Sunday Mass Participation

L-R: Tomás Bradley, Tim O'Donnell, Sarah Lyons, Phelim Murray, Rory Goldsmith, Adrian Groarke, Oisin Corish, Aoife Quigley, Alby Allan, Kieran Martin, Paul O'Hara, Eddie Nugent

A significant percentage of the adult membership of the club was out road racing on Sunday. In the morning, several of our clubmates took part in the Seville half marathon, and then, in the afternoon, we had more than 80 runners from the club take part in the 40th edition of the AXA Raheny 5-mile race. We also had success in Co. Kerry with our sole runner in a 10k there.
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Starting with Seville, Lisa Branigan led home a contingent of at least 9 Crusaders in a super time of 1:37:17. In mild conditions (around 9 degrees Celsius at the start) and little wind on a flat course, Lisa was followed by Sharon Woods (1:44:56) who amazingly has just recovered from a fractured foot that kept her in a boot throughout December and the first week of January and still managed to finish 13th in her age category. Sharon was followed by Gillian Curran (1:56:17), Donna Barry (1:57:10), Cliodhna O’Reilly (1:58:15), Patrick D. Conlon (2:04:14), Jonathan Staunton (2:04:19), Megan Smith (2:13:57) and Paul E. Kelly (2:20:22).

Around midday on Sunday, Mags Foley ran in a GAA club-organised 10k, the Kerins O’Rahillys. In a field of 260, and in windy and wet conditions on a two-looped slightly hilly course, Mags ran a creditable 43:55 for 33rd place overall and 1st place in the women’s race, earning her a most impressive shield for her effort. So worthwhile!

The major event of the day for the club took place on Sunday afternoon on the roads around and in St. Anne’s Park in Raheny for the 40th running of the Raheny Shamrock AC-organised 5-mile race. It is so iconic and always attracts significant participation, perhaps because it is considered a kick-off event at the start of the year and is conducted on what would be considered a decent course, which includes a fun out-and-back element in the park itself in the 4th mile. It is a PB opportunity as well as being a great benchmark for people to determine their condition going into the new year. Crusaders also enjoy the privilege of commentary provided by coach Susan Walsh who gives each of us a shout out as we cross the line in our distinctive singlets as well as making some surprising announcements! The event this year enjoyed mild conditions and the southerly wind, strong in places, did not leave much of an impression.

This year, the race had possibly its largest field in its history with nearly 4,300 finishers, which made for a bit of (expected) chaos in the early part of the race and meant that the field remained quite dense for many runners for much of the distance. Our sizeable contingent was led home by Colm Parnell, one of our many athletes to register a PB, in a great time of 25:14 for 13th place and he was followed by two others with PB results, Andrea Rondina (24th in 25:49) and Luke Corcoran (43rd in 26:41). The 3 athletes placed 4th in the senior team event in a competition involving 91 teams. Kevin Fitzgibbon (48th in 26:57), Chris Russell (58th in 27:07), John Mulvihill (86th in 27:50), Patrick Conlon (87th in the same time) and Michael Kiely making a welcome return to racing (91st in 27:53), completed the list of our runners in the top 100. They were followed by an under-the-weather (recovering from a bout of flu) Alex Ainsworth (110th in 28:23) and then by Paul Cowhie, one of our 3 age category prize winners. Paul placed 119th and 2nd M55 in 28:29. Kevin Kavanagh, running his first 5 miler was next in 121st place with a time of 28:27, and he was followed in the top 150 by Joe McDermott (127th in 28:35) and relative newcomer Brian Regan (142nd in 28:45). Peter O’Toole (213th in 29:35) was next and he was followed by Paul O’Hara, another running his first race of this distance, in a super time of 29:49 for 239th position, and then by Rory Goldsmith (251st in 29:55), to complete a list of 16 of our athletes to break 30 minutes. Also, the O/40 team of Paul, Joe and Peter took 7th place out of 71 teams in that competition.

Rory was followed by Kieran Martin (273rd in 30:14), Gerard White (278th in 30:18), Alby Allan (294th with a PB time of 30:25), Oisin Corish (304th in 30:29), Aaron Farrell (370th in a PB time of 31:16) and Tim O’Donnell (380th in 31:30), just two days after his wedding.

Kathryn Sweeney was our first female competitor home with a PB time of 31:36 for 382nd place overall and 29th woman across the line. Kathryn was followed by Eddie Nugent (409th in 31:47), Sarah Lyons (444th and 36th in a PB time of 31:58) and by Aoife Quigley (449th and 38th in 32:09). The three female athletes (Kathryn, Sarah and Aoife), like the men’s senior team, also placed 4th as a senior team in a competition involving 75 teams.

Phelim Murray was next, placing 459th in 32:11, followed by Ollie McGrath (463rd in 32:12), Zlatko Kulic (467th in 32:33) and Tomás Bradley (470th in 32:23). Robert Browne must have started slightly late as there is quite a difference between gun and chiptimes for him (placing 505th in 30:32) and he was followed by a highly satisfied Simon Kenny (592nd in 32:40). Further back came the second of our age category prize winners, James Cottle. Despite a bout of nausea in the 5th mile and a brief stop to deal with it, James placed 607th and 2nd M65 in a time of 33:41. Accompanying him across the line came Ciara Lynch in a PB time of 33:33 for 610th and 64th places, and they were followed by Rachael Yorke (650th and 72nd in 34:04) and by Oisin Browne, another runner with a PB on the day (653rd in 33:42). Isabelle Cairns came next (697th and 85th in 34:21) and she was followed by Gerard Moore (709th in 33:02), who also started at the back of the field. Mullingar exile Ronan Dooley (770th in 33:13) was next, followed by Rebecca Fleming (813th and 108th in 35:05), Adrian Groarke (824th in 34:26), Luke Haran (868th in 35:15), Robbie Moore (911th in 35:58), Dee Ni Chearbhaill (918th and 125th in 35:35), Hannah Jones (920th and 126th in 35:06), Judy O’Connell, another runner in her first 5-miler (966th and 136th in 35:28), just ahead of Emily Glen (968th and 137th in a PB time of 36:16), David O’Donnell (1020th in 36:10) and Olwyn Dunne (1082nd overall, 162nd female finisher and 7th in her F55 age category in 37:01). Dee, Judy and Olwyn placed 8th as an O/40 team in a competition involving 54 teams in total.

Olwyn was followed by Tony Hackett (1122nd in 37:06), Triona Quill (1201st, 192nd and 10th F55 in 37:11), Gian Piero Allerta (1214th in 37:22), Mark Browne (1260th in a PB time of 38:14), Mauro Fiorio’Pla (1285th in 36:52), Aoife Matthews (1302nd and 222nd in 37:19), Tomás Dunne (1410th in 38:42), Emer Kenny (1430th and 259th in 38:39), newcomer Noel Carr (1544th in 39:10), Kevin Kenny (1587th in a PB time of 39:20), Lydia Bigley (1606th and 312th in 40:25), John Kennedy (1625th in 38:44), Darina Scully (1675th and 329th in 40:16), Elad Solomon (1744th in 40:47), Aoife Cowhie (1805th and 373rd in 41:08), Martin Joyce (1935th and 8th M65 in 41:36) and Amy O’Donoghue, the third of our age category prize winners (1957th, 429th and 1st in the FJ category in 42:39).

Emily Quinlan arrived at the start line after finding difficulty in parking 7 minutes after the field and placed 2005th and 443rd in 43:20. Lindsay Butler had a similar experience and was not given a finishing time. After Emily came Fanny Trébouet, another runner in her first race of this distance, with 2153rd and 509th places in a time of 43:35, and Fanny was followed by Karen McNamara (2162nd and 517th in 41:05), Patrick Needham (2192nd in 42:30), Carina Davidson (2626th and 742nd in 44:23), Máirín Shine (2698th overall, 782nd female and 5th F65 in 46:31), accompanying Fiona Shine, who, Susan announced as she finished, is 4 months pregnant (2699th and 783rd in the same time), Mairead Cashman (2787th and 831st in 47:14), Alan Martin (2912th in 47:03) and Lisa Shine (3625th and 1345th in 53:20), who, we also learned, is a few weeks behind her sister Fiona in pregnancy!

The contingent was completed by Lorraine Fitzsimons (3920th and 1567th in 57:54), Cynthia Perucca (3925th and 1571st in 54:07) and Faeed Faeedi (4175th in 65:28). Members may also be interested to hear that Catherine Thornton, the GCH runner who trains with us from time to time, placed 132nd and 9th in a superb PB time of 28:37. Well done to all those who ran and who enjoyed the usual famous heavy goody bag (although no chocolate this year!) and the usual kitchenware prizes.

Numbers remain relatively high, but down on previous weekends, in the parkruns.  We participated in only a few on offer, but had major participation in at least a couple, with some success too.

Ilona McElroy celebrated her engagement with a first finisher placing in Marlay Park by completing the distance in 20:25 for 19th place overall in a huge field of 646. She was joined on the podium by her fiancé Paul Fleming who led the entire field across the line in 17:08. Paul was followed across the line by Killian Barry (6th in 19:15).

There to share in Ilona and Paul’s celebrations were Clare Sullivan (120th and 20th in 24:17) along with other Crusaders, several of whom were saving ourselves for Raheny the following day. Clare was followed by Aoife Quigley (133rd and 22nd in 24:38), James Cottle (160th in 25:30), Eoghan Corrigan pushing a buggy with his son Oisin (212th in 26:39), Dee Ni Chearbhaill (304th and 68th in 28:17), Miriam Logan (313th  and 74th in 28:28), Tanja Narancic (323rd and 75th in 28:39), Olwyn Dunne (348th and 92nd in 29:17), pacing the 29 minute runners, Irene Gorman who is 6 months pregnant (379th and 105th in 30:01) and Caroline Crowley, who completed the course with her two weeks old baby Clodagh (629th and 221st in 47:11.

The other significant location was Poolbeg as usual, and, again, we enjoyed the result of having a first finisher. This time it was Kenan Furlong who recorded a time of 17:24 as he led home the field of 210. Kenan was followed by Ross Neill (4th in 18:07), Stephen Hurley (8th in 18:42), Redmond Murphy (30th in 21:49), John Lohan (45th in 22:56), Fiona Bane (61st and 7th in 23:53), Josie Ward (71st and 9th in 24:13), Kate Healy (79th and 13th in 24:47), Paul Campbell (86th in 25:02), Tara Murphy (106th and 23rd in 26:08), Maureen McGinley (140th and 40th in 28:21), John McQuaid (143rd in 28:31), Niamh Trihy (188th and 75th in 34:55), with Mari Hansen tailwalking (204th in 48:50).

Further afield, once again Richard Morrissey joined 499 other runners in Brockwell, Herne Hill near London, where he placed 4th in 17:59, whilst Toby Benham took 2nd place in a time of 18:14 in the 80-strong field in Meadowvale, Mississauga near Toronto in Canada. Back in London, Felipe de Sousa joined 103 other runners in Wormwood Scrubs(!), where he placed 14th in 23:34. Then, over in Germany, Paul F. Kelly ran in the 131-strong field in Hasenheide where he placed 26th in 23:05.

We had a good turnout in Shanganagh with its field of 250. Dee Lawlor placed 5th in 18:04, and he was followed by Jill Nason (151st and 37th in 28:24), Lisa Shine (221st and 82nd in 34:51), Máirín Shine (222nd and 83rd in 34:52) and Carina Davidson (236th and 92nd in 38:29), the last three runners preparing for the following day’s race.

Ciara Regan and Kieran Little ran in St. Anne’s where, in a field of 460, Ciara placed 23rd and 3rd in 20:02, whilst Kieran, another runner preparing for the 5-miler, placed 42nd in 21:27. Colm Foley joined 213 other runners in Griffeen Park where he placed 33rd in 23:49, whilst Martina White ran in the 119-strong field in Porterstown where she placed 49th and 13th in 28:13. Darina Scully warmed up for Raheny, placing 43rd and 14th in 29:09 in River Valley Park, where the field measured 98. Finally, Gillian Lyons tailwalked in Fairview with its field of 185.
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AXA Raheny 5-mile race (4269)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Ryan Creech 1 00:23:58
29 Shona Heaslip 1 00:26:11
Crusaders AC runners
13 Colm Parnell 00:25:14 (PB)
24 Andrea Rondina 00:25:49 (PB)
43 Luke Corcoran 00:26:41 (PB)
48 Kevin Fitzgibbon 00:26:57
58 Chris Russell 00:27:07
86 John Mulvihill 00:27:50
87 Patrick Conlon 00:27:50
91 Michael Kiely 00:27:53
110 Alex Ainsworth 00:28:23
119 Paul Cowhie 00:28:29
121 Kevin Kavanagh 00:28:27 (PB)
127 Joe McDermott 00:28:35
142 Brian Regan 00:28:45
213 Peter O’Toole 00:29:35
239 Paul O’Hara 00:29:49 (PB)
251 Rory Goldsmith 00:29:55
273 Kieran Martin 00:30:14
278 Gerard White 00:30:18
294 Alby Allan 00:30:25 (PB)
304 Oisin Corish 00:30:29
370 Aaron Farrell 00:31:16 (PB)
380 Tim O’Donnell 00:31:30
382 Kathryn Sweeney 00:31:36 (PB) (29)
409 Eddie Nugent 00:31:47
444 Sarah Lyons 00:31:58 (PB) (36)
449 Aoife Quigley 00:32:09 (38)
459 Phelim Murray 00:32:11
463 Ollie McGrath 00:32:12
467 Zlatko Kulic 00:32:33
470 Tomás Bradley 00:32:23
505 Robert Browne 00:30:32
592 Simon Kenny 00:32:40
607 James Cottle 00:33:41
610 Ciara Lynch 00:33:33 (PB) (64)
650 Rachael Yorke 00:34:04 (72)
653 Oisin Browne 00:33:42 (PB)
697 Isabelle Cairns 00:34:21 (85)
709 Gerard Moore 00:33:02
770 Ronan Dooley 00:33:13
813 Rebecca Fleming 00:35:05 (108)
824 Adrian Groarke 00:34:26
868 Luke Haran 00:35:15
911 Robbie Moore 00:35:58
918 Dee Ni Chearbhaill 00:35:35 (125)
920 Hannah Jones 00:35:06 (126)
966 Judy O’Connell 00:35:28 (PB) (136)
968 Emily Glen 00:36:16 (PB) (137)
1020 David O’Donnell 00:36:10
1082 Olwyn Dunne 00:37:01 (162)
1122 Anthony Hackett 00:37:06
1201 Triona Quill 00:37:11 (192)
1214 Gian Piero Allerta 00:37:22
1260 Mark Browne 00:38:14 (PB)
1285 Mauro Fiorio’Pla 00:36:52
1302 Aoife Matthews 00:37:19 (222)
1410 Tomás Dunne 00:38:42
1430 Emer Kenny 00:38:39 (259)
1544 Noel Carr 00:39:10
1587 Kevin Kenny 00:39:20 (PB)
1606 Lydia Bigley 00:40:25 (312)
1625 John Kennedy 00:38:44
1675 Darina Scully 00:40:16 (329)
1744 Elad Solomon 00:40:47
1805 Aoife Cowhie 00:41:08 (373)
1935 Martin Joyce 00:41:36
1957 Amy O’Donoghue 00:42:39 (429)
2005 Emily Quinlan 00:43:20 (443)
2153 Fanny Trébouet 00:43:35 (PB) (509)
2162 Karen McNamara 00:41:05 (517)
2192 Patrick Needham 00:42:30
2626 Carina Davidson 00:44:23 (742)
2698 Máirín Shine 00:46:31 (782)
2699 Fiona Shine 00:46:31 (783)
2787 Mairead Cashman 00:47:14 (831)
2912 Alan Martin 00:47:03
3625 Lisa Shine 00:53:20 (1345)
3920 Lorraine Fitzsimons 00:57:54 (1567)
3925 Cynthia Perucca 00:54:07 (1571)
4175 Faeed Faeedi 01:05:28   
Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/40th_axa_raheny_5_mile_2024/4950/results
Kerins O’Rahillys GAA 10k (260)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Oisin Spillane 1 00:33:00
33 Margaret Foley 1 00:43:55
Crusaders AC runner
33 Margaret Foley 00:43:55 (1)
Full results here: https://myrunresults.com/events/kerins_o_rahillys_gaa_club_annual_10km__5km/5020/details?fbclid=IwAR25gFgqFmSfT_GsOzTzLEm17RuwJzN5XT0m1doB3kv-65xFany8L54-E8A
Poolbeg Parkrun (210)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Kenan Furlong 1 00:17:24
23 Niamh Cotter 1 00:20:52
Crusaders AC runners
1 Kenan Furlong 00:17:24
4 Ross Neill 00:18:07
8 Stephen Hurley 00:18:42
30 Redmond Murphy 00:21:49
45 John Lohan 00:22:56
61 Fiona Bane 00:23:53 (7)
71 Josie Ward 00:24:13 (9)
79 Kate Healy 00:24:47 (13)
86 Paul Campbell 00:25:02
106 Tara Murphy 00:26:08 (23)
140 Maureen McGinley 00:28:21 (40)
143 John McQuaid 00:28:31
188 Niamh Trihy 00:34:55 (75)
204 Mari Hansen 00:48:50
Shanganagh Parkrun (250)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Adam O’Gorman 1 00:16:16
20 Muirna Twomey 1 00:21:11
Crusaders AC runners
5 Derek Lawlor 00:18:04
151 Jill Nason 00:28:24 (37)
221 Lisa Shine 00:34:51 (82)
222 Máirín Shine 00:34:52 (83)
236 Carina Davidson 00:38:29 (92)
St. Anne’s Parkrun (460)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Marcus O’Sullivan 1 00:15:42
7 Lauren O’Sullivan 1 00:18:31
Crusaders AC runners
23 Ciara Regan 00:20:02 (3)
42 Kieran Martin 00:21:27
Fairview Parkrun (185)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Marcus Bishop 1 00:17:35
28 Emma Gillam 1 00:23:41
Crusaders AC runner
185 Gillian Lyons 01:01:26
Griffeen Parkrun (214)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Gary Farrell 1 00:19:38
15 Anne Whelan 1 00:22:40
Crusaders AC runner
33 Colm Foley 00:23:49
River Valley Parkrun (98)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Nicholas Ruiter 1 00:18:56
8 Sarah Rossiter 1 00:22:50
Crusaders AC runner
43 Darina Scully 00:29:09 (14)
Porterstown Parkrun (119)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Niall Sherlock 1 00:18:25
4 Caroline McCarthy 1 00:19:53
Crusaders AC runner
49 Martina White 00:28:13 (13)
Marlay Parkrun (646)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Paul Fleming 1 00:17:08
19 Ilona McElroy 1 00:20:25
Crusaders AC runners
6 Killian Barry 00:19:15
19 Ilona McElroy 00:20:25 (1)
120 Clare Sullivan 00:24:17 (20)
133 Aoife Quigley 00:24:38 (22)
160 James Cottle 00:25:30
212 Eoghan Corrigan 00:26:39
304 Dee Ni Chearbhaill 00:28:17 (68)
313 Miriam Logan 00:28:28 (74)
323 Tanja Narancic 00:28:39 (76)
348 Olwyn Dunne 00:29:17 (92)
379 Irene Gorman 00:30:01 (105)
629 Caroline Crowley 00:47:11 (221) 

L-R: Tanja Narancic, Emily Glen, Olwyn Dunne, Triona Quill, Judy O'Connell, Rebecca Fleming, Fanny Trébouet, Dee Ni Chearbhaill, Aoife Quigley, James Cottle, Amy O'Donoghue, Noel Carr, Mark Browne, Mairead Cashman

Backrow L-R: Carina Davidson, Brendan Glynn, Lisa Shine, Fiona Shine Orlaith de Burca, James Cottle, Emer Kenny, Kieran Martin, Tim O'Donnell, David O'Donnell. Front row: Faeed Faeedi, Kevin Kenny, Máirín Shine, Aoife Quigley, Mairead Cashman, Paul O'Hara, Judy O'Connell, Alby Allan

Back row L-R: Andrea Rondina, Luke Corcoran, Colm Parnell, Brian Regan, Kevin Kavanagh, Kevin Fitzgibbon. Front row: Chris Russell, Joe McDermott, Patrick Conlon

Back row L-R: Jonathan Staunton, Gillian Curran, Megan Smith. Middle row L-R: Donna Barry, Cliodhna O'Reilly, friend, Lisa Branigan, Paul E. Kelly. Front row L-R: Sharon Woods, Patrick D. Conlon

Margaret Foley