Ivan Mahon was only Glendalough AC runner in action at the Great Sugarloaf where he finished 70th out of 184 runners. He also raced Ballinastoe last week – being omitted from our report by accident – where he finished 53rd. these were Ivan’s first two IMRA races of 2019 and his first competing in the M50 category
RESULTS
————-GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————
70. Ivan Mahon 54:42
Lots of action last week for our runners.
BROCKAGH
First in action this week was Colm Kenna – doing his warm-up for the Frank Duffy 10 km 4 days later on the slopes of Brockagh. Newcastle AC’s Luke McMullan’s win meant Northern honours prevailed on the race. Colm came home in 72:13 for 103rd place in a mid-size field of 162.
————GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
103. Colm Kenna 72:13
https://www.imra.ie/events/results/id/1730/
AYLING ABYSS
A ‘hang-over’ from last weeks result must also be mentioned as Torben Dahl took on the technical route up and down Djouce – dubbed the ‘Ayling’ Abyss after inventor Alan Ayling. Perhaps still feeling the Tucker Trail 80k in his legs Torben swooped across the finish line in 27th – a bit down on his usual placings in the league. The next day he could celebrate his 41st birthday – congratulations from everyone in Glendalough AC!
RESULTS
————GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
27. Torben Dahl 63:55
South Dublin 10k
Yesterday’s big Saturday fixture is the South Dublin 10k – part of the Dublin race series – where Richard Costelloe, Colm and William Belton were in action. Richard had a particularly good run setting a new PB of 41:50.
RESULTS
————GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
259. Richard Costelloe 41:50 (PB)
696. Colm Kenna 47:46
840. William Belton 49:24
With three club runners in action, this race becomes an automatic counter in the club championship. Richard’s win here means he now leads the championship as although Torben Dahl and Barry O’Neill can still overtake him if they ‘win’ their ‘run in hand’.
NeverGiveUp 10k
Aoife Joyce capped off the weekend action in Inch at the NeverGiveUp 10k, her first race on the distance for nearly 6 years. Her time of 46:06 sufficed in securing third lady’s spot and 2nd F40.
————GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
28. Aoife Joyce 46:06 (2nd F40, 3rd Female)
Torben Dahl has well and truly shrugged off the knee injury dogging him in the weeks leading into the Wicklow Road Championship. After completing the Glendalough Tucker Trail in 6th place over the weekend, he opted for a race on Tibradden Wednesday as his recovery run and still had enough in the tank to finish 16th.
RESULTS
——————-GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————————
16. Torben Dahl 51:06
Full results: https://www.imra.ie/events/results/id/1800/
Barry O’Neill and Colm Kenna took to the wet windswept flanks of Scarr yesterday for the latest instalment of the IMRA Leinster League. Barry O’Neill swept home in 22nd place – his best finish in the IMRA Leinster League confirming his improved hill form this year.
Colm Kenna was also in action once again and finished 114th.
RESULTS
1. Barry Cronin 38:54
———-GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————
22. Barry O’Neill 45:49
114. Colm Kenna 58:09
The SLÍ MHÚSCRAÍ races series is fast getting a fantastic reputation. Torben Dahl ran away with victory in the half-marathon event more than 3 minutes clear of the nearest challenger. This was the first outright individual victory for our club in 2019 – so now we’re on the board. The race was notable in that the top-6 overall finishers were all over 40!
Duncan Barrett (pictured) meanwhile finished 15th in the Ultra in 8:53 narrowly behind ladies winner Eilis Connery who set a new women’s record on the course.
RESULTS
Sli Mhuscrai Half
Sli Mhuscrai Ultra
——–GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS——-
15. Duncan Barrett 8:53:20
MORE RESULTS…
Meanwhile in Kerry, Barry Murray started his day by running 18:50 in the ParkRun he has founded on Inch Beach. Later in the day he took fourth place at Claragh Mountain (results not yet available) so perhaps Billy Bland was right when he said ‘rest and recovery, I have never heard such bloody nonsense in all my life’.
Another result from the hills. As Catherine Devitt was racing at Hellfire, Barry Murray took to the start line at Corrin Hill in Munster. The race had the unusual feature of having three Pauls occupying the top-3 placings. Perhaps Paul is replacing John as the name to pick if you want to excel in the hills.
Barry meanwhile showed he was only a bit behind his early-season form of 2018 – finishing 7th for the second consecutive year in a time only 23 seconds slower than the previous seasons outing. With conditions in the hills ever-changing such small variations are nearly the same as ‘no change’.
RESULTS
———-GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS———
6. Barry Murray 29:42 (3rd M40)
After the club shenanigans in Clara Vale Saturday, one club runners was involved in more serious business as the IMRA 2019 season kicked off at Hellfire Woods.
Seven day after her come-back in cross-country, Catherine Devitt returned for her first IMRA run since August 2017 and finished 14th in the ladies race and 86th overall with 217 finishers in this the first race of the Winter/Spring League.
RESULTS
———-GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS———
86. Catherine Devitt 43:46
full results: https://www.imra.ie/events/results/id/1672/category/O/
Seven brave club members decided to start the New Year with a bang by heading up Leinster’s highest peak Lug na Coille. Sadly, the forecast ‘partially cloudly’ conditions turned into ‘blanket mist’ pretty quickly as our group ascended the Table Track to summit Lug via Camenabologue.
A slightly rushed beginning to the descent to shake heat back into cold bodies led to the classical mistake of picking the Corrigaslaggaun spur off Lug na Coille instead of the planned for Clohernagh descent. Thankfully everyone kept their wits and calm about them and an alternative – if 10 km longer (!) – route back to the cars was quickly identified as our group broke through Drumgoff wood via some bush-hacking to rejoin the Wicklow Way and civilisation.
Despite the disappointment of missing out on the fabulous descent off Clohernagh including the ‘zig-zags’, we got lovely views of Kelly’s Lough on the way across Lough Mountain as well as a true adventure leaving many in the group refreshed in spirit if not in their legs! Now hopefully we’ll all stay on course in this Sunday’s Master’s Cross-country.
Glendalough AC 