Our trail runners were in action on Dutch dunes, in Clara Vale at Gaelforce and at the annual Run the Line event in Dublin whereas our road runners were kept busy at Run in the Dark or Clontarf Half-marathon. Finally, more ParkRun results from Angus Tyner….
Haagse Duinentrail
Catherine in the dunes
Catherine had another strong run in the Netherlands in the weekend of the 9th winnin the women’s race and finishing 8th overall in a race over mainly dune trails. Irishman Geraid O’Shea won the race.
RESULT
1. Geroid O’Shea () 1:50:59
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
8. Catherine Devitt 2:03:36 (1st woman)
GAELFORCE WICKLOW 10K
Brian Howard – Wicklow Wolf RC alumni -at Gaelforce Wicklow
Our runners were out on a real variety of trails the last 10 days starting with the new Gaelforce 10k in Clara Vale where Edson Ferreira made it three out of three in the Gaelforce trilogy and finished first club runners with Brian Howard and Britta Luebbert next.
RESULT
1. Paul McKenna () 0:40:04
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
55. Eoin Phelan 0:48:53
129. Edson Ferreira 0:53:32
372. Brian Howard 1:06:19
568. Britta Luebbert 1:47:51
RUN IN THE DARK 10K
Brian and Edson did take much of a break from Gaelforce before embarking on a faster 10 k – on the roads of inner city Dublin.
RESULT
1. Tommy Foley () 0:33:42
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
1221. Brian Howard 1:03:42
1242. Edson Ferreira 1:03:50
CLONTARF HALF-MARATHON
Paul O’Riordan set a brilliant new PB of 1:24 in the Clontarf Half – the second fastest half-marathon run by a club runner this year (in 38 attempts – Richard Costello is fastest with 1:21). Eoin Phelan keeps extending the record for ‘most races in a season’ hitting his 50th race with this event and with 4 more planned this year!
Eoin Phelan shows off the Clontarf bling
RESULT
1. Peter Tuohy (Naas AC) 1:13:08
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
37. Paul O’Riordan 1:24:10 (PB)
365. Eoin Phelan 1:38:45
BRICKFIELD AND FATHER COLLINS PARKRUN
Angus Tyner ran his 10th and 11th 5 km (all ParkRuns) of the year at Father Collins and then Brickfield. His time has been coming steadily down through the season peaking wiht 18:49 and a category win at Father Collins before a slightly slower 19:46 at Brickfield.
FATHER COLLINS
RESULT
1. Shaun Conaghan () 0:18:43
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
2. Angus Tyner 0:18:49 (1st M55)
BRICKFIELD
RESULT
1. Ciarán Ó MEACHAIR () 0:19:07
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
4. Angus Tyner 0:19:46 (1st M55)
RUN THE LINE (13K AND 25K)
Eoin O’Neill at Run the Line
We had eleven runners in this year’s Run the Line with Aoife O’Brien not only first club runner home but also taking second place in the women’s race. Eoin O’Neill was next followed by Kevin Doherty who had a solid pacer in newly crowned club champion Paul Duffy. Rebecca Whineray was next with Nora – in post marathon mode – next and Gerard O’Rourke rounding out the field.
Our full report on the Dublin City Marathon for 2024 which hosted the first Wicklow Marathon Championship where we came away with three individual and three team medals. We had a record entry of 28 with 26 making the starting line (all finished). Grace Curham lowered Claire Thompson’s long-standing Female senior club marathon record to 3:27 with Christine Sweeney setting the new mark for F50 (3:48) and
Grace’s time was also the third fastest ever run by a female membeR of the club.
Angus sets the new m55 club record
DUBLIN MARATHON / WICKLOW MARATHON CHAMPS
In the Wicklow Championship we secured six medals (three individual and three teams) winning the o50 team with Angus Tyner, Ross Thompson and Liam Sweeney and Angus taking individual Silver. the women’s team led home by Grace Curham (Silver in the F35 category) , Nora Butler (2nd in the F40 category) and Christine Sweeney took team silver as well.
Louis Byrne is our first man home
Below is not a complete list of PBs as we could not gather full confirmation of who ran PBs and who didn’t but we had at least 11 PBs and likely quite a few more.
11721. Ross Thompson 4:25:20 (Individual Silver, Team Silver)
11890. Liam Sweeney 4:26:38
12334. Mark Willoughby 4:27:35
14051. Tom Kilbride 4:46:48
16450. James Heggie 5:32:59
SHANGANAGH, father collin’s and AVONDALE PARKRUNS
One week post marathon Angus Tyner was at it again running his fastest 5 km of the year at the Shanganagh ParkRun and he improved that further this weekend at Father Collins (a slight net downhill course – about 1.2% faster than flat) with 18:49 (his second best time as an M55).
Marcus Murphy and Claire Thompson went to Avondale for the ParkRun and Marcus clinched 3rd place in 20:20
Shanganagh (2/11)
RESULT
1. Eamonn Staunton () 0:17:13
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
9. Angus Tyner 0:19:23
Father Collins (9/11)
RESULT
1. Shaun Conaghan () 0:18:43
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
2. Angus Tyner 0:18:49 (1st M55)
Avondale (9/11)
RESULT
1. Mick Byrne (Parnell AC) 0:19:30
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
3. Marcus Murphy 0:20:32 (3rd M40)
19. Claire Thompson 0:24:40
GAELFORCE HOWTH 10K AND GAELFORCE CLARA VALE
We missed a result from mid-October where Edson Ferreira competed at the Gaelforce 10k at Howth (report of this weekend’s Gaelforce Clara Vale to follow next week).
Twenty-three of our runners competed at EcoTrail Wickow this year where the team were hoping to defend their team win from 2023. While this fell short (we finished 2nd) there were plenty of good results to report on. In between we have a host of road race results including a new women’s 5 km club record before we finish with recent results from the Glendalough Trail and Wicklow Way Race off-road events.
Graham Bush (photo: Rob Tobin)
WICKLOW WAY RACE & NAV CHALLENGE 3
Graham Bush warmed up for his Wicklow Way Race by finishing 4th on the short course of IMRA’s last Nav Challenge of the year and five days later he was ready to go with a stellar 11th spot in 16:47.
RESULT– NAV CHALLENGE 3
1. John Bell () 1:31:00
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
4. Graham Bushe 1:47:00 (3rd M55)
RESULT – WICKLOW WAY RACE
1. Keith Lane () 13:24:24
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
11. Graham Bushe 16:47:44 (1st M55)
ZUIDERPARKRUN
In the Netherlands Catherine Devitt lowered her own PB from earlier this year by 7 seconds to run 18:32 breaking her own women’s club record as well. It was a tough field as despite this Catherine was only 2nd woman!
RESULT
1. Tom Reep () 0:16:20
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
7. Catherine Devitt 0:18:32 (2nd F40, PB, Club Record)
FIGHTING BLINDNESS 15 KM
Eoin Phelan clocked his 47th race of the season at Fighting Blindness – on a course lengthened to 16.4 km this year due to NPWS works on the Spinc.
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
Ben Lewis
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
Eoin Kennedy raising the first at Great Sugarloaf
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
Loraine Creane
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
Graeme Warren
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
Mark Lindsay in Berlin
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.
A bumper report follows from the World Mountain Masters Running Championship in Canfranc, the Dingle Half and Full marathon, the ‘2x Lakes’ races in Wicklow (Lakers 10k in Roundwood and The Lakes 10k in Blessington) spiced up with action from Ratoath, IMRA, and more! We have four medals, one podium and three PBs in today’s report….
we will start with the World Master’s and work our way back to some older results…
WORLD MASTERS MOUNTAIN RUNNING CHAMPIONSHIP
We had runners competing in all three of the races at the World Masters Mountain Running Championship in Canfranc that began with an uphill 6.5 km race on Friday.
UPHILL 6.5 K
Glendalough arrives in Canfranc….
Recent joinees Becky Quinn and Joe Lalor opened their World Master’s event at the Uphill with Becky securing an impressive Bronze medal in the women’s F50 category. Graham Bush was second home from the club and began his quest for three races in three days…
aforementioned Graham Bush made it two races out of two and it looked briefly like he and the Irish M55 team had secured a Bronze medal but a disqualification for Vasiliy Neumerzhitskiy (for discarding his jacket before the finish) meant the Irish teams was bumped out of the medals! Becky Quinn unfortunately had to pull out after the first checkpoint.
RESULT
1. Thomas Roach (UK M40 Team) 3:06:30
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
135. Graham Bushe 4:35:56
UP/DOWN CLASSIC 17K
On the final day it was time for Paul Duffy and Kevin Doherty to join the fray and for Joe Lalor to have his second outing. Paul Duffy was our first man home and second scorer for the Irish M40 team that secured team Silver ahead of the Italians. As a funny anecdote three men from Baldoyle had an involvement – Ian Conroy (first man home), Paul, and Kevin Doherty (who just missed out on scoring – coming in fourth Irishman).
Joe Lalor was third scorer for the Irish M70 team who won gold and got their turn on the top part of the podium for the national anthem.
This put a fine finish to a successful championship yielding one individual and three team medals (one gold, one silver, two bronze).
RESULT
1. Andrew Douglas (UK M35 Team) 1:22:56
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
148. Paul Duffy 1:59:36 (Team Silver)
186. Graham Bushe 2:05:01 (Team Bronze)
225. Kevin Doherty 2:12:17
353. Joe Lalor 2:35:45 (Team Gold)
Joe Lalor (right)
DINGLe MARATHON
Aoife O’Brien raced along three other members including partner Aidan Redmond and secured and impressive podium on the tough marathon course in Dingle.
RESULT
1. Ian Vanderven () 2:44:08
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
51. Aoife O’Brien 3:36:09 (3rd woman) – WW RC
51. Aidan Redmond 3:54:54 – WW RC
286. Edson Ferreira 4:25:39 – WW RC
330. Niall MacCarthy 4:35:05 – WW RC
RATOATH HALF-MARATHON
Eoin Phelan clocked another race and another PB lowering his half-marathon best to 1:35.
RESULT
1. Peter Somba (Ratoath AC) 1:10:05
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
382. Eoin Phelan 1:35:41 (PB) – WW RC
DRAGON’S BACK WALES
John Conway was on another adventure with wife Laura and friend from Parnell: Michael Dowling taking on the 6-day Dragon’s Back stage race event over some of the roughest terrain Wales’ has to offer. In the end Michael Dowling was the only finisher of the trio with Laura succumbing to injury and John having to throw in the towel after stomach issues after 3 days and just over 33 hours of running.
MEDIC HALF-MARATHON
Kevin Ferguson knocked 56 seconds off his PB to run 1:34:22 for the half-marathon at the Medic Half-marathon with wife Niamh knocking nearly 27 minutes off her own best.
RESULT
1. Kacper Czerpak () 1:16:13
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
20. Kevin Ferguson 1:34:22 (PB)
NAV CHALLENGE 1 – BARRAVORE
Locally, Chris Willoughby tried his hands at the navigation challenge finishing 18th.
RESULT
1. John Bell (Sli Cualann AC) 2:26:00
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
18. Chris willoughby 4:18:00 (WW RC)
CARLINGFORD FOX’S ROCK
Angus Tyner and Graham Bush went head to head at the northern Leinster Championship counter in Carlingford and Angus used his navigational skills to get himself home first in a fine 5th overall with Graham Bush two spots behind. despite the lofty finishes Bernard Fortune took the M55 with Angus and Graham 2nd and 3rd.
RESULT
1. Brian Furey (Brother’s Pearse AC) 1:47:16
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
5. Angus Tyner 1:58:45
7. Graham Bushe 2:08:30
THE LAKES 10 KM
The trio of Aoife, Colm and Donna travelled to Blessington to attend the always worthwhile Lakes 10k. While there were no PBs, Donna secured 2nd F40 with Aoife improving on last year’s time.
RESULT
1. Colm Turner (Brothers Pearse AC) 0:33:12
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
20. Donna Quinn 0:42:16 (2nd F40)
40. Aoife Joyce 0:46:37
80. Colm Kenna 0:51:04
ROUNDWOOD ‘RUN FOR LAKERS’ 10 KM
Same day, same distance and nearly the same name – a runner could be forgiven if they turned up on the trails of Roundwood instead of the roads of Blessington but thankfully our only representative – Nora Butler was where she was meant to be and finished well up in 34th out over over 300 starters in a great time of 45:50.
RESULT
1. Charlie White () 0:35:17
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
34. Nora Butler 0:45:50 (WW RC)
ZUIDERPARKRUN 5 KM
Meanwhile in Holland Richard Costelloe ran his second fastest 5 km of the season finishing 2nd in the Zuiderparkrun.
With the Off-Road County Championship done and dusted and many club runners looking towards Dublin Marathon, a post-season feel has fallen over mountains and trails and so it began with the traditional Leinster League ‘outro’ of the Mountain Meitheal Handicap Race and the Mountain Rescue Benefit Run on Paddock Hill.
This week’s report ends on a triple header from yesterday….
Colm Kenna blending in with the Heather
Mountain Meitheal Handicap
Angus Tyner took the win in the handicapped race up at Lough Tay and he set the 21st fastest actual time in the process with Graham Bush running well (7th fastest) and Loraine Creane (2nd fastest woman) not able to overcome their handicaps – finishing well down the handicapped ranking.
RESULT (actual ranking – not handicapped(
1. Daire Finn () 0:37:20
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
7. Graham Bushe 0:45:56 (1st M55)
21. Angus Tyner 0:49:50 (winner on handicap)
49. Loraine Creane 0:53:44 (2nd F40)
Mountain Rescue Benefit Hill Run
Graham Bush
Graham Bush had a terrific run to finish 5th continuing his scintillating late summer form. Chris Willoughby also ran well and got 2nd M50 as a reward. Eoin Phelan , Andy Walker, Colm and James rounded out our six man contingent on the local slopes of Paddock.
RESULT
1. Andy Keeling (Brothers Pearse AC) 0:36:17
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
5. Graham Bushe 0:37:37 (1st M55)
16. Chris willoughby 0:40:13 (2nd M50)
31. Eoin Phelan 0:44:31
46. Andy Walker 0:49:32
48. Colm Kenna 0:51:23
52. James Heggie 0:53:02
Hardanger 43k
Paul Duffy took on one of the longest trail race he has ever undertaken (the longest?) and possibly his longest ever race and he chose the unforgiving hills and slopes of the Norwegian mountains as the staging ground for this in the Hardangervidda 43 km trail race with 1666m climb. He said ‘I think gruelling just about captures it’ and he finished in 8 hours 12 minutes in 129th place. The cross-country season will seem easy now….
Richard decided 7 hours and 55 minutes less running than that was just about right with another solid local Parkrun in The Haag – 17:54 and 2nd place (and 1st M45).
It was the 28th 5 km run by a club members this year and Richard has run the four fastest (three in Zuiderparkrun) and is the only club member to break 18 minutes this year (something Richard has done in 4 out of his 6 races on the distance).
RESULT
1. William Jardine (Durham City Harriers) 0:17:07
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
2. Richard Costelloe 0:17:54
Tullamore Half-marathon
Finally the National and Leinster Half-marathon took place on the fast course in Tullamore where Donna, Gavin, Nora and Fiona Smyth were in action. No club or county medals were secured this time around but Nora Butler got a club best by nearly three minutes of 1:40.
With a heavy heart we had to hand back the Athletics Wicklow Off-Road Championship trophy to the first winners: Parnell AC. We fielded 30 runners (the same as last year) and they did their best collecting the highest medal haul (20) but our 7 gold medals fell one short of Parnell who collected 8 (and 12 medals total).
Before we delve too deep into the championship, we also have two IMRA races to report on from this weekend along with ‘4 missed races’ from previous weeks.
MT LEINSTER HALF-MARATHON AND GALTYMORE
Both the Leinster Half-Marathon League and the Irish Championships concluded this weekend and we had Aoife O’Brien and Alan Kennedy competing at Mt. Leinster and with some success as Aoife O’Brien won with nearly 7 minutes to spare on the nearest woman. This was enough to secure the overall win in the league ahead of Anna Cronin (3rd on the day) and Aoife’s first outright win in a non-relay IMRA race.
For Alan Kennedy it was also a crucial day in the league: by finishing 2nd in the M55, he secured his overall win in the league in that category.
RESULT
1. Rory Campbell () 2:12:39
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
7. Aoife O’Brien 2:49:54 (1st woman, 1st F35, LEAGUE winner)
24. Alan Kennedy 2:32:48 (2nd M55, LEAGUE winner)
Graham Bush – doing his regular ‘double race weekend’ – finished 23rd in a field of 62 at the Irish Championship finish on the toughest course of the series: Galtymore and was third M55. Joe Lalor also competed winning the M70. This confirmed Graham as 2nd in this year’s M55 championship with Joe Lalor M70 champion.
RESULT
1. Matthew McConnell () 1:23:07
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
23. Graham Bushe 1:50:04 (3rd M55, 2nd in Championship in category)
56. Joe Lalor 2:23:04 (1st M70, Irish Champion)
SEAHAN AND OTHER MISSING RACES
A few results were missed – firstly Eoin Phelan’s runs on Brandon Half, Tory Hill, Mullaghmeen and Seahan meaning he now leads the ‘Most Prolific’ with a staggering 42 races in 8 months!
We missed the Seahan results for all our racers which included also Graham, Torben, Alan, Jeff , Joe and Keith. Our club runners have now done an average of 2 races per day in 24!
RESULT
1. Enda Cloake (Slaney Olympic) 0:46:56
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
18. Graham Bushe 0:56:42 (2nd M55)
28. Torben Dahl 1:00:18
44. Alan Kennedy 1:04:44
56. Jeff Swords 1:05:55
74. Eoin Phelan 1:11:23
116. Joe Lalor 1:21:32 (1st M70)
131. Keith Mulvey 1:16:32
CHAMPIONSHIP SUMMARY
The gun goes… (photo: MyrunResults)
Larger teams from several clubs – including Bray Runners and Lakeshore and Benedicts – meant gold medals were spread around more. We had won 5 gold medals in the 20 k last year (versus 2 this year) and where we had taken three team golds in the 10k (F35, M35 and M50) only our O50 men retained their title with our other four teams all taking silver. The margins were narrow with our women losing out to Benedict’s by a mere 10 seconds to St. Benedicts (who took their first gold medals in the championship
Paul Allan, Graham Bush and Blaise Kinsella
Noteable successes were the clean sweeps of the F40 podium (taken by Catherine, Rachel and Donna for the second year running) and the M40 podium in the 20 km race (taken by Louis Byrne, Torben Dahl and John Conway).
DERRYBAWN WOODS 10 KM (ATHLETICS WICKLOW OFF-ROAD – SHORT)
Start of the 10k (Kevin Ferguson, Paul Duffy, Graham Bush, Paul Allen and Richard Costelloe in front row)
Richard Costelloe was yellow shirt across the line for the second year running in 46:16 with Graham Bush continuing his strong resurgence only 47 seconds behind (and 36s faster than last year) and similarly doughty o50 Richard Allan another 28 seconds back. This is the first time we have had three men under 47 minutes (all 5 sub-47 min times have been run by the three aforementioned gentlemen). Paul Duffy came agonisingly close with a course best of 47:07. Despite running semi-injured Gavin Kennedy was next taking 3 minutes off his 2023 time.
Richard Costelloe on the final km (photo: Lindie Naughton)
Blaise and Kevin Ferguson were either side of Gavin and both contributed to the Male Senior team taking the Silver with Edson Ferreira as the third scorer in his championship debut for us.
Catherine Devitt flanked by St. Benedict men (photo: Lindie Naughton)
Catherine Devitt was first woman home once again in 48:17 improving on last year’s time by over 30 seconds and lowering the women’s club record on the course. She was followed by Rachel having a great run – knocking 1:14 of her 2023 mark with Donna Quinn third scorer for the master’s women’s team.
Anthony Breen, Angus Tyner and Rachel Wisdom (photo: Lindie Naughton)
Anthony Breen showed remarkable consistency – finishing 10 seconds faster than his 2023 time. Colm Kenna reduced his PB for the cousre by over three minutes.
Aoife Joyce and Colm Kenna (photo: Lindie Naughton)
Aoife Joyce won the F45 category and together with Siobhan Brennan (2nd in the F50 category taking over 2 minutes off her best) helped our female seniors (Grace, Kate and Fiona) take team silver behind the rampant Parnell side led home by women’s winner Sile O’Byrne.
Grace Curham and Kate Flynn (photo: Lindie Naughton)
RESULT
1. Barry Minnock (Tullamore Harriers) 0:39:34
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
6. Richard Costelloe 0:45:29 (1st M45, Team Silver M35+)
12. Graham Bushe 0:46:16 (1st M55, Team Gold M50)
15. Richard Allan 0:46:44 (2nd M50, Team Gold M50)
16. Paul Duffy 0:47:07 (Team Silver O35+)
21. Blaise Kinsella 0:47:42 (Team Silver MS)
22. Gavin Kennedy 0:48:03 (3rd M45, Team Silver O35+)
23. Kevin Ferguson 0:48:04 (Team Silver MS)
25. Catherine Devitt 0:48:17 (1st F40, Team Silver O35))
27. Angus Tyner 0:49:34 (3rd M55, Team Gold M50)
29. Rachel Wisdom 0:50:04 (2nd F40, Team Silver O35)
37. Anthony Breen 0:51:18 (3rd M50)
39. Chris willoughby 0:51:48
43. Donna Quinn 0:52:45 (3rd F40, Team Silver O35)
49. Edson Ferreira 0:53:48 (Team Silver MS)
52. Richard Kieran 0:54:10
54. Aoife Joyce 0:54:24 (1st F45, Team Silver FS)
58. Colm Kenna 0:54:46 (Team Silver FS)
61. Grace Curham 0:55:48 (Team Silver FS)
69. Siobhan Brennan 0:57:47 (2nd F50, Team Silver FS))
73. Kate Flynn 0:58:50
116. Fiona Smyth 1:09:36
20 km start (Louis Byrne, John Conway and Torben Dahl)
RUN THE RIDGE 20 KM (ATHLETICS WICKLOW OFF-ROAD LONG)
Kevin Doherty
It was a case of Bray vs Glendalough to a large degree in this year’s 20 km and we swept the podium in the M40 category and packed well in the process. Louis Byrne – fresh off his 12-hour race – was our first man home followed by ‘Mr Run the Ridge Torben Dahl’ 1 spot back (Torben holds the club record at 1:32 and has also run the 2nd fastest time of 1:43:01) and winner of the o45 category. John Conway (who led our charge in 2023) was next in 1:48:01 with Kevin Doherty a few more minutes back taking a bronze medal in his championship debut. Then we had Jack Moore (in a personal best on the course), Eoin, Ben, Andy and Dave Lawless arriving.
Jack Moore
RESULT
1. Gavin Kelly (Clane AC) 1:29:40
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
13. Louis Byrne 1:46:12 (1st M40)
14. Torben Dahl 1:46:35 (1st M45)
16. John Conway 1:48:01 (2nd M40)
25. Kevin Doherty 1:51:19 (3rd M40)
30. Jack Moore 1:54:45
38. Eoin Phelan 1:59:12
51. Ben Lewis 2:06:56
61. Andy Walker 2:10:21
63. Dave Lawless 2:11:01
PERFORMANCES OVER THE YEARS – RANKED
Richard Kieran
10k
Athlete
Date
Time
Richard Costelloe
19/08/2023
0:43:57 (Club Record)
Graham Bushe
20/08/2022
0:45:05
Richard Costelloe
17/08/2024
0:45:29
Graham Bushe
17/08/2024
0:46:16
Richard Allan
17/08/2024
0:46:44
Torben Dahl
20/08/2022
0:46:48
Graham Bushe
19/08/2023
0:46:52
Diarmuid Kavanagh
20/08/2022
0:47:03
Paul Duffy
17/08/2024
0:47:07
Angus Tyner
19/08/2023
0:47:16
René Borg
20/08/2022
0:47:23
Paul Duffy
20/08/2022
0:47:25
Marcus Murphy
19/08/2023
0:47:35
Blaise Kinsella
17/08/2024
0:47:42
Aran Lynham
19/08/2023
0:47:56
Gavin Kennedy
17/08/2024
0:48:03
Kevin Ferguson
17/08/2024
0:48:04
Paul Duffy
19/08/2023
0:48:15
Catherine Devitt
17/08/2024
0:48:17 (Club Record)
Catherine Devitt
19/08/2023
0:48:51
Catherine Devitt
20/08/2022
0:48:51
Angus Tyner
20/08/2022
0:49:31
Angus Tyner
17/08/2024
0:49:34
Rachel Wisdom
17/08/2024
0:50:04
Kevin Ferguson
20/08/2022
0:50:06
Anthony Breen
20/08/2022
0:50:12
Anthony Breen
17/08/2024
0:51:18
Rachel Wisdom
19/08/2023
0:51:19
Gavin Kennedy
19/08/2023
0:51:22
Anthony Breen
19/08/2023
0:51:28
Donna Quinn
19/08/2023
0:51:40
Chris willoughby
17/08/2024
0:51:48
Donna Quinn
17/08/2024
0:52:45
Aoife Joyce
27/11/2021
0:53:15
Paul Duffy
27/11/2021
0:53:15
Richard Costelloe
27/11/2021
0:53:20
Edson Ferreira
17/08/2024
0:53:48
Richard Kieran
17/08/2024
0:54:10
Aoife Joyce
17/08/2024
0:54:24
Yvonne Brennan
19/08/2023
0:54:41
Colm Kenna
17/08/2024
0:54:46
Eoin Kennedy
19/08/2023
0:55:27
Grace Curham
17/08/2024
0:55:48
Siobhan Brennan
17/08/2024
0:57:47
Colm Kenna
19/08/2023
0:58:07
Kate Flynn
17/08/2024
0:58:50
Claire Thompson
19/08/2023
0:58:51
Sarah Foster
19/08/2023
0:59:17
René Borg
27/11/2021
0:59:41
Siobhan Brennan
19/08/2023
1:00:01
Colm Kenna
27/11/2021
1:01:47
Mark Willoughby
19/08/2023
1:02:02
Annie Lowney
19/08/2023
1:03:20
Eleanor Carty
19/08/2023
1:06:51
Fiona Smyth
17/08/2024
1:09:36
20K
Eoin Phelan banks race 42 this season…. (photo: Lindie Naughton)
A quick report before the Athletics Wicklow Off-Road Championship will occupy most of our hands and minds for the next few days!
This weekend saw mainly action on trail and hills. Firstly, three of our ‘Wicklow Wolfers’ took part in the large (523) field at the popular Gaelforce Bray 10 km which for the second year had moved into the Belmont demesne due to the ongoing repair of the Bray Cliff Path.
GAELFORCE BRAY 10K
Edson Ferreira showed good form ahead of his county championship debut coming up this weekend being first over the line followed by Brian Howard and Britta Luebbert.
RESULT
1. Joe Roche () 0:43:44
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
33. Edson Ferreira 0:57:05 – WW RC
299. Brian Howard 1:18:07 – WW RC
504. Britta Luebbert 2:16:15 – WW RC
BALLINEDDAN
The new Leinster Championship up Lugnacoille via Slieve Maan and Ballineddan was the second hill counter in our Club Championship with normalised results being combined into one score where Graham Bush took the win – finishing first club runner on both occasions in nearly identical times (72 minutes for both 10.5 km routes).
Ballineddan is the easier of the two – slightly more runnable and less technical than the traditional Camarahill approach. Behind Graham (in impressive 8th place) was Angus Tyner and Alan Kennedy who together swept the M55 podium. Eoin Phelan was next in his 34th race of the year as 3rd M35 followed by Joe Lalor (1st M70) and James Heggie (1st M50).
35 attended a route that probably deserved a bigger turn-out!
CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP – AFTER ROUND 11
With 11 of 16 rounds completed Graham Bush is the big mover going into 5th spot with only 3 counters. Winning the next two will put him within striking distance of leader Paul Duffy. One trail counter (the Off-road counter), three cross-country races and 1 road race (Dublin Marathon) remain for runners to get the minimum 5 to complete the championship.
Rank
Name
Races#
Best 5
Wins
1
Paul Duffy
6
500.0
5
2
Gavin Kennedy
5
481.6
2
3
Kevin Ferguson
5
448.9
0
4
Eoin Phelan
7
411.1
0
5
Graham Bushe
3
396.3
2
6
René Borg
4
379.0
0
7
Alan Kennedy
4
349.1
0
8
Aoife Joyce
4
321.5
0
9
Mark Willoughby
5
313.2
0
10
Aran Lynham
3
279.9
0
11
Angus Tyner
3
270.7
0
12
James Heggie
4
259.1
0
13
Colm Kenna
3
247.0
0
14
Chris willoughby
2
232.1
0
15
Richard Allan
2
189.5
1
16
Anthony Breen
2
180.3
0
17
Catherine Devitt
2
179.4
0
18
Loraine Creane
2
177.5
0
19
Kevin Doherty
2
169.6
0
20
Jeff Swords
2
164.5
0
21
Donall Flanagan
1
152.0
0
22
Claire Thompson
2
144.8
0
23
Andy Walker
2
130.6
0
24
Rebecca Whineray
2
127.2
0
25
Gerard O’Rourke
2
122.5
0
26
Joe Lalor
1
107.6
0
27
Graeme Warren
1
100.0
1
28
Diarmuid Kavanagh
1
96.2
0
29
Torben Dahl
1
95.6
0
30
Marcus Murphy
1
95.5
0
31
Blaise Kinsella
1
94.6
0
32
Rachel Wisdom
1
87.4
0
33
Graham Kearns
1
86.8
0
34
Philip O’Brien
1
86.6
0
35
Donna Quinn
1
86.2
0
36
Ben Lewis
1
83.4
0
37
Grace Curham
1
81.6
0
38
Corrie Adams
1
77.6
0
39
Niall MacCarthy
1
76.9
0
40
fergal Olohan
1
76.4
0
41
Neil Fusco
1
71.8
0
42
Richard Kieran
1
64.2
0
43
Brendan Farrell
1
63.5
0
44
Sam Fleming
1
54.0
0
45
Aaron Kedward
1
48.9
0
46
Tadeusz Cantwell
1
6.7
0
with none of our women competing in rounds 8, 9, 10 and 11 over the summer, the status quo remains locked where it was after race 7 with Aoife ahead on four races with most sitting on only 2 and needing to do at least 3 of the last 5 to complete.
Two results ahead of tonight’s Leinster League finisher race at Trooperstown Hill and we begin with another IMRA race: the Keeper Hill – Killoscullen Half-marathon.
KEEPER HILL – KILLOSCULLEN HALF-MARATHON
Eoin Phelan notched his 33rd race of the season at the Keeper Hill – Killoscully Half-marathon coming round in 2 hours 21 minutes
RESULT
1. Michael Costello () 1:39:00
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
58. Eoin Phelan 2:21:24
Trasna Na Uaireanta24
Louis Byrne took the win in the Trasna Na Uaireanta24 track ultra event in Leixlip where he was running in the 12-hour race. Louis spend much of the race ahead of Don Hannon who faded away a bit in the latter stages of the race leading two women (Caroline McCabe and Arlene Moore) nearest. In the end Louis held on for a comfortable 9 lap gap – completing 99.2 km with Caroline McCabe getting in 95.5 km. Lous held well under 3 minutes for the first 51 laps and only started to noticeably slow down from the 222nd lap onwards. His mother Christina Byrne finished a great da for the family with 6th place.
As the first 12-hour race completed by a club member, Louis’ time now sets the standard as a new Club Record.
1. Louis Byrne (Glendalough AC) 11:59:52 (CR)
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
TROOPERSTOWN HILL – LEINSTER LEAGUE FINAL
Donall Flanagan at Trooperstown
The Leinster League finished on a new version of the traditional course at Trooperstown Hill where despite the hill being ‘super local’, we only had 6 runners in action this summer – 5 in the long course and Chris Willoughby (inadvertently?) in the short course.
Graham Bush led us home and was 1st M55 with Donal Flanagan 2nd. While Eoin and James Heggie were faster than Joe Lalor (only 2nd in the m70 this week), they finished behind him having taken the early start.
Chris Willoughby
Richard Allan whilst not competing on the day was our highest placed finisher in the League overall finishing 21st with Graham Bush 24th, Alan Kennedy 35th, Angus Tyner and Eoin Phelan neck on neck in 59th and 60th, Joe Lalor 86th (and 2nd overall in the M70 category), and James Heggie 97th. 111 out of the 751 league contestants completed the minimum 7 races required to score (a completion rate of 14%).
We had five representatives travelling to the new course at Church Mountain (replacing Sorrell Hill as one of the West Wicklow fixtures) joining 136 other IMRA hopefuls for the penultimate LL fixture. The last time an IMRA race was held on this mountain was in 1991.
On a tough course, Graham Bush excelled as our first man home in 13th position followed by Alan Kennedy, Jeff Swords and Eoin Phelan (clearly hoping to set an unbreakable record for ‘Most Prolific’). Graham, Jeff, Eoin and Joe had all been in action at Lugnacoille only 4 days earlier.
Glendalough AC 