Trail running – Page 8 – Glendalough AC

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

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

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

WICKLOW WAY RELAY

Sarah and Rachel waiting to spring into action on leg 3

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

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

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

GLACIER LAKES

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

RESULT

1. Andrew Tees () 4:39:30

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

8. Graham Bushe 5:46:40

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

Blaise Kinsella (left) after the Glen to Glen Half

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

RESULT – full

1. Darren Foley () 3:07:08

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

22. Duncan Barrett 3:46:20

23. Graeme Warren 3:46:44

RESULTS – HALF

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

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

14. Blaise Kinsella 1:30:44

SEVEN SISTERS SKYLINE

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

RESULT

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

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

60. Brian Lydon 10:47:53

BORN TO RUN TRALEE 10K

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

RESULT

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

CAPE WRATH 400K

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

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

MASSIVE MAY: Track, Road and hills!

May 18, 2022 by glendaloughac, posted in Mountain running, Race reports, Road running, Track running, Trail running

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

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

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 8^th 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.

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.

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

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 20^th 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.

RESULT

1. Stephen Mangan () 16:02:48

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

20. Duncan Barrett 21:08:51

RESULTS BONANZA: ParkRuns, Quest, National 10k and IMRA/NIMRA racing

April 11, 2022 by glendaloughac, posted in Mountain running, Race reports, Road running, Trail running

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)

results

MOURNE SEVEN SEVENS

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 2^nd 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 4^th place – narrowly off a surprise podium but enough to get 1^st M40 and the highest IMRA finish for a GMAC runner since Torben finished 4^th at Oughaval Woods in 2019. Anthony – having realised his mistake – managed to recover to finish 11^th.

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 28^th 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 2^nd 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 136^th out of 575 in the Sport category doing well in the first two runs (finishing 99^th, 126^th and 174^th in the three runs). In the Expert category Diarmuid Kavanagh had to overcome two punctures on the bike sections to finish 63^rd 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 36^th out of the 105 runners – his best finish in the league and enough for 25^th overall. Richard was the only Glendalough AC runner to complete the minimum 4 to score. Torben completed 3 (enough for 53^rd spot). Rene Borg, Angus Tyner, Brian Lydon and colm Kenna each finished two (for 104^th, 107^th , 116^th and 137^th 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 122^nd 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 3^rd overall and 1^st woman in a time of 21:05 (nearly two minutes off her PB from the end of 2021).

RESULT

1. Owen Carleton (Annadale Striders) 0:17:05

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

3. Donna Quinn 0:21:05

glendalough ac at ecotrail wicklow

October 2, 2021October 2, 2021 by glendaloughac, posted in Mountain running, Race reports, Trail running, Ultra running

Our club had a big presence at EcoTrail Wicklow: co-organiser was club coach René Borg and several members helped out in key roles including Angus Tyner, Barry O’Neill, Colm Kenna, Duncan Barrett, Emma Hand, Paul Duffy, Bruce Phillips and Blaise Kinsella with Richard Kieran both marking a part of the course Friday and racing the 30 km Saturday!

We had two competitors in the 80 km – Graeme Warren and Johnny Conway. Graeme was first home in a fine sub-10 and Johnny came through well after a long injury in 40th. The day had a fast race with Gavin Byrne taking 6 minutes off the record and the first four women all shattering the existing ladies record.

John Conway emerges from the Roundwood reservoir trails in the 80k

ECOTRAIL WICKLOW 80K

Gavin Byrne 7:53:41 (CR)

———GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————

30. Graeme Warren 9:56:17

40. John Conway 10:21:41

full results

ECOTRAIL WICKLOW 46K

May be an image of 1 person, standing and nature — Anthony Breen in the 46k

In the 46 km Keith Mulvey bounced back from his disappointment of DNFing the 80k last year and completed the shorter distance in 7:32. First home was Anthony Breen in 5:20 improving on his own time in that race from 2019.

ECOTRAIL WICKLOW 30K

Ruairi Long 2:29:31

———GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————

19. Richard Costelloe. Graeme Warren 3:10:37

77. John Conway 3:38:55

full results

LAKES, BOGS AND MORE…

September 18, 2021 by glendaloughac, posted in Race reports, Road running, Trail running

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.

Sergiu Ciobanu, Clonliffe Harriers 30:49

————-GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS———-

28. Richard Costelloe 39:38

42. Donna Quinn 41:36 (PB, 2nd F40)

50. Claire O’Callaghan 43:23 (3rd FS)

56. Aoife Joyce 44:16 (Master’s PB, 3rd F40)

70. Colm Kenna 45:36 (Master’s PB)

FULL RESULTS

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

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.

RESULTS

John Bell 6:53:19

————-GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS———-

12. Barry O’Neill 8:59:34

FULL RESULTS

CLUB OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPS

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.

Barry leads Donna up the hill in Avondale

RACE REPORTS: More mountain success

August 19, 2021August 19, 2021 by glendaloughac, posted in Mountain running, Race reports, Trail running

Five races to report on since our last update. Yesterday at Paddock Hill Aran Lynham nearly snuck into the top-10, sitting in fourth position after the climb but losing ground midway through. With an 11th placed finish, his first top-10 is not far away. Paul Duffy was only 45 seconds behind in 16th with Eoin Kennedy in 38th (his second race in 4 days!).

Colm Kenna bagged his first top-50 finish since Brockagh Burst 2015 with a strong run despite gashing his knee. 109 runners took the start line.

This was the first time two of our runners got into the top-20 since Brockagh earlier in the season.

MOUNTAIN RESCUE BENEFIT RACE
1. Patrick Ward 36:22

———–GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

11. Aran Lynham 40:24

16. Paul Duffy 41:09

38. Eoin Kennedy 45:52

49. Colm Kenna 48:27

full results

The team post-race (Phote: Richard Costelloe)

Earlier Barry O’Neill had been a busy bee with run-outs at Annagh Hill where he used his natural aptitude for descending for a 20th place out of 53 starters with Eoin Kennedy in hot pursuit (23rd).

Seven days earlier Barry finished 9th out of 39 at John’s Hill, Kilbrannish. Annagh Hill was won by Paddy O’Leary – home from the US.

ANNAGH HILL

Paddy O’Leary 51:20

————-GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS———–

20. Barry O’Neill 1:13:24

23. Eoin Kennedy 1:14:50

full results

JOHN’S HILL, KILBRANNISH

Johan Muller 53:10

——–GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS——-

9. Barry O’Neill 1:04:08

full results

Finally Paul Duffy got himself his best finish of the season with 16th out of 97 runners at Howth Summer (he’d better this with his 16th out of 109 the coming week at Paddock Hill).

Paul Duffy gives Paddock the thumbs up (Photo: Richard Costelloe)

HOWTH SUMMER

Ian Conroy 56:48

——–GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS——-

16. Paul Duffy 1:03:13

full results

This brings us to the Devil’s Glen – a popular route for our runners used in our Winter and Summer Leagues as well. Here 125 runners toed the start line and while Aran Lynham led the men home again (in 20th spot) while Colm Kenna recorded his first DNF.

Aran secured the covetted ‘sub-40’ time for the course – a feat he now shares with 8 other club members. The men’s club record on the course (34:58 by Barry Murray) will take some beating.

DEVIL’S GLEN

Barry Minnock, Tullamore Harriers 33:43

———-GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

20. Aran Lynham 39:48

120. Colm Kenna DNF

full results

Report: IMRA Powerscourt Ridge

November 27, 2019November 27, 2019 by glendaloughac, posted in Race reports, Trail running

The second last race of the 2019 IMRA racing calendar, Powerscourt Ridge was certainly also one of the toughest events of the Irish mountain running year.

Glendalough AC’s Barry O’Neill competed in very wet and windy conditions, finishing the 16km course in 1:43:41. The technical trails on this course included the summits of both Maulin and Djouce, combining for almost 700m of total climbs.

RESULTS

1. Mark Stephens 1:16:26

35. Barry O’Neill 1:43:41

Report: Tollymore Trail Marathon

November 16, 2019November 27, 2019 by glendaloughac, posted in Race reports, Trail running

The Tollymore Trail Marathon took place on November 16th in the beautiful Tollymore Forest Park, Northern Ireland. This challenging trail course featured four main climbs with almost 1,000m of elevation gain.

Glendalough AC’s Richard Costelloe had been targeting this event for his
main racing goal in 2019. Richard completed the race in a (PB) time of 3:27:21, taking fifth place overall.

RESULTS

1. Chris Denton 3:01:54

5. Rich Costelloe 3:27:21

Report: Glendalough Trail Run

November 2, 2019November 27, 2019 by glendaloughac, posted in Race reports, Trail running

The 10th annual Glendalough Trail Run took place on Saturday, 2nd November. This 15.5km trail race is a popular charity event supporting Fighting Blindness. The race takes in some of the stunning Glendalough scenery while challenging runners with over 500m of climbs over trail roads, single-tracks and a 400m pure mud section.

Glendalough AC had one runner competing this year: Richard Costelloe, who took 3rd place

Richard started out with a small leading group heading up the the Glendasan Valley. On the first steep climb he edged up to 3rd place, with the first two runners already creating a large gap ahead. The second long climb started up past Poulanass Waterfall, eventually looping back along the Wicklow Way for a fast descend back into Glendalough Valley.

For the remainder of the race Richard managed to keep just ahead of several chasing runners, finishing 3rd, earning a beautiful and unique handcrafted pottery bowl made by local artist Crannmore Pottery. This was Richard’s 22nd race of the year and by far his best result.

RESULTS

1. Tim Grummell Sli Cualann AC 1:06:37

3. Rich Costelloe Glendalough AC 1:11:13

Weekend RACE UPDATES: Dublin Race Series 10 Mile & IMRA Sliabh Bui

August 29, 2019August 29, 2019 by glendaloughac, posted in Race reports, Road running, Trail running

We had several runners racing over the hot-weather August weekend, both on the Dublin roads and Wexford mountain trails.

Donna Quinn, Colm Kenna and William Belton competed at Phoenix Park for the Dublin Race Series 10 Mile. Donna finished the race in a time of 1:14.04, placing an impressive 12th out of 339 in her gender/age group. Not far behind, Colm finished the run in 1:24.16, and William followed up in 1:30.15. By all reports it was a hot day on the tarmac!

Meanwhile in Wexford Barry O’Neill ran the IMRA Sliabh Bui Southeast League race. This hilly course was a mix of single track, forest trail and fast fire roads, totalling just over 13km with 360m of climbs. No official results have yet been published, but Barry completed the course in a respectable time of 1:10.04.