Ultra running – Page 2 – Glendalough AC

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

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

TROOPERSTOWN WINTER

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

Graeme Warren nips ahead of Shane O’Malley last second

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

Eoin Phelan on the final descent (Photo Ben Conroy)

RESULT

1. Matthew McConnell () 0:39:48

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

39. Torben Dahl 0:52:41

41. Graeme Warren 0:53:00

78. Colm Kenna 1:00:20

98. Siobhan Brennan 1:04:31

104. Eoin Phelan 1:06:15

SLI CHORCHAI ULTRA

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

RATHCOFFEY 5K

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

RESULT

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

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

39. Mark Willoughby 0:23:43

DELFT 10K

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

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

RESULT

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

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

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

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

NATIONAL MASTER’S CROSS-COUNTRY – DUNDALK

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

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

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

RESULT

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

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

128. René Borg 0:32:26

REPORTS: Smashing performance at The Spine

January 19, 2024 by glendaloughac, posted in Mountain running, Race reports, Trail running, Ultra running

The Montane Spine Race has grown into one of the most iconic events on the ultra running calendar and is often called ‘Britain’s most brutal endurance race’. This is certainly true of the winter edition and this year, we had John Conway in action for the 12th edition of the race. John took the start line of the so-called ‘Montane Spine Challenger North’ event – a ‘shorter’ (if such a term has any meaning for a 168 mile race) – version of the full spine inaugurated in 2022.

The first year the route was diverted due to storms, so this year’s race would be only the second running of the formal version of the course. Irishman Joe O’Leary set entirely new standards when he won the race in 44 hours 37 minutes. Our attention locally in Wicklow was fixed on John Conway, his wife Laura O’Driscoll and Parnell’s Michael Dowling who formed a formidable trio for much of the race. Laura was in the lead when she unfortunately had to withdraw from the race, leaving the duo of John and Michael to venture onwards.

Once Tom Hollins, a former winner of the full Winter Spine, and Nikki Arthur (the women’s winner who took 20 hours off the female record in her first outing at this distance) had crossed the line, John and Michael were leading the hunt for 3rd spot in the men’s race. They were hunted by Josh Ellis, who managed to claw back over 2 hours going into each of the two final split points called simply ‘Hut 1’ and ‘Hut 2’. He never got nearer: Michael and John ran the final checkpoint 8.5 minutes faster and had a solid gap of 1 hour 22 minutes by the end as they kissed Hadrian’s Wall.

RESULT

1. Joe O’Leary (Munster Trail Runners) 44:37:20

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

4. John Conway 58:49:58 (3rd men’s category)

REPORT: Art O’Neill and Wicklow Indoor Championship

January 15, 2024January 16, 2024 by glendaloughac, posted in Mountain running, Race reports, Road running, Track running, Ultra running

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.

WICKLOW INDOOR 800M

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.

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….

REPORT: Malta, Florida, Northern Ireland and a few local races….

November 22, 2023November 23, 2023 by glendaloughac, posted in Mountain running, Race reports, Road running, Trail running, Ultra running

This week’s report takes us from Florida to Malta to the Netherlands along with several local fixtures but we must first mention the unfortunate news that Donna Quinn has had to hand back her national team silver medal from the Dublin Marathon as the leading Sli Cualann runner (Catherine O’Connor) was disqualified for using a pacer in the race.

Now onto the 16 results from six different races. The weekend of the 11th/12th was particularly busy with our runners racing 4 races in 4 different countries!

Apart from running results John Conway also secured a fine 11th spot in the Sea to Summit adventure race on the long ‘Supreme’ course which included a 7 km run up Croagh Patrick and a 4 km greenway run to the finish line.

NAV CHALLENGE 3 – TICKNOCK

Our post-Dublin marathon reports began on the 4th November when Graham Bush participated in the 3rd IMRA Nav Challenge short course shortly before being confirmed also as the Leinster Championshp M55 winner.

*Graham Bush – Leinster Champs M55 winner*

RESULT

1. Brian Farren (Fingal Orienteers) 1:10:00

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

16. Graham Bushe 2:17:37 (2nd M50)

TOLLYMORE TRAILS – 10K, MARATHON, ULTRA

there was misfortune for Richard Costello in his big season goal. After several misfortunes on his way there last year, he was this time struck by a stomach bug in the week leading in and had to throw in the towel after 4 km.

Graeme Warren had a better day out finishing a fine 9th place in the 65 km ultra for a memorable top-10 finish. Tadeusz Cantwell took on the Tollymore 10k and cruised through in ‘zone 2’ to ease his body back in after a recent health scare.

RESULT – ULTRA

1. David Boyle () 5:14:43

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

9. Graeme Warren 6:04:28

RESULT – MARATHON

1. Joshua McAtee () 3:01:18

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

103. Richard Costelloe DNF

RESULT

1. Rob Hilis () 0:40:24

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

96. Tadeusz Cantwell 1:27:19

POWERSCOURT RIDGE

A very strong field came out as usual for Powerscourt Ridge – the race that always precedes that IMRA AGM and Killian Mooney blew the course away while Graham Bush, Torben Dahl and James Heggie represented our club well and Graham secured 2nd M55.

RESULT

1. Killian Mooney (DSD AC) 1:13:25

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

39. Graham Bushe 1:35:24 (2nd M55)

49. Torben Dahl 1:40:23

111. James Heggie 2:09:28

SALUTE TO THE VETERANS 5K

Flora McKnight got herself onto the F45 podium in sunny Florida with a 28:30 run-out – a last bit of chance to race in the sunshine before herself and her husband relocate to Minnesota this week! Her time was a club best for Flora.

RESULT

1. Britanny Eberson () 0:18:49

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

141. Flora McKNight 0:28:30 (3rd F45 F45 PB)

ZURRIEQ 10K

*Trophy for Aoife on Malta handed over by perhaps Europe’s longest serving race director: 39 years in the job!*

The weekend continued when Rene and Aoife – fresh off a Friday plane to Malta – had to drive across the island for the ungodly start hour of 6:45 Irish time (7:45 local time) partly to avoid excessive heat (it was ‘only’ 23 degrees by then) and the frisky traffic of Maltese roads. The event was one of the largest of the year on the island with over 460 finishers and club singlets everywhere. The route was ‘fast enough’ but consisted of some ups and downs and a particularly cruel long uphill finish!

René finished 10th in his category despite recording a personal career worst of 42:12 for the distance whereas Aoife got a better share of the spoils finishing 1st in the F45 category and getting a massive trophy to go with the hefty medal!

RESULT

1. Dillon Cassar (Mellieha AC) 0:31:16

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

46. René Borg 0:42:12

106. Aoife Joyce 0:47:23 (1st F45)

RUN THE LINE 11.5K/25 KM

This year we had five runners in the traditional event supporting mountain rescue on the Dublin border. Diarmuid Kavanagh got the worst of it by first twisting his ankle and then losing his car keys as he put on his jacket and DNFed.

RESULT

1. Killian Mooney (DSD AC) 1:52:50

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

186. Alan Kennedy 2:55:45

507. James Heggie 4:09:11

511. Brian Howard 4:19:16

523. Diarmuid Kavanagh DNF

This left Alan Kennedy as our first man home in 186th spot out of 523. James Heggie also completed the long course with Mark Willoughby our only representative in the short course.

RESULT

1. Alex Gray () 0:49:14

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

308. Mark Willoughby 1:27:33

Graef Castricum trail 35km

Catherine: the third lady to step onto a podium in this week’s reporting period!

We finish with Catherine Devitt who was 11th overall and the winning woman in the 35 km Graef Castricum trail/due race in the Netherlands.

RESULT

1. Joshua de Vriend (Schoorl) 2:28:34

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

11. Catherine Devitt 2:52:28 (1st woman)

REPORT: Wins and DNFs at Wassenaar, EcoTrail, Kilmac Running Festival, Nav Challenge and Wicklow Intermediate!

October 15, 2023October 16, 2023 by glendaloughac, posted in Cross-country running, Mountain running, Race reports, Track running, Trail running, Ultra running

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

30 KM

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

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

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!

REPORT: Nine super races as Graham Bush secures first international medal!

September 20, 2023 by glendaloughac, posted in Mountain running, Race reports, Road running, Trail running, Ultra running

Twelve of our runners were in action once or more over nine very challenging and/or interesting races since our last report.

We begin with the confusing ‘Lakes 10k’ double: the ‘Run for Lakers’ 10 km trail run around Roundwood Reservoir followed 7 days later by ‘The Lakes 10k’: the scenic and beloved 10 km road race in Blessington.

‘RUN FOR LAKERS 10K’

Paul Duffy, Ben Lewis and Colm Kenna were our only representatives in a large front-loaded field at the Roundwood Reservoir with Paul securing back-to-back top 10s in this event taking fifth spot.

RESULT

1. Killian Mooney (DSD AC) 0:34:40

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

5. Paul Duffy 0:40:24

20. Ben Lewis 0:47:21

24. Colm Kenna 0:47:58

LUGGALA

While the larger field was busy on the good trails of Roundwood a select field of 31 IMRA enthusiasts congregated for the super-steep Luggala race with 8 km covering Cloghoge and Luggala mountains. Eoin Kennedy was our lone representative and came home in 11th.

RESULT

1. Brian Furey (Brothers Pearse AC) 0:56:00

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

11. Eoin Kennedy 1:19:24

THE LAKES 10K

A sligthly smaller than normal contingent from our club travelled to the scenic ‘The Lakes 10k’ organised by our friends in Lakeshore Striders AC but it’s not always about quantity: Marcus Murphy secured a PB by nearly a minute as part of his Dublin marathon preparations while Colm kenna ran his fastest 10k since the Wicklow Hospice 10k in February 2022.

RESULT

1. Brian Maher (Kilkenny City Harriers AC) 0:31:16

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

11. Marcus Murphy 0:38:33 (PB)

46. Colm Kenna 0:46:08

TRANS-ALPINE RUN

While Paul and Colm ran in Roundwood, John Conway began his 7 day journey in the Trans-Alpine stage race: 268 km through the alps in seven stages. Despite having only 7 days rest after his 2nd place in the Kerry Way Ultra Lite John finished 29th and 6th in his category while his wife Laura was a comprehensive winner of the women’s race – times shown are the cumulative for the 7 stages in 7 days.

RESULT

1. Fabien Gering (ASICS Frontrunner) 23:08:06

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

33. John Conway 33:40:45

WORLD MASTERS MOUNTAIN RUNNING – MADEIRA (UPHILL ONLY/ 31 KM LONG)

Graham Bush showcasing the first international medal won by a current member

As John’s journey neared the end Graham Bush and Richard Kieran embarked on their own foreign adventure on the trail-running mad island of Madeira where the World Masters Mountain Running Championship hosted a large Irish contingent (including fellow Sli Cualann runners like Ronan King and Ann-Marie Kenny).

RESULT – uphill 9k

1. Eric Blake (USA) 0:43:11

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

101. Graham Bushe 1:00:37 (Team Silver m50)

141. Richard Kieran 1:09:16

Both our runners were signed up for both the 9 km uphill only race and the 31 km long trail race (which Kieran eventually opted not to do). It was a huge success with Graham Bush contributing to the Irish team’s Silver team medal – the first international medal won by a member of our club. He did lament that had he been a split second faster, then Ireland would have taken the gold!

RESULT

1. Shaban Mustafa (Bulgaria) 2:11:52

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

75. Graham Bushe 3:00:55

STONE CROSS TO LUG RELAY

While the boys in green were in action internationally, Alan Kennedy and Eoin Syron had a run-out in the cult classic ‘Stone Cross to Lug’ which has suffered from declining numbers in recent years (perhaps not helped by poor weather possibly contributing to 4 non-starters in a 14 person field in the solo).

RESULT – LEG 1

1. Gerry McGuinness () 2:49:00

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

2. Alan Kennedy 1:57:12

Both Alan and Eoin ran in the Relay version of the race with Alan running the 14 km leg 1 and Eoin the 21k leg 3 on a separate team. With 4 teams in competition and 1 non-competitive, a podium was assured and Alan’s team took 2nd with Eoin’s 3rd.

RESULT – LEG 3

1. Eoin Syron (Glendalough AC) 1:57:00

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

CAUSEWAY COAST ULTRA

Not quite as far outside the country – at the Causeway in Northern Ireland – Eoin Kennedy did his second race in 7 days completing the 64 km Causeway Ultra over a mixture of terrains ranging from path to beach to road and finished 36th out of 60 runners.

RESULT

1. Nick Weston () 5:18:27

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

36. Eoin Kennedy 8:12:16

BEEKSE 31 KM

Richard Costelloe continued his productive racing season on Sunday 17th in the Netherlands with a brilliant podium finish in the Beekse 31 km road race in a fine time of 2:06 leaving 53 runners behind him in a race that was part of a the Beekse marathon event where multiple distances were on offer.

RESULT

1. Martijn de Kok () 1:58:10

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

3. Richard Costelloe 2:06:24 (3rd M45Club Record)

REPORT: Triumps on Kerry and Dutch trails…

September 4, 2023 by glendaloughac, posted in Race reports, Trail running, Ultra running

KERRY WAY ULTRA AND ULTRA LITE

Brian Lydon started the action running into the hot Kerry weather as he took the new ‘early start’ option at 6 am on Friday – only the 3rd Glendalough AC runner to undertake the full race (after Duncan Barret and Emma Hand).

*John Conway (right) with fellow Sli Cualann runner Michael Dowling (of Parnell) who finished 2nd in the full ultra*

Over 24 hours later – while Brian was somewhere midway towards the penultimate checkpoint in Kenmare – John Conway set off from Sneem for the 59 km journey to Killarney that is the ‘Kerry Way Ultra Lite’. This was John’s third attempt at the race having been 18th in 2020, and 4th in 2021. 1st in 2023?*

Coming into Templenoe, John sat in 4th overall – behind the eventual winner Sorcha Loughnane and Peter Power and Brendan Joy. Both slightly extended their leads on John by Kenmare but paid the price on the long slog towards Killarney where John first overtook Brendan (who lost nearly an hour on the Laragh man here and dropped to 5th overall) and then got himself into the rare situation of being the first man in the race – yet 2nd overall! It is worth noting that Sorcha Loughnane’s time – apart from being a new women’s record on the course – would have won the Kerry Way Ultra Lite every single year except when John McKeogh set the course record of 5:03 in 2020.

RESULT

1. Sorcha Loughnane (Donore Harriers) 5:17:51

(women’s CR)

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

2. John Conway 5:54:48 (1st man, 1st M40, 2nd overall)

Eight minutes before John crossed the finish line to celebrate his trophy, Brian Lydon had completed the full Kerry Way in just under 33 hours – a proud moment in the warm air but over soggy ground (the output of our weird summer).

RESULT

1. Stephen Mangan () 23:30:41

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

33. Brian Lydon 32:46:02

* He thus matched the joint best result in this race for our club: Barry Murray’s 2nd place in 5:53 in 2017. then there was 44 finishers. Now: 157! John’s 5:47 from last year remains the fastest time run by a club runner.

VELUWSE TRAILRUN

Catherine Devitt continued her strong season on both Dutch and Irish shores when she finished 9th in a 187 strong field at Veluwze – a nearly 30 km trail race in the Netherlands. she had about 40 seconds gap to the next woman and took the overall women’s prize as a result.

RESULT

1. Taco Schaaf (Zwolle) 1:47:40

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

9. Catherine Devitt 2:16:53 (1st woman)

This was Catherine’s 14th race of the season and with a nice tally: 11 category wins and 2 second places. Only once has she run and not finished on the women’s podium in 2023.

‘BACKLOG’ REPORT: 11 races!

May 28, 2023 by glendaloughac, posted in Mountain running, Race reports, Road running, Track running, Trail running, Ultra running

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!

RESULT

1. Dominic Bersee (Ruitenberg Accountants) 0:30:51

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

101. Catherine Devitt 0:39:15

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.

GLEN TO GLEN

RESULT

1. Marc Augustin (Le Cheile AC) 1:17:46

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

23. Rachel Wisdom 1:35:03 (2nd F40, 2nd woman)

53. Alan Kennedy 1:45:23 (WW RC)

193. Cameron Soane 2:16:33 (WW RC)

LAP OF THE GAP

RESULT

1. Tudor Moldovan (Clonliffe Harriers) 2:33:16 (Course Record)

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

12. Graeme Warren 3:28:42 (3rd M50)

110. Aaron Kedward 4:54:35

FASTLANE 10K

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….

REPORT: Prince Willie’s, Waterville, Limerick – podiums, PBs, records…

April 30, 2023May 1, 2023 by glendaloughac, posted in Mountain running, Race reports, Road running, Trail running, Ultra running

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.

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.

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.

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.

REPORT: 3 PBs and 2 club records on the roads (Enniscorthy and Delft 10ks)

February 13, 2023February 13, 2023 by glendaloughac, posted in Race reports, Road running, Trail running, Ultra running

With hill running getting most of the attention last weekend, it was the turn of the road racers this weekend.

Donadea 50 km

Before they got started our club record holder in the 50 km (John Conway with 4:21 – set in this race last year) had to pull out after around 2 hours running in Donadea Forest Park to shield a niggle and keep himself on track on his and Laura’s big adventure this summer: the Transalpine.

Tudor Moldovan who holds the record for our club fundraiser Glen to Glen Half-marathon was crowned national champion in his first go at 50k.

RESULT

1. Tudor Moldovan (Clonliffe Harriers) 2:59:04

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

241. John Conway DNF

Enniscorthy 10 km

Newly elected club captain Marcus Murphy led the charge at the traditional Enniscorthy 10k in Wexford where the Sli Cualann team had a very successful day winning both team events and securing 2nd place overall for men and women (through Derek Crammond and Catherine O’Connor).

Marcus Murphy in action (left) (Photo: Tony Crosbie)

Marcus came in 31st overall and broke the 40 minute barrier for the first, setting a PB in the process (his previous mark was 40:15 from 2017). It had looked tight midway with only a 6 second cushion but a strong finish bagged the result. Aoife Joyce was next as she continues her return to more regular racing. While her time was a good way off her PBs, it’s the first 10k run by someone in the F45 category for our club and stands as the mark to break.

Eoin Phelan was next taking nearly 4 minutes off his PB and cracking the 50 minute barrier.

Aoife Joyce strides home (Photo: Popupraces.ie)

RESULT

1. Isak Eriksen (Halle IF) 0:31:42

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

31. Marcus Murphy 0:39:42 (PB)

93. Aoife Joyce 0:46:16 (club F45 record)

122. Eoin Phelan 0:48:32 (PB)

Delft 10 KM

We saved the best to last: Two more club record followed when Richard Costelloe broke his own overall and M45 10 km record with a stunning time of 36:30 at the Delft 10k in the Netherlands – lowering his 37:08 from a few weeks ago. This also brought him to the top of the ‘all-time’ list beating the 36:30 Amidou Dembele had held since 2011.

*Richard Costelloe eating up ground in Delftse Hout* *on his way to 36:30*

As a final gloss of sheen, he also finished well inside the top 10 with 6th place and likely won his category although this is not confirmed yet.

RESULT

1. Jurre Kaizers (De Koplopers) 0:33:30

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

6. Richard Costelloe 0:36:30 (PB, Club record, Club M45 record)

Some of our Wicklow Wolf RC members also competed at Howth on Saturday a race that saw a substantial part of the field go off course but results are not yet available from this event.