Rock Me Mama like the Wind and the Rain

26/8/2024

L-R: David McEvoy, Aoife Quigley, Kevin Fitzgibbon, Cian Coughlan, Áine Crotty, Kathryn Gibbons, Paul E. Kelly, Gillian Earley, Olwyn Dunne, Rebecca Fleming, Margaret Foley, Amy O'Donoghue, Saoirse McGrath

Adverse weather conditions seem to have been the principal characteristics enjoyed in races last week and over the weekend, but they did not appear to dent the spirits!

€1000 was on offer on Thursday evening in the Celbridge AC 5k for the winning mixed team (of 4, two of each gender) and our intrepid runners came quite close, placing third behind DSD (who were clearly on a mission, with each of their runners in the top 10 of their respective sexes) and Celbridge AC itself. In a field of nearly 500 runners, we fielded at least 14 athletes. The contingent was led home by Kevin Fitzgibbon who took 10th spot in 16:17. Kevin was followed by newcomer Doireann Hughes who placed 40th overall and 5th female finisher in 17:43 and then by Saoirse McGrath who placed 71st and 13th in 18:41, with Cian Coughlan (73rd in 18:41) close on Saoirse's tail. Kathryn Gibbons was next (81st and 17th in 18:46) not too far behind, with David McEvoy (87th in 18:56) and Aoife Quigley (92nd and 18th in 19:03) on the eve of her age category-changing birthday tucked in behind. Mags Foley recorded yet another PB result in her 19:30 time for 109th and 23rd spots, with Phelim Murray (128th in 19:55) just behind. Next came Gill Earley (144th and 31st in 20:13), followed by local girl Rebecca Fleming (166th and 39th in 20:58), Olwyn Dunne (226th, 60th and 6th F50 in 22:52), Áine Crotty (262nd and 78th in 24:13), Amy O’Donoghue (286th and 87th in 25:08) and Paul E. Kelly (302nd in 25:30). The racing temperature was around 13 degrees on the fast course with a south-westerly wind of about 15kph in runners’ faces for the second half of the race.

Thursday evening also saw the annual running of the Portmarnock Beach 5k and we had one runner join the field of 384 there. Mikel Cristosomo placed 16th in a time of 19:46.

There was at least one race on Saturday involving a Crusader or two. Shane Egan and Karl Walsh tackled the tough and challenging 14k Warriors Run in Co. Sligo, with Shane placing 14th in a field of 1,136. Shane’s time was 67:19, whilst Karl, just after having completed the Sligo Parkrun earlier in the morning, ran 81:32 for 157th spot.

On Sunday several of our clubmates took part in races across Ireland. Up in Larne on another wet and blustery day, at least 8 of our athletes took part in the fast out-and-back Antrim Coast Half marathon, with a packed elite field as usual. The race was won in a sub-60 minutes time ahead of a field of 3164 finishers. Our first athlete home was Thomas Vogée who placed 218th in 81:58 and he was followed by Gary Mills (223rd in 82:27). Next came Kevin Kavanagh, continuing to nurse a calf injury (350th in 87:06) and Kevin was followed by Daniel O’Mahony (520th in 91:23, quite possibly a PB), Emma Rowe (577th and 69th in 93:23), Marcus Phelan (638th in a massive 10-minute PB time improvement of 95:07), Chris Bannon (943rd in 1:42:14) and Daniel Gleeson (1325th in 1:48:42).

On the same day, Kenan Furlong recorded a major PB of 2:56:40 in placing 15th in a field of 251 in the Longford Marathon, whilst Kate Murray and Tara Murphy joined 471 other runners in the Half marathon there. Kate placed 220th and 60th in 1:53:18, Tara, 305th and 103rd in 2:01:06, whilst Conor Macguinness ran in the South Kilkenny 10-miler, placing 13th in a field of 46 in a time of 75:14.

Further afield over the weekend, Zlatko Kulic ran in the Srebrenik 5k in Bosnia-Herzogovina, where he recorded a time of 21:01, whilst Maurice Kelter recorded another PB down in Australia. Maurice competed in the Sydney Half where he ran a time of 74:42. Aitor Arribas Velasco reported that he and his partner Marta Cuesta took part in the traditional 6k Hiri Kirosa as part of the main week of Bibao's Aste Nagusia in Spain.

Wednesday’s IMRA race last week took place on a short route of 8k, with a climb of 250m, around Paddock Hill near Laragh in Co. Wicklow and involved 82 runners. Unsurprisingly, Becky Quinn was first female across the line, in 11th place overall in a time of 39:15 and she was followed by Clare Sullivan (25th and 2nd in 42:16) and Gavan Doherty (51st in 53:00). Ian Clifford also participated. However, his result appears not to have been recorded.

Our first finishers this week in Saturday morning’s parkruns were Ross Neill (Poolbeg) and Kathryn Sweeney (Omagh). We also had some podium places as usual.

Ross headed a field of 158 on the 7th anniversary of the event in a time of 17:58 and he was followed by Jan Manschot (3rd in 18:24), Ronan Walsh (12th in 20:07), David O’Donnell (17th in 21:16), Claire Reidy (42nd and 3rd in 23:48), Paul Campbell (46th in 24:10), Kenan Furlong in a shakeout before Longford (47th in 24:12), Sharon Woods (56th and 9th in 24:32), Kevin Kenny (60th in 24:48), Neil Brown (62nd in 24:53), John Lohan (64th in 25:10), Russell Murphy (65th in 25:24), Olwyn Dunne (67th and 11th in 25:49), Anna Hernick (97th and 26th in 28:30), Mikel Cristosomo (108th in 29:02), Lisa Branigan (115th and 34th in 29:21), Siobhan Russell (117th and 35th in 29:29) and Maureen McGinley (124th and 39th in 29:49).

Kathryn joined 80 other athletes in Omagh, where she placed 3rd overall in 20:31. Meanwhile, Dee Lawlor placed 2nd in Cabinteely in a time of 18:23. In a field of 177, Kev Moore was next in 14th spot in a time of 22:04, followed by Mary Donnelly (31st and 2nd in 24:20), Stephen Mulligan (39th in 24:52) and Carina Davidson (157th and 65th in 41:13). Michael O’Conor also placed 2nd, in Listowel with its field of 81. Michael’s time was 18:30, whilst Karl Walsh was a 2nd place finisher in Sligo in 19:37 in a field of 104.

Further afield, Peter Shearman ran in Amsterdamse Bos in a field of 146, where he placed 3rd in 18:15, whilst Richard Morrissey ran on Chalkwell Beach, where, in a field of 285, he placed 2nd in 17:51. In London, Thom Martini placed 104th in 24:18 in the 336-strong field in Gunnersbury, whilst Phelim Murray placed 92nd in the 378-strong field in Milton Keynes in 25:25 and John Reidy placed 52nd in Perth. In a field of 339, John ran 22:25.

Darina Scully ran once again in River Valley Park where, in a field of 111, she placed 33rd and 5th in 26:05, whilst Daniel Lowe took 7th place in 236-strong field in Bushy Park in a time of 20:01. Daniel Cullen placed 12th in 21:59 and Andy Deuser, 24th in 23:10, in Fairview alongside 147 other runners, whilst, in Tolka Valley, Diarmuid Byrne finished in 7th spot in 23:48 in a field of 50. In Fenit Greenway, Barry O’Neill joined 88 other participants, placing 16th in 23:49, whilst, on Bere Island Gavan Doherty finished in 29th place in 30:46 in a field of 79.

We had 2 runners in Tymon with its field of 83. Colm Foley placed 18th in 22:48, followed by Mairead Cashman (73rd and 19th in 35:42), whilst, on her birthday, Emer Kenny joined 340 other runners in Malahide where she placed 227th and 77th in 29:13. Brendan Glynn crossed the line in a time of 23:25 for 21st place in the field of 173 in Donabate, whilst James Donlon ran in Marlay Park, where, in a field of 489, he placed 106th in 24:40.

Cynthia Perucca was our lone runner in Naas this week, finishing in 30:27 for 105th and 31st places in a field of 159, whilst Kevin Lambe placed 26th in 25:39 in the 114-strong field in Mullingar. We had 3 runners in Shanganagh led home by Máirín Shine (176th and 45th in 29:21) and followed by Orlaith de Burca (180th and 48th in 29:31) and Jill Nason (182nd and 49th in 29:39), whilst Martina White ran alongside 117 other participants in Porterstown, where she placed 91st and 42nd in 34:36.

Celbridge AC 5k (487)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Sean Tobin 1 00:14:10
11 Ide Nic Dhomhnaill 1 00:16:19
Crusaders AC runners
10 Kevin Fitzgibbon 00:16:17
40 Doireann Hughes 00:17:43 (5)
71 Saoirse McGrath 00:18:41 (13)
73 Cian Coughlan 00:18:41
81 Kathryn Gibbons 00:18:46 (17)
87 David McEvoy 00:18:56
92 Aoife Quigley 00:19:03 (18)
109 Margaret Foley 00:19:30 (PB) (23)
128 Phelim Murray 00:19:55
144 Gillian Earley 00:20:13 (31)
166 Rebecca Fleming 00:20:58 (39)
226 Olwyn Dunne 00:22:52 (60)
262 Áine Crotty 00:24:13 (78)
286 Amy O’Donoghue 00:25:08 (87)
302 Paul E. Kelly 00:25:30
Full results here: https://www.popupraces.ie/race/celbridge-a-c-5km-road-race-2024/
Portmarnock Beach 5k (384)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Fintan Kerins 1 00:15:34
21 Ciara Peelo 1 00:20:22
Crusaders AC runner
16 Mikel Cristosomo 00:19:46
Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/portmarnock_ac_beach_5k_2024/5225/results
Antrim Coast Half Marathon (3164)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Alex Nzioka Matata 1 00:59:46
17 Yalemzerf Yehualaw 1 01:05:31
Crusaders AC runners
218 Thomas Vogée 01:21:58
223 Gary Mills 01:22:27
350 Kevin Kavanagh 01:27:06
520 Daniel O’Mahony 01:31:23
577 Emma Rowe 01:33:23 (69)
638 Marcus Phelan 01:35:07 (PB)
943 Chris Bannon 01:42:14
1325 Daniel Gleeson 01:48:42
Full results here: https://www.popupraces.ie/race/antrim-coast-half-marathon-2024/
Warriors Run Sligo 14k (1136)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Killian Mooney 1 00:55:27
38 Aoife McCavana 1 01:13:10
Crusaders AC runners
14 Shane Egan 01:07:19
157 Karl Walsh 01:21:32
Full results here: https://coretiming.ie/events/warriors-run-24/
Longford Marathon (251)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Chris Denton 1 02:40:06
28 Orla Tuohy 1 03:06:24
Crusaders AC runner
15 Kenan Furlong 02:56:40 (PB)
Full results here: https://www.championchipireland.com/index.html#results
Longford Half Marathon (473)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 James Doran 1 01:11:56
16 Roisin McMahon 1 01:27:12
Crusaders AC runners
220 Kate Murray 01:53:18 (60)
305 Tara Murphy 02:01:06 (103)
Full results here: https://www.championchipireland.com/index.html#results

South Kilkenny 10-miler (46)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Sean Connery 1 01:01:22
5 Kate Veale 1 01:07:53
Crusaders AC runner
13 Conor Macguinness 01:15:14
Full results here: https://justrunsevents.ie/event-results/south-kilkenny-run_results-10-miles_2024-08-25
IMRA Mountain Rescue Benefits Race 8k (82)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Andy Keeling 1 00:36:17
11 Becky Quinn 1 00:39:15
Crusaders AC runners
11 Becky Quinn 00:39:15 (1)
25 Clare Sullivan 00:42:16 (2)
51 Gavan Doherty 00:53:00
Full results here: https://www.imra.ie/events/results/id/2495
Sligo Parkrun (104)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Sean Diamond 1 00:17:49
9 Lauren McMurtry 1 00:22:19
Crusaders AC runner
2 Karl Walsh 00:19:37
Shanganagh Parkrun (272)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Timothy Bowen 1 00:17:45
34 Clare Geoghegan 1 00:22:01
Crusaders AC runners
176 Máirín Shine 00:29:21 (45)
180 Orlaith de Burca 00:29:31 (48)
182 Jill Nason 00:29:39 (49)
Bere Island Parkrun (79)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Ray Smith 1 00:19:46
3 Michelagh Murphy 1 00:22:35
Crusaders AC runner
29 Gavan Doherty 00:30:46
Poolbeg Parkrun (158)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Ross Neill 1 00:17:58
38 Maria Mullan 1 00:22:38
Crusaders AC runners
1 Ross Neill 00:17:58
3 Jan Manschot 00:18:24
12 Ronan Walsh 00:20:07
17 David O’Donnell 00:21:16
42 Claire Reidy 00:23:48 (3)
46 Paul Campbell 00:24:10
47 Kenan Furlong 00:24:12
56 Sharon Woods 00:24:32 (9)
60 Kevin Kenny 00:24:48
62 Neil Brown 00:24:53
64 John Lohan 00:25:10
65 Russell Murphy 00:25:24
67 Olwyn Dunne 00:25:49 (11)
97 Anna Hernick 00:28:30 (26)
108 Mikel Cristosomo 00:29:02
115 Lisa Branigan 00:29:21 (34)
117 Siobhan Russell 00:29:29 (35)
124 Maureen McGinley 00:29:49 (39)
Donabate Parkrun (173)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Karl King McDonnell 1 00:18:13
8 Sheila Bourke 1 00:21:13
Crusaders AC runner
21 Brendan Glynn 00:23:25
Bushy Parkrun (236)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Seán Cahill 1 00:18:43
4 Cat O’Shea 1 00:19:24
Crusaders AC runner
7 Daniel Lowe 00:20:01
Mullingar Parkrun (114)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 James O’Rourke 1 00:21:05
2 Faye Kearney 1 00:21:17
Crusaders AC runner
26 Kevin Lambe 00:25:39
Tymon Parkrun (83)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Robert O’Brien 1 00:18:28
21 Sinead McCarthy 1 00:23:16
Crusaders AC runners
18 Colm Foley 00:22:48
73 Mairead Cashman 00:35:42 (19)
River Valley Parkrun (111)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Brian McGlade 1 00:19:44
8 Cecile Ollagnier 1 00:22:49
Crusaders AC runner
33 Darina Scully 00:26:05 (5)
Fenit Greenway Parkrun (89)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Conor Lucey 1 00:18:04
7 Mary Fitzsimons 1 00:21:41
Crusaders AC runners
16 Barry O’Neill 00:23:49
Omagh Parkrun (81)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Tom Sherriff 1 00:18:23
3 Kathryn Sweeney 1 00:20:31
Crusaders AC runner
3 Kathryn Sweeney 00:20:31 (1)
Marlay Parkrun (489)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Ethan Bramhill 1 00:16:15
49 Siobhan O’Loughlin 1 00:22:49
Crusaders AC runner
106 James Donlon 00:24:40
Cabinteely Parkrun (177)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Eoin Healy 1 00:17:38
18 Rachel McArdle 1 00:22:24
Crusaders AC runners
2 Derek Lawlor 00:18:23
14 Kev Moore 00:22:04
37 Mary Donnelly 00:24:20 (2)
39 Stephen Mulligan 00:24:52
157 Carina Davidson 00:41:13 (65)
Fairview Parkrun (149)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Anton Lavell 1 00:18:13
34 Mollie Wain 1 00:24:06
Crusaders AC runners
12 Daniel Cullen 00:21:59
24 Andy Deuser 00:23:10
Tolka Valley Parkrun (50)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Brian Fay 1 00:19:46
8 Claire Gilligan 1 00:24:13
Crusaders AC runner
7 Diarmuid Byrne 00:23:48
Porterstown Parkrun (118)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Niall Sherlock 1 00:17:31
3 Monica Holmes 1 00:20:14
Crusaders AC runner
91 Martina White 00:34:36 (42)
Naas Parkrun (159)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Eddie Tampu 1 00:19:31
3 Robyn Browne 1 00:20:02
Crusaders AC runner
105 Cynthia Perucca 00:30:27 (31)
Malahide Parkrun (341)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Liam Roarty 1 00:17:21
10 Aine Crimin 1 00:19:49
Crusaders AC runner
227 Emer Kenny 00:29:13 (77)