Warm Conditions in Dunshaughlin

22/6/2025

Tim O'Donnell

From Wednesday to Saturday of last week, managing the warm conditions was the name of the game. It might have been welcomed by the track athletes competing in UCD’s stadium last Wednesday evening, but certainly had a less favourable impact on the Dunshaughlin 10k which took place on Saturday night.

On a warm and dry evening with little wind, several of our athletes took part in the UCD Athletics Meet on Wednesday afternoon for the pre-programme and evening, for the main one. Emily Lyne placed 3rd in a time of 62.01 in the women’s 400mH race, whilst in heat 2 of the men’s 200m sprint race, Leo Gormley won the event in 22.92. Then in the men’s 3000m, Luke Clarke placed 10th in a time of 10:00.69.

There were two graded heats in the pre-programme of the men’s 100m. In heat 1 Andrew Hooke placed 3rd in 11.49, whilst the 2nd heat was won by Charlie Bastow in a time of 11.05.

Later, in the main programme, we had two runners in each of the likely B standard of the women’s 800m and the men’s 1500m events. In the women’s 800m, Saoirse McGrath placed 4th in 2:18.23, followed closely in 5th place by Annie Hughes (2:19.23), whilst in the men’s 1500m, Colm Parnell was part of a bunched finish, placing 10th in 4:02.89 and being followed in 13th spot by Barry McCarthy (4:05.17).

We had two athletes take part in the first of two races in a 4-mile series this summer organised by Clane AC. The first was a trail run that was conducted on paths in the more impenetrable parts of Donadea Forest in Co. Kildare on Wednesday evening. The second will be a road race to take place in September. In a field of 139, and with difficulty to overtake at times because of the narrowness of the paths, Felipe De Sousa placed 3rd in 27:31, followed by Rebecca Fleming (17th overall and 3rd female finisher in 32:36).

Runners found the going really tough on Saturday evening in Dunshaughlin, Co. Meath for the annual running of the iconic 10k there, the 5th race in the Peugeot Race Series. Conditions were hot and humid on what is generally considered a decent PB course. We had at least 10 Crusaders in the field of 1027 finishers, led across the line by Brendan Murphy (40th in 34:24). Brendan was followed home by Ger Forde (48th and 3rd M45 in 34:55), Stephen Hurley (71st in 35:42), Vinnie McGuinness (100th in 36:35), guiding Thurles’ visually-impaired runner, Declan Ryan, and just ahead of Joe McDermott (101st in the same time). The team of Ger, Stephen, Vinnie and Joe placed 8th in a competition involving 61 club teams.

Joe Walsh was next (113th in 37:00), ahead of Simon Kenny (220th in 40:04) and Eddie Nugent (243rd in 40:34), with Tim O’Donnell (341st in 43:06) a little further back and GianPiero Allerta completing the group (454th in 46:12).

Also, on Saturday evening, we had a runner in the Streets of Sligo 5k with its field of 427. Shane Egan placed 22nd there in a time of 17:30.

Further afield, on Tuesday, one of our UK-based exiles, Toby Benham, ran in the Weedon 10k, completing the distance in 36:29. Meanwhile, at the weekend, Eoghan Walsh, now based in the Netherlands, ran in the Oss half marathon, finishing in a time of 1:59, whilst in Tromso inside the Arctic Circle in Norway, Conor Macguinness took part in the Midnight Sun half marathon and Aoife Hoare, the full marathon, there, on Saturday evening (in 24-hours of daylight). Conor ran 86:34, placing 3rd in his M45 age category, whilst Aoife, on the back of truncated training following a serious knee injury, placed 20th female finisher and 2nd F35 in a great time of 3:26:12.

The most incredible feat of the week has to go to Pat Quill who took on the Spine Ultra marathon in the Yorkshire Pennines, a journey of some 440k, which he completed in an incredible 145:54:30 (6 days!), well inside the cut off time of 156 hours. Pat placed 83rd out of 102 finishers (nearly 60 runners having retired) on the south to north route, from Edale in Derbyshire to Kirk Yetholm in the Scottish borders, described as “Britain’s Most Brutal” endurance race.

Up in the mountains on Wednesday evening, the usual midweek race took place this week around Trooperstown Hill in Co. Wicklow. On a course measuring 11.5k and with a climb of 455m, 155 runners contested the event, among them at least 6 Crusaders. The contingent was led home unsurprisingly by Donatas Jocius who placed 3rd in 54:58 (having taken a wrong turn at one point and as a consequence missing out reportedly on 2nd place) and Donatas was followed by Paul Flynn (8th in 57:51), Paul McNamara (29th in 64:26), Brian McGuckin (35th and 3rd M55 in 65:24), Caoimhe Dempsey (61st overall and 8th female finisher in 71:32) and Gavan Doherty (75th in 74:39).

Order seems to have been restored this week in the parkruns and numbers were back to a normal level, everyone enjoying the good weather on Saturday morning.

Sarah-Grace Breen helped to lead the charge in Poolbeg, where she placed 13th overall and first female finisher in 19:17. In a field of 210, Kenan Furlong placed 5th in 17:24, followed by Luke Clarke (6th in 18:08), Jan Manschot (10th in 18:43) and Ross Neill (12th in 19:12). Alongside Sarah-Grace came Morgan Evans (14th in 19:18) and they were followed by James Sherry (16th in 19:33), Adrian Groarke (20th in 20:39), John Lohan (39th in 22:43), Killian Barry (77th in 25:12), Franky Keane (85th in 25:55) and Lorraine McMahon (156th and 49th in 30:05).

Running his 100th parkrun, Dee Lawlor, placed 2nd in 18:05 in the 249-strong field in Shanganagh. Dee was joined by David Carter, running his fastest 5k in a while, in 6th (18:50). Sean Murphy ran in New Ross where he placed 2nd and first male finisher in 20:01, in a field of 74, whilst Donatas Jocius also placed 2nd in 17:59, in the field of 150 in Tymon Park. Kev Moore and Mary Donnelly ran once gain in Bushy Park, where Kev placed 7th in 20:19, followed by Mary who took 17th and 2nd spots in a time of 323 and in a field of 323.

Ellen Walsh joined 69 other participants in Sligo, where she placed 21st and 4th in 27:21, whilst, in St. Anne’s, Felipe de Sousa took 10th place in 19:28, followed by Michael Maughan (78th in 23:42), Paul F. Kelly (93rd in 24:02) and Irene Gorman (323rd and 110th in 31:19). The field there measured 527.

We had two runners in Brickfields with its field of 129. Eoghan Corrigan pushed a double-buggy around the course, recording a time of 24:56 for 35th spot, followed by Kate Murray (71st and 16th in 30:12). Meanwhile, Colm Foley ran in the 139-strong field in Killarney House, where he placed 35th in 23:36. Sharon Woods was our lone runner in Fairview, where alongside 161 other participants, she placed 30th and 7th in 24:03, whilst, in Tolka Valley, Kabir Sala led a contingent of 5 Crusaders home in a field of 69. Kabir placed 11th in 22:12, followed by Laura O’Malley (23rd and 7th in 25:30), Máirín Shine (41st and 16th in 30:19), Lisa Shine (49th and 23rd in 32:37) alongside Emer Kenny (50th and 24th in 32:38). Mairead Cashman joined 184 other runners in Cabinteely, where she placed 110th and 34th in 32:17, whilst Aitor Arribas Velasco placed 172nd in 30:19 in the 309-strong field in Ballincollig.

Elsewhere, outside Ireland, Sarah Lyons ran alongside 107 other participants in Uckfield where she ran a time of 24:37 for 14th and 4th places, whilst Rob Glascott, one of our exiles in London, placed 41st in 20:11 in the 937-strong field on Clapham Common. Aoife McCarthy ran on Wimbledon Common, where, in a field of 545, she placed 91st and 9th in 23:26, whilst down in Australia, we had two exiles running in the Centennial Parkrun in Sydney. In a field of 381, Marta Imaz placed 104th in 24:23, followed by Deirdre Kennedy who finished in 143rd place overall in 25:51.

Clane AC 4-mile Trail race (139)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Gavin Kelly 1 00:25:18
11 Sinead O’Malley 1 00:31:44
Crusaders AC runners
3 Felipe De Sousa 00:27:31
17 Rebecca Fleming 00:32:36 (3)
Full results here: https://www.popupraces.ie/race/clane-ac-4-mile-series-2025-race-1-trail/
Michael Manning Memorial Dunshaughlin 10k (1027)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 David McGlynn 1 00:29:30
22 Ide Nic Dhomhnaill 1 00:33:16
Crusaders AC runners
40 Brendan Murphy 00:34:24
48 Ger Forde 00:34:55
71 Stephen Hurley 00:35:42
100 Vinnie McGuinness 00:36:35
101 Joe McDermott 00:36:35
113 Joe Walsh 00:37:00
220 Simon Kenny 00:40:04
243 Eddie Nugent 00:40:34
341 Tim O’Donnell 00:43:06
454 GianPiero Allerta 00:46:12
Full results here: https://www.popupraces.ie/race/michael-manning-memorial-dunshaughlin-10k-2025/
Streets of Sligo 5k (427)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Conán McCaughey 1 00:14:50
7 Alexandra Joyce 1 00:16:31
Crusaders AC runner
22 Shane Egan 00:17:30
Full results here: https://my.raceresult.com/347607/#1_356EFE

IMRA Trooperstown Hill 11.5k (155)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Eoghan Whelan 1 00:56:32
5 Sorcha Loughnane 1 00:57:33
Crusaders AC runners
3 Donatas Jocius 00:54:58
8 Paul Flynn 00:57:51
29 Paul McNamara 01:04:26
35 Brian McGuckin 01:05:24
61 Caoimhe Dempsey 01:11:32 (8)
75 Gavan Doherty 01:14:39
Full results here: https://www.imra.ie/events/results/id/2663
Brickfields Parkrun (129)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Maxim Bondarenko 1 00:17:50
10 Eimear Nic An Bhaird 1 00:21:33
Crusaders AC runners
35 Eoghan Corrigan 00:24:56
71 Kate Murray 00:30:12 (16)
Tymon Parkrun (150)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Kenneth Nugent 1 00:17;13
12 Niamh O’Sullivan 1 00:20:07
Crusaders AC runner
2 Donatas Jocius 00:17:59
Fairview Parkrun (162)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Anthony Sharkey 1 00:18:16
11 Laura Jarman 1 00:21:40
Crusaders AC runner
30 Sharon Woods 00:24:03 (7)
Poolbeg Parkrun (210)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 John Durcan 1 00:16:38
13 Sarah-Grace Breen 1 00:19:17
Crusaders AC runners
5 Kenan Furlong 00:17:24
6 Luke Clarke 00:18:08
10 Jan Manschot 00:18:43
12 Ross Neill 00:19:12
13 Sarah-Grace Breen 00:19:17 (1)
14 Morgan Evans 00:19:18
16 James Sherry 00:19:33
20 Adrian Groarke 00:20:39
39 John Lohan 00:22:43
77 Killian Barry 00:25:12
85 Franky Keane 00:25:55
156 Lorraine McMahon 00:30:05 (49)
Killarney House Parkrun (139)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Adam Neary 1 00:17:24
15 Jacinta Buckley 1 00:21:23
Crusaders AC runner
35 Colm Foley 00:23:36
Ballincollig Parkrun (309)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Alan O’Brien 1 00:17:48
29 Deirdre Duff 1 00:22:35
Crusaders AC runner
172 Aitor Arribas Velasco 00:30:19
Tolka Valley Parkrun (69)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Bobby Bedford 1 00:18:39
8 Jane Rukin-White 1 00:22:12
Crusaders AC runners
11 Kabir Sala 00:22:57
23 Laura O’Malley 00:25:30 (7)
41 Máirín Shine 00:30:19 (16)
49 Lisa Shine 00:32:37 (23)
50 Emer Kenny 00:32:38 (24)
St. Anne’s Parkrun (527)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Kenneth Nolan 1 00:17:25
16 Ciara Brady 1 00:19:51
Crusaders AC runners
10 Felipe De Sousa 00:19:28
78 Michael Maughan 00:23;42
93 Paul F. Kelly 00:24:02
323 Irene Goran 00:31:19 (110)
Sligo Parkrun (70)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
2 Scot Reid 1 00:19:51
13 Caitlin Woods 1 00:25:49
Crusaders AC runner
21 Ellen Walsh 00:27:21 (4)
Bushy Parkrun (323)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Ciarán Fleming 1 00:18:47
15 Christine Kinsella 1 00:22:11
Crusaders AC runners
7 Kev Moore 00:20:19
17 Mary Donnelly 00:22:21 (2)
New Ross Parkrun (74)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Niamh Murphy 1 00:19:44
2 Sean Murphy 1 00:20:01
Crusaders AC runner
2 Sean Murphy 00:20:01
Shanganagh Parkrun (249)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Neil Foley 1 00:17:58
14 Ava Rose Clarke 1 00:19:53
Crusaders AC runners
2 Derek Lawlor 00:18:05
6 David Carter 00:18:50
Cabinteely Parkrun (185)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Guntime
1 Eoin Healy 1 00:17:45
28 Malika Hammani 1 00:24:49
Crusaders AC runner
110 Mairead Cashman 00:32:17 (34)