Repeat Success for Master Diviney in Irish XC trials

23/10/2017

Back row: Jason Kehoe, John McAuley, Vinnie McGuinness, Pablo Sanchez, Rob Cross, Michael Kiely. Front row: James Cottle, Ciaran Diviney and Niamh Boland

On Sunday two large, quality fields assembled for the second running on the purpose-built cross-country course at the national Sports campus in Abbotstown. The occasion was the Autumn Open XC, incorporating trials for masters athletes hoping to represent Ireland in the upcoming 5-nation international, to be held this year in Derry in mid-November. The first race, a field totalling 116 runners representing a mix of senior and masters female athletes, was 6,000m in length. This meant that the 1,500m course was circuited 4 times. For the most part conditions were dry, with the ground not too soft underfoot, except in certain parts, and the strong westerly wind of the weekend did not present any significant hurdle as it continued to abate throughout the afternoon. The course involves a straight start of about 150m, more or less on the flat, then zigzagging a little from an initial sandy right turn until hitting a slight incline onto a 20m patch of sand and mud mix under a carpet of trees, followed by a quagmire-ish left-hand hairpin onto the first of the two hills on the course (the halfway point). This hill is short and relatively sharp before the course levels out, presenting the second hill with a wide left turn at its crest, again involving a little mud on the inside of the corner (so that runners had to decide whether to take the racing line or run on firmer ground around the outside). The end of the loop was a slight climb to either the start line or finish on relatively firm ground. Despite the decent enough conditions, most runners agree that the “honest” course presents a tough enough challenge and, with the relatively long grass and mud in places, it was as usual a strength–sapping experience! The women also had the stronger breeze to deal with before the men made an appearance.

The runners from the club in the women’s senior and masters race acquitted themselves well, with Niamh Boland and Niamh Corby respectively placing 15th (23:45) and 33rd (25:06) overall behind masters winner Claire McCarthy (21:33) in the 71-strong masters field. Niamh Boland placed 8th in her age category, whilst Niamh Corby came home in 12th. Our third runner was Orla Kennedy who placed 38th senior in 25:27 behind overall runaway race winner Shona Heaslip (20:36) who had several athletes from the UK in the field to contend with, and eventually winning by a margin of 20 seconds.

We fielded 9 runners in the much larger mixed senior and masters men’s 7,500m race (5 laps) and our standout performer in the event was Ciaran Diviney who, once again, secured himself a place in the Irish team for the international meet in Derry, this year moving into a higher age category and placing 2nd in that category. In the senior men’s race involving 68 runners, our representatives were reasonably close to each other, with Michael Kiely placing 48th in 26:43, followed by John Mulvihill (54th in 27:17) and Pablo Sanchez (59th in 27:33). Having said that, the fastest runs of the day came from Ciaran (14th in the 118-strong masters race) who completed the course in 25:40, followed by Vinnie McGuinness (26th overall in the masters race and 12th in his age category in 26:13). Rob Cross was not too far behind Michael (38th in the masters race and 11th in his age category in 26:48), whilst Jason Kehoe was right behind Pablo at the end (59th in 27:37). Our last two runners were John McAuley (80th in 28:42) and James Cottle (102nd in 31:10). James needed to come in the top 3 in his age category to stand a chance of qualifying for the Irish team, but with the winner of the category finishing only 8 seconds behind John McAuley and 2nd and 3rd placed finishers eventually coming in about 75 secs ahead of James it proved to be too challenging. Still, it was a good experience to see how strong the competition can get in these races all through the age categories. James eventually came home in 6th place in his age category, having enjoyed a decent dogfight with the eventual 5th placed runner, Desie Shorten, a 5k specialist. Desie had been ahead of James for the first two laps and James reeled him in, eventually taking him early in the 3rd lap, only to find that Desie could not be shaken off and his distinctive breathing told of his continuing presence throughout the remaining laps. James would put a little distance between the two runners on the hills, only to find Desie closing the gap on the flat. Finally, James had not enough of a sprint capability as Desie took off with 250m to go. The Crusader managed to come back a little at the end but it was too late. It had been a decent scrap and a good blow out a week before the Dublin marathon! There was the usual superb support all around the course for those of us running.

The previous day, in atrocious weather it has to be said, Brian O’Kelly and Neil Brown went up to Longwood in County Meath for a 10k race. The field measured nearly 260 and Brian should be congratulated for winning the event in a time of 33:39. In a field that also included Olympic marathoner Linda Byrne (winner of the women’s race in 37:18) who seems to be getting her appetite back for competitive running, Neil Brown recorded a PB of 46:50, the first time he has broken 47 minutes.

On Sunday, Joe Walsh and his wife Alma Hanevy of Donore Harriers started their Portuguese holidays with participation in a 10k in Lisbon, the Corrida Montepio. In a field measuring more than 4,200 runners, Joe came home in 88th place in a time of 37:55, whilst Alma finished 170th overall, 14th female, in 39:33. Also, away from home, newcomer Jon Lawrence wore his Crusaders singlet and joined 20,000 other runners in the great South Run in Portsmouth, taking 571st place in a time of 1:09:17.

Members will be interested to know that Lorraine Healy, the Tipperary athlete who trains with the club, took part in the Munster Novices in Clarecastle over the weekend, placing 15th individually and, as 4th scorer, being part of the County team that took bronze. The previous week, Sean Murphy, the Wexford athlete who also trains with us, helped his United Striders team to senior silver, also as 4th scorer and equally placing 15th in his race.

We didn’t have an enormous presence on Saturday morning in the parkruns, possibly reflective of the stormy weather. Although the conditions were not conducive to fast running, several of those who did run were wanting to get some speed into their legs ahead of the marathon next Sunday. This possibly explained the increased Cru presence in the Poolbeg parkrun in which we fielded 8 runners, 6 of whom will be running in either Dublin or New York, among the total field of 100 participants. Pat Quill was first across the line, in 8th place in 20:25. Pat was followed by Diarmuid Byrne (13th in 20:55) and by Colm Kernan, who is running New York in two weeks (14th in 20:56). Next came Russell Murphy (25th in 22:41), Darina Scully (52nd overall, 9th female, in 25:36), Denis Murphy (53rd in 25:38), Avril Barry (87th overall, 31st female, in 33:02) and finally by Ciara McElligott (91st overall, 34th female, in 35:23). Aidan Hudner continues to run in Glasgow, taking 59th place out of 288 runners in a time of 22:19. Mairead Cashman ran in Tymon, finishing in a time of 29:29 (117th overall, 28th woman) in a field of 155 runners. Lorraine Fitzsimons was equally our only participant in the 340-odd field in St. Anne’s. Lorraine placed 273rd overall, 81st female, in 30:46. Then, in Porterstown, on a field of 137 participants, Kevin Flynn took 79th spot in a time of 28:06. Finally, in Fairview, we fielded 5 participants in a field of just over 100. Olwyn Dunne took 22nd place overall (3rd woman finisher) in 24:26, getting in shape for her pacing duties this coming weekend. Olwyn was followed by Lisa Shine (26th overall, 6th woman, in 25:03), Fiona Shine (33rd overall, 7th woman, in 25:40), Orlaith de Burca (49th overall, 12th woman, in 27:24) and by Mairin Shine (82nd overall, 28th woman, in 33:18).

Autumn Open XC Senior men (7.5k)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Hiko Tonosa 1 00:22:58
Crusaders AC runners
48 Michael Kiely 00:26:43
54 John Mulvihill 27:17
59 Pablo Sanchez 00:27:33
Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/autumn_open_cross_country_festival/2405/results
Autumn Open Senior women (6k)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Shona Heaslip 1 00:20:36
Crusaders AC runner
38 Orla Kennedy 00:25:27
Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/autumn_open_cross_country_festival/2405/results
Autumn Open XC Masters men (7.5k)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Paddy Hamilton 1 00:24:00
Crusaders AC runners
14 Ciaran Diviney 00:25:40
26 Vinnie McGuinness 00:26:13
38 Rob Cross 00:26:48
59 Jason Kehoe 00:27:37
80 John McAuley 00:28:42
102 James Cottle 00:31:10
Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/autumn_open_cross_country_festival/2405/results
Autumn Open XC Masters women (6k)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Claire McCarthy 1 00:21:33
Crusaders AC runners
15 Niamh Boland 00:23:45
33 Niamh Corby 00:25:06
Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/autumn_open_cross_country_festival/2405/results
Longwood 10K
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Brian O’Kelly 1 00:33:39
8 Linda Byrne 1 00:37:18
Crusaders AC runners
1 Brian O’Kelly 00:33:39
79 Neil Brown 00:46:50 (PB)
Full results here: https://www.popupraces.ie/race-results/
Tymon Parkrun #174
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Kevin English 1 00:16:58
9 Ruth Kelly 1 00:19:27
Crusaders AC runner
117 Mairead Cashman 00:29:29 (28)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/tymon/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=174
Fairview Parkrun #15
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Glen Turner 1 00:17:50
14 Clare Fowler 1 00:21:38
Crusaders AC runners
22 Olwyn Dunne 00:24:26 (3)
26 Lisa Shine 00:25:03 (6)
33 Fiona Shine 00:25:40 (7)
49 Orlaith de Burca 00:27:24 (12)
82 Mairin Shine 00:33:18 (28)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/fairview/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=15
St Anne’s Parkrun #204
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Karl Nolan 1 00:16:45
33 Joyce O’Hare 1 00:20:33
Crusaders AC runner
273 Lorraine Fitzsimons 00:30:46 (81)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/stannes/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=204
Poolbeg Parkrun #9
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Turlough Conway 1 00:17:15
26 Anne McGarr 1 00:22:51
Crusaders AC runners
8 Pat Quill 00:20:25
13 Diarmuid Byrne 00:20:55
14 Colm Kernan 00:20:56
25 Russell Murphy 00:22:41
52 Darina Scully 00:25:36 (9)
53 Denis Murphy 00:25:38
87 Avril Barry 00:33:02 (31)
91 Ciara McElligott 00:35:23 (34)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/poolbeg/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=9
Porterstown Parkrun #105
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Dave Carroll 1 00:18:53
12 Sarah Fay 1 00:20:51
Crusaders AC runner
79 Kevin Flynn 00:28:06
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/porterstown/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=105