Today, the sun shone brightly as we set up the course for our 28th parkrun at Father Collins. It was unusual to have such a lovely bright set up as usually when I take charge there is torrential rain, gale force winds or a storm – perhaps spring has finally sprung! Here’s hoping anyway!
The four run directors and Bertie gathered at the hub and collected the cones, signs and timing equipment before heading up to open the park gate and lay out the course. It was lovely to see some familiar faces; the Keegans were back in force, George and Roxy were keen to ensure she was first dog, (especially seeing as how Ruby had been left at home), the Gaelgeoiri and the madrai were all toe-ing the line!
Thanks to our lovely volunteers this week:
Alan FOLEY • Aoife MCCARTHY • Carol SINGLETON • Cathal RYAN • Ellen TREACY • George WHYTE • John O DWYER • Matthew TOBIN • Michael WYSE • Rachel MARKEY • Simon SMITH
This week there were 44 runners, of whom 5 were first timers and 11 recorded new Personal Bests (including our parkrunner of the month Adrienne – well done and also Anton Sweeney who knocked a full minute of his last PB). Representatives of 7 different athletics clubs took part. There were some pretty speedy times at the top end of the field with the first five finishers all coming in under 20 minutes!
A special well done to the top three male and female lycra enthusiasts :
Eoin GALLAGHER (SM30-34) of Fingal Triathlon Club, was first over the line in 16:52 – first appearance.
Karl MEEHAN (VM35-39) of Raheny Shamrocks AC, was second over the line in 18:24 – has been first to finish on 5 previous occasions.
Matthew TOBIN (VM40-44) (Unattached) was third over the line in 19:41 – has been first to finish on 2 previous occasions.
Current standing in the Men’s annual points competition:
George WHYTE (Unattached) 1666 pts.
Simon SMITH (Busrungroup) 1557 pts.
Philip DAUGHEN (Unattached) 1550 pts.
Karen BATES (VW40-44) (Unattached) was first (13th overall) over the line in 23:14 – first time in 14 appearances.
Aisling CONROY (VW40-44) (Unattached) was second (15th overall) over the line in 23:34.
Suzanne STRONG (VW50-54) (Unattached) was third (17th overall) over the line in 23:52.
Current standing in the Women’s annual points competition:
Aoife MCCARTHY (Dinny Collins Fitness) 1827 pts.
Yvonne CLARKE (Sloggers to Joggers) 1551 pts.
Karen BATES (Unattached) 1474 pts.
The following runners recorded the best Age Grade scores:
Eoin GALLAGHER (SM30-34) was graded 76.68% for the time 16:52 (first overall).
Karl MEEHAN (VM35-39) was graded 72.55% for the time 18:24 (second overall).
Matthew TOBIN (VM40-44) was graded 70.96% for the time 19:41 (third overall).
Father Collins parkrun started on 3rd October 2015, and since then 524 different runners, including participants from 33 athletics clubs, have completed 1,646 runs covering a total distance of 8,230 km, and there have been 331 new Personal Bests.
The female record is held by Annmarie WOODS who ran in a time of 00:19:04 on 2015-10-17 (event number 3).
The male record is held by Declan POWER who ran in a time of 00:16:03 on 2015-10-03 (event number 1).
The Age Grade course record is held by Matt SHIELDS who recorded a 88.68% run (18:15) on 3rd October 2015 (event number 1).
Today’s full results and a complete event history can be found on the Father Collins parkrun Results Page.
The aesthetically pleasing time of the week has to be awarded to Deirdre O’Grady who finished in 25thposition, with a very eye catching time of 25:25! Well done Deirdre! Super effort!
Well done to our lovely Maeve who completed the swim a mile challenge on Friday evening and best of luck tomorrow with your triathlon attempt tomorrow! Best wishes also to Witek, George and anyone else who is taking part in the Great Ireland 10k!
Thanks to everyone who signed up this week to run the show next week! Some of the run directors are off for a spot of tourism – Myself and Aoife (50 t-shirt) are off to Marlay and Matt, Bertie and Maeve are off to Navan!
See you all soon,
Rachel
