Poetry in Motion in Limerick and Success in the Rain in Spain

1/5/2017

Irish M35 European Masters silver medal winning team

Crusaders took advantage of the bank holiday weekend to take a road trip down to Limerick to participate in the 4 events on offer: a marathon, a half marathon, a marathon relay and a 6 mile run. There were perhaps as many as 20 who took to the streets down there.

But we should start by warmly congratulating Jason Kehoe who took part in the European Masters Mountain Running Championships over the weekend in Montcada near Barcelona in Spain and in wet conditions took bronze medal individually behind two Spaniards and team silver for Ireland.

In Limerick the marathon and relay went first. Tony Owens took part in the relay as part of a works team from the Irish Times and they managed to come in 6th out of 70 teams in 3:03:40. In the meantime, Paul Dempsey, Kris Ryan and Leo Lundy were all competing as individuals in the 727-strong marathon. Paul was on for a sub-3 time until the last 5k when the wind on the second half of the course together with the accumulated hills took their toll a little. Still, he managed a super PB time of 3:03:26 (37th) (a 3 minute improvement), enough just about to equal the 5th place relay team! Kris and Leo were actually going to follow the race in Limerick with an outing in the Belfast marathon on the bank holiday Monday (something that Leo at least has done before). They both recorded creditable times in Limerick, with Kris taking 275th place overall, 26th woman, in 3:48:45 and Leo placing 430th in 4:08:12. News has just come in that, in warm conditions in Belfast, Kris ran 4:05 and Leo, 4:57. A tough day by all accounts.

We had 4 runners in the half. Yvonne Macauley was our star, with 4th place in the women’s race (65th overall in a field of 1,741) and a time of 1:27:12. Overcoming a recent bout of flu which had seriously dented his preparations, Eugene McDonough produced an excellent result in coming home in 1:28:04 (73) and Eugene was followed by Luke Haran (160th in 1:35:08) and Edwina Quinlan (300th overall, 39th woman, in 1:38:44), another runner to have suffered from a loss of time in training.

The 6 mile race attracted nearly 4,200 runners, among them at least 11 Crusaders. In a race won by Peter Somba, just back from Kenya, winning for the second year in a row, and once again hanging behind Sergiu Ciobanu until the final few hundred metres to win by 2 seconds, (and also with the women's race being won by Siobhan O’Doherty, who seems to be winning everything at the moment), we had some tremendous results. Indeed, we had 8 runners to finish inside the top 100, with 6 among the top 25. First home for us was Limerick man, Rob Cross, in 6th place and a time of 33:33, followed by James Murphy in 12th (36:03), the two runners finishing respectively 2nd and 4th in the M35 age category. Just behind James came Orla Drumm, another runner to hail from Limerick, recovering from a recent injury, who placed 2nd in the women’s race and 13th overall (36:05) and thereafter by Hugh Larkin who accompanied Orla for most of the race. Hugh placed 14th in 36:11 and 5th in the M35 category. Frank Hague was next, most likely with a PB in this event of such an unusual distance. Frank placed 18th in 37:08 and he was followed by Catherine Thornton who also enjoyed an extremely strong run to place 4th in the women’s race, 21st overall, in a likely PB time of 38:01. Will Owens was next in 39th (40:05), followed by Ailbhe O’Driscoll-Collins (again with a likely PB time) making a welcome return to racing (61st overall, 13th woman, in 41:22). The contingent was completed by excellent runs from Edel Haverty (179th overall, 28th woman, in 42:45) and by another Limerick native, Sarah Cush (228th overall, 39th woman, in 44:04), and also by Thomas O’Rourke who completed the distance in 50:27 (747th).

No doubt, there was much partying to follow in true Cru tradition!

Also on the Sunday the Tallaght 5K took place. The field measured 230 runners and the race was run by resurgent Tom Fitzpatrick of Tallaght in 15:37, another runner overcoming recent injury. We had two runners in the race. Ilona McElroy, working her way back from recent injury, took 3rd place in the women’s race, 52nd overall, in a time of 18:53, whilst Neil Brown ran a PB to come home in 112th place, 6t in his age category, in a time of 21:52.

On Bank Holiday Monday, Dee Ni Chearbhaill took part in the Leinster Masters Road Championships in Kilkenny, taking 19th place (8th in her age category) in a field of nearly 50 runners. Dee's time for the 3K distance was an excellent 12:13. Husband Sean took a team silver for United Striders in the novices race.

Last Thursday saw the 126th running of the Clonliffe 2 mile race. The 145-strong event was won by John Coghlan of MSB in 9:15. We had 5 members in the race. First home was Fiona Shine in 46th place overall, 7th woman, in a super time of 12:00. Fiona was followed by Philip Matthews (51st in 12:14) and by Lisa Shine (76th overall, 16t female, in 13:08), Brendan Glynn (78th in 13:11) and Paul Kelly (135th in 16:48). No doubt there would have been some PBs among the results as the distance is rarely run.

The day before, the first of this season’s graded events took place on the track in the Morton Stadium. The outcome was as follows: Alix Hughes placed 2nd in 13:30 in the 100m C race; Grainne Regan and Geraldine Clements placed respectively 3rd in 2:34:37 and 10th in 2:51:12 in the women’s 800m C race; In the men’s 800m A race Kevin Woods was 1st in 1:55:00, Michael Kiely 10th in 2:02:79 and Rob Cross 11th in 2:05:97; Neil Monahan took on the Men’s 800m C race and placed 10th in 2:22:84, whilst Brian O’Kelly placed 16th in 9:09:23 in the Men’s 3,000m A event; lastly, on the track, John McAuley placed 24th in the combined Men’s B+C 3,000m race with a time of 9:57:75. All-rounder Alix Hughes also took on the high jump placing 6th with a leap of 1.25m.

Finally, there were as usual some good results in the parkruns. Kate Murray joined nearly 600 other runners in Marlay, placing 92nd overall, 10th female, in 22:56. In a field of 400 in St. Anne’s, Matt Cranley placed 13th in 19:51, followed by Denis Murphy (144th in 24:56), Berndt Heim (189th in 26:21), John Fitzsimons (289th in 29:43) and Lorraine Fitzsimons (334th overall, 113th woman, in 31:57). Aidan Hudner once again took on Victoria Park in Glasgow. In a field of 361 runners he placed 61st in 21:41. Ciara McElligott joined 120 runners in Naas to come home in 31:14 and 84th place overall (28th woman). Sharon Woods had an easy run around Tymon, placing 122nd overall (64th woman) in 40:54.The field was 123. Maria Pertl and Diarmuid Byrne (just returning from injury) ran in Poppintree with 143 others, with Maria taking 78th place overall, 27th female, and Diarmuid taking 79th in 28:36 and 28:37, respectively. 3 Crusaders took on Cabinteely: Tom Dunne was 7th out of 137 in 22:15; he was followed by Mairin Shine (103rd overall, 45th woman, in 31:33) and Lisa Shine (104th overall, 46th woman, in the same time). Lastly, Fiona Bane ran an excellent 22:52 in Father Collins,placing 3rd woman, 16th overall, in a field of 103 runners.

Great Limerick 6 mile race
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Peter Somba 1 00:29:36
10 Siobhan O’Doherty 1 00:35:03
Crusaders AC runners
6 Rob Cross 00:33:33
12 James Murphy 00:36:03
13 Orla Drumm 00:36:05 (2)
14 Hugh Larkin 00:36:11
18 Frank Hague 00:37:08 (PB)
21 Catherine Thornton 00:38:01 (PB) (4)
39 Will Owens 00:40:05
61 Ailbhe O’Driscoll-Collins 00:41:22 (PB) (13)
179 Edel Haverty 00:42:45 (PB) (28)
228 Sarah Cush 00:44:04 (39)
747 Thomas O’Rourke 00:50:27
Full results here: http://tdleventservices.co.uk/race-results.php
Great Limerick Half marathon
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Kevin Maunsell 1 01:07:47
17 Jill Hodgins 1 01:18:15
Crusaders AC runners
65 Yvonne Macauley 01:27:12 (4)
73 Eugene McDonough 01:28:04
160 Luke Haran 01:35:08
300 Edwina Quinlan 01:38:44 (39)
Full results here: http://tdleventservices.co.uk/race-results.php
Great Limerick marathon
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Freddie Sittuk 1 02:28:31
13 Pauline Curley 1 02:52:11
Crusaders AC runners
37 Paul Dempsey 03:03:26 (PB)
275 Kris Ryan 03:48:45 (26)
430 Leo Lundy 04:08:12
Full results here: http://tdleventservices.co.uk/race-results.php
Tallaght AC 5K
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Tomas Fitzpatrick 1 00:15:37
40 Laura McDonald 1 00:18:15
Crusaders AC runners
52 Ilona McElroy 00:18:53 (3)
112 Neil Brown 00:21:52 (PB)
Full results here: https://www.popupraces.ie/events/tallaght-ac-5k-road-race/
Clonliffe 2 mile race
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 John Coghlan 1 00:09:15
19 Sorcha Ni Dhomhnaill 1 00:10:58
Crusaders AC runners
46 Fiona Shine 00:12:00 (7)
51 Philip Matthews 00:12:14
76 Lisa Shine 00:13:08 (16)
78 Brendan Glynn 00:13:11
135 Paul Kelly 00:16:48
Full results here: http://clonliffeharriersac.com/category/clonliffe-2-mile-road-race/
Naas Parkrun #161
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Michael Lawlor 1 00:17:56
17 Jane Holmes 1 00:22:40
Crusaders AC runner
84 Ciara McElligott 00:31:14 (28)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/naas/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=161
Tymon Parkrun #149
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Sean Mac Fhearraigh 1 00:19:56
6 Anne Hughes 1 00:22:28
Crusaders AC runner
122 Sharon Woods 00:40:54 (64)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/tymon/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=149
Poppintree Parkrun #130
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Bobby Bedford 1 00:17:24
24 Aisling Killilea 1 00:23:01
Crusaders AC runners
78 Maria Pertl 00:28:36 (27)
79 Diarmuid Byrne 00:28:37
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/poppintree/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=130
Father Collins Parkrun #84
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Alan Foley 1 00:18:23
3 Cecile Ollagnier 1 00:20:00
Crusaders AC runner
16 Fiona Bane 00:22:52 (3)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/fathercollins/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=84
Marlay Parkrun #207
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Toby Ruffer 1 00:16:50
11 Lynne Hennessy 1 00:18:46
Crusaders AC runner
92 Kate Murray 00:22:56 (10)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/marlay/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=207
Cabinteely Parkrun #109
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Mark Leacy 1 00:19:08
15 Joanne Ryan 1 00:22:15
Crusaders AC runners
7 Tomas Dunne 00:21:17
103 Mairin Shine 00:31:33 (45)
104 Lisa Shine 00:31:33 (46)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/cabinteely/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=109
St Anne’s Parkrun #180
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Joseph O’Donoghue 1 00:17:51
12 Sarah Kelly 1 00:19:50
Crusaders AC runners
13 Matt Cranley 00:19:51
144 Denis Murphy 00:24:56
189 Berndt Heim 00:26:21
289 John Fitzsimons 00:29:43
334 Lorraine Fitzsimons 00:31:57 (113)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/stannes/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=180