Athletics Westmeath XC 2024 – Day 1 (29th Sept)

Results of Day 1 – u/18, 19, 20 & Novice, Senior, Masters and u/8, 10, 12, 14, 16.

With the south of the Country under an orange rainfall warning and heavy rain slowly spreading north towards the Midlands from early morning, we didn’t hang around in Belvedere on Sunday morning 29th September on Day 1 of the Athletics Westmeath Cross Country Championships. Moving quickly through the programme, we managed to get all the younger age races done and dusted and saw them safely on their way home before the rain came during the last race, which was for older underage and adult members who are hardy athletes and weren’t put off by a bit of wind and rain.

Competition was for girls and boys u/8, 10, 12, 14 and 16 years of age and for women and men under 18, 19, 20 and Novice, Senior and Masters. Given the forecast, it was little surprise that there were fewer juveniles than last year, but the number of adults was up, including some from Athlone AC and Coralstown Kinnegad AC. There was great competition in each race and performances were very encouraging in the older age groups in particular, where the focus was on places on Club and County teams at the Leinster Cross Country Championships.

The boys and girls that ran in the non-Championship u/8 and u/10 races really enjoyed themselves and were delighted with their medals, one for everyone that finished. Moving to the Championships proper, the course in Belvedere is a great test of cross country endurance and those that train there regularly will have no problem with any course at Leinster. There were some very good individual performances but Championship cross country is also about team running, so everyone was being closely watched by Club coaches, particularly the newcomers. Cross country racing always throws up some surprises, but even so, we didn’t expect quite a few of the results we saw, but it’s still early in the season and some will improve more than others as we near the Leinsters, so keep up the training and continue to deliver the surprises!

All the underage races were keenly contested and the last race of the day was a combined race for girls and boys u/18, 19 and 20 years, and for novice, senior and master women and men. All the women ran 4,000m, the older master men also ran 4,000m, the senior men ran 8,000m and the rest of the men ran 6,000m, with everyone starting together and running over the same course but with different numbers of laps. It was some spectacle to see over fifty runners racing out from the start and making their way around the rolling hills of Belvedere.

The Club’s masters group was well represented and it was great to see a number of our most recent new members compete in cross country for the very first time after just a few training sessions over the last few Saturdays. The training continues each Saturday now, so further opportunities will become available as the cross country season gets into full swing in the coming weeks.

Day 2 on Sunday morning 6th October in Belvedere will be for boys and girls under 9, 11, 13, 15 and 17 years of age. The first race will be at 11am so the younger runners should be in Belvedere before 10.30am to get ready and know where they have to run. The Athletics Westmeath Cross Country is an open competition and you don’t have to be a member of a Club to take part, so everyone is very welcome to compete.

The Leinster Championships take place over two days, with two weeks between each, so juvenile athletes can run in their own age group and can move up an age group to make up teams. Therefore, we expect all juveniles to compete on both days of the Westmeath Championships unless ill or injured or they might be disappointed if not selected. The results of both days and application in training will be used to select teams to represent the Club and Westmeath in the Leinster Championships. The results of the men and women races on Day 1 will also be used to select Club and County teams for the Leinster Championships.

Thanks to all who helped to record the results, marshal and steward on the course, to the many parents who came and supported the competitors, and to the management and staff of Belvedere for the use of the excellent grounds, but especially to the athletes who provided great competition.

Results of Day 1 – u/18, 19, 20 & Novice, Senior, Master and u/8, 10, 12, 14, 16.