Mountain running – Page 4

REPORT: Connacht hill races, The Relay in Wicklow, Zuiderparkun and Ballinastoe…

July 4, 2024July 4, 2024 by glendaloughac, posted in Mountain running, Race reports, Trail running

We had runners in action at four different Saturday and one Sunday – mainly on rough mountain and trail but we will start with last evening’s result at the Leinster League race in Ballinastoe where we had 13 competitors out.

BALLINASTOE

On a course that tends to change a bit from year to year, runners this time had to navigate 10.6 rough km to get the finish line – some added a bit (like Paul) and others reccied a 1.5 km extension (like Keith!) but all got to the finish line in the end!

Richard Allan reclaimed his tag as ‘top dog’ (or wolf?) turning the tables on Paul Duffy and finishing 17 seconds ahead of him with Graham Bush a further 2 seconds adrift. Next round coming up soon?

We did well on the category podium front with before-mentioned Richard taking 2nd in the M50, Graham Bush winning the M55 (after his Connacht double-header over the weekend), Alan Kennedy taking the 2nd place in the M55 and Grace Curham finishing 2nd senior female (and 13th in the women’s race overall).

Also tight packing again with Kevin and Chris and Alan who finished within 18 seconds of each other with Grace, Angus, Eoin and Andy arriving between 74 and 78 minutes. Keith and James rounded up our group.

RESULT

1. Daire Finn () 0:52:19

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

28. Richard Allan 1:01:22 (2nd M50)

30. Paul Duffy 1:01:39

31. Graham Bushe 1:01:41 (1st M55)

40. Torben Dahl 1:03:55

50. Kevin Ferguson 1:06:10

52. Chris willoughby 1:06:16

54. Alan Kennedy 1:06:28 (2nd M55)

82. Grace Curham 1:14:12 (2nd FS)

86. Eoin Phelan 1:15:19

96. Angus Tyner 1:16:54

100. Andy Walker 1:17:54

132. Keith Mulvey 1:33:48

163. James Heggie 1:39:22

ZUIDERPARKRUN

Richard Costelloe went out for a bit of a training session to record a solid 18:05 and finishing 3rd in his local parkrun and 2nd M45 on the day.

RESULT

1. Jonny Yeates (Barnet and District AC) 0:17:34

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

3. Richard Costelloe 0:18:05 (2nd M45)

CONNACHT CHAMPIONSHIP – MWEELREA

Joe Lalor on Mweelrea (photo: Brian McConnell)

Graham Bush and Joe Lalor were our two representatives at the IMRA Connacht Championship double header that began on the 10.6 km course to the top of Mweelrea and back. Graham secured 2nd in the M55 category with Joe winning his.

RESULT

1. Matthew McDonnell () 0:59:49

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

15. Graham Bushe 1:21:06 (2nd M55)

32. Joe Lalor 1:50:29 (1st M70)

BENBULBEN (luke’s bridge)

53 people towed the line to run up the spectacular Ben Bulben including former member Brian Lydon who went on to finish 4th! Eoin Phelan was our ‘current’ representative and finished 42nd.

RESULT

1. Alan Dunne () 0:46:30

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

42. Eoin Phelan 1:14:10

THE RELAY

The Relay has all the essentials: times at hand-overs, emergency water, parking, and finish line celebrations and nicely captured the minimalist feel of the early days of the Wicklow Way Relay (now grown into a much larger and more involved event).

Our two Danes (Rene and Torben) had been drafted in to do leg 3 and 4 – essentially the same leg (from Gaffney’s lane to Pier Gates car park) – with Rene doing the net uphill outward leg and Torben the net downhill return.

Michael Dowling handed over to them in 8th position with Rene catching back 4 more teams as he ran the 4th fastest time on leg 3 on the day. Torben went one better by running at the fastest time on leg 4 (on the day) and taking back one further spot to bring the team into the podium places. Unfortunately, by the finish line, the team was back in 8th spot out of 11 with Kilcoole AC sweeping the podium. Here is an encouragement to the GMACers to field a team or two next year!

RESULT – leg 3

1. Aubrey O’Neill (Kilcoole AC) 0:42:29

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

4. René Borg 0:48:18

RESULT – LEG 4

1. Torben Dahl (Glendalough AC) 0:43:40

NEPHIN

Sunday brought the second race of the Connacht Championship where Graham completed the double-header on the short but incredibly steep Nephin race where 27 ‘survivors’ of the first day battled it out and Graham moved up 7 spots and traded his 2nd place on day 1 in the M55 to 1st. Joe Lalor also finished and won the overall M70.

All in all 20 people completed the full Championship with Graham finishing 8th and 1st M55 as well.

RESULT

1. Matthew McDonnell () 0:50:40

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

8. Graham Bushe 1:05:30 (1st M55)

23. Joe Lalor 1:30:08 (1st M70)

REPORT: 14 PEAKS, WATERFORD MARATHON, TINAHELY, HOWTH SUMMER….

June 27, 2024 by glendaloughac, posted in Mountain running, Race reports, Road running, Trail running

Lots of mountain and trail action with a lonely results from the Waterford Marathon to go with it. Results ranged from unfortunate DNF to a heap of podium wins at Howth….

SNOWDONIA 14 PEAKS SKYRACE

We start the report with DNF as John Conway took on the tough and technical 14 Peaks Race in Snowdon but unfortunately was timed out at the Nant Paris checkpoint after neary 7 hours of running.

John was in a good position when he rolled his ankle and he relates: “too many pain killers and got too dehydrated. When I got to the last aid station with 14k to go, I was all over the place and medic wouldn’t let me continue. Was doing well position wise but was in a hoop. Very tough race. Probably the hardest one day race I’ve done.”

RESULT

1. Josh Bakker-Dyos () 7:24:28

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

152. John Conway DNF

WATERFORD VIKING MARATHON

Eoin Phelan and 398 other competitors suffered in the heat at the Waterford Viking Marathon finishing in the top third of the field with a 3:54.

RESULT

1. Alexander Wallace (St. Coca’s AC) 2:26:00

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

137. Eoin Phelan 3:54:19

TINAHELY

There was also some action on locals hill with James Heggie our lone representative at the new and extended Tinahely route around Ballycumber Hill where 55 runners made the journey to West Wicklow.

RESULT

1. Liam Mooney (Lakeshore Striders) 1:19:55

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

49. James Heggie 2:41:06

HOWTH SUMMER

It was podium galore at Howth Summer where a surprisingly small field of 136 restarted the Leinster League. Paul Duffy was well out front sitting in 7th until the final km but ran out of steam a bit yet still finished as our first man home (by a whisker) ending Richard Allen’s streak of winning 6 head to heads with other club runners since Scarr in May.

Paul is now on a 12 race winning streak against fellow club members – his last ‘defeat’ was Run the Ridge last May where Richard Costello won out. For more on ‘head to head winners’ check the last paragraph of the report.

*Chris chasing Alan – he would nearly catch him right on the line…*

Only four seconds divided them and they won the M40 and M50 categories respectively. Torben Dahl was next in 23rd finishing 3rd M45 before Alan Kennedy and Chris Willoughby were dead-heated on the line but Alan crossing first (and taking 1st M55 position). Kevin Doherty was next in 47th before James Heggie rounded up our group 3 days on from his Tinahely race.

RESULT

1. Daire Finn () 0:41:04

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

12. Paul Duffy 0:47:39 (1st M40)

13. Richard Allan 0:47:42 (1st M50)

23. Torben Dahl 0:49:31 (3rd M45)

32. Alan Kennedy 0:51:51 (1st M55)

33. Chris willoughby 0:51:51 (2nd M50)

47. Kevin Doherty 0:54:14

126. James Heggie 1:18:56

HEAD TO HEAD RECKONING (2014-2024)

We keep track of head to head results since our club’s inception a decade ago with 43 separate runners having won ‘head to head’ (first male or female respective to all other club male or female runners in a particular race).

Paul Duffy has now moved up into 3rd space for most head to head wins after club stalwarts Torben (44) and Angus (38).

REPORT: Weekend double at Trooperstown and Stranahelly, the Ayling Abyss deepens…

June 13, 2024 by glendaloughac, posted in Mountain running, Race reports, Road running, Trail running

Three mountain races to report on beginning with the weekend double-header featuring two new routes: the 2nd instalment of the IMRA Half-marathon league at the Trooperstown and Clara Vale route (replacing the cancelled Slieve Bloom Half) followed by a new route out of Glenmalure (Stranahely Woods) in the Leinster Championships.

While some were racing others were pacing Aran Lynham in his successful Lap of the Gap 100 km attempt (read about it here).

Aoife O’Brien (right) securing another podium at Trooperstown

TROOPERSTOWN AND CLARA VALE

Colm Kenna in his 9th race of the season (photo: Brendan Delaney)

On the new route at Trooperstown and Clara Vale, Torben Dahl kept showing signs of returning to his form of old crossing the line in 18th after gaining two spots late on. Aoife O’Brien was next finishing 2nd in the women’s race and 1st in her O35 category (her third category top-3 and second overall top-3 in the women’s races in her three IMRA outings so far this year).

Chris Willoughby finished a few minutes later with Colm Kenna securing a spot well within the top-half of the field as well.

RESULT

1. Daire Finn () 1:30:54

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

18. Torben Dahl 2:01:35

28. Aoife O’Brien 2:06:17 (2nd woman, 1st F35)

29. Chris willoughby 2:08:38

46. Colm Kenna 2:17:58

ZUIDERPARKRUN

Meanwhile in Holland, Richard Costelloe ran a Season Best 5 km for our club winning his local Zuiderparkrun in 17:48 – only 10 seconds off his best.

RESULT

1. Richard Costelloe (Glendalough AC) 0:17:48 (Season Best)

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

STRANAHELY WOODS

A valley down and a day later, orienteers Angus Tyner and Joe Lalor represented us at the Leinster Championship in Stranahely Woods on an unmarked course over roughly 14.5 km.

In a small field of 23 intrepid souls, Angus and Joe took the wins in the M55 and M70 categories.

RESULT

1. Enda Cloake (Slaney Olympic) 1:18:12

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

10. Angus Tyner 1:34:26 (1st M55)

22. Joe Lalor 2:22:28 (1st M70)

the field at Stranahely Woods (photo: Ian Bromley)

THE AYLING ABYSS

Known as one of the most gruesome of the Leinster League summer series, the ‘Ayling Abyss’ had been lengthened from 10 km to 11.3 km this year. Despite this the winning time was the same as previous year’s courtesy of the double star dust of Ireland’s leading mountain runner (Zak Hannah) coming down from the North to race at the same time as fellow seasoned international Paddy O’Leary was home from California.

This led to an explosive start where Zak took the field through the first km in 2:40! Torben Dahl was having a great race when he and a number of other runners stopped to attend to a female runner who had cut herself up fairly badly after a fall. Richard Allan thus was first man home once again and 2nd M50 with John Conway (down from Louth) next ahead of Kevin Ferguson. Eoin and Niall arrived ensuring we had 5 out of our ten runners in the top-half of the field with Angus being followed by Torben, Keith and James.

RESULT

1. Zak Hannah (Newcastle AC) 0:51:36

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

25. Richard Allan 1:07:31 (2nd M50)

43. John Conway 1:12:17

51. Kevin Ferguson 1:14:15

87. Eoin Phelan 1:23:45

95. Niall MacCarthy 1:26:17

117. Angus Tyner 1:34:04

132. Torben Dahl 1:46:39

146. Keith Mulvey 1:35:29

154. James Heggie 1:38:29

CORKAGH 5 MILE

In the well-attended Irish Life Corkagh 5 mile (nearly 1400 in the field), Mark Willoughby took it steady enough to cruise home in 538th and 42:24 chip time.

RESULT

1. Hugh Armstrong (Ballina AC) 0:24:01

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

538. Mark Willoughby 0:42:24

REPORT: Killiney Relay, Great Ireland 10k, trio of Wexford races and win for Richard in Holland

April 25, 2024April 25, 2024 by glendaloughac, posted in Mountain running, Race reports, Road running, Trail running

while we wait for results from the Leinster League opener at Belmont last night, we have a truckload of older results to catch up on.

CLUB RECORD FOR CATHERINE IN HOLLAND

We start with the biggest news as Catherine Devitt took 10 seconds off her current club record for the 5 km AND improved her long-standing 5 km PB (run in 2012) of 18:41 with the new mark of 18:39 at the Zuiderparkrun.

RESULT

1. Ian Lowe (Oswestry Olympians) 0:18:03

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

2. Catherine Devitt 0:18:39 (1st F40, PB, Club Record)

ROSSLARE 10 KM

We start in Rosslare where Jonathan Cody had a good run-out which he followed up at….

RESULT

1. Paul Doran () 0:34:06

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

213. Jonathan Cody 1:01:26 (PB)

WEXFORD 10 KM / HALF-MARATHON

…the double-header also in county Wexford where it was Sam Fleming’s turn to run the 10k with Jonathan upgrading to the half-marathon where he was joined by Eoin Phelan our first man home on the day.

RESULT – 10 k

1. David Mahon () 0:32:37

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

265. Sam Fleming 0:58:07 (PB)

RESULT

1. Paul Doran (United Striders) 1:12:50

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

262. Eoin Phelan 1:42:07

1253. Jonathan Cody 2:33:56 (PB)

MOUNT LEINSTER

The third Wexford race to report on was the absolute classic that is Mt. Leinster – held over a slightly shorter (800m) than regular course this year but in great conditions and saw the very welcome comeback of long-standing member Barry O’Neill who finished 2nd M45.

RESULT

1. Anthony Forristal (East Cork AC) 0:58:58

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

26. Barry O’Neill 1:42:15 (2nd M45)

GREAT IRELAND RUN 10K

David Murphy was our sole representative in the Great Ireland Run in the Phoenix Park.

RESULT

1. Aaron Hanlon (Drogheda and District AC) 0:31:10

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

473. David Murphy 0:48:34

KILLINEY HILL RELAY

James Heggie was our only runner in the Killiney Hill Relay where you get drawn into random teams of three to run the 2.5 km loop of the hill and James set the 30th fastest time on the night out of 51 runners.

RESULT

1. Stephen Kennedy () 0:11:24

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

30. James Heggie 0:15:55

PARKRUN – SPORT CAMPUS IRELAND

Angus Tyner was first across the line on a parkrun course consisting 100% of grass with half on the dedicated cross-country course at the Sport Ireland Campus in Blanchardstown.

RESULT

1. Angus Tyner (Glendalough AC) 0:21:13

HENK HAKKER MEMORIAL RUN 30K

In Holland Richard ran away with the win in the Henk Hakker Memorial Run and commented: “Took the lead after a few meters and was solo for the whole race. Small turnout (15?), enjoyable route around some new trails. Had a nice chat wtih Henk’s son, apparently he was an avid runner & coach, still running marathons in his 70’s.”

The time looked at first to be a new club 30k record but as seems to be the case with many Dutch races, the course was 400m short!

RESULT

1. Richard Costelloe (Glendalough AC) 2:04:10

OLDER RESULTS – BELEEK AND FAT TURKEY 10K

We also got a late notice on the two ‘real’ PBs from David Murphy and Nora Butler which we missed in 2023 run at the Fat Turkey 10k and Beleek 10k respectively in december last year.

RESULT – BELEEK 10K

1. Rory Chesser (Ennis Track Club) 0:33:49

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

58. Nora Butler 0:45:28 (3rd F40, PB)

RESULT – FAT TURKEY TROT

1. David Kirwin () 0:34:27

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

81. David Murphy 0:47:29 (PB)

REPORT: Paris Marathon, 5k and 10ks on the road, Annagh Hill and Dargle Four Peaks

April 14, 2024 by glendaloughac, posted in Mountain running, Race reports, Road running, Trail running, Ultra running

We begin our report by extending congratulations to our finishers of the various Quest Adventure Race distances this weekend: John Conway, Corrie Adams, Britta ???, and Mark Willoughby.

MAURICE MULLINS 51K

There are still some errors with early starters in the Maurice Mullins 51k results but we have tried to manually adjust and report below.

RESULT

1. Barry McEvoy () 4:33:00

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

96. Richard Kieran 6:45:11

161. Alan Kennedy 7:29:27

213. Eoin Phelan 8:05:56

232. James Heggie 8:58:13

ROSSLARE 10K

Another ‘legacy’ result we missed was Jonathan Cody running in the Rosslare 10k.

RESULT

Paul Doran () 0:34:06
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
Jonathan Cody 1:01:26

ANNAGH HILL

Wet and muddy climbing on hands and knees was the order of the day at the always tough Annagh Hill course once again on the IMRA calendar in a slightly changed variation.

Eoin Kennedy on the slide since fatherhood?

RESULT

1. Enda Cloake (Slaney Olympic) 0:57:40

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

23. Alan Kennedy 1:11:58 (2nd M55)

27. Eoin Kennedy 1:20:22

52. Eoin Phelan 1:31:12

WINDMILL 5 KM AND 10 KM

Aran Lynham and Nora Butler took on the 5 km and 10 km distances respectively at a windy ‘Windmill’ run. While PBs were not on the cards, Aran helped himself to a 5th place overall while Nora secured PB in the 10 km which doubled up as the Dublin County 10k championship.

5 km

RESULT

1. Sean McCreery (Rathfarnham WSAF) 0:18:57

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

5. Aran Lynham 0:19:33

10 km

RESULT

1. Ian Guiden (Clonliffe Harriers) 0:31:51

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

176. Nora Butler 0:47:53 (PB)

PARIS MARATHON

Donall Flanagan reported from Paris that while things didn’t quite go to plan, he was still relieved to get through this big city marathon.

RESULT

1. Uma Mulugeta () 2:05:33

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

32205. Donall Flanagan 4:18:01

DARGLE 4 PEAKS

The most recent results came at the tough and muddy Dargle 4 Peaks unmarked mountain race where a strong field including several Irish internationals and the legend that is Robin Bryson (now competing in the M60) had a go at a route which is point to point and can be run either clockwise or counterclockwise.

Graham Bushe was our first runner home followed by the Wicklow Wolf women Grace Curham and Rebecca Whineray.

RESULT

1. Enda Cloake (Slaney Olympic) 1:32:40

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

8. Grace Curham 2:49:10 (3rd FS)

10. Rebecca Whineray 2:56:38 (1st F45)

18. Graham Bushe 2:10:36 (3rd M55)

RESULTS: Crone Night Run, Golden Trail in Holland and a few 5 ks….

March 23, 2024 by glendaloughac, posted in Mountain running, Race reports, Road running

St. Patrick’s weekend was busy enough for the club with three of our runners beginning Friday evening at Crone before Richard ran well in the Zuiderparkun on Saturday and the weekend ended with Catherine Devitt competing in the Golden Trail Series national series (UK/NL) in Holland whilst Mark Willoughby took on the fast Tallaght 5k.

CRONE NIGHT RUN

The trio of Grace, Eoin and James competed in the inaugural Crone Night Run – a 7.5 km course in the dark up and down the technical slopes of Maulin. Grace Curham did superbly well to take 1st in the Female Senior category and 4th woman overall.

RESULT

1. Greg Byrne (Rathfarnham WSAF) 0:38:55

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

57. Grace Curham 0:52:46 (1st FS)

69. Eoin Phelan 0:55:56

151. James Heggie 1:16:34

ZUIDERPARKUN

Richard set a season best 5 km time for the club (even if it is early doors) with a solid 17:57 in the Zuiderparkrun.

RESULT

1. Philip Nind (Vegan Runners) 0:16:37

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

2. Richard Costelloe 0:17:57 (1st M45, Season Best)

TALLAGHT 5 KM

Mark Willoughby attended the traditional Tallaght road race where nearly 500 runners took the start line running 23:13 (his third fastest time yet).

RESULT

1. Mitchell Byrne (Rathfarnham WSAF) 0:15:03

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

247. Mark Willoughby 0:23:13

AMELAND VUURTOREN GOLDEN TRAIL SERIES RACE 35K

Everything was on the menu for Catherine in the Dutch instalment of the UK/Netherland national series of the Golden Trail Series: canal wading, dune running, sandy trails, and footpaths through little villages but she had another strong run to take 6th place in the women’s race and 29th overall.

RESULT

1. Wouter Simons (Beverst) 2:25:25

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

29. Catherine Devitt 3:19:21 (6th woman)

REPORT: Ticknock Winter and Moneystown 4 mile race!

March 4, 2024 by glendaloughac, posted in Mountain running, Race reports, Road running

Three results to report this time as we had a small contingent on a wintry Ticknock in Dublin, a large contingent at the super-local road race in Moneystown and a late ParkRun result from Torben.

TICKNOCK WINTER

Snowy conditions led to a slightly new route being put in place at Ticknock where four of our male runners were in action with Alan Kennedy first home followed by Richard Kieran and Eoin Phelan (within 6 seconds of each other) and James Heggie.

RESULT

1. Matthew McConnell (SeekVert) 0:35:32

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

61. Alan Kennedy 0:51:28

87. Richard Kieran 0:57:06

88. Eoin Phelan 0:57:12

143. James Heggie 1:07:04

MONEYSTOWN 4 MILE

Thirteen of our runners ran in Moneystown inaugural road race: a tough 4 mile course around quiet country roads. We had thirteen runners – unsurprising as several club members are former alumni of Moneystown Primary School for whom the race raised funds.

John Conway was invited as ‘celebrity starter’ and was our first man home in 10th position and 25:10 followed by Aran and Gavin before Donna arrived as winner of the women’s race. Parnell’s Caroline Ayton was next before Aoife Joyce secured a second podium spot for our club on the day.

The award winners on the day with Aoife (1st left), Donna Quinn (third left), and John (centre)

It was great to see a good attendance from our Thursday Night beginner’s group with Ciara Flynn, Sile Keane and Cari Burke all in action. There was also representation from our Wicklow Wolf RC – in the person of the owner Simon Lynch himself.

Colm Kenna took 7 seconds off his 8 year old 4 mile PB while Gavin Kennedy, Fergal Olohan and Siobhan Brennan set their first club records (Fergal in his first race for us) by setting the standard for the M45, M50 and F50 categories in the distance.

Donna Quinn took her 19th club record setting a new F40 best (now 6 ahead of Angus!) while Aoife Joyce, Aran Lynham and Gavin Kennedy filled in the until then vacant 4 mile records for the F45, Male Senior and m45 categories.

RESULT

1. Robin Mooney (Inbhear Dee AC) 0:21:44

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

10. John Conway 0:25:10 (PB)

12. Aran Lynham 0:25:46 (PB, MS Club Record)

13. Gavin Kennedy 0:26:15 (PB, M45 Club Record)

14. Donna Quinn 0:26:39 (1st F40, PB, F40 Club Record)

22. Aoife Joyce 0:28:16 (3rd F45, PB, F45 Club Record)

27. Colm Kenna 0:29:11 (PB)

28. Yvonne Brennan 0:29:35

31. Fergal Olohan 0:30:01 (PB, M50 Club Record)

44. Siobhan Brennan 0:32:08 (PB, F50 Club Record)

55. Simon Lynch 0:34:26 (PB)

67. Cari Burke 0:37:17 (PB)

77. Ciara Flynn 0:40:47 (PB)

83. Sile Keane 0:43:19 (PB)

RIVER VALLEY PARKRUN

A late result: last weekend Torben Dahl continued his Wicklow Way Half prep running 20:25 and finishing 5th on a bumpy course at the River Valley ParkRun in Swords.

RESULT

1. Chun Man Tam () 0:18:40

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

5. Torben Dahl 0:20:26

REPORT: Wicklow Hospice and Clonmel ‘Halves’, Transgrancanaria…

February 26, 2024 by glendaloughac, posted in Mountain running, Race reports, Road running, Trail running

This weekend featured longer distance events with two local half-marathons and the 129 km of the Transgrancanaria Classic by the ever unbreakable Brian Lydon….

CLONMEL HALF-MARATHON

Eoin Phelan in Clonmel (photo: Sarah Whelan)

Eoin Phelan ran in the reasonably new IMRA Clonmel Half (run for the first time in 2023)

RESULT

1. Enda Cloake (Slaney Olympic) 1:40:24

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

84. Eoin Phelan 2:40:35

WICKLOW HOSPICE HALF-MARATHON

Graeme Warren had a great run-out in the Wicklow Hospice Half where he crossed the line in 11th overall (10th man) in a shiny new PB time of 1:26:59 knocking 13 seconds off his previous mark from the Wicklow Gaol-Break last year. This also lowered his M50 club record by the same margin.

RESULT

1. Lee Lindsay () 1:22:39

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

11. Graeme Warren 1:26:59 (1st M50, PB, M50 Club Record)

TRANSGANARIA CLASSIC

Brian ran a great race, starting out in the low 200s before dropping into 311th position by the top of the first major climb at 40 km. From there on he kept improving his placing and finally gained 10 places on the final 20 km to finish 215th out of 497 and second of the four Irish competing in the race.

RESULT

1. Raul Butaci (Team BigK) 13:22:32

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

215. Brian Lydon 23:10:49

REPORTS: Trooperstown, Rathcoffey, Sli Chorcai Ultra, Delft 10k, National XC

February 12, 2024February 12, 2024 by glendaloughac, posted in Cross-country running, Mountain running, Race reports, Road running, Ultra running

A full on weekend with action on hills, road and mucky cross-country courses from 5 km to the ultra distances beginning at Trooperstown Hill Saturda morning and finishing at the 123.ie National Masters XC in Dundalk on Sunday afternoon.

TROOPERSTOWN WINTER

Let’s begin locally with the Trooperstown Winter run where we had six runners in action (seven if we count club coach Rene Borg accompanying son Cillian on the short course).

Graeme Warren nips ahead of Shane O’Malley last second

The winter course on this one of our key local hills was slightly changed – 400m shorter than 2023 (9.3 km distance), it featured a less direct ascent, more direct descent and more use of the mountain bike trails in the woods which were particularly slippy after the recent rainfalls. Torben and Graeme packed tightly separating by only one spot and a mere 19 seconds (it would have been two had Graeme not thrown his chip foot over the mat ahead of Dublin Runner’s Shane O’Malley. Alan Kennedy was next as the 4th M55 (like Graeme who was 4th in the M50 narrowly missing out on a category podium). Colm was next followed by Siobhan Brennan with a strong run and Eoin Phelan.

Eoin Phelan on the final descent (Photo Ben Conroy)

RESULT

1. Matthew McConnell () 0:39:48

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

39. Torben Dahl 0:52:41

41. Graeme Warren 0:53:00

78. Colm Kenna 1:00:20

98. Siobhan Brennan 1:04:31

104. Eoin Phelan 1:06:15

SLI CHORCHAI ULTRA

Further South, James Heggie took on the Sli Chorcai Ultra but ultimately had to abandon the race after around 50 km of hardship – the second DNF of the season since club coach Rene Borg stepped off the track in the Wicklow Indoor back in January.

RATHCOFFEY 5K

In Rathcoffey Mark Willoughby recorded our first 5 km race of the year in style running within 1:20 of his PB as he looks to get the year started.

RESULT

1. Fionnuala Mccormack (Kilcoole AC) 0:16:37

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

39. Mark Willoughby 0:23:43

DELFT 10K

Richard Costelloe kicked off the Sunday morning by revisiting the site of his Club Record in 2023 – the Delft 10k and he promptly improved his time running sub-36 minutes with 35:59 to finish 6th.

Unfortunately, it has proved the Delft 10k is 140-200m short meaning that Richard’s times on the course unfortunately do not count in our official 10 km reckoning – a pity as the extra 200m would easily leave him as the best 10 km runner in the club. Hopefully a properly measured course will see to this shortly! * His time would be equivalent to a 36:20 10 km.

RESULT

1. Koen Kuipers (De Koplopers) 0:31:43

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

6. Richard Costelloe 0:35:59 (PB effort but course short)

* from a club record perspective Richard retains both the overall and M45 club records with his 37:08 fastest from the Zoetemeer 10k with Amidou Dembele regaining the ‘All-Time Best’ with his 36:31 run for Crusaders AC

NATIONAL MASTER’S CROSS-COUNTRY – DUNDALK

The weekend’s running finished in Dundalk when Rene Borg was the lone adult Sli Cualann/Wicklow representative at the National Masters and Intermediate cross-country. This was his debut at National cross level and the first time a Glendalough AC runner has run a national cross-country event.

Running over the 7 km distance, he finished well within his goal of being in the first 3/4 of the field on a course so mucky it lead to the average times dropping 3-4 minutes on the 2019 incarnation and being described by one runner as ‘not fit to drive a tractor through’ – in other words nearly good old-fashioned cross-country event had the sunshine on the day been replaced by rain.

Rene gained more positions than he lost as the race went on and was narrowly beaten out in a sprint finish by Willie O’Donoghue, a former Master’s XC medal winner, of Moreabbey Milers. Their battle helped pull them nine seconds clear of the next chasing pack

RESULT

1. Tim O’Donoghue (East Cork AC) 0:24:50

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

128. René Borg 0:32:26

REPORTS: Ballyhoura, Howth, and Indoor round-up

January 28, 2024January 28, 2024 by glendaloughac, posted in Mountain running, Race reports, Track running, Trail running

The final tally from the Wicklow Indoor Championship is now available as results were released and it resulted in 8 medals and 4 club records.

WICKLOW INDOOR RESULTS

400m

RESULT

1. Malachy Kenny (Kilcoole AC) 0:00:55

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

19. James Heggie 0:01:34 (1st M50, Club Record, Individual Gold)

800m

RESULT

1. Drew Donohue (Bray Runners) 0:02:02

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

10. Paul Duffy 0:02:23 (1st M40, Individual Gold)

12. Aran Lynham 0:02:27 (2nd MS, Individual Silver)

14. Diarmuid Kavanagh 0:02:29 (3rd MS, Individual Bronze)

43. René Borg DNF

1500m

RESULT

1. Drew Donohue (Bray Runners) 0:04:23

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

7. Paul Duffy 0:04:52 (1st M40, Club Record, Individual Gold)

8. Aran Lynham 0:04.59.8

14. René Borg 0:05:14.7 (3rd M40, Individual Bronze)

15. Diarmuid Kavanagh 0:05:18.7

26. Eoin Phelan 0:05:48.3 (1st M35, Individual Gold)

3000m

RESULT

1. Noah Harris (Parnell AC) 0:09:27

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

5. James Heggie 0:15:19 (1st M50, Individual Gold)

BALLYHOURA WINTER CHALLENGE

Ballyhoura Moonlight Challenge (credit: IMRA Munster)

James Heggie returned to his more familiar stomping ground of the long tough hills as he took on the 28 km night race in Ballyhoura this Friday past.

RESULT

1. Enda Cloake (Slaney Olympic) 2:02:20

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

214. James Heggie 4:11:47

HOWTH WINTER

The morning after our first Wicklow Wolf run of the year saw only a duo of Glendalough runners make their way up to Howth where preparations had been disrupted by a disgruntled local removing marking ahead of the race but Eoin and Keith managed to get around with minimum incident. It was interesting to note that the winner of the race – Slaney’s Enda Cloake had also won the Ballyhoura Winter Challenge only about 13 hours earlier.

RESULT

1. Enda Cloake (Slaney Olympic) 0:36:10

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

70. Eoin Phelan 0:55:02

89. Keith Mulvey 0:59:44