We report from two very different halves: a very fast and very flat course in the Netherlands and the always popular Wicklow Way Half which took place in windy conditions over slippery boardwalks….
Den Haag Half-marathon
PBs were the order of the day on the street of Den Haag where Richard Costelloe lowered his time from 1:22:29 (ran in 2023) to 1:21:22 – narrowly missing out on breaking Angus Tyner’s 1:20:52 M45 club record. It was the fourth fastest half-marathon run for our club and makes Richard the fifth fastest half-marathoner currently a member of the club. Richard set a new 10 mile PB on the way! The men’s race was won in a new Dutch record set by Somali-Dutch runner Abdi Nageeye.
The other half of the household – Catherine Devitt – finished in 1:28:28 and 10th in the F40 category and 77th in a very large and competitive women’s field won by Kenya’s Susan Chembai. In all 13565 runner competed on the street of Den Haag.
| RESULT |
| 1. Abdi Nageeye (NN Running Team) 1:00:21 |
| ——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————- |
| 409. Richard Costelloe 1:21:22 (PB) |
| 1110. Catherine Devitt 1:28:38 |
WICKLOW WAY HALF
Paul Duffy was our first runner home, he was within the top-10 at the turn in Crone but this aggressive start meant he had to concede a good few spots on the way back. Nearest club man was Torben Dahl – 7 minutes and thirteen spots back in 40th but still 5 minutes faster than his 2023 showing. Aoife Joyce and Alan Kennedy arrived next in 2:26 and 2:26.04 with Aoife improving her 2023 time by 10 minutes and both taking category placements (Aoife 2nd F45 after overall women’s winner Sarah Flanagan and Alan winning the M55 category) with a good 70 seconds to spare on next challenger Anthony Gillen.
Paul Smith had his debut run for our club and came in next in a sold 2.5 hours and 87th spot and then it was regulars Ben Lewis and Colm Kenna and Eoin Phelan in a seven minutes window. Siobhan Brennan was next in 2:45 finishing 3rd in the F50 category and our participation was capped off with James Heggie in 204th.
| RESULT |
| 1. Barry McEvoy () 1:36:54 |
| ——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————- |
| 27. Paul Duffy 2:08:42 |
| 40. Torben Dahl 2:15:25 |
| 69. Aoife Joyce 2:26:00 (2nd F45) |
| 70. Alan Kennedy 2:26:04 (1st M55) |
| 87. Paul Smith 2:30:47 |
| 104. Ben Lewis 2:35:48 |
| 110. Colm Kenna 2:38:00 |
| 116. Eoin Phelan 2:42:52 |
| 124. Siobhan Brennan 2:45:17 (3rd F50) |
| 204. James Heggie 3:26:13 |
VICARSTOWN PARKRUN
Angus Tyner continued his good form in ParkRuns running a solid 19:26 in Vicarstown to finish 2nd and 1st M55 as a bit of warmup for his Sunday orienteering on Brockagh.
| RESULT |
| 1. Kristian Redmond () 0:18:14 |
| ——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————- |
| 2. Angus Tyner 0:19:26 (1st M55) |
Glendalough AC 