Solid teamwork in Leinster Senior Cross-Country Championships

8/11/2021

Maura Mahoney, Léa Braud and Lean Ni Chiobhain

There was a lot going on over the weekend with several road races taking place, having decent enough numbers, as well as the Leinster Senior XC, in which we fielded a team of 4 women on a tough enough course and where they missed out on a podium place by only one point.

The XC was held on Sunday afternoon on the Avondale estate down in Co. Wicklow. The organisers had a choice of two courses, both equally challenging, and the one selected was one we as a club last saw used some years back (perhaps in 2014) and involved two particularly challenging hills on two laps. The race required the 72-strong field to run a distance of 5km, with one shortish lap of 1k (from an uphill start), followed by two 2k laps with steep hills on them. Thankfully, what goes up must come down and so there was a bit of a respite in places. The ground was reasonably hard with the odd muddy patch, but nothing really to be concerned about. The winning time produced by Fiona McKenna of UCD was 18:08, just ahead of international Una Britton who is coming back from injury. Maura Mahoney was our first runner across the line in 18th place and a time of 19:50, having run an extremely positive race pushing herself through the field. She helped to pull the other 3 runners in the team, with Léa Braud following not too far behind in 27th place and 23s back in 20:13. Indeed, the team was well-bunched, with Lean Ni Chiobhain just behind in 29th place and 20:16 and Emily Shiels, quite possibly running her first senior cross-country race, finishing in 20:24 for 32nd place. When the smoke cleared, we found that the team had narrowly missed out on a medal by only one point with a score of 106 to Sportsworld’s 105, behind Clonliffe (70) and Dunboyne (79). Still, it was highly respectable to have ranked 4th in a 10-team competition.

As mentioned, several road races took place over the weekend, in which Crusaders featured. The first, on Saturday, was held down in west Cork in Eyeries. This was the second 5-mile race of the Beara race series, following the previous one on Bere Island. Three members of the Shine family took part in what was a similar hilly and windy challenge to the previous race but this time each came home with an age category prize. In a field of 174, Fiona crossed the finishing line in 31st place overall (6th woman) and winning the prize for 1st F35 in a time of 35:24. She was followed by Lisa who ran 40:43 for 79th place overall (21st woman) and who was awarded 2nd F35. Mairin was the third member of the family to run and she placed 135th (57th) in 51:10 and was 2nd F65 home.

On Sunday, several of our clubmates headed over to Clondalkin and the Grange castle complex where, in windy conditions, but otherwise on a reasonably benign course including the towpath of the Royal Canal and bike paths alongside some of the arteries around the complex, they participated in half marathon and 10k races organised by Wheelworx and Fastlane. Essentially, the half marathon involved two loops of a 10k course and runners had the option of stopping after 10k even if they had signed up for the half. As both events went off from the same start line at the same time, initially it made it difficult for spectators to work out who was running which distance until the start of the second half of the half marathon. Still, it was a fun race to watch and enjoyable too for the runners, some of whom were embarking on their first race in some time. It was also well marshalled, despite the course, narrow in places, not being closed.

We had some great performances in the two races. In a 10k which was dominated by the winner, Lucan Harriers’ Dylan Wright, who came home in 32:53, comfortably ahead of the runner in 2nd place (34:07), we had 6 athletes take part. They were led home by Aoife Quigley in her first race in several years and she was just testing the waters so to speak, but looked extremely comfortable coming across the line in 47th place in a field of 368. Aoife also was the 4th woman home in a time of 42:11. She was followed closely by Joanne Carey who also enjoyed a super strong run, placing 56th overall (5th woman home) in a PB time of 43:00. Next came Tanja Narancic who ran 45:55 for 79th and 11th and just behind her came Margaret Foley (82nd and 13th in 46:03), both enjoying their runs. Grainne Regan was next across the line for 89th and 16th in 46:24. Stephen Mulligan was our penultimate runner home, placing 91st in 47:20 and he was followed by Aitor Arribas Velasco who crossed the line in 137th spot in 49:33.

We then had 7 runners in the half marathon, led home by Maurice Kelter, in training for the Malaga marathon in a few weeks’ time. Maurice worked his way through the field to finish in 14th place in an excellent 1:23:17. Our next runner home was Olwyn Dunne (115th and 5th) in 1:39:35 showing some consistency in her recent half marathon results. Miriam Logan followed not too far behind in a PB time of 1:42:09 for 130th and 8th places, with Liz Nixon taking 161st and 14th places in 1:45:30. Slightly further back came Eamonn McCarney (168th in 1:47:00) and he was followed by Lakshmi Prasad Gowda (343rd in 2:13:23) and Fiochra O’Cionnaith (350th in 2:17:14).

Coming off the back of an injury and interrupted training, Catherine Thornton ran a 10-mile road race in Galway (the Corofin Loops) where she lives to test progress. In the event, Catherine managed to take the win in 62:39, placing 9th overall and running at a steady tempo pace. She led from gun to tape, closely followed by AIT's Kate Kelly who finished only 15 seconds behind her. Without realising it, Catherine was helped by the pace of another runner who she didn’t know, ex-Crusader Dave Cuddy who now lives in Athlone, and who finished just 3 seconds ahead. Conditions were unsurprisingly windy on a one-looped course.

Sunday also saw the 130th running of the Clonliffe 2 mile race, the oldest continuous club road race in Ireland. 212 competitors took part and it was won overall by Hiko Tonosa in a course record 8:54. We had 2 Crusaders in the race which starts and finishes in the Morton stadium, with 800m specialist Mary Horgan taking 21st and 4th places in a great time of 10:38, not too far behind women's race winner, Michelle Finn (10:03). Mary was the fastest female master in the race too. Alan Kavanagh also ran, placing 68th in 12:38.

Further afield, we had two Crusaders running in the rescheduled Barcelona marathon on Sunday. Although the temperature throughout the morning rose from about 8 degrees Celsius to around 17 degrees, heat was not really a factor in the race and our two plucky runners were able to knock out PBs for their efforts. James Rea finished agonizingly close to breaking 3 hours with his second PB after Belfast, placing 694th in 3:00:28, whilst Conor Macguinness’ PB time was 3:02:02 for 744th place. Their times will have given them enough encouragement to have another go at the distance next year no doubt! We had another marathoner in action too on Sunday. This was our exile in Canada, Ian Kinsella, who travelled down from Toronto to New York and, in cool but relatively windless conditions, ran 2:42, another likely PB.

There was a race in the mountains on Saturday organised by IMRA. This was the Powerscourt Ridge run conducted over a distance of approx. 16km on difficult terrain with a climb of 690m over Djouce and Maulin. We had at least eight runners in the windy, misty and challenging race with a starting field of 193 runners. The contingent was led home by John McAuley who placed 22nd and 4th M40 in 1:35:06. He was followed by Brian McGuckin (54th in 1:45:44 and 5th M50), Lean Ni Chiobhain, (65th and 5th, and awarded F35 age cat winner) warming up for her XC adventure on Sunday, and Conor Greenan (66th), ran the distance in, respectively, 1:50:08 and 1:50:09. Michael Maughan (127th in 2:07:28), Gavan Doherty (159th in 2:18:43), Pat Quill (162nd in 2:21;16) and Berndt Heim (189th in 2:58:40 completed the contingent.

Parkrunners were much in evidence on Saturday morning and, as usual, we had some excellent performances. Brendan Murphy took on the hilly Cabinteely run, coming home in first place in a time of 17:17. He was joined in the field of 153 by Barry O’Mahony (19th in 21:51) and Louise Dobbyn, making a welcome and strong return to competitive running whilst still on maternity leave (35th and 2nd in 23:51). Edel Haverty ran in Carlow Town where she placed 9th and 2nd in 22:21 in a field of 74 runners, whilst Isabelle Cairns also podiumed in New Ross, where she placed 12th and 2nd in 21:18, running with 114 other participants. Hannah Jones ran in Ormeau Park in Belfast where, in a field of 314, she placed 83rd and 9th in 24:29, whilst Karl Walsh ran with 68 other runners in Glen River where he crossed the line in 6th place in a time of 22:34. Toby Benham took things a bit easier this week, running in Brickfields where, in a field of 63, he placed 8th in 21:39, whilst Mairead Cashman was also a lone runner for us in Bushy Park, where she placed 71st and 19th in 28:02. Helena O’Keeffe ran in Ballincollig, taking 157th and 21st spots in a field of 301 and a time of 27:37, whilst Fiona Lane crossed the finishing line in Marlay in a time of 27:22 for 201st and 32nd spots. Our biggest contingent of the day continues to be Poolbeg, where, on Saturday, we had no fewer than 9 runners join a field of 114. They were led home by 13-year-old Daniel Sheridan who placed 5th in 19:40. Daniel was followed by David Timoney (15th in 21:41), Zlatko Kulic (31st in 22:49), Sharon Woods (41st and 4th in 23:26), Fin Goulding (43rd in 23:31), Fiona Bane (53rd and 7th in 24:26), Gillian Curran (60th and 9th in 25:17), Maureen McGinley (83rd and 18th in 27:35) and Mari Hansen (109th and 36th in 34:37). Cormac McGuire and Maria Pertl ran in Tolka Valley, where Cormac placed 9th in 22:51 and Maria came home in 30:58 for 32nd and 11th spots. There were 45 runners in the event. Once again, Orlaith de Burca ran with 140 other participants in Shanganagh where she placed 76th and 14th in 28:08, whilst, in Kilkenny, Paul and Aoife Kelly joined 151 other runners. Paul took 28th spot in 23:36, whilst Aoife finished in 78th and 20th places in a time of 28:06. In Porterstown we saw Brian Langton run 29:59 for 81st place, whilst Kevin Flynn took 99th place in a time of 32;24. The field measured 128. Then, in Malahide, Deirdre Kennedy placed 256th and 86th and Darina Scully, 259th and 87th in respective times of 31:23 and 31:30 in a field of 326. Finally, in Paradise Point in Queensland, our Australian exile, Kris Ryan ran 23:19 to place 51st and 8th in a field consisting of 206 runners.

Eyeries 5-mile road race (174)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Tom Butler 1 00:25:09
6 Sinead O’Connor 1 00:30:27
Crusaders AC runners
31 Fiona Shine 00:35:24 (PB) (6)
79 Lisa Shine 00:40:43 (21)
135 Mairin Shine 00:51:10 (57)
Full results here: https://www.popupraces.ie/race/eyeries-5-mile-2021/
Clondalkin Fastlane Half marathon (373)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 John Weldon 1 01:14:05
6 Kate Purcell 1 01:18:23
Crusaders AC runners
14 Maurice Kelter 01:23:17
115 Olwyn Dunne 01:39:35 (5)
130 Miriam Logan 01:42:09 (PB) (8)
161 Liz Nixon 01:45:30 (14)
168 Eamonn McCarney 01:47:00
343 Lakshmi Prasad Gowda 02:13:23
350 Fiochra O’Cionnaith 02:17:14
Full results here: http://redtagtiming.com/results/Fastlane2021_21km.html
Powerscourt Ridge race (IMRA) (193)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Matthew O’Connell 1 01:18:01
19 Martsje Hell 1 01:33:50
Crusaders AC runners
22 John McAuley 01:35:06
54 Brian McGuckin 01:45:44
65 Lean Ni Chiobhain 01:50:08 (5)
66 Conor Greenan 01:50:09
127 Michael Maughan 02:07:28
159 Gavan Doherty 02:18:43
162 Pat Quill 02:21:16
189 Berndt Heim 02:58:40
Full results here: https://www.imra.ie/events/results/id/2088
Clondalkin Fastlane 10k (368)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Dylan Wright 1 00:32:53
31 Debbie McConnell 1 00:39:40
Crusaders AC runners
47 Aoife Quigley 00:42:11 (4)
56 Joanne Carey 00:43:00 (PB) (5)
79 Tanja Narancic 00:45:55 (11)
82 Margaret Foley 00:46:03 (13)
Full results here: http://redtagtiming.com/results/Corofin2021_10Mile.htm
Clonliffe 2-mile road race (212)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Hiko Tonosa 1 00:08:54 (CR)
10 Michelle Finn 1 00:10:03
Crusaders AC runners
21 Mary Horgan 00:10:38 (4)
68 Alan Kavanagh 00:12:38
Full results here: https://clonliffeharriersac.com/hiko-wins-the-130th-clonliffe-2/
Corofin 10 mile road race (114)
Overall place Name Cat. lace Chiptime
1 Hugh McArdle 1 00:54:27
9 Catherine Thornton 1 01:02:39
Crusaders AC runner
9 Catherine Thornton 01:02:39 (1)
Full results here: http://redtagtiming.com/results/Corofin2021_10Mile.html
Marlay Parkrun (384)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Ruben Bartelink 1 00:17:24
12 Paula Grant 1 00:19:08
Crusaders AC runner
201 Fiona Lane 00:27:22 (32)
Kilkenny Parkrun (153)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Robbie McGee 1 00:18:36
17 Sharon O’Hara 1 00:22:22
Crusaders AC runners
28 Paul F. Kelly 00:23:36
78 Aoife Kelly 00:28:06 (20)
Malahide Parkrun (326)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Shane O’Farrell 1 00:17:30
8 Annette Kealy 1 00:18:51
Crusaders AC runners
256 Deirdre Kennedy 00:31:23 (86)
259 Darina Scully 00:31:30 (87)
Ballincollig Parkrun (301)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Rory O’Sullivan 1 00:17:18
32 Niamh Cronin 1 00:21:31
Crusaders AC runner
157 Helena O’Keeffe 00:27:37 (21)
Shanganagh Parkrun (141)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Darren Egan 1 00:17:34
6 Richael Browne 1 00:19:16
Crusaders AC runner
76 Orlaith de Burca 00:28:08 (14)
Cabinteely Parkrun (153)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Brendan Murphy 1 00:17:17
33 Melanie Pape 1 00:23:37
Crusaders AC runners
1 Brendan Murphy 00:17:17
19 Barry O’Mahony 00:21:51
35 Louise Dobbyn 00:23:51 (2)
Porterstown Parkrun (128)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Niall Sherlock 1 00:17:51
8 Colleen Barrett 1 00:21:07
Crusaders AC runners
81 Brian Langton 00:29:59
99 Kevin Flynn 00:32:24
Tolka Valley Parkrun (45)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Alastair Higgins 1 00:19:09
4 Ciara Peelo 1 00:21;18
Crusaders AC runners
9 Cormac McGuire 00:22:51
32 Maria Pertl 00:30:58 (11)
Bushy Parkrun (155)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Peter Reynolds 1 00:18:06
8 Naomi Hutchinson 1 00:21:33
Crusaders AC runner
71 Mairead Cashman 00:28:02 (19)
Poolbeg Parkrun (114)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Ashley Hayes 1 00:18:44
10 Ava Rose Clarke 1 00:20:41
Crusaders AC runners
5 Daniel Sheridan 00:19:40
15 David Timoney 00:21:41
31 Zlatko Kulic 00:22:49
41 Sharon Woods 00:23:26 (4)
43 Fin Goulding 00:23:31
53 Fiona Bane 00:24:26 (7)
60 Gillian Curran 00:25:17 (9)
83 Maureen McGinley 00:27:35 (18)
109 Mari Hansen 00:34:37 (36)
Carlow Town Parkrun (74)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Colin Payne 1 00:17:29
6 Sinead Tangney 1 00:21:59
Crusaders AC runner
9 Edel Haverty 00:22:21 (2)
Glen River Parkrun (69)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Caoimhin Vallely 1 00:18:46
12 Niamh Sheehan 1 00:23:56
Crusaders AC runner
6 Karl Walsh 00:22:34
Ormeau Parkrun (314)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Liam Trainor 1 00:18:22
33 Olivia McCartin 1 00:21:33
Crusaders AC runner
83 Hannah Jones 00:24:29 (9)
New Ross Parkrun (115)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Tomas Harrington 1 00:18:01
10 Kate Reidy 1 00:20:37
Crusaders AC runner
12 Isabelle Cairns 00:21:18 (2)
Brickfields Parkrun (63)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Ciaran Aylward 1 00:18:32
15 Avril Barry 1 00:22:51
Crusaders AC runner
8 Toby Benham 00:21:39