The Times They Are A-Changin’ – Springing forward with PBs

27/3/2023

L-R back row: Tim O'Donnell, Nina Holmes, Ciara Regan, Kathryn Gibbons, Brian McGuckin, Daniel Lowe, Neil Brown, Gian Piero Allerta and Aoife Quigley. In front: Joe McDermott

It was a super weekend of racing, with events springing up all over the place. Athletes were presented with multiple choices and so many of our clubmates took advantage of what was on offer.

On Saturday, Áine Crotty and fiancé Cian Coughlan headed to Roscommon to take part in the Ros Run events there as part of Áine’s preparation for the Connemara Ultra in a month’s time. Cian ran with Áine for the first half, completing the half marathon in 1:56:33 for 68th spot in a field of 123 and then Áine, on her own, was able to produce a negative split to complete the marathon in 3:50:55 for 23rd place overall and 5th woman across the line in a total field of 53.

There were two events in the mountains on Saturday morning. Sam Carvill took on the Dublin Mountain 10k championship in Glencullen. In a field of 51 finishers, Sam came home in an excellent 2nd place in a time of 57:25, just under two and a half minutes behind the winner. IMRA also staged the Maurice Mullins 50k (a race in the Irish ultra mountain national championships) on Saturday morning. The event was an out-and-back race in Co. Wicklow from Lough Dan north to the Ballybrack Road and also taking in a diversion to Ballinastoe. Donatas Jocius and Raghnall O’Donoghue joined 187 other intrepid mountaineers on the day and Donatas reported that the race had a bit of everything: mud, hills and a few roads with a climb of 2,350m on the way. Donatas placed 18th in 5:17:40, whilst Raghnall came in a little further back in 95th place in a time of 6:27:37. The winner, Enda Cloake, ran an amazing 4:08:12. There was also an 80k race on the same morning, possibly involving Becky Quinn. If the results, once they appear, show Crusader involvement, the report will be updated with the detail.

Further afield, Luke Davis reported that he completed another HYROX event, this time in Stockholm, where he placed 31st overall in a time of 75:18.

Sunday was a little more crowded in terms of events and we saw some excellent times produced. On of the highlights of the day was Kathryn Sweeney’s run in the Omagh Half marathon, where she produced a 2 minutes PB improvement, running 1:27:55 for 184th overall in a field of 2,215 and 18th female finisher. Then, in many ways the blue riband event of the day we saw a myriad of PBs in the Dunboyne 10k.

In chilly conditions and a Northeasterly wind of about 15kph, which really only impacted as a headwind on the anticlockwise route in the last 3k, the field measured nearly 700 runners, with, among them, at least 19 Crusaders, one of the largest club contingents after Dunboyne AC itself in the field. We had at least 7 PBs come out of the well-organised race and some super times generally on a course that is largely flat, but has a drag towards the end. The race started at its usual point north of the town just beyond the Tolka River, but finished on Dunboyne AC’s track. Many felt that the change in route had a positive impact on the race. Interestingly, the two winners, Mitchell Byrne of Rathfarnham and Aoife O’Leary of Sportsworld ran pretty much on their own throughout the race and thus dominated their fields. Mitchell ran a super 30:03, finishing 90s ahead of the whole field, with Aoife producing a PB of 36:30 to finish 29s ahead of teammate Noreen Brouder. We had some super runs, led home by Andrea Rondina taking some good scalps with his PB time of 32:37 for 12th place. Andrea was followed by Joe McDermott who worked his way through the field to take 37th spot in 35:08. Joe was followed by Patrick Conlon who also recorded a PB with his time of 35:36 for 44th place, just ahead of Daniel Lowe (48th in 35:39). Alan Sheehy was next across the line, in 78th place with a time of 37:15 and he was followed by Rory Goldsmith who placed 106th in 38:37. All in all, we had 9 runners break 40 mins, with the remaining 3 including Aoife Quigley and Kathryn Gibbons, both breaking 40 minutes for the first time. Aoife’s new PB is 39:16 in placing 121st overall and 5th female finisher, whilst Kathryn’s was only a second behind her in 39:17, placing 123rd and 6th in the process. The final sub-40 was recorded by Karl Walsh who ran 39:48 for 145th place. Two runners who were only marginally outside this time followed: Tim O’Donnell ran 40:33 for 166th place, just ahead of Brian McGuckin (174th in 40:50), and they were followed in by our third and fourth female scorers, new member Ciara Regan who also produced a PB performance in running 42:42 for 207th overall and 24th female finisher as she worked her way through the field, along with the ever-improving post maternity Nina Holmes who ran 43:21 for 221st and 29th spots. With such terrific results, the 4-woman ladies team came home in 3rd place (just behind Dunboyne and Clane) in a competition involving 13 clubs, whilst the men took 6th place out of 21, just 6 points off the 4th placed Clonliffe.

The contingent was completed by Neil Brown, another improving runner with a PB (251st place in a time of 44:00), Robbie Moore (277th in 45:12), Gian Piero Allerta (286th in 43:38) who started quite far back and then had to experience the discomfort of an unlaced shoe after 4k, Kevin Kenny (398th in 50:07), upcoming new member Kelly Brown (414th and 100th female finisher in a PB time of 50:38) and Paul E. Kelly (608th in 60:53).

Also, on Sunday, there were two races as part of the sizeable Wicklow Gaol Break in which we saw Crusaders take part. In the 10k race, with its field of 972, Stephen Mulligan placed 239th in a time of 54:24. Then, in the half marathon we had 6 runners contest the event. In a field of 1,154 finishers Cormac Fenton led the group home in 53rd place in a great PB time of 1:30:51, followed by Anna Hoesl in 119th place overall and 6th female finisher in a super 1:35:47. Anna was followed by Diarmuid Fahey (139th in 1:37:23), Carina Davidson and Fanny Trébouet whose times appear not yet to have been officially included (and once they are the report will be updated), but who ran 1:53 and 2:01, respectively. The contingent was completed by Séamas Bulaeir who ran 2:00:25 for 705th place. The course itself was extremely hilly with a climb of nearly 100m in the middle of an anticlockwise loop and there was a strong northeasterly wind near the coast of about 25kph which would have impacted runners on their turn for home in the second half.

Completing Sunday’s results, Michael Kiely guided Thurles Crokes runner Declan Ryan to a PB time of 35:35 (a 6 second improvement) and 4th place in the Tipperary Senior 10k road racing championships. Michael and Ger Forde will be guiding Declan, who trains with us from time to time, next month in the London marathon, with Declan hoping to reach the Paris Paralympics next year. Further afield, Clément Rincé ran in the 10k de Houilles near Saint-Germain-en-Laye in Paris, where he finished in a time of 34:18, whilst Esther Requena Ferri and Cristian Vilchez Ceballos took on the Carrera por el Autismo 5k in Santa Fe, Granada in Spain, where Esther ran 19:21 and Cristian 17:26.

Numbers were generally up in the parkruns on Saturday morning. As usual we had a share of the spoils among the podiums. Ross Neill ran once again in Ormeau Park in Belfast where he led the field of 465 home in a time of 17:26, whilst, in Naas, Ger Forde finished ahead of everyone else in a time of 17:40. Karl Walsh also ran in the field of 132, placing 4th in 18:42. Once again, Stephen Hurley came home ahead of the field (of 147 this week) in Poolbeg. Stephen’s time was 18:18 and he was followed by Kenan Furlong (3rd in 18:50), Sharon Woods (24th and 2nd in 22:39), Fiona Bane (44th and 6th in 24:10), Emily Glen (56th and 10th in 24:53), Maureen McGinley (95th and 29th in 27:57), Niamh Trihy (125th and 49th in 33:21), Kevin Kenny (126th in 33:26) and Mari Hansen (136th and 54th in 35:22). Sarah Lyons took top honours in Tolka Valley Park, placing 8th overall in a field of 54 and in a time of 22:34, whilst Phelim Murray placed 5th in 21:49. We had some podium places elsewhere. Kate Murray ran 23:21 in Mullingar. In a field of 115 she placed 21st and 3rd, whilst, in Clarisford, John Lohan joined 35 other runners where he placed 3rd in 21:50. Dee Lawlor also took 3rd place in Shanganagh where, in a field measuring 168, he ran 19:23, followed by Stephen Mulligan (51st in 24;59), Niamh Quinn (132nd and 51st in 32:02) and Carina Davidson (156th and 70th in 35:58) who more likely ran 26:43, but who also possibly started behind the field. Darina Scully ran in River Valley Park where she placed 32nd and 4th in 26:16 in a field of 120, whilst Andy Deuser ran in a 167-strong field in Fairview, where he placed 12th in 22:01. Liam Lyster was a tailwalker in Strokestown, whilst Kevin Flynn placed 76th in the 90-stong field in Porterstown, finishing in 39:56. Eoghan Corrigan took 8th place in Rostrevor with its field of 40. Eoghan’s time was 23:09, whilst, Orlaith de Burca completed a parkrun in York. In a field of 584, Orlaith placed 401st and 114th in 30:48. Irene Gorman was our sole runner in St. Anne’s, Raheny, this week, placing 317th and 113th in a field of 413 and in a time of 31:18, whilst Diarmuid Byrne ran in Poppintree, placing 50th in 25:07 in a field of 198. We complete this week’s parkrun results with Cabinteely, where we had 4 runners in the field of 152. They were led home by Lisa Shine (40th and 8th in 26;20), and Lisa was followed by Mairead Cashman (83rd and 28th in 32:02), Emma O’Mahony (84th and 29th in 32:03) and Máirín Shine (135th and 56th in 48:12).

Dunboyne 10k (697)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Mitchell Byrne 1 00:30:03
63 Aoife O’Leary 1 00:36:30
Crusaders AC runners
12 Andrea Rondina 00:32:37 (PB)
37 Joe McDermott 00:35:08
44 Patrick Conlon 00:35:36 (PB)
48 Daniel Lowe 00:35:39
78 Alan Sheehy 00:37:15
106 Rory Goldsmith 00:38:37
121 Aoife Quigley 00:39:16 (PB) (5)
123 Kathryn Gibbons 00:39:17 (PB) (6)
145 Karl Walsh 00:39:48
166 Tim O’Donnell 00:40:33
174 Brian McGuckin 00:40:50
207 Ciara Regan 00:42:42 (PB) (24)
221 Nina Holmes 00:43:21 (29)
251 Neil Brown 00:44:00 (PB)
277 Robbie Moore 00:45:12
286 Gian Piero Allerta 00:43:38
398 Kevin Kenny 00:50:07
414 Kelly Brown 00:50:38 (PB) (100)
608 Paul E. Kelly 01:00:53
Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/supervalu_dunboyne_10k_2023/4736/results
Ros Run Half marathon (123)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Colm Byrne 1 01:20:48
6 Deirdre Gibbons 1 01:25:16
Crusaders AC runner
68 Cian Coughlan 01:56:33
Full results here: https://www.popupraces.ie/race/the-ros-run-2023/
Ros Run Marathon (53)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 John Scott 1 02:54:48
9 Elaine McDonnell 1 03:24:45
Crusaders AC runner
23 Áine Crotty 03:50:55 (5)
Full results here: https://www.popupraces.ie/race/the-ros-run-2023/
IMRA Maurice Mullins 50k (189)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Enda Cloake 1 04:08:12
10 Elizabeth Wheeler 1 05:03:28
Crusaders AC runner
18 Donatas Jocius 05:17:40
95 Raghnall O’Donoghue 06:27:37
Full results here: https://www.imra.ie/events/results/id/2294/
Omagh Half marathon (2215)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Gary Hegarty 1 01:06:50
33 Jessica Craig 1 01:17:51
Crusaders AC runner
184 Kathryn Sweeney 01:27:55 (PB) 18
Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/33rd_spar_omagh_half_marathon__5k/4678/results
Wicklow Gaol Break Half marathon (1154)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 David Lewis 1 01:19:41
31 Lucy O’Mally 1 01:27:44
Crusaders AC runners
53 Cormac Fenton 01:30:51 (PB)
119 Anna Hoesl 01:35:47 (6)
139 Diarmuid Fahey 01:37:23
705 Séamas Bulaeir 02:00:25
Xxx Carina Davidson 01:53:00
Xxx Fanny Trébouet 02:01:00 (PB)
Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/the_wicklow_gaol_break_half_marathon__10km_2023_/4663/results
Wicklow Gaol Break 10k (972)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Cian O’Reilly 1 00:37:58
14 Marta Kuclo 1 00:40:50
Crusaders AC runner
239 Stephen Mulligan 00:54:24
Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/the_wicklow_gaol_break_half_marathon__10km_2023_/4663/results
Dublin Mountain 10k Championship (51)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Martin Stellnberger 1 00:55:00
19 Joan Ryan 1 01:09:21
Crusaders AC runner
2 Sam Carvill 00:57:25
Full results here: https://www.webscorer.com/racedetails?raceid=309513&did=376967
Ormeau Parkrun (465)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Ross Neill 1 00:17:26
14 Faye Morgan 1 00:19:48
Crusaders AC runner
1 Ross Neill 00:17:26
Clarisford Parkrun (36)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Damian Roche 1 00:21:12
6 Deirdre Finn 1 00:23:35
Crusaders AC runner
3 John Lohan 00:21:50
Naas Parkrun (132)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Ger Forde 1 00:17:40
17 Aine Gallahue 1 00:20:40
Crusaders AC runners
1 Ger Forde 00:17:40
4 Karl Walsh 00:18:42
Shanganagh Parkrun (168)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Ian McGrath 1 00:17:12
12 Suzanne Foot 1 00:21:00
Crusaders AC runners
3 Derek Lawlor 00:19:23
51 Stephen Mulligan 00:24:59
132 Niamh Quinn 00:32:02 (51)
156 Davidson 00:26:43 (70)
100 Jill Nason 00:29:54 (34)
Fairview Parkrun (167)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Sebastian Hallett 1 00:17:59
11 Grace Hanna 1 00:21:54
Crusaders AC runner
12 Andy Deuser 00:22:01
River Valley Parkrun (120)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Michael Gonda 1 00:19:21
6 Cecile Ollagnier 1 00:22:35
Crusaders AC runner
32 Darina Scully 00:26:16 (4)
Rostrevor Parkrun (40)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Conor Devaney 1 00:19:53
10 Cathy Hamilton 1 00:24:50
Crusaders AC runner
8 Eoghan Corrigan 00:23:09
Poolbeg Parkrun (147)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Stephen Hurley 1 00:18:18
13 Ava Rose Clarke 1 00:21:18
Crusaders AC runners
1 Stephen Hurley 00:18:18
3 Kenan Furlong 00:18:50
24 Sharon Woods 00:22:39 (2)
44 Fiona Bane 00:24:10 (6)
56 Emily Glen 00:24:53 (10)
95 Maureen McGinley 00:27:57 (29)
125 Niamh Trihy 00:33:21 (49)
126 Kevin Kenny 00:33:26
136 Mari Hansen 00:35:22 (54)
St. Anne’s Parkrun (413)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Kevin Byrne 1 00:17:13
13 Maeve Lochrie 1 00:19:37
Crusaders AC runner
317 Irene Gorman 00:31:18 (113)
Tolka Valley Parkrun (54)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Felipe De Sousa 1 00:19:34
8 Sarah Lyons 1 00:22:34
Crusaders AC runners
5 Phelim Murray 00:21:49
8 Sarah Lyons 00:22:34 (1)
Strokestown Parkrun (36)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Patrick Holmes 1 00:21:14
5 Morgan Carlos 1 00:26:06
Crusaders AC runner
36 Liam Lyster 00:46:00
Cabinteely Parkrun (152)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Ted Burke 1 00:19:09
13 Phillippa Went 1 00:22:29
Crusaders AC runners
40 Lisa Shine 00:26:20 (8)
83 Mairead Cashman 00:32:02 (28)
84 Emma O’Mahony 00:32:03 (29)
135 Máirín Shine 00:48:12 (56)
Mullingar Parkrun (115)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 James McKenny 1 00:16:57
9 Elaine Plunkett 1 00:20:38
Crusaders AC runner
21 Kate Murray 00:23:21 (3)
Porterstown Parkrun (90)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Thomas Sherlock 1 00:16:51
17 Marina Horan 1 00:23:49
Crusaders AC runner
76 Kevin Flynn 00:39:56
Poppintree Parkrun (198)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Sean McGrath 1 00:16:34
12 Adrienne Atkins 1 00:20:37
Crusaders AC runner
50 Diarmuid Byrne 00:25:07