Springing forwards in Bohermeen and Athlone

11/3/2018

Alma Hanevy (2nd)

Unsurprisingly, there was little racing last weekend as we reflect on the wintry conditions at the end of February and beginning of March that now feel like a distant memory. There was no race report last week, so we’re playing a little catch up, which will be addressed below.

This weekend saw two events in which we saw reasonable participation from Crusaders. The first is Saturday’s holding of the Irish masters Indoor Championships on the AIT track in Athlone, followed by the Meath Spring Half marathon road race hosted by Bohermeen on Sunday. We might have expected to have had more racing generally. However, the BHAA was obliged to cancel the cross country race, the last of the season, in Maynooth because the grounds were considered not fit for purpose after the snow and rain we’ve been experiencing. A couple of IMRA races were also cancelled. So, no XC or mountain running to report this week.

In the masters indoors, Ilona McElroy took part in her 2nd event since becoming a master, the women’s F35 3,000m. Ilona battled away to take 4th place in 10:57.93 behind a dominant Kelly Neely (9:38.02). Simon Everard, Bob Lyne and John O’Loughlin took part in multiple events. Simon took bronze in the M35 60m (7.67), silver in the 400m (54.05) and 5th in the tightly packed 200m (24.62). Meanwhile, John O’Loughlin took gold in the M50 400m (57.61) and 4th in both the 60m (7.98) and 200m (26.39). Finally, Bob Lyne took bronze in the M50 3,000m walk (18:37.03), 4th in the shot put (9.19m) and 6th in the weight for distance (6.00m).

On Sunday, we had 14 club mates run in Bohermeen in the Meath Spring Half marathon and 10k events. The half marathon race usually boasts a quality field and this year was no different, potentially enhanced by the cancellation of the Ballycotton 10. On a two loop, relatively flat, course with little wind, our recent recruit, Alma Hanevy, who is training for the Paris Marathon in early April, distinguished herself with a confidence-boosting 2nd place behind Maria McCambridge in a PB time of 1:26:42 (128th overall in a field of more than 900 competitors), taking some good scalps in the process and knocking off nearly 2 minutes from her previous best. Dee Ni Chearbhaill came into the race on the back of little training but still managed to come home under 1:40, in 319th place overall, 41st woman finisher, in 1:38:44. Dee was followed by Ciara Lehane (415th overall, 71st woman, in 1:44:31), Kate Murray (452nd overall, 83rd woman, in 1:47:17) and Celine Bonce, another marathoner in training (549th overall, 129th woman, in 1:51:05).

The men ran well, too. Ciaran Diviney won his age category, placing 8th in a super time of 1:13:28 and he was followed by another marathoner, Kieran Little, wearing a Cru singlet for the first time and training for Boston, in 25th place (with a PB time of 1:16:23, an improvement of over 5 minutes). Warren Swords placed 52nd in 1:20:33 and he was followed by Dominick Branigan who, unfortunately, found the going tough (64th in 1:21:36). Next came Hamburg marathon-bound Eugene McDonough in an excellent PB time of 1:23:15, knocking over 2 minutes off his previous best, followed closely by Joe Walsh who, like his wife Alma, is training for Paris (89th in 1:23:46) and pulling out a great run on his way back from recent injury. Finally, Bob Manson turned in a satisfying 1:28:38 (156th place). Members will be interested to read that Sean Murphy, who trains with Crusaders, took an excellent 36th place in 1:19:10.

We had two runners in the 10k event (again on a relatively flat course) with its 400+ participation. Newcomer Mick Smyth placed well in 21st spot (40:15), followed by Maria Kennedy, who is also training for Paris (85th overall, 23rd woman, in 48:51).

Looking back to last week, we had 3 runners in the 441-strong Lusk 4 mile road race. Conditions would have been chilly, but thankfully, the roads would have been easier to negotiate than during the 4 days leading up to it, but possibly a little narrower than usual with snow on the sides. Our first Crusader home, on what proved in fact to be an extremely fast race, was Aoife Quinn (105th overall, 17th woman, in 29:01), followed by Geraldine Clements (140th overall, 29th woman, in 30:25) and Elaine Curran (228th overall, 75th woman, in 33:13.

Also, last weekend, Leo Lundy took part in a tough ultra in Kent on Sunday at Kings Wood outside Challock. The whole race was run on thawing ice, starting with sheet ice and finishing with a quagmire. More than 3000ft climb and many hours of icy rain made it a real challenge. Leo’s 50k in the allotted time frame was, however, good enough for 8th overall out of 92 finishers.

There were no parkruns in Ireland last weekend because of the extreme weather and the code red advice, but Kris Ryan and Leo Lundy were able to participate abroad. In Coomera, Australia, out of 124 runners, Kris placed 26th overall, 5th female, in a time of 23:47, whilst Leo ran in Basingstoke the day before his ultra, recording a time of 31:05 and placing 128th out of 196 participants.

On Tuesday, we had at least one participant in the Sandymount 5k night run, that took place in Sean Moore Park and ventured out onto the beach. Ruth McNamara placed 135th overall out of 374 competitors in a time of 31:12.

This weekend we seemed to have a generally reduced participation. Again Kris Ryan ran in Coomera, placing 30th overall, 8th female, in 23:51 in a field of 130, whilst Aidan Hudner ran as usual in Victoria Park, Glasgow, placing 49th out of a field of 262 in a time of 22:16. We had several runners in Poolbeg, 7 in all. David Timoney was first Crusader home in 6th place (20:39), followed by Zalan Kovacs (21st in 22:39), Colm Foley (24th in 23:05), Lisa Shine (26th overall, 2nd female, in 23:26), Aisling O’Connor (56th overall, 12th female, in 27:11), Kate Healy (62nd overall, 14th female, in 28:24) and Iseult Ni Chuinneagain (69th overall, 19th female, in 28:55). Joe Walsh prepped for his run in Bohermeen by finishing in 3rd place in Brickfields in a time of 19:36. Fiona Bane placed 18th overall, 4th woman, in Tramore outside Waterford. Fiona’s time was 24:13, whilst Olwyn Dunne and Mairead Cashman ran in Bushy Dublin, finishing, respectively in 53rd and 80th places overall (13th and 27th female finishers) in, respectively, 26:39 and 29:04. Neil Brown was our lone representative in a familiar haunt for him in Shanganagh. Neil placed 10th in 21:23. In Castletown, Denis Murphy took 15th spot in 21:34, followed by Aoife Quinn (24th overall, 2nd woman home, in a great time of 23:17). In St. Annes, Jonathan Claridge placed 8th in 18:41, whilst Matt Cranley continued to push his stroller to a time of 19:23, close to his stroller PB. Finally, the results in Poppintree seem to have been corrupted, so no individual times were recorded. Suffice it to say, Maria Pertl continues to improve, placing 51st overall, 16th woman home.

Lusk 4 mile race (441)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Kevin Dooney 1 00:19:10
20 Ailish Murtagh 1 00:24:06
Crusaders AC runners
105 Aoife Quinn 00:29:01 (17)
140 Geraldine Clements 00:30:25 (29)
228 Elaine Curran 00:33:13 (75)
Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/lusk_ac_4_mile/2557/results
Bohermeen Meath Spring Half marathon (916)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Mark Ryan 1 01:08:22
31 Maria McCambridge 1 01:17:46
Crusaders AC runners
8 Ciaran Diviney 01:13:28
25 Kieran Little 01:16:23 (PB)
52 Warren Swords 01:20:33
64 Dominick Branigan 01:21:36
85 Eugene McDonough 01:23:15 (PB)
89 Joe Walsh 01:23:46
128 Alma Hanevy 01:26:42 (PB) (2)
156 Bob Manson 01:28:38
319 Dee Ni Chearbhaill 01:38:44 (41)
415 Ciara Lehane 01:44:31 (71)
452 Kate Murray 01:47:17 (83)
549 Celine Bonce 01:51:05 (129)
Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/meath_spring_half_marathon__10k/2427/results
Bohermeen Meath Spring 10k (410)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Darragh Rennicks 1 00:33:06
13 Catherina McKiernan 1 00:37:23
Crusaders AC runners
21 Michael Smyth 00:40:15
85 Maria Kennedy 00:48:51 (23)
Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/meath_spring_half_marathon__10k/2427/results
Malahide Parkrun #278 (242)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Gerard Redmond 1 00:17:13
15 Amanda Maher Owen 1 00:19:56
Crusaders AC runner
61 Darina Scully 00:23:25 (11)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/malahide/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=278
St Annes Parkrun #224 (331)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Terry Keogh 1 00:17:37
46 Deborah Monaghan 1 00:21:44
Crusaders AC runners
8 Jonathan Claridge 00:18:41
13 Matt Cranley 00:19:23
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/stannes/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=224
Shanganagh Parkrun #153 (130)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Scott McCann 1 00:17:08
13 Lauren McCaul 1 00:22:15
Crusaders AC runner
10 Neil Brown 00:21:23
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/shanganagh/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=153
Poolbeg Parkrun #28 (100)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Diarmuid O’Suilleabhain 1 00:18:16
14 Jennifer Whiteman 1 00:21:59
Crusaders AC runners
6 David Timoney 00:20:39
21 Zalan Kovacs 00:22:39
24 Colm Foley 00:23:08
26 Lisa Shine 00:23:26 (2)
56 Ailsing O’Connor 00:27:11 (12)
62 Kate Healy 00:28:24 (14)
69 Iseult Ni Chuinneagain 00:28:55 (19)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/poolbeg/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=28
Tramore Parkrun #112 (81)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Brian Murphy 1 00:16:42
14 Caroline Farrelly 1 00:22:52
Crusaders AC runner
18 Fiona Bane 00:24:13 (4)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/tramore/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=112
Bushy Dublin Parkrun #54 (135)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Hamish Roper 1 00:18:48
14 Clara Kinsella 1 00:21:31
Crusaders AC runners
53 Olwyn Dunne 00:26:39 (13)
80 Mairead Cashman 00:29:04 (27)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/bushydublin/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=54
Castletown Parkrun #115 (230)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Gavin Kelly 1 00:18:29
14 Caragh Hayes 1 00:21:31
Crusaders AC runners
15 Denis Murphy 00:21:34
24 Aoife Quinn 00:23:17 (2)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/castletown/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=115
Poppintree Parkrun #174 (117)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Ciaran Bannen xxx
5 Rachel McBride xxx
Crusaders AC runner
51 Maria Pertl xxx (16)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/poppintree/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=174
Brickfields Parkrun #9 (91)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Paul Cummins 1 00:19:02
21 Kate Purcell 1 00:25:39
Crusaders AC runner
3 Joe Walsh 00:19:36
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/brickfields/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=9