The Smiles Returning to their Faces

8/5/2022

Michael Kiely

Another glorious weekend for running. We had clubmates in action all over the island and elsewhere.

We start with the Seskinore Forest 5k which took place in Co. Tyrone on Saturday, where, on a single loop course with a downhill first half and a climb in the second, Omagh native Kathryn Sweeney joined a field of nearly 400 runners, placing 15th overall and 2nd lady home in a PB time of 19:45, her first time officially breaking 20 minutes for the distance.

On the same day, 6 Crusaders joined ex-Crusaders Shane Collins and Catherine Thornton, now of Leevale and GCH, respectively, down in Dingle for the half marathon there, with its field in excess of 850 participants. Whilst Shane came home in 4th place in a time of 1:13:37, Michael Kiely was not too far behind in 5th place in a time of 1:16:17 (most likely also taking first M35 place). Members will be interested to hear that a week after placing 3rd female finisher in the Limerick Half marathon, Catherine took 2nd place in the women’s race in a disciplined run to finish in a time of 1:26:44 and 21st overall. John Mulvihill and Michael O’Conor treated the scenic, but hilly, race as a training run and came in alongside each other in 1:36:04 for 54th and 55th places, whilst Barry O’Neill ran 1:54:06 for 234th place. Miriam Logan and club president Will Owens also took a relatively easy pace to finish just under 2 hours for 312th and likely 313th places and enjoyed the scenery and the characters who appeared along the route.

There were several events on Sunday featuring Crusaders. Among them, Aoife Kelly ran in the virtual Wings for Life run and Donatas Jocius took part in the 6-hour edition of the Wexford Festival of Running (the choice was 1h, 3h, 6h, 12h and 24h), finishing with a distance of 54.31k on a 1.3k loop in Johnstown Castle.

Down in Kanturk-Mallow in Co. Cork, Fiona and Lisa Shine joined 256 other runners in the Bweeng 5k, where Fiona placed 79th and 12th in 20:14, whilst Lisa ran 23:11 for 128th and 34th places. The race was conducted on a largely out-and-back net downhill course and is regarded as one of the fastest around.

Earlier in the week, Conor Fahy ran in the Loughrea edition of the Galway series of 5k races. In a field of nearly 580 runners, Conor placed 55th in 20:13.

Further afield, Conor Macguinness ran in the Barcelona marathon on Sunday morning where he felt the increasing heat in the second half, but still turning in an excellent time of 3:05:19. Áine Kenny had the heat to cope with from the very start of the Lisbon half marathon on Sunday (with its mid-morning start) and again she also was able to turn in a decent time of 1:40:04 in the circumstances. In Canada our Toronto-based exile Ian Kinsella won yet another trail race over the weekend. This time it was the half marathon distance in Kelso, Ontario, where he ran 1:39:24 for the distance, winning comfortably.

In the local mountains this week, there was a race midweek on 2 loops around Prince William’s Seat in Co. Wicklow, whilst there were also races around the Glacier Lakes in the same county over the weekend.

The midweek Leinster League race involved a climb of 405m over a distance of 9.4k over moderate terrain. There were 164 finishers in the event, with the club represented by Alban Coghlan who placed 7th in 44:35 (for 2nd M40), Conor Greenan (9th in 45:16), the ageless Becky Quinn (23rd and 2nd in 49:06), Ollie McGrath (41st in 52:07), Lean Ni Chiobhain (46th and 4th (and 1st F35) in 52:39), Karl Walsh (48th in 53:30) and Brian McGuckin (66th in 57:40).

Over the weekend we had one runner in the Glacier Lakes solo race, conducted over a distance of 42.7k with a climb of 1,783m on a course described as of extreme difficulty on an unmarked route. In the all-male field of 21, Raghnall O’Donoghue placed 13th in a time of 6:07:30.

There was a decent turnout in parkruns this weekend, with participants taking advantage of the fine weather. Crusaders took part in 18 events here and elsewhere.

In their last competitive run before their departure for Spain next week, Cristian Vilchez Ceballos and Esther Requena Ferri maintained their successful record of joint first finishing. This was in Poolbeg , where Cristian ran 17:11 and led the field of 131 home. Esther placed 8th overall and was first female finisher in a time of 19:58. They will be missed and we wish them well for the future. Cristian was followed by Stephen Hurley (2nd in 17:22), Simon Everard (7th in 19:44), Gillian Curran (54th and 10th in 24:13), Cliodhna O’Reilly (59th and 11th in 24:26), Josie Ward (61st and 13th in 24:28), Kevin Kenny (83rd in 26:11), Una McCullagh (96th and 28th in 28:03) and Maureen McGinley (108th and 34th in 29:38).

Elsewhere, Toby Benham was a first finisher in Glen River, where he finished ahead of a field of 53 in a time of 19:18, whilst Ciarain Kelly also finished ahead of the 100-strong field in Kilcock in a time of 16:58. In Marlay Park, with its field of 349, Aoife Quigley placed 25th overall and first female across the line in a time of 20:10. In the same event, Marty James came home in 16th spot in 19:32, whilst Aoife was followed by Caroline Crowley (33rd and 2nd in 20:38), James Cottle (36th in 20:41), Olwyn Dunne (82nd and 8th in 23:19), Emer Kenny (99th and 11th in 23:50), Tanja Narancic (103rd and 13th in 23:54), Stephen Mulligan, in his 250th parkrun (114th in 24:12), Yvonne Macauley, pushing a buggy (131st and 19th in 24:47), Mairead Cashman (212th and 43rd in 27:41) and Eoghan Corrigan, also with a buggy (240th in 29:06).

Henry Griffin placed 3rd in the 194-strong field in Malahide where he ran 18:00. Henry was followed by Brian Scanlan (24th in 21:15). Meanwhile, Luke Davis ran 19:15 in Cabinteely to place 3rd there. Luke was followed in the field of 124 by Mairin Shine (67th and 23rd in 29:24). Sharon Woods had to travel to Leicester in the UK where she placed 41st and 3rd in a field of 321 and a time of 22:16, whilst Dee Lawler headed to Limerick where, in a field of 54, he placed 3rd in 18:54. Hannah Jones placed 7th and 4th in 28:15 in the modest field of 14 in Nairin Beach, whilst Gemma Cooper ran in Tramore, Co. Waterford, where she placed 28th and 5th in 25:45 in a field of 97. Enda Currid joined 69 other runners in Brickfields where he placed 8th in 22:05. Michael Maughan was our sole runner in the 365-strong field in St. Anne’s, where he placed 53rd in 22:21, whilst Deirdre Kennedy ran in Ballymena where, in a field of 137, she placed 75th and 22nd in 28:07. We had 3 runners in Shanganagh and they were led home by Carina Davidson (55th and 8th in 25:54). Carina was followed by Orlaith de Burca (60th and 11th in 27:00) and Jill Nason (61st and 12th in 27:04). There were 125 participants in the event. Andy Deuser placed 14th in Fairview with its field of 89 runners. Andy’s time was 25:14. Meanwhile, further afield, Kris Ryan ran in Queensland in Main Beach where, in a field of 183, she placed 110th and 37th in 32:21. Aoife and Paul F. Kelly ran in Castletown where they placed, respectively, 48th (and 7th) and 49th in times of 26:12 and 26:13. The field measured 114. Finally, Kevin Flynn participated in the Porterstown parkrun with its field of 67. Kevin placed 53rd in 33:12.

IMRA Prince William’s Seat 9.4k (165)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Conall Whelan 1 00:42:09
21 Sarah Brady 1 00:48:54
Crusaders AC runners
7 Alban Coghlan 00:44:35
9 Conor Greenan 00:45:16
23 Becky Quinn 00:49:06 (2)
41 Ollie McGrath 00:52:07
46 Lean Ni Chiobhain 00:52:39 (4)
48 Karl Walsh 00:53:30
66 Brian McGuckin 00:57:40
Full results here: https://www.imra.ie/events/results/id/2154/
Dingle Half marathon (851)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Paul Moloney 1 01:09:18
10 Hannah Steeds 1 01:22:16
Crusaders AC runners
5 Michael Kiely 01:16:17
54 John Mulvihill 01:36:04
55 Michael O’Conor 01:36:04
254 Barry O’Neill 01:54:06
312 Miriam Logan 01:59:48
Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/dingle_half_marathon/4417/results
Galway 5k (Loughrea) (576)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Stephen Casserly 1 00:16:48
19 Grainne Ni uallachain 1 00:18:32
Crusaders AC runner
55 Conor Fahy 00:20:13
Full results here: http://redtagtiming.com/results/2022_Galway5km_2_Loughrea.pdf
Seskinore Forest 5k (392)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Adrian Scullion 1 00:16:39
8 Grainne O’Hagan 1 00:18:58
Crusaders AC runner
15 Kathryn Sweeney 00:19:45 (PB) (2)
Full results here: https://www.facebook.com/SeskinoreRCG/photos/pcb.304192951929945/304188798597027
Bweeng 5k (258)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Jake O’Regan 1 00:14:22
12 Sinead O’Connor 1 00:16:23
Crusaders AC runners
79 Fiona Shine 00:20:14 (12)
128 Lisa Shine 00:23:11 (34)
Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/bweeng_5k_2022/4372/results
Glen River Parkrun (53)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Toby Benham 1 00:19:18
12 Rhona Dempsey 1 00:22:33
Crusaders AC runner
1 Toby Benham 00:19:18
Ecos, Ballymena Parkrun (137)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Ryan Marshall 1 00:16:49
12 Hannah Waugh 1 00:21:54
Crusaders AC runner
75 Deirdre Kennedy 00:28:07 (22)
Tramore Parkrun (97)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 David Power 1 00:17:45
20 Maeve McBride 1 00:24:32
Crusaders AC runner
28 Gemma Cooper 00:25:45 (5)
Limerick Parkrun (54)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Oisin Spillane 1 00:15:22
5 Nuria Vizcaino Estrada 1 00:20:25
Crusaders AC runner
3 Dee Lawlor 00:18:53
Castletown Parkrun (114)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Niall Coppinger 1 00:18:49
32 Lisa Ryan 1 00:24:09
Crusaders AC runners
48 Aoife Kelly 00:26:12 (7)
49 Paul F. Kelly 00:26:13
Marlay Parkrun (349)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Ruben Bartelink 1 00:17:47
25 Aoife Quigley 1 00:20:10
Crusaders AC runners
16 Marty James 00:19:32
25 Aoife Quigley 00:20:10 (1)
33 Caroline Crowley 00:20:38 (2)
36 James Cottle 00:20:41
82 Olwyn Dunne 00:23:19 (8)
99 Emer Kenny 00:23:50 (11)
103 Tanja Narancic 00:23:54 (13)
114 Stephen Mulligan 00:24:12
131 Yvonne Macauley 00:24:47 (19)
212 Mairead Cashman 00:27:41 (43)
240 Eoghan Corrigan 00:29:06
Fairview Parkrun (89)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Joseph Kavanagh 1 00:20:56
4 Siobhan Smith 1 00:23:22
Crusaders AC runner
14 Andy Deuser 00:25:14
Malahide Parkrun (194)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
2 Kenneth Nolan 1 00:17:54
14 Amanda Maher Owen 1 00:19:57
Crusaders AC runners
3 Henry Griffin 00:18:00
24 Brian Scanlan 00:21:15
Poolbeg Parkrun (131)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Cristian Vilchez Ceballos 1 00:17:11
8 Esther Requena Ferri 1 00:19:58
Crusaders AC runners
1 Cristian Vilchez Ceballos 00:17:11
2 Stephen Hurley 00:17:22
7 Simon Everard 00:19:44
8 Esther Requena Ferri 00:19:58 (1)
54 Gillian Curran 00:24:13 (10)
59 Cliodhna O’Reilly 00:24:26 (11)
61 Josie Ward 00:24:28 (13)
83 Kevin Kenny 00:26:11
96 Una McCullagh 00:28:03 (28)
108 Maureen McGinley 00:29:38 (34)
Shanganagh Parkrun (125)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Terence Byrne 1 00:17:09
4 Shauna Moran 1 00:18:40
Crusaders AC runners
55 Carina Davidson 00:25:54 (8)
60 Orlaith de Burca 00:27:00 (11)
61 Jill Nason 00:27:04 (12)
Cabinteely Parkrun (124)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Dave Holmes 1 00:18:04
14 Cristin Scollard 1 00:22:31
Crusaders AC runners
3 Luke Davis 00:19:15
67 Mairin Shine 00:29:24 (23)
St. Anne’s Parkrun (365)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Wesley Grant 1 00:17:24
4 Emer Tynan 1 00:17:32
Crusaders AC runner
53 Michael Maughan 00:22:21
Castletown Parkrun (124)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Niall Coppinger 1 00:18:49
32 Lisa Ryan 1 00:24:09
Crusaders AC runners
48 Aoife Kelly 00:26:12 (7)
49 Paul F. Kelly 00:26:13
Porterstown Parkrun (67)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Niall Sherlock 1 00:17:59
3 Jennifer O’Sullivan 1 00:19:56
Crusaders AC runner
53 Kevin Flynn 00:33:12
Royal Canal, Kilcock Parkrun (100)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Ciarain Kelly 1 00:16:58
5 Laura Messitt 1 00:19:45
Crusaders AC runner
1 Ciarain Kelly 00:16:58
Narin Beach Parkrun (14)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 James Dempsey 1 00:22:37
4 Elizabeth Jones 1 00:27:03
Crusaders AC runner
7 Hannah Jones 00:28:15
Brickfields Parkrun (70)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Ryan Cleary 1 00:17:23
24 Ann Collins 1 00:25:48
Crusaders AC runner
8 Enda Currid 00:22:05