No we are not talking craft beers but rather the racing action since 22nd of September which began in the US….
MAMMOTH 26 KM
John Conway ran off any lingering Dragon’s Back disappointment with a strong run in the 26 km race that was part of the Mammoth trailfest in California last event of the Golden Trail Series.
| RESULT |
| 1. Elhousine Elazzaoui () 1:49:35 |
| ——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————- |
| 132. John Conway 3:10:48 |
ECOTRAIL WICKLOW 2024
Our club’s finger and footprints were all over this year’s EcoTrail Wicklow with coach Rene Borg one of the main organisers and a large part of the crucial crew coming from our ranks. There was still time to compete as 22 of our runners took the 5 start lines (10k, 19k, 30k, 46k, and 80k) with some strong results.
We couldn’t quite defend our team title from 2023 but finished 2nd with Barra O’Duill, Paul O’Riordan and Blaise Kinsella the three scorers for the team (the 10k and 80k do not count in the tally).
10 KM
The shortest race ran last and here it was Dynafit representative and Wicklow Wolf RC representative Ross Thompson who was our lonely racer finishing 24th out of 123.
| RESULT |
| 1. Dale Gibney-Tarleton () 0:51:44 |
| ——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————- |
| 24. Ross Thompson 1:03:52 |
19 KM
It was a bit surprising perhaps that only one of our number (recent Wicklow Wolf joinees Barr O’Duill) opted for the 19 km. This made him a key cog as the scorer in the club competition for the 19 km race.
| RESULT |
| 1. Matthew McConnell () 1:26:14 |
| ——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————- |
| 74. Barra O’Duill 2:12:31 |
30 KM
Most of our runners (and our two only female representatives) had preferred the 30 km distance on the way and here Paul O’Riordan ran a stellar race to get in ahead of in-form Richard Allan. Anthony Breen suffered a nasty fall going down the Sugarloaf but recovered to finish third of our bunch. Julia Palma was our first woman home in 113th.
| RESULT |
| 1. Luke Weldon () 2:28:47 |
| ——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————- |
| 20. Paul O’Riordan 3:09:39 |
| 29. Richard Allan 3:15:23 |
| 51. Anthony Breen 3:28:37 |
| 61. Neil Fusco 3:34:31 |
| 79. Ben Lewis 3:42:05 |
| 91. Eoin Kennedy 3:46:38 |
| 113. Julia Palma 3:51:33 |
| 134. Tadgh O’Brien 3:59:31 |
| 141. Andy Walker 4:01:19 |
| 149. Loraine Creane 4:02:53 |
| 185. Gerard O’Rourke 4:15:11 |
| 189. Edson Ferreira 4:16:23 |
46 KM
Blaise Kinsella led home our 46km men in his longest race yet and was followed by Eoin Phelan getting in a very long pre-marathon run and Alan Kennedy who may have avowed the ultras but not the ‘pseudo-ultras’.
| RESULT |
| 1. Asher Cook () 3:40:40 |
| ——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————- |
| 68. Blaise Kinsella 5:39:47 |
| 94. Eoin Phelan 5:53:53 |
| 111. Alan Kennedy 6:01:58 |
80 km
Philip O’Brien and Graeme Warren both ran very well blowing well below the 10 hour barrier and finishing in the top quarter of the field. Graeme also got to take the o50 prize courtesy of the an m50 finishing on the main podium while it was another tough day at the office for James Heggie who was counted out by the time limits after 52 km at Lough Tay.
| RESULT |
| 1. Andris Ronimoiss () 6:47:25 |
| ——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————- |
| 33. Philip O’Brien 9:33:43 |
| 37. Graeme Warren 9:44:44 (1st M50) |
| 128. James Heggie DNF |
* a faster time was run in 2023 but on a different course (shorter with less climb)
BERLIN MARATHON
Meanwhile in Berlin, David Murphy and Mark Lindsay took on the fast marathon course there and finished with some strong times. David Murphy took 28 minutes off his PB for a 3:32 with Mark Lindsay not wanting to be outdone and he lowered his PB from 3:47 to 3:23 (24 minutes). Super running from the chaps who now move into 13th and 16th position on our men’s ‘all time best marathon’ performances.
| RESULT |
| 1. Milkesa Mengesha (Ethiopia) 2:03:17 |
| ——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————- |
| 10247. Mark Lindsay 3:23:17 (PB) |
| 13882. David Murphy 3:32:11 (PB) |
Beer and PBs in Berlin
GALWAY BAY HALF-MARATHON
The wind also didn’t stop Paul Duffy lowering his PB by about a minute to 1:28:25 and moving past Gavin Kennedy and Aran Lynham in our half-marathon men’s rankings. Wife Sile ran her longest run ever as she finished in 2:23.
| RESULT |
| 1. Jake O’Regan () 1:10:24 |
| ——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————- |
| 33. Paul Duffy 1:28:25 (PB) |
| 1205. Sile Keane 2:23:23 (PB) |
3/4 MARATHON
Eoin Phelan continued his racing bonanza (and Dublin marathon preparation) running 2:44:09 in the Longwood 3/4 marathon to finish 257th and top-25% of the field. He was only the third Glendalough AC runner to race at this distance and, as only the second man, bettered Colm Kenna’s official time and set the club record.
| RESULT |
| 1. William Maunsell () 1:41:15 |
| ——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————- |
| 257. Eoin Phelan 2:44:09 (PB, Club Record) |
CROSS-COUNTRY?
For the first time in our club history, we had no representatives in either the Novice or Intermediate cross-country events. Hopefully, we’ll have some results to report later in the cross season.
Glendalough AC 