amsterdam marathon, Emer Kenny joined 113 other runners in Father Collins where she placed 17th and 3rd in 22:42, whilst Eoghan Corrigan ran in a field of 201 participants in Kilcock, where he placed 2nd in 19:58. Another 2nd placed finisher was Dee Lawlor who ran 18:57 in the 167-strong field in Cabinteely. Dee was followed by Louise Dobbyn (17th and 2nd in 23:24) and then by Stephen Mulligan (27th in 25:04), Jill Nason (84th and 22nd in 30:10) and Carina Davidson (94th and 26th in 31:05). Completing our list of podium placers, Emily Glen ran alongside 246 other participants in Shanganagh, where she placed 19th and 2nd in 20:43, followed by Tanja Narancic (65th and 10th in 24:27). Elsewhere, Máirín and Lisa Shine once more ran on Wexford Racecourse, with Lisa placing 84th and 29th in 33:03 and Máirín placing 86th and 30th in 33:19 in a field of 115. Ross Neill and Áine Crotty ran in St. Anne’s, where, in a field of 492, Ross placed 5th in 18:08, whilst Áine completed the 5k distance in 29:31, for 299th and 87th places. Aoife Cowhie ran alongside 302 other runners in Malahide where she placed 101st and 21st in 25:20, whilst Luke Clarke joined 262 other participants in Griffeen Park, where he placed 70th in 25:04. Mairead Cashman placed 57th and 21st in the 93-strong field in Sligo, whilst Fanny Trébouet joined 83 other runners in Brickfields, placing 59th and 15th in 31:13. Darina Scully ran once again in River Valley, where, in a field of 99, she placed 62nd and 21st in 33:38, whilst Martina White recorded a time of 28:32 to place 53rd and 19th in the 116-strong field in Porterstown. Paul F. Kelly was our sole runner in Poppintree where, in a field of 192, he ran 24:51 for 42nd place, whilst Olwyn Dunne headed to Exeter to watch son Jack play for the Exeter Chiefs, in the process running the Exeter Riverside parkrun alongside 469 other participants. Olwyn placed 185th and 36th in 26:17. Further east, Louise O’Riordan joined 693 other runners on Tooting Common, where she placed 243rd and 49th in 26:11, whilst Rob Glascott ran a time of 26:06 to place 347th in the 924-strong field on Clapham Common. Further north, Jeanie Watson joined 694 other runners in Finsbury Park where she placed 83rd and 5th in 22:38, whilst, finally, down under, Deirdre Kennedy placed 208th in a field of 421 in Centennial Park in Sydney, where she recorded a time of 27:25. Ray Flynn women’s 1 mile race (7) Overall place Name Chiptime 1 Amy O’Donoghue 00:04.51 Crusaders AC runner 7 Claire Mooney 00:05.14 Full results here: https://myrunresults.com/events/ray_flynn_mile_and_5k_night_run_2024/5470/results Ray Flynn Night 5k Run (167) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Kevin Moore 1 00:15:57 15 Treasa Gibney 1 00:19:51 Crusaders AC runner 2 Enda Clarke 00:16:51 (PB) Full results here: https://myrunresults.com/events/ray_flynn_mile_and_5k_night_run_2024/5470/results Athletic Ireland Autumn Open Experience 4k XC (67) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Samuel Curtis 1 00:15:27 4 Renée Letz 1 00:17:33 Crusaders AC runners 3 Kabir Sala 00:16:32 5 Luz Estevan 00:17:42 (2) 8 Daniele Rietti 00:18:13 10 Sean Brady 00:18:44 11 Bo Chicoine 00:18:49 18 Laura O’Malley 00:19:15 (7) 50 Paul E. Kelly 00:22:45 54 Lorraine McMahon 00:24:28 (23) 63 Darren Kelly 00:28:44 Full results here: https://myrunresults.com/events/national_autumn_open__national_juvenile_relays_2024/5334/results Athletic Ireland Autumn XC Trials (M60) 8k (11) Overall place Name Guntime 1 Tommy Hughes 00:30:01 Crusaders AC runner 3 Paul Cowie 00:30:17 Full results here: https://myrunresults.com/events/national_autumn_open__national_juvenile_relays_2024/5334/results Father Collins Parkrun (114) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Keith Malone 1 00:18:07 13 Lauren McGinn 1 00:21:45 Crusaders AC runner 17 Emer Kenny 00:22:42 (3) Porterstown Parkrun (116) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Cian Buckley 1 00:18:29 5 Caroline McCarthy 1 00:20:32 Crusaders AC runner 53 Martina White 00:28:32 (19) Tolka Valley Parkrun (55) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Felipe De Sousa 1 00:19:38 10 Laura O’Malley 1 00:24:14 Crusaders AC runners 1 Felipe De Sousa 00:19:38 5 Phelim Murray 00:21:40 10 Laura O’Malley 00:24:14 (1) 29 Sarah Lyons 00:29:35 (10) Poolbeg Parkrun (226) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Rob Cross 1 00:17:01 27 Jade Murphy 1 00:21:36 Crusaders AC runners 3 Stephen Hurley 00:17:32 4 Michael Wycherley 00:17:41 15 Alby Allan 00:20:36 18 Zlatko Kulic 00:20:49 24 Kev Moore 00:21:27 27 Jade Murphy 00:21:36 (1) 34 Mary Donnelly 00:22:38 (2) 38 Kabir Sala 00:22:50 41 Gerard Moore 00:23:04 45 Paul Campbell 00:23:19 48 Bo Chicoine 00:23:22 51 Fiona Bane 00:23:29 (7) 52 John Lohan 00:23:32 53 Kevin Kenny 00:23:35 [63 Charles Cartledge 00:24:00] 94 Russell Murphy 00:25:55 95 Franky Keane 00:25:56 120 John Corish 00:27:19 127 Tara Murphy 00:27:43 (32) 139 Lisa Branigan 00:28:19 (42) 140 Djinn Von Noorden 00:28:20 (43) 142 Aisling O’Riordan 00:28:29 (44) 143 Maureen McGinley 00:28:33 (45) Royal Canal, Kilcock Parkrun (201) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Michael Comer 1 00:18:17 8 Denise Fox 1 00:20:36 Crusaders AC runner 2 Eoghan Corrigan 00:19:58 Knocknacarra Parkrun (82) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Brian Hyland 1 00:19:49 5 Aining Zhan 1 00:20:59 Crusaders AC runner 1 Brian Hyland 00:19:49 St. Anne’s Parkrun (492) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Brian Sexton 1 00:16:16 50 Treasa Kelly 1 00:21:17 Crusaders AC runners 5 Ross Neill 00:18:08 299 Áine Crotty 00:29:31 (87) Brickfields Parkrun (84) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Michael Corrigan 1 00:19:02 10 Mirela Smolenska 1 00:22:17 Crusaders AC runner 59 Fanny Trébouet 00:31:13 (15) Mullingar Parkrun (115) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Kieran Nolan 1 00:19:43 16 Kate Murray 1 00:23:10 Crusaders AC runner 16 Kate Murray 00:23:10 (1) Mallow Castle Parkrun (69) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 David Sheedy 1 00:17:58 13 Ciara Lehane 1 00:23:28 Crusaders AC runner 13 Ciara Lehane 00:23:28 (1) River Valley Parkrun (99) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 3 Luke Peyton 1 00:22:04 4 Cécile Ollagnier 1 00:22:12 Crusaders AC runner 62 Darina Scully 00:33:38 (21) Shanganagh Parkrun (247) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Conal Cremen 1 00:15:58 17 Catherine Harris 1 00:20:37 Crusaders AC runners 19 Emily Glen 00:20:43 (2) 65 Tanja Narancic 00:24:27 (10) Poppintree Parkrun (192) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Bobby Bedford 1 00:18:36 16 Mya O’Reilly 1 00:21:13 Crusaders AC runner 42 Paul F. Kelly 00:24:51 Wexford Racecourse Parkrun (115) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Anthony Dowd 1 00:18:19 5 Jackie Carthy 1 00:20:39 Crusaders AC runners 84 Lisa Shine 00:33:03 (29) 86 Máirín Shine 00:33:19 (30) Marlay Parkrun (476) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Callum O’Neill 1 00:17:58 9 Aoife Quigley 1 00:19:34 Crusaders AC runners 9 Aoife Quigley 00:19:34 (1) 17 Daniel Lowe 00:20:25 90 Sharon Woods 00:24:25 (10) Cabinteely Parkrun (192) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Sean Terek 1 00:18:46 8 Malika Hammani 1 00:21:08 Crusaders AC runners 2 Dee Lawlor 00:18:57 17 Louise Dobbyn 00:23:24 (2) 27 Stephen Mulligan 00:25:04 84 Jill Nason 00:30:10 (22) 94 Carina Davidson 00:31:05 (26) Malahide Parkrun (303) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Jamie Gahan 1 00:15:32 8 Annette Kealy 1 00:18:42 Crusaders AC runner 101 Aoife Cowhie 00:25:20 (21) Griffeen Parkrun (263) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Gary Farrell 1 00:18:42 9 Ava Rose Clarke 1 00:19:48 Crusaders AC runner 70 Luke Clarke 00:25:04 Sligo Parkrun (93) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Gavin Dolan 1 00:20:05 11 Ann McNamara 1 00:23:48 Crusaders AC runner 57 Mairead Cashman 00:31:27 (21) Comments are closed.
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