It was another brilliant weekend of running! Although we only had one athlete in the women’s National Seniors 8k XC race on Sunday with Niamh Allen, her run produced a fantastic result, agonizingly close to potential selection for the Europeans, but, in any event, a satisfying outing in which she took some extremely high-profile scalps in a field of formidable quality. The race was held on a familiar course in Santry Demesne, next to the Morton Stadium. The course itself is divided into a softly undulating short loop of just over 1k and then there is a long loop of around 1.5k which incorporates a relatively steep hill around three quarters of the way round. So, the runners in the 8k had to negotiate 1 short loop and 4 of the long ones, whilst the men’s 10k involved 6 of the long loops. Conditions were not far off perfect for the race and the ground was relatively hard under foot. Having said that, we did see the odd faller. Additionally, the event was well attended with spectators and supporters everywhere along the course. The ultimate winner of the women’s race by a country mile was Leevale’s Michelle Finn. The Olympian steeplechaser led from gun to tape and incredibly steadily increased her lead over the course of the race, narrowed only slightly at the end by fellow Olympian, UCD’s Sarah Healy, who also enjoyed a barnstormer of a race, easily winning the U23 championships. Michelle finished in 27:22, with Sarah running 27:34 and third place Roisin Flanagan of Finn Valley crossing the line a further 7 seconds back. What was interesting about the race was how several of the top athletes found the relentless pace tough and dropped further and further back. This proved particularly advantageous for Niamh as she started steadily, placing inside the top 30 in a field of 109 for the first two laps, then up to the top 20 in a bunch of runners, but she really made her move towards the latter stages and was able to reel in athletes coming back to her. Her strong finish led her to 9th place overall, finishing ahead of athletes who had beaten her in the recent Abbotstown Open. Unfortunately, only the top 3 places are guaranteed selection for the Europeans, where countries field teams of 6. Even if Sarah Healy ultimately runs as a junior, there is at least one wild card out there in the form of Fionnuala McCormack. Still, it was a super achievement for Niamh in such exalted company. Similarly, we had one athlete in the men’s 10k. Michael Kiely was our lone representative in a substantial field of 192 athletes. The race itself was a cannier affair, with at least 12 runners in contention over the first 2-3 laps being led heroically by a young athlete from North Belfast Harriers, Finn McNally, who eventually finished in 11th place. With 3 laps to go, the group was down to 5 with Darragh McElhinny and Hiko Tonosa setting the pace. Hiko was able to break free on the last lap and in the end came home in 30:32, three seconds ahead of Darragh (although the gap appeared longer), followed by two DSD athletes, Paul O’Donnell and Emmet Jennings, in close succession. Michael had a good mid-pack run, finishing in 122nd place in a time of 35:23, a decent time which reflects the depth of quality in the field. Members will be interested to know that ex-Crusader Shane Collins also ran, placing 69th in 33:26 (and scoring for the bronze medal-winning Leevale team), as well as Sean Murphy, who trains with us, who placed 185th in 41:09. On the roads this weekend, we had a runner in the Annagassan Viking 10k held on the coast of Co. Louth. In a field of 488 on a mainly flat course with a few rolling hills after 3k, Robbie Moore placed 150th in a time of 47:29. He reported that the race, dedicated to the memory of running legend Noel Carroll, was well-organised, set near a beautiful village near the coast and held in near perfect conditions: mild, sunny and dry, apart from a coastal headwind on the return to the finish. Also, on Saturday morning, we had several runners take part in the Run the Line short (approx. 12k) and long course (approx. 25k) races, set in the Dublin Mountains, starting and finishing in Glencullen, taking in Three Rock Mountain and Kilmashogue Forest as well as Cruagh Mountain for those undertaking the long course. For those on the long course, there were at least 4 significant climbs involved, and for everyone the first climb was approx. 250m, with the following at least 200m each. The races were held in aid of the mountain rescue teams. The short course race, with a field of 392, was won by Sean Hehir, who seems lately to have embraced mountain running. He ran 52:30. John McAuley of this parish took 7th place in a creditable 59:54 and he was followed by Pierce Currid (22nd in 68:58) and by Stephen McBrinn (224th in 89:25). Gavan Doherty also ran the short course, finishing in 91:31, but for some reason his result and those of a few others did not appear in the final listing. The long course race, with a slightly smaller field of 351, involved 4 Crusaders. David Carter was first home for the club in 40th place, recording a time of 2:31:21. David was followed relatively closely by Paul O’Meara in 46th spot (2:34:26) and then by Aine Kenny who took 101st place overall, 8th female runner home and 4th F40 in 2:45:52. The contingent was completed by recent ultra-runner Daniel O’Mahony who finished in 141st position in 2:53:28. On Sunday Maurice Kelter was a late entrant in the Gap of Dunloe marathon. Maurice is training for the Malaga marathon in December so used the race as a training run. Still, in a challenging event with a 700m climb, he still managed a time of 3:15:25 for 3rd place in a field of 62 runners. Finally, we had several runners as usual taking part in parkruns on Saturday morning. Kieran Little ran in Cabinteely where he led the 114-strong field home in a great time for that hilly course of 16:36. Louise Dobbyn is maintaining her fine comeback form following maternity with a time of 23:44 for 16th place overall and 2nd woman home. They were followed by Lisa and Fiona Shine who took the same time of 32:06 for 79th and 80th places overall, 26th and 27th female finishers. Likewise, Alma Hanevy, has returned form more recent maternity with a super run in Brickfields where, in a field of 71 runners, she ran 24:23, for 23rd and 2nd places. Again, as usual, our largest contingent appeared in Poolbeg. Kenan Furlong continues to bring his times down, placing 3rd in a field of 120 in a time of 18:12. He was followed by Daniel Sheridan (9th in 19:23), Simon Kenny (16th in 20:35), Zlatko Kulic (35th in 22:35), Sharon Woods (36th and 2nd in a super time of 22:39), Fin Goulding (37th in 22:46), Josie Ward (44th and 4th in 23:27), Olwyn Dunne, hard on Josie’s heels (45th and 5th in 23:36), Donna Barry (62nd and 15th in 25:19), Cliodhna O’Reilly (80th and 22nd in 26:19) and Aisling O’Riordan (98th and 30th in 28:47). It was super to see that Tomas Mahony looks to be back from long-term injury with a 10th place finish in the newly-created Pobalscoil na Trionoide Parkrun in Youghal. Tom ran 21:25 in a field of 75. Eoghan Corrigan took on Tolka valley, where he ran 24:57 for 20th position in a field of 43. Toby Benham joined 344 other runners in Marlay Park where he ran 20:29 for 30th place, whilst in Porterstown Brian Langton and Kevin Flynn joined 135 runners, where, respectively they placed 45th and 102nd in 25:03 and 31:47. Kate Murray had a great outing in Bushy Park where she placed 35th and 3rd in 23:19. In the field of 139, Kate was followed by Maureen McGinley who ran 28:08 for 86th and 22nd. Further afield, Kris Ryan ran in Paradise Point, Queensland, where she placed 47th and 4th in a field of 227 in a time of 23:48, whilst in Pollok Park in Glasgow, Aidan Hudner placed 48th in 24:52 in a field of 223. In St. Anne’s, Padraig Sheehan placed 11th in 18:29, followed by Kieran Martin who took 15th spot in 18:47. Michael Maughan also joined the field there of 388, placing 39th in 20:38. Mairin Shine ran in Ballina where she placed 36th and 13th in 30:56 in a field of 54, whilst Helena O’Keeffe ran in a field of 225 in Tralee, where she placed 80th and 11th in 26:35. We had 4 runners in Malahide. In a field of 261 our contingent was led home by Brian Scanlan who placed 27th in 21:20. He was followed by Deirdre Kennedy (124th and 28th in 26:45) and by Aoife and Paul Kelly who respectively ran 28:27 and 28:28. Aoife took 168th and 46th positions, whilst Paul placed 169th. Lastly, in Shanganagh, Orlaith de Burca ran 28:43 for 92nd and 23rd places, whilst Janet McManus ran 30:12for 104th and 33rd spots. The field measured 147 runners. Annagassan 10k (488) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Keith Geoghegan 1 00:34:14 21 Emma Boland 1 00:38:17 Crusaders AC runner 150 Robbie Moore 00:47:29 Full results here: https://my.raceresult.com/186678/results Run the Line 12k (392) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Sean Hehir 1 00:52:30 28 Julie O’Loughlin 1 01:09:39 Crusaders AC runners 7 John McAuley 00:59:54 22 Pierce Currid 01:08:58 224 Stephen McBrinn 01:29:58 Full results here: https://www.popupraces.ie/race/run-the-line-2021/#2_C5C6E6 Run the Line 25k (351) Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime 1 Matthew McConnell 1 01:56:06 26 Sarah Brady 1 02:25:29 Crusaders AC runners 40 David Carter 02:31:21 46 Paul O’Meara 02:34:26 101 Aine Kenny 02:45:52 (8) 141 Daniel O’Mahony 02:53:28 Full results here: https://www.popupraces.ie/race/run-the-line-2021/#2_C5C6E6 Gap of Dunloe marathon (62) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Derek Griffin 1 02:38:46 24 Andrea Cullen 1 03:57:48 Crusaders AC runner 3 Maurice Kelter 03:15:25 Full results here: https://www.sportsplits.com/races/hardman-gap-of-dunloe-2021/events/2/ Pobalscoil na Trionoide Parkrun (75) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Conor Fenlon 1 00:19:50 9 Shauna Dunne 1 00:22:31 Crusaders AC runner 10 Tomas Mahony 00:21:25 Ballina Parkrun (54) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Ivan Kelly 1 00:18:14 11 Cathy Hamilton 1 00:22:33 Crusaders AC runner 36 Mairin Shine 00:30:56 (13) Malahide Parkrun (261) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Evan Reid 1 00:16:39 5 Annette Kealy 1 00:18:26 Crusaders AC runners 27 Brian Scanlan 00:21:20 124 Deirdre Kennedy 00:26:45 (28) 168 Aoife Kelly 00:28:27 (46) 169 Paul Kelly 00:28:28 Tralee Parkrun (225) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Fergal Moynihan 1 00:19:14 15 Mary Fitzsimons 1 00:21:00 Crusaders AC runner 80 Helena O’Keeffe 00:26:35 (11) Shanganagh Parkrun (147) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Oscar Legge 1 00:16:31 7 Christine Parsons 1 00:19:44 Crusaders AC runners 92 Orlaith de Burca 00:28:43 (23) 104 Janet McManus 00:30:12 (33) Cabinteely Parkrun (114) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Kieran Little 1 00:16:37 9 Joanne Ryan 1 00:21:54 Crusaders AC runners 1 Kieran Little 00:16:37 16 Louise Dobbyn 00:23:44 (2) 79 Lisa Shine 00:32:06 (26) 80 Fiona Shine 00:32:06 (25) Marlay Parkrun (345) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Ruben Bartelink 1 00:17:42 8 Paula Grant 1 00:18:59 Crusaders AC runner 30 Toby Benham 00:20:29 Tolka Valley Parkrun (43) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Conor Fenlon 1 00:19:50 9 Shauna Dunne 1 00:22:32 Crusaders AC runner 20 Eoghan Corrigan 00:24:57 Porterstown Parkrun (135) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Niall Sherlock 1 00:17:31 7 Aisling Murphy 1 00:20:16 Crusaders AC runners 45 Brian Langton 00:25:03 102 Kevin Flynn 00:31:47 Poolbeg Parkrun (120) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Conor Brown 1 00:17:50 15 Ava Rose Clarke 1 00:20:30 Crusaders AC runners 3 Kenan Furlong 00:18:12 9 Daniel Sheridan 00:19:23 16 Simon Kenny 00:20:35 35 Zlatko Kulic 00:22:35 36 Sharon Woods 00:22:39 (2) 37 Fin Goulding 00:22:46 44 Josie Ward 00:23:27 (4) 45 Olwyn Dunne 00:23:36 (5) 62 Donna Barry 00:25:19 (15) 80 Cliodhna O’Reilly 00:26:19 (22) 98 Aisling O’Riordan 00:28:47 (30) Brickfields Parkrun (71) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Ciaran Costello 1 00:17:56 16 Mary Fee 1 00:23:24 Crusaders AC runner 23 Alma Hanevy 00:24:23 (2) Bushy Parkrun (139) Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime 1 Mark Stitch 1 00:17:53 27 Claire Costello 1 00:22:26 Crusaders AC runners 35 Kate Murray 00:23:19 (3) 86 Maureen McGinley 00:28:08 (22) Comments are closed.
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