It was a good week for people ‘returning to action’ and none moreso than Marcus Murphy who raced for the first time in 4 years returning with a solid 20:52.
RESULT
1. Derek Crammond (Parnell AC) 0:16:56
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
19. Marcus Murphy 0:20:52
DEVIL’S GLEN
Diarmuid Kavanagh
Paul Duffy had a disrupted start to the season courtesy of a recurring back issue but is swiftly finding his groove being our first runner home at both Trooperstown Hill and Devil’s Glen with his first top-10 since 2012. For Diarmuid Kavanagh this was his first top-20 in a non-relay IMRA race.
RESULT
1. Matthew McConnell () 0:34:15
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
8. Paul Duffy 0:39:07
17. Diarmuid Kavanagh 0:41:00
44. Colm Kenna 0:46:28
48. Barry O’Neill 0:47:13
TROOPERSTOWN SUMMER
Torben Dahl at Trooperstown
As has been the trend of late races on our ‘local’ hills (Brockagh, Paddock, Scarr, and Trooperstown) draw a good contingent and this time was no exception with a very close battle once again between our men with Paul, Torben and Aran within less 90 seconds. Barry O’Neill continues to manage his way back after long-term knee injury.
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.
Paul Duffy takes on water on leg 4
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
Brian’s view in Seven Sisters
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
Aran get’s top spot
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
Johnny’s ‘mug shot’ for Cape Wrath
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:
Before our big relay update, we catch up on the many race results from the last few weeks including the Carrick and Prince Willie’s Leinster League races, the Prague Marathon, the Leinster Novice Championship and the Wicklow Track and Field 3k as well as ultra performances by Duncan and Brian in the Waterville 130k and Ballyhoura 63k respectively.
CARRICK MOUNTAIN
Eoin Kennedy descending at Carrick
The last race before the relay is sometimes an opportunity for some of our runners to do the final race sharpener but this year Angus Tyner and Eoin Kennedy used it as a replacement as neither could make the relay this time around.
RESULT
1. Peter Bell (Kilcoole AC) 0:39:47
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
25. Angus Tyner 0:51:48 (2nd M50)
28. Eoin Kennedy 0:49:59 (2nd MS)
PRAGUE MARATHON
Club PRO Gleb Reys was on pacing duties in Prague (for a friend) and came through the Czech marathon in 5:10.
RESULT
1. Nobert Kigen (Team Birell) 2:07:54
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
4099. Gleb Reys 5:10:51
Gleb enjoying Prague
WICKLOW TRACK AND FIELD
The week before the relay, our club made it’s debut at the Wicklow Track and Field with four runners competing in the Friday evening 3000m with two PBs and three top-3 finishes (although in a small field).
RESULT
1. Neil Wiktorski (Parnell AC) 0:09:12
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
9. Aran Lynham 0:10:49 (3rd MS, PB)
10. Blaise Kinsella 0:10:50 (2nd M40, PB)
11. René Borg 0:11:03 (3rd M40, M40 PB)
12. Colm Kenna 0:12:22
Aran at the 3k with club coach Rene in the background
LEINSTER MASTERS AND NOVICE ROAD RACE
Donna Quinn represented our contingent under the Sli Cualann banner at the Gowran Leinster Road Race and lowered her PB over 3 km from 12:13 to 11:27 while setting a new club over40 record. Donna’s run was enough for 8th overall and yielded two bronze medals: one individual in the F40 category and one with the Sli Cualann ladies team.
Rachel Wisdom still holds the club 3 km record (set in 3k) for women with 11:17.
RESULT
1. Noureen Brouder (Sportsworld AC) 0:10:35
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
8. Donna Quinn 0:11:27 (3rd F40, PB, F40 PB)
Donna and the Sli Cualann ladies at the Leinster Road Race
BALLYHOURA ULTRA TRAIL
Brian Lydon continued his new adventures over the long distances and made up for the disappointment of missing the Maurice Mullins 50k with a strong run-out at the Ballyhoura Ultra Trail 63k race.
Brian Lydon at Ballyhoura Ultra Trail
RESULT
1. Michael Costello () 5:39:50
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
22. Brian Lydon 7:40:31
PRINCE WILLIAM’S SEAT
Paul Duffy and Aran Lynham have both returned from injury and were testing the bodies ahead of next week’s Wicklow Way Relay. Torben Dahl led the yellow singlets home while Paul managed to overtake Aran during the race. All three finished within 50 seconds which has been the trend of the 2022 season with a good gang of 10 male runners always within about a minute of each other in races.
Paul and Aran at Prince Willie’s Seat
RESULT
1. Conall Whelan (UCD AC) 0:42:09
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
32. Torben Dahl 0:50:59
35. Paul Duffy 0:51:25
38. Aran Lynham 0:51:40
Torben Dahl at Prince Willie’s
WATERVILLE 130K
Duncan Barrett had come out of a period of relative recovery to run the Waterville 130 km with friends. Taking it easy (by his standards) he managed to come around in 20th position overall and 21 hour 8 minutes. This was no mean feat on a day with hot weather causing a DNF rate of over 37% in the race.
Another busy week of race results with our runners taking on several road races, the good trails of Belmont Estate and the traditional mountain race ‘Circuit of Avonbeg’.
CIRCUIT OF AVONBEG
We had three runners in the Leinster Championship race ‘Circuit of Avonbeg’ – a 25 km (or more depending on navigation) open mountain race starting and finishing in Glenmalure.
Graham Bushe was still recovering from his personal ‘Arderrin challenge’ – where he clocked 12 Wicklow arderrins in 6 hours but got himself home in 17th with John Conway in 19th – now fully recovered from the niggle that forced him to drop out of the Mourne Seven Sevens.
Torben Dahl was our next finisher – 12 years after making his IMRA debut on this exact course (finishing 8th). This time – on tired legs – he had to settle for 28th.
RESULTS
1. Ruairi Long (UCD) 2:35:56
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
17. Graham Bushe 3:25:48 (3rd M50)
19. John Conway 3:40:31
28. Torben Dahl 4:27:04
WEXFORD 10K AND HALF-MARATHON
Eight days after his 5 km PB in Shanganagh, Blaise Kinsella was at it again finishing 11th overall in the Wexford 10k in 40:47 – taking nearly 1.5 min off his previous best of 42:15.
RESULT
1. Sean Hehir (MSB) 0:32:53
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
11. Blaise Kinsella 0:40:47 (PB, M40 PB)
Gleb Reys was running in the half-marathon and couldn’t quite snatch a PB on the day but finished in the middle of the field in 1:56:24.
RESULT
1. David Mahon (Slaney Olympic) 1:11:43
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
492. Gleb Reys 1:56:24
BELMONT AND LITTLE SUGARLOAF
The IMRA Leinster League kicked off on the hardpacked trails of Belmont with the technical rocky ‘Little Sugarloaf’ in the middle and here Brian Lydon was our first man home followed by Diarmuid Kavanagh and Sarah Foster representing our ladies section in the 148 strong field.
Diarmuid on Little Sugarloaf
RESULT
1. Conor Greenan (TT Racers) 0:40:36
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
22. Brian Lydon 0:45:49
48. Diarmuid Kavanagh 0:50:54
90. Sarah Foster 0:59:58
Sarah enjoying life on Little Sugarloaf
SHANGANAGH PARKRUN
In the Shanganagh ParkRun Blaise Kinsella banked a surprise 5 km PB of 18:36 knocking 50 seconds off his previous best.
RESULT
1. Alex Gray () 0:16:45
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
9. Blaise Kinsella 0:18:36 (PB, M40 PB)
Brian Lydon at Little Sugarloaf
STREETS OF KILKENNY 5K
Not to be outdone Donna Quinn ran another PB (her 3rd in 2022) only 1 second short of Rachel Wisdom’s club record of 19:03 and the fifth fastest personal best run by current female members of our club. Donna’s previous mark was 19:17. The time also broke Yvonne Brennan’s F40 club record (20:25).
RESULT
1. Eoin Everard (Kilkenny City Harriers AC) 0:14:11
We have a lot of results to catch up on so starting from this weekend and working back:
GREAT IRELAND RUN 10K
Donna Quinn joined the Sli Cualann team for the National 10k Championship in the Phoenix Park and a firm aim to try and break the 40 minute barrier. In the end she fell narrowly short (40:24) but still recorded a PB (by one second!) and got some glitter home: 3rd in the F40 category and what looks like a Silver medal with the Sli Cualann ladies team (lead home by Parnell’s Sile O’Byrne in 4th overall and Catherine O’Connor.
Her time was also the fastest time run by a woman in Glendalough AC colours.
RESULT
1. Mick Clohisey (Raheny Shamrocks) 0:30:49
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
158. Donna Quinn 0:40:24 (3rd F40, PB, Club Record, F40 PB)
John Conway was the only ‘survivor’ of 5 Glendalough AC runners who had originally intended to run the British Championship race in the Mournes (all absent due to injury or other commitments) and was sitting in the top-100 when he had to make a decision to pull out because as he said ‘fitness is fine but quads weren’t quite up for the downhill’. Focus remains on his big project: the Cape Wrath 400k stage race in 5 weeks!
The race was won by mountain running legend Finlay Wild from Lochaber AC.
results
TINAHELY
Three of our runners were in action at the inauguration of the fabulous Tinahely route – initially advertised as 7 km, it’s length was corrected to 13.5 km the week prior and then adjusted again to 14.6 km a few days before. Despite this, some runners couldn’t get enough and after the tough first climb was crested, the first chasing pack took a further detour – with 4 or 5 runners adding their day’s tally up to 19 and even 20.3k!
Thankfully, our trio were not thus tempted. Anthony began the long midway descent first only for Rene to overtake him early on the descent. Without anyone to follow, maximum attention had to be paid as this route – in true IMRA fashion – featured one piece of tape per junction. Rene started the second climb in 2nd position (unbeknownst to him at the time) but had to concede ground as first Eoghan Hughes then Anthony and then Liam Vines ground their way past on the way to the top. Coming into the final stile, Anthony took a wrong turn down towards the short course allowing Rene to repass him and secure 4th place – narrowly off a surprise podium but enough to get 1st M40 and the highest IMRA finish for a GMAC runner since Torben finished 4th at Oughaval Woods in 2019. Anthony – having realised his mistake – managed to recover to finish 11th.
Barry O’Neill was out testing the system after a long period with sore knees and sat back a bit to still finishing in a solid 28th spot out of the 57 runners there. This route will likely return – as it featured not only two tough climbs but lots of lovely single track dirt path and grassy trails.
RESULT
1. Matthew McConnell () 1:06:46
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
4. René Borg 1:19:15 (1st M40)
11. Anthony Breen 1:23:20
28. Barry O’Neill 1:35:10
results
QUEST GLENDALOUGH
The previous day (Saturday 2nd April), Diarmuid Kavanagh had recovered enough from his knee injury to compete in the Quest alongside Eoin Kennedy (only 7 days out from his ultra debut in Maurice Mullins!) whereas John Conway had to DNS with some knee trouble.
Eoin finished 136th out of 575 in the Sport category doing well in the first two runs (finishing 99th, 126th and 174th in the three runs). In the Expert category Diarmuid Kavanagh had to overcome two punctures on the bike sections to finish 63rd out of 253 – not quite the day he had hoped for
Richard Kieran at Annagh Hill (photo: Mick Hanney)
ANNAGH HILL
Richard Kieran was our only runner at the sixth and final Winter League race at Annagh Hill – a course infamous for it’s tough and slippy descents and it did not disappoint this year. Richard finished 36th out of the 105 runners – his best finish in the league and enough for 25th overall. Richard was the only Glendalough AC runner to complete the minimum 4 to score. Torben completed 3 (enough for 53rd spot). Rene Borg, Angus Tyner, Brian Lydon and colm Kenna each finished two (for 104th, 107th , 116th and 137th respectively) with the remaining club runners all completing only one of the six counters. In total 433 runners competed in the league.
RESULT
1. Enda Cloake (Slaney Olympic) 0:53:55
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
36. Richard Kieran 1:19:00
Richard Kieran at Annagh Hill (photo: Mick Hanney)
WICKLOW WAY HALF
One week on and it was again time for the Wicklow Way Half – an out and back course from Lough Tay to Crone Wood. Richard was in action again and our first runner over the line followed by Sarah Foster who made a big step up in distance: prior to this race her longest race had been 13.5 km! She played it smart and finished well up in 122nd out of the 196 competitors.
RESULT
1. Barry McEvoy (Unattached) 1:33:30
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
105. Richard Kieran 2:37:11
122. Sarah Foster 2:44:48
CASTLEBLANEY PARKRUN
Meanwhile on a visit home Donna got a controlled session in at the Castleblaney ParkRun which was enough for 3rd overall and 1st woman in a time of 21:05 (nearly two minutes off her PB from the end of 2021).
February finished as it began with several members racing on hills, trails and road.
TROOPERSTOWN WINTER
Sarah Foster coming off the first peak at Trooperstown Winter (photo: Brendan Delaney)
The third IMRA/Winter Spring League race happened on ‘local ground’ on Trooperstown Hill with a predictably big turn-out from our crew. Our first four runners crossed the line with a 71 second compression (Torben, Angus, Rene and Brian) with Eoin, Richard K., Colm and Sarah all running well too. With a few injured hill runners yet to return to the ‘squad’ the summer season looks promising.
RESULT
1. Enda Cloake (Slaney Olympic) 0:40:17
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
20. Torben Dahl 0:50:00
22. Angus Tyner 0:50:03 (2nd M50)
30. René Borg 0:51:00
32. Brian Lydon 0:51:11
45. Eoin Kennedy 0:53:36
76. Richard Kieran 0:59:35
93. Colm Kenna 1:02:58
105. Sarah Foster 1:06:25
Rene Borg and Angus Tyner on the climb during Trooperstown Winter (photo: Mick Hanney)
WICKLOW HOSPICE 10K
Saturday the 26th saw a double-header: Blaise Kinsella and Colm Kenna ran in the Wicklow Hospice 10k and BOTH secured PBs. Blaise in his first time trying (!) and Colm putting paid to a mark that had stood since 2016 for him.
RESULT
1. Ronan Wogan (Bohermeen AC) 0:34:28
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
12. Blaise Kinsella 0:42:15 (PB, M40 PB)
17. Colm Kenna 0:44:49 (PB, M40 PB)
Richard Kieran finds time for a smile at Trooperstown (photo: Mick Hanney)
CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP: CAMADERRY SHOULDER 5K
Meanwhile on home turf the second round of the Club Championship took place over the neo-classical Camaderry Shoulder 5k course. Guest runner, and former member, Barry Murray won the race in the first sub-21 run on it (20:53) running from last spot in the straight up handicap race.
Brian Lydon, however, was race winner. Having started in 4th, he overtook Diarmuid, Sarah and Donna to take maximum points. With the Predictor and Handicap round out of the way the more serious championship races loom ahead.
Donna Quinn, Sheila O’Byrne and Catherine O’Connor at Enniscorthy 10km
With restrictions easing and weather finally picking up, many of the great races welcomed athletes in February 2022.
Donadea 50K – 12/02/2022
Over 250 athletes braved the Donadea 50km, and national championship race, on Saturday 12th, with quite a few dropping out due to unusual weather and trail conditions. John Conway started strong but a fuelling mistake midway through saw him lose ground as the race progressed – he still secured a PB and could celebrate his better half Laura take 2nd overall in the ladies race.
John’s time was also a new club record for the 50 km – beating Barry O’Neill’s previous 4:39:05 mark.
The Enniscorthy 10k was productive and profitable for Sli Cualann and Glendalough AC with Inbhear Dee’s Kilian Mooney winning the men’s race and Sli Cualann ladies taking 2nd, 3rd and 4th spot overall with our own Donna Quinn the girl in fourth, Aoife in 9th and Parnell’s Hannah Nolan in 12th. The Sli Cualann ladies team went home 160 euro richer for their efforts.
Aoife Joyce
Killian Mooney, Sli Cualann AC 31:49
9. Ruth Fitzgerald, West Waterford 35:19
——–GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS (COMPETING AS SLI CUALANN)—————–
The Winter League continued with it’s third round – as usual we had smaller representation for the ‘northern’ routes where Torben and Angus had a close shoot-out – more of those to come!
The weekend action finished with Angus taking on an extremely windswept Trim 10 mile which lead to a time that as he described ‘he could do in training’. Despite this his time was enough to set a new club M50 record for the 10 mile and finish top-5% of the 1515 strong field.
Martin Hoare, Cellbridge AC 50:45
—————–GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS—————— (competing as Sli Cualann)
After the end of a long year and the Xmas festivities our athletes took to the Streets of Wicklow for the traditional 5 km.
On a perfect day and on a new faster course, Donna Quinn secured not only a PB but a breakthrough performance running 19:17 – the just rewards for years of consistent training and a nice cap to a season which saw her crowned Club Champion only a week earlier.
Aran Lynham was our first man home in 18:55 – a few seconds short of his PB. It was also a great day for Colm Kenna – his 21:50 was his fastest time since 31/03/2017 when he ran 21:25 and less than a minute off his PB (21:01) from 2016. Graeme Warren got narrowly ‘Quinned’ and had he run 4 seconds faster (and matched his PB from July), he would have finished dead-heated with Donna on the day.
A week prior three teams had lined up to contest the final round of our Club Championship with teams of two competing on the very hilly ‘Camaderry Shoulder 5k’. Here club coach René Borg had to lead his team to victory in order to wrest the title from Angus Tyner (orienteering in England). Aoife Joyce – paired with Rene on the ‘partner rule’ – had to keep her team ahead of Donna’s to defend her lead in the ladies race.
In the end it was a close run affair – Donna lead the first leg home with Paul Duffy and Aoife Joyce in pursuit. Aran Lynham and Barry O’Neill set off with René Borg leaving last. In the end the duo of Borg-Joyce nearly clawed back the deficit finishing a narrow second – close but no cigar as Angus and Donna were confirmed champions of 2021.
Another busy period comes to an end with our runners competing in such diverse events as Stone Cross to Lug, the Roundwood Reservoir 10k and the Lakes 10 km last weekend.
LAKES 10 KM
It was a fruitful day at the Lakes 10 km in Blessington. Donna Quinn bagged a new personal best while Aoife Joyce got a master’s PB in the over-40 category which was also the second fastest time run by one of our ladies while members of the club.
Richard Costelloe was our first man home with 39:38 and while it was not a PB, it was still his second fastest time run with Glendalough AC.
Our ladies packed particularly well finishing 4th, 5th and 6th as well as taking 2nd and 3rd in the F40 category and 3rd in the FS category. Claire ran her fastest time since 2017.
It was also a good day for Colm Kenna who ran his fastest 10 km since 2016 and an over-40 PB.
The Glendalough AC team post Lakes 10k (Donna, Richard, Aoife, Colm and Claire)
ROUNDWOOD 10K
On Sunday Paul Duffy changed his planned run-out in the Lakes to instead do the local Roundwood 10k on the trails around the reservoir and for the first time banked a ’10k time’ along with a fine 12th place finish out of 166.
Robin Mooney, Parnell AC 36:01
————-GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS———-
12. Paul Duffy 41:53 (PB)
STONE CROSS TO LUG
Barry O’Neill in Stone Cross to Lug
Far from the glitz and glamour of the roads and trails, Barry O’Neill carved out the run of the weekend in some of the most desolate and boggy stretches of the West Wicklow mountains as he took on the 54 km from Stone Cross to Fenton’s Pub beneath Lugnacoille – a sojourn featuring 2170m climbing and some of the hardest underfoot you are likely to meet in these parts.
Only 16 hardy souls even dared attempt it and Barry secured a sub-9 hour finish and 12th spot overall before doubling up with a bottle of MacArdles from the boot and a pint chaser in Fenton’s.
This week concluded with 8 of our runners competing in the 9th round of the Club Open Championships – this time a 4 km cross-country race in Avondale. Here Barry O’Neill showed no tiredness as he cruised home first. Angus Tyner continues to lead the overall series ahead of the last three rounds.
Our weekend report starts in Shanganagh where Barry O’Neill and Marcus Murphy were on the first ‘road trip’
In The Hague Richard Costelloe set a new personal best for the half-marathon running 1:30:15 and only narrowly missing out on the sub-90 minute barrier with some cramping.
