Park ‘N’ Fly

L-R: Bo Chicoine, Niamh Trihy, Cynthia Perucca, Marie-Claire Daly, Anna Hernick, Sean Brady, Luz Estevan, Laura O'Malley, Kabir Sala, Lorraine McMahon

Parkruns dominate this week’s report as we wind down towards Christmas, and there were just a few races with Crusader participation that took place, all of them outside Ireland.

The most fascinating event on which to report, took place in Telford in Shropshire in England on Sunday morning. The race was a 10k, quite possibly the fastest in the UK, in its 40th year, and, because of the depth of quality of the field, in order to ensure everyone had an unimpeded run, the field of around 1300 was divided into 3 waves. It was noteworthy for the number of finishers (nearly 60) inside 30 minutes, with the overall winner, Englishman Jack Rowe, recording a course record time of 28:01. Nearly 400 runners broke 35 minutes, including the winner of the women’s race (Amelia Quirk in 32:40) and at least 650 (half the field) completed the distance in under 40 minutes. Among them, running in the 2nd wave on a north-south oriented out-and-back flat course that had to be negotiated twice (after a sharp downhill start and with a 17kph south-westerly wind that thankfully would have had little impact), was Doireann Hughes. Doireann ran a super time of 37:25 which placed her 529th overall and 76th female finisher.

Elsewhere on Sunday, one of our French exiles, now based in Madrid, Charles-Edouard Cattier, ran in the Malaga marathon where he recorded an excellent time of 3:03, just slightly off his PB. The previous day, Frank Renehan ran in a 5k in St. Petersburg in Florida, the Raptor Run, which he completed in 24:29. Then, in Charlotte, North Carolina, David Willis took part alongside at least one member of his family in the Let Me Run 5k where he recorded a time of 20:23.

The majority of results this week come from participation in parkruns. Things were back to normal following last weekend’s hiatus caused by Storm Darragh. Indeed, we saw at least 28 Crusaders return to take part in the Poolbeg parkrun this week.

As usual, we were able to produce a few first finish and podium results. Saoirse McGrath placed 10th overall and first female finisher in the 446-strong field that took part in Marlay Park. Saoirse ran a highly respectable 18:29 and was followed by Aoife Quigley (77th and 10th in 23:34), Barry O’Neill (150th in 25:34) and Ailish Hassett (154th and 31st in 25;38). Jade Murphy was another first finisher, placing 2nd overall in a field of 37 in Edwin Carolan. Jade’s time was 21:18.

Peter O’Toole placed 2nd in St. Anne’s Raheny. Running alongside 396 other participants, Peter’s time was 17:37 and he was followed across the line by Irene Gorman (46th and 5th in 21:32). Franky Keane placed 3rd in a field of 50 in Knocknacarra where he recorded a time of 23:04, whilst we had several runners in Bushy Park, two with podium finishes. In the field of 165, Ross Neill placed 3rd in 18:56 and he was followed by Kev Moore (8th in 20:12), Mary Donnelly (19th and 3rd in 22:00) and by Mairead Cashman (122nd and 38th in 30:21), celebrating her 60th birthday that day.

Darina Scully placed 18th and 2nd in 25:07 in River Valley Park, alongside 80 other runners, whilst Emily Glen also took 2nd place (27th overall) in Poolbeg in a time of 22:50. In the field of 197, Luke Clarke placed 2nd overall in 17:42 and he was followed by Kenan Furlong (4th in 18:31). Eddie Nugent came next (7th in 19:54), followed by Zlatko Kulic (9th in 20:11), Piarais Neary (11th in 20:22) and Michael Fitzsimons (12th in 20:27). John Lohan crossed the line next, in 22:28, for 21st spot, and he was followed by Emily and then by Bo Chicoine (36th in 23:19), Laura O’Malley (43rd and 7th in 23:45, celebrating her 100th parkrun) and Luz Estevan (44th and 8th in the same time), just ahead of Kabir Sala (45th in 23:46) and Sean Brady (46th in the same time). Kevin Lambe came next, in 24:01 for 50th spot, followed by Josie Ward (60th and 13th in 24:22), Alan Martin (78th in 25:26), Louise O’Riordan, as part of her long run (81st and 21st in 25:32), Ellen Walsh (89th and 23rd in 25:48), Tara Murphy (9th and 30th in 26:34), Sophia Morgan (104th and 34th in 26:41), Lieze Verberght (118th and 41st in 27:17), Fanny Trébouet (120th and 42nd in 27:22) just behind, Lorraine McMahon (142nd and 53rd in 29:16), Maureen McGinley (147th and 56th in 29:39), Cliodhna O’Reilly (155th in 30:24), just ahead of Iseult Ni Chuinneagain (156th and 63rd in 30:28), Cynthia Perucca (168th and 69th in 31:28) and Niamh Trihy (189th and 84th in 37:33.

Louise Dobbyn placed 25th and 4th in 23:21 in the 181-strong field in Cabinteely. Louise was followed by Olwyn Dunne, with more than 1500 days of continuous running of 5k at least (62nd and 9th in 26:12) and Carina Davidson (157th and 61st in 41:55). We had 3 runners in Darndale with 87 runners in total. Our contingent was led home by Emer Kenny (27th and 11th in 27:48) just ahead of Lisa Shine (28th and 12th in 27:49), with Máirín Shine just a little further back (48th and 16th in 29:51). Eoghan Corrigan pushed a twin buggy around Brickfields, placing 10th in 22:27 in a field of 62, whilst Liam Lyster joined 31 other runners in Strokestown where he took 19th place in 36:52. Kevin Kenny headed to Co. Clare where in Lees Road he placed 14th in 24:56 in a field 56-strong. Aoife and Paul Kelly ran once again in Fairview, where, in a field of 111, Paul placed 42nd in 27:09 and Aoife took 63rd and 17th spots in 30:01, in addition to her long run.

Further afield, Toby Benham also added a parkrun to a much longer effort, placing 24th in 19:26 in the 451-strong field in Worthing. Meanwhile, our London exiles Rob Glascott and his partner Eva Kennedy ran in Battersea Park. In a field of 1003 runners, Rob placed 524th in 26:09, followed by Eva who placed 547th and 145th in 26:34. Finally, it was good to see Kris Ryan back parkrunning, where, in paradise Point in Queensland, Australia, she ran 26:20 for 83rd and 21st places in a field of 336.
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Edwin Carolan Parkrun (37)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Cillian Traynor 1 00:21:13
2 Jade Murphy 1 00:21:18
Crusaders AC runner
2 Jade Murphy 00:21:18 (1)
Strokestown Parkrun (32)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Barry Lohan 1 00:21:04
2 Sarah Dixon 1 00:23:03
Crusaders AC runner
19 Liam Lyster 00:36:52
Brickfields Parkrun (62)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Ciaran Aylward 1 00:18:14
14 Deirdre Faulkner 1 00:24:27
Crusaders AC runner
10 Eoghan Corrigan 00:22:27
Bushy Parkrun (165)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Padraig Mahony 1 00:18:33
15 Suzette Das 1 00:21:30
Crusaders AC runners
3 Ross Neill 00:18:56
8 Kev Moore 00:20:12
19 Mary Donnelly 00:22:00 (3)
122 Mairead Cashman 00:30:21 (38)
Marlay Parkrun (446)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Dermot O’Brian 1 00:16:21
10 Saoirse McGrath 1 00:18:29
Crusaders AC runners
10 Saoirse McGrath 00:18:29 (1)
77 Aoife Quigley 00:23:34 (10)
150 Barry O’Neill 00:25:34
154 Ailish Hassett 00:25:38 (31)
St. Anne’s Parkrun (397)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Anthony Sharkey 1 00:16:59
11 Jane Gormley 1 00:19:00
Crusaders AC runners
2 Peter O’Toole 00:17:37
46 Irene Gorman 00:21:32 (5)
Knocknacarra Parkrun (50)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Abaas Galway 1 00:16:21
8 Sarah Leahy 1 00:24:18
Crusaders AC runner
3 Franky Keane 00:23:04
Lees Road Parkrun (56)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Cathal O’Rourke 1 00:18:04
9 Laura O’Sullivan 1 00:23:17
Crusaders AC runner
14 Kevin Kenny 00:24:56
Cabinteely Parkrun (181)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 David Power 1 00:17:50
5 Robyn Kennedy 1 00:19:56
Crusaders AC runners
25 Louise Dobbyn 00:23:21 (4)
62 Olwyn Dunne 00:26:12 (9)
157 Carina Davidson 00:41:55 (61)
River Valley Parkrun (81)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Brian O’Reilly 1 00:19:11
11 Cecile Ollagnier 1 00:23:27
Crusaders AC runner
18 Darina Scully 00:25:07 (2)
Fairview Parkrun (111)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Seán Cahill 1 00:18:21
26 Orla Deighan 1 00:24:51
Crusaders AC runners
42 Paul F. Kelly 00:27:09
63 Aoife Kelly 00:30:01 (17)
Darndale Parkrun (87)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Anthony Dorran 1 00:17:23
4 Tracey Coleman 1 00:22:06
Crusaders AC runners
27 Emer Kenny 00:27:48 (11)
28 Lisa Shine 00:27:49 (12)
48 Máirín Shine 00:29:51 (16)
Poolbeg Parkrun (197)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Rob Cross 1 00:17:39
8 Miranda Frizzelle 1 00:20:08
Crusaders AC runners
2 Luke Clarke 00:17:42
4 Kenan Furlong 00:18:31
7 Eddie Nugent 00:19:54
9 Zlatko Kulic 00:20:11
11 Piarais Neary 00:20:22
12 Michael Fitzsimons 00:20:27
21 John Lohan 00:22:28
27 Emily Glen 00:22:50 (2)
36 Bo Chicoine 00:23:19
43 Laura O’Malley 00:23:45 (7)
44 Luz Estevan 00:23:45 (8)
45 Kabir Sala 00:23:46
46 Sean Brady 00:23:46
50 Kevin Lambe 00:24:01
60 Josie Ward 00:24:22 (13)
78 Alan Martin 00:25;26
81 Louise O’Riordan 00:25:32 (21)
89 Ellen Walsh 00:25:48 (23)
99 Tara Murphy 00:26:34 (30)
104 Sophia Morgan 00:26:41 (34)
118 Lieze Verberght 00:27:17 (41)
120 Fanny Trébouet 00:27:22 (42)
142 Lorraine McMahon 00:29:16 (53)
147 Maureen McGinley 00:29:39 (56)
155 Cliodhna O’Reilly 00:30:24 (XX)
156 Iseult Ni Chuinneagain 00:30:28 (63)
168 Cynthia Perucca 00:31:28 (69)
189 Niamh Trihy 00:37:33 (84)

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Doireann Hughes (in black)