Top Marks in Castleknock College and Donadea

15/10/2017

Will Owens, Adrienne Jordan and Niall O'Connell

There was a huge Cru turnout for the BHAA’s first cross country races of the season, the Teachers 2 and 4 miles at Castleknock College. In a field of 52, we had 9 Crusaders take part in the 2 mile event in dry conditions. The race was won by Olympian Linda Byrne in 12:46 and the first Crusader home was Ilona McElroy in 5th place (13:51). Ilona was followed closely by Niamh Corby (6th in 13:59, third in her age category) and then by Lesley Ann Doughan (13th in 14:32), Grainne Regan not too far behind (17th in 14:47 and 3rd in her age category) with Katie McElroy (19th in 14:49) and Niamh Aspell (20th in 14:56) hot on her heels. Next came Lisa Shine (27th in 15:20), followed by Emer Kenny (27th in 15:57) and Susan Walsh (44th in 17:32 and third in her age category).

Niamh Boland took on the 4 mile race, placing 49th overall out of 140 runners, and 2nd woman home out of the 4 who competed, in a time of 26:31. Karl Fahy was 3rd Crusader home of the 18 (in a field of 140) who competed in the race, taking 22:21 to run the 4 lap course. Vinnie McGuinness was next, in 11th spot (23:13) and he was followed by Rob Cross (15th in 23:32 and 3rd in his age category). John Mulvihill was not far behind in 18th place (23:44) and he was followed by Michael O’Conor (20th in 24:01). Crusaders filled the ranks of the top 50 places. Behind Michael came Jason Kehoe (22nd in 24:12), Frank Hague (31st in 24:49), Michael Wycherley (32nd in 24:52), Karl Walsh (34th in 24:52), Joe McDermott (37th in 25:16) and Michael Maughan (47th in 26:22). Further down the field came Pat Quill (63rd in 27:29 and third in his age category), in training for the Dublin marathon, Marius McNicholas (72nd in 28:11), making a welcome return to racing, Niall McGeorge (75th in 28:26), Brendan Glynn (80th in 28:44), Robbie Moore (90th in 29:48) and Mike McGovern (110th in 31:34), carrying a foot injury.

We had 3 runners in the Donadea 10K, which was a hilly trail race. All three are training for the Dublin marathon and they all ran well. In a field of nearly 280 and in dry and mild but breezy conditions, Adrienne Jordan placed 14th overall, 2nd woman finisher behind Sarah McMahon (nee Mulligan) and first in her masters age category, in a time of 39:25. Meanwhile, Will Owens placed 10th in 38:30, followed by Niall O’Connell who took 22nd spot in 40:27.

Joanna Langier joined nearly 400 other runners to take on the Gaelforce Howth 10K run with its treacherous trails. Joanna placed 360th overall (136th woman) in 1:24:00.

Several of our clubmates participated in long distance races over the weekend. In Australia, our exiles Katie Eisenhauer and Brenton Systermans were involved in the Melbourne Marathon festival. Katie ran the marathon, pulling out a PB by running 3:11:31 (473rd overall, 38th woman) in the nearly 6000-strong field, whilst Brenton placed 140th in the half marathon with a PB time of 1:26:20. The field was nearly 9,500. In Amsterdam, in decent racing conditions, warmish but no real wind, and on a day when a new course record was set in 2:05:09 (Lawrence Cherono, one second ahead of Norbert Kigen), Brian Leonard, still carrying an IT band injury that had severely disrupted his preparations, ran a creditable 3:06:40 (683rd), whilst Eoghan Kerins ran 3:32:29 (2,020th). The start of the race is notoriously slow, as runners have to line up on the track of the Olympic stadium, but the finish in the stadium makes it worth it. Finally, at the marathon in Lisbon, Leslie Lluyd Hughes ran 3:55:15 at training pace in extremely warm conditions, as he also hopes to run in Dublin at the end of the month.

Kris Ryan and Leo Lundy travelled to 100 Acre Wood in Kent for the annual Winnie the Pooh running festival. Around 150 started each day on the monster trail course that generated more than 3000ft of climb over the marathon distance, winding its way through all areas of the wood that was the inspiration for the books. On Day One, "Eeyore's Expedition", Leo managed 31 miles for a top 10 finish while Kris powered her way to 36.5 miles and 2nd overall and 1st woman home. On Day 2, "Piglet's Plod", Leo had to cut his run short at half marathon distance in order to sort out an airline malfunction. Meanwhile Kris managed another amazing 31 miles for a top 5 overall and 2nd woman finisher. Kris now has 3 wins and a 2nd place in the 4 editions of this event since its inception. Members will be interested to hear that exile Rebecca Fleming took part in a shorter race in Malta, helping her local club team take first place in a 5K. Rebecca ran 21:06, placing 81st overall out of 257 competitors and 24th woman.

The parkruns were as popular as ever for Crusaders. In England, Fiona Shine placed 5th woman (46th overall) in the 166-strong field in Beckenham Place. Fiona ran the course in 23:37, whilst, in Aylesbury, Sarah Lyons joined 153 other runners to take 29th place overall (also 5th woman home) in 24:12. Aidan Hudner was a usual participant in Glasgow, taking 81st spot out of nearly 379 runners, in 22:14.

In Ireland, Colm Kernan and Lorraine Fitzsimons took on St Anne’s, with Colm placing 37th out of more than 400 runners in 20:25 and Lorraine 318th overall, 103rd woman, in 31:30. Aoife Quinn was first woman finisher in Darndale, running 23:40. In a modest field of 38 runners, Aoife placed 4th overall, followed by Denis Murphy in 5th place in 24:32. Neil Brown ran in Ballincollig, taking 48th in a field of 253, in a time of 24:00, whilst, in Poppintree, Diarmuid Byrne finished in 2nd place in 19:10, followed by Darina Scully (15th overall, 2nd woman, in 22:04), Fiona Bane (25th overall, 4th woman, in 23:57) and Maria Pertl (95thoverall, 40th woman, in 55:35). The filed was just under 100. We also had 4 runners in Cabinteely. In a nearly 150-strong field, Dave Carter placed 5th in 20:30, followed by Colm Foley (30th in 24:06), Olwyn Dunne (55th overall, 10th woman, in 26:05) and Mairin Shine (110th overall, 42nd woman, in 31:55). Mairead Cashman returned to Bushy Dublin, placing 138th overall (52nd woman) in a field of nearly 150, and a time of 43:54. Finally, we had 4 runners who joined nearly 60 other participants in our home parkrun in Poolbeg. Tony Owens placed 3rd in 19:59, followed by Zalan Kovacs (11th in 22:21), Gillian Errity (22nd overall, 6th woman, in 24:35) and Avril Barry (62nd overall, 27th woman, in 41:01).

BHAA Teachers XC (2 miles)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Linda Byrne 1 00:12:46
Crusaders AC runners
5 Ilona McElroy 00:13:51
6 Niamh Corby 00:13:59
13 Lesley Ann Doughan 00:14:32
17 Grainne Regan 00:14:47
19 Katie McElroy 00:14:49
20 Niamh Aspell 00:14:56
27 Lisa Shine 00:15:20
32 Emer Kenny 00:15;57
44 Susan Walsh 00:17:32
Full results here: https://bhaa.ie/events/2017-teachers-cc/
BHAA Teachers XC (4 miles)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Colm Rouney 1 00:21:26
Crusaders AC runners
3 Karl Fahy 00:22:21
11 Vinnie McGuinness 00:23:13
15 Rob Cross 00:23:32
18 John Mulvihill 00:23:44
20 Michael O'Conor 00:24:01
22 Jason Kehoe 00:24:12
31 Frank Hague 00:24:49
32 Michael Wycherley 00:24:52
34 Karl Walsh 00:24:59
37 Joe McDermott 00:25:16
47 Michael Maughan 00:26:22
49 Niamh Boland 00:26:31 (2)
63 Pat Quill 00:27:29
72 Marius McNicholas 00:28:11
75 Niall McGeorge 00:28:26
80 Brendan Glynn 00:28:44
90 Robbie Moore 00:29:48
110 Mike McGovern 00:31:34
Full results here: https://bhaa.ie/events/2017-teachers-cc/
Donadea 10K
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Tom Fitzpatrick 1 00:32:04
6 Sarah McMahon 1 00:37:45
Crusaders AC runners
10 Will Owens 00:38:30
14 Adrienne Jordan 00:39:25 (2)
22 Niall O’Connell 00:40:27
Full results here: https://www.popupraces.ie/race-results/
Gaelforce Howth 10K
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Jaroslaw Blacharski 1 00:42:14
11 Maria O’Sullivan 1 00:45:42
Crusaders AC runner
360 Joanna Langier 01:24:00 (136)
Full results here: http://redtagtiming.com/results/GFHowth_2017.html
Ballincollig Parkrun #70
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Conor Dolan 1 00:18:09
24 Sophie Foley 1 00:21:56
Crusaders AC runner
48 Neil Brown 00:24:00
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/ballincollig/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=70
Poppintree Parkrun #154
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Fiachra Crean 1 00:18:29
11 Maura Ginty 1 00:21:31
Crusaders AC runners
2 Diarmuid Byrne 00:19:10
15 Darina Scully 00:22:04 (2)
25 Fiona Bane 00:23:57 (4)
95 Maria Pertl 00:55:35 (40)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/poppintree/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=154
Darndale Parkrun #3
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Anthony Dorran 1 00:19:38
4 Aoife Quinn 1 00:23:40
Crusaders AC runners
4 Aoife Quinn 00:23:40 (1)
5 Denis Murphy 00:24:32
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/darndale/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=3
St Anne’s Parkrun #203
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 David Kirwin 1 00:16:41
7 Ailis Murtagh 1 00:18:07
Crusaders AC runners
37 Colm Kernan 00:20:25
318 Lorraine Fitzsimons 00:31:30 (103)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/stannes/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=203
Cabinteely Parkrun #133
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Derek Lawlor 1 00:18:36
15 Jean Murphy 1 00:21:47
Crusaders AC runners
5 David Carter 00:20:30
30 Colm Foley 00:24:06
55 Olwyn Dunne 00:26:05 (10)
110 Mairin Shine 00:31:55 (42)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/cabinteely/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=133
Bushy Dublin Parkrun #34
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Niall Coppinger 1 00:19:00
10 Christine Kinsella 1 00:21:34
Crusaders AC runner
138 Mairead Cashman 00:43:54 (52)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/bushydublin/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=34
Poolbeg Parkrun #8
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Paul Brophy 1 00:18:18
13 Deirdre Nally 1 00:22:28
Crusaders AC runners
3 Anthony Owens 00:19:59
11 Zalan Kovacs 00:22:21
22 Gillian Errity 00:24:35 (6)
62 Avril Barry 00:31:01 (27)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/poolbeg/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=8