Warm Conditions for the Biofreeze National 5-miler

24/6/2024

L-R: Kelly Brown, Robbie Moore, Kevin Kenny, Chris Bannon, David O'Donnell and Neil Brown

We had some excellent results this week from the numerous events that our athletes were able to select. In some cases, we had runners run in two or more races, performing well.

We start, as usual, on the track, where we had 3 of our clubmates take part as competitors in the midweek meet on UCD’s track, an event organised by UCD’s track club. In heat 1 of the women’s 800m Charlotte Myers placed 8th in 2:12.71 (just behind ex-Crusader Mary Horgan who now runs for UCD who placed 6th in 2:10.86). In heat 2, Annie Hughes placed 9th in 2:22.03. Then, in the men’s 1500m, Colm Parnell took 11th place in a time of 4:06.42.

Moving on now to road racing, we start on Friday night with the annual Front Runners’-organised Dublin Pride 5k, which in reality takes part on two loops of the bicycle path around the Acres in the Phoenix Park, a course familiar to many Crusaders. Using local knowledge (it does undulate after all!), Dee Ni Chearbhaill placed 88th overall in the field of 1328 finishers and 3rd female finisher in a time of 21:15. Ahead of her came Karl Walsh, in the first of 3 events which he completed over the weekend on successive days, placing 16th in 18:53. Further back came David McEvoy (150th in 21:52), followed by Lydia Bigley (359th and 39th), back to racing after her recent admirable stab at getting into local politics.

On Saturday evening, we had runners in the 42nd edition of the Micheal Manning Memorial Dunshaughlin 10k, an event which rarely disappoints. It also happened to be the 5th race in Peugeot Race Series, so attracted a quality field. Among the 963 finishers, we had at least 7 Crusaders take part. They were led home by Vinnie McGuinness in a great time of 33:31 for 33rd place (and 5th M40), closely followed by Ger Forde (39th and 1st M45 in 33:39) with Joe McDermott a little further back (73rd in 35:07). Unsurprisingly, in placing 134th in 37:20, Paul Cowhie won the M60 age category, and he was followed by Ollie McGrath (208th in 39:15), just ahead of Kathryn Gibbons (229th and 25th female finisher in 39:49). The contingent was completed by Ciara Regan (283rd and 33rd in 41:06).

The fine weather over the weekend brought out loads of runners to race, and on Sunday 1658 athletes competed in the Biofreeze Irish Runner 5-mile road race in the Phoenix Park, which took place on a familiar clockwise loop of Chesterfield Avenue, the Ordnance Survey Road, the Upper Glen Road (descent), around under St. Mary’s Hospital and back up to the Acres Road and then a further climb up Chesterfield onto the Ordnance Survey Road again with a sharp lefthand turn onto Furze Road and the finish line. The race also doubled up as the National 5-mile Championships. We had at least 11 clubmates take part and they were led home by Clare Sullivan (122nd overall, 13th female finisher and 1st F40, her second prize-winning run of the week) and Clare was followed by Karl Walsh (his 2nd race of the week) who placed 196th in 33:23. Karl was followed by Ciara Lynch (281st and 61st in 35:19), David O’Donnell (295th in 35:38), Noel Carr with a PB time of 35:45 (for 303rd place), Neil Brown (324th in 36:11), Robbie Moore (350th in 36:33), newcomer Chris Bannon (380th in 36:59), Kevin Kenny (565th in 39:38), Kelly Brown (649th and 165th in 41:27) and Jade Murphy who must have started at the back of the field (727th and 198th in 37:43).

On the same morning, we had two Crusaders involved in two of the races in the Viking Waterford Marathon festival. Usually, on her birthday, Olwyn Dunne runs the distance of her age. Over the years, as one can imagine, this has become increasingly challenging, particularly as Olwyn will be 58 in a couple of weeks. Perhaps to make it easier, Olwyn participated in the full marathon in Waterford, to have some company, having added the 16 or so kilometres before the race. Amazingly, she placed 2nd in her age category, running a splendid time of 3:51:34 for the race and placing 122nd overall, 15th female finisher in a field of 192 finishers. Emily Quinlan took part in the Quarter Marathon, where, in a substantial field of 704, she placed 28th overall, 8th female finisher in a super time of 43:13.

Also, on Sunday, inveterate racer Lisa Branigan ran in Co. Westmeath in a 5-mile road race, one of two events which also included a 10-miler, organised by a friend. In a field of 97 in the Derravaragh race, Lisa placed 31st and 10th in a time of 43:07.

Further afield, Andrea Rondina ran in the Notturna di San Giovanni in Florence where he recorded a time of 33:24 for the 10k distance, placing 11th overall. Also, in Italy, our exile there, Italo Giancaterina ran in the Trofeo AVIS Spinetoli-Pagliare 10k in Spinetoli, where, with a time of 31:52 he placed 2nd, 7 seconds behind the winner. One of our French exiles in France, Valentin Akdim, ran in the 22k Patoutrail -Skyrace in the Pyrneees near the border with Andorra, finishing in a time of 3:09, whilst our two Spanish exiles, Cristia Vilchez Ceballos and Esther Requena Ferri, ran in the Nocturna Corre Tu Historia in Velez-Malaga. Esther won the women’s 5k in 22:33, whilst Cristian ran in a time of 19:34. Finally, our exile in Hamburg, Johannes Frederking, took part in the Vabali Mittsommerlauf in Glinde in Germany, where he completed the 11.7k race in 49:30. Closer to home, Eoghan Kerins took part in the Banner Backyard Ultra in Co. Clare, where he completed the 100k distance in 10:42:38.

There were three races organised by IMRA this week, involving Crusaders. We do not currently have results for the amazing Coast to Coast Relay (also involving the Dublin Mountain Running Club) which started on Saturday morning, involving a total distance of 600km, as of yet. When the results are published the report will be updated. We are aware, however, that Donatas Jocius took part in the event on Saturday evening and on his leg of 42.5k from Graiguenamanagh to Lukeswell he recorded a time of 4:09. Then on Sunday he ran nearly 27k in Co. Kilkenny for another leg from Lukeswell to Carrick-on-Suir, completing the distance in 3:12.

Earlier in the week, we had runners take part in the usual Wednesday evening offering. This latest was a new event, the Wobbly Bridge 8k in Rathdrum, Co. Wicklow. It was described as perfect for novices and involved a climb of 180m on a jiggly route which did involve a wobbly rope bridge with planks. Clare Sullivan distinguished herself, placing 19th and 2nd in a time of 34:31 in the field of 186 finishers. Clare was followed by Sam McArdle (27th in 35:36), Brian McGuckin (45th in 38:18), Kathryn Gibbons (49th and 10th in 38:57), Ian Clifford (85th in 41:20) and Berndt Heim (175th in 53:25). On Sunday, Becky Quinn was our lone contestant in the Southeast League Tinahely 14.5k in Co. Wicklow where, in a field of 55, she placed 9th and 2nd female finisher in a time of 86:14. The event involved a climb of 720m on easy terrain.

In terms of first finishers in Saturday’s parkruns, our bacon was saved by John O’Donnell and Rory Goldsmith who both headed their respective fields. Rory ran 19:32 ahead of 43 runners in Knocknacarra, whilst John ran in Claremorris and ran 19:50 ahead of the same number of participants there. We also had some podium finishes. David Carter placed 3rd in the 192-strong field in Cabinteely in a time of 20:14, followed by Louise Dobbyn who ran 23:20 for 25th and 2nd places. They were joined by James Donlon (45th in 25:16) and Carina Davidson (143rd and 54th in 34:42). Anna Shine placed 9th and 3rd in 29:44 in the 31-strong field on the Sport Ireland Campus. She was followed by Máirin Shine (11th and 5th in 30:34) and by sister Lisa who tailwalked. Toby Benham ran in southern England, where, in the Bevendean Down parkrun, he placed 3rd in 20:41. Gillian Earley also got onto the podium, in Naas. In a field of 113 and finishing just behind Karl Walsh (10th in 20:29), Gill ran 21:03 for 14th and 2nd places.

It looks like there was quite a battle among Crusaders in Poolbeg. In the field of 195, we had 4 members in the first 5 to finish. Kenan Furlong led our contingent home in 2nd place (17:57), ahead of Stephen Hurley (3rd in 18:06), Michael Wycherley (4th in 18:08) who was just head of Ross Neill (5th in 18:08). A little further back came Luke Corcoran (7th in 19:27) and Gerard Moore (12th in 20:06). Next came Piarais Neary (19th in 20:39) and he was followed by Luke Haran (42nd in 22:04), Josie Ward (60th and 7th in 23:55), Tanja Narancic (75th and 11th in 25:07), Fiona Bane (97th and 23rd in 26:46), Maureen McGinley (118th and 34th in 29:01), Anna Hernick (158th and 58th in 31:44) and Cynthia Perucca (160th and 60th in 31:47).

Maria Kennedy ran once again in Kilkenny, where, among 147 other runners, she placed 59th and 7th in 27:09, whilst Paul F. Kennedy also placed 7th in Poppintree, where, in a field of 210, he recorded a time of 20:06. Paul was followed by Aoife Kelly in 106th and 24th places in 30:13. In Bushy Park, with a field of 260, Kev Moore placed 13th in 21:39, followed by Mary Donnelly who finished in 39th and 4th spots in 24:20. Emer Kenny ran once again in Father Collins where, among 93 other runners, she placed 31st and 5th in 26:05, whilst Diarmuid Byrne joined 56 other participants in Tolka Valley where he crossed the line in 7th spot in 22:54.

Irene Gorman tailwalked in the 401-strong field in St. Anne’s, whilst Darina Scully tried out a new running buggy in River Valley, placing 81st and 22nd in 31:03, in a field of 154. Andy Deuser was also a sole runner in Fairview where, among a total field of 171, he placed 21st in 22:40. Dee Ni Chearbhaill and Mairead Cashman joined 264 other runners in Malahide, where, the morning after the Pride Run, Dee placed 84th and 19th in 24:17 and Mairead took 198th and 63rd spot in a time of 30:39. Olwyn Dunne prepared for her Waterford run in Shanganagh where, in a field of 260, she placed 134th and 40th in 28:34, whilst, in Griffeen Park, Colm Foley placed 67th in 26:00 in a field of 206. Finally, our exiles in the UK, Aidan Hudner and Thom Martini ran, respectively in Pollok in Glasgow and Gunnersbury in London. Aidan joined 361 other runners where he placed 75th in 24:40, whilst Thom placed 322nd in 29:33 in a field of 589.

Dublin Pride 5k (1328)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 James Moran 1 00:16:42
31 Deirdre Lyons 1 00:19:33
Crusaders AC runners
16 Karl Walsh 00:18:53
88 Deirdre Ni Chearbhaill 00:21:15 (3)
150 David McEvoy 00:21:52
359 Lydia Bigley 00:25:26 (39)
Full results here: https://myrunresults.com/events/dublin_pride_run_2024/5062/results
Dunshaughlin 10k (963)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 William Fitzgerald 1 00:30:09
51 Danielle Donegan 1 00:34:15
Crusaders AC runners
33 Vincent McGuinness 00:33:31
39 Ger Forde 00:33:39
73 Joe McDermott 00:35:07
134 Paul Cowhie 00:37:20
208 Ollie McGrath 00:39:15
229 Kathryn Gibbons 00:39:49 (25)
283 Ciara Regan 00:41:06 (33)
Full results here: https://www.popupraces.ie/race/micheal-manning-memorial-dunshaughlin-10k-2024/#1_DB603C
Biofreeze Irish Runner (National Championships) 5-mile (1658)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Kieran Kelly 1 00:24:11
31 Ciara Wilson 1 00:27:24
Crusaders AC runners
122 Clare Sullivan 00:31:17 (13)
196 Karl Walsh 00:33:23
281 Ciara Lynch 00:35:19 (61)
295 David O’Donnell 00:35:38
303 Noel Carr 00:35:45 (PB)
324 Neil Brown 00:36:11
350 Robbie Moore 00:36:33
380 Chris Bannon 00:36:59
565 Kevin Kenny 00:39:38
649 Kelly Brown 00:41:27
727 Jade Murphy 00:37:43 (198)
Full results here: https://myrunresults.com/events/biofreeze_irish_runner_5_mile_2024/4984/results
Waterford Marathon (192)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Alexander Wallace 1 02:26:59
32 Beth O’Connor 1 03:14:19
Crusaders AC runner
122 Olwyn Dunne 03:51:34 (15)
Full results here: https://my.raceresult.com/294110/results
Waterford Quarter Marathon (704)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Andrew Connick 1 00:33:06
5 Kealey Tideswell 1 00:35:54
Crusaders AC runner
28 Emily Quinlan 00:43:13 (8)
Full results here: https://my.raceresult.com/294110/results
Derravaragh 5-mile (97)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Andrew Nevin 1 00:27:47
10 Aoife Kinehan 1 00:36:17
Crusaders AC runner
31 Lisa Branigan 00:43:07 (10)
Full results here: https://myrunresults.com/events/derravaragh_5__10_mile_2024/4937/results
IMRA Wobbly Bridge Rathdrum 8k (186)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Daire Finn 1 00:28:26
11 Sarah Flanagan 1 00:32:54
Crusaders AC runners
19 Clare Sullivan 00:34:31 (2)
27 Samuel McArdle 00:35:36
45 Brian McGuckin 00:38:18
49 Kathryn Gibbons 00:38:57 (10)
85 Ian Clifford 00:41:20
175 Berndt Heim 00:53:25
Full results here: https://www.imra.ie/events/results/id/2490
IMRA Tinahely 14.5k (55)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Liam Mooney 1 01:19:55
8 Sarah Flanagan 1 01:25:01
Crusaders AC runner
9 Becky Quinn 01:26:14 (2)
Full results here: https://www.imra.ie/events/results/id/2476
St. Anne’s Parkrun (401)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Paddy Murphy 1 00:17:30
42 Caitriona Costello 1 00:21:52
Crusaders AC runner
400 Irene Gorman 01:01:14
Knocknacarra Parkrun (44)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Rory Goldsmith 1 00:19:32
3 Leza Milligan 1 00:21:25
Crusaders AC runner
1 Rory Goldsmith 00:19:32
Shanganagh Parkrun (260)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Philip Simpson 1 00:17:00
8 Ruth Wilson 1 00:19:59
Crusaders AC runner
134 Olwyn Dunne 00:28:34 (40)
Fairview Parkrun (171)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Daniel Toal 1 00:17:39
14 Becky Richardson 1 00:21:55
Crusaders AC runner
21 Andy Deuser 00:22:40
Poolbeg Parkrun (195)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Malcolm O’Connell 1 00:17:29
21 Rachel Calvey 1 00:20:43
Crusaders AC runners
2 Kenan Furlong 00:17:57
3 Stephen Hurley 00:18:06
4 Michael Wycherley 00:18:07
5 Ross Neill 00:18:08
7 Luke Corcoran 00:19:27
12 Gerard Moore 00:20:06
19 Piarais Neary 00:20:39
42 Luke Haran 00:22:04
60 Josie Ward 00:23:55 (7)
75 Tanja Narancic 00:25:07 (11)
97 Fiona Bane 00:26:46 (23)
118 Maureen McGinley 00:29:01 (34)
158 Anna Hernick 00:31:44 (58)
160 Cynthia Perucca 00:31:47 (60)
Malahide Castle Parkrun (266)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Anthony Dorran 1 00:17:50
25 Frances Joyce 1 00:21:10
Crusaders AC runners
84 Deirdre Ni Chearbhaill 00:24:17 (19)
198 Mairead Cashman 00:30:39 (63)
Bushy Parkrun (260)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Seán Cahill 1 00:18:24
17 Aisling MC 1 00:21:48
Crusaders AC runners
13 Kev Moore 00:21:39
39 Mary Donnelly 00:24:20 (4)
Father Collins Parkrun (94)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 David Richards 1 00:19:20
13 Ciara Motherway 1 00:23:00
Crusaders AC runner
31 Emer Kenny 00:26:05 (5)
Cabinteely Parkrun (192)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Sean Terek 1 00:19:55
15 Malika Hammani 1 00:21:48
Crusaders AC runners
3 David Carter 00:20:14
25 Louise Dobbyn 00:23:20 (2)
45 James Donlon 00:25:16
143 Carina Davidson 00:34:42 (54)
Poppintree Parkrun (210)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 David Branock 1 00:17:35
15 Sarah Flanagan 1 00:21:55
Crusaders AC runners
7 Paul F. Kelly 00:20:06
106 Aoife Kelly 00:30:13 (24)
Griffeen Parkrun (206)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Michal Gil 1 00:17:00
26 Louise McSweeney 1 00:22:39
Crusaders AC runner
67 Colm Foley 00:26:00
Naas Parkrun (113)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Rob O’Brian 1 00:17:37
13 Leanne Nolan 1 00:20:57
Crusaders AC runners
10 Karl Walsh 00:20:29
14 Gillian Earley 00:21:03 (2)
Kilkenny Parkrun (148)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Anthony Dowd 1 00:18:49
11 Claire Tonry 1 00:21:31
Crusaders AC runner
59 Maria Kennedy 00:27:09 (7)
Sport Ireland Campus Parkrun (31)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Declan Creedon 1 00:23:35
3 Mary Gavin 1 00:25:29
Crusaders AC runners
9 Anna Shine 00:29:44 (3)
11 Máirín Shine 00:30:34 (5)
30 Lisa Shine 00:49:11
Claremorris Parkrun (44)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 John O’Donnell 1 00:19:50
11 Niamh Conroy 1 00:25:00
Crusaders AC runner
1 John O’Donnell 00:19:50
Tolka Valley Parkrun (57)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Oisin Tyrrell 1 00:20:00
8 Grace Haughey 1 00:23:50
Crusaders AC runner
7 Diarmuid Byrne 00:22:54
River Valley Parkrun (154)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Viktoras Kuzminas 1 00:17:55
9 Cecile Ollagnier 1 00:21:44
Crusaders AC runner
81 Darina Scully 00:31:03 (22