Relaying the News

2/7/2024

L-R: Irantzu Gárate Muro, Claire Mooney, Michael McGovern, Annie Hughes and Charlotte Myers

What a great spectacle we witnessed over the weekend at the National Senior Track and Field Championships in Santry! There was some fantastic racing across the board, and we had several athletes who played their part, with the club coming away with two bronze medals, in the senior women’s 4 x 400m relay and the men’s 110mH. We also did well in a couple of road races last week.

We start with the T&F championships. On a rainy Saturday, perennial podium placer Matt Behan marked a return home from his new home in Australia with 3rd place in the men’s 110mH straight final, where he recorded a time of 14.90. On the same day, Leo Gormley placed 7th in heat 4 of the 200m heats in 24.39, but unfortunately failed to progress. Likewise, Hugo Magee placed 3rd in heart 3 of the 400m in 48.06, but did not qualify for the next round. On the other hand, Charlotte Myers placed 5th in heat 1 (of 2) in the 800m and qualified as a fast finisher in 2:11.13, taking some decent scalps in the process and progressing to the final on Sunday, where she placed 8th in 2:12.39. Also, on Saturday, Colm Parnell and Chris Russell ran in heats 2 and 4 of the men’s 1500m, where Colm placed 10th in 4:10.68 and Chris placed 13th in 4:14.39 However, neither progressed further. In the men’s 5000m B final, with a time of 15:30.13 for 15th place, Andrea Rondina recorded a PB.

On Sunday, in altogether much drier and pleasanter conditions, there was a straight final for the women’s 400mH where Irantzu Gárate Muro took 6th place in 1:04.12, and, then, we had 3 athletes take part in heats of the men’s 100m. Victor Michalak ran in heat 2 where he placed 8th in 12.94, followed by Sean Owens who placed 3rd in heat 5 in 10.99 and by Luke Timlin who placed 4th in heat 6 in a time of 11.10. Sean qualified automatically for the second heat of the semi-finals where he placed 7th in 11.00, whilst Luke was a fast finisher, placing 10th in the third semi-final race in 11.11. Neither, unfortunately, progressed to the final.

It is not surprising that with Charlotte and Irantzu in the women’s 4 x 400m relay team, we would perform well. Add to that, the presence of Claire Mooney and Annie Hughes, we were able to field a really strong team in the straight final involving 6 clubs. Coming into the anchor leg, the team was lying in 4th place in a ding-dong battle with MSB, but Claire was able to overtake the MSB runner in the dying stages and come across the line in bronze medal position, beating the other club by just 6 tenths of a second in a great time of 3:57:31, behind Ratoath and UCD, (the latter whose anchor leg was ex-Crusader Mary Horgan who had just been pipped for a place in the 800m final by Charlotte the day before). Many congrats to the team and to Matt on their well-deserved medals.

In terms of road-racing, there were two quality events that took place last week. The first, on Thursday night, was the Clonee 10k held on an out-and-back largely flat course with a loop half way through and in windy conditions. The wind was in runners’ faces on the way home. In a field of 415, we had at least 6 runners. They were led home by Gerard White in 19th place in a time of 36:26. Gerard was followed across the line by Karl Walsh (52nd in 38:54), Adrienne Jordan (62nd overall, 6th female finisher and 3rd F45 in a time of 39:42). Next came Tim O’Donnell with what may have been a PB time of 40:30 (for 75th spot) and he was followed by Robbie Moore (150th in 45:37) and by Kate Murray (223rd, 43rd and 6th F50 in 49:06).

Conditions on Friday evening for the Kilcock 5k were materially different from the evening before. There was much less of a breeze and it was warmer on what is also considered a fast and relatively flat course that always seems to produce fast times with fields of high quality. This year, the start was even better organised than usual (particularly as there is a sharp turn within the first 250m of the race) and the starting places were well marshalled.

Six of the first seven of our runners each recorded a PB on Friday, the only one who didn’t being John Mulvihill with a 16:20 run for 48th place in a field of 516. The ones who did record PBs were Kevin Fitzgibbon (21st in 15:51), Kevin Kavanagh (40th in 16:11), just ahead of Ciarain Kelly (42nd in 16:12), Patrick Conlon (44th in 16:15), Henry Griffin (53rd in 16:31, a 50-seconds improvement) and Brian Regan (69th in 16:47). Next came Joe McDermott (80th in 16:57), followed by Rory Goldsmith (159th in 17:56), Kathryn Gibbons (196th and 25th in a PB time of 18:34, a 10-seconds improvement), Miriam Logan (284th and 45th in a great time of 19:49) and Joe Dunne (393rd in 22:31), just ahead of his wife, Olwyn (401st and 96th in 22:38). Olwyn was listed as an F50, but if there was an F55 age category, she won it. The 14-athlete contingent was completed by Paul E. Kelly who placed 465 in 25:42. The men’s team may well have placed 3rd, once Kevin Kavanagh’s result is included. Members may also be interested to read that Kieran Little, a recent long-time Crusader, now with Blackrock, placed 21st in 16:01.

Further afield, Fanny Trébouet travelled to Bretagne in France, where on a 32k coastal trail ending in Vannes, on a warm and sunny day on Sunday, ran in the Ronde des Douaniers – Ultra Marin, completing the distance and challenging conditions in 3h52m.

There were 3 races in the mountains last week. On Wednesday evening, 136 runners took part in the IMRA Howth Summer race, covering a distance of 8.7k with a climb of 308m on moderate terrain. The race was the latest in the Leinster League. Amongst those running was Becky Quinn who placed 18th and 3rd in a time of 48:19 and she was followed by Aitor Arribas Velasco (117th in 70:38) and Berndt Heim (134th in 83:39).

Then, over the weekend Becky took part in two races in Co. Mayo constituting the All-Ireland and Connacht Championships. The first, of 10.7k around Mweelrea with a climb of 766m, enjoyed a field of 39 and the second, of 5.5k with a climb of 730m, was conducted around Nephin with a field of 27. Becky placed 13th and 12th, winning the women’s race both times. Congrats to her.

We did well in the parkruns this weekend. Ilona McElroy and her fiancé, Paul Fleming of Rathfarnham WSAF, were both first finishers in Tolka Valley In a field of 38, Ilona placed 3rd overall in 20:29. In Poolbeg, in placing 10th in a field of 170, Emma Rowe was a first female finisher in a time of 20:05. We had a decent number of Crusaders in the event as usual. Kenan Furlong placed 5th in 18:11, followed by Adrian Groarke (9th in 19:53), after Emma, Piarais Neary (16th in 20:59), Jeanie Watson (22nd and 2nd in 21:21), David Timoney (28th in 22:17), John Lohan (29th in 22:31), Michael Fitzsimons (32nd in 22:46), Tanja Narancic (46th and 6th in 23:34), Josie Ward (53rd and 9th in 24:10), with one parkrun to go before she hits the 200 mark recorded by Sharon Woods on Saturday who came in just behind Josie (55th and 10th in 24:10), Kevin Kenny (61st in 24:46), Fiona Bane (68th and 14th in 25:23), Iseult Ni Chuinneagain (79th and 20th in 26:23), Laura O’Malley (87th and 25th in 26:44), Tara Murphy (93rd and 29th in 27:15), Louise O’Riordan (94th and 30th in 27:36), Aisling O’Riordan (114th and 41st in 28:39), Maureen McGinley (119th and 43rd in 29:14), Una McCullagh (129th and 51st in 29:51) and Lucy Collender (136th and 57th in 30:41). Our final first finisher was Caroline Crowley, in Bushy Park, where, in a field of 247, she placed 9th overall in 20:18. Just ahead came Kev Moore (8th in 20:04) and Caroline was followed by Mary Donnelly (34th and 4th in 23:18).

In Shanganagh, Rory Goldsmith took 3rd spot, in a field of 232, in 18:46 and he was followed by Máirin Shine (159th and 56th in 29:33) and by Lisa and Fiona Shine who were tailwalking. Ross Neill placed 2nd in the 84-strong field in Sligo in a time of 17:54, whilst Maria Kennedy ran alongside 159 other participants in Kilkenny, placing 43rd and 5th in 26:32. Over in the UK, Phelim Murray and Sarah Lyons took part in the 229-strong field in Aylesbury, where Phelim placed 31st in 22:32 and Sarah crossed the line in 74th and 14th in 26:20. Also there, our London exile Thom Martini ran in Wormwood Scrubs prison where, in a field of 135, he placed 70th in a time of 27:36, whilst Rob Glascott, recently exiled, placed 11th in a field of 957 and in a time of 22:04 in the Clapham Common parkrun. Aoife Cowhie joined 235 other runners in Malahide where she placed 109th and 26th in 25:51, whilst Paul and Aoife Kelly took on Poppintree, where, in a field of 144, Paul placed 35th in 24:33 and Aoife placed 54th and 9th in 27:19.

Mairead Cashman placed 52nd and 19th in 32:04 in Glen River, Cork, with its field of 70, whilst Carina Davidson placed 59th and 11th in 27:06 in Cabinteely, with its field of 150. Andy Deuser ran in Fairview with its field of 143, where he placed 42nd in 24:12, followed by Garret Connolly (70th in 28:05) pushing a buggy, whilst, further afield, in Italy, Lorraine McMahon ran in the 38-stong field in Uditore, where she placed 34th and 4th in 23:18.

Clonee 10k (415)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime1 Peter Somba 1 00:31:25
16 Faye Dervan 1 00:35:40
Crusaders AC runners
19 Gerard White 00:36:26
52 Karl Walsh 00:38:54
62 Adrienne Jordan 00:39:42 (6)
75 Tim O’Donnell 00:40:30
150 Robbie Moore 00:45:37
223 Kate Murray 00:49:06 (43)
Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/clonee_10k_2024/5050/results
St. Coca’s Kilcock 5k (516)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Tadgh Donnelly 1 00:14:34
27 Michelle Finn 1 00:16:01
Crusaders AC runners
17 Kevin Fitzgibbon 00:15:44 (PB)
40 Kevin Kavanagh 00:16:11 (PB)
42 Ciarain Kelly 00:16:12 (PB)
44 Patrick Conlon 00:16:15 (PB)
48 John Mulvihill 00:16:20
53 Henry Griffin 00:16:31 (PB)
69 Brian Regan 00:16:47 (PB)
80 Joe McDermott 00:16:57
159 Rory Goldsmith 00:17:56
196 Kathryn Gibbons 00:18:34 (25)
284 Miriam Logan 00:19:49 (45)
393 Joe Dunne 00:22:31
40 Olwyn Dunne 00:22:38 (96)
465 Paul E. Kelly 00:25:42
Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/st_cocas_kilcock_5k_2024/4971/results
IMRA Mweelrea 10.7k (39)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Matthew McConnell 1 00:59:49
13 Becky Quinn 1 01:20:19
Crusaders AC runner
13 Becky Quinn 01:20:19 (1)
Full results here: https://www.imra.ie/events/results/id/2487
IMRA Nephin 5.4k (27)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Matthew McConnell 1 00:50:40
12 Becky Quinn 1 01:11:15
Crusaders AC runner
12 Becky Quinn 01:11:15 (1)
Full results here: https://www.imra.ie/events/results/id/2569
IMRA Howth Summer 8.7k (136)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Daire Finn 1 00:41:04
9 Sinead Farrell 1 00:46:53
Crusaders AC runners
18 Becky Quinn 00:48:19 (3)
117 Aitor Arribas Velasco 01:10:38
134 Berndt Heim 01:23:39
Full results here: https://www.imra.ie/events/results/id/2506
Glen River Parkrun (70)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Ken Ince 1 00:18:26
13 Mary Pappin 1 00:24:40
Crusaders AC runner
52 Mairead Cashman 00:32:04 (19)
Shanganagh Parkrun (232)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Niall Murphy 1 00:18:31
15 Madelyn Wilson Patterson 1 00:20:48
Crusaders AC runners
3 Rory Goldsmith 00:18:46
159 Máirín Shine 00:29:33 (56)
229 Lisa Shine 00:50:38
230 Lisa Shine 00:50:38
Fairview Parkrun (143)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Koffi Kpoglo 1 00:18:28
16 Ciara Brady 1 00:21:33
Crusaders AC runners
42 Andy Deuser 00:24:12
70 Garret Connolly 00:28:05
Poolbeg Parkrun (170)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Oliver Walker 1 00:17:30
10 Emma Rowe 1 00:20:05
Crusaders AC runners
5 Kenan Furlong 00:18:11
9 Adrian Groarke 000:19:53
10 Emma Rowe 00:20:05 (1)
16 Piarais Neary 00:20:59
22 Jeanie Watson 00:21:21 (2)
28 David Timoney 00:22:17
29 John Lohan 00:22:31
32 Michael Fitzsimons 00:22:46
46 Tanja Narancic 00:23:34 (6)
53 Josie Ward 00:24:00 (9)
55 Sharon Woods 00:24:10 (10)
61 Kevin Kenny 00:24:46
68 Fiona Bane 00:25:23 (14)
79 Iseult Ni Chuinneagain 00:26:23 (20)
87 Laura O’Malley 00:26:44 (25)
93 Tara Murphy 00:27:15 (29)
94 Louise O’Riordan 00:27:36 (30)
114 Aisling O’Riordan 00:28:39 (41)
119 Maureen McGinley 00:29:14 (43)
129 Una McCullagh 00:29:51 (51)
136 Lucy Collender 00:30:41 (57)
Malahide Castle Parkrun (236)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Robert Frewen 1 00:16:38
19 Aine Crimin 1 00:20:05
Crusaders AC runner
109 Aoife Cowhie 00:25:51 (26)
Bushy Parkrun (247)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Seán Cahill 1 00:18:39
9 Caroline Crowley 1 00:20:18
Crusaders AC runners
8 Kev Moore 00:20:04
9 Caroline Crowley 00:20:18 (1)
34 Mary Donnelly 00:23:18 (4)
Cabinteely Parkrun (150)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Alan McAndrew 1 00:19:30
14 Fiona Kavanagh 1 00:23:03 (1)
Crusaders AC runner
59 Carina Davidson 00:27:06 (11)
Poppintree Parkrun (144)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Fiachra O’Donovan 1 00:19:17
9 Peigi Allen 1 00:20:43
Crusaders AC runners
35 Paul F. Kelly 00:24:33
54 Aoife Kelly 00:27:19 (9)
Sligo Parkrun (84)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Peter Gallagher 1 00:17:47
11 Courtney Randall 1 00:24:22
Crusaders AC runner
2 Ross Neill 00:17:54
Kilkenny Parkrun (160)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 David McCoy 1 00:19:20
13 Katie Dillon Keane 1 00:23:06
Crusaders AC runner
43 Maria Kennedy 00:26:32 (5)
Sport Ireland Campus Parkrun (31)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Declan Creedon 1 00:23:35
3 Mary Gavin 1 00:25:29
Crusaders AC runners
9 Anna Shine 00:29:44 (3)
11 Máirín Shine 00:30:34 (5)
30 Lisa Shine 00:49:11
Claremorris Parkrun (44)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 John O’Donnell 1 00:19:50
11 Niamh Conroy 1 00:25:00
Crusaders AC runner
1 John O’Donnell 00:19:50
Tolka Valley Parkrun (57)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Oisin Tyrrell 1 00:20:00
8 Grace Haughey 1 00:23:50
Crusaders AC runner
7 Diarmuid Byrne 00:22:54
River Valley Parkrun (154)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Viktoras Kuzminas 1 00:17:55
9 Cecile Ollagnier 1 00:21:44
Crusaders AC runner
81 Darina Scully 00:31:03 (22)

Back row L-R: Joe Dunne, Kevin Fitzgibbon, Ciarain Kelly, Henry Griffin, Brian Regan, Olwyn Dunne, Kevin Kavanagh, Patrick Conlon, John Mulvihill, Kieran Little, Rory Goldsmith. Front row: Paul E. Kelly, Joe McDermott, Kathryn Gibbons and Miriam Logan