Soul Sisters in Abbotstown

3/3/2025

WM&T Crusaders in action

The Sport Ireland Campus was the place to be this weekend. On Saturday, the National Indoor Arena was the venue for the Leinster U20, Senior and Masters indoor track and field championships. Then, on Sunday the BHAA hosted the final race in this year’s winter league WM&T XC, in conjunction with the annual AIB-sponsored 2-mile and 4-mile XC events, on the purpose-built cross-country course further along the campus.

The Leinster championships took all day to complete and the club enjoyed considerable success in them, right down to the last events, the relays.

We will start with the U20 events. In heat 2 of 3 of the women’s 60m dash, Juliette McCloskey placed 5th in 8.38, whilst, in the men’s first round, Cillian Doherty won the first heat to qualify for the final in a time of 7.05. Liam Beaumont placed 4th in the same heat in a time of 7.57. Luke Timlin also qualified, placing 1st in the 4th heat in a time of 7.09. Then, in the final, Cillian took gold in an U20 championship record time of 6.96, with Luke placing 2nd to take silver in 7.00. Hats off to both of them. Incidentally, the record had one time been held by Gordon Kennedy who helps out with the juvenile section and who has children in the club. Cillian surpassed the more recent record set in 2022 of 7.0, which Luke matched.

In the heats of the U20 women’s 200m, Juliette McCloskey, running in lane 3, placed 4th in 28.30, whilst, in the men’s, Luke Timlin qualified for the final, which he did not contest. Luke won heat 1 in 22.15, running in lane 6. Finally, in the U20 category, Juliette competed in the women’s long jump, where she had 3 jumps, her best being 4.61m to finish in 9th spot.

On to the senior men and women, who also competed in 60m and 200m sprint events, although none progressed. In the men’s 60m, Charlie Bastow ran in heat 2, placing 3rd in 7.15, whilst Masahiro Watanabe ran in heat 3, where he finished in 6th place in 7.45, with Dan Sheridan running in heat 4, placing 8th in 7.99. In the women’s senior 60m and 200m, Nguilulu Rachel Messa placed respectively 6th in heat 2 in 9.11 and then 4th in 30.31 (from lane 3). In heat 3 of the women’s 200m Irantzu Garate Muro placed 3rd in 26.45, whilst in heat 4, Eva Griffin crossed the line in 3rd place in 27.99. Both athletes ran in lane 4, as did both our senior men. Leo Gormley placed 2nd in the first heat but failed to qualify in 23.76. Finally, Masahiro ran in heat 3 where he placed 4th in 24.14.

In the senior women’s 400m final, Emily Lyne recorded a time of 61.29 for 5th place, whilst our senior women’s 4 x 200m relay team medalled, the team of Irantzu, Eva, Juliette and Nguilulu Rachel winning silver in 1:52.13. Congrats to them!

Finally, it was the turn of the masters. We had just two athletes take part. In the 800m Karl Fitzmaurice took the bronze medal in the M50 category in 2:20.57 and then he placed 4th in the 400m in 65.40. John O’Loughlin took gold in the M55 400m, with a time of 67.29. Well done to both of them too!

The Campus was also the venue for two cross-country races on Sunday morning, held under the auspices of the BHAA, but also involving the fourth and final event in the Women’s Meet and Train winter league.

The WM&T race was the first to go, with a significant field of 168 female runners competing over a roughly two-mile course, essentially using 2 laps of the large loop familiar to many of us, with its sharp hill about halfway round the loop and a drag towards the end of it. There was mud on the course which was otherwise dry and some runners definitely found the going a little heavy. However, that was not necessarily the case for our lead runner of the contingent of 19 Crusaders who took on the challenge, Luz Estevan. Luz has been going from strength to strength throughout the season, and yesterday placed 8th with a really strong run in a time of 13:22, under a minute behind the race winner.

Luz was followed by Dee Ni Chearbhaill who produced her usual steady approach, placing 30th in 14:38, with Fiona Shine (31st in 14:40) hard on her heels. Kate Murray (43rd in 15:02, and 4th F50 in terms of the BHAA records) was next, just ahead of Darina Scully (45th in 15:04) who worked hard during the event, but holding on well. Ellen Walsh (53rd in 15:15), Emer Kenny (58th in 15:21), Ciara Hutchinson (59th in 15:23) and Olwyn Dunne (60th and 3rd F55 in 15:26) came home closely together, ahead of Anna Brown (66th in 15:49) and Ailish Hassett (69th in 15:52). We had some excellent mid-pack performances.

Emma O’Mahony (92nd in 16:33) was next across the line, followed by Carina Davidson (115th in 17:11), Lisa Shine (116th in 17:12) and Catriona Egan (117th in 17:14). They were followed by a bunch headed in a super sprint for the line by Anna Shine (136th in 18:15) and Anna was followed by Lorraine McMahon (140th in 18:23) and Máirín Shine (141st and 3rd F65 in 18:25). Mairead Cashman completed the contingent, placing 149th and 3rd F60 in 19:08.

Once the smoke had cleared and the results collated for determining the outcome of the winter league, Luz finished in an excellent 7th place overall against some exceptionally strong opposition, whilst the Crusaders red team of Darina, Dee and Ellen placed 3rd in the platinum division. Honourable mentions should go to the purple team who included Luz, Kate, Ciara and Emer who placed 4th in the diamond division, whilst the pink team, which included Olwyn, Fiona, Lisa, Anna, Máirin and Mairead, also placed 4th in the gold division. Well done to all and especially to Fiona and Lisa for their organisational skills in putting together such a wonderful series of races.

The second race of the morning was the men’s 4-miler, competed over 4 loops of the same course. We had 8 runners in the 69-strong field and they were led home by John McDonough (14th in 25:52) on the back of having competed in a marathon just a week ago, finishing in 3:09. Sean Murphy was next, placing 26th in 28:15, ahead of Kabir Sala who found the going tough in the middle of the race but who recovered to produce a strong finish (27th in 28:28). Running on the course for the first time, David O’Donnell came home in 36th place in a time of 29:21, followed by Robbie Moore (46th in 31:07), Brendan Glynn (49th in 31:38), Kevin Kenny (63rd in 34:09) and Paul E. Kelly (68th in 38:27).

Runners and supporters were treated to the usual BHAA spread after the event, significantly reinforced by contributions from the WM&T participants.

On the roads this weekend, there were 2 four-mile races on which to report. On Sunday, an elite field of pure quality depth ran in Lusk. The race was won by the usual suspects in extremely fast times, but we also had an excellent showing from Alex Ainsworth who placed 11th in the field of 42 and in a great time of 20:33 for the distance, his first 4 miler, taking some decent scalps into the bargain too. Alex was joined by Tanja Narancic who ran 28:18 for 177th and 30th places in a field of 869. Chris Bannon followed Tanja not too far behind in 30:19 for 236th place. Earlier in the weekend, Maureen McGinley had joined 253 other runners in Moneystown, Ballinacoola, Co. Wicklow, where she ran the 4-miler there. Maureen placed 133rd overall, 48th female finisher and 1st F60.

Then, over in Co. Kildare on Sunday, we had several runners take part in the Naas 10-miler, with its field of 785. Karl Walsh was our first runner home (31st in 62:36) and he was followed by Eoghan Corrigan in 70th spot with a super PB time of 67:54. Gill Earley (96th overall, 11th female finisher and 2nd F40) was next, and the contingent was completed by Michael Judge (187th in 74:28).

Down in Blarney in Cork, Ciara Lehane participated in the Stone Mad half marathon there, where, in a field of 432, she placed 168th and 25th in 1:40:33. On Saturday, Ryan Hoey reported that he recorded a PB in Carlingford Half marathon with a time of 1:49:42, placing 431st in a field of 1028.

Further afield over the weekend, one of our Spanish exiles, Esther Requena Ferri took a podium place in the Carrera de las Naranjas in El Valle in Spain. Esther ran the distance of about 9.4k in 43:12. In France, one of our exiles there, Valentin Akdim, ran in the Black Mountain Trail race, a distance of over 43km, which he completed in 5:04, placing 35th overall. The race was held a few miles west of Toulouse and north of Carcassonne. Even further afield, Mikel Crisostomo ran in a race, the Carrefour 10k, in the Dominican Republic, which he completed, in extremely warm conditions, in 40:39. Further north, by contrast in freezing conditions, Damien O’Brien, one of our North American exiles, took part in the Washington Heights 5k, where he recorded a time of 18:47. Finally, Sean Brady ran in the Bologna marathon on Sunday. He reported that he found it tough running on a multi-cobblestoned course and slowed down considerably in the second half likely also as the result of truncated preparation, but still managed to finish in 4:14:37.

Brendan Glynn reported that the day before he ran in the BHAA race, he also completed the 8k Hell and Back adventure race, taking 1:45:00 to complete the event.

Meanwhile, we had three runners in the mountains on Saturday morning. The event was the Annacurra Trail 9k, organised by IMRA. 109 athletes contested the race which enjoyed a climb of 350m. Whilst holding the lead in the women’s race, Clare Sullivan unfortunately took a wrong turn and finished 2nd (by only 6 seconds) and 20th overall, ahead of Becky Quinn who placed 23rd, 4th female finisher and 1st F50 in 49:59. Making a welcome return to competitive running, Sam McArdle was our third athlete, placing 42nd in 55:47.

Despite the sunny morning numbers were slightly down in Poolbeg, but remained relatively high elsewhere. It’s great to report that we enjoyed more success again this weekend, including Poolbeg, where one of our London exiles, Kate O’Malley, returned to finish as first woman across the line in 19:18. Kate also placed 14th overall in a field of 234. Michael Wycherley led the contingent home in 3rd spot in 17:35, followed by Stephen Hurley (6th in 17:45), Thomas Vogée in training for next week’s Lisbon half (8th in 18:03), just ahead of Kenan Furlong (9th in 18:05).

Just behind Kate came James Sherry (15th in 19:26), ahead of Ronan Walsh (likely 24th in 20:19). Zlatko Kulic was next (25th in 20:29), followed by Oisin Browne (29th in 20:42) ahead of Piarais Neary (30th in 20:44), and then further back came Claire Reidy (likely around 60th in about 22:40) ahead of Kabir Sala (68th in 23:07), Emily Glen (77th and 11th in 23:39), Josie Ward (90th and 15th in 24:49), Fiona Bane (93rd and 17th in 25:05, Bo Chicoine (113th in 26:08), Lisa Branigan (158th and 44th in 28:48), Michelle English (183rd and 60th in 31:03), Mari Hansen (197th and 71st in 32:19), Linda Walsh (206th and 77th in 33:10), with Louise O’Riordan tailwalking.

Apart from Kate, we had other first finishers. Orla Drumm repeated her recent parkrun success with a first finish in Tramore Valley, Cork. In a field of 265, Orla placed 4th overall in 19:18, whilst, in Corkagh, Lorraine Healy also placed 4th and 1st in 19:17 in a marginally smaller field of 251. Meanwhile, Dee Lawlor headed the field of 159 home in Cabinteely with a time of 18:41. Dee was followed across the line by Máirín Shine (115th and 38th in 33:10). Ciara Regan placed 4th and 2nd in the Tubbercurry Trail parkrun with its field 72. Ciara’s time was 20:36, whilst, in Marlay Park, Aoife Quigley ran alongside 687 runners, including Carina Davidson, where she placed 23rd and 2nd in 20:00 and Carina took 540th and 214th spots in 33:00. Kev Moore and Mary Donnelly were joined in Bushy Park by Mairead Cashman, where, in a field of 176, Kev placed 6th in 19:38, followed by Mary (15th and 3rd in 21:25) and Mairead (110th and 35th in 29:49).

In Fairview, Olwyn Dunne placed 51st and 9th in a field of 166 and in a time of 27:04. Olwyn was followed by Catriona Egan (84th and 27th in 29:25). In Tolka Valley, Paul F. Kelly ran 23:20 for 8th place in a field of 51, followed by Maria Pertl who recorded a time of 32:42 for 35th and 7th spots, whilst, in Father Collins Park, Emer Kenny ran 27:18 for 55th and 13th places. Alan Martin ran in Castlebar where, alongside 135 other participants, he placed 23rd in 24:18, whilst Ailsh Hassett recorded a PB time of 24:39 in Shanganagh, where, in a field of 266, she placed 74th and 9th. Ailish was followed by Orlaith de Burca (139th and 34th in 27:51).

Darina Scully paced the 30 minutes runners in River Valley, placing 53rd and 23rd in a field of 118 and in a time of 29:52, whilst Colm Foley joined 227 other runners in Griffeen Park, where he placed 55th in 24:36. Michael O’Conor headed to Co. Cork where he ran alongside 361 other participants in Ballincollig Park, placing 80th in 25:01, whilst we had 2 tailwalkers, Sarah Lyons and Áine Crotty, in St. Anne’s Raheny, supporting 465 other participants.

Abroad, one of our London exiles, Rob Glascott, joined a field of 1100 in Battersea Park in London, where he ran 20:55 to place 244th, whilst in nearby Gunnersbury Park in Ealing, Thom Martini placed 592nd in 37:45 in a field of 638. Finally, one of our Australian exiles, Kris Ryan, ran in Paradise Point again. In a field of 405, Kris placed 59th and 10th in 24:16.

BHAA AIB Men’s mile XC (69)
Overall place Name Guntime
1 Paul Fleming 00:22:49
Crusaders AC runners
14 John McDonagh 00:25:52
26 Sean Murphy 00:28:15
27 Kabir Sala 00:28:28
36 David O’Donnell 00:29:21
46 Robbie Moore 00:31:07
49 Brendan Glynn 00:31:38
63 Kevin Kenny 00:34:09
68 Paul E. Kelly 00:38:27
Full results here: https://irp.cdn-website.com/15e8030f/files/uploaded/AIB_4m_2025_Results.pdf
WM&T 2 miles XC (168)
Overall place Name Guntime
1 Lisa Gaughran 00:12:29
Crusaders AC runners
8 Luz Estevan 00:13;22
30 Deirdre Ni Chearbhaill 00:14:38
31 Fiona Shine 00:14:40
43 Kate Murray 00:15:02
45 Darina Scully 00:15:04
53 Ellen Walsh 00:15:15
58 Emer Kenny 00:15:21
59 Ciara Hutchinson 00:15:23
60 Olwyn Dunne 00:15:26
66 Anna Brown 00:15:49
69 Ailish Hassett 00:15:52
92 Emma O’Mahony 00:16:33
115 Carina Davidson 00:17:11
116 Lisa Shine 00:17:12
117 Catriona Egan 00:17:14
136 Anna Shine 00:18:15
140 Lorraine McMahon 00:18:23
141 Máirín Shine 00:18:25
149 Mairead Cashman 00:19:08
Full results here: https://irp.cdn-website.com/15e8030f/files/uploaded/AIB_-_Meet_and_Train_2m_2025_Results.pdf
Ultima Oil Moneystown 4 miles (254)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Eddie O’Connor 1 00:20:31
15 Catherine Devitt 1 00:23:51
Crusaders AC runner
131 Maureen McGinley 00:40:49 (48)
Full results here: https://www.popupraces.ie/race/moneystown-4-mile-road-race-2025/
Lusk 4 miler (869)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 John Travers 1 00:18:43
10 Ann-Marie McGlynn 1 00:20:30
Crusaders AC runner
11 Alex Ainsworth 00:20:33
177 Tanja Narancic 00:28:18 (30)
236 Chris Bannon 00:30:19
Full results here: https://myrunresults.com/events/lusk_4_mile_2025/5511/results
Naas 10-miler (785)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Tim Murphy 1 00:53:24
13 Elizabeth Carr 1 00:58:33
Crusaders AC runners
31 Karl Walsh 01:02:36
70 Eoghan Corrigan 01:07:54 (PB)
96 Gillian Earley 01:09:54 (11)
187 Michael Judge 01:14:28
Full results here: https://my1.raceresult.com/328696/RRPublish/data/pdf?name=Result%20Lists%7CFull%20Results&contest=1&lang=en
Stone Mad Half-Marathon in Blarney (432)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Evan Fitzgerald 1 01:08:17
23 April Quinn 1 01:22:13
Crusaders AC runner
168 Ciara Lehane 01:40:33 (25)
Full results here: https://sportmaniacs.com/es/races/mad-stone-half-2025/67c441c9-2c7
c-403c-9014-d310ac1f2057/rankings
Carlingford Half-Marathon (1028)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Brendan McNally 1 01:13:42
17 Pamela Kirk 1 01:21:06
Crusaders AC runner
431 Ryan Hoey 01:49:42 (PB)
Full results here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_RSz0uSqua2w8RLg_Vt87RILNdg7iM_Z/view?fbclid=IwY2xjawIy5U1leHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHf2NdSw6IaBY7YcuY_MBAccLIgrK_7iC3c6_OPmr0l970iBMzxT_LmgJRQ_aem_bo1MI6suh4GK-NVNymtlcw&pli=1
IMRA Annacurra 9k (109)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Matthew McConnell 1 00:37:26
19 Caroline Harney 1 00:48:54
Crusaders AC runners
20 Clare Sullivan 00:49:00 (2)
23 Becky Quinn 00:49:59 (4)
42 Samuel McArdle 00:55:47
Full results here: https://www.imra.ie/events/results/id/2653/category/O/
Bushy Park Parkrun (256)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Cian Buckley 1 00:19:05
20 Katrina Hamilton 1 00:21:06
Crusaders AC runners
10 Kev Moore 00:20:27
26 Mary Donnelly 00:22:04 (2)
Corkagh Parkrun (251)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Bernard Geraghty 1 00:18:10
4 Lorraine Healy 1 00:19:17
Crusaders AC runner
4 Lorraine Healy 00:19:17 (1)
Tramore Valley, Cork Parkrun (265)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Stephen Kelleher 1 00:17:58
4 Orla Drumm 1 00:19:18
Crusaders AC runner
4 Orla Drumm 00:19:18 (1)
Griffeen Parkrun (228)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Kieran Greene 1 00:17:59
8 Sarah Fay 1 00:20:16
Crusaders AC runner
55 Colm Foley 00:24:36
Poolbeg Parkrun (234)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Dimitri Jeannon 1 00:16:19
14 Kate O’Malley 1 00:19:18
Crusaders AC runners
3 Michael Wycherley 00:17:35
6 Stephen Hurley 00:17:45
8 Thomas Vogée 00:18:03
9 Kenan Furlong 00:18:05
14 Kate O’Malley 00:19:18 (1)
15 James Sherry 00:19:26
24 Ronan Walsh 00:20:19
25 Zlatko Kulic 00:20:29
29 Oisin Browne 00:20:42
30 Piarais Neary 00:20:44
60 Claire Reidy 00:22:40 (XX)
68 Kabir Sala 00:23:07
77 Emily Glen 00:23:39 (11)
90 Josie Ward 00:24:49 (15)
93 Fiona Bane 00:25:05 (17)
113 Bo Chicoine 00:26:08
76 John Lohan 00:24:16
84 Fiona Bane 00:24:40 (13)
153 Lisa Branigan 00:28:33 (43)
158 Lorraine McMahon 00:28:48 (44)
183 Michelle English 00:31:03 (60)
197 Mari Hansen 00:32:19 (71)
206 Linda Walsh 00:33:10 (77)
234 Louise O’Riordan 00:55:55
Ballincollig Parkrun (362)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Andrew Hyland 1 00:16:33
19 Caroline Loughnane 1 00:21:21
Crusaders AC runner
80 Michael O’Conor 00:25:01
Tubbercurry Trail Parkrun (72)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Evan O’Rourke 1 00:16:27
3 Fionnuala Mulroy 1 00:20:16
Crusaders AC runner
4 Ciara Regan 00:20:36 (2)
St. Anne’s Parkrun (467)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Graham Ahearne 1 00:16:45
36 Aisling McGlacken-Byrne 1 00:21:22
Crusaders AC runners
464 Sarah Lyons 00:53:17
465 Áine Crotty 00:53:18
River Valley Parkrun (118)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
2 Richard Grieve 1 00:20:26
4 Chloe Heaslip 1 00:21:35
Crusaders AC runner
53 Darina Scully 00:29:52 (23)
Tolka Valley Parkrun (51)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Gary Hynes 1 00:18:51
9 Claire Gilligan 1 00:23:44
Crusaders AC runners
8 Paul F. Kelly 00:23:20
35 Maria Pertl 00:32:42 (7)
Marlay Parkrun (688)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Ethan Bramhill 1 00:15:57
17 Sonia Redmond 1 00:19:36
Crusaders AC runners
23 Aoife Quigley 00:20:00 (2)
540 Carina Davidson 00:33:00 (214)
Shanganagh Parkrun (266)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 George Callery 1 00:16:42
22 Karla Murray 1 00:20:28
Crusaders AC runners
74 Ailish Hassett 00:24:39 (PB) (9)
139 Orlaith de Burca 00:27:51 (34)
Father Collins Parkrun (133)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Alan Corcoran 1 00:18:25
13 Natalia Lungu 1 00:21:35
Crusaders AC runner
55 Emer Kenny 00:27:18 (13)
Fairview Parkrun (166)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Seán Cahill 1 00:18:54
32 Leah Flanagan 1 00:24:45
Crusaders AC runners
51 Olwyn Dunne 00:27:04 (9)
84 Catriona Egan 00:29:25 (27)

Luke Timlin and Cillian Doherty

Senior women's 4x200 relay team

Anna Shine, Lorraine McMahon and Máirín Shine

Ciara Hutchinson and Emer Kenny

Back row L-R: Ciara Hutchinson, Anna Brown, Catriona Egan, Emer Kenny, Olwyn Dunne, Lisa Shine, Marie-Claire Daly, Luz Estevan, Lorraine McMahon, Ailish Hassett. Front row L-R: Emma O'Mahony, Máirín Shine, Mairead Cashman, Ellen Walsh, Anna Shine, Fiona Shine, Darina Scully, Carina Davidson, Dee Ni Chearbhaill