Two road marathons and two trail races in our backlog of reporting.
ROTTERDAM MARATHON
Report pride of place goes to Catherine Devitt whose fantastic 3:01:39 marathon debut in Rotterdam knocked 13 minutes off Donna Quinn’s overall and F40 club records.
RESULT
1. Geoffrey Kamworor (Kenya) 2:04:33
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
919. Catherine Devitt 3:01:39 (PB, Club Record)
Brighton Marathon
David Murphy enjoyed good sunshine taking on the Brighton Marathon and reported: ‘Tough day, but got it done. 👍’
RESULT
1. Sam Cook () 2:26:47
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
1622. David Murphy 3:41:55
Westport Marathons
Wind, sun and hills were on offer at the Westport marathon where Nora Butler ran well to secure 4th female spot overall on a day where the course record was lowered to 2:33 by Sean Hehir.
RESULT
1. Sean Hehir (Croghan AC) 2:33:22
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
77. Nora Butler 3:35:57
WEXFORD 10K AND HALF-MARATHON
Before we turn to the trails, we had a few more road races – with Eoin Phelan building his lead in ‘Most Prolific’ racer to 11 running despite broken ribs in the half-marathon where new member Owen O’Connor ran in the 10k.
RESULT – 10 KM
1. Jack Butler () 0:35:04
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
193. Owen O’Connor 0:53:22
RESULT – HALF-MARATHON
1. Adam O’Connnor (United Striders) 1:16:12
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
575. Eoin Phelan 1:56:36
RESULT
1. Patsy O’Cualan (CG-258) 0:39:11
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
36. Tivon Tyner 0:48:55
Inis Oirr 10 km
Tivon Tyner ran the Lee Road ParkRun with his father – long-term club member Angus Tyner – in 22:52 (Angus ran 20:10 for 3rd overall) and then headed over to run the very bump Inis Oirr 10 km race in 48:55 – a club best for men aged 18-19 years in our club.
RESULT
1. Patsy O’Cualan (CG-258) 0:39:11
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
36. Tivon Tyner 0:48:55
STREETS OF KILKENNY 5K
The most recent result of our bunch where club secretary Donna Quinn had won tickets to the Streets of Kilkenny with daughter Lily (member of Parnell) to the Streets of Kilkenny 5k and ran a solid time while enjoying a night away!
RESULT
1. Cathal O’Reilly (Kilkenny City Harriers AC) 0:14:15
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
338. Donna Quinn 0:21:12
Maurice Mullins 50k
Only three GMACers took on the Maurice Mullins this year and it was Philip O’Brien leading the team home ahead of Graham Bush and James Heggie.
RESULT
1. Enda Cloake (Slaney Olympic) 4:21:48
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
66. Philip O’Brien 5:49:35
68. Graham Bushe 5:51:27
237. James Heggie 8:40:23
Strahahely Woods
Becky Quinn took yet another victory as she extends her women’s win record with IMRA with Graham Bush taking the M55 and Joe Lalor the M70 at Stranahelly where James Heggie DNFed.
A full six race to report on since the 14th of March including Devil’s Glen – the third counter of this year’s Club Championship and a (sort of) trial for the Wicklow Way Relay team and a new men’s club marathon record!
GMAC in the news!
KPMG Lentemarathon Amstelveen
Paul O’Riordan finally broke Torben Dahl’s long-standing club marathon record of 2:57 (run, it should be noted, on the Lap of the Gap course!) and moved up to second overall among the fastest marathoners in our club with his 2:54:19 PB in the Netherlands. Well done Paul – gauntlet thrown down to all other aspiring sub-3 marathoners in the club!
RESULT
1. Aidan Billington (South Africa) 2:31:13
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
29. Paul O’Riordan 2:54:19 (PB, Club Record) – WW RC
ST PATRICK’S DAY 5 KM (TALLAGHT)
Mark Willoughby returned after a 6 week injury spell to race the Tallaght 5k on Patrick’s Day in 27:30 on a cold dry day.
RESULT
1. Ben Guiden (Clonliffe Harriers) 0:15:09
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
288. Mark Willoughby 0:27:30
Crone Night challenge
Five of our runners took the chance to practice running in the dark (or ‘by head-torch’) with Graham Bush first home and 1st M55. This was first of a raft podiums – Chris Willoughby 2nd M50 (in his last race for us before he transferred to Kilcoole AC), with Alan Kennedy 2nd M55, Grace Curham 2nd FS and Rebecca Whineray 3rd F45.
RESULT
1. Peter O’Farrell () 0:39:05
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
8. Graham Bushe 0:42:27 (1st M55)
13. Chris willoughby 0:45:10 (2nd M50)
22. Alan Kennedy 0:48:24 (2nd M55)
41. Grace Curham 0:52:39 (2nd FS) – WW RC
45. Rebecca Whineray 0:55:07 (3rd F45) – WW RC
Askanagap Hill
Three of our runners checked out the new route at Askanagap Hill with Becky Quinn taking another F50 win. Eoin Phelan was 42nd with Joe Lalor winning the M70 category in 45th spot.
RESULT
1. Zak Hannah (Newcastle AC) 0:38:32
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
13. Becky Quinn 0:51:15 (1st F50) – WW RC
42. Eoin Phelan 1:10:33
45. Joe Lalor 1:12:19 (1st M70)
Devil’s Glen
The new temporary 8.3 km course at Devil’s Glen (rerouted due to treefall) drew a big crowd as it was a championship counter and a key race to show form ahead of the selection for our Wicklow Way Relay team. Louis Byrne narrowly beat out Kevin Ferguson with Angus Tyner a further 34 seconds back as the first m55 on the dya. Becky Quinn was a further 20 seconds back and first F50 with Loraine Creane 1st F45 four places back. Paul O’Riordan – recovering from his marathon club record – ran home with partner Julia Palma in 64th and 65th.
RESULT
1. Barry Minnock (Rathfarnham WSAF) 0:34:50
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
12. Louis Byrne 0:39:39
15. Kevin Ferguson 0:39:46
19. Angus Tyner 0:40:20 (2nd M55)
21. Becky Quinn 0:40:40 (1st F50) – WW RC
25. Loraine Creane 0:41:51 (1st F45)
53. Colm Kenna 0:47:57
64. Julia Palma 0:49:50 – WW RC
65. Paul O’Riordan 0:49:50 – WW RC
70. James Heggie 0:50:47
85. Brendan Lawlor 0:54:01
Forth Mountain
Claire Thompson had a rare trail outing at the independent trail race at Forth Mountain where Fiona Smyth also ran.
RESULT
1. Brendan Dunne () 0:49:24
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
68. Claire Thompson 1:06:38
170. Fiona Smyth 1:20:25
Aaron Cullen on his way to 4th place at the Wicklow Codling Windfarm 10k
DUNBOYNE 10K (NATIONAL HALF-MARATHON)
Nora Butler was our only representative at the National 10k in Dunboyne and scored a good PB on a course that was widely hailed as ‘flat and fast’.
RESULT
1. Jack O’Leary (Mullingar Harriers) 0:29:15
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
646. Nora Butler 0:43:48 (PB)
Wicklow Codling Wind Farm Half-marathon and 10 km
Graeme Warren led home the team in the half-marathon in the Codling Windfarm half-marathon (formerly the Gaol-break!). Paul Duffy was coming on strong until a calf strain on the final 4 km slowed him down to a jog and ruined any chance of a PB. Five more runners competed in the distance with a PB from Tivon Tyner.
Rebecca Whineray at Wicklow Half
In the 10 km Grace Curham was the first woman home in a PB (and her first 10 km road race!) as our only runner on that distance on the day. Ahead of her Aaron Cullen had finished 4th overall removing Aran Lynham’s male senior club record of 39:48 from our club books as he romped home in 37:13. This was the sixth club record set this year and makes Aaron the fourth fastest 10k runner currently in the club and his team the third fastest run by an active Glendalough AC member.
Two road races and two trails races to catch up on….
Gorey 10 mile
We were represented by Sile Keane in Wexford, who delivered a strong performance to achieve a personal best time of 1:53:21, placing 279th overall.
RESULT
1. Sean Hehir (Croghan AC) 0:55:41
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
279. Sile Keane 1:53:21 (PB)
CPC HALF-MARATHON DEN HAAG
Catherine lowers the club half-marathon record for women again!
Also this previous Sunday Catherine Devitt lowered her own PB and women’s overall and F40 half-marathon record from 1:25:49 to 1:23:27 putting her five minutes clear of any other female runner in the club over the distance with a time that ranks as the seventh fastest PB overall in the club currently. this was enough for 562nd spot out of nearly 20,000 competitors!
Catherine also secured savage bragging rights on the homefront when husband Richard Costello (one of the six men ahead of her on the PB list) came in four minutes and 386 spots later in an otherwise fine 1:27:04 (about 5.5 minutes off his current PB and the club M45 record).
RESULT
1. Eric Sang (Kenya) 0:59:36
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
562. Catherine Devitt 1:23:27 (PB, Club Record)
948. Richard Costelloe 1:27:04
Wicklow Way Half
Alan near Pier Gates
We had a strong club turnout with notable performances across multiple age categories. Paul Duffy led us home, finishing in a commendable 30th position in 2:06:03, closely followed by Kevin Ferguson in 40th. Special congratulations go to Loraine Creane who secured 3rd place in the F40 category, Angus Tyner who placed 2nd in the M55, and Alan Kennedy who completed our podium successes with 3rd place in the M55 category.
RESULT
1. Adam Cunningham (Mourne Runners AC) 1:45:13
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
30. Paul Duffy 2:06:03
40. Kevin Ferguson 2:09:47
59. Loraine Creane 2:16:36 (3rd F40)
61. Angus Tyner 2:16:58 (2nd M55)
82. Eoin O’NEILL 2:21:58
85. Alan Kennedy 2:23:47 (3rd M55)
167. Andy Walker 2:42:01
183. Brian Hendley 2:46:46
186. Eoin Phelan 2:48:52
227. Monica Timmins 2:58:41
274. James Heggie 3:17:30
Bohermeen Half
Half-marathon action continued on the roads at the Bohermeen Half Marathon. Blaise Kinsella was our fastest finisher, placing 327th overall with an impressive 1:27:30. Mark Lindsay, Graham Kearns, and Paul O’Riordan all broke the 1:40 mark, showcasing solid mid-pack strength. Julia Palma rounded out our participation, crossing the line in 1:53:24.
RESULT
1. Michael Fox (Armagh AC) 1:07:23
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
327. Blaise Kinsella 1:27:30
718. Mark Lindsay 1:38:49
728. Graham Kearns 1:39:24
747. Paul O’Riordan 1:38:58
1203. Julia Palma 1:53:24
Annacurra Trail
Eoin at Annacurra
At the challenging Annacurra Trail race, Becky Quinn was a standout performer for us, winning the F50 category in a swift 49:59 and securing 23rd overall. Eoin Phelan also represented us ‘as usual’ as you’d be tempted to say as he racks up the races, finishing 49th in 57:17.
Big focus on road races in this report with a slew of Club Records falling on the 4 mile and even the classical 10 km distance! A few of our runners also decided to skip the Moneystown 4 miler and head further south to the Annacurra Trail Race. Updated Club Records can be found here.
WICKLOW HOSPICE HALF
We had nine people in action at the annual Wicklow Hospice fund-raiser in Avondale. All copmeted in the half-marathon distance and Ben Lewis was our first man home with Nora Butler our first woman.
RESULT
1. Jason Reilly (Civil Service Harriers) 1:17:08
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
43. Ben Lewis 1:39:15
69. Nora Butler 1:42:38 (WW RC)
71. Jack Moore 1:42:44 (WW RC)
82. John Campbell 1:44:01 (WW RC)
115. Brian Hendley 1:48:09 (WW RC)
171. Julia Palma 1:53:19 (WW RC)
172. Paul O’Riordan 1:53:20 (WW RC)
200. Monica Timmins 1:57:23
330. Sam Fleming 2:12:04 (WW RC)
MONEYSTOWN 4 MILE
Catherine Devitt- women’s winner and course record holder…
In the Moneystown 4 Mile – the second counter in this year’s club championship – Catherine Devitt was our first runner home. She annihilated the existing 4 mile women’s record in the process lowering Rachel Wisdom’s ten year old 25:24 mark to 23:51 (a time also faster than Angus Tyner’s 24:02 men’s record – the first woman’s club record to be faster than a current men’s record) while lowering her own eight year old personal best. As if that was not enough it also constituted a new course record breaking Donna Quinn’s inaugural mark.
Last year’s winner Donna Quinn – 3rd this year in an improved time
Catherine was followed home by Gavin Kennedy who also hugely improved his PB from 26:15 to 24:55. Richard Allen – next in 25:55 – set a new club m50 record breaking Fergal Olohan’s 30:01 from last year. Donna Quinn was next as 2nd woman overall followed by Aoife Joyce (1st F45) and Siobhan Brennan who both won the F50 category and lowered her own club F50 record by over a minute and a half. We had several more finishers – most in PBs – including co-organiser David Clancy who would have been delighted to see 255 finishers.
RESULT
1. Ed O’Connor (Brother’s Pearse AC) 0:20:31 (Course record)
26. Richard Allan 0:25:55 (PB, Club M50 Record) – WW RC
29. Donna Quinn 0:26:22 (2nd woman)
44. Aoife Joyce 0:28:44 (1st F45)
51. Rebecca Whineray 0:30:06 (PB)
52. Colm Kenna 0:30:20
54. Siobhan Brennan 0:30:26 (1st F50, PB)
64. David Clancy 0:31:42 (PB)
71. Cari Burke 0:32:24 (PB)
122. Ciara Flynn 0:38:54 (PB)
123. Sile Keane 0:39:24 (PB) 130. Hilary Minch 0:40:21 (PB) 137. Aine Doyle 0:40:45 (PB) 138. Mary Doyle 0:41:59 (PB) 139. Maria Doyle 0:42:39 (PB)
annacurra trail race
109 IMRA runners took the start in Annacurra on a fast course where Eoin Phelan kept building his early lead in the ‘most prolific’ and Becky Quinn was our first finisher and took the 1st F50 prize a day after collecting her Wicklow Star Award for her performances at the World Masters in Canfranc last year.
RESULT
1. Matthew McConnell () 0:37:45
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
23. Becky Quinn 0:49:59 (1st F50) – WW RC
49. Eoin Phelan 0:57:17 – WW RC
CARLINGFORD 10 KM
Paul O’Riordan had a terrific run at the Carlingford 10 km – finishing 4th overall in a field of 286. His time of 36:57 was not only a new personal best but also broke the overall and M35 club record’s breaking Richard Costelloe’s 37:08 (overall record) and Torben Dahl’s long-standing M35 record of 37:45. It also put’s places Paul joint 3rd on our ‘all-time ranking’ (times run by current club runners) with club coach Rene Borg with only Amidou Dembele’s all-time best of 36:31 and Torben Dahl’s 36:55 from 2015 faster.
RESULT
1. Noel McNally () 0:32:55
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
4. Paul O’Riordan 0:36:57 (PB, Club Record, Club M35 record) – WW RC
Hills were the menu for this weekend: on the roads of Kerry and the flanks of our local Sugarloaf.
SUGARLOAF WINTER
Kevin Ferguson at Sugarloaf
Club man Graham Bush had scouted out a new course avoiding the newly busier summit (after the introduction of the staircase to the top) which seemed to be very well received.
We had a ‘lucky’ thirteen on the long course along with coach Rene Borg running the short course with son Cillian and collected category podiums galore (5) with Joe winning the M70, course creater Graham 2nd M55 (ahead of club mate Angus in 3rd), Loraine 2nd in the F45, and Kevin Ferguson 3rd in the M40. For Alan this was enough for 3rd M55 in the winter League overall and Joe Lalor winning the M70 trophy.
Long
RESULT
1. Garreth Davis () 0:40:18
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
17. Graham Bushe 0:46:56 (2nd M55)
20. Kevin Ferguson 0:48:06 (3rd M40)
26. Richard Allan 0:49:15
29. Chris willoughby 0:50:25
34. Angus Tyner 0:50:39 (3rd M55)
36. Loraine Creane 0:50:57 (2nd F40)
44. Alan Kennedy 0:52:25
66. Jeff Swords 0:55:50
78. John Campbell 0:58:23
90. Eoin Phelan 1:00:28
123. Gerard O’Rourke 1:07:52
129. Joe Lalor 1:09:46 (1st M70)
157. Brian Howard 1:20:38
Short
RESULT
1. Leo Charnecki () 0:23:27
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
13. René Borg 0:29:38
GAP OF DUNLOE HALF-MARATHON
Siobhan and Fiona at Gap of Dunloe
Siobhan Brennan and Fiona Smyth travelled to the Kingdom for the tough Gap of Dunloe Half organised by Hardman. Siobhan got a 1:58:27 PB in her debut (roughly equivalent to a 1:50 on a flat course) with Fiona running her PB (from Dingle) close to a few seconds.
Two mountain running races to report on from this weekend past.
TROOPERSTOWN WINTER
Brian Howard (right) in a sprint finish
We had solid attendance as always at Trooperstown with twelve running officially (and Loraine unofficially as her order had not gone through!) on the long (9.4 km) and short (5.3 km) courses.
Ten of our runners finished the longer course – similar to the 2024 but a bit shorter and more direct – with Kevin Ferguson having a very strong run to lead the team home ahead of Johnny Conway, Paul Duffy and Chris Willoughby. This quartet ‘packed well’ finishing 22nd, 24th, 28th and 30th within a 2 minute time-frame. There was a further 1 minute down to debutante Huw Thomas in 34th and then Alan Kennedy in 48th securing another M55 podium spot. Brian Hendley and Andy Walker came in just after the hour mark and Monica Timmins just after the 70 minute mark in 116th with Brian Howard our last runner. 173 runners completed the race.
Rene Borg (green jacket) with son Cillian near the summit
RESULT
1. Emmett McNamara () 0:42:05
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
22. Kevin Ferguson 0:49:02
24. John Conway 0:49:27
28. Paul Duffy 0:49:55
30. Chris willoughby 0:50:56 (WW RC)
34. Huw Thomas 0:51:58 (WW RC)
48. Alan Kennedy 0:53:50 (WW RC – 2nd M55)
80. Brian Hendley 1:01:19 (WW RC)
87. Andy Walker 1:02:51 (WW RC)
116. Monica Timmins 1:10:18
166. Brian Howard 1:26:58 (WW RC)
Chaperoning Cillian and Feihlim, Rene Borg and Sile Keane ran on the short course with 23 others – a mixture of older juniors, under-14s, parents and older runners. First home was Loraine’s son Oisin in his Roundwood and District colours.
RESULT
1. Oisin Donelon (Roundwood and District AC) 0:31:25
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
12. René Borg 0:43:40
19. Sile Keane 0:54:58
Sli Chorcaí Ultra
James Heggie ran in Tipperary and managed to complete 43 km of the 71.5 km of the Sli Chorcai Ultra before having to retire. 66 runners competed in the ultra with a further 104 completing the half-marathon run as part of the same evenb.
We begin with a ‘missed’ result (two in fact) from February where Eoin Phelan and James Heggie took on the Ballyhoura Winter Challenge.
BALLYHOURA WINTER CHALLENGE
RESULT
1. Enda Cloake (Slaney Olympic) 1:59:44
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
148. Eoin Phelan 3:26:40
204. James Heggie 4:46:51
HOWTH WINTER
The tradition of several leaders (and others in the field) getting lost continued at Howth despite a new course taking in more of the coastal trails. John Conway raced well to secure the first top-10 in the hills for the year finishing 9th and he was joined by Jeff Swords, Brian Hendley and Eoin Phelan.
RESULT
1. Niall Davis () 0:31:55
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
9. John Conway 0:37:01
58. Jeff Swords 0:43:11
89. Brian Hendley 0:46:42
113. Eoin Phelan 0:49:06
TRIM AC
A tale of two ten milers (photo: Angus Tyner)
Angus and son Tivon went to the Trim AC where Tivon had to settle for struggling through due to illness. It was a more rewarding day for Angus who beat his own M55 club record from 2024 by nearly a minute.
Keith Mulvey was also racing recording his best time since 2018 with an 85 minute mark.
RESULT
1. Peter Somba () 0:51:51
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
278. Angus Tyner 1:06:29 (M55 PB, M55 Club Record)
1101. Keith Mulvey 1:25:47
1694. Tivon Tyner 1:46:46
WICKLOW MASTERS – SHANGANAGH
With the reschedule of the Wicklow Masters most of our large contingent were no longer able to make the race leaving Eoin (racing his second race in 48 hours) and Alan Kennedy as our only two representatives. Both raced well – thanks for maintaining the colours lads!
The year so far has featured mainly trail and mountain running results and these last weeks were no different with two local IMRA races at Brockagh and Carrick to report on along with another outing for Catherine Devitt at the Puinduinrun run on the dunes and trails in the Netherlands.
BROCKAGH BURST
Tivon Tyner (front)
Brockagh Burst always draws a good local crowd as one of the nearest races to our home trails and this year was no exception with 14 runners out (compared to 7 last year). Paul Duffy led us home as many times before on the hills with Grace Curham finishing 1st in the Female Senior. There was an ‘IMRA debut’ for Tivon Tyner running as part of Glendalough AC – the son of long-term member Angus Tyner who won out on the day and was also 1st M55. Monica Timmins also ran for us on the hills for the first time.
RESULT
1. Enda Cloake (Slaney Olympic) 0:25:33
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
12. Paul Duffy 0:30:27
19. Kevin Ferguson 0:31:51
34. Chris willoughby 0:32:58
35. Angus Tyner 0:33:03 (1st M55)
46. Grace Curham 0:34:49 (1st FS)
60. Tivon Tyner 0:36:27
62. Kevin Doherty 0:36:54
74. Andy Walker 0:38:44
78. Brian Hendley 0:39:49
83. Colm Kenna 0:40:13
87. Eoin Phelan 0:40:38
94. Monica Timmins 0:41:45
96. Keith Mulvey 0:42:02
138. Mark Willoughby 0:47:13
CARRICK WINTER
Monica Timmins crosses the finish (photo: Diane McConnell)
At Carrick, Chris Willoughby turned the tables on Kevin Ferguson (who had beaten him at Carrick) to be our first man home in 22nd place. Loraine Creane was 1st F45 and 3rd woman overall with Alan Kennedy (3rd M55) and Joe Lalor (1st M70) also securing category top-3s.
It was a shortened version of the 2024 course – wet, icy, slippy and mucky in many places – greeting the runners where Ben Mangan (coached by club head coach Rene Borg) took a narrow win against Niall Davis.
On the short course (planned 4.8 – 5.6 km with detour!) Rene Borg and Paul Duffy ‘chaperoned’ their sons up and down a very tough junior course both finishing just behind their respective charges in 8th and 12th and presumably ‘taking it easy enough’.
LONG COURSE
RESULT
1. Ben Mangan (Setanta Orienteers) 0:41:10
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
22. Chris willoughby 0:52:49
32. Kevin Ferguson 0:54:10
45. Loraine Creane 0:57:43 (1st F45, 3rd woman)
48. Alan Kennedy 0:58:18 (3rd M55)
98. Monica Timmins 1:08:58
99. Eoin Phelan 1:09:18
107. Joe Lalor 1:12:50 (1st M70)
Rene follows in Cillian Borg (representing Roundwood and District) on the junior / short course
SHORT COURSE
RESULT
1. Finn McGurren (Clonliffe Harriers) 0:41:10
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
8. René Borg 0:48:31
12. Paul Duffy 0:53:15
PUINDUINRUN
Catherine Devitt returned to the Puinduinrun – a 10.5 km mix of trails and dunes with plenty of undulations where she had finished 2nd woman in 2023. This year she improved her time by nearly a minute and took a step up the podium. She finished 29th overall (compared to 30th in 2023).
Our 10th anniversary Club Xmas Party and Awards Dinner was held in Byrne and Woods yesterday evening as a nice coda for the season and start of the Christmas festivity period.
CLUB XMAS CRACKER
The morning had begun with our traditional Winter League in the special ‘Xmas Cracker Relay Edition’ where handicapped teams of two battled it out for boxes of chocolate. The intended route in Ballardpark had to be scrapped due to (rein?)deer culling in the woods and instead runners completed the tough 5 km Green Gapways course where the team of Catherine Devitt and Rene Borg came from behind to win ahead of Donna Quinn/Yvonne Brennan and Aoife Joyce and Derek Cullen. The final two teams were DNFed as Paul Duffy and Graham Bush missed the turn and took in some bonus mileage.
One more round of the Winter League awaits this year on the morning of the 28th.
CLUB AWARDS 2024 RESULTS
Three candidates where picked in each category and our members voted on the winner.
Below can be seen the full list of winners. A few notes on the awards:
5 ‘founding members’ were in attendance at the Christmas Party: Aoife Joyce, Angus Tyner, Colm Kenna, Donna Quinn, Keith Mulvey and Rene Borg
In the first 7 years of awards, Angus Tyner and Donna Quinn won 6 of the ‘Road Performer of the Year Awards’ (3 each) – the last two years has seen Blaise and now Catherine win it to
Graham Bush became the second person to win the Off-Road Performer twice (after Barry Murray) having won it in 2022
John Conway who won the Off-Road Award last year took the Ultra award in 2024
Paul Duffy became the third man to win the Club Championship twice (after Angus Tyner and Rene Borg) but the FIRST to defend his title
Separate Off-Road, Road and Team Performance Awards for women where given out for the first time
Ultra Performer of the Year was given out as a separate award for the first time (having been under the Off-road category previously)
Donna Quinn and Angus Tyner continue to top the Awards list with 15 and 8 awards respectively!
MOST PROLIFIC RACER AND ‘MOST IMPROVED’ – EOIN PHELAN
CLUB CHAMPION 2024 (MEN) – PAUL DUFFY
CLUB CHAMPION 2024 (WOMEN) – AOIFE JOYCE
CLUB PERSON OF THE YEAR – RACHEL WISDOM
ROAD PERFORMER OF THE YEAR (MEN) – GAVIN KENNEDY
ROAD PERFORMER OF THE YEAR (WOMEN) – CATHERINE DEVITT
OFF-ROAD PERFORMER OF THE YEAR (MEN) – GRAHAM BUSH
OFF-ROAD PERFORMER OF THE YEAR (WOMEN) – AOIFE O’BRIEN
Aoife was not in attendance – trophy to be circulated.
ULTRA PERFORMER OF THE YEAR – JOHN CONWAY
John was also not in attendance.
NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR – LOUIS BYRNE
WOMEN’S TEAM AWARD 2024 (WICKLOW MASTERS O35 TEAM)
Rachel Wisdom, Donna Quinn and Aoife Joyce receiving the prize (Loraine Creane absent).
MEN’S TEAM AWARD 2024 (WICKLOW OFF-ROAD O50 TEAM)
Angus Tyner and Graham Bush received the four prizes in absence of Richard Allan and Anthony Breen (the two remaining team members)
CLUB QUIZ 2024
Finally, the traditional super-frustrating Club Quiz was also passed around and won (suspiciously) by Aoife Joyce (wife of the quiz master!) with 12 out of 16 correct answers with Colm and Gavin runners-up.
This weekend saw us record three more race results to bring the club tally to 592 – eight more to get above 600 races for the first time.
QUEEN’S PARKRUN BELFAST AND SOME PARKRUN STATS
Angus Tyner ran his 12th Parkrun in 2024 – this time on the Northern side of the border and once again accompanied by son Tivon. This time he stayed just above 20 minutes but as so often before was the first home in his age category.
RESULT
1. Mike Boucher (Aldershot, Farnham & District AC) 0:18:47
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
4. Angus Tyner 0:20:09 (1st M55)
Angus is the club’s most eager ParkRunner having raced 48 as a member of the club (of which we have record). Richard Costelloe and Catherine Devitt share 2nd place with 11 (mainly on their current ‘home turf’ in Zuiderpark in the Netherlands). In general our club is not the most Parkrun focused with only 123 Parkruns completed by 26 different members over our 10 year history.
RESULT
1. Vincent Kipkorir (Kenya) 2:08:06
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
4890. Monica Timmins 4:34:28
MALAGA MARATHON
New member Monica Timmins ran the Malaga Marathon alongside just under 6000 other competitors as part of her training for this year’s Art O’Neill Challenge (where Graeme Warren and Eoin Phelan are also planning to compete). Monica had run Dublin earlier this Autumn and her marathon result is the 40th recorded this year by our club – by some distance the most (we had 26 marathon results in 2023 and never more than 12 before.
This mean marathons were the third most popular distance this year after the 1/2 marathon (46) and 5 km (45 km). This was a big drop in popularity for the 5 km distance where we had 70 competing in 2023!
The 5 km distance remains far and away our most raced distance with 449 results (10 km is second with 190 results).
RESULT
1. Vincent Kipkorir (Kenya) 2:08:06
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
4890. Monica Timmins 4:34:28
GLANAGEENTY HALF-MARATHON AND THE RACE FOR ‘MOST PROLIFIC’ 2024
Eoin Phelan attended the Wicklow Wolf RC party and then was on the road the next morning at 5 am for the trip to Castleisland and the Glanageenty Trail running Festival.
As of this writing results are not yet available for the longest distance (the half-marathon) in which Eoin competed but he extended his record as ‘most prolific’ to 53 races and he is planning at least another 2 in 2024. He holds a 25 race lead over last year’s most prolific runner – James Heggie (currently on 28 which was the winning tally in 2023).
Despite being only a member for three years Eoin has moved up to 8th in the overall list of most races – a list led by Angus Tyner (138) and he now has 7th placed Rene Borg (80 races) in his sights. Most prolific woman in 2024 is Aoife Joyce with 13 races and the most prolific in club history is Donna Quinn with 112. Donna also holds the record for most races run by a woman in one season for the club at 26 races (in 2017).
It should be noted we do not count ParkRuns in this competition.
