Super Sunday

8/10/2018

Back row: Daniel Lowe, Fearghal O'Hare, Eddie Nugent, Frank Hague, Tim O'Donnell, Michael Wycherley, Phelim Murray, Eanna Farrell, Patrick Carthy,Noel Reilly, John Mulvihill, Dave Tilly, Tony Carter, Brendan Glynn, Paul Reidy. Front row: Ger Forde, Joe McDermott, David Long, Diarmuid O'Foghlu, Derek Ryan, Italo Giancaterina and Aurelien Admirat

There was a lot going on this Sunday, topped off by a successful defence by the men of their team gold medal in the Dublin Novices. Indeed the women didn’t do badly either, taking 4th place in their event. There were also some super performances in other races on the day too.

We start with the Dublin Novices. It has lately become a key event for the club and our participation is getting more and more impressive. A healthy development this year was also to use the event (and others to follow) as a replacement for the now, sadly, defunct Women’s Meet and Train races and so it was great to see several of the clubs join in our initiative and encourage other such runners to participate and benefit from the hugely valuable experience of cross country running.

By any standards we were able to field huge teams for both races, representing nearly 20% in total.

On a breezy but dry (especially underfoot) day, but where the runners mostly experienced a crosswind, the women’s race went off first. It was meant to be a 4Km event, but for some reason officials had not moved fast enough to add the necessary short 1km loop at the start and so it became a 3K race, meaning there were 2 undulating loops of equal length. It didn’t take Rathfarnham’s Carla Sweeney too long to get to the front and even over such a short distance she was able to dominate the race, coming home 14 seconds in front of the DSD runner in 2nd place. After briefly leading the field, newcomer Julie McGrath settled back and for the first loop was the leading Crusader in the field. Long distance runner Kiera Roche set off at a steady pace and worked her way through runners, so that she took over the role later in the race. However, Julie had excellent finishing speed and was only a second off Kiera by the end, both girls finishing well, with Kiera in 10th place and Julie in 11th. Fiona Shine and Jane Wallace also had excellent races too, placing 20th and 23rd, and scoring for the team, enabling Crusaders to take 4th place out of 10 club teams entered. They were a good bit ahead of Clonliffe in 5th place. Interestingly, gold and silver had to be decided on a countback between Raheny and Rathfarnham. Both teams had 35 points, but Raheny’s 4th scorer was 16th, whilst Rathfarnham’s was 19th (only 8 seconds between them, but every place counts!). Serena Moloney wasn’t too far behind in 26th, followed by Katie McElroy in 33rd, both enjoying super races. To complete the picture, Sarah Lyons took 43rd spot, with Kathryn Sweeney, another recent member, in 52nd. Kate Murray was next, in 58th, followed by Maria Kennedy, on the back of the Berlin marathon, in 66th and Lisa Shine hard on her heels in 68th. More newcomers followed, including Gemma Cooper (80th), just ahead of Aisling Dilworth (81st), followed by Anna Shine (87th) and Mari Hansen (88th).

The men’s race, involving a field of 114 finishers, was the usual distance of 6k and covered 4 large loops of 1.5k. As has been pointed out elsewhere, Crusaders made up 36% of the first 25 to cross the line, which is a significant achievement. Not only did we take the team gold medal, but if we had had a B team, it would have finished in 4th place, an excellent depth being shown. So, we had 23 runners in the race, including, like with the women’s team, some new members and others new to cross-country.

Fearghal O’Hare ran much of the race on his own, with newcomer Italo Giancaterina finally hard on his heels. Fearghal took an excellent 6th place, with Italo 3 seconds back in 7th. Berlin marathoners John Mulvihill in 10th place and Ger Forde in 13th, having worked his way through the field towards the end, were our next scorers and they made up the gold winning quartet. A major role was played by Tony Carter in 16th in that he also helped to push back the 2nd place team’s 4th scorer so that he winning margin over Donore was 3 points in the end. The club packed the top and middle of the field with Michael Wycherley also maintaining his excellent form (19th), along with Frank Hague (21st), newcomers Aurelien Admirat (22nd), Paul Reidy (24th) and Diarmuid O'Foghlu (34th). Then Joe McDermott came home in 40th, Daniel Lowe in his first cross country, 56th, Eddie Nugent running strongly as usual (63rd) followed by new member Derek Ryan (69th). David Long, a key member of our O/50 team, was next, running with great freedom and hugely enjoying the experience, (82nd), followed by solid runs from Eanna Farrell (89th) who just got the better at the end of Tim O'Donnell (90th), whom he had accompanied around the course. Patrick Carthy (98th), Dave Tilly (99th), Phelim Murray(100th) just coming back from injury, together with Noel Reilly (104th), making a welcome return to racing, completed the men's team. A super turnout and an excellent performance by both teams.

We had one runner in the Budapest marathon. Kieran Little had had to pull out of the Berlin marathon because of other commitments, so he cast around for another at about the same time and alighted on Budapest. On Sunday he joined nearly five and half thousand other runners to follow a course along the Danube and the city centre. We should not have been surprised by his result as he has shown tremendous form this year since joining the club, including a phenomenal run in Boston in atrocious weather conditions. On Sunday Kieran placed 5th in a super PB time of 2:36:35, knocking about 13 minutes off his previous best. Most impressively (and apparently it wasn’t deliberate as he suffered a bit in the first half), his two half splits were identical to the second (1:18:17 x 2). Conditions were favourable on what he described as a course that was excellent except for a lot of tight bends and some steep ramps between roads (along with distracting relay runners!). There was more to come on the marathon front that day as we had 5 runners at least in Chicago. In rainy and chilly conditions, Tim Francony and Padraig Sheehan also had pretty even splits for their super races, with Tim finishing in 2:45:14 and Padraig, 2:50:35. Damien O’Brien, a Crusader who currently is on secondment in Chicago, was not too far behind in 3:11:10, another PB result for all 3. Another Crusader to run well was Eoghan Kerins who completed the course in 3:21:12 with a 1 minute negative split. Leo Lundy also took part. Leo had hoped to run in a double ultra the previous day but his travel arrangements got messed around by the airline and so had to be content with just the marathon, his time being 5:23:39. Sarah Telle was another Crusader who ran in a marathon on Sunday, her first. Sarah ran 5:02:09 in Bournemouth in England.

Several runners in preparation for Dublin and other marathons embarked, as their long run before the usual taper, on the Irish ¾ marathon, a race that started life in Athlone but has recently moved to Enfield in Co. Meath. In previous years it had a rather notorious reputation for runners competing too aggressively and leaving their Dublin marathon in Athlone. This year, however, it seems that most people behaved correctly and used it as a long run, not pushing too hard and getting to experience some hills before the real thing. So a lot of the results should be treated with caution. Nevertheless, we did have some useful performances among our runners who joined more than 1,300 for the occasion, notably including Frank Halligan who took 5th place in a time of 2:00:08. Frank was followed by Pat Quill (74th in 2:21:33), Gavan Doherty (101st in 2:25:52), Damien Fitzgibbon (129th in 2:30:02) and Brian Scanlan (142nd in 2:31:50). Aoife Clarke was our first woman home, in 204th place overall (14th female finisher) and a time of 2:39:30. Carina Davidson followed (322nd overall, 44th woman, in 2:47:16). Liz Nixon took it really easily, placing 503rd overall, 101st female, in 2:57:51 and she was followed by newcomer Gillian Lyons (562nd overall, 121st female, in 3:00:48). The remaining runners included Russell Murphy (700th in 3:07:41), along with pacers Joe and Olwyn Dunne (respectively 755th and 756th (Olwyn being 211th female finisher) in 3:09:46 and 3:09:53 and Emilie Fournier (1224th overall, 544th woman, in 3:52:29). A pleasant day out in the country was had by all, topped off by crisp sandwiches (not a bad idea in fact, as the salt would be really helpful)!

A half marathon race in the mountains under the auspices of IMRA also took place on Sunday. It was interestingly entitled the Dublin Mountain Half to Hell with the Fairies and was staged on a mix of fire and forest trails, open-mountain and about 200m of road, involving a 650m climb. Once again, Becky Quinn distinguished herself by finishing in 15th place overall and winning the women’s race in 1:52:29. In a field of 115 finishers, Berndt Heim placed 113th in a time of 3:14:16.

There was a race on Saturday in which we fielded at least one participant. That was the annual Simon Community 5 mile race in the Phoenix Park, held on the usual one lap course involving Chesterfield Avenue, the Military Road and finishing at the top of the Khyber Pass by the Papal Cross. On a dry but breezy day, Matt Cranley finished 40th in a field of more than 1300 runners and in a time of 34:17.

We had some good results in the parkruns on Saturday. A podium place went to Fiona Bane who was first female finisher in Poolbeg (36th overall, in a time of 22:51) along with Sharon Woods (42nd overall, 3rd woman, in 23:43). Also in the event were Zalan Kovacs who placed 31st in 22:20 and he was followed by Fiona, Sharon, Donna Barry (52nd overall, 7th woman, in 25:30), Aisling O’Riordan (72nd overall, 17th woman, in 28:23) and Don Anderton (85th in 32:34). Alban Coghlan took 3rd place in Marlay in 17:14, followed by Luke Davis (10th in 18:42), whilst Diarmuid Byrne placed 3rd in 19:08 in Tolka Valley, followed by Cormac McGuire (12th in 21:29) and Maria Pertl (57th overall, 21st woman, in 32:08). Olwyn Dunne ran in Athlone, taking 22nd spot overall, 16th woman, in a time of 25:23 and prospective Dublin marathoner Dee Lawlor ran in Cabinteely, placing 11th in 21:19. Brian Scanlan also ran well in River valley, coming across the line in 12th place in 22:01, whilst Mairead Cashman ran in Bushy Park finishing in 116th spot overall (31st woman) in 29:32. Aidan Hudner in Glasgow kept up his park-running, placing 120th out of a field of 407 in 23:10. Kevin Flynn picked up back markers in Porterstown in 38:31, whilst Lorraine Fitzsimons took 236th place overall, 70th woman, in 28:26 in St. Anne’s. Finally, Gillian Lyons took 4th place (24th overall) in 25:04 in Fairview.

Irish ¾ Marathon (1307)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Gary O’Hanlon 1 01:47:19
35 Caroline Donellan 1 02:14:23
Crusaders AC runners
6 Frank Halligan 02:00:08
74 Pat Quill 02:21:33
101 Gavan Doherty 02:25:52
129 Damien Fitzgibbon 02:30:02
142 Brian Scanlan 02:31:50
204 Aoife Clarke 02:39:30 (14)
322 Carina Davidson 02:47:16 (44)
503 Liz Nixon 02:57:51 (101)
562 Gillian Lyons 03:00:48 (121)
700 Russell Murphy 03:07:41
755 Joe Dunne 03:09:46 (pacer)
756 Olwyn Dunne 03:09:53 (211) (pacer)
1224 Emilie Fournier 03:52:29 (544)
Full results here: http://www.redtagtiming.com/results/3Quarter2018.pdf
Simon Community 5 mile (1321)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Sean Hehir 1 00:25:37
7 Una Britton 1 00:28:58
Crusaders AC runner
40 Matt Cranley 00:34:17
Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/simon_community_fun_run_2018/2747/results
IMRA Dublin Mountain Half (115)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Shane Lynch 1 01:38:23
15 Becky Quinn 1 01:52:29
Crusaders AC runners
15 Becky Quinn 01:52:29 (1)
113 Berndt Heim 03:14:16
Full results here: https://www.imra.ie/events/results/id/1620/
Marlay Parkrun #275 (446)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Charlie McGowan 1 00:16:53
19 Ruth Kelly 1 00:19:27
Crusaders AC runners
3 Alban Coghlan 00:17:14
10 Luke Davis 00:18:42
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/marlay/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=275
Athlone Parkrun #160 (74)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Paul Heavey 1 00:19:07
3 Olivia McCartin 1 00:20:14
Crusaders AC runner
22 Olwyn Dunne 00:25:23 (16)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/athlone/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=160
Poolbeg Parkrun #58 (91)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Stephen Hurley 1 00:17:10
36 Fiona Bane 1 00:22:51
Crusaders AC runners
31 Zalan Kovacs 00:22:20
36 Fiona Bane 00:22:51 (1)
42 Sharon Woods 00:23:43 (3)
52 Donna Barry 00:25:30 (7)
72 Aisling O’Riordan 00:28:23 (17)
85 Don Anderton 00:32:34
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/poolbeg/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=58
St. Annes Parkrun #252 (380)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Catherina McKiernan 1 00:17:36
2 Bobby Bedford 1 00:17:47
Crusaders AC runner
236 Lorraine Fitzsimons 00:28:26 (70)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/stannes/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=252
Cabinteely Parkrun #183 (161)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Nick Bowker 1 00:17:03
8 Malika Hammani 1 00:21:13
Crusaders AC runner
11 Derek Lawlor 00:21:19
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/cabinteely/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=183
Porterstown Parkrun #155 (100)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Kieran Brennan 1 00:18:20
14 Miriam Finnerty 1 00:23:11
Crusaders AC runner
96 Kevin Flynn 00:38:31
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/porterstown/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=155
River Valley Parkrun #114 (123)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Luke Murphy 1 00:19:14
21 Muireann Ni Scanaill 1 00:23:45
Crusaders AC runner
12 Brian Scanlan 00:22:01
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/rivervalley/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=114
Bushy Parkrun #84 (162)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Peter Gray 1 00:18:56
25 Christine Kinsella 1 00:22:33
Crusaders AC runner
116 Mairead Cashman 00:29:32 (31)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/bushydublin/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=84
Fairview Parkrun #63 (81)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Sean Boyne 1 00:20:20
13 Aoife Mulroy 1 00:23:39
Crusaders AC runner
24 Gillian Lyons 00:25:04 (4)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/fairview/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=63
Tolka Valley Parkrun #33 (79)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 David moody 1 00:18:04
19 Amiee Peters 1 00:22:30
Crusaders AC runners
3 Diarmuid Byrne 00:19:08
12 Cormac McGuire 00:21:29
57 Maria Pertl 00:32:08 (21)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/tolkavalley/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=33

Back row: Coach Susan Walsh, Sarah Lyons, Mari Hansen, Maria Kennedy, Jane Wallace, Julie McGrath, Serena Moloney, Gemma Cooper, Aisling Dilworth,. Front row: Kiera Roche, Kate Murray, Kathryn Sweeney, Fiona Shine, Katie McElroy, Anna Shine, Lisa Shine