Autumn Open XC & National Juvenile XC Relays 2024 (13th Oct)
It was cold but dry in Dublin last Sunday for the first big cross country fixture of the season, the Autumn Open International Cross Country Festival, which was held at the National Sports Campus in Abbotstown where the dry firm underfoot conditions were absolutely perfect for running.
The day started with the National Juvenile Cross Country Relays where Mullingar fielded a very strong team in the u/13 girls 4 x 500m. Amelie Kelly took the lead leg and racing hard from the gun she quickly moved into second place and tracked the leader before handing over to Chloe Bell only a few metres down on first place. Chloe lost no time catching the leader and moved quickly to the front, continuing to race hard and opened a good gap to second place. Kate O’Donoghue took the baton in the lead and with a spirited run kept Mullingar in front before handing over to Clodagh Keane. Clodagh ran a brilliant leg and really gave the opposition a tough challenge to catch her, but she was slowly caught and passed with about 200m to go and dropped back to second place. Continuing to race hard she was terribly unlucky to be pipped right on the line to finish a very close 3rd, but third place in a National final in a near photo finish is a brilliant result for these four very talented girls.
The adult races commenced directly after the juvenile relays and the athletes enjoyed competitive races over the fast cross-country course in Abbotstown. All the master women and the older master men o/65 years ran 6,000m and the younger master men ran 8,000m. Mullingar Harriers was well represented in the master races. The Autumn Open was a trial race for selection for the Irish team to compete in the British and Irish Masters International Cross Country, which will be held in Belfast in November.
In the 6,000m race, Sinead Whitelaw ran a strong race to finish a very creditable 5th in her master category but with only the top four guaranteed selection on the Irish team, unfortunately she is unlikely to be selected. Maura Dervin had a fast finish to see her take 2nd place in her master category, guaranteeing her spot on the Irish team. She was closely followed home by Brigid McCabe who put in a great performance to also finish 2nd place in her master category, guaranteeing her selection on the Irish team. Good to see another Westmeath athlete perform strongly, Anna-Marie O’Dowd (Athlone AC) who placed 4th in her master category to also earn selection. Sean McMullin backed up his previous strong masters performances earlier this year and he finished 3rd in his master category to guarantee his selection on the Irish team. In the 8,000m race, Eddie Newman ran a very good race to finish 4th in his master category and that should be enough to seal his place on his Irish team, but Eddie Lynch just one place behind in 5th just misses out on automatic selection.
Overall, this was a very successful day for Mullingar, with bronze for our u/13 girls relay team and a number of our master athletes can look forward to wearing green Ireland singlets in November in Belfast [SW/GD].
