Running well in the Land of the Rising Sun

27/2/2017

Ciaran Diviney

This week’s report brings news of recent success among the JuCru as well up-to-date reports on senior members of the club. Scroll down to read more. The Leinster indoors took place over the weekend and the results were as follows: In the M50 age category Bob Lyne won gold in the long jump (3.8m), bronze in the shot put (10.76m) and bronze in the high jump (1.3m), whilst John O'Loughlin won silver in the 60m (8:07), silver in the 200m (27:57) and bronze in the 400m (59:67). In the M60 age category Liam Lyster took silver in the 60m (no time) and silver in the 200m (30:07). Nick Ennis took bronze in the senior 200m (22:60), whilst Garret Dunne placed 11th in the senior 3,000m (10:26:35). Kate Murray was our only female representative on Sunday, and, with little experience of sprinting either indoors or out, gamely taking on both the 60m and the 200m, where she placed, respectively, 9th (no time) and 8th (33:86) in her O/40 age category.

Early on Sunday morning Ciaran Diviney took part in the Tokyo marathon, which was won by Wilson Kipsang in 2:03:58, just 61s off the World record, which he had hoped to break, whilst fellow Kenyan Sarah Chepchirchir recorded the first women’s result in Japan under 2:20. In windy but sunny weather Ciaran completed the new flatter course, the sixth major (alongside Boston, New York, Chicago, Berlin and London), in a highly satisfactory 2:39:49. Considering he couldn’t run 3 weeks ago with a calf tear, it was some result, just a minute or so off his PB established in London. Ciaran reported that he struggled for the last 10k, understandable perhaps given his preparation, but it turned out to be, in his words, a good training session for London which he tackles again at the end of April. There were apparently lots of spectators as would be expected but they were quite reserved and made little noise, the difference between Tokyo and Dublin!

Kris Ryan took part in the 3 marathons in 2 days challenge in County Mayo over the weekend. She reported that she knows that when a course is described as flat in the West there is some playing with the truth, and that it can really lash rain. Both were the case over the weekend.

Each of the 3 marathons took place on a different course (described as flat). On Saturday the first marathon was at 7am with a small loop followed by 5 larger 5.3 mile loops on road and through the Belleek Forest. Kris finished in 4.06.25, 19th out of 61 finishers. The next marathon commenced later that day at 3pm, and was held on a tarmac path around a park. It had many slopes, and was certainly not flat. Runners enjoyed 28 laps of a 1,550m loop and Kris finally finished 5 hours and 3 minutes later, 13th out of 35. The final race was on Sunday morning at 8am, a trail through Belleek Forest for 8 loops at 5.3k. Heavy wind and rain turned the course into a treacherous mud bath with a substantial climb. Indeed, one severe downhill section claimed the odd twisted ankle and some pulled muscles. Kris finally finished in, what she reported as, a personal worst of 5.26.10. 17th out of 41, but had done enough over the weekend successfully to secure 3rd female overall for the overall challenge.

On Sunday, Luke Horan took part in the Adare 10k down in Limerick. He reported that conditions were tough in the wind and rain, but acquitted himself well with a 41:51 finish that was good enough to give him 75th spot out of 726 runners in the race.

The first IMRA winter league race of the season took place on Ticknock on Saturday. The well-known course that takes runners up to Three Rock and Fairy Castle, providing a panoramic view of Dublin and involving a climb of about 330m over a distance greater than 6K, was technically quite challenging for the competitors. Parts of the course were quite muddy between large areas of rocky ground. There were 152 runners, among whom were 3 Crusaders: Brian McGuckin (in training for the Milan marathon in early April) placed 21st in 39:29 (7th in his age category). Anthony O’Reilly took 31st place in 41:14 (10th in the same age category) and Jeff Fitzsimons finished in 59th place with a time of 45:41.

Another new parkrun has started in Dublin, the latest attempt to take the pressure off Marlay Park. The latest ran its first event on Saturday in Bushy Park, Terenure and attracted 232 participants, including 4 of our fellow members. Newcomer Ciaran Smyth took 10th place in 20:21, followed home by Kate Murray (in a warm up for the following day’s Leinster indoor masters competition) in 45th place overall (6th woman) in 24:39. Next came Maria Pertl (59th overall, 11th woman, in 25:43), and Maria was followed by Mairead Cashman (108th overall, 30th woman, in 29:37). Marlay, in the meantime, attracted 410 runners. Alex Romano placed 7th there in a time of 19:28. Colm Kernan was also a sole representative for the club in St. Anne’s where he placed 200th out of just over 400 runners. Colm's training run time was 26:39 and bolted onto a longer stint. Dave Cuddy continues to run in Athlone. In a modest field of 26 runners he placed 3rd in a time of 20:36. Likewise, Lisa Shine was another solo runner for us in Ballincollig where she placed 68th overall (6th female) out of nearly 300 runners in 24:12. Finally, Olwyn Dunne is one of the principal organisers of the Cabinteely parkrun and not only did she and Joe celebrate the 3rd anniversary of his heart attack survival in Sean Moore Park but also the day marked the 100th running of this particular parkrun. We had 5 runners in the event, including Olwyn. Emer Kenny was first home in the contingent, taking 44th spot overall (9th woman home) (out of 134 runners) in a time of 26:15. Colm Foley was next in 27:02 (53rd place), followed by Mairin Shine and Orlaith de Burca practically side by (respectively, 82nd and 83rd overall (22nd and 23rd women) in 28:57 and 28:58). Olwyn completed the group with a 29:59 finish (93rd overall, 30th woman). Many congratulations to the Dunne household!

John Caird reports that the club had a highly successful juvenile Dublin indoor championships in the new National Indoor Arena in Abbotstown on the weekend of 10th, 11th and 12th February.

87 Cru juvenile athletes took part in the championships over the weekend and there was excellent feedback from athletes, parents and coaches. A number of Crusader athletes qualified for nationals and these and medal winners are listed below.

John would like to give a huge thankyou to Maria & Olivia who insured all the athletes got their numbers and knew when their event was on. Thanks should also go to Brian, Jim and Moya who officiated all weekend: without providing officials Crusaders’ athletes would not be allowed to compete. A thank you should also go to Bob, Luca, John, Paul and all the coaches who spent the weekend warming athletes up, advising, encouraging, congratulating.... and more. A big thankyou should go to all the parents who brought the athletes and created a stunning atmosphere in the arena. Finally, a big thankyou to all the young athletes who competed with a smile and demonstrated excellent sportsmanship all weekend. Report taken from: http://www.jnrcru.org/news/dublin-indoor-championship-2017

Junior Cru medal winners and National qualifiers:

Conor Napper (U13) - Gold high jump; 4th 60m hurdles
Emily Lyne (U13) - 4th 60m hurdles
Lucy Doyle (U13) - Bronze in high jump
Mila Reddy Pfeiffer (U13) - Silver long jump
Tess O'Loughlin (U13) - Gold 60m hurdles; Bronze high jump
Thomas Coase (U14) - Bronze high jump
Katya Bailey (U14) - 4th high jump (was joint 3rd but moved to 4th on count back)
Arianna Francis (U15) - Silver long jump
Charlie Lyons (U15) - Gold long jump
Luke O'Loughlin (U15) - Silver 60m hurdles
Rachel Caird (U15) - 4th in shot Put
Richard White (U15) - Silver 800m
Stephen Connelly (U15) - Bronze 60m hurdles
Aaron Linton (U16) - Bronze shot put; Bronze 60m hurdles
Lauren Kirwan (U16) - 4th long jump
Lindsey Brown (U16) - Bronze shot put
Nadine Deehan (U16) - Bronze long jump
Sarah Brown (U16) - Gold shot put
Patrick Gilceava (U17) - Gold long jump; Gold shot put; Gold 200m; Silver 60m; Silver 60m hurdles.
John Nugent (U18) - Silver long jump; Silver high jump
Shane Keane - U/19 Gold 60m and long jump
Michael Nolan - U/19 Gold 200m, Silver 60m
Valentinos Goularas - U/19 Gold 60m hurdles

Tokyo Marathon
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Wilson Kipsang 1 02:03:58
Sarah Chepchirchir 1 02:19:47
Crusaders AC runner
Ciaran Diviney 02:39:48
Adare 10K
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Michael Harty 1 00:30:59
38 Sorcha MacDomhnaill 1 00:38:37
Crusaders AC runner
75 Luke Haran 00:41:51
Full results here: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/567293a969a91a5538e6a423/t/58b44e45ebbd1abb37152aaf/1488211527800/master110.pdf
Athlone Parkrun #79
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Paul Heavey 1 00:19:17
16 Aisling Kennedy-Nolan 1 00:31:00
Crusaders AC runner
3 David Cuddy 00:20:36
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/athlone/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=79
Marlay Parkrun #198
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 John Gilbert 1 00:17:16
9 Shona Keane 1 00:19:33
Crusaders AC runner
7 Alex Romano 00:19:28
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/marlay/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=198
Cabinteely Parkrun #100
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Paul McDonnell 1 00:19:33
4 Malika Hammani 1 00:21:04
Crusaders AC runners
44 Emer Kenny 00:26:15 (9)
53 Colm Foley 00:27:02
82 Mairin Shine 00:28:57 (22)
83 Orlaith de Burca 00:28:58 (23)
93 Olwyn Dunne 00:29:59 (30)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/cabinteely/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=100
St Anne’s Parkrun #172
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Eoin Strutt 1 00:15:40
6 Catherina McKiernan 1 00:17:36
Crusaders AC runner
200 Colm Kernan 00:26:39
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/stannes/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=172
Bushy Dublin Parkrun #1
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Michael McCarthy 1 00:17:51
29 Erica Calder 1 00:22:46
Crusaders AC runners
10 Ciaran Smyth 00:20:21
45 Kate Murray 00:24:39 (6)
59 Maria Pertl 00:25:43 (11)
108 Mairead Cashman 00:29:37 (30)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/bushydublin/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=1
Ballincollig Parkrun #37
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Brian Linehan 1 00:19:19
22 Mary Sweeney 1 00:21:23
Crusaders AC runner
68 Lisa Shine 00:24:12 (6)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/ballincollig/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=37