The Power of 10 in Dunboyne

23/3/2025

L-R: Brian McGuckin, Brendan McGlyn, Henry Griffin, Brian Regan, Kevin Fitzgibbon, Neil Brown and Eddie Nugent

It was a fun morning on Sunday supporting the national 10k road racing championships in Dunboyne, where we witnessed the most amazing feat by ex-Crusader Niamh Allen completely destroying the women’s field (and most of the elite men too!) with a course record in 31:44 and registering possibly the fastest 10k by a woman on Irish soil (given that Sonia O’Sullivan’s 30:59 Irish record and Catherina McKiernan’s 31:21 were both run in Milan and London, respectively).

Conditions were excellent for the race. With the temperature a cool 10 degrees and a little breezy towards the end, but not strong enough to impede, there were 1435 finishers, among them 33 Crusaders who finished, in the race, which claimed to be the 54th edition, although it has only recently been a 10k, having for many years been a 4-mile event. The anti-clockwise course appears now to be largely an extension of the reasonably familiar BHAA 5-mile course. It is a fast and relatively flat course, although not as described with a downhill finish to the Dunboyne AC track. If anything, it is slightly uphill. Regardless, it was a well-organised event involving a quality field and with a great spread to follow! A super spectacle!

Barry McCarthy with a likely PB in a time of 33:32 and 90th place was our first runner home. Kevin Fitzgibbon followed (104th in 33:47) with Vinnie McGuinness (116th in 34:06) just pipping Ger Forde (118th in 34:01) at the line just behind. The men’s O/35 team of Kevin, Vinnie and Ger placed 7th in a 39-strong club competition. We had more than 40% of our contingent finishing in under 40 minutes, and they included Brian Regan (153rd in a PB of 34:31), Joe McDermott (189th in 35:24), Ciarain Kelly (205th in 35:30), Henry Griffin (231st and 36:09 in his first road 10k), Paul O’Hara (259th in a truly super PB time of 36:40) and Orla Walsh, also running the distance for the first time. Orla placed 279th overall and 25th female finisher in an excellent 37:05. In addition, those under 40 minutes included Karl Fitzmaurice (322nd in 38:01), Adrienne Jordan (388th, 45th female and 3rd F45, picking up national bronze in her age category), Irene Gorman (426th and 58th in 39:39), Eddie Nugent (428th in 39:56) and Brian McGuckin (441st in 39:57).

Emma Rowe (453rd and 66th in 40:30, finding it tough with a niggling injury towards the end) was next, followed by Carolyn Browne (474th and 72nd in 40:48) and Ciara Regan (518th and 83rd in 41:23). Orla, Adrienne and Ciara made up the senior team as they were registered with Athletics Ireland, placing 5th in a competition involving 41 club teams. Adrienne also scored as an O/35 in the team that included Nina Holmes (525th and 85th in 41:32) and Tara Gavin (608th and 114th in a likely PB of 42:50), and that team also placed 5th in a competition involving 30 club teams. Behind Tara came Kabir Sala, who doesn’t seem to tire of racing, and he placed 615th in 42:55, being followed by Phelim Murray (632nd in 43:55), Joanne Carey (652nd and 130th in 44:04), Emily Glen (704th and 148th in 45:07), Carmel Higgins (766th and 174th in 46:42), Robbie Moore (779th in 46:56), Neil Brown (837th in 48:28), Brendan Glynn (865th in 49:19), Kevin Kenny (888th in 49:38), Paul E. Kelly (1261st in 59:15) and Cynthia Perucca (1343rd and 506th in 64:26). Spare a thought for Kathryn Gibbons who unfortunately was not able to finish dropping out early on and for Michael Wycherley who was forced to walk for the last 3k with an ankle issue.

There were at least three other races on the roads in Ireland on the same morning, in which the club was represented. Ciaran Diviney and his partner Ciara Lehane, now ensconced in Co. Cork, took part in the Mallow 10-miler with its field of 1232 finishers. Ciaran placed 58th and 4th M50 in 63:06, whilst Ciara placed 409th and 66th in 76:00. The race saw a notable PB from 2nd placed ex-Crusader Shane Collins who ran 52:58.

Then, down in Wicklow, the 10k and half marathon races in what used to be called the “Gaol Break” took place. On the hilly course, we had two runners in the 10k. Darina Scully placed 145th and 30th in a field of 788 with a time of 53:13. Darina was followed by Carina Davidson who placed 320th and 105th in 59:38. We had at least 6 runners in the equally hilly half marathon with its field of 1256 finishers. Marcus Phelan took 120th spot in 96:50 and he was followed by David Carter who was treating the event as a training run (192nd in 1:41:16) and then by Diarmuid Fahey (239th in 1:44:27), Luke Haran (294th in 1:46:56), Phil Sykes (440th in 1:51:38) and by Conor Lydon (750th in 2:03:03).

Further afield over the weekend, on Friday evening one of our exiles in Australia, Maurice Kelter, ran in the Night of 5k PBs in Sydney, where he did record a PB with a finishing time of 15:58. Closer to home, James Sherry ran in the Stramilano half marathon where he also recorded a PB time of 87:16. In Spain, two of our Spanish exiles, Esther Requena Ferri and Cristian Vilchez Ceballos, ran in the Malaga half marathon, with Esther running 87:53 and Cristian running 78:08. On a trip to Spain, Louise Dobbyn joined the race too, finishing in an official time of 1:43:02.

There was at least one race in the mountains this weekend. On Sunday morning Donatas Jocius, Becky Quinn and Jill Nason ran in the Devil’s Glen mountain race in Co. Wicklow with a distance of around 8.5k and a climb of abut 320m. In a field of 123, Donatas placed 2nd in 35:40, followed by Becky (21st and 2nd in 40:40) and Jill (56th and 14th in 48:27).

The fields involved in parkruns on Saturday morning were reduced, possibly because of the 10k the following day.

In any event, we had at least two first finishers on the morning. Isabelle Cairns ran in the JFK park for the New Ross parkrun, placing 8th overall in a field of 75 and in a time of 22:17. Our other first finisher was Mary Donnelly who joined 210 other runners in Bushy Park where she placed 12th overall in a time of 22:02.

Podium places went to a couple of others. Aoife McCarthy placed 31st and 3rd in the 237-strong field in Donabate with a time of 23:52, whilst Stephen Hurley came home in 3rd place in Poolbeg in a time of 18:31.

Stephen was followed across the line in the smaller overall field than usual of 211 by Kenan Furlong (4th in 18:35), Tom Gleeson (6th in 19:14), Zlatko Kulic (11th in 20:54), Gerard Moore (12th in 21:05) just ahead of Adrian Groarke (13th in 21:11). Next came John Lohan (25th in 22:32) and he was followed by Ross Neill (30th in 22:45), Alan Martin with a 5k PB of 23:46 and 45th spot, Kabir Sala (48th in 24:02), Lloyd Hamilton (50th in 24:05) just ahead of Fergal Morrissey (51st in 24:07) and then by Josie Ward (58th and 8th in 24:55), Fiona Bane (64th and 10th in 25:33), John Corish (68th in 26:01) just ahead of Lisa Branigan (69th and 12th in 26:04). Bo Chicoine was next (74th in 26:17) and he was followed by Tara Murphy (77th and 14th in 26:25), Tanja Narancic (79th and 15th in 26:27), Aitor Arribas Velasco (82nd in 26:29), Aoife Cowhie (86th and 19th in 26:42), Kevin Kenny (130th in 28:55), Maureen McGinley (151st and 58th in 30:50) and Michelle English (152nd and 59th in 30:51). Members may be interested to hear that Anna Gallo’s father, Marco, on a visit to Dublin, also ran, placing 114th in 28:12.

Rebecca Fleming joined Karl Walsh in the 164-strong field in Naas, where Rebecca placed 31st and 4th in 21:57 and Karl took 5th spot overall in 18:58, whilst, in Killarney House, Kev Moore placed 15th in 20:28 in a field of 187. Peter O’Toole was our sole runner in St. Anne’s where he placed 13th in 19:55 in a field of 566, whilst Aisling O’Riordan joined 261 other participants in Tralee where she placed 99th and 26th in 28:06.

We had at least 4 runners in each of Shanganagh and Midleton Greenway parkruns. In the 237-strong field in Shanganagh, Orlaith de Burca placed 149th and 31st in 28:46. Orlaith was followed by Jill Nason (149th and 37th in 29:19) and Lisa Shine (185th and 59th in 31:20) alongside Máirín Shine (186th and 60th in 31:21). Then, in Midleton, Cian Coughlan placed 49th in 25:38, alongside David McEvoy (50th in 23:39) in the 231-strong field. They were followed by Mairead Cashman (97th and 30th in 29:13) and Áine Crotty (210th and 80th in 56:36). Marina White joined 141 other runners in Porterstown where she placed 118th and 61st in 35:31, whilst abroad, Christina Campbell ran alongside 144 other participants in Lake Claremont in Perth, Western Australia where she finished 53rd and 11th in 26:36. Barry O’Neill ran in the Salmon Creek Trail parkrun in Vancouver, Canada, where, in a modest field of 16, he placed 5th in 26:30. Finally, one of our London exiles, Thom Martini, joined 695 other runners in Gunnersbury Park in west London where he placed 447th in 31:08.

Dunboyne 10k (National Championships) (1435)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Jack O’Leary 1 00:29:15
38 Niamh Allen 1 00:31:44 (CR)
Crusaders AC runners
90 Barry McCarthy 00:33:32 (PB)
104 Kevin Fitzgibbon 00:33:47
116 Vinnie McGuinness 00:34:06
118 Ger Forde 0034:01
153 Brian Regan 00:34:31 (PB)
189 Joe McDermott 00:35:24
205 Ciarain Kelly 00:35:30
231 Henry Griffin 00:36:09 (PB)
259 Paul O’Hara 00:36:40 (PB)
279 Orla Walsh 00:37:05 (PB) (25)
322 Karl Fitzmaurice 00:38:01
388 Adrienne Jordan 00:39:20 (45)
426 Irene Gorman 00:39:39 (58)
428 Eddie Nugent 00:39:56
441 Brian McGuckin 00:39:57
453 Emma Rowe 00:40:30 (66)
474 Carolyn Browne 00:40:48 (72)
483 Eoghan Corrigan 00:40:43 (PB)
503 Tim O’Donnell 00:41:20
518 Ciara Regan 00:41:23 (83)
525 Nina Holmes 00:41;32 (85)
608 Tara Gavin 00:42:50 (PB) (114)
615 Kabir Sala 00:42:55
652 Joanne Carey 00:44:04 (130)
704 Emily Glen 00:45:07 (148)
766 Carmel Higgins 00:46:42 (174)
779 Robbie Moore 00:46:56
837 Neil Brown 00:48:28
865 Brendan Glynn 00:49:19
888 Kevin Kenny 00:49:38
1261 Paul E. Kelly 00:59:15
1343 Cynthia Perucca 01:04:26 (506)
Full results here: https://myrunresults.com/events/dunboyne_54th_road_race_10k_2025/5514/results
Mallow 10-mile race (1232)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Barry Twohig 1 00:52:46
20 Niamh Moore 1 00:58:50
Crusaders AC runners
58 Ciaran Diviney 01:03:06
409 Ciara Lehane 01:16:00
Full results here: https://myrunresults.com/events/mallow_10_mile_road_race_2025/5649/results
Wicklow Half marathon (1256)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Darragh Keegan 1 01:16:05
28 Jane Hughes 1 01:27:04
Crusaders AC runners
120 Marcus Phelan 01:36:50
192 David Carter 01:41:16
239 Diarmuid Fahey 01:44:27
294 Luke Haran 01:46:56
440 Phil Sykes 01:51:38
750 Conor Lydon 02:03:03
Full results here: https://myrunresults.com/events/codling_windpark_wicklow_half_marathon__10km_2025/5552/results
Wicklow 10k (788)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Alex Gray 1 00:35:04
31 Grace Curham 1 00:44:08
Crusaders AC runners
145 Darina Scully 00:53:13 (30)
320 Carina Davidson 00:59:38 (105)
Full results here: https://myrunresults.com/events/codling_windpark_wicklow_half_marathon__10km_2025/5552/results
IMRA Devil’s Glen 8.5k (123)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Barry Minnock 1 00:34:50
18 Niamh Brophy 1 00:40:19
Crusaders AC runners
2 Donatas Jocius 00:35:40
21 Becky Quinn 00:40:40 (2)
56 Jill Nason 00:48:27 (14)
Full results here: https://www.imra.ie/events/results/id/2654/category/O/
New Ross Parkrun (75)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Dermot Gorman 1 00:16:49
8 Isabelle Cairns 1 00:22:17
Crusaders AC runner
8 Isabelle Cairns 00:22:17 (1)
Killarney House Parkrun (187)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Isaac Vickers 1 00:16:58
16 Orla Houlihan 1 00:20:45
Crusaders AC runner
15 Kev Moore 00:20:28
Naas Parkrun (164)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Gavin Kelly 1 00:17:11
10 Caroline Ayton 1 00:19:52
Crusaders AC runners
5 Karl Walsh 00:18:58
31 Rebecca Fleming 00:21:57 (4)
Tralee Parkrun (262)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Danny Murphy 1 00:18:59
9 Hannah Redican 1 00:21:34
Crusaders AC runner
99 Aisling O’Riordan 00:28:06 (26)
Poolbeg Parkrun (211)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Christopher O’Reilly 1 00:16:46
10 Ava Rose Clarke 1 00:20:46
Crusaders AC runners
3 Stephen Hurley 00:18:31
4 Kenan Furlong 00:18:35
6 Tom Gleeson 00:19:14
11 Zlatko Kulic 00:20:54
12 Gerard Moore 00:21:05
13 Adrian Groarke 00:21:11
25 John Lohan 00:22:32
30 Ross Neill 00:22:45
45 Alan Martin 00:23:46 (PB)
48 Kabir Sala 00:24:02
50 Lloyd Hamilton 00:24:05
51 Fergal Morrissey 00:24:07
58 Josie Ward 00:24:55 (8)
64 Fiona Bane 00:25:33 (10)
68 John Corish 00:26:01
69 Lisa Branigan 00:26:04 (12)
74 Bo Chicoine 00:26:17
77 Tara Murphy 00:26:25 (14)
79 Tanja Narancic 00:26:27 (15)
82 Aitor Arribas Velasco 00:26:29
86 Aoife Cowhie 00:26:42 (19)
130 Kevin Kenny 00:28:55
151 Maureen McGinley 00:30:50 (58)
152 Michelle English 00:30:51 (59)
Porterstown Parkrun (142)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Thomas O’Neill 1 00:19:43
6 Anna Ryan 1 00:23:03
Crusaders AC runner
118 Martina White 00:35:31 (61)
Donabate Parkrun (237)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Al O’Dowd 1 00:18:51
19 Aoife Begley 1 00:22:50
Crusaders AC runner
31 Aoife McCarthy 00:23:52 (3)
St. Anne’s Parkrun (566)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Daniel Connolly 1 00:17:31
19 Aoibhín O’Connor 1 00:20:19
Crusaders AC runner
13 Peter O’Toole 00:19:55
Bushy Parkrun (211)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Rory McLaughlin 1 00:18:24
12 Mary Donnelly 1 00:22:02
Crusaders AC runner
12 Mary Donnelly 00:22:02 (1)
Midleton Greenway Parkrun (231)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Brendan Maguire 1 00:18:39
7 Kathleen Ryan 1 00:20:36
Crusaders AC runners
49 Cian Coughlan 00:25:38
50 David McEvoy 00:25:39
97 Mairead Cashman 00:29:13 (30)
210 Áine Crotty 00:56:36 (80)
Shanganagh Parkrun (237)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Timothy Bowen 1 00:17:40
34 Mella Garvey 1 00:22:28
Crusaders AC runners
138 Orlaith de Burca 00:28:46 (31)
139 Jill Nason 00:29:19 (37)
185 Lisa Shine 00:31:20 (59)
186 Máirín Shine 00:31:21 (60)