Two results ahead of tonight’s Leinster League finisher race at Trooperstown Hill and we begin with another IMRA race: the Keeper Hill – Killoscullen Half-marathon.
KEEPER HILL – KILLOSCULLEN HALF-MARATHON
Eoin Phelan notched his 33rd race of the season at the Keeper Hill – Killoscully Half-marathon coming round in 2 hours 21 minutes
RESULT
1. Michael Costello () 1:39:00
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
58. Eoin Phelan 2:21:24
Trasna Na Uaireanta24
Louis Byrne took the win in the Trasna Na Uaireanta24 track ultra event in Leixlip where he was running in the 12-hour race. Louis spend much of the race ahead of Don Hannon who faded away a bit in the latter stages of the race leading two women (Caroline McCabe and Arlene Moore) nearest. In the end Louis held on for a comfortable 9 lap gap – completing 99.2 km with Caroline McCabe getting in 95.5 km. Lous held well under 3 minutes for the first 51 laps and only started to noticeably slow down from the 222nd lap onwards. His mother Christina Byrne finished a great da for the family with 6th place.
As the first 12-hour race completed by a club member, Louis’ time now sets the standard as a new Club Record.
1. Louis Byrne (Glendalough AC) 11:59:52 (CR)
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
TROOPERSTOWN HILL – LEINSTER LEAGUE FINAL
Donall Flanagan at Trooperstown
The Leinster League finished on a new version of the traditional course at Trooperstown Hill where despite the hill being ‘super local’, we only had 6 runners in action this summer – 5 in the long course and Chris Willoughby (inadvertently?) in the short course.
Graham Bush led us home and was 1st M55 with Donal Flanagan 2nd. While Eoin and James Heggie were faster than Joe Lalor (only 2nd in the m70 this week), they finished behind him having taken the early start.
Chris Willoughby
Richard Allan whilst not competing on the day was our highest placed finisher in the League overall finishing 21st with Graham Bush 24th, Alan Kennedy 35th, Angus Tyner and Eoin Phelan neck on neck in 59th and 60th, Joe Lalor 86th (and 2nd overall in the M70 category), and James Heggie 97th. 111 out of the 751 league contestants completed the minimum 7 races required to score (a completion rate of 14%).
This weekend had it all: track records, a downhill only race in the alps, a tough half-marathon on Croghan Kinsella and the congested madness at Clontarf Half-marathon and was folllowed by another busy week including the Leinster League race at Carrick, Docklands 5k, the Ridgeway Ultra in the UK and the Fingal 10k road race and we got plenty of podiums, a club record and personal bests to celebrate.
WESTVIlET LOPEN AND WERPEN TRACK MEET
Richard Costelloe only had three other competitors to spur him on in the 3000m discipline at the Westvliet Lopen and Werpen track meet but that did not stop him reducing his PB from 10:08 to 10:01. With that run he claimed the overall club record (his own) and the M45 club record (held by Angus Tyner) and now holds 9 of our 142 club records. Not bad at age 48!
RESULT
1. Richard Costelloe (Glendalough AC) 0:10:01 (PB, Club Record)
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
CLONTARF HALF-MARATHON
Fergal Olohan ran a strong while Aran Lynham continued his recovery after the Lap of the Gap 100 km race by pacing girlfriend Ashley through the half in 2:01. First home, however, was Niall MacCague with a fine sub-90 minute performance.
RESULT
1. Wayne Waldron () 1:14:57
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
43. Niall MacCague 1:28:16
969. Aran Lynham 2:01:39
972. fergal Olohan 1:55:36
CROGHAN HALF-MARATHON
RESULT
1. Donatas Jocius (Crusaders AC) 1:46:53
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
24. Aoife O’Brien 2:09:33 (1st F35)
28. Chris willoughby 2:10:57 (3rd M50)
31. Alan Kennedy 2:13:21 (3rd M55)
41. Colm Kenna 2:20:57 (3rd M45)
43. Aoife Joyce 2:22:22 (3rd F45)
51. Eoin Phelan 2:31:23
MEGAVALANCHE DOWNHILL RACE
John Conway continues to be a glutton for punishment taking on the planned 21 downhill only races from Alpe d’Huez. Due to adverse weather conditions it was shortened to 16 km but that is still a lot of eccentric muscle damage. John took the M40 category finishing 12th out of 41 downhill demons.
Four of our runners joined 150 others for another Leinster League evening race and it was another close run between Paul Duffy, Richard Allan and Graham Bush. This time Paul turned the tables back – finishing first with Graham 2nd and Richard Allan 3rd. All three finished 3rd in their respectice age categories (M40, M55, M50) with Andy Hayes also finished the race in 87th.
RESULT
1. Oscar Durston (Kilcoole AC) 0:38:04
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
20. Paul Duffy 0:45:56 (3rd M40)
23. Graham Bushe 0:46:18 (3rd M55)
25. Richard Allan 0:47:30 (3rd M50)
87. Andy Walker 1:00:54
DOCKLANDS 5K
Wednesday evening racing gave way to Thursday night racing at the hyper-traditional Docksland 5k where 1700 runners assembled. Matthew O’Brien represented us finishing just outside the top-third of the field.
RESULT
1. Peter Somba (Ratoath AC) 0:15:02
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
619. Matthew O’Brien 0:24:04
THE RIDGEWAY – RACE TO THE STONES ULTRA
Eleanor Carty bagged her first ever ultra in Essex running the Race to the Stones 50k finishing in the middle of the field with a solid 6:48:37 for the 50 km race.
RESULT
1. Daniel Wheller () 3:44:47
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
175. Eleanor Carty 6:48:37
FINGAL 10K
It was double-PB joy for Eoin Phelan (a week on from Croghan) and Graham Kearns at the Fingal 10km in Dublin.
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.
A weekend of extremes (in several senses) loomed for our runners this weekend past. On the one side the Friday evening winter escape from Dublin Castle in the Art O’Neill Challenge and on the other Sunday’s Wicklow Indoor Championship in the National Arena in Abbotstown. John Conway also began his Montane Spine Challenger North 100 mile run on the English Pennines – one of the toughest winter challenges in these parts of the world. Either way, we had runners competing on flat bouncy track in 24 degrees of dry heat while others trotted over uneven wet bog at night in sub-zero.
FERRYCARRIG 5 MILE
There was time for road action as well as Aoife Joyce took on her homestead run – the flat and fast Ferrycarrig 5 mile where she set her 31:11 personal best in 2013. This Sunday she had a convincing run of 35:26 despite having to make a stop to tie a shoe lace (!) – a new F45 personal best and club record.
RESULT
1. Dermot Cummins (West Waterford AC) 0:24:41
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
84. Aoife Joyce 0:35:28 (F45 PB, Club F45 record)
ART O’NEILL CHALLENGE
Rebecca Whineray crossing the line in Glenmalure!
Before this, Brian Lydon and Rebecca Whineray became our two finishers of this year’s Art O’Neill Challenge after Graeme Warren had to defer his race to 2025 due to illness. Brian had a stellar race finishing in the top-20 while Rebecca was 10th woman overall.
RESULT
1. Ricki Wynne () 5:46:36
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
17. Brian Lydon 8:21:17
76. Rebecca Whineray 10:59:48
WICKLOW INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIP
Happy innocence before the first race of the meet
We had a large contingent planned to travel to the Wicklow Indoor Championship but in a repeat of the Wicklow Senior XC situation, we first lost Marcus (to illness) and then Anthony Breen (who once again had to look after the Wicklow roads in the middle of the night). Donna Quinn – our sole female competitor – also had to pull out wit a neck strain, leaving it down to senior runners Aran Lynham, Diarmuid Kavanagh, and Eoin Phelan to join with Masters’ runners James Heggie, Paul Duffy and Rene Borg.*
* Eoin was erroneously placed in the senior race as we misread his age! He should have competed in the Master’s race in the M35 category.
WICKLOW INDOOR 1500m
Aran Lynham with Diarmuid behind him in the Senior men’s 1500m
The 1500m is fast becoming a cult favourite for the club and our senior runners were sent off (somewhat grudgingly with the young guns of the u19 category) and Aran grabbed the race by the scruff of the neck to record a PB of 4:59 with Diarmuid Kavanagh and Eoin Phelan – both still recovering from recent bout of illness our 2nd and 3rd club scorers. It was a club senior men’s record for Aran (and briefly a club indoor record) with PB for Diarmuid and a debut for Eoin with a club M35 record of 5:49.
Paul Duffy shadows the early leader Darragh Page (Kilcoole AC) before overtaking him and leading home for the win
The over-35s got their own race and Paul Duffy grabbed hold of the lead early accompanied by a Kilcoole AC runner. 40m back Rene Borg tried to lay claim to the final podium spot but failed to notice he was pulling a train of 4 runners with him. On lap 5 he slowed enough that they came past, leaving him well out of the medals with a time 4 seconds slower than his M40 gold from 2023.
Rene Borg pulling ‘his train’ behind him
Paul ensured this medal stayed in the club though by holding off all challenges and recording a fabulous new club record of 4:52 (6.6 seconds faster than his outdoor lifetime best from 2023). This also erased Rene’s 5:11 M40 record from our club books and will take some beating.
Eoin Phelan in the senior men’s 1500m
WICKLOW INDOOR 800M
the anxious wait between events….
Due to some delays, our team spend around 2 hours waiting for the next race and trying to get the bodies right. There was the usual between race vomitting (person shall not be named!), plenty of talks of sore muscles and joints and the decision by Eoin Phelan to retire from the meet to not aggravate his cold but eventually four of our runners took to the start this time in a combined Senior/Masters race.
The men’s 800m begins
Bray Runner’s Drew Donohue (a commanding figure in the meet overall) led out with Paul sitting in second marked closely by Aran and Diarmuid a bit further back. The pace was fairly hot and had casualties – Tiernan Heany, St. Benedict’s pulled up first around the 400m mark followed by Rene Borg who both found the sub-3 min/km pace too fast to handle.
St Benedict’s Tiernan Heany steps off the track just before the 400m point. Rene Borg (behind) followed shortly after
This led three of our men in the chase and they secured 2nd, 3rd and 4th in the heat resulting in two PBs and the M40 gold medal for Paul Duffy along with the Silver and Bronze Male Senior for Aran and Diarmuid.
Paul Duffy outsprints Aran for 2nd place overall with Diarmuid behind them
Both Paul Duffy and Aran may have broken Diarmuid’s Overall and Senior 800m club record as they ran around 2:20 (his mark is 2:21.6) but we await official results to confirm.
WICKLOW INDOORS 400M/ 3000 M
With the withdrawal of the 800m and 1500m men and the no-show from Anthony and Marcus, we only had James Heggie facing a long wait to get started on the 400 and then immediately after the mentally tough 15 laps of the 3000m. But James hung tight and got both events done and we wouldn’t be surprised if he nicked the M50 gold in both.
More results to follow once official results are verified….
Since our last report we have 47 (!) more results to report on 30 of which were our massive attendance in EcoTrail Wicklow on the last day of September pushing this year’s racing tally to a stupendous 483 (the previous record being 383 in 2017).
EcoTrail Wicklow
Let’s begin with the 4th edition of the EcoTrail races which had gathered an entry of over 1600 with 1096 starters: the third largest start line in a trail run in Ireland after Gaelforce Bray 2019 (where 6 waves of runs gathered 1238 starters) and Run the Line 2022 (where two races drew 1210). It’ll be great to see one of these events breaking 1500 starters at some stage in the near future.
We had 30 runners in actions plus a further of our 12 members crewing many in core roles with club coach Rene Borg hired as course director, Graham Bush and Diarmuid Kavanagh on marking duties and Keith Mulvey acting as sector leader at Lough Tay not to forget Duncan Barrett – the Djouce marshal – who won ‘Crew of the Year’ for assisting an injured runner off the trail.
Duncan Barrett with his prize for ‘Crew of the Year’
80 KM
Mark Willoughby crossing the Ballyremon Commons
Graeme Warren had opted to move down to 47k leaving Eoin Phelan as our only 80k representative in his first attempt at the distance. He battled valiantly but had to concede defeat in Kilmacanogue after 67 km of running when it became clear he could not make the Belmont cut-off.
RESULT
1. Yoann Stuck () 6:34:16 CR
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
126. Eoin Phelan DNF
47 KM
Sergio Mansillo with a new PB in the 47k
The 47 km was the most competitive of all races on the day with international superstars like Hillary Allen at the line and Irish international Enda Cloake blasting home to victory ahead of Gavin Byrne. ‘Our lot’ of six men were not in contention for medals but all ran solidly with Philip O’Brien home first in 5:20. There was vindication for James Heggie after conceding DNFs at the Tucker Trail and Skyline 55k as he came through in 236th out of 262.
RESULT
1. Enda Cloake (Slaney Olympic) 3:58:01
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
28. Philip O’Brien 5:20:11
55. Graeme Warren 5:40:08
96. Sergio Mansillo 6:04:23
147. Ross Thompson 6:29:52
187. Mick Greene 7:00:57
193. Gerard O’Rourke 7:06:05
232. Mark Willoughby 7:47:56
236. James Heggie 8:00:52
vindication for James Heggie
30 KM
Ross Thompson on his way up Bray Head
In the 30 km the women’s field as absolutely stacked with Finland’s Kasia Laapaz obliterating the course record by 8 minutes despite the 2023 course being 1 km longer than the 2022 edition. Catherine Devitt did well to finish 5th woman and 3rd in the F40 category.
The real drama involved John Conway who hit the Bray seafront unaware that Tudor Moldovan’s misfortune in Belmont meant he was in joint-3rd place. When the race announcer shouted out ‘and here’s the sprint for the podium’, John took off like a rocket to secure a chance to hold the trophy and get on that rostrum (a week later he’d finish 8th in the Killarney Quest Adventure race – just for good measure).
Richard Costelloe also ran well in his Tollymore Marathon final prep race finishing 10th whilst at the other end Graham Wheeler conceded our 13th DNF of the season (meaning we are well beyond our all-time high of 5 in 2015!).
RESULT
1. Luke Weldon (Greystones AC) 2:37:46
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
3. John Conway 2:50:26 (1st M40)
10. Richard Costelloe 2:57:44
22. Anthony Breen 3:09:03
29. Catherine Devitt 3:13:49 (3rd F40)
44. Mark Lindsay 3:21:44
67. Alan Kennedy 3:35:49
99. Jack Moore 3:48:40
102. Donal Flanagan 3:50:15
118. Niall MacCarthy 3:53:27
174. Rebecca Whineray 4:09:59
298. Gleb Reys 5:23:49
327. Graham Wheeler DNF
19 KM
Simon Lynch sprints home on a soaking day at EcoTrail
We only had eight in action in the ‘speedsters’ race over 19 km with four tough climbs and here Diarmuid Kavanagh led home with a 9th place with Dave Lawless next and Nora Butler next (placing 12th woman) dead-heating with Tadgh O’Brien.
RESULT
1. Des Kennedy (Raheny Shamrocks) 1:37:32
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
9. Diarmuid Kavanagh 1:51:35
72. Dave Lawless 2:19:40
84. Nora Butler 2:22:43
86. Tadgh O’Brien 2:22:43
129. Simon Lynch 2:32:02
180. Daniel Puflea 2:41:42
228. Brian Howard 2:52:58
326. Jonathan Cody 3:38:27
TEAM COMPETITION
Eleven teams had the minimum 2 men and 2 women to contest the team competition and here the combination of John Conway (3rd in 30k), Catherine Devitt (5th woman in 30k), Diarmuid Kavanagh (9th in 19k) and Nora Butler (12th woman in 19k) was enough to take the win with bit of breathing space down to Parnell AC and Simon Connaughton’s Inner Fight crew.
NAV CHALLENGE 1 – CARRICK MOUNTAIN
Having marked the Great Sugarloaf for EcoTrail, Graham Bush was well warmed up for the first IMRA Nav Challenge of the year finishing 9th ut of 28th in the short 15 km course.
RESULT
1. Robert McEvoy (Cork Orienteers) 1:21:00
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
9. Graham Bushe 3:03:00
Graham Bush (rightmost)
WASSENAAR 15 KM
Catherine Devitt took a few minutes of her time in the annual Wassenaar 15k (in reality 14.6k!) finishing 10th overall and winning the women’s race (and a big trophy to show for it!).
RESULT
1. Maikel Stolwijk (Leiden) 0:49:37
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
10. Catherine Devitt 0:58:25 (1st woman)
KILMAC RUNNING FESTIVAL
Ben Lewis at the Kilmac Running Festival
The third edition of the Kilmac Running Festival preceded the weekend’s cross-country action: Graham Bush remains a busy man matching up his own running with his marking at EcoTrail and then race directing the five events that are part of the festival.
WOMEN’S NIGHT CHALLENGE
Nora Butler and Rebecca Whineray were our representatives in the women’s only field on Friday evening’s loop of the Great Sugarloaf with Rebecca 4th overall and 2nd F45.
RESULT
1. Ciara Largey () 0:39:14
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
4. Rebecca Whineray 0:42:36 (2nd F45)
10. Nora Butler 0:46:50
LONG HILL
Local men Richard Kieran and Ben Lewis were our only runners in the four races on offer on Saturday going for the shortest (12k) route from Kilmac to Paddock Hill finishing 3rd and 5th and takingsome category podiums.
RESULT
1. Rob Tobin (Trim AC) 1:08:17
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
3. Richard Kieran 1:14:05 (3rd M55)
5. Ben Lewis 1:16:49 (2nd M45)
WICKLOW INTERMEDIATE
The various trail running engagements along with a large group focusing on the marathon have depleted our cross-country squads for the early season and only Diarmuid Kavanagh and Anthony Breen toed the line on a glorious sunshine day in Avondale for the Wicklow Intermediate. In the end only Anthony finished as Diarmuid had to pull out – our third club DNF in this busy fortnight. Anthony claimed the 100 pts for the Club Championship but as he wore no watch nor were times recorded, we only know he finished 17th out of 25 in the race!
PARKRUNS GALORE!
Angus Tyner reported in with 7 ParkRun results between May and September with 2 top-3 finishes and 4 sub-20 runs. Claire Thompson meanwhile ran in Mullingar finishing 3rd woman in 22:28 in her first race since the Relay back in June.
RESULT
1. Susan Glennon () 0:19:24
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
15. Claire Thompson 0:22:48 (3rd F35)
BEER AND BRATS 5K!
We finish off with a report from our ‘woman in Florida’ : founding member Flora McKnight who battled heat and humidity in the superbly named ‘Beer and Brats 5k’ finishing 251st in a solid field of 829 runners.
RESULT
1. Jonathan Hulzebos () 0:15:46
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
251. Flora McKNight 0:30:20
Flora strikes a strong pose at the Beer and Brats 5k!
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….
It’s hard to imagine two surfaces more different than the pristine boards of the Abbotstown National Arena’s indoor track and the soft grass and mud of Shanganagh Park but managing this contrast was a task that fell to a lot of Wicklow athletes (including two of our own) this weekend past as Wicklow Athletics hosted it’s 22/23 Wicklow Masters XC Championship on Sunday 8th. Less than 24 hour earlier, a busy program of indoor track events were held as part of the Wicklow Indoor Championship 23.
Marcus Murphy on route to his first cross-country club medal
WICKLOW INDOOR TRACK
This event was primarily focused on juvenile and junior athletes but some seniors and masters turned up to run in distances from 60m to 1500m as well as the throwing, putting and jumping events. Diarmuid Kavanagh made history for our club by becoming our first indoor track competitor in the 800m race. His time of 2:21.6 thus stands as the new club record and a Bronze medal in the Men’s senior race – his first for the club.
RESULT
1. Drew O’Donohue (Bray Runners) 0:02:08
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
8. Diarmuid Kavanagh 0:02:22 (3rd MS)
A few hours later, a bit more micro-history awaited as first Donna Quinn and then Diarmuid Kavanagh and club coach Rene Borg took to the start in the 1500m races. Donna was our first female indoor competitor and all three were the first runners to race over the 1500m distance in a Glendalough AC singlet.
Donna Quinn in youthful company
Donna raced well to work her way through a field of largely younger competitors and claim the Gold medal in the F40 category. Diarmuid and Rene swiftly followed suit running 5:08 and 5:11 respectively to win the MS and M40 categories both passing out a few runners as they ran steady laps around the track. For Rene this was his first indoor track race since 2010 (and the first he completed – having dropped out of his first attempt).
All three runner’s times stand as either overall club records or age category records.
RESULT
1. Finn Buck (Parnell AC) 0:04:35
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
11. Diarmuid Kavanagh 0:05:09 (1st MS, club record – overall and MS)
13. René Borg 0:05:11 (1st M40, club record – M40, M40 PB)
18. Donna Quinn 0:05:29 (1st F40, club record – women)
WICKLOW MASTER’S CROSS-COUNTRY
Traditionally, this is the most popular cross-country championship among our runners and many were glad to be back at the flat and fast course in Shanganagh for the first time since 2019. Rachel, Donna, and Aoife were first up in the 4 km ladies race. This was Rachel’s first cross-country race since 2019 and she promptly improved both her time on the same course (16 seconds) and her overall position (3rd moving up from 4th). Last time she had taken the F35 Gold which she exchanged with F40 Silver this time around. Donna Quinn – perhaps feeling the 1500m – finished 5th (like in 2019). Aoife took Bronze in the F45 and help the lady’s team to Silver behind Parnell in the teams.
John Conway and Angus Tyner in close battle
the men’s race ended up doing an extra early lap resulting in the course growing from 6 km to 6.6km – it was a tight battle for most of the race with John Conway, Angus Tyner and Rene Borg close for large portions. Angus Tyner eventually managed to mow his way past John in the last corner to follow. Graham Bushe was first man across the line and got silver in the M50 category with Marcus Murphy securing his first cross-country medal (Bronze in the O40) with a very fine run. Gavin Kennedy had to pull out with a groin strain on the final lap meaning the men’s team unfortunately didn’t rank – but 3rd place (and medals) were out of reach at that point as the team sat comfortable in a distant fourth.
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.
Glendalough AC 