European Cross Country 2024 (8th Dec)

Cormac Dalton competed in his fifth consecutive European Cross Country on Sunday morning 8th December when he lined up with the Irish team for the Senior Men 7,500m in Antalya, Turkey. With some tight corners, low obstacles to jump, stretches of soft sand, some sticky mucky stretches, generally flat but with some artificial hills thrown in for good measure, it was quite a technical course overall that constantly disrupted the flow of the runners. In his post-race interview, Cormac said that as it was only 7,500m, it was quicker than expected for a Euro cross country, making it very tough to stay relaxed and keep his form. Cormac ran the race with determination from the start and stuck to his task as best as he could for much of the race, and though he had to ease back a bit in the closing stages, he was rewarded with a fine 21st place finish, the first Irish man to finish and leading the team to an 8th place finish. Coming on the back of his 8th place individual finish in Brussels last year, this obviously wasn’t the result Cormac was looking for, but he hasn’t had the easiest year in terms of consistency and injury, so reflecting on the race he knows that he’s on the right road and not far off his best again, so can take a positive outlook forward to the year ahead [GD].