Club races / events – Glendalough AC

REPORT: Glendalough AC regain Off-Road trophy

August 16, 2026 by glendaloughac, posted in Club races / events, Cross-country running, Race reports, Trail running

We had a lower attendance than in recent years at the Athletics Wicklow Off-Road Championship but that didn’t matter: the twenty-six runners that stepped forward put in a string of great performances to win the championship for the first time since 2023 with a haul of 11 gold medals, 5 silver and 4 bronze (20 in total).

RUN THE SPINC 30K – 2026

The first race to start was the first full running of the originally envisioned Run the Spinc 30k route (really 28.4k but what is a mile between friends). Lonan O’Farrell romped home in an impressive 2:14:29. Our first man home was Graeme Warren in 15th and he also won his category as he continues a strong long distance summer season. Lucy Neill had a very impressive outing finishing 6th woman and 1st in the senior women’s category. Shane Keogh was our third coming in 2 spots and five seconds after Lucy and also taking 1st in the senior age category.

Result: Run the Spinc 30k – 2026

Position	Runner	Club	Time	Notes
1	Lonan O’Farrell		2:14:29	Race winner
Glendalough AC athletes
15	Graeme Warren	Glendalough AC	2:44:29	1st M50
36	Lucy Neill	Glendalough AC	3:06:57	1st FS
38	Shane Keogh	Glendalough AC	3:07:02	1st MS, WW RC

RUN THE RIDGE 20K

Sebastien Giraud finished 2nd overall and 1st M40 in his first outing representing the club while Catherine Devitt won the women’s race by a comprehensive 5 minute margin.

All in all we had ten Glendalough AC athletes raced in a field of seventy-three and they made a big difference in turning a narrow lead on the medal table into a comprehensive one – scooping up nine medals with Gold to Sebastien, Catherine, Ben Lewis, David Gray, Zoe Heathcote and Karen Field.

Result: Run the ridge 20k

Position	Runner	Club	Time	Notes
1	Benjamin Butler	Kilcoole AC	1:30:38	Race winner
Glendalough AC athletes
2	Sebastien Giraud	Glendalough AC	1:35:02	1st M40
9	Kevin Doherty	Glendalough AC	1:47:01	3rd M40
12	Catherine Devitt	Glendalough AC	1:50:57	1st F40
20	Ben Lewis	Glendalough AC	2:00:06	1st M45, WW RC
21	David Gray	Glendalough AC	2:01:58	3rd M50
43	Gary Neill	Glendalough AC	2:17:48	3rd M55
44	Siobhan Brennan	Glendalough AC	2:17:49	2nd F50
54	Zoe Heathcote	Glendalough AC	2:27:33	1st F35, WW RC
58	Brian Field	Glendalough AC	2:29:25	WW RC
63	Karen Field	Glendalough AC	2:50:48	1st F55, WW RC

Gary Neill, Karen Field, Siobhan Brennan and Brian Field (left to right)

RUN THE RIDGE 10K

Aaron Cullen on his way to becoming the first outright championship winner for the club

Our biggest field (13) was in the 10 km race where Aaron won the championship race outright and finished only a few second behind the open race winner from France. Paul Duffy and Graham Bush ensured we had three men in the top-10 and when Tivon Tyner arrived next, he cemented a 12 minute victory in the Senior Teams category over St. Benedict’s with Parnell four minutes further back.

The o50 and women’s races were also tight – while Parnell dominated the absolute positions, their fastest trio was entered into the Female Senior teams category leaving Aoife and Loraine and Claire to battle Lakeshore for the gold. In the end, Aoife and Loraine came in within 17 seconds of each other in 31st and 34th before Yvonne Brennan (running as a scorer for our Senior Female team) managed to get in 9 seconds before Claire. It was also tight between Yvonne’s team mates: Fiona and Monica arrived with only 14 seconds between them and finished 2nd behind the runaway Parnell team.

The men’s o50 team has won the gold medal every year this event has been held but this year’s trio of Graham Bushe, Anthony Breen and Brendan Lawlor had to concede the goal to Parnell. Graham Bush had given the team a 5 minute lead but Paul Mahon and Cormac O’Ceallaigh arrived in before Anthony Breen and then Billy Porter beat out Brendan Lawlor to secure a 4 minute winning margin for Parnell. There was plenty of consolation as Graham took another individual gold and Brendan Lawlor won his first medal for the club (Silver in the M60).. All in all, we got 5 individual gold medals, two silver, and one bronze.

Result: Run the ridge 10k

Position	Runner	Club	Time	Notes
1	Emilien Morin	Triathlon Club Andresy	40:14	Race winner
Glendalough AC athletes
2	Aaron Cullen	Glendalough AC	40:24	1st MS, WW RC
7	Paul Duffy	Glendalough AC	44:06	1st M45
9	Graham Bushe	Glendalough AC	45:30	1st M55
15	Tivon Tyner	Glendalough AC	48:18
31	Aoife Joyce	Glendalough AC	52:23	1st F45
34	Loraine Creane	Glendalough AC	52:40	2nd F45
40	Anthony Breen	Glendalough AC	54:44	3rd M50
42	Colm Kenna	Glendalough AC	55:18
46	Yvonne Brennan	Glendalough AC	56:03
48	Claire Thompson	Glendalough AC	56:14	1st F35
57	Fiona Smyth	Glendalough AC	1:00:11
58	Monica Timmins	Glendalough AC	1:00:23
72	Brendan lawlor	Glendalough AC	1:03:41	2nd M60

Paul Duffy on his way to an impressive 44:06

OVERALL WINNERS

Once all medals were tallied up we could confirm that we managed to win the overall trophy for only the second time with 11 gold, 5 silver and 4 bronze with Parnell and Lakeshore in 2nd and 3rd. This makes it the most convincing win of a championship since the inaugural victory where Parnell won out of 39 medals and well ahead of Inbhear Dee and Lakeshore. After that had followed a few much tighter years – in 2025 we lost out on the difference in Silver medals and in 2024 we had won eight more medals than Parnell but were beaten 8-7 on gold medal count. Our first victory had been equally tight in 2023 where we finished 12-6-7 to Parnell’s 10-8-4.

Our record in the event is now 4th-1st-2nd-2nd-1st.

CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP

The Off-Road Championship is always a scorer in the club championship and here we use normalised performances for all three distances to rank runners against each other using the ‘Keswick system’. Graham Bush retains the lead but Aaron Cullen is now up to a perfect score of 400 points and could become impossible to catch with a good score in the Wicklow Novice race. Paul Duffy is also still in the mix only 20 points back on Aaron. Monica Timmins still leads Loraine Creane and Aoife Joyce but the women’s competition is wide open.

The scoring race in the Club Championship is the Wicklow 10 km Championship in Blessington middle of September.

Overall standings (ranked by points, i.e. Best 5)

Rank	Name	Races	Points	Wins	Behind
1	Graham Bushe	9	494.4	2	–
2	Aaron Cullen	4	400.0	4	94.4
3	Paul Duffy	4	380.6	2	113.8
4	Alan Kennedy	4	323.8	0	170.6
5	Loraine Creane	4	320.1	0	174.3
6	Huw Thomas	3	276.8	0	217.6
7	Colm Kenna	4	259.4	0	235.0
8	Kevin Doherty	3	255.0	0	239.4
9	Tivon Tyner	3	240.9	0	253.5
10	Ben Lewis	3	211.4	0	283.0
11	Monica Timmins	4	207.1	0	287.3
12	Aoife Joyce	3	201.2	0	293.2
13	Ian Bromley	2	188.8	0	305.6
14	Eoin Phelan	3	165.9	0	328.5
15	Anne Bromley	2	159.0	0	335.4
16	Jimmy Cullen	2	154.0	0	340.4
17	Brendan Lawlor	3	153.6	0	340.8
18	Donna Quinn	2	150.4	0	344.0
19	Fiona Smyth	2	108.0	0	386.4
20	Sebastien Giraud	1	94.7	0	399.7
20	Christopher Shannon	1	94.7	0	399.7
22	Brian Field	2	91.5	0	402.9
23	Gavin Kennedy	1	87.5	0	406.9
24	Richard Allan	1	85.6	0	408.8
25	Louis Byrne	1	83.3	0	411.1
26	Kevin Ferguson	1	78.8	0	415.6
27	Angus Tyner	1	78.7	0	415.7
28	Catherine Devitt	1	77.1	0	417.3
29	Graeme Warren	1	75.1	0	419.3
30	James Fitzgerald	1	72.0	0	422.4
31	Andy Walker	1	67.6	0	426.8
32	David Gray	1	64.9	0	429.5
33	Anthony Breen	1	64.5	0	429.9
34	Yvonne Brennan	1	61.3	0	433.1
35	Rebecca Whineray	1	61.1	0	433.3
36	Claire Thompson	1	60.8	0	433.6
37	James Grant	1	59.2	0	435.2
38	Lucy Neill	1	58.0	0	436.4
38	Shane Keogh	1	58.0	0	436.4
38	Richard Kieran	2	58.0	0	436.4
41	James Heggie	2	52.5	0	441.9
42	Gary Neill	1	47.3	0	447.1
42	Siobhan Brennan	1	47.3	0	447.1
44	Kara Fleischmann	1	44.6	0	449.8
45	Karen Field	2	42.3	0	452.1
46	Cari Burke	1	40.2	0	454.2
47	Zoe Heathcote	1	36.5	0	457.9
48	Christina Byrne	1	16.4	0	478.0

Women’s standings (ranked by points)

Rank	Name	Races	Points	Wins	Behind
1	Monica Timmins	4	321.1	0	–
2	Loraine Creane	4	293.9	2	27.2
3	Aoife Joyce	3	277.3	0	43.8
4	Donna Quinn	2	198.6	1	122.5
5	Anne Bromley	2	197.5	1	123.7
6	Fiona Smyth	2	160.0	0	161.1
7	Catherine Devitt	1	100.0	1	221.1
8	Karen Field	2	97.6	0	223.5
9	Yvonne Brennan	1	87.1	0	234.0
10	Claire Thompson	1	86.8	0	234.3
11	Rebecca Whineray	1	84.7	0	236.4
12	Lucy Neill	1	84.5	0	236.6
13	Siobhan Brennan	1	75.8	0	245.3
14	Cari Burke	1	67.4	0	253.7
15	Zoe Heathcote	1	67.0	0	254.1
16	Kara Fleischmann	1	63.0	0	258.1
17	Christina Byrne	1	55.9	0	265.2

REPORT: All about Wexford! (and a bit of Holland…)

February 20, 2024February 20, 2024 by glendaloughac, posted in Club races / events, Race reports, Road running, Trail running, Winter League

Wexford was jam-packed with events with IMRA having an event both Saturday AND Sunday during the same weekend as the always popular Enniscorthy 10k. We had runners represented in all three as well as abroad, but first to our club races…

WINTER LEAGUE ROUND 12

Our weekend began in Clara Vale where the battle for the win in the annual Winter League came down to the wire. Donna ran closest to her predicted time to overtake Graeme Warren in the overall standings. Torben Dahl had a great run setting a new best time for the ‘Clara Against the Clock’ 9.1 km route in 39:47. The winter league resumes in October….

FORTH MOUNTAIN

RESULT

1. Tom McCarthy () 0:48:00

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

15. Alan McCarthy 1:02:40

18. Eoin Phelan 1:06:00

ENNISCORTHY 10 KM

A huge Sli Cualann contingent travelled to Enniscorthy once again. The SC teams always does well in Wexford and this year was no different with the Sli Cualann team winning both the men and women’s competition. Donna was the third scorer for a strong women’s team (Parnell’s Sile O’Byrne was 2nd overall with Catherine O’Connor 3rd) with Parnell’s Caroline Ayton 4th scorer. Gavin Kennedy finished just three seconds behind Donna and set a new PB by nearly 2 minutes in the process.

RESULT

1. Shane Spring (Raheny Shamrocks) 0:32:25

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

68. Donna Quinn 0:41:23

70. Gavin Kennedy 0:41:26 (PB)

SLIABH BUI

The day after Forth Mountain , a separate IMRA event – this time part of the Winter Spring League rather than the South-East League- was held a bit north at Sliabh Bui. A few members were marshalling as the grim Saturday had given way to a beautiful sunny Sunday. Grace Curham was our only running representative – the new-joiner through Wicklow Wolf RC finished 6th woman and 1st in her category (female senior).

RESULT

1. Enda Cloake (Slaney Olympic) 0:42:47

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

32. Grace Curham 0:58:13 (1st FS)

Langsingerland 30k

The weekend racing was not exclusive to Wexford with Richard Costelloe taking on his second 30 km race in two weeks – this time not on sand but on road that was ‘Paved, mucky and puddly bike paths’ according to Richard which yielded a club record and personal best on the rarely run distance. It was a solid run roughly equal to a 37:29 10 km performance.

RESULT

1. Emiel Berghout (Schiedam) 1:42:23

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

67. Richard Costelloe 2:04:59 (Club Record, PB)

CLUB AWARDS AND XMAS PARTY 2022

December 21, 2022December 21, 2022 by glendaloughac, posted in Awards, Club races / events

Twenty-three of our members convened in one of our traditional venues for the annual Xmas Party: the Wicklow Heather in Laragh to celebrate a year of running achievements, celebrate Christmas, and hand out the traditional Club Awards which have been presented since 2015 (with the exception of 2020 where the lack of racing led to a suspension of the awards).

Read the history of our Awards

*The 3rd Club Awards in 2017 in Mickey Finn’s Pub*

This year saw a remarkable 17 new club records and age category records along with over 30 PBs. Among the records was a new overall club record for the women’s marathon (Donna Quinn) and a new overall 50 km record (John Conway)

Our traditional awards were handed out at the Christmas Party in the Wicklow Heather on Saturday 17th December. All awards were based on nominations received per category which members voted on.

The exception is the Club Championship which was decided based on the results of 12 races over cross, trail, hill, track, and road.

CLUB PERSON OF THE YEAR

The Club Person of the Year Award is about recognising all those things that make a club function: attending training, jumping in to make up teams, crewing and volunteering at races and doing work for the committee and otherwise behind the scenes.

Rachel Wisdom and Colm Kenna were both nominated with Colm Kenna winning the popular vote and an extra prize in the form of a Wicklow Heather voucher. Colm had previously won this award in 2018.

CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP 2022 – RENE/DONNA

This year’s overall winner was club coach Rene Borg (for the 2nd time) with Donna Quinn (for the 4th time) taking the ladies’ laurels. No one has ever retained the Club Championship title.

Many of our runners were very evenly matched this year which was shown by victories in the 12 races going to 7 different runners (Paul Duffy, Graham Bush and Aran Lynham the only runners to win more than 1 race each).

best newcomer – GAVIN KENNEDY

This Award is given to a member who joined in 2022 who other members feel have made the biggest contribution both socially, training-wise and race performances. Members who have attended at least one Glendalough AC session can be considered.

The new member nominees this year were

Gavin Kennedy
Eoin Phelan
Diarmuid Kavanagh

Gavin Kennedy secured the popular vote after becoming a very active member of the weekly training and having an impressive debut season in cross-country.

MOST IMPROVED – catherine devitt

The most improved prize is given to the athlete showing the most season-on-season (not necessarily life-time) improvement. The three nominations where:

Blaise Kinsella (5 road PBs from 3k to half-marathon and improving his best level by 15%)
Catherine Devitt (biggest improvement on previous season along with winning the Wicklow Off-Road Champs and setting a new club half-marathon record for women along with podiums at the Wassenar 15k and Lakers 10k)
Diarmuid Kavanagh (for a great debut season racing 16 times from 5k to 25k on trails, cross and hill, improving his performances by 25%,

The popular vote went to Laragh local Catherine Devitt who has been resurgent this year – showing why she was once not only an Irish mountain running international but also holds a silver medal from the National Novice Cross-Country and a gold medal from the Dublin Intermediate XC championship.

ROAD/TRACK PERFORMER OF THE YEAR – DONNA QUINN

This award’s nominations are based either on a singular performance on road or track that stands out or overall performance level in the discipline over the year. The nominees were:

Donna Quinn (six PBs – 3k, 2x 10k, 5k, half-marathon and marathon including new club record for the marathon and club F40 records for 3k and 5k along with gold medal in the F40 category at the Wicklow Road Champs and Silver in the F40 at the Leinster 10 mile championship)
Blaise Kinsella (5 road PBs – 3k, 5k, 2x 10k, and half-marathon along with Team Bronze at Wicklow Road Champs and victory at the Bawnogue 10k. M40 Club record and County Bronze in the 3000m)
Catherine Devitt (new half-marathon PB and club record for women of 1:31)

Donna Quinn secured her 13th award with the club and her third win in this category in three years to tie with Angus Tyner who has also won this award three times.

OFF-ROAD PERFORMER OF THE YEAR – Graham BUSH

Like the road award this award can be given for a singular or multiple performances in cross-country or in hill, trail, and mountain running. New member Graham Bush took this award in his first season! No one has won this award more than once.

Brian Lydon (for a fantastic first ultra season: completing the Ballyhoura, Seven Sisters, Glendalough Tucker Trail and culminating with UTMB CCC)
Graham Bush (won every head to head with other club members on trail, ran for 3^rd placed WWR team, had 4 IMRA category wins plus 4 podiums and secured M50 Gold at the Wicklow Off-Road Champs and was our highest placed runner at the World Masters Mountain Running Championship)
Catherine Devitt (winner of the Wicklow Off-Road Championship)
Loraine Creane (winner of the Wicklow Intermediate cross-country for the second time)

TEAM PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR – WICKLOW WAY RELAY TEAM

Traditionally, cross-country teams, teams in the Wicklow Road Championship and in the various trail relays (especially the Wicklow Way Relay) are nominated for this prize. This year was no exception with the WW Relay team winning the award for the 2nd time.

Wicklow way Relay 1^st Team – Torben Dahl, Rene Borg, Rachel Wisdom, Blaise Kinsella, Anthony Breen (4^th place out of 35 teams – club’s highest finish yet)
Wicklow Road Championship – Aran Lynham, Blaise Kinsella, Brian Lydon, Marcus Murphy (Men’s Team bronze – 1 point ahead of Bray Runners)
Wicklow Off-Road M50 team – Graham B., Angus T. and Anthony B. (beating Parnell to Gold with 45 to 81 pts)

SPECIAL PRIZE – MOST PROLIFIC: angus tyner

The most prolific is a minor prize given out every year to the runner with the most races (not including club races). Angus Tyner won this prize for the third season (having also won it in 2015 and 2017).

Angus remains our most prolific in history with 120 races from 2015 to 2022 followed by Torben Dahl with 110. the most prolific woman is Donna Quinn with 78 races.

If club races are counted the most prolific racer is Colm Kenna with 180 and Donna Quinn with 167. Angus Tyner sits in 3rd in this tally with 164.

GLENDALOUGH AC WL 2022/23

October 17, 2022 by glendaloughac, posted in Club races / events, Winter League

Our annual Winter League returns. Anyone who is a member of an AAI club can attend this training session. If you are not a member you are welcome to ‘come along’ for a few runs before signing up.

What is the Glendalough AC Winter League?

It’s like ParkRun but over different courses (mainly trail) in and around the Glendalough area and with final results based on a handicap system – so anyone can win regardless of ability and how hard you choose to run on the day.

When and where?

Selected Saturday’s during the winter period at 9:30 am. Sometimes an early start is organised at 8:30 am. You need to keep updated in the WhatsApp group on this.

Locations vary, the provisional schedule is below. WhatsApp group provides details.

What do I need to do to run?

You simply turn up on the day and sign-in on the sheet by:

Picking your course (short or long)
Stating the effort you will run at (‘very easy’ ,’easy’, ‘steady’, ‘comfortably-hard’, hard’ all-out!’)

Then listen carefully to the race briefing and you are ready to go!

What do I need?

You need a recent race time that you supply in advance to our Competition Secretary (via the Whatsapp or email rene.borg@outlook.ie)

(if you don’t have a recent race result, simply run the first run ‘all-out’. You won’t get a score for this first run – but that will set your predictions for the remainder of the WL)

You should also join the WhatsApp group for latest updates, questions etc.:

Finally, you need a functioning watch as you take your own time. No watch = no time. Send your time post-run to the WhatsApp group or write it on the sheet before leaving.

Is there a fee?

No. But there will be a box where you can donate one or two euro to the Winter League. This money will go towards the sprint and overall prizes.

What’s the purpose of the Winter League?

Exploring new trails, enjoying a run with a group and using it as an interesting easy, steady or hard run. Since you pick your own intensity and have two distance options, it’s easy to fit in with your training demands and priorities.

These run is good for building winter strength and learning how to pace yourself at different intensities.

How is the winner determined?

Based on your recent race time, an estimated time is calculated for each run based on the difficulty of the course and the effort you have stated you will run at. The closer you get to this estimate, the higher you score.

You don’t know this estimate ahead of time so are ‘running blind’. Your estimate is continuously updated based on your performances, so if you are honest with your effort and learn to read it well, then you will do well. If you constantly run too hard or too easy compared to your stated intent, you will do less well!

There are four rounds of three races. You get to keep the best score from each round and you get to count the three best scores from the four rounds. To win the overall series, you have to have run at least once in three of the four rounds.

PREVIEW: Wicklow Off-Road Championship 2022

August 19, 2022 by glendaloughac, posted in Club races / events, Trail running

Glendalough AC are excited to welcome a competitive field for the first Wicklow Athletics Off-Road Championship at Laragh GFC tomorrow morning at 9:45 am. Full details of the route can be see at www.runtheridge.ie.

The event will be held as part of the Derrybawn Woods 10k (itself held as part of the longer Run the Ridge 20 km event) – a fund-raiser for Laragh GFC and our club and is sanctioned by Wicklow Athletics Board.

Six of the county’s twelve clubs will compete in this inaugural event with over 50 runners battling for individual and team medals.

Background

The idea for the championship was first discussed back in 2016 internally in the club before being brought as a proposal to Wicklow Athletics this June.

Most casual followers of athletics are aware of the traditional running disciplines (cross-country, track, and road running) but may not be aware that World Athletics today recognises ultra, trail, and mountain running as official disciplines of athletics. To grow this segment of the sport these ‘off-road’ variations had their European and World Championships merged into one event (under the ‘off-road’ label).

The choice by Wicklow Athletics to host this championship likewise brings these disciplines ‘on par’ with the traditional cross-country, road, and track and field county championships.

Off-road running is the fastest growing discipline within athletics and it seems fitting that a county with as wonderful trails as Wicklow has chosen to add such a fixture to it’s calendar.

Spectators can support the runners from 9:30 on the Laragh GFC pitches. We also highly recommend walking up the ‘Bronze route’ zig-zags and give our runners a warm welcome as they make their way up the toughest part of the course. Parking for spectators is located in the public Laragh car park near the Woollen Mills.

Partners and supporters

We are glad to be supported by:

Wicklow Athletics
EcoTrail Wicklow for use of marking equipment and sponsorship of prices
Laragh GFC for venue, parking and crew
MyRunResults for timing services and finish line
National Parks and Wildlife Service and Coillte for use of keys and permit
Derrybawn House, The Woollen Mills, and Coillte for permission to pass through / past their lands

And finally a thank you to our suppliers: Soundhire.ie, Kelly’s Fruit and Vegetables, The Red Cross, Lindie Naughton Photography, and Mocha Joe’s Cafe.

REPORT: Relay, rough mountain, and Lap of the Gap

May 25, 2022 by glendaloughac, posted in Club races / events, Mountain running, Race reports, Road running, Trail running, Ultra running

It continues to be one of our busiest and craziest racing season with our runners participating in everything from the Wicklow Way Relay to the tough and rugged Glacier Lakes and Seven Sisters Skyline races to our very own Lap of the Gap Marathon and Glen to Glen Half – and that’s before we celebrate Aran Lynham’s first win in the Tralee 10 km road race!

WICKLOW WAY RELAY

Sarah and Rachel waiting to spring into action on leg 3

Our club had 14 runners competing as part of three different teams in the Wicklow Way Relay on 14th of May. Like in many previous years we had teamed up with runners from Parnell and the team ‘Parnelldalough’ finished 4th out of 35 (our highest finish yet) and continued our streak of ‘never being out of the top-10’.

Blazing Yellow – featuring 8 Glendalough AC runners – finished 11th and Graham Bushe competed for Mountain Swifts who finished 3rd. It was a day of high drama with 11 teams made non-competitive due to deviations from the Wicklow Way including unfortunately our ‘mother club’ Sli Cualann who were set to take 3rd (as TT Racers – occupying the final podium position midway through) were made non-competitive early in the race.

The other Glendalough AC runners in action where: Brian Lydon, Torben Dahl, Rene Borg, Aran Lynham, Rachel Wisdom, Sarah Foster, Paul Duffy, Blaise Kinsella, Diarmuid Kavanagh, Graham Bushe, Johnny Conway, Anthony Breen, Duncan Barrett and Aoife Joyce.

GLACIER LAKES

The previous week Graham Bushe had finished 8th in the long and rough Wicklow Glacier Lakes Race.

RESULT

1. Andrew Tees () 4:39:30

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

8. Graham Bushe 5:46:40

LAP OF THE GAP MARATHON / GLEN TO GLEN HALF-MARATHON

Blaise Kinsella (left) after the Glen to Glen Half

In our annual club fund-raiser Duncan Barrett and Graeme Warren finished neck on neck in 22nd and 23rd position with Blaise Kinsella our only representative in the half-marathon. Blaise ran very well and nearly got himself under the 90-minute barrier.

RESULT – full

1. Darren Foley () 3:07:08

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

22. Duncan Barrett 3:46:20

23. Graeme Warren 3:46:44

RESULTS – HALF

RESULT 1. Tudor Mircea (Clonliffe Harriers) 1:10:39 (CR)

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

14. Blaise Kinsella 1:30:44

SEVEN SISTERS SKYLINE

On the same day in County Donegal Brian Lydon took part in the first round of the WMRA World Cup in Ireland’s toughest mountain race: the 55 km Seven Sisters Skyline and over the unrelenting course he took nearly 40 minutes off his time from last year to finish 60th.

RESULT

1. Ricky Wynne () 7:07:47 (CR)

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

60. Brian Lydon 10:47:53

BORN TO RUN TRALEE 10K

Continuing our tour of the country, Aran Lynham secured the first men’s road race victory for our club in his maiden outing over the 10 km distance in Tralee and set a first mark of 40:03. He said he took advantage of many local top runners being at a half-marathon in Castleisland – but a win is a win!

RESULT

1. Aran Lynham (Glendalough AC) 0:40:03 (PB)

CAPE WRATH 400K

As we speak club member John Conway has completed day 3 of the gruelling 8-day expedition race ‘Cape Wrath’ in Scotland – taking runners the 400 km from Fort William to Cape Wrath. Johnny currently sits solidly in 15th position and can be tracked below:

https://live.opentracking.co.uk/capewrathultra22/

REPORT: LAP OF THE GAP MARATHON 2022

May 25, 2022 by glendaloughac, posted in Club races / events, Half-marathon, Lap of the Gap / Glen to Glen, road running

We had a lot of racing over the weekend (reported separately) but the main event was our annual club fund-raiser – the Glendalough Lap of the Gap Marathon and Glen to Glen Half-marathon (Glendalough to Glenmacnass).

From humble beginnings this event has grown into an iconic fixture on the Irish racing calendar and this year we had record numbers with nearly 600 tickets sold and nearly 400 people participating on the day along with the nearly 60 strong crew and the numerous spectators.

Many took the opportunity to stay locally with at least 20 guests in Lynhams Hotel, 2 in the Youth Hostel and many more of which we are unaware. This meets one of the stated three goals Glendalough AC have for this event:

Raise funds for Glendalough AC and the development of athletics in Laragh
Create revenue for the local area through running tourism
Setup an event that offers both a unique experience for the average participant and a unique athletic feat for competitive and elite athletes

This year more than met our expectations with top runner Tudor Moldovan setting an incredible new record for the Glen to Glen (70:35) which left all on-lookers leaving inspired along with universally positive feedback from all participants.

Tudor Moldovan treated the spectators to a truly world class performance

The services and supplies needed to run the event generates nearly €25,000 for the local and Irish economy in addition to the positive impacts of runners staying in local accommodation and eating and dining in local cafes and restaurants. In addition, 9% of this year’s starters had flown in from abroad for our event.

The club wants to extend it’s gratitude to the many participants, all our suppliers and partners, and to the local community. Here’s to many more happy Lap of the Gaps!

WINTER LEAGUE – Final Round

February 24, 2020February 24, 2020 by glendaloughac, posted in Club races / events, Winter League

Today’ result and final tally. 16 runners competed and 9 got the minimum 6 to score. The final round saw a three way battle between Aoife, Flora and Rene for the win and the Sportsroom voucher!

The final round of the Winter League took part on the Brockagh Woods course with runners trying to best their handicaps against the 5k and 9.1 km courses.

The situation

Aoife Joyce only had to better her current results by 21 seconds in order to make it impossible for either Flora McKnight or Rene Borg to catch her. It proved neck on neck as both Rene and Aoife had recorded the maximum score for the last 4 races in a row and would do so again at the fifth asking.

Having run 29:41 and thus running off a 30 minute handicap, Aoife obliterated her time with 25:28. This made Rene’s time academical but he got some consolation by lowering Barry O’Neill’s course record of 42:55 to 42:07 and taking the win on the day. Flora could not improve her handicap and dropped from 2nd to 3rd in the overall with Rene taking second. It all came down to 21 seconds after 12 races!

Position	Name	Start time	Finish time	Actual time	Average Pace	Avg / lap	Behind winner	Course run
1	René Borg	9:43 am	10:25:07 am	42:07	4:35 min/km	10:32		Long
2	Aoife Joyce	10:00 am	10:25:28 am	25:28	5:06 min/km	12:44	0:21	Short
3	Marcus Murphy	10:03 am	10:29:08 am	26:08	5:14 min/km	13:04	4:01	Short
4	Colm Kenna	10:03 am	10:29:09 am	26:09	5:14 min/km	13:04	4:02	Short
5	Derek Cullen	10:07 am	10:30:46 am	23:46	4:45 min/km	11:53	5:39	Short
6	Barry O’Neill	9:47 am	10:30:58 am	43:58	4:47 min/km	11:00	5:51	Long
7	Flora McKnight	10:03 am	10:33:15 am	30:15	6:03 min/km	15:07	8:08	Short

Round 12 – Brockagh Woods – standings

League summary

The league was evenly contested for much of it with several winners: Barry O’Neill and Bruce Phillips won one race each, Aoife, Flora and Colm took two each and Rene won 4.

#	Name	Wins	\Races	TOP 6	AVG	Behind
1	Aoife Joyce	2	6	5:48:03	0:58:01	0:00:00
2	René Borg	4	6	5:48:24	0:58:04	0:00:21
3	Flora McKnight	2	6	5:49:10	0:58:12	0:01:07
4	Derek Cullen	0	6	5:52:43	0:58:47	0:04:40
5	Colm Kenna	2	6	5:55:49	0:59:18	0:07:46
6	Donna Quinn	0	6	5:56:05	0:59:21	0:08:02
7	Marcus Murphy	0	6	5:56:58	0:59:30	0:08:55
8	Bruce Phillips	1	6	5:57:04	0:59:31	0:09:01
9	Yvonne Brennan	0	6	6:01:39	1:00:17	0:13:36
10	Richard Kieran	0	5	4:56:05	0:59:13
11	Barry O’Neill	1	4	3:58:10	0:59:33
12	Catherine Devitt	0	4	4:07:19	1:01:50
13	Aisling Kirwan	0	2	2:02:04	1:01:02
14	Anne Marah	0	1	1:00:28	1:00:28
15	Rachel Wisdom	0	1	1:01:46	1:01:46
16	Michael Heatly	0	1	1:01:49	1:01:49

League 2019/20 – final standings

Notable achievements

This year’s league had four new course records: Donna Quinn and Aoife Joyce lowered the Roundwood 10k and 5k courses to 46:49 and 23:24 while Rene Borg lowered the long course times for Clara Vale and Brockagh Woods to 39:44 and 42:07.

People where adept at cracking their handicap breaking their times in 69 out of 106 attempts. Most of the 43 ‘failures’ – 15 – happened in the first two rounds as people were adjusting to their 2020 fitness levels!

League 2020/21

The league will return November 2020 but we will have other Saturday activities coming up for the rest of the year.

Next year’s league will feature and even tighter handicap system which should help keep the maximum number of people in contention for the longest period of time. We will also revisit bringing back the Pink Poulanass and Lower Lake Round courses to create a 16 round league.

WEEKEND ROUND-UP: Clara, Avondale, Enniscorthy

February 17, 2020February 17, 2020 by glendaloughac, posted in Club races / events, Race reports, Road running, Winter League

Last week’s National Masters cross-country marked the end of the cross-country season for most of our runners. But the action continues…

Parkrun

Our weekend running began at 9 am in Avondale where Angus Tyner finished 6th in the ParkRun in 22:12. Not long after the smallest crowd yet assembled for our penultimate Winter League race (perhaps the weather deterred?) on the crown jewel of the six courses in the league: Clara Vale.

RESULTS

Cormac Conroy, Parnell AC 18:48

———GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS——–

6. Angus Tyner 22:12

full results

Winter League

The League has come down to a three-way battle between Aoife Joyce, Flora McKnight and coahc René Borg. All would have to better their handicap by 2 minutes or more to have a chance to stay in contention. Flora duly lowered her 29 minute handicap to 27 min and Aoife took her 30 minute mark down to 26 min. René had to improve his handicap of 42 minutes for the longer course to 40 minutes to stay within reach and just about scraped it with 39:44 – lowering Barry O’Neill’s course-record by 10 seconds in the process. All now comes down to Brockagh Woods next weekend where Aoife starts the day as the heavy favourite – her fate is in her own hands.

Image may contain: 1 person, smiling, shoes, child and outdoor — Aoife at the Enniscorthy 10k. **Photo:** John Busher

Enniscorthy 10 km

Aoife returned to Enniscorthy for the first time in 12 years looking to improve on her 46 minute mark set in Inch in July. Storm Dennis meant this task was a bit more onerous than expected but she still came home in a chip time of 44:48. Mission accomplished.

Ger Forde, Slaney Olympic 33:10

————–GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS

99. Aoife Joyce 44:48

full results

Brockagh Burst (belated)

We also spotted – a bit late – that Lillian Deegan ran Brockagh Burst where she finished 180th.

Killian Mooney 27:14

————–GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS———–

180. Lillian Deegan 1:07:36

full results

WINTER LEAGUE 2020: Round 1 in Roundwood.

November 2, 2019 by glendaloughac, posted in Club races / events, Winter League

It was an eventful opening to the Winter League as usual. We missed the rain and could complete the whole event in gorgeous sunshine and be home for coffee and grub before the rain hit.

Some were playing it tactical, taking it relatively easy to reset their handicaps to an easier level for the new season whereas others took no prisoners including Barry O’Neill who lowered Derek Cullen’s time to 45:06 on the 10k course. Two of our runners went ‘cani-cross’ (Flora and Marcus) whereas Torben Dahl decided to add in a few extra mini-loops and had to forfeit finishing!

Aoife Joyce won the overall handicap race despite cashing in 41 penalty seconds for breaking her handicap by too much.

Overall standings – time penalties included

The series – and the hunt for The Sportsroom vouchers – continues on the Green Gapways course next Saturday from 9:30 am at the Glendalough Green.