Rocking and Rolling in the Streets of Galway and the National Half

14/8/2017

Back row: Luke Haran, Ilona McElroy, Joe McDermott, Hugh Larkin, Mike Fong, Kevin Lynch, Louise Dobbyn, John Fahy, Maria Kennedy, Nina Holmes, Michael Maughan, Grainne Regan, Robert Crowley, Jean Devlin, Siobhsn Russell, Lesley-Ann Doughan. Front row: WIll Owens, John McAuley, Michael O'Conor, Ciara Lehane, Brendan Glynn, James Cottle, Caroline Crowley, Catherine Thornton

The most important race of the week for the club was the National Half marathon championships, held in conjunction with the Rock and Roll series on Sunday. Over 6,500 competitors entered the race, including at least 10 Crusaders and we had some outstanding results among them. On a challenging course, that starts on the North Wall quay wending its way along the Liffey, up and around Christchurch as something of a devious consideration in order to hit all the landmarks and then through Kilmainham, eventually ending up at the finish in the Phoenix Park at its highest point, the race was won by the newly-crowned national 10,000m champion, Kevin Dooney, in 66 minutes, about 45 seconds ahead of Sergiu Ciobanu. Our first Crusader home was Brian O’Kelly who ran a stormer to finish in 19th place (1:13:40), followed by another great run from Frank Halligan (31st in 1:15:35) and Rob Cross (46th in 1:17:02 and 5th in his age category). The 3 men were able to take 5th place in the team competition. Colm Kernan was next in 206th place with a super time of 1:26:57 and he was followed by Karl Walsh (262nd in 1:28:50) and then by Gian Piero Allerta with a PB time of 1:34:10 (444th), the 3 men recording 18th place in the team competition. Dominick Branigan also took part in the race, treating it as a training run (placing 498th in 1:35:12). David Killion came next in 1:35:54 (534th), followed by Niall Dunne (929th in 1:41:56), Olwyn Dunne (1,251st overall, 222nd female and 4th in her age category) who tagged a long run onto her race, and by Joe O’Reilly (2,336th in 1:56:54). There was also a 10k event as usual and we had 2 runners in this race with its field of more 2,000 runners. Matt Cranley recorded a PB to place 35th in 41:06, whilst Emma O'Mahony came home in 49:38, 202nd overall and 42nd female finisher.

On Saturday several of us took part in another classic “Cru on tour” event, the 8k Streets of Galway. The pilgimage to the land of the tribesmen has become something of a tradition now and we generally show up in force, this year’s contingent being nearly 30 runners in a field of more than 2,500 finishers. Moreover, we are warmly welcomed for the effort by Galway City Harriers, the host organising club, always receiving great support around the course. It has to be said that the rooming arrangements in the apartment block that we have now begun to treat as our permanent headquarters for the weekend can be considered to be somewhat chaotic, but the landlord is pretty laid back and it generally all works out in the end, with everyone being accommodated. The great thing about the race is that it takes place at 7 on the Saturday evening, so that following the finish, there is almost immediate celebrating which lasts the night. This year was no exception and it was surprising several of us were able to make the long run on Sunday morning on the back of this, a tribute to Cru stamina!

One of the funny things about the race is that nearly everyone who has raced it before remembers it generally as a flat course, but this is certainly not correct. It definitely has a long finish, nearly 3k along the Salthill promenade, but there are hills throughout from within the first kilometre and in fact it can be considered as quite a challenging course. Weather conditions, however, were perfect with a little cooling breeze in our faces at times.

The race itself enjoyed a ding-dong battle between Kevin Maunsell and Freddie Sittuk, with Kevin eventually prevailing in a sprint finish (23:43 versus 23:45). Last year's winner, Siobhan O’Doherty, took the women’s race in 27:43, with Caroline Crowley in 2nd (for the 2nd time) in 29:04 and a surprise return from GCH’s Nicola Duncan who came in 3rd (29:23) after working her way through the field.

Our runners acquitted themselves well, with our women taking the first team prize. The scorers were Caroline (49th overall), Ilona McElroy (86th overall, 6th woman finisher, in 30:18) and Catherine Thornton (109th overall, 8th woman, in a PB time of 31:10). John McAuley came in 1st in the M35 category (35th in 28:12), followed by Hugh Larkin (47th in 28:57 and 2nd in the same category). Another top 50 placing went to Joe McDermott (50th in a PB of 29:05), whilst another likely PB went to John Fahy (70th and 3rd M35 in 29:51). Joe Walsh, though below par having suffered sickness earlier in the week, recovered strongly to place 97th in 30:39 and he was followed by Michael Maughan (105th in 31:03). There were also strong runs from Kevin Lynch with a likely PB performance (112th in 31:17) and by Neil Monahan (130th in 31:45) who ran alongside James Cottle (139th in 32:04 and 2nd M60) for the first 6k, but who managed to pull away well towards the finish. Likewise, there were excellent runs from Brendan Glynn (193rd in a PB time of 33:17) and by Nina Holmes (211th overall, 18th woman, in 33:28). Slightly outside her comfort zone was Leslie-Ann Doughan, more familiar with shorter distance events, but she ran well to place 217th overall in PB time of 33:37, followed by Luke Haran (222nd in 33:50), Grainne Regan (275th overall, 29th woman 2nd in her F35 category, in 33:43) and newcomer to racing, Robert Crowley (347th in 35:30). Slightly the worse for wear from attending James Murphy’s wedding the day before, Will Owens and Michael O’Conor decided to take it easy around the course and helped to pace some of our athletes, among them Louise Dobbyn in her first competitive event in a while (359th overall, 48th woman, in 36:02). Will still managed to place 4th in his age category. The contingent was completed by Maria Kennedy (443rd overall, 63rd woman, in 36:47), Ciara Lehane (444th overall, 64th woman and 3rd F35), Mike Fong (680th in 39:20 and 5th M35), Hazel Greene, who has made Galway her home, (837th overall, 173rd woman, in 40:52), Siobhan Russell (930th overall, 208th woman, in a PB time of 41:40 and 4th in her F35 age category) and by Jean Devlin (1,036th overall, 251st woman and 5th F35).

We had one runner in the East Cork Harbour Half marathon on Saturday morning. Newcomer Gerald Hoare placed 81st in a field of more than 300 runners in a time of 1:48:34.

Leo Lundy’s weekend challenges started on Saturday with the Darnley Trail marathon, a rural hilly trail in Kent, followed on Sunday by the Salisbury 54321 50k, starting and finishing at Salisbury Cathedral. He claims to be nearing the end of his long journey!

There was also a 2 mile race in Raheny last week, organised by Raheny Shamrocks. Fiona Shine placed 10th overall and 2nd woman home in 12:15, whilst John Fitzsimons came home in 51st place with a time of 17:29 and Lorraine Fitzsimons was 57th in 19:14.

Many congratulations should go to Jason Kehoe for taking the national mountain running title for at least a second time on Sunday. In the last race of 5 races (best 3 races to score) Jason had to beat Brian Furey of Rathfarnham in order to take the title. The race took place on a 13km course in Tipperary to the top of Galtymore and back crossing the peaks of Cush and Galtybeg (involving a total ascent of more than 1300m). Jason was behind at times, but came home to beat Brian in a sprint finish and won by the narrowest of margins (1 second: 1:21:40 to 1:21:41) to bring the title to Irishtown. It was a well-deserved victory, Jason having won three of the five races.

Last week 3 of or members took part in the IMRA-organised Glen of the Downs 8k, involving a climb of nearly 300m on otherwise easy terrain. The race was won by Derek Crammond in 30:16. Our first runner home was Brian Leonard (12th in 33:40) and he was followed by Brian McGuckin (22nd in 34:49) and Gavan Doherty (28th in 35:50). The field measured 124 runners.

There was a decent turnout of Crusaders in this weekend’s parkruns. Ciaran Diviney took advantage of a trip to the World Championships in London to run in Hackney Marshes, placing 2nd in a field of 238 in a time of 16:21. Kris Ryan, still in Australia, ran in Coomera again. This time Kris placed 3rd woman (31st overall) in 23:43 among a field of more than 100. Fiona Shine and Orlaith de Burca, with others whose times were not recorded, also ran in the UK before going to see the athletics, in Panshanger, placing 28th and 115th respectively (4th and 29th female finishers) in respective times of 21:43 and 28:02. The field measured 244.

Back home we had first finishers in Father Collins (Peter O’Toole) and Dungloe in Donegal (Diarmuid Byrne). The former joined 90 other runners and finished in 18:01, whilst the latter ran 19:33 in a field of 30 runners. Maria Pertl also placed 29th in Dungloe in a time of 32:58. Kevin Flynn placed 30th in 27:36 in the 72-strong field in Porterstown, whilst Aoife Quinn placed 43rd overall, 11th female, in 27:31 in Fairview among a field of nearly 100 runners. Darina Scully finished Malahide with its field of 273, in 31st place overall, 5th female, in 21:20, whilst Francis Furey came home in 215th position in Marlay (27:29) with its field of more than 400. Finally, we had 4 runners in Cabinteely. In a field exceeding 120, Raghnall O’Donoghue improved on last week’s time, taking 6th place in 20:30. He was followed by Helena Walsh (17th overall, 4th woman, in 22:30), Colm Foley (28th in 23:54) and Olwyn Dunne (83rd overall, 21st female, n 30:15).
National Half Marathon Championship
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Kevin Dooney 1 01:06:05
48 Glady Ganiel 1 01:17:06
Crusaders AC runners
19 Brian O’Kelly 01:13:40
31 Frank Halligan 01:15:35
46 Rob Cross 01:17:02
206 Colm Kernan 01:26:57
262 Karl Walsh 01:28:50
444 Gian Piero Allerta 01:34:10 (PB)
498 Dominick Branigan 01:35:12
534 David Killion 01:35:54
929 Niall Dunne 01:41:56
1251 Olwyn Dunne 01:45:37
2336 Joe O’Reilly 01:56:54
Full results here: http://www.runrocknroll.com/finisher-zone/search-and-results/?resultspage=1&perpage=25&eventid=54&firstname=&lastname=&bib=&city=&gender=&state=&subevent_id=1&division=Ages+60+-+64&club=
Rock and Roll 10K
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Paul Gibbons 1 00:35:06
5 Angela Ortiz 1 00:37:12
Crusaders AC runners
35 Matt Cranley 00:41:06 (PB)
202 Emma O'Mahony 00:49:38 (42)
Full results here: http://www.runrocknroll.com/finisher-zone/search-and-results/?resultspage=1&perpage=25&eventid=54&firstname=&lastname=&bib=&city=&gender=&state=&subevent_id=1&division=Ages+60+-+64&club=
Streets of Galway 8K
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Kevin Maunsell 1 00:23:43
30 Siobhan O’Doherty 1 00:27:43
Crusaders AC runners
35 John McAuley 00:28:12
47 Hugh Larkin 00:28:57
49 Caroline Crowley 00:29:04 (2)
50 Joe McDermott 00:29:05 (PB)
70 John Fahy 00:29:51 (PB)
86 Ilona McElroy 00:30:18 (6)
97 Joe Walsh 00:30:39
105 Michael Maughan 00:31:03
109 Catherine Thornton 00:31:10 (PB) (8)
112 Kevin Lynch 00:31:17 (PB)
130 Neil Monahan 00:31:45
139 James Cottle 00:32:04
193 Brendan Glynn 00:33:17 (PB)
211 Nina Holmes 00:33:28 (18)
217 Lesley-Ann Doughan 00:33:37 (PB) (20)
222 Luke Haran 00:33:50
275 Grainne Regan 00:33:43 (29)
347 Robert Crowley 00:35:30 (PB)
353 Will Owens 00:35:57
359 Louise Dobbyn 00:36:02 (48)
361 Michael O’Conor 00:36:03
443 Maria Kennedy 00:36:47 (63)
444 Ciara Lehane 00:36:47 (64)
680 Mike Fong 00:39:20
837 Hazel Greene 00:40:52 (173)
930 Siobhan Russell 00:41:40 (PB) (208)
1036 Jean Devlin 00:42:54 (251)
Full results here: http://www.redtagtiming.com/index.html
East Cork Harbour Half Marathon
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Kenneth Kelleher 1 01:19:37
8 Carmel Crowley 1 01:27:57
Crusaders AC runner
81 Gerald Hoare 01:48:34
Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/east_cork_harbour_marathon%2c_half%2c10k/2082/results
Marlay Parkrun #220
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Damian Bourke 1 00:17:42
12 Bryony Treston 1 00:19:50
Crusaders AC runner
215 Francis Furey 00:27:29
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/marlay/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=220
Malahide Parkrun #249
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Eoin Callaghan 1 00:16:50
5 Erin McHugh 1 00:18:41
Crusaders AC runner
31 Darina Scully 00:21:20 (5)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/malahide/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=249
Porterstown Parkrun #95
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Niall Sherlock 1 00:18:00
8 Edel McNamara 1 00:21:32
Crusaders AC runners
30 Kevin Flynn 00:27:36
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/porterstown/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=95
Cabinteely Parkrun #124
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Owen Fletcher 1 00:18:55
9 Malika Hammani 1 00:20:42
Crusaders AC runners
6 Raghnall O’Donohue 00:20:30
17 Helena Walsh 00:22:30 (4)
28 Colm Foley 00:23:54
83 Olwyn Dunne 00:30:15 (21)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/cabinteely/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=124
Father Collins Parkrun #99
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Peter O’Toole 1 00:18:01
4 Caitriona Costello 1 00:20:08
Crusaders AC runner
1 Peter O’Toole 00:18:01
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/fathercollins/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=99
Dungloe Parkrun #76
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Diarmuid Byrne 1 00:19:33
18 Helen Coll 1 00:26:03
Crusaders AC runners
1 Diarmuid Byrne 00:19:33
29 Maria Pertl 00:26:03 (6)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/dungloe/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=76
Fairview Parkrun #5
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Turlough Conway 1 00:18:02
11 Ciara McGrath 1 00:22:02
Crusaders AC runner
43 Aoife Quinn 00:27:31 (11)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/fairview/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=5