Both Ivan Mahon and Rich Costelloe tackled the challenging course of the IMRA Ballinastoe race on Wednesday July 31st. One of the tougher routes in the IMRA calendar, this is the longest in the Leinster League (12k) and just under 500m of climbing.
Aside from the distance and climbs this was also a quite technical course – traversing gravel fire roads, long steep single tracks, a short section on the Wicklow Way, mucky bog-trotting , stream-jumping, midge-biting, fallen-tree ducking, dark forest tracks and some mountain bike trails.
Ivan had a strong race, finishing in 1:09:03 and 53rd place.
This was Rich’s fifth race in July and after recent successes on the flat roads he left the racing legs at home for this one, finishing in 63rd place with a time of 1:11:29.
We missed a few results in our round-up from yesterday. We stated (wrongly) that our runners did the South Dublin 10k this weekend but it was in fact the weekend prior. This weekend Donna Quinn was in action in Monaghan running the Blaney 10 mile and finishing 1st F35 in 71 minutes – her third best mark over the distance.
Richard Costelloe bagged himself a second 10k PB within a week at the Malahide Castle 10k, finishing in 14th place and lowering his time by 19 seconds to 41:31.
First in action this week was Colm Kenna – doing his warm-up for the Frank Duffy 10 km
4 days later on the slopes of Brockagh. Newcastle AC’s Luke McMullan’s win
meant Northern honours prevailed on the race. Colm came home in 72:13 for 103rd
place in a mid-size field of 162.
A ‘hang-over’
from last weeks result must also be mentioned as Torben Dahl took on the
technical route up and down Djouce – dubbed the ‘Ayling’ Abyss after inventor
Alan Ayling. Perhaps still feeling the Tucker Trail 80k in his legs Torben swooped
across the finish line in 27th – a bit down on his usual placings in
the league. The next day he could celebrate his 41st birthday –
congratulations from everyone in Glendalough AC!
RESULTS
Barry Cronin 52:40
————GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
27. Torben
Dahl 63:55
South Dublin 10k
Yesterday’s big Saturday fixture is the South Dublin 10k – part of the Dublin race series – where Richard Costelloe, Colm and William Belton were in action. Richard had a particularly good run setting a new PB of 41:50.
RESULTS
Paul Pollock, Annadelle Striders 29:28
————GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
259. Richard Costelloe 41:50 (PB)
696. Colm Kenna 47:46
840. William Belton 49:24
With three club runners in action, this race becomes an automatic counter in the club championship. Richard’s win here means he now leads the championship as although Torben Dahl and Barry O’Neill can still overtake him if they ‘win’ their ‘run in hand’.
NeverGiveUp 10k
Aoife Joyce capped off the weekend action in Inch at the NeverGiveUp 10k, her first race on the distance for nearly 6 years. Her time of 46:06 sufficed in securing third lady’s spot and 2nd F40.
Torben Dahl has well and truly shrugged off the knee injury
dogging him in the weeks leading into the Wicklow Road Championship. After
completing the Glendalough Tucker Trail in 6th place over the
weekend, he opted for a race on Tibradden Wednesday as his recovery run and
still had enough in the tank to finish 16th.
While our seven representatives at the Wicklow Road Championship this year was our smallest contingent yet, they still brought home two individual and two team medals.
Rachel Wisdom and Donna Quinn took 1st and 2nd in the ladies O35 category and combined with Aoife Joyce, back for her first race in 4 years, to take the team gold in the women’s masters o35-49 category.
Due to injury and late drop-offs we only fielded one men’s team: a masters team and not a senior team as well as in previous years. Here Torben Dahl was first home in 17:52 followed by Barry O’Neill and Richard Costelloe who arrived close together and Colm Kenna as the fourth man to count.
Also a big thank you to the organisers and to our own volunteers who stepped up: Yvonne Brennan and Angus Tyner.
RESULTS
Brian Geraghty 15:53 , Greystones and District
———————–GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS—————
21. Torben Dahl 17:52 (team Bronze 35-49)
41. Barry O’Neill 18:50 (team Bronze 35-49)
42. Richard Costelloe 18:54 (team Bronze 35-49)
50. Rachel Wisdom 20:17 (Individual Gold 35-49, Team Gold 35-49)
65. Donna Quinn 21:03 (Individual Silver 35-49, Team Gold 35-49)
Barry O’Neill and Colm Kenna took to the wet windswept flanks of Scarr yesterday for the latest instalment of the IMRA Leinster League. Barry O’Neill swept home in 22nd place – his best finish in the IMRA Leinster League confirming his improved hill form this year.
Colm Kenna was also in action once again and finished 114th.
Only one runner in action this week but he upped the weekly mileage run by club runners by completing the 127 km Wicklow Way Race in 29th position. Of the 80 so runners who took the start line, 53 completed.
It was a notable day on the Wicklow Way with both the ladies and the men’s records being lowered to 16:06 and 12:11 respectively by Aoife Mundow and UK international Robbie Britton.
Torben Dahl ran 79:13 at the scenic and fast Lough Boora half-marathon in Offaly on 7th April. He cleverly kept this hidden perhaps to modestly draw attention away from this being a season’s best time for the club (across all distances) and the 4th best time ever run in the club jersey. Torben holds the current club record of 78:33 but his new mark is an over-40ies record for us (his PB is 77:30 set in 2011).
Sean Hehir – Irish international and fresh off his 2:17 marathon in London – took the time to answer three questions for us after participating, and breaking the record of, our half-marathon fund-raiser ‘Glen to Glen’ (run in conjunction with the Lap of the Gap Marathon). Congratulations to Sean on the new mark of 72:21 – the quest for sub-70 has begun!
Sean Hehir on the descent from Glenmacnass Waterfall
How did you hear about the Lap of the Gap Marathon and Glen to Glen Half and what attracted you to doing the event?
I
love to race regularly. The weeks immediately after the target marathon in the
spring and autumn provide a great opportunity for competing in races I haven’t
done before in new and different places, enabling maintaining fitness and
conditioning before recommencing full training. In the last 2 weeks I entered
the IMRA Leinster League Bray Head run and the Wicklow Way Relay with my
Rathfarnham WSAF AC teammates. I saw the Glen to Glen Half and The Lap of the
Gap Marathon listed on the Athletics Ireland accredited fixture list and on the
MyRunResults website. When I saw the race profile featuring the climb from The
Upper Lake in Glendalough up to Glenmacnass waterfall and back I decided to
give the half marathon a go. I’m very glad I signed up and would love to come
back to try better my time or try my hand at The Lap of the Gap Marathon. The
marathon race winner’s stone trophy is beautiful and I would love to try earn
one in the future.
Your personal best for the half-marathon is 65:12 and your new record is 72:21 – do you feel the course is about 6-7 minutes slower than a regular city half-marathon or would sub-70 be achievable for yourself or a runner of similar ability in the right circumstances?
A sub 70min clocking is definitely achievable in The Glen to Glen Half. Conditions
during the early mile in Glendalough
this year were ideal (light wind and mild) which definitely helped. The first 5km are fast and flat, with a fast pace still achievable on the gradual slopes from 5km-10km. Mile splits take a hit from 10km to the turnaround point at Glenmacnass waterfall and it’s very difficult to get lost time back on the steep descents. However coming down the hill at speed in the second half of the race is a fantastic feeling and your momentum definitely carries you over the line in the closing miles. The road surface on the route is excellent and there is great support from race officials at the water stations. It would be great to see the 70 minute barrier broken in the not-so-distant future.
Which
part of the course did you enjoy most and what part did you feel played best to
your personal strengths?
My
favourite part of the route was the last uphill mile climbing towards the
turnaround point at Glenmacnass
waterfall. The scenery is stunning and although your legs are screaming as the
climb hits 20% in places, it is a strangely enjoyable experience. The opening
miles in Glendalough are also beautiful (and flat).
