Glendalough AC

REPORTS: Five tough days on the hills for GMAC

Since our last report our runners have been put through the mill first at the Reeks Skyline in Kerry, the Glendalough Tucker Trail ultra and the last three rounds of the Leinster League at Crone, Ballinastoe and Great Sugarloaf.

Reeks Skyline

John Conway kicked off the fun in Kerry on the extremely difficult Reeks Skyline, taking in Carrauntoohil and it’s sister peaks. Winner Conall Whelan set a new CR. Despite suffering some ankle trouble during and after Johnny got through once again in what continues to be a busy summer since he completed the Cape Wrath 400k in June.

RESULT

1. Conall Whelan (UCD AC) 3:42:33 (CR)

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

34. John Conway 5:54:10

COILLTE CRONE CAPER

The Coillte Crone Caper race went ahead as planned after some concern around the fires nearby and it was a gruesome uphill battle for our quintet of Torben, Rene, Aran, Angus and Eoin. Aran led early on with Torben and Rene in close attendance with Rene eventually taking the lead and cresting the summit first before coming a cropper with a bad ankle injury shortly into the descent. Torben retook the lead halfway down leading the team home in 24th.

Our two Danes (Rene and Torben) chasing Aran and the other leaders halfway through the climb at Crone

RESULT

1. Derek Crammond (Parnell AC) 0:51:39 (CR)

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

25. Torben Dahl 1:04:09

26. René Borg 1:04:45

30. Aran Lynham 1:05:30

41. Angus Tyner 1:08:35

48. Eoin Kennedy 1:10:17

GLENDALOUGH TUCKER TRAIL 80K

Graham Bushe and Brian Lydon took over racing duties in the weekend at the Glendalough Tucker Trail and Graham secured 5th overall and 1st M50 with Brian solid in the mid-pack

Brian Lydon motors on in the Tucker Trail (photo: Adrian Hennessey)

RESULT

1. Brian McFlynn (Newcastle AC) 7:59:11

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

5. Graham Bushe 9:08:11 (1st M50)

24. Brian Lydon 10:50:11

BALLINASTOE

Torben and Eoin followed up their exertions at Crone a bit further south on the chaotic course at Ballinastoe finishing ‘to recent par’. Reeks winner Conall Whelan scorched around in 49 minutes.

RESULT

1. Conall Whelan (UCD AC) 0:49:05

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

28. Torben Dahl 0:59:22

46. Eoin Kennedy 1:06:11

SUGARLOAF BBQ

Graham Bushe earns his 100th race t-shirt ((photo: Gareth LIttle)

This left only one race in the Leinster League and Graham Bushe was recovered enough from the Tucker Trail to earn his ‘club 100’ t-shirt here. Graham made the last LL race of the season his first go at this year’s league and lead us home in 18th position. In the overall league our men didn’t really feature as none completed the minimum 7 races for a full score (Torben finished highest – in 78th out of 574 – with 6 races to score) with most having completed 2-4 races. But there was enough solid performances to suggest that our large squad of hill runners could do well in the upcoming Wicklow Athletics Off-Road Championship.

RESULT

1. Derek Crammond (Parnell AC) 0:33:57

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

18. Graham Bushe 0:40:56

46. Torben Dahl 0:45:34

REPORT: 10 mile, 4 Peaks and The Abyss

July 14, 2022July 15, 2022 by glendaloughac, posted in Uncategorized

After the relentless racing of the last few weeks, our runners ‘quietened’ down a bit over the weekend competing in only two races before Brian Lydon turned out after a short break to compete as our lonely sentinel at the Ayling Abyss.

DARGLE FOUR PEAKS

Graham Bushe led the blazing yellows home for the second time in 5 days at the unorthodox Dargle Four Peaks race (featuring a free route choice!) with over-reliable orienteer Angus Tyner 2nd club man, long-distance specialist Duncan Barret 3rd and Barry O’Neill 4th.

RESULT

1. Ruairi Long (UCD AC) 1:34:44 (CR)

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

7. Graham Bushe 2:01:42 (2nd M50)

19. Angus Tyner 2:28:26

26. Duncan Barrett 2:39:44

31. Barry O’Neill 2:46:19

BORN TO RUN 10 MILE (TRALEE)

In Tralee, Aran Lynham couldn’t quite replicate recent storming road performances – going out too aggressively in the heat, he faded a bit after 5 km of the Born to Run 10 mile and had to dig deep to complete and set his first mark over the 10 mile distance. It was still enough for a nice top-10 spot.

RESULT

1. Donal O’Kelly () 1:01:01

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

8. Aran Lynham 1:10:53

THE AYLING ABYSS

Brian Lydon completed his 6th IMRA race (and first since the Relay in May) coming a very credible 25th in the tough and technical 10 km on the Ayling Abyss at Djouce.

RESULT

1. Derek Crammond (Parnell AC) 51:08 (CR)

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

25. Brian Lydon 1:03:47

REPORTS: Scarr, Road Championship, Clontarf and Earl’s Drive

July 8, 2022 by glendaloughac, posted in Mountain running, Race reports, Road running, Trail running

Last week’s action began with our runners competing simultaneously in two arenas: 15 minutes after seven of our runners heard the starter gun at the Wicklow Road Championship, four more headed up the slopes of Scarr at Lough Dan. The busiest day of competition for our runners this year.

The team for this year’s Road Champs (Brian, Marcus, Aoife, Blaise, Donna, Aran and Colm)

WICKLOW ROAD CHAMPS 5K

The annual county championships has always been a happy hunting ground since the formation of our club. This year we sadly didn’t have a ladies team but Donna Quinn ran within 26 seconds of her previous best to secure a Gold medal in the F40 category.

Marcus and Donna side by side (Marcus would win out by 5 seconds)

Sweetest of all was the men’s team: three runners under 19 minutes and a 1 point lead kept us in Bronze position ahead of Bray Runners.

Aran Lynham lowered his best from 18:47 to 18:11 whereas Blaise Kinsella (2nd man over the line) missed out on another PB this year by 9 seconds whereas Brian Lydon annihilated his 21:28 PB to dip under 19 minutes for the first time (18:55)

RESULT

1. Derek Crammond (Parnell AC) 0:15:43

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

19. Aran Lynham 0:18:11 (PB, team Bronze)

26. Blaise Kinsella 0:18:47 30. Brian Lydon 0:18:55 (PB, team Bronze)

35. Marcus Murphy 0:19:25 (team Bronze)

37. Donna Quinn 0:19:30 (1st F40)

55. Colm Kenna 0:21:27 (Team Bronze)

63. Aoife Joyce 0:21:48

SCARR / LOUGH DAN

Meanwhile our quartet of John, Torben, Angus and Barry took the covetted places in the reduced size field at Scarr / Lough Dan (due to ongoing erosion concerns) and Johnny showed himself fully recovered from his recent Cape Wrath adventure and two very strong adventure race outings recently to lead the team home in 12th. Torben was only a further 50 seconds adrift with Angus another 36 after that and Barry O’Neill still managing himself back from injury well.

Torben Dahl crosses the finishing mat at Lough Dan

RESULT

1. Warren Swords (Crusaders AC) 0:49:26

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

12. John Conway 0:55:54

17. Torben Dahl 0:56:44

21. Angus Tyner 0:57:40

37. Barry O’Neill 1:04:25

CLONTARF HALF-MARATHON

Aran Lynham at the Wicklow Road Champs (photo: Andrew Hanney)

Using the 5 km as a final sharpener, Aran Lynham notched a second PB 4 days later in the Clontarf Half-marathon breaking the 90 minute barrier for the first time.

RESULT

1. Jesus Calle Arroyo (Raheny Shamrocks) 1:15:52

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

53. Aran Lynham 1:28:27 (PB)

EUROPEAN ATHLETICS OFF-ROAD CHAMPIONSHIPS

While all the action unfolded in Ireland, club coach René Borg had the honour of representing our club at the European Athletics Off-Road Championship in La Palma on the Canary Islands: not in a running capacity but as the official English commentator for European Athletics. It was a fantastic event with a memorable 5th place for Irishman Zak Hannah (the highest Irish finish there since 1991).

Rene Borg in action for European Athletics on La Palma in the Canarias

EARL’S DRIVE

The Wednesday evening races moved from Leinster to Trail League action in the short, flat and fast course at Djouce Woods (now in a slightly lengthened version). While Aran led us out here Graham Bushe took the ‘club lead’ late on followed by Aran, coach Rene (back from La Santa), Paul Duffy and Barry O’Neill making up the rest of the yellow quintet.

Parnell’s Derek Crammond took his second win in a week ahead of one of the fastest fields assembled at an IMRA start line this year with recent race winners as far down as 12th position.

Rene Borg in a late break-away at Earl’s Drive

RESULT

1. Derek Crammond (Parnell AC) 0:28:59

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

22. Graham Bushe 0:33:36 (2nd M50)

24. Aran Lynham 0:33:54

32. René Borg 0:34:59

36. Paul Duffy 0:35:51

58. Barry O’Neill 0:39:15

RACE REPORTS: Devilish hills and trails, Dutch ParkRuns and home turf at Brockagh

June 16, 2022 by glendaloughac, posted in Mountain running, Race reports, Road running, Trail running, Ultra running

Our result round-up begins at one of the most well-loved trail runs among our club members: the Devil’s Glen.

DEVIL’S GLEN

Paul Duffy led us home continuing his strong comeback – he also got the covetted ‘sub-40’ blue ribbon performance (the fifth club runner to do so in our colours and the 8th current member to have done so).

Less than 2 minutes behind was Diarmuid with Colm Kenna and Barry O’Neill arriving just around the 50th position (a feat they’d repeat a week later).

RESULT

1. Matthew McConnell () 0:34:15

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

8. Paul Duffy 0:39:07

18. Diarmuid Kavanagh 0:40:59

47. Colm Kenna 0:46:27

51. Barry O’Neill 0:47:13

Colm Kenna at Brockagh a week after Devil’s Glen

WICKLOW WAY RACE

48 hours later Duncan Barrett set out on another Wicklow Way Race. Without his 2021 training volume he couldn’t quite replicate his best run over the course in Autumn but he still put in a strong and experienced showing with 12th position and a time of 17 hours 2 minutes for the 127 km.

RESULT

1. Mickie Brennan () 13:45:13

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

12. Duncan Barrett 17:02:18

Graeme Warren descends off Brockagh having used Camaderry as a warmup

CAMADERRY ‘DEVIL’S CLIMB’

While Duncan was still running, a small field of four competed in the 5th round of our Club Championship – the 5 km Uphill only run from the Upper Lake to Camaderry East. Club coach René took the win with Donna Quinn beating Aoife in the ladies. After a slight dip in attendance in the recent Club Champs, we expect them to pick up as the next counter is the Wicklow Road Championship.

RESULT

1. René Borg 0:40:16 (1st M40)

2. Graeme Warren 0:43:24 (1st M45)

3. Donna Quinn 0:43:55 (1st F40)

4. Aoife Joyce 0:51:01 (2nd F40)

ZUIDERBERG PARKRUN

That same morning in The Haag, Richard Costelloe returned to action finishing 4th in the Zuiderberg ParkRun in 20:46.

RESULT

1. Matthew Russell (Kovsie AC) 0:18:06

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

4. Richard Costelloe 0:20:46 (1st M45)

Rene takes the club lead baton late on the Brockagh climb with Aran in pursuit

BROCKAGH LL

The Leinster continued this Wednesday and the ‘yellow wave’ again swept over a local hill – the new 11.3 km Brockagh course. Young guns Aran and Diarmuid led our men out on the ascent but were overtaken late on the climb by René who led the troops home in 12th followed by Aran in 15th. With two men in the top-20, Loraine put more gloss on the evening when she finished 3rd lady and first F40.

Graeme Warren had overtaken Diarmuid late on the climb and he and our next three packed very tightly coming in 26th, 29th, 31st and 32nd all within just over a minute.

Loraine Creane has time to smile down the grassy bank at Brockagh

Colm Kenna came next well inside the top half of the field with a strong run and Barry O’Neill – still managing himself back from knee injury closed out our pack.

It was a good day for Sli Cualann as well with Parnell’s Derek Crammond winning – David and Cormac Conroy in 8th and 10th and Hugh Kinsella winning the M60. For good measure Kilcoole AC’s Peter Bell was 2nd.

RESULT

1. Derek Crammond (Parnell AC) 0:49:40

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

12. René Borg 0:59:20

15. Aran Lynham 1:00:24

26. Graeme Warren 1:02:58

29. Diarmuid Kavanagh 1:03:44

31. Eoin Kennedy 1:04:09

32. Loraine Creane 1:04:21 (3rd lady, 1st F40)

51. Colm Kenna 1:09:43

56. Barry O’Neill 1:11:55

Eoin Kennnedy descends away from the seting sun

RACE REPORT: Comeback kids

June 9, 2022 by glendaloughac, posted in Mountain running, Race reports, Road running, Trail running

It was a good week for people ‘returning to action’ and none moreso than Marcus Murphy who raced for the first time in 4 years returning with a solid 20:52.

RESULT

1. Derek Crammond (Parnell AC) 0:16:56

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

19. Marcus Murphy 0:20:52

DEVIL’S GLEN

Paul Duffy had a disrupted start to the season courtesy of a recurring back issue but is swiftly finding his groove being our first runner home at both Trooperstown Hill and Devil’s Glen with his first top-10 since 2012. For Diarmuid Kavanagh this was his first top-20 in a non-relay IMRA race.

RESULT

1. Matthew McConnell () 0:34:15

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

8. Paul Duffy 0:39:07

17. Diarmuid Kavanagh 0:41:00

44. Colm Kenna 0:46:28

48. Barry O’Neill 0:47:13

TROOPERSTOWN SUMMER

As has been the trend of late races on our ‘local’ hills (Brockagh, Paddock, Scarr, and Trooperstown) draw a good contingent and this time was no exception with a very close battle once again between our men with Paul, Torben and Aran within less 90 seconds. Barry O’Neill continues to manage his way back after long-term knee injury.

RESULT

1. Peter Bell (Kilcoole AC) 0:43:39

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

25. Paul Duffy 0:51:27

27. Torben Dahl 0:51:46

29. Aran Lynham 0:52:56

61. Barry O’Neill 1:02:10

64. Loraine Creane 1:02:33

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/

REPORT: LAP OF THE GAP MARATHON 2022

May 25, 2022 by glendaloughac, posted in Club races / events, Half-marathon, Lap of the Gap / Glen to Glen, road running

We had a lot of racing over the weekend (reported separately) but the main event was our annual club fund-raiser – the Glendalough Lap of the Gap Marathon and Glen to Glen Half-marathon (Glendalough to Glenmacnass).

From humble beginnings this event has grown into an iconic fixture on the Irish racing calendar and this year we had record numbers with nearly 600 tickets sold and nearly 400 people participating on the day along with the nearly 60 strong crew and the numerous spectators.

Many took the opportunity to stay locally with at least 20 guests in Lynhams Hotel, 2 in the Youth Hostel and many more of which we are unaware. This meets one of the stated three goals Glendalough AC have for this event:

Raise funds for Glendalough AC and the development of athletics in Laragh
Create revenue for the local area through running tourism
Setup an event that offers both a unique experience for the average participant and a unique athletic feat for competitive and elite athletes

This year more than met our expectations with top runner Tudor Moldovan setting an incredible new record for the Glen to Glen (70:35) which left all on-lookers leaving inspired along with universally positive feedback from all participants.

Tudor Moldovan treated the spectators to a truly world class performance

The services and supplies needed to run the event generates nearly €25,000 for the local and Irish economy in addition to the positive impacts of runners staying in local accommodation and eating and dining in local cafes and restaurants. In addition, 9% of this year’s starters had flown in from abroad for our event.

The club wants to extend it’s gratitude to the many participants, all our suppliers and partners, and to the local community. Here’s to many more happy Lap of the Gaps!

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

RACE REPORTS: Roads in Kilkenny and Wexford, hills and trails in Belmont and Glenmalure

April 26, 2022April 28, 2022 by glendaloughac, posted in Mountain running, Race reports, Road running

Another busy week of race results with our runners taking on several road races, the good trails of Belmont Estate and the traditional mountain race ‘Circuit of Avonbeg’.

CIRCUIT OF AVONBEG

We had three runners in the Leinster Championship race ‘Circuit of Avonbeg’ – a 25 km (or more depending on navigation) open mountain race starting and finishing in Glenmalure.

Graham Bushe was still recovering from his personal ‘Arderrin challenge’ – where he clocked 12 Wicklow arderrins in 6 hours but got himself home in 17th with John Conway in 19th – now fully recovered from the niggle that forced him to drop out of the Mourne Seven Sevens.

Torben Dahl was our next finisher – 12 years after making his IMRA debut on this exact course (finishing 8th). This time – on tired legs – he had to settle for 28th.

RESULTS

1. Ruairi Long (UCD) 2:35:56

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

17. Graham Bushe 3:25:48 (3rd M50)

19. John Conway 3:40:31

28. Torben Dahl 4:27:04

WEXFORD 10K AND HALF-MARATHON

Eight days after his 5 km PB in Shanganagh, Blaise Kinsella was at it again finishing 11th overall in the Wexford 10k in 40:47 – taking nearly 1.5 min off his previous best of 42:15.

RESULT

1. Sean Hehir (MSB) 0:32:53

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

11. Blaise Kinsella 0:40:47 (PB, M40 PB)

Gleb Reys was running in the half-marathon and couldn’t quite snatch a PB on the day but finished in the middle of the field in 1:56:24.

RESULT

1. David Mahon (Slaney Olympic) 1:11:43

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

492. Gleb Reys 1:56:24

BELMONT AND LITTLE SUGARLOAF

The IMRA Leinster League kicked off on the hardpacked trails of Belmont with the technical rocky ‘Little Sugarloaf’ in the middle and here Brian Lydon was our first man home followed by Diarmuid Kavanagh and Sarah Foster representing our ladies section in the 148 strong field.

RESULT

1. Conor Greenan (TT Racers) 0:40:36

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

22. Brian Lydon 0:45:49

48. Diarmuid Kavanagh 0:50:54

90. Sarah Foster 0:59:58

SHANGANAGH PARKRUN

In the Shanganagh ParkRun Blaise Kinsella banked a surprise 5 km PB of 18:36 knocking 50 seconds off his previous best.

RESULT

1. Alex Gray () 0:16:45

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

9. Blaise Kinsella 0:18:36 (PB, M40 PB)

STREETS OF KILKENNY 5K

Not to be outdone Donna Quinn ran another PB (her 3rd in 2022) only 1 second short of Rachel Wisdom’s club record of 19:03 and the fifth fastest personal best run by current female members of our club. Donna’s previous mark was 19:17. The time also broke Yvonne Brennan’s F40 club record (20:25).

RESULT

1. Eoin Everard (Kilkenny City Harriers AC) 0:14:11

——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-

184. Donna Quinn 0:19:04 (PB, F40 CLUB RECORD)

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