Long overdue report on several reports as our Club Championship continued at Lug na Coille and Angus Tyner wraps up the ‘M55 prize’ in the Leinster League….
TROOPERSTOWN SUMMER
The Leinster League finished on the familiar slopes of Trooperstown Hil where Eoin Syron led the team home ahead of Torben. Diarmuid Kavanagh was going well but had to pull up with a muscle cramp early on the climb.
Eoin was our highest finisher in the League overall in 18th spot for the whole league (counted best 7 out of 13 races) followed by Angus Tyner in 23rd who narrowly took the over-55 ‘title’ ahead of Alan Kennedy in 27th. James Heggie was the fourth and final Glendalough AC runner in 66th out of the 73 runners who achieved 7 races (a total of 504 runners ran 1 race or more).
Torben Dahl at Trooperstown
RESULT
1. Enda Cloake (Slaney Olympic) 0:40:01
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
29. Eoin Syron 0:50:00
56. Torben Dahl 0:54:04
62. Alan Kennedy 0:55:46
95. Ben Lewis 1:01:48
122. Eoin Phelan 1:09:11
129. James Heggie 1:16:09
151. Diarmuid Kavanagh 0:00:00
SD SCP 6K (BHAA)
RESULT
1. Sean doran (Harrier Products) 0:20:36
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
31. Eoin Kennedy 0:28:48
35. Mark Willoughby 0:29:23
LUG NA COILLE
Eoin Syron (WW RC shirt front) breaks away from his club mates early (Kev in light blue, Rene and Diarmuid in the back 4th, 5th and 7th in the picture)
At the super-traditional Lug na Coille route runners had to brave the wet and mist. Slaney’s Enda Cloake won his 10th race in 11 outings this season and the fact his winning time was the slowest since 1999 spoke more to the conditions than Enda’s performance!
Kevin ahead of Rene and Diarmuid on the early fire-road
Eoin Syron detached himself early to finish first man home as he had at Trooperstown leaving the trio of Rene, Kevin, and Diarmuid to battle it out for further Club Championship points. Rene made his move late on Camarahill but Kevin would keep returning and trying to ‘drop’ the club coach before Rene eventually got a gap on the flat plateau which he extended on the descent. Diarmuid closed in significantly on the downhill – closing to within 8 seconds of Kevin. Alan Kennedy took a detour into the valley adding 2 km and plenty of time (but not as bad as two other runners who were lost for 4.5 hours!).
RESULT
1. Enda Cloake (Slaney Olympic) 0:58:02
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
12. Eoin Syron 1:09:33
14. René Borg 1:11:50
20. Kevin Ferguson 1:16:17
21. Diarmuid Kavanagh 1:16:25
32. Alan Kennedy 1:40:00 (3rd M55)
Sliabh Daeane – Ox Mountains
While our quintet battled on Lug na Coille Eric Kelly had his IMRA debut in Sligo in the North-West League finishing 39th and having a good time by all accounts.
RESULT
1. Aiden McMoreland () 0:43:08
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
39. Eric Kelly 1:24:54
BLUESTACK WAY 50 KM
This weekend John Conway finished 2nd in the inaugural Bluestack Way 50 km – a fairly speedy trail route that includes several road sections in County Donegal. John had crossed the finish line in 3rd spot but a time penalty for the runner-up saw him promoted to 2nd behind Irish international Cillian Fleming. John’s wife Laura won the women’s race.
A new club record and two podiums were the harvest as our runners sprung into action on Dutch trails, Wicklow hills and Monaghan roads…
Veluwezoom Trail Festival 32k
In the Netherlands, Rich Costelloe took on the 32 km distance in the Veluwezoom Trail Running Festival and zoomed (no pun intended!) around in 2:44.
RESULT
1. Niels Baljet (Rotterdam) 2:12:37
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
17. Richard Costelloe 2:44:07
Richard Costelloe in Nordwijk 10k a week before he took to the trails
CRONE COILLTE CAPER
Alan Kennedy led our team home at the tough race in Crone as he chased the possibility of catching club mate Angus Tyner for the overall M55 win in the Leinster League. Unfortunately, Paul Mahon and Paddy McLoughlin made a rare appearance knocking him into 3rd and removing the last mathematical chance of Alan catching Angus (who has 11 points – Alan can finish on 12 if he wins the M55 at Trooperstown).
Alan was followed home not by the regular summer crowd but by returnees and near-debutantees: Torben Dahl running his first race since the relay, Ben Lewis who was kept out by injury since May and Eoin Phelan enjoying only his second mountain race after making his debut at Ballinastoe last week!
Loraine Creane was out supporting some of the kids in the short race.
RESULT
1. Enda Cloake (Slaney Olympic) 0:29:04
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
20. Loraine Creane 0:44:24
42. Alan Kennedy 1:09:34 (3rd M55)
65. Torben Dahl 1:13:34
88. Ben Lewis 1:20:06
108. Eoin Phelan 1:29:11
121. James Heggie 1:37:45
BLANEY ROCKETS 10 MILE
Meanwhile further North, Donna Quinn lowered her 2017 PB in the 10 mile distance by 1m12s as she finished 3rd in the Blaney Rockets 10 miler.
With this she lowered both her own overall women’s 10 mile club record and also struck Nora Butler’s F40 record off the books.
Donna hits the podium at the Blaney Rockets 10 mile
RESULT
1. Mark McNally (Glaslough Harriers AC) 0:59:36
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
49. Donna Quinn 1:08:49 (3rd woman, 1st F40, PB, Club Record)
Serious racing this week as several gruelling mountain races where taken on and we also had plenty of action on the roads including a big contingent at the Clontarf Half-marathon as we report on fifteen more results from Ireland, Norway, Wales and the Netherlands.
GLENDALOUGH TUCKER TRAIL
James Heggie fell for the cut-offs in the Glendalough Tucker Trail 80k – 11 of the 38 starters suffered this fate. Tough luck but on the plus side he had energy enough left to run at Ticknock 4 days later….
RESULT
1. Keith Lane () 8:19:40
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
38. James Heggie DNF
THREE-ROCK TICKNOCK
Angus Tyner – 1st M55 – at Ticknock
James was one of four finishers from the club in this Leinster League race with Angus Tyner leading the team home ahead of Alan Kennedy and Mark Willoughby on a new course devised for 2023. Angus and Alan took 1st and 2nd in the M55 neary ‘as usual’.
RESULT
1. Enda Cloake (Slaney Olympic) 0:37:42
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
38. Angus Tyner 0:47:55 (1st M55)
48. Alan Kennedy 0:49:28 (2nd M55)
146. James Heggie 1:11:05
171. Mark Willoughby 1:09:28
HORNINDAL ULTRA
Graeme in Norway
Graeme Warren was in Norway running a race described as ‘Norway’s toughest mountain race’ and it seemed correct once his report arrived:
A quick update from Norway. I dropped out of the ultra at half way (still got a medal as that was also a race!). 37.5km, 2900m vertical, which took 8.48 hours, for an blistering average speed of a smidge over 4km an hour. This was a different league, way beyond anything I’ve tried before Technically really challenging and with brutal climbs and descents. I think there were only two short sections in any way runnable. At that pace, it would have taken c20hours for the ultra, and I wasn’t ready for that. So I stopped in good form, having had one of the best mountain days of my life, and with no injuries after a great adventure. Very happy indeed!
While Graeme earned a medal for completing the ‘shortened’ 38.6 km it was not enough for a placing and he had to concede as a DNF in the 75k.
RESULT
1. Erik Vadla (Sandles IL) 11:11:43
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
34. Graeme Warren DNF
CLONTARF HALF-MARATHON
Eoin Phelan (middle) at a windy Clontarf
Diarmuid Kavanagh was our fastest man and set his first marker on this distance as 1:37:41. Starting in Wave 4 it took him 8 minutes to cross the line and he described the first 4 km as ‘being at a funeral’ and Eoin Phelan also reported the race had some issues this year:
“It was poorly organised. i had to run with the race-tshirt in my hand as we barely made it to the start line due to queues for race numbers. the wind was so strong that I could barely take a drink of water from their wide plastic cups. i end up having to stop at each water station just so could actually swallow some water. the parking was poorly organised aswell. on a positive note it was a nice course and medal.“
Our Wicklow Wolf RC contingent also ran well with PBs for Graham Kearns and Ben McGettigan.
RESULT
1. Yared Derese (Carrick Aces AC) 1:10:27
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
323. Diarmuid Kavanagh 1:37:55 (PB, MS PB)
464. Mark Lindsay 1:47:13 – WW RC
592. Graham Kearns 1:49:03 (PB, M45 PB)- WW RC
731. Eoin Phelan 1:54:08
1412. Ben McGettigan 2:04:09 (PB, M35 PB) – WW RC
2044. James McCarthy 2:18:08 – WW RC
SNOWDONIA XTERRA HALF-MARATHON
Rene Borg on the long ascent to Snowdon in the Xterra Trail
Around the same time in Wales, club coach Rene Borg (representing an EcoTrail Wicklow contingent over there to sell Wicklow on the locals) began the long climb towards Snowdon in a race the organiser’s described as ‘a race that is known as one of the most challenging half routes out there (some will say harder than the full!)’. Despite these hardships and a fall on the final descent, Rene finished in the top-10% of the field and was back to see the other EcoTrail Wicklow ‘workers’ take the overall win (Ricki Wynne), M50 win (Paul Mahon) and F40 win (Nicola Cleary) in the 57 km race.
RESULT
1. Oliver Radford () 1:51:01
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
38. René Borg 2:26:43
NORDWIJK 10 KM and 5 km
Also abroad – in the Netherlands – Catherine Devitt won the F40 category in the Nordwijk 10k finishing 6th woman and 35th overall in a race that drew nearly 600 competitors.
RESULT
1. Bereket Yeman (Leiden) 0:32:54
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
35. Catherine Devitt 0:39:25 (1st F40)
Hubby Richard Costelloe competed in the 5 km – in similarly warm conditions around 25 degrees – finishing 10th out of 198 anf was likewise first in this category (M45).
We had our usual large contingent at the ‘local mountain’ Brockagh where Paul Duffy led our men home in a very impressive 57:20 (the fastest time recorded by one of our runners on this new course introduced in 2022). Behind him was an impressive Aran Lynham (in his first hill race of the season) and next Kevin Ferguson who combined a strong climb with ever improving descending to get under the 62 minute mark.
Paul Duffy leads the charge
The field was described as ‘stacked’ and there was truth in that – when injured coach Rene Borg (who had to walk off at the 2 km mark with a calf strain) led the team home last year, it was with a time (59:20) that would only have been good enough for 23rd this year. Last year it yielded a 12th place. If any doubt remained, Karol Cronin settled it by winning in a new course record – 11 seconds ahead of Derek Crammond’s 2022 mark.*
* statistically 14% of the field this year broke 1 hour versus only 11% in 2022
Sarah Foster ensuring that for the first time in a long while, we had TWO female competitors in an IMRA race!
Our runners did well in the categories: Angus and Alan did their now (nearly) regular 1/2 in the M55 with only 13 seconds between them while Loraine Creane was third woman overall and 2nd F40. Sarah Foster was 7th woman and 2nd senior female (under 35) and Aran Lynham 3rd in the Senior men’s category.
M55 rivals Angus Tyner and Alan Kennedy
afterwards it was commented that the ‘most of the same faces that were running 2007-2010 appear to be still around. A quick comparison of the 2008 to 2023 race confirms it: in 2022, 15 out of the top-20 runners were under 35. in 2008 19% of the field was over 40. 15 years later, it is 83%!
With the Wicklow Way Relay filling a bit space this weekend, it would have been easy to overlook a few results. So here it goes…
VER VERDON CANYON TRAIL
John Conway with a game face on at the Var Verdon start (left) – photo Seanie Clifford
John Conway finished an impressive 11th place finish in the competitive Var Verdon Trail Canyon trail race in the spectacular Verdon Regional Natural Park in France over 60 km with more than 3000m vertical. Wife Laura competed in the 24 km race only a few days after her exertions in the World Championship finishing 2nd woman and 7th overall.
RESULT
1. Juste Raimbault (Avon Athletisme Club) 7:14:50
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
11. John Conway 9:11:19
Kráherwald ParkRun
Jonathan Cody and his son took on the bumpy forest ParkRun near Stuttgart.
RESULT
1. Linus Candeleria () 0:20:09
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
27. Jonathan Cody 0:31:21
Paul leads the yellow charge at Djouce
DJOUCE – THE AYLING ABYSS
Five club members took on one of the toughest of the IMRA Wednesday night races yesterday including Paul Duffy (‘fresh’ from sitting out the relay) joining four of our relay runners wanting to see what they could do on 3.5 days recovery.
Alan Kennedy (2nd M55) fought a tight intra-club battle with Angus Tyner
Paul led the team home in 15th while Angus and Alan had a tight battle for the M55 title with Angus securing it by a mere 17 seconds in the end. They were followed by Kevin Ferguson and James Heggie who may rightly have felt handicapped by their outings on the long leg 2 and leg 7 Saturday!
Results from Fraughen Rock Glen came through this week and confirmed that Graham Bush had nicked himself a top-10 place whilst winning the M55 category.
FRAUGHEN ROCK GLEN
RESULT
1. Bernard Fortune (SBR AC) 1:14:00
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
10. Graham Bushe 1:26:25 (1st M55)
HOWTH SUMMER
An unusually small field took to the start at Howth (99) runners – perhaps a good few had their eyes on saving their legs for the relay? Not so for Alan Kennedy, Angus Tyner and James Heggie who all ran and are doing the relay on Saturday. Paul Duffy is not available unfortunately and going by this performance he will be missed as he took 8th spot and was 2nd M40 in his second IMRA race of the season (after his 13th at Brockagh Burst).
Paul Duffy full tilt at Howth
Alan Kennedy – ready to captain the Wicklow Wolf RC – won the M55 category ahead of Angus Tyner who may have ben feeling the gruelling Tuesday evening pre-relay sharpener!
Two wins, two club records, and three PBs in the sunny weather around Ireland and in Holland – such is the summary of the June Bank Holiday efforts…
ZUIDERPARKRUN
Richard Costelloe took a one second victory in his local ‘Zuiderpark’ ParkRun in The Hague in 18:03 ahead of 179 other runners continuing his good form post-marathon.
RESULT
1. Richard Costelloe, Glendalough AC 0:18:03 (1st M45)
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
The Skinbar Driedorpenloop
The next day things really heated up in the Netherlands where Catherine Devitt set a new half-marathon PB of 1:25:49 (beating her old mark by 4 minutes) whilst finishing 2nd overall and winning the ladies race by a 16 minute margin (!). This also erased Rachel Wisdom’s 1:28 half-marathon from her Clonliffe Harriers days from our club ‘All-Time Best’ list.
Catherine Devitt in a sprint finish with a runner from one of the shorter distances
The Leinster Championships continued on the route that arguably holds the most testing up and downhill of the summer – Fraughen Rock Glen which was won for the 7th time in a row by SBR man Bernard Fortune. Graham Bush took his race tally to 3 races in 8 days (Drumgoff and the Wicklow Road preceding this) and ran well. Not having enough he ventured off for a 9 km cooldown!
We still await final results from this race
WOMEN’S MINI-MARATHON
Next Sarah Foster took her second PB in 5 days when lowering her 10 km time to 44:38 after her 20:36 5k on Wednesday at the County Championship.
Sarah Foster clenches her fists as she secures another PB in the heat!
RESULT
1. Nakita Burke (Letterkenny AC) 0:34:27
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
73. Sarah Foster 0:44:38 (PB)
CORK CITY MARATHON
Last but not least Aran Lynham had his first crack at the marathon distance on the sweltering streets of Cork and was going well for his 3:17 target until his quad gave up on him at around 28 km. But Aran gritted through and secured a sub-3:30 time in his first attempt: not a bad foundation for future marathon ventures. He also beat John Conway’s club marathon record for the Male under-35 category which he can now claim.
RESULT
1. Pawel Kosek (Poland) 2:28:24
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
302. Aran Lynham 3:29:38 (PB, MS PB, Club MS record)
We expect to have more than 15 runners in action in the double-header Wednesday night (Wicklow Road Champs / Devil’s Glen) on either side of the N11.
DRUMGOFF
John Conway chases down Parnell’s HIlary Jenkinson on a fire-road section at Drumgoff
Before we get there a quick result snuck in between our mega-report and those two: the Drumgoff Leinster Champs race where Graham Bush and John Conway finished within a minute of each other in 10th and 11th position respectively. Graham also secured the M55 win having a solid 5 minute gap to the next in his category.
RESULT
1. Edward O’Connor () 1:15:30
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
10. Graham Bushe 1:30:56 (1st M50)
11. John Conway 1:31:46
SLIEVE LEAGUE 50K
We also missed one more result in our catch-up: Brian Lydon’s fine podium finish at the Sliabh Liege 50k race in Donegal in a very exclusive field of 10 runners! The race featured a certain amount of self-selection with shorter options available and the 50k including 4 gruelling laps with significant climb.
The Lap of the Gap Marathon kept our club sufficiently busy that this report has been delayed for a while leaving us 11 (!) races, 2 DNFs, 5 podiums, 2 club records and two county medals….
CLUB RUNNERS HITTING 50 AND 100 RACES
Also of note club coach Rene Borg hit ’50 caps’ in the Glendalough jersey with the recent run-out at EcoTrail Copenhagen. the next to approach milestones are Colm Kenna (three races from 100), Claire Thompson (2 from 50) and Richard Costelloe (3 from 50). Only eight members have run 50 or more races for the club and only Angus Tyner and Torben Dahl more than 100.
DYSART WOODS
We begin our catch up nearly a month back on 30th April where Lillian Deegan kicked off her season finishing 47th in Dysart Woods.
RESULT
1. Barry McEvoy () 0:26:44
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
47. Lillian Deegan 1:00:55
ARDGILLAN
The more northerly races are always less popular among our runners but we did have Torben Dahl and James Heggie in action around the Ardgillan estate and James Heggie leads our ‘most prolific racer’ now with 11 races this year.
RESULT
1. Mark McAdden () 0:35:39
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
32. Torben Dahl 0:42:28
122. James Heggie 0:50:42
CARRICK MOUNTAIN
A week later at Carrick, the local troops were out in force and this time it was Kevin Ferguson’s time to lead the men home followed by Graeme Warren and a welcome outing for Loraine Creane.
Kevin Ferguson battling uphill at Carrick
RESULT
1. Peter Roche (Dunbyone AC) 0:38:41
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
34. Kevin Ferguson 0:50:09
40. Graeme Warren 0:51:03
52. Alan Kennedy 0:51:49 (3rd M55)
77. Loraine Creane 0:58:04
163. James Heggie 1:22:08
WICKLOW OUTDOOR TRACK AND FIELD 1500M AND 5K
We had intended to bring our biggest group yet to several events at the Wicklow Track and Field but a mixture of illness, dog-bites and niggles, meant only Diarmuid Kavanagh (5k) and Paul Duffy (1500m) ended up competing. This was productive for Paul who claimed a gold medal in the M40 category (meaning our club now holds the m40 Indoor AND Outdoor titles for 2023), a personal best and a club record!
For Diarmuid – in the new 5000m distance at the championships – it was a third track medal of the year (this time silver) to accompany a 5K PB.
1500m
RESULT
1. Finn Buck (Parnell AC) 0:04:24
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
17. Paul Duffy 0:04:58.5 (1st M40, PB, Club Record, Individual Gold)
5000m
RESULT
1. Robin Mooney (Inbhear Dee AC) 0:16:21
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
7. Diarmuid Kavanagh 0:18:37 (2nd MS, PB)
UTS 50K / BEARA WAY ULTRA
Duncan Barrett started his season big going to the prestigious and stacked Ultra Tour Snowdonia to take part in the ‘fun run’ over 50k finishing in a very decent 460th position in a large field full of DNFs!
Only eight days later he toed the line in the inaugural Beara Way Ultra and perhaps that a few mountains too far as he was the one succumbing to the DNF rate on that occasion.
Ultra Tour Snowdonia 50k
RESULT
1. Thomas Evans (Adidas Terrex) 5:27:11
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
460. Duncan Barrett 11:17:22
Beara Way Ultra
RESULT
1. Stephen Mangan () 21:53:52
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
30. Duncan Barrett DNF
SCARR
We had an impressive 9 runners testing out the newly revised course from Gaffney’s Lane where Brian Lydon continued a recent trend of being our ‘first man across the post’ followed by an impressive run by Kevin Ferguson who is really beginning to find his hill legs and Angus Tyner securing another podium in his newly minted M55 category.
Aoife Joyce returns to the LL after 12 years! (photo Andrew Hanney)
It was also a welcome return to the Leinster League for Aoife Joyce – 12 years after her last Leinster League race, the 2008 league winner was back.
RESULT
1. Eoin Flynn () 0:42:57
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
26. Brian Lydon 0:50:59
29. Kevin Ferguson 0:52:12
39. Angus Tyner 0:53:32 (3rd M50)
44. Torben Dahl 0:54:15
47. Philip O’Brien 0:54:29 (WW RC)
53. Alan Kennedy 0:55:16 (WW RC)
67. Aoife Joyce 0:59:48
124. Keith Mulvey 1:13:43
166. James Heggie 1:29:51
GOLDEN TENLOOP DELFT
Catherine Devitt took husband Richard’s ticket for the well-attended 10 km in Delft (with his consent we believe) for her 10th race of the season finishing 5th woman in a field of over 2500 runners!
Finish Line Director (Donna Quinn) and Safety Director (Keith Mulvey) have time for a smile at Lap of the Gap
GLEN TO GLEN HALF / LAP OF THE GAP MARATHON
We hope to do a separate race report on a memorable 6th edition of our club fund-raiser Lap of the Gap which saw a new marathon course record and record numbers for the 6th consecutive edition (the race now having grown every year!).
With most of our runners playing key roles in organisation it was left to a select few to make their mark on the competition and Rachel Wisdom did so brilliantly securing our first podium in the event since 2017 whilst finishing 2nd in the women’s half-marathon race.
Rachel Wisdom 2nd lady home in the half (photo: Lindie Naughton)
Graeme Warren knocked 18 minutes off his best for the full marathon course to finish a fine 12th in the fastest field ever assembled on ‘Ireland’s highest road marathon’ continuing a good tradition for us in this race which was won by Torben Dahl in 2016 and saw a 9th place finish by Anthony Breen in 2017. New member Aaron Kedward also completed his long build-up for the race successfully dipping well under the 5 hour barrier.
Leaving their duties at one of (or the?) toughest road race in Ireland behind, our PB hunting runners instead opted for the Fastlane 10k
RESULT
1. Jake Russell-Carroll () 0:32:10
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
11. Blaise Kinsella 0:38:02 (PB, M40 PB)
17. Paul Duffy 0:39:25 (PB, M40 PB)
346. Sile Keane 1:03:37 (PB, F40 PB)
GREAT SUGARLOAF
A slightly new course, mapped out by club man Graham Bush, was on offer as the Great Sugarbowl race arrived earlier than normal in the Leinster League. Angus led home with another M55 podium ahead of Ben Lewis and James Heggie with Lillian Deegan conceding a DNF.
Angus Tyner continues to do well in the M55 category finishing 2nd at Sugar Bowl
RESULT
1. Peter Roche () 0:36:37
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
34. Angus Tyner 0:46:45 (2nd M55)
80. Ben Lewis 0:52:59
160. James Heggie 1:13:44
170. Lillian Deegan DNF
NEXT UP
This week the Wicklow Road Championship 5k is on Wednesday doubling up as always as a counter in our club championship before Aran Lynham takes on the Cork Marathon over the weekend….
After a busy last weekend, the racing continued unabated as we enter the breathless May/June period and this one offered 2 podiums, 2 personal bests and 1 club record…
PRINCE WILLIAM’S SEAT
Wednesday action kicked us of with six of our runners attacking Prince William’s Seat – the fun and tricky 8.5 km Leinster League classic. Brian Lydon had taken the early start as he had to head home early which was a pity as he would have had an almighty battle with Graeme to be our first man home (three seconds separated them) but had to accept a 147th position as early starters are automatically moved behind the main field. This left Graeme Warren well clear as our first finisher and 2nd in the M50 category.
Brian Lydon relieved to see daylight
Laragh-born Martin Cullen had another great run finishing 19th.
RESULT
1. Peter Roche (Dunbyone AC) 0:40:43
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
31. Graeme Warren 0:51:00 (2nd M50)
92. Ben Lewis 0:59:47
105. Colm Kenna 1:01:30
147. Brian Lydon 0:51:03
158. Mark Willoughby 1:09:15
192. James Heggie 1:23:28
LEINSTER NOVICE AND MASTER’S ROAD RACE (GOWRAN)
In Gowran Donna ran within 8 seconds of her 3 km PB to help the Sli Cualann Master’s women’s team to finish 4th in both the Club competition as the 2nd scorer behind Parnell’s Catherine O’Connor and ahead of Debbie Griffin. In the County medals, the trio were likewise just edged out by Laois and finished 4th.
Donna didn’t romanticise her race report:” I was a few seconds slower than last year, but much tougher competition too. I was way down the field in comparison. Ah well, box ticked!” (ed: she ran her second fastest 3k – 8 seconds slower than her PB).
Donna Quinn battling away in Gowran over the 3k distance
RESULT
1. Fiona Kehoe (Kilmore AC) 0:10:32
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
17. Donna Quinn 0:11:35
WATERVILLE TRAIL FESTIVAL 3-DAY AND 43K
John Conway was in a war of attrition taking on 3x 43 km trail runs in Waterville together with his wife Laura . Sitting pretty in 3rd after the first day John lost a bit of ground on the second day dropping to 4th a position he held. This was enough to gain 3rd in the men’s category as wife Laura held on to second overall and won the women’s race being pegged back on the last day by Sean Meehan.
RESULT
1. Sean Meehan () 13:23:26
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
4. John Conway 14:43:34 (3rd man)
Richard Kieran and Keith Mulvey joined in on the lap for the final day (Sunday) placing 51st and110th respectively It was a welcome return for Keith after recent surgery and he celebrated his 29th marathon/ultra-marathon and gained a sense of completeness after having DNFed in the 3-day WTF at his last attempt in 2022 (but having finished 8th in 2019). Richard Kieran was solidly mid-pack – a nice way to celebrate his 5th anniversary with Olivia Galvin.
Keith Mulvey completing his WTF43K
RESULT
1. Nick Hogan () 3:54:35
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
51. Richard Kieran 5:53:18
110. Keith Mulvey 8:01:48
LIMERICK MARATHON
Everything built up to the crescendo at the Limerick Marathon where our club were willing Blaise on to a sub-3 hour finish after a long and punishing marathon build-up. Blaise would be the second runner this month to make a concerted attempt at joining the sub-3 hour club (in his debut!) after Richard Costelloe had fallen slightly short in Rotterdam. Things looked rosy as Blaise came through the first half along with the sub-3 hour pacers in 1:28:32. He never really lost much pace but slowed down just enough to slip above in 3:00:59.
Despite missing out this was a fabulous debut on the distance and just rewards for some very tough work put in by Blaise over the last few months including an injury set-back that nearly scuttled the build-up entirely. He got a personal best and broke Barry O’Neill’s long-standing 3:08 M40 club record.
Blaise’s time was also the second fastest run in the club’s history (after Torben Dahl’s 2:57 in 2016) and put’s Blaise 4th on the ‘all-time best’ marathon list of our current members with only three members having faster life-time bests.
Marathon number 11 for Eoin Phelan and…
Not to be outdone Eoin Phelan recorded a great 9 minutes personal best of 4:13 one week after doing the Connemarathon (!) .
RESULT
1. Tudor Moldovan (Clonliffe Harriers) 2:25:16
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
56. Blaise Kinsella 3:00:59 (PB, M40 PB)
571. Eoin Phelan 4:13:12 (PB, M35 PB)
IRISH ORIENTEERING CHAMPIONSHIP
And whilst we don’t generally report on our members extra-curricular achievements in other sports, we have to make an exception to congratulate Angus Tyner on his triple-haul of gold medals at the Irish Orienteering Championships on home turf in Wicklow.
