Successful Return to a Happy Hunting Ground in the Dublin XC Novices

7/10/2024

Standing L-R: David O'Donnell, Raphael Crueyze, Henry Griffin, Thomas Vogée, Neil Brown, Joe McDermott, Jan Manschot, Ross Neill, Tomás Bradley, Paul Reidy, Alex Ainsworth, Felipe De Sousa, Barry McCarthy. Kneeling L-R: Dee Ni Chearbhaill, Doireann Hughes, Annie Hughes, Kathryn Gibbons, Rebecca Fleming

It has been said before, but is worth repeating, that the next best thing to racing is supporting one’s clubmates in a race. Sunday’s Dublin Novices XC was no exception. In fact, there were two races to support, a women’s 4k and a men’s 6k all on the old familiar course next to the Acres and the Magazine Fort in the Phoenix Park, a course that would be familiar to those who raced there pre-Covid, where we had seen success in recent years but which had been withdrawn from use since until this year. Thankfully, the OPW has realised that such races do not impinge on the rest of the park and do not have to be held early in the morning.

The weather was not too promising on Sunday afternoon and there was a brief shower before the first of the two races, the women’s event. But it soon cleared up and the runners would have been happy that the ground was quite firm all around the undulating course.

The women’s event, involving one initial short loop of 1,000m, followed by 2 loops of 1,500m, was effectively a two-horse race from quite early on. Doireann Hughes led the race until the last 250m when Raheny athlete, Kate Crowley, who had tailed her all the way round, made her move. Doireann, however, was unfazed by this and dug in, taking the lead back with about 100m to go, determined not to accept second place, taking the gold medal in a great sprint finish and a final margin of 6 seconds in a time of 14:08 for the 4k. Behind her in the field of 76 came Annie Hughes with a solid run in 14:46, for 4th place, and initially out of the medals but later upgraded to bronze following a DQ, with ladies’ captain Kathryn Gibbons hard on her heels (6th in 14:47) having worked her way through the field. Saoirse McGrath completed the scoring members of the team in placing 15th in 15:18, ensuring that our ladies’ team also won the gold medal in the Championship. The winning Crusaders score was 26 points, ahead of Sportsworld (36) and Liffey Valley (60). Rebecca Fleming and Dee Ni Chearbhaill also had excellent runs and strong finishes, with Rebecca placing 38th in 16:17 and Dee, a veteran novice (!), placing 56th in 17:39.

The men’s 6k race involved 4 of the large 1,500m loops and enjoyed a field of 126. We fielded 13 runners in the race and they were led home by Barry McCarthy whose patient working through the field paid off for 6th place in 18:53, less than 45 seconds behind the race winner. Unfortunately, Alex Ainsworth was forced to pull out with a hamstring tweak whilst being in the mix, so that the next finisher was Paul Reidy, another runner who worked his way through the field (33rd in 20:35) and taking some good scalps. Men’s captain Joe McDermott was next (41st in 20:50) and he was followed by Thomas Vogée (48th in 21:08), Jan Manschot (50th in 21:19), Ross Neill (54th in a steady 21:29), Henry Griffin (60th in 21:37), Raphael Crueyze in his first ever XC race and who also steadily picked off targets throughout (76th in 22:29), ahead of Tomás Bradley (89th in 22:53), followed by another debutant, Felipe De Sousa (99th in 23:26), and then David O’Donnell (114th in 24:59) and Neil Brown (119th in 25:54).

On the roads, the weekend’s racing started on Saturday morning, with the Fastlane ¾ marathon (among three races, the others being a 10k and a half marathon). On a course conducted largely on the towpath of the Grand Canal with a detour around Grange Castle, with a field of 506, Phil Sykes and Kenan Furlong, in marathon training, placed, respectively 5th in 1:55:12 and 23rd in 2:10:45.

This year’s Simon Run, a 5k nowadays, was conducted on the Ordnance Survey and Furze Roads, with a trip through the Furry Glen, in the Phoenix Park. The field measured 1,011 with Anna Hernick, training for the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington DC at the end of the month, placing 145th and 22nd female finisher in 24:23, followed by Kevin Kenny (780th in 41:51). Members may be interested to hear that longtime Crusader, Amy McGuinness, who is transferring to MSB shortly, placed 22nd and 3rd female finisher in 20:27.

Then, on Sunday morning, the second ¾ marathon took place. It proved to be more popular than the Fastlane event and saw at least 20 Crusaders take part, several as pacers. Nearly all the participants, as with Kenan and Phil the day before, are preparing for the Dublin marathon and were using the event not really as a race but a training run, with only 3 weeks to go before the big event. No one wants to leave their marathon in Longwood, Co. Meath!

The contingent was led home by Gary Mills who placed 17th in a field of 1148 and in a time of 2:02:40. Gary was followed by John O’Donnell (64th in 2:19:30), Dee Lawlor (pacing in 2:20:49 for 80th), Michael Fitzsimons (104th in 2:25:58), Ronan Moynihan (113th in 2:27:04), Eddie Nugent (118th in 2:27:34), Ciara Lynch (146th and 16th in 2:30:27), Tara Gavin (212th and 28th in 2:38:03), Olwyn Dunne (298th and 40th, pacing in 2:45:55), Paul Campbell (also pacing, 303rd in 2:46:11), Joe Dunne (400th in 2:54:18), Franky Kean (562nd in 3:03:35), Gavan Doherty (590th in 3:06:21), Emily Glen and Áine Crotty on pacing duties (642nd and 141st in 3:08:37 and 644th and 144th in 3:08:58), John Corish (656th in 3:08:43), Evelyn Neary (790th in 3:18:21), David Pepper (unplaced but who ran 3:25:00), Diarmuid Byrne (965th in 3:36:34 as a pacer) and Darina Scully (also pacing, finishing in 3:58:38 for 1084th and 352nd places). Kieran Martin also paced, but his result was not recorded.

A few other races that are not listed below need also to be noted. We had one runner in the Run Galway Bay 10k on Saturday morning, one of three races, the others being a half and a marathon, run in diabolical weather conditions (as perhaps to be expected on a course that usually encounters strong winds in Salthill). Brian Regan most likely placed in the top 6 finishers in a field of 1518 finishers but his time is not recorded. Members may be interested to note that Catherine Thornton, the GCH athlete who trains with us from time to time, placed 12th overall and 3rd female finisher in 38:34. Then, in the half marathon there, Gill Earley joined 1415 other athletes where she placed 93rd overall and 14th female finisher (5th F40) in a time of 95:56. Also, on Saturday morning, in her native county Mags Foley supported the inaugural 5k race of Ciarrai Thiar AC, where she won the women’s competition in a time of 20:42.

Looking further afield over the weekend, our Spanish exiles Esther Requena Ferri and Cristian Vilchez Ceballos ran in the Carrera el Torcal La Paz 10k near Malaga, where Esther won the women’s race in 39:42 and Cristian placed 5th overall and 1st masters athlete in 35:26. Another of our Spanish exiles, but living now in London, Hector Jíménez Pérez, ran in the Cardiff half marathon which he completed in 94 minutes, whilst Florian Mormont ran in the Tour International de Ballainvilliers in France, where he recorded a time of 46:51 in the 10k road race. Surprisingly, with a great time of 33:01, Andrea Rondina only placed 194th overall in the Campionati Italiani su Strada 10k, whilst, once again, Donatas Jocius took on a long-distance race, completing the Madeira Ultra 51k in a time of 5:29:00 for 15th place overall. Whilst on the subject of ultras, Daniel O'Mahony took part in another 50k+ ultra at the weekend in search of more qualifying stones for the UTMB. He ran in the region of the Col d'Eze between Nice and Monaco, completing 54k in 8:12:27. Finally, Derek Boland took part in the Calella-Barcelona Ironman, which he completed in 10:45:44 to place 819th in a field of 2,738 whilst running the marathon element in 3:34:29. Derek will also have the Dublin marathon to come in three weeks.

More than 40 Crusaders celebrated this weekend the 20th anniversary of the first parkrun which took place in Bushy Park in London. As usual, we had first finishers in those events that took place and, unusually, one event produced a husband and wife first finish. In Treviso near Venice in Italy, Paul and Aoife Kelly shared top spots in a field of 25. Paul placed first overall in 24:15, with Aoife placing 6th and first female across the line in 28:22. Meanwhile, Garret Connolly led home a field of 56 in Claremorris which he ran in 20:24 whilst Susanne English placed 18th overall and first female finisher in a time of 26:53 alongside 72 other runners on Laytown Beach.

Laura O’Malley joined 58 other runners in Letterkenny where she placed 12th and 2nd in 24:54, whilst Karl Walsh placed 3rd in 19:14 in the 178-strong field in Naas. Miriam Logan joined 6 other club members in Shanganagh where she placed 13th and 2nd in 20:27, with David Carter placing 6th in his 100th parkrun in 19:36, followed by Olwyn Dunne (96th and 20th in 26:21), Fiona Shine (112th and 27th in 27:38), Máirín Shine (133rd and 39th in 28:19), Orlaith de Burca (155th and 49th in 29:20) and Lisa Shine, tailwalking in a field of 236.

As to be expected, our largest contingent was once again found in Poolbeg with its field of 192. Stephen Hurley took 2nd spot in 17:17, followed by Michael Wycherley (4th in 17:48), Zlatko Kulic (19th in 21:29), Fiona Bane (38th and 8th in 23;34), Josie Ward (40th and 9th in 23:44), John Corish (43rd in 23:56), Louise O’Riordan (61st and 13th in 25:08), Tanja Narancic (64th and 15th in 25:29), Sophia Morgan (74th and 18th in 26:04), Rebecca Kelly (90th and 28th in 26:45), Maureen McGinley (111th and 41st in 27:56), Aisling O’Riordan (119th and 47th in 28:44), Lisa Branigan (126th and 53rd in 29:17) and Cynthia Perucca (141st and 62nd in 30:32).

Luke Haran joined 68 other participants in Mungret where he placed 4th in 21:24, whilst Eoghan Corrigan placed 8th in the 70-strong field in Brickfields in a time of 22:32. Eoghan was followed by Áine Crotty (43rd and 10th in 29:01) alongside Rebecca Fleming (44th and 11th in 29:02). In Dublin’s Bushy Park, Kev Moore placed 43rd in 25:35 and he was followed by Mary Donnelly (67th and 15th in 27:20) and then by Mairead Cashman (109th and 35th in 31:04) and Kabir Sala (117th in 31:24). The field there measured 176. Toby Benham joined 118 other runners in Tramore Valley, Cork, where he placed 31st in 22:18, whilst Cian Coughlan placed 146th in 26:57 in the 417-strong field in St. Anne’s. Sarah Lyons ran in Rostrevor where, alongside 61 other participants, she placed 56th and 20th in 38:50, whilst Diarmuid Byrne and Maria Pertl ran in Poppintree. In a field of 189, Diarmuid placed 134th in 33:44 and Maria took 166th and 76th spots in 41:58. Finally, in London, Rob Glascott ran once again on Clapham Common alongside 1159 other participants, finishing in a time of 21:38 for 124th spot, whilst Thom Martini ran in Gunnersbury Park where he ran 26:01 for 261st place in a field of 668.

Dublin Novices XC Women’s 4k (76)
Overall place Name Guntime
1 Doireann Hughes 00:14:08
2 Kate Crowley 00:14:14
Crusaders AC runners
1 Doireann Hughes 00:14:08
4 Annie Hughes 00:14:46
6 Kathryn Gibbons 00:14:47
15 Saoirse McGrath 00:15:18
38 Rebecca Fleming 00:16:17
56 Deirdre Ni Chearbhaill 00:17:39
Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/dublin_juvenile_even_ages__novice_xc_2024/5332/results
Dublin Novices XC Men’s 6k (126)
Overall place Name Guntime
1 Aaron Donnelly 00:18:09
2 Anthony O’Brien 00:18:13
Crusaders AC runners
6 Barry McCarthy 00:18:53
33 Paul Reidy 00:20:35
41 Joe McDermott 00:20:50
48 Thomas Vogée 00:21:08
50 Jan Manschot 00:21:29
54 Ross Neill 00:21:29
60 Henry Griffin 00:21:37
76 Raphael Crueyze 00:22:29
89 Tomás Bradley 00:22:53
99 Felipe De Sousa 00:23:26
114 David O’Donnell 00:24:59
119 Neil Brown 00:25:54
Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/dublin_juvenile_even_ages__novice_xc_2024/5332/results
Fastlane ¾ marathon (506)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Brian Brunton 1 01:51:49
40 Sarah Flanagan 1 02:18:09
Crusaders AC runners
5 Phil Sykes 01:55:12
23 Kenan Furlong 02:10:45
Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/fast_lane_3_4_half_marathon__10k_2024/5091/results
Dublin Simon Home Run and Wellness 5k (1011)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Leon Baker 1 00:17:34
5 Leia Ryan 1 00:18:42
Crusaders AC runners
145 Anna Hernick 00:24:24 (22)
780 Kevin Kenny 00:41:51
Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/dublin_simon_home_run__wellness_2024/5326/results
Run Galway Bay Half Marathon (1416)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Jake O'Regan 1 01:10:24
15 Ciara Foy 1 01:25:05
Crusaders AC runner
93 Gillian Earley 01:35:56 (14)
Full results here: http://redtagtiming.com/results/RGB2024_21km.html
Longwood Irish ¾ marathon (1148)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 William Maunsell 1 01:41:15
19 Barbara Cleary 1 02:03:48
Crusaders AC runners
17 Gary Mills 02:02:40
64 John O’Donnell 02:19:30
80 Derek Lawlor 02:20:49 (PACER)
104 Michael Fitzsimons 02:25:58
113 Ronan Moynihan 02:27:04
118 Eddie Nugent 02:27:34
146 Ciara Lynch 02:30:27 (16)
212 Tara Gavin 02:38:03 (28)
298 Olwyn Dunne 02:45:55 (40) (PACER)
303 Paul Campbell 02:46:11 (PACER)
400 Joe Dunne 02:54:18
562 Franky Keane 03:03:35
590 Gavan Doherty 03:06:21
642 Emily Glen 03:08:37 (141) (PACER)
648 Áine Crotty 03:08:58 (144) (PACER)
656 John Corish 03:08:43
790 Evelyn Neary 03:18:21 (199)
XXX David Pepper 03:25:00
965 Diarmuid Byrne 03:36:34 (PACER)
1084 Darina Scully 03:58:38 (352) (PACER)
Full results here: https://myrunresults.com/events/irish_3_4_marathon_2024/5092/results
Naas Parkrun (178)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Anthony O’Rourke 1 00:18:29
20 Róisín McCormack 1 00:22:03
Crusaders AC runner
3 Karl Walsh 00:19:14
Rostrevor Parkrun (62)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Robin Fieldhouse 1 00:19:53
15 Ellen Keenan 1 00:27:10
Crusaders AC runner
56 Sarah Lyons 00:38:50 (20)
Letterkenny Parkrun (59)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Mark Scott 1 00:20:46
8 Niamh Carey 1 00:23:38
Crusaders AC runner
12 Laura O’Malley 00:24:54 (2)
Poolbeg Parkrun (192)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Ashley Hayes 1 00:17:09
14 Ava Rose Clarke 1 00:21:13
Crusaders AC runners
2 Stephen Hurley 00:17:17
4 Michael Wycherley 00:17:48
19 Zlatko Kulic 00:21:29
38 Fiona Bane 00:23:34 (8)
40 Josie Ward 00:23:44 (9)
43 John Corish 00:23:56
61 Louise O’Riordan 00:25:08 (13)
64 Tanja Narancic 00:25:29 (15)
74 Sophia Morgan 00:26:04 (18)
90 Rebecca Kelly 00:26:45 (28)
111 Maureen McGinley 00:27:56 (41)
119 Aisling O’Riordan 00:28:44 (47)
126 Lisa Branigan 00:29:17 (53)
141 Cynthia Perucca 00:30:32 (62)
Bushy Parkrun (176)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Joe Collery 1 00:18:30
12 Aisling Cotter 1 00:22:35
Crusaders AC runners
43 Kev Moore 00:25:35
67 Mary Donnelly 00:27:20 (15)
109 Mairead Cashman 00:31:04 (35)
117 Kabir Sala 00:31:24
Claremorris Parkrun (56)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Garret Connolly 1 00:20:24
6 Lorraine McNulty 1 00:21:46
Crusaders AC runner
1 Garret Connolly 00:20:24
St. Anne’s Parkrun (417)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Daniel Scully 1 00:17:49
43 Aileen Hooper 1 00:22:11
Crusaders AC runner
146 Cian Coughlan 00:26:57
Brickfields Parkrun (70)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Tomas O’Hanlon 1 00:19:27
11 Sarah Cosgrove 1 00:22:51
Crusaders AC runners
8 Eoghan Corrigan 00:22:32
43 Áine Crotty 00:29:01 (10)
44 Rebecca Fleming 00:29:02 (11)
Laytown Beach Parkrun (73)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Gordon O’Rourke 1 00:20:11
18 Susanne English 1 00:26:53
Crusaders AC runner
18 Susanne English 00:26:53 (1)
Mungret Parkrun (69)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
2 Risteard O’Flaherty 1 00:20:48
7 Sheila Clavin 1 00:22:44
Crusaders AC runner
4 Luke Haran 00:21:24
Tramore Valley, Cork Parkrun (119)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Fintan Kerins 1 00:15:44
14 Niamh Cronin 1 00:20:12
Crusaders AC runner
31 Toby Benham 00:22:18
Shanganagh Parkrun (236)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Risteard MacEoin 1 00:17:51
2 Jennifer Clancy 1 00:17:53
Crusaders AC runners
6 David Carter 00:19:36
13 Miriam Logan 00:20:27 (2)
96 Olwyn Dunne 00:26:21 (20)
112 Fiona Shine 00:27:38 (27)
133 Máirín Shine 00:28:19 (39)
155 Orlaith de Burca 00:29:20 (49)
231 Lisa Shine 00:45:23 (96)
Poppintree Parkrun (189)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 David Branock 1 00:17:34
23 Ciara Brady 1 00:23:10
Crusaders AC runners
134 Diarmuid Byrne 00:33:44
166 Maria Pertl 00:41:58 (76)