Our regular Winter League hit it’s penultimate round with the traditional Clara Vale courses (5k and 9k) run in reverse – Ben Lewis, Aoife Joyce and Yvonne Brennan competed as many others were away on holidays or engaged with racing. Results to follow!
BHAA Central Bank 4 mile XC
Diarmuid Kavanagh and coach René Borg achieved the rather esoteric achievement of being the first Glendalough AC runners to attend a race organised by the Business Houses Athletics Association (BHAA). This meant that although club singlets were allowed (and worn by many), runners were first of all competing for the company or employer.
Club coach Rene battling his way into the top-3rd of the field on one of many sharp corners (light blue tshirt) Photo: Lindie Naughton
The race had hastily been organised as the newly crowned National M40 champion – Eoin Flynn of Rathfarnham WSAF. Working alongside Rene in Running Coach Ireland this was a rare chance to show off the light blue company colours for Eoin who normally resides in the Canaries. He promptly took full advantage winning the race with a safe margin after the early leader had faded on the back off a 4:50 first mile! Overall, it was a strong field where former Snowdon winner Sarah McMahon (then Mulligan) won the ladies race and notaries such as Brian McMahon (Irish hill running international on multiple occasions) down in 8th place.
Club coach Rene Borg poses with colleague and race winner Eoin Flynn in company attire (both in their first BHAA race since 2010!)
Diarmuid Kavanagh – wearing our blazing yellow – had set off hard but both he and Rene had to concede more places than they gained in the second half (with Rene eventually overtaking Diarmuid on the latter part of the 3rd of 4 laps). The course was a far cry from familiar cross-country venues in Wicklow: relatively flat around multiple rugby fields but featuring two descent into strong head-wind and a staggering 52 sharp turns!
Rene’s time of 25:36 was the third fastest 4 mile run in the club’s history and the fastest on cross-country or trail
Diarmuid Kavanagh preparing to hit the corner (yellow singlet) Photo: Lindie Naughton
Torben Dahl opened his season at Howth Winter with a very credible 32nd spot in a race where many – including a pack of the leaders – took several detours leading to some familiar names finishing further down than normal and people completing anything from the allotted 7.7k to over 11km! (some like winner Killian Mooney ‘only’ added 400 or 500m to the course).
HOWTH WINTER
Torben Dahl bombing it home at Howth
Nora Butler from Wicklow Wolf RC also competed and banked a spot in the top-100 and both her and Torben completed a ‘clean run’ of the route as intended.
With hill running getting most of the attention last weekend, it was the turn of the road racers this weekend.
Donadea 50 km
Before they got started our club record holder in the 50 km (John Conway with 4:21 – set in this race last year) had to pull out after around 2 hours running in Donadea Forest Park to shield a niggle and keep himself on track on his and Laura’s big adventure this summer: the Transalpine.
Tudor Moldovan who holds the record for our club fundraiser Glen to Glen Half-marathon was crowned national champion in his first go at 50k.
RESULT
1. Tudor Moldovan (Clonliffe Harriers) 2:59:04
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
241. John Conway DNF
Enniscorthy 10 km
Newly elected club captain Marcus Murphy led the charge at the traditional Enniscorthy 10k in Wexford where the Sli Cualann team had a very successful day winning both team events and securing 2nd place overall for men and women (through Derek Crammond and Catherine O’Connor).
Marcus Murphy in action (left) (Photo: Tony Crosbie)
Marcus came in 31st overall and broke the 40 minute barrier for the first, setting a PB in the process (his previous mark was 40:15 from 2017). It had looked tight midway with only a 6 second cushion but a strong finish bagged the result. Aoife Joyce was next as she continues her return to more regular racing. While her time was a good way off her PBs, it’s the first 10k run by someone in the F45 category for our club and stands as the mark to break.
Eoin Phelan was next taking nearly 4 minutes off his PB and cracking the 50 minute barrier.
Aoife Joyce strides home (Photo: Popupraces.ie)
RESULT
1. Isak Eriksen (Halle IF) 0:31:42
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
31. Marcus Murphy 0:39:42 (PB)
93. Aoife Joyce 0:46:16 (club F45 record)
122. Eoin Phelan 0:48:32 (PB)
Eoin Phelan celebrates his sub-50
Delft 10 KM
We saved the best to last: Two more club record followed when Richard Costelloe broke his own overall and M45 10 km record with a stunning time of 36:30 at the Delft 10k in the Netherlands – lowering his 37:08 from a few weeks ago. This also brought him to the top of the ‘all-time’ list beating the 36:30 Amidou Dembele had held since 2011.
Richard Costelloe eating up ground in Delftse Houton his way to 36:30
As a final gloss of sheen, he also finished well inside the top 10 with 6th place and likely won his category although this is not confirmed yet.
RESULT
1. Jurre Kaizers (De Koplopers) 0:33:30
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
6. Richard Costelloe 0:36:30 (PB, Club record, Club M45 record)
Some of our Wicklow Wolf RC members also competed at Howth on Saturday a race that saw a substantial part of the field go off course but results are not yet available from this event.
Only one race this weekend and it was the IMRA Leinster season-opener at Brockagh Burst. Two men in the top-20, four in the top-50, three category placings, two debutantes and a few returnees – this race had it all.
Graeme Warren checking in on the post-Art O’Neill legs (photo: Graham Bush)
BROCKAGH BURST (SL season-opener)
report by club coach Rene Borg
We had our third largest crew ever at an IMRA race (10)* at one of the most local races for us: Brockagh Burst, this year serving as the season-opener for mountain running in Leinster and the Spring League – something shown by sold out tickets and nearly 200 starters. On the side-lines we were also well-represented with Graham Bush serving as summit marshal and Barry O’Neill as deputy race director although no special shortcuts for our members we reported.
Paul Duffy, myself and Kevin Ferguson stayed close together up and around the first bend on the constantly steepening fire-road (at 1.2k). For Kevin this was his first race for our club and also his first IMRA race! In general the theme for our runners was comebacks: Derek Cullen back after injury with his first IMRA race since 2019, Graeme Warren returning to shorter racing after Art O’Neill and Paul Duffy back after nursing a peroneal injury for a month.
Also racing on the day was a good contingent of our Wicklow Wolf RC runners: Alan Kennedy, Mark Willoughby, Maria Forsyth, Elaine McKinney (one of the 2023 new-joiners) and James Heggie. It was particularly sweet for Elaine who won the F45 category!
RESULT
1. Derek Crammond (Parnell AC) 0:25:11
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
13. Paul Duffy 0:30:26 – 3rd M40
15. René Borg 0:30:33
33. Kevin Ferguson 0:31:49
46. Graeme Warren 0:33:26
51. Derek Cullen 0:33:57
67. Alan Kennedy 0:35:34 (WW RC) – 2nd M55
92. Elaine McKinney 0:38:46 (WW RC) – 1st F45
100. James Heggie 0:39:36 (WW RC)
141. Mark Willoughby 0:44:48 (WW RC)
164. Maria Forsyth 0:49:30 (WW RC)
* Our record IMRA attendance at a race was Brockagh 2017 and Scarr 2020 (11 runners in each case)
Summit ahead, bright skies behind for Alan Kennedy in his WW RC gear (photo: Graham Bush)
As fire-road gave way to the infamous grassy bank, I carved out a bit of a lead on our other runners arriving at the summit somewhere in the top-20 with two runners closely ahead. A few spots back first Kevin arrived and then Paul Duffy. At the Xmas Party, myself and Paul had featured on the Table Quiz as the ‘Rivalry of the Year’ – facing off six times in official races – with me winning the 4 hill races and Paul the two cross-country runs. This year the tables look set to turn. I was enjoying a good descent – passing out 5 runners only to lose a spot late on to the hard charging Paul who gained at least 10 spots on the descent.
Kevin Ferguson (yellow tshirt) arrives as our 2nd man to the summit on his debut
Kevin was next over the line followed by Graeme Warren and Derek Cullen in that order and then came our five Wicklow Wolf RC pack: first Alan in a great 67th spot then Elaine (11th lady), James Heggie (securing his top-100 spot!), Mark Willoughby and Maria Forsyth.
Elaine McKinney near the summit (Photo: Graham Bush)
Only two races this weekend but they ranged from The Hague in the Netherlands to the Charlie Curran in Carlow…
PUINDUINENRUN
Following up on her first place in the Zuiderparkrun last weekend, Catherine Devitt finished 2nd woman in the unique trail race ‘Puinduinrun’ described thus on their own website:
The Hague's Puinduinen, also referred to with a wink as the “Alps of The Hague”, is a recreational area that was created from a literal heap of rubble as a result of all kinds of demolition work in the fifties and sixties.
Catherine Devitt showing off the 2nd prize trophy
RESULT
1. Vincent Vergeer (Nederlandse Triathlon Bond) 0:41:14
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
30. Catherine Devitt 0:50:22 (2nd lady)
CHARLIE CURRAN MEMORIAL RUN
Meanwhile at home Eoin Phelan ensured the men’s section wasn’t entirely shaded for the weekend with a PB at the Charlie Curran Memorial over the increasingly less common 5 mile distance. It’s a distance that has only been run 4 times by Glendalough AC athletes since 2014.
None of this takes away from Eoin’s run which was the year’s 2nd PB by a club runner and where he finished nicely in the top quarter of the 400 plus field.
1. Catherine Devitt (Glendalough AC) 0:18:59 (F40 PB, Ladies Club Record, F40 Club Record)
——-
1. Catherine Devitt 0:18:59
ZOETEMEER 10 KM
Not to be outdone on the home-front, Richard tripled up on achievements on Sunday: setting a new 10 km PB of 37:08 (taking 30 seconds off his 2020 mark), establishing a new overall and M45 club record (and the fourth fastest time on our ‘all-time’ list), and finishing 2nd in the M45 category.
RESULT
1. Henk Bregman () 0:32:40
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
8. Richard Costelloe 0:37:08 (PB, M45 PB, Club Record, M45 Club Record)
Twenty-eight races have already been bagged by our runners since January 1st and seven more where in action although our line-up was missing Paul Duffy, Gavin Kennedy and Marcus Murphy – all taking precautions after recent minor injuries.
Those of our runners registered with parent club Sli Cualann donned the Navy and Orange with Diarmuid Kavanagh, Aran Lynham, Graham Bushe and Loraine sporting our regular colours while they await their transfer across to the mother ship in March.
The women were off first over the traditional 4 km distance with Donna Quinn and Loraine Creane. Running for Sli Cualann Donna registered another solid performance finishing 26th out of 90 runners and being the second Wicklow woman home for the team that finished 6th out of 10 club teams. The county was somewhat overmatched by the bigger neighbours on the day finishing 7th out of 7. Wicklow Intermediate champion Loraine Creane became the first to carry the yellow vest at a Leinster event and finished in the top half of the field.
RESULT
1. Kate Purcell (Raheny Shamrocks) 0:15:01
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
26. Donna Quinn 0:17:20 (2nd scorer Sli Cualann and Wicklow County team)
42. Loraine Creane 0:18:13
Loraine Creane (yellow singlet) leads the team out with Donna Quinn coming through a few spaces back source: James McCormack Photography
Next up where the men with a large Wicklow presence – 14 Sli Cualann athletes plus Graham Bushe running as Glendalough AC and four Bray Runners for a total of 19 Wicklow athletes out of the 135 starters (by some distance the largest field of the day).
Graham Bushe was our lead runner for the full race with coach Rene in close attendance and they crossed the line within 13 seconds of each other in 94th and 97th spot with Rene serving as the fourth counter for the Sli Cualann team that finished 9th out of 12 and also the Wicklow County team (finishing 7th out of 7 counties). the over-50 men’s team came a bit closer to glory with 4th spot. Anthony Breen was the third Glendalough AC runner (also representing SC) and kept a 20 runners behind him to finish 116th.
In the Sli Cualann team, Rene was the 7th runner out of 14 and Anthony the 12th over the 6 km.
Anthony Breen battling up ‘The Great Ride’ in Sli Cualann coluurs
RESULT
1. Peter Arthur (Liffey Valley AC) 0:20:27
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
94. Graham Bushe 0:25:46
97. René Borg 0:25:59 (fourth scorer Sli Cualann and County Wicklow team)
116. Anthony Breen 0:27:40
Finally, our ‘young men’ could tow the line for the longest ordeal of the championship: the 8 km men’s race which added two of the slightly faster 1 km loops to the two 3 km loops done by the ‘elderly gents’. Aran Lynham gave himself a bit of rebaptism of fire after a season away from running (focused on GAA with Laragh GFC) and a holiday away in Zimbabwe and in the end decided to treat it as a good solid training finishing 37th out of 37 in a smaller than expected field. Diarmuid Kavanagh’s partial conversion from cyclist to runner continues apace and he ran well to finish 31st in 34:04.
Aran Lynham, jumping straight back in the fray, after a 2022 spent largely focused on GAA with Laragh GFC
For County Wicklow the excitement was at the front where Parnell’s Derek Crammond led the race most of the way before eventually being edged by Mullingar’s Vinny Connolly. He had the silver well wrapped up, however, and with strong runs from many other Sli Cualann athletes (including two master’s athletes who stepped down to fill the void left by Joe O’Dowd’s illness, the Intermediate Men could add a Silver medal to their recent Gold from the Leinster Novice.
It’s hard to imagine two surfaces more different than the pristine boards of the Abbotstown National Arena’s indoor track and the soft grass and mud of Shanganagh Park but managing this contrast was a task that fell to a lot of Wicklow athletes (including two of our own) this weekend past as Wicklow Athletics hosted it’s 22/23 Wicklow Masters XC Championship on Sunday 8th. Less than 24 hour earlier, a busy program of indoor track events were held as part of the Wicklow Indoor Championship 23.
Marcus Murphy on route to his first cross-country club medal
WICKLOW INDOOR TRACK
This event was primarily focused on juvenile and junior athletes but some seniors and masters turned up to run in distances from 60m to 1500m as well as the throwing, putting and jumping events. Diarmuid Kavanagh made history for our club by becoming our first indoor track competitor in the 800m race. His time of 2:21.6 thus stands as the new club record and a Bronze medal in the Men’s senior race – his first for the club.
RESULT
1. Drew O’Donohue (Bray Runners) 0:02:08
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
8. Diarmuid Kavanagh 0:02:22 (3rd MS)
A few hours later, a bit more micro-history awaited as first Donna Quinn and then Diarmuid Kavanagh and club coach Rene Borg took to the start in the 1500m races. Donna was our first female indoor competitor and all three were the first runners to race over the 1500m distance in a Glendalough AC singlet.
Donna Quinn in youthful company
Donna raced well to work her way through a field of largely younger competitors and claim the Gold medal in the F40 category. Diarmuid and Rene swiftly followed suit running 5:08 and 5:11 respectively to win the MS and M40 categories both passing out a few runners as they ran steady laps around the track. For Rene this was his first indoor track race since 2010 (and the first he completed – having dropped out of his first attempt).
All three runner’s times stand as either overall club records or age category records.
RESULT
1. Finn Buck (Parnell AC) 0:04:35
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
11. Diarmuid Kavanagh 0:05:09 (1st MS, club record – overall and MS)
13. René Borg 0:05:11 (1st M40, club record – M40, M40 PB)
18. Donna Quinn 0:05:29 (1st F40, club record – women)
WICKLOW MASTER’S CROSS-COUNTRY
Traditionally, this is the most popular cross-country championship among our runners and many were glad to be back at the flat and fast course in Shanganagh for the first time since 2019. Rachel, Donna, and Aoife were first up in the 4 km ladies race. This was Rachel’s first cross-country race since 2019 and she promptly improved both her time on the same course (16 seconds) and her overall position (3rd moving up from 4th). Last time she had taken the F35 Gold which she exchanged with F40 Silver this time around. Donna Quinn – perhaps feeling the 1500m – finished 5th (like in 2019). Aoife took Bronze in the F45 and help the lady’s team to Silver behind Parnell in the teams.
John Conway and Angus Tyner in close battle
the men’s race ended up doing an extra early lap resulting in the course growing from 6 km to 6.6km – it was a tight battle for most of the race with John Conway, Angus Tyner and Rene Borg close for large portions. Angus Tyner eventually managed to mow his way past John in the last corner to follow. Graham Bushe was first man across the line and got silver in the M50 category with Marcus Murphy securing his first cross-country medal (Bronze in the O40) with a very fine run. Gavin Kennedy had to pull out with a groin strain on the final lap meaning the men’s team unfortunately didn’t rank – but 3rd place (and medals) were out of reach at that point as the team sat comfortable in a distant fourth.
Three of our runners took on the daunting challenge that is the Art O’Neill Challenge – warming up with 25 km on the streets of Dublin before taking on 35 km of rough mountain side and trails on the way to Glenmalure.
The last man to complete this for us was John Conway in 2020 and he came through with a very strong performance finishing joint 5th with Parnell’s Michael Dowling.
Behind him was Graeme Warren who was well up the field in 41st despite adding 4 km to the route late on! Ross Thompson – the Dynafit ambassador and Wicklow Wolf Run Club regular – was next in 60th position. The course claimed 34 DNFs and many more who were deemed ‘non-competitive’ for various reasons.
Ross Thompson as Art’s Cross
RESULT
1. Fabio Baltieri () 6:52:35
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
5. John Conway 7:33:36
41. Graeme Warren 10:34:34
60. Ross Thompson 12:04:59
John Conway (middle) at the finish line
In the newly minted ‘Pursuit’ (using the roughly 26-27 km road section as the route), we had another trio in action – all Wicklow Wolf Run Club recruits. Nora Butler led the team home in 42nd position followed by Mick Green and James Heggie ‘fresh’ from his Ballyhoura Winter Moonlight Challenge the week before.
RESULT
1. Kieran Campbell () / Andrew Moore 2:07:39
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
43. Nora Butler 2:53:48
61. Mick Greene 3:08:39
72. James Heggie 3:15:42
BALLYHOURA WINTER MOONLIGHT CHALLENGE
James Heggie could have been forgiven for showing a bit of fatigue as he had done over 4 hours running in the Ballyhouras only a week earlier as our only representative in another winter running event – the Moonlight Challenge in Ballyhoura.
RESULT
1. John Kinsella (Bilboa AC) 2:03:32
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
160. James Heggie 4:12:00
The racing season continues today in the Leinster Master’s and Intermediate Cross-Country in Avondale.
The 26th/27th December tends to be a busy time for racing and nine of our runners continued this tradition first at the super-traditional Streets of Wicklow 5k and then at the equally tradition-bound Djouce Remembrance Race over the Earl’s Drive course.
With 9 runners in action in the two races our club’s tally for the year stands at 380 races – only four short of the all-time record of 384 in 2017, although discounting club races we are well short with 277 this year to 336 that year).
STREETS OF WICKLOW 5K
Richard Costelloe was back for the holidays from his regular hunting grounds in Den Haag and promptly recorded the second fastest time over 5 km this season by one of our runners (beaten only by Aran Lynham’s 18:11). He was followed home by Marcus Murphy continuing a good ‘comeback season’ by taking 27 seconds off his time from earlier in the year (and running within 26 seconds of his PB from 2018).
Diarmuid Kavanagh saying he was ‘feeling the pints’ got around in 21:03 and Colm Kenna recorded his first road race since the Dublin Marathon and first since the Dublin Marathon. Aoife Joyce returned with her first road race since September (and first 5 km since last year) while Donna Quinn jogged around with daughter Lily to complete a fast year in sedate fashion.
RESULT
1. Jonas Stafford (Ashford AC) 0:15:06
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
27. Richard Costelloe 0:18:30
42. Marcus Murphy 0:18:58
71. Diarmuid Kavanagh 0:21:03
88. Colm Kenna 0:22:05
106. Aoife Joyce 0:23:22
190. Donna Quinn 0:27:20
DJOUCE REMEMBRANCE RACE (EARL’S DRIVE)
Alan Kennedy, Gavin Kennedy and David Clancy at Djouce Woods
At the Djouce Remembrance race Gavin Kennedy led a hill running contingent of three home – Alan Kennedy and David Clancy (two of our Wicklow Wolf Run Club ‘recruits’) made up the other two of three musketeers.
