What an amazing weekend! We had the biggest turnout ever from the club, with at least 9 debutants among the 88 or so starters, participating in the 40th running of the Dublin marathon, which included the national championships. At time of writing we are certain of at least one age category medal, but once the smoke clears we should be confident of a few more, at least in the team categories, as the race incorporates not only the national competition, but also those of Leinster and County Dublin too, giving medal opportunities.
We all enjoyed an amazing day, which provided perfect conditions for marathon running, starting with a crisp and cool morning, necessitating an assortment of throwaway hats and gloves. There was a bit of a breeze from the west, but nothing to bother anyone and the sun came out as the day progressed. So, although the conditions were chilly, they were in fact ideal for running and indeed for spectating too.
It has to be said that Dublin presents one of the harder marathons, but as Europe’s 4th largest and with a crowd of supporters second to none, it has to be the best experience for Crusaders, and the morale of those wearing the singlets was constantly buoyed. The marathon doesn’t touch too much of the northside anymore, but with the drag up Blackhall place and through the Phoenix Park early on, this is quite a challenging part of the course. If you hit a faster pace than planned in this area you will regret it later on. Thankfully, for the most part, our runners had had it drilled into them to go steadily from the gun and this paid dividends later on, as, of the 84 finishers (unfortunately, we had two or three runners who had to pull out during the race as it unfolded), we had probably 20 or so PBs, whilst the debutants ran out of their skins and for the most part were highly satisfied with their day’s achievements.
There are too many runners listed to recount all the results, but we’ll try to identify a few. Our contingent was led across the line by first timer Brendan Murphy who had secretly targeted his superb result of 2:28 for 34th place in the field of nearly 18,000 finishers (the largest ever for the Dublin marathon). Still, it was a major achievement, given that Brendan was bothered by bruised ribs, having come off his bike on the slippery wet road on his way to the Expo on Friday. In the event, he was able to overcome his discomfort. Brendan was followed 8 seconds later by Vinnie McGuinness with a PB time of 2:28:52 for 35th place, his first time breaking 2:30 after a super run last year in Berlin to get him close. Brendan and Vinnie were 8th and 9th runners in the O/35 category and between them, with Ciaran Diviney (93rd in 2:38), may well have obtained a team medal. Ciaran himself looks to be well placed at least for a Dublin medal as he came home in 8th place in his O/45 age category. Ciaran was followed by Rob Cross (123rd in 2:42) and then by Rob Browne (132nd in a huge PB improvement in 2:43). Indeed, we had several PBs among the 20 runners who broke 3 hours. They came from Eugene McDonough, who shrugged off a cold to finish in 183rd place (PB of 2:46), Joe McDermott, who found that he had left his shorts at home and was obliged to run the whole race in his boxers (!) (placing 187th with both a PB in the half marathon and full (2:47)), Ciarain Kelly (with a 7 minutes improvement to 2:47 (196th)) and Warren Swords (200th in a PB of 2:48). Sandwiched between was Seamus MacFloinn who placed 198th in 2:48. Next across the line was Galway native, Tomas O’Dowd who recorded a PB of 2:51 for 288th place, followed by Patrick Carthy (2:52), Rory Goldsmith (PB of 2:52) TJ Bourke (with a PB of 2:54), Brian Scanlan with a PB time of 2:55 and then PBs from Maurice Kelter (2:55), Eoin Fitzpatrick (2:58) and Richard Phelan (2:58). Seamus Moore surprised himself with a 2:59 finish, a course PB for him, which was amazing, given that the night before he had been in two minds whether to start because of a really sore Achilles that had been plaguing him for a few weeks. Next across the line was the first of our female runners, who was participating in a marathon for the first time. Catherine Thornton ran the perfect race with a 1:29:59 first half and finishing in a sub-3 hour time (2:59) on her first attempt, enjoying nearly every minute of the experience. Catherine took a few decent scalps in the process and was 53rd female finisher. Adam Flanagan was the next runner home (3:00), experiencing a collapsing knee during the race but at least managed to finish, and he was followed by Dominick Branigan (3:00) who is improving daily and by James Cottle who enjoyed the satisfaction of taking at least two of his age category competitors in the last 3 miles (the last almost within sight of the finish line), to place possibly 2nd (but at least 3rd) overall in his O/60 age category, with the likelihood of silver medals in the National and Leinster championships and gold in Dublin. James ran his 3rd fastest marathon, of the 51 he has now run, in a time of 3:04, just in front of Patrick Needham who recorded the same chiptime and who has recovered from his recent broken arm. We had at least 44 Sub-3:30 runners, which is incredible. They included Marty James (having run Berlin) (3:07), Thomas Clarke (3:09), who had a slight back injury to manage throughout the race, Karl Walsh (3:12), Graham Crowley, in his first marathon and picking up briefly a concern with his hip, which thankfully lasted only a few minutes around Milltown (3:12), Aine Kenny, also with a PB of 3:12 and 107th female finisher, Michael Fitzsimons, who encountered difficulties but still recorded a PB of 3:14, Donatas Jocius (3:17), Kevin Lambe, another runner to experience mid-race difficulties but still came home with a PB of 3:17, Cormac McGuire (with a PB of 3:17) and debutants Andy O’Sullivan (3:19) and Grainne Regan (3:20 and 188th female). Indeed, it is possible that Catherine, Aine and Grainne may have picked up a local senior medal. If not, then with the help of Triona Quill (with a PB of 3:26 and 244th female), there may be some spoils for the 3 person masters team which would include Aine and Grainne. Others to finish inside 3:30 included Dave Carter (3:20), Pat Quill (3:23) who needed, and obtained, a reasonable time to qualify for the South African Comrades marathon next year, first timer Paul McNamara (3:24), who also had more than his fair share of difficulties in the race, John Lohan (with a PB of 3:24), newcomer Emilio Sanchez (3:26), Victor Fairbrother (3:26), Mark Swan (with a PB of 3:28) and Andrew Kinneen (3:28), coming off a recent injury. 80% of our runners completed the event in under 4 hours and some of the notable results included PB performances from Mircea Ionita (3:30) after his recent run in Berlin, debutant Paul F. Kelly (3:31), Liz Nixon (3:36), Maria del Carmen Jimenez Campos (3:38), Vincent Murphy (3:39), debutant Isabelle Cairns (3:39) who found the last couple of miles quite tough, but it’s a tribute to her determination that she finished, after having been on course for 3:30 until quite late on, debutant Luke Haran (3:43), Miriam Logan (3:49), Susie Keeling (3:48), debutant Paula Bradshaw (3:50) and Joanne Carey, celebrating her 39th birthday having been born during the first marathon in 1980 (3:54). Finally, there were also PBs for Maria Esteban (4:04), Donna Barry (who ran the marathon having suffered the bereavement of her father on the day before and showed great strength to run in tribute to him on the day and improved on her previous best by 23 minutes) (4:17), debutants Gillian McDarby (4:26) and Cliodhna O’Reilly (4:31) and lastly, Mari Hansen (4:51).
The day before, several members of the club travelled down to the Gowran demesne in Co. Kilkenny to take part in the Leinster Novice XC races. On a tough, hilly course that had also experienced a decent soaking from Friday’s heavy rain and was, therefore, substantially muddy in places, we fielded both men’s a women’s teams. The standard of the competition was extremely high and we did not make the podium in either event this year. One of our number, however, Shane Collins, did come home with a medal, being part of the silver-winning Co. Dublin team. The men’s team otherwise placed 6th, whilst the women placed 8th. Results were as follows: The women’s field for the 4k race measured 73 runners, and our 9-strong team was led home in 27th place by Rachael Yorke who took a few notable scalps, followed by Maura Mahony in 34th. Next came newcomer Aine Crotty (41st), followed by Maria Kennedy (45th), Sarah Lyons (50th), Lisa Shine (53rd), Esther Requena Ferri (56th), Fiona Shine (65th) and Anna Shine (66th). We fielded a team of 7 for the men’s 6k event, which featured 100 athletes. Shane was first across the line for us in 11th place, followed by Brian Hyland (35th), Paul Reidy (42nd), Jason Kehoe (48th), Garret Dunne (54th), Cristian Vilchez Ceballos (62nd) and Eddie Nugent (87th).
Saturday morning’s parkruns were not as well attended as usual, for obvious reasons, as many of those who might otherwise have run would have been resting before the marathon. We had one first finisher in Adrienne Jordan who came across the line ahead of the entire field in Porterstown in a time of 19:08. Adrienne was followed by Amy McGuinness (6th and 3rd in 21:12) and Kevin Lynch who tailwalked. Kate Murray placed 24th and 2nd in 24:33 in Cabinteely, followed by Paul F. Kelly (77th in 28:30), Olwyn Dunne (82nd and 29th in 28:56), in a milestone event for her, and Mairin Shine (103rd and 44th in 30:40). Michael Wycherley ran in Medina on the Isle of Wight where, in a field of 256, he placed 2nd in 18:49. Dee Lawlor also placed 2nd in Shanganagh where he ran 17:18, whilst John Fahy similarly placed 2nd in Brickfields in a time of 18:40. Cormac McGuire was our sole runner in Tolka valley where he placed 14th in 24:57, whilst Ronan Moynihan placed 10th in 18:27 in Malahide. Colm Foley took 25th place in Griffeen Park in 23:22, whilst in Paradise Point in Queensland, Kris Ryan placed 54th and 5th in 23:20 in a field of 280. Also, in Australia, Barry O’Neill ran in Shellharbour in New South Wales in a field of 278, placing 53rd in 26:19. In Poppintree, Maria Pertl took 74th and 18th places in 28:04, whilst Aoife Kelly finished in 351st and 143rd in St Anne’s in 31:17. Lastly, we had only 6 runners in Poolbeg. They were led home by Fiona Bane (35th and 9th in 22:58). Fiona was followed by Aitor Arribas Velasco (37th in 23:51), Ava Rose Clarke (70th and 15th in 27:00), Maureen McGinley (76th and 21st in 27:53), Kate Healy (84th and 27th in 30:04) and Mari Hansen tailwalking.
KBC Dublin Marathon (National Championships) (17937)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Othmane El Goumri 1 02:08:06 (CR)
30 Motu Gedefa 1 02:27:48
Crusaders AC runners
34 Brendan Murphy 02:28:43 (PB)
35 Vinnie McGuinness 02:28:52 (PB)
93 Ciaran Diviney 02:38:27
123 Rob Cross 02:42:46
132 Rob Browne 02:43:16 (PB)
183 Eugene McDonough 02:46:42 (PB)
187 Joe McDermott 02:47:24 (PB)
196 Ciarain Kelly 02:47:45 (PB)
198 Seamus MacFloinn 02:47:36
200 Warren Swords 02:48:11 (PB)
288 Tomas O’Dowd 02:51:56 (PB)
297 Patrick Carthy 02:52:25
301 Rory Goldsmith 02:52:25 (PB)
382 TJ Bourke 02:54:39 (PB)
404 Brian Scanlan 02:55:27 (PB)
405 Maurice Kelter 02:55:39 (PB)
585 Eoin Fitzpatrick 02:58:16 (PB)
609 Richard Phelan 02:58:18 (PB)
673 Seamus Moore 02:59:20
691 Catherine Thornton 02:59:37 (PB) (53)
714 Adam Flanagan 03:00:00
731 Dominick Branigan 03:00:27
814 James Cottle 03:04:05
818 Patrick Needham 03:04:05 (PB)
953 Marty James 03:07:08
1122 Thomas Clarke 03:09:42
1260 Karl Walsh 03:12:01
1286 Graham Crowley 03:12:43 (PB)
1293 Aine Kenny 03:12:19 (PB) (107)
1398 Michael Fitzsimons 03:14:20 (PB)
1607 Donatas Jocius 03:17:29
1615 Kevin Lambe 03:17:44 (PB)
1691 Cormac McGuire 03:17:56 (PB)
1818 Andy O’Sullivan 03:19:01 (PB)
1958 Grainne Regan 03:20:59 (PB) (188)
1967 Dave Carter 03:20:50
2131 Pat Quill 03:23:21
2208 Paul McNamara 03:24:30 (PB)
2344 John Lohan 03:24:24 (PB)
2397 Emilio Sanchez 03:26:15
2436 Victor Fairbrother 03:26:29
2439 Triona Quill 03:26:33 (PB) (244)
2568 Mark Swan 03:28:31 (PB)
2895 Andrew Kinneen 03:28:50
2967 Mircea Ionita 03:30:44 (PB)
3037 Christophe Marsan 03:30:53
3076 Will Stafford 03:31:30
3154 Phelim Murray 03:32:50
3166 Paul F. Kelly 03:31:53 (PB)
3687 Liz Nixon 03:36:52 (PB) (473)
3733 Maria del Carmen Jimenez Campos 03:38:15 (PB) (483)
3761 Ana Garcia 03:38:30 (?)
3823 Dee Ni Chearbhaill 03:37:28 (509)
3891 Vincent Murphy 03:39:34 (PB)
3968 Robbie Moore 03:39:32
4057 Damien Fitzgibbon 03:39:44
4067 Isabelle Cairns 03:39:59 (PB) (564)
4068 Billy Kelly 03:39:08
4451 Mary Fitzsimons 03:44:13 (648)
4479 Luke Haran 03:43:34 (PB)
4843 Dave Tuohy 03:47:08
5351 Miriam Logan 03:49:51 (PB) (878)
5397 Paul Campbell 03:49:12 PACER
5542 Susie Keeling 03:48:47 (PB) (938)
5743 Paula Bradshaw 03:50:12 (PB) (1006)
6071 Joanne Carey 03:54:55 (PB) (1104)
6878 Aifric O’Sullivan 03:58:19 (1347)
6972 Olwyn Dunne 03:59:28 (1371) PACER
7831 Maria Esteban 04:04:25 (PB) (1659)
7998 Carina Davidson 04:03:26 (1725)
8070 Colin Maguire 04:05:23
8570 Liam O’Brien 04:10:05
9272 Russell Murphy 04:12:49
9388 Gerard White 04:15:33
9662 Tara Murphy 04:17:08 (2389)
10065 Donna Barry 04:17:49 (PB) (2561)
10541 Mary Dolan 04:23:43 (2750)
11282 Gillian McDarby 04:26:20 (PB) (3094)
11334 Fin Lawler 04:28:12
11878 Mairead Cashman 04:32:38 (3396)
11936 Cliodhna O’Reilly 04:31:39 (PB) (3421)
13339 Lucy Collender 04:43:48 (4144)
13523 Michelle Geoghegan 04:45:31 (4234)
13905 Eimear Deegan 04:52:25 (4436)
14008 Mari Hansen 04:51:54 (PB) (4496)
Full results here: https://www.tdleventservices.co.uk/event-results/events
Leinster Novices Women’s 4k (73)
Overall place Name Guntime
1 Claire Fagan 00:15:15
Crusaders AC runners
27 Rachael Yorke 00:17:20
34 Maura Mahony 00:17:32
41 Aine Crotty 00:18:12
45 Maria Kennedy 00:18:21
50 Sarah Lyons 00:18:28
53 Lisa Shine 00:18:39
56 Esther Requena Ferri 00:18:59
65 Fiona Shine 00:20:26
66 Anna Shine 00:20:30
Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/leinster_cross_country_novice_gowran/3521/results
Leinster Novices Men’s 6k (100)
Overall place Name Guntime
1 Joseph Hastings 00:20:31
Crusaders AC runners
11 Shane Collins 00:21:10
35 Brian Hyland 00:22:12
42 Paul Reidy 00:22:23
48 Jason Kehoe 00:22:32
54 Garret Dunne 00:22:48
62 Cristian Vilchez Ceballos 00:22:59
87 Eddie Nugent 00:24:27
Full results here: https://www.myrunresults.com/events/leinster_cross_country_novice_gowran/3521/results
Malahide Parkrun #364 (308)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Daire Bermingham 1 00:16:18
4 Annette Kealy 1 00:17:42
Crusaders AC runner
10 Ronan Moynihan 00:18:27
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/malahide/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=364
Griffeen Parkrun #333 (153)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Eamon Ryan 1 00:18:39
2 Sarah McMahon 1 00:18:44
Crusaders AC runner
25 Colm Foley 00:23:22
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/griffeen/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=333
Cabinteely Parkrun #237 (144)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Oisin Murray 1 00:18:56
21 Sarah Flaherty 1 00:24:10
Crusaders AC runners
24 Kate Murray 00:24:33 (2)
77 Paul F. Kelly 00:28:30
82 Olwyn Dunne 00:28:56 (29)
103 Mairin Shine 00:30:40 (44)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/cabinteely/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=237
Marlay Parkrun #325 (407)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 unknown 1 00:16:04
6 Amy Moran 1 00:18:55
Crusaders AC runner
87 Darina Scully 00:23:41 (11)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/marlay/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=325
Poolbeg Parkrun #114 (109)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Sadanand Magee 1 00:18:02
4 Rose Penfold 1 00:19:24
Crusaders AC runners
35 Fiona Bane 00:22:58 (9)
37 Aitor Arribas Velasco 00:23:51
70 Ava Rose Clarke 00:27:00 (15)
76 Maureen McGinley 00:27:53 (21)
84 Kate Healy 00:30:04 (27)
108 Mari Hansen 00:48:29 (43)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/poolbeg/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=114
St. Annes Parkrun #305 (105)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 David Rooney 1 00:16:47
21 Honor Lynch 1 0:20:18
Crusaders AC runner
351 Aoife Kelly 00:31:17 (143)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/stannes/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=305
Poppintree Parkrun #258 (124)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 unknown 1 00:16:56
7 Eimear Wiseman 1 00:19:02
Crusaders AC runner
74 Maria Pertl 00:28:04 (18)
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/poppintree/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=258
Shanganagh Parkrun #236 (144)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Darren Cullen 1 00:17:08
13 Christine Parsons 1 00:21:14
Crusaders AC runner
2 Dee Lawlor 00:17:18
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/shanganagh/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=236
Brickfields Parkrun #93 (60)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Wesley Harrison 1 00:18:07
5 Georgina Milburn 1 00:22:22
Crusaders AC runner
2 John Fahy 00:18:40
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/brickfields/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=93
Tolka Valley Parkrun #88 (46)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 unknown 1 00:20:09
2 Celine Gavin 1 00:20:12
Crusaders AC runner
14 Cormac McGuire 00:24:57
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/tolkavalley/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=88
Porterstown Parkrun #211 (121)
Overall place Name Cat. Place Chiptime
1 Adrienne Jordan 1 00:19:08
2 Jason Harte 1 00:20:22
Crusaders AC runners
1 Adrienne Jordan 00:19:08
6 Amy McGuinness 00:21:12 (3)
117 Kevin Flynn 00:48:03
Full results here: http://www.parkrun.ie/porterstown/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=210
