Success across the country and perfect conditions for the National 10-mile road Championships

24/7/2023

L-R: Máirín Shine, Enda Clarke and Lisa Shine

Runners were once again rather spoiled for choice this week. Lots of races were on offer, both on the road and on the track. We did rather well in several of them.

We start as usual with results from the track. There were 2 events taking place on Wednesday, one in Tallaght, the 7th graded meet of the Dublin Athletics series, and the other in Belfast, hosted by the British Milers Club. In the latter, we had one runner take part, in the women’s 1500m. Mary Horgan placed 6th and first master home in a field of 15 on the Mary Peters track with a PB time for the distance of 4:28.94. Meanwhile, down in Tallaght, we had athletes taking part in 200m and 1500m races, as well as involvement in a couple of field events. The overall event included a masters programme.

Tessa O’Neill placed 3rd in the women’s O/35 race in a time of 29.14, whilst Sinead Moloney took 2nd spot in the women’s grade C of the same distance in 27.30. Donal Swift (an O/70 athlete) placed 4th in the O/50 men’s 200m, where he ran 40.08, whilst Mark Inuwa crossed the line in 3rd place in the men’s B graded event in a time of 24.38. Leo Gormley ran 25.04 to win the C grade, whilst Paul E. Kelly ran in the D grade race, placing 3rd in 38.19.

Moving on to the 1500m races, Enda Clarke won the O/35 event in a time of 4:23.66, whilst we had two runners in heat one of the grade D race and one in the second heat of the same grade. In the former, visually impaired athlete Donnacha McCarthy placed 3rd in 4:38.09, whilst Paul E. Kelly took 11th spot in 7:06.91. In the latter event, Gary Park came home in 13th place in a time of 4:45.13. Conor and James Quinn contested the men’s discus, with Conor placing 3rd with a throw of 38.19m (his 5th) and James just behind in 4th with a throw of 29.92 (his 4th), whilst Conor also contested the shot put, where, in reality, he had little competition, all 6 of his throws would have won him the competition. His best was 13.8m, his last of 6.

The highlight of the road-racing week was the 10-mile national championships that took place on Sunday morning in and outside the Phoenix Park. The race was incorporated into the last event in the Irish Runner Series, not to be confused with the Irish Life Dublin Marathon race series with races of similar lengths (including the Frank Duffy 10-miler coming up in August) preparing runners for the Dublin marathon.

The race on Sunday morning arguably enjoyed perfect conditions for a race of such length and on a challenging hilly course (a climb out of the Furry Glen and then a climb from the Islandbridge Gate to the Wellesley Monument after re-entering the park from Conyngham Road, followed towards the end by a climb up to the Snake after a descent down the Khyber Pass and then further on a climb up the Upper Glen Road before turning off the Ordnance Survey Road to finish where the race started on Chesterfield Avenue). There was rain at times, but it was really only refreshing and soft, whilst there was no wind to speak of. Despite the difficulties of the course, we did see some pretty decent times, including at least two PBs among our Crusader contingent.

We had at least 12 runners in the 1,430-strong race, with two of them, Paula Bradshaw (835th overall and 206th female runner to finish in 1:27:33) and Emily Glen (842nd and 210th in 1:27:48), incorporating the race, as did Olwyn Dunne, in an otherwise long run as part of their training for the Dublin marathon. The contingent was otherwise led home by Ciaran Diviney who placed 34th and winning the silver medal in his M50 age category in a time of 57:22. Ciarain Kelly was next, taking 38th place in 58:00 and the scoring team was completed by Michael O’Conor (109th in 63:20). The first three men from each club counted as a team and our runners placed 9th out of 24 in the senior competition and also 6th out of 22 clubs in the O/35 competition.

Mike was followed by Charles-Edouard Cattier (130th in 63:04), Michael Judge (140th in 65:11) and Rory Goldsmith (186th in 67:37), all of whom were quite close together for most of the race. The next runner across the line was Margaret Foley, just back from her holidays and achieving a PB result, placing 274th overall and 43rd female finisher in 71:38. Eoin Leahy was next, in 292nd place with a chiptime of 68:22, to complete a substantial number of runners who finished under 70 minutes for the distance. Alan Kavanagh also recorded a PB when he ran 72:36 to take 295th spot, followed by Elad Solomon (591st in 82:46). Members may be interested to hear that ex-Crusader Catherine Thornton, who trains with us periodically, took 5th place in the women’s race (79th overall) in a creditable 61:27 and earning the masters women national gold medal.

Earlier in the week, on Wednesday, the BHAA held the DCC 5k road race, conducted on the path leading up to the nature reserve in Irishtown, with a small loop to the side of Seán Moore Park (a course similar to the Poolbeg Parkrun). Carmel Cooney won the women’s race in a time of 19:55 and placed 19th overall in a field of 93. The contingent of at least 8 Crusaders was led home by Cathal O’Hara who placed 10th in 18:11, to be followed by Karl Walsh (13th in 18:38) and Carmel. Tony Hackett was the next Crusader over the line (32nd in 21:45) with a rare win ahead of Robbie Moore who placed 35th in 21:54. Olwyn Dunne also ran, placing 47th overall, 6th female finisher and 1st in her F55 age category in a time of 23:20. Olwyn was followed by Kevin Kenny who ran 25:01 for 62nd spot. Members may be interested to learn that Sean Murphy, who trains with us from time to time, placed 18th in 19:54.

On the same evening, the Cork BHAA held its Cork Gas Networks 5k. In a race with a significant field of 641, native rebel Tim Donnell placed 120th in 19:05 on a really flat looped course with a slight out-and-back element within the city along the river Lee. Members may be interested to hear that ex-Crusader, now with Leevale, Shane Collins, placed 3rd in 15:14.

The previous night, Ross Neill took part in the Portaferry 10-mile race in Strangford, Northern Ireland, where he took 14th place in a great time of 59:17, quite possibly a PB. The field there measured 234 and the looped course took place on largely flat terrain with a bit of a climb towards the end.

On Friday, we had runners in one of two races on offer in Donadea. In a field of 113 in the 10k, Gill Earley won the women’s race by placing 11th overall in a time of 42:02, whilst Vinnie McGuinness placed 3rd overall in a super time of 34:14. Congrats to them.

Back to Sunday, and we had two runners in the Indaver Duleek 10k in Co. Meath. Again, we recorded some success, with Nina Holmes placing 2nd in the women’s race and 39th overall in a 175-strong field in a time of 43:11. Nina was followed by Emer Kenny, in training for the Munich marathon in October, in 59th and 6th spots in a time of 46:25.

There was also another 10k over in Co. Mayo, the Ronan Clarke Memorial 10k in Killala, in which Crusaders featured. The annual race, organised by Killala GAA, is held in memory of Enda Clarke’s brother who passed away from cancer in 2014. We had at least 3 Crusaders in the event, Ciara Regan, who won the women’s race, along with Máirín Shine and Enda himself. Results have now been published, with Ciara running a guntime of 42:11 in the 53-strong event, placing 13th overall, with Enda taking 27th spot in 47:55 and Máirín finishing in 48th and 12th in 61:34.

Further afield, Mike Stewart ran in a 10-mile race on Saturday morning conducted around the outside ring of the streets of Lucca in Italy. Mike’s time was 1:31.

There was one IMRA race in the Wicklow mountains last week. The Coillte Crone Caper 10.5k was run on Wednesday evening, involving an anti-clockwise looped race with a 572m climb from Powerscourt waterfall up to Maulin and back via Crone Wood. It was an event of moderate difficulty in the Leinster League. In the 159-strong field Warren Swords took 8th place overall, 2nd M40, in 58:14, and he was followed by Raghnall O’Donoghue (33rd in 67:44) and by Gavan Doherty (101st in 84:55).

With all the races on offer around the country, along with the holiday season, there seems to have been a slightly reduced participation in parkruns this weekend.

Stephen Hurley finished ahead of the field of 134 in Poolbeg in a time of 19:11 and he was followed by Daniel Sheridan (15th in 22:05), Gerard Moore (24th in 23:01), Cría Dowling (30th and 4th in 23:53), Kenan Furlong (37th in 24:27) at the end of a long run, Russell Murphy (39th in 24:27), Kevin Kenny (60th in 25:50), Cliodhna O’Reilly (68th and 15th in 26:14), young Mía Zoladz (80th and 21st in 28:11) and Cynthia Perucca (117th and 41st in 35:34).

Sarah Lyons, on a return trip to Aylesbury, placed 21st and 1st in the 187-strong field there. Sarah’s time was 22:11. Elsewhere, Ross Neill capped a good week with a 2nd place finish in the Ormeau Parkrun in Belfast, where he ran 17:40 in a field of 440. Even further afield, Maureen McGinley ran once again in Farfalle in Italy, where, in a field of 32, she ran 30:18 for 17th and 4th. Emer Kenny joined Eoghan Corrigan in Father Collins Park, where Eoghan placed 10th in 21:49 and Emer placed 35th and 5th in 26:26, in a field of 88. John Rooney ran in Sligo along with 101 other participants, where he took 25th spot in 24:34, whilst John Lohan ran with 47 other runners in Claremorris, where he placed 14th in 21:31. Paul F. Kelly joined 132 participants in Poppintree, crossing the line in 75th place in 28:31, whilst Lisa and Máirín Shine joined 29 other runners in Castlerea, placing respectively 19th and 10th and 20th and 11th in 31:38 and 31:41.

Tara Murphy was our lone runner in Killarney House, where, in a field of 113, she placed 48th and 14th in 25:13, whilst Mairead Cashman ran in Fairview. In a field of 133, Mairead placed 94th and 30th in 32:54. Ciarán Smyth ran in Queen’s Belfast where, in a field of 148, he placed 17th in 21:45, whilst, in Malahide, Darina Scully ran with 231 other participants, placing 176th and 63rd in 30:43.

Irish Runner 10- miler (National Championships) (1430)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 John Travers 1 00:49:57
39 Meghan Ryan 1 00:58:02
Crusaders AC runners
34 Ciaran Diviney 00:57:22
38 Ciarain Kelly 00:58:00
109 Michael O’Conor 01:03:20
130 Charles-Edouard Cattier 01:03:04
140 Michael Judge 01:05:11
186 Rory Goldsmith 01:07:37
274 Margaret Foley 01:11:38 (PB) (43)
292 Eoin Leahy 01:08:22
295 Alan Kavanagh 01:12:36 (PB)
591 Elad Solomon 01:22:46
835 Paula Bradshaw 01:27:33 (206)
842 Emily Glen 01:27:48 (210)
Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/irish_runner_10m_challenge_2023/4802/results
Indaver Duleek 10k (175)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Peter Somba 1 00:32:18
34 Barbara Murray 1 00:42:49
Crusaders AC runners
39 Nina Holmes 00:42:11 (2)
59 Emer Kenny 00:46:25 (6)
Full results here: https://myrunresults.com/events/indaver_duleek_10k/4840/results
Portaferry 10-mile race (234)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Dale Murray 1 00:54:56
34 Alice Brear Clarkson 1 01:03:57
Crusaders AC runner
14 Ross Neill 00:59:17
Full results here: https://www.championchipireland.com/index.html#results
BHAA DCC 5k road race (93)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Conor Burke 1 00:15:45
19 Carmel Cooney 1 00:19:55
Crusaders AC runners
10 Cathal O’Hara 00:18:11
13 Karl Walsh 00:18:38
16 Cormac Fenton 00:19:08
19 Carmel Cooney 00:19:55 (1)
32 Anthony Hackett 00:21:45
35 Robbie Moore 00:21:54
47 Olwyn Dunne 00:23:20 (6)
62 Kevin Kenny 00:25:01
Full results here: https://irp.cdn-website.com/15e8030f/files/uploaded/Race%20Master%202023%20DCC%205k%20road%20race.pdf
Cork BHAA Cork Gas Networks 5k (641)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Niall Shanahan 1 00:14:36
25 Lizzie Lee 1 00:16:41
Crusaders AC runner
120 Tim O’Donnell 00:19:05
Full results here: https://www.corkbhaa.com/2023/07/20/gni-5k-results-2023/
Donadea 10k (113)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Kevin Donagher 1 00:33:58
11 Gillian Earley 1 00:42:02
Crusaders AC runners
3 Vinnie McGuinness 00:34:14
11 Gillian Earley 00:42:02 (1)
Full results here: https://www.popupraces.ie/race/donadea-10k-5k-2023/#2_9D70EA
Killala (Ronan Clarke Memorial) 10k (53 )
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Darren Flanagan 1 00:36:26
13 Ciara Regan 1 00:42:11
Crusaders AC runners
13 Ciara Regan 00:42:11 (1)
27 Enda Clarke 00:47:55
48 Máirín Shine 01:03:34 (12)
Full results here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1aWXRH0ApjklcS0dyCaq57TuwltMVSfXt/view?pli=1
IMRA Coillte Crone Caper 10.5k (159)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Enda Cloake 1 00:51:44
27 Emily Ryan 1 01:05:04
Crusaders AC runners
8 Warren Swords 00:58:14
33 Raghnall O’Donoghue 01:07:44
101 Gavan Doherty 01:24:55
Full results here: https://www.imra.ie/events/results/id/2313/
Malahide Parkrun (232)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Evan Reid 1 00:15:47
6 Annette Kealy 1 00:18:37
Crusaders AC runner
176 Darina Scully 00:30:43 (63)
Ormeau Parkrun (440)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Daniel Molloy 1 00:17:22
17 Shileen O’Kane 1 00:20:05
Crusaders AC runner
2 Ross Neill 00:17:40
Queen’s Belfast Parkrun (148)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Daniel Squires 1 00:18:12
16 Ann Terek 1 00:21:41
Crusaders AC runner
17 Ciarán Smyth 00:21:45
Poppintree Parkrun (133)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Anthony Brady 1 00:17:20
12 Hazel Kenny 1 00:20:59
Crusaders AC runner
75 Paul F. Kelly 00:28:31
Sligo Parkrun (102)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Brian Kinsella 1 00:16:42
14 Aisling Burke 1 00:22:09
Crusaders AC runner
25 John Rooney 00:24:34
Father Collins Parkrun (88)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Jack Quinn 1 00:18:21
12 Andreea Bortas 1 00:22:06
Crusaders AC runners
10 Eoghan Corrigan 00:21:49
35 Emer Kenny 00:26:26 (5)
Claremorris Parkrun (48)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Paul Kearney 1 00:18:02
6 Ellen Trench 1 00:20:03
Crusaders AC runner
14 John Lohan 00:21:31
Poolbeg Parkrun (134)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Stephen Hurley 1 00:19:11
16 Bláithín Sheil 1 00:22:05
Crusaders AC runners
1 Stephen Hurley 00:19:11
15 Daniel Sheridan 00:22:05
24 Gerard Moore 00:23:01
30 Cría Dowling 00:23:53 (4)
37 Kenan Furlong 00:24:19
39 Russell Murphy 00:24:27
60 Kevin Kenny 00:25:50
68 Cliodhna O’Reilly 00:26:14 (15)
80 Mía Zoladz 00:28:11 (21)
117 Cynthia Perucca 00:35:34 (41)
Castlerea Parkrun (31)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Gary Elbert 1 00:18:45
4 Maeve Dervin 1 00:20:46
Crusaders AC runners
19 Lisa Shine 00:31:38 (10)
20 Máirín Shine 00:31:41 (11)
Killarney House Parkrun (113)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Darragh O’Leary 1 00:15:49
5 Niamh O’Sullivan 1 00:19:45
Crusaders AC runner
48 Tara Murphy 00:25:13 (14)
Fairview Parkrun (133)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Rory Hearne 1 00:19:25
5 Siobhan O’Toole 1 00:20:51
Crusaders AC runner
94 Mairead Cashman 00:32:54 (30)