Q4, 2020 News & Reports – October to December

DECEMBER

New Covid Restrictions (30th Dec)

From midnight on Wednesday 30th December, Ireland entered a new Level 5 lockdown with very strict guidelines in place to limit the spread of Covid-19 due to its increasing spread. All Club members must follow the latest Government advice during this challenging time to ensure we all stay safe and healthy.

Regarding training:

• Only individual training is permitted, which applies equally to adult and juvenile members;
• While people are allowed to meet outdoors with people from another household when taking exercise, this is only for walking and other forms of exercise and is not to be interpreted as allowing members to meet up and run together, regardless of maintaining social distancing, wearing masks etc. Members may only run or train on their own (or with other members of their household);
• No exercise group activities, including those involving children, should take place, which means there will be no training at the Club, or meeting up in groups on the roads, Royal Canal tow path, Old Rail Trail, Belvedere etc;
• Specifically in relation to the use of Belvedere, the Management of Belvedere has advised that the grounds are open and the café is open for take-away, but has asked that members do not meet up to run together and particularly do not congregate around the outdoor café area.

Mullingar Ekiden

2020 was a long year with few races in which to take part. Thankfully, on Monday 28th December, just days before the country returned to full-scale Level 5 restrictions, the Club managed to hold a members-only run with a difference. Seventy two Club members were split into twelve teams and covered the marathon distance of 42km over six stages. The idea for the run was based on the Ekiden, a long distance running multi-stage relay. Its name was given to the old Japanese transportation system for Government documents meaning “to convoy” and is now a popular form of racing in Japan.

The six pods containing twelve runners were each located at various starting points around Mullingar ensuring compliance with the then requirement for pods of no more than fifteen participating in non-contact training. The 12 runners on each stage only went to the change over point just in time to allow them warm up and while they waited for their team mate to arrive, they maintained social distancing from each other as required. Normally a sash is worn by each runner and handed over at each change, but to avoid physical contact between team members, the outgoing runner started running when their incoming team mate reached a predetermined point about 20m away, so there was never any physical contact.

Stage 1 began at the Harriers Club grounds and brought the runners out the Old Rail Trail to the Ballinea car park. Evan McCormack was first to arrive, giving Team 11 a strong lead, followed by Ken Whitelaw of Team 7 and Team 12’s Kedagh Geoghegan. The second stage took the next set of runners along an 8.5km route to Belvedere and with such a long distance it was no surprise the order was changed. Sinead Whitelaw was first to arrive having established an impressive lead for Team 7. Lorcan Mullen, a late replacement from the original line-up, ran a very impressive stage and brought Team 5 into contention, but Gerard Brady put in a similar effort for Team 10 to bring them in to the top three.

The Queen stage, Stage 3, brought the next batch of runners 12km across Gaybrook to The Downs car park on the Royal Canal. Once again, the order of teams was altered with every team changing position. This time it was Team 5 taking the lead led in by Eoin Clarke, but Patrick Muldoon and John Whitelaw continued Team 10 and 4’s climb up the rankings to second and third.

Stage 4 transported the runners along the canal tow path through Baltrasna and into Marlinstown. The first three teams, led in by Máirtín Savage, Philip Tuomey and Robin Jackson, maintained their positions at the front of the pack but the gaps were closing further behind. A short Stage 5 to Cullion Beg gave no time for let-up but once again saw plenty of changes. Nicky McCabe kept Team 5 in pole position, but Tommy Conroy brought Team 4 in to second place while Linda O’Driscoll held off the chasing pack for Team 10 in third.

The final stage brought the runners back to the Club grounds from Cullion Beg. Team 5’s Nuala Moran was first to leave the change-over but was closely followed by Martin Mullen from Team 4. However, it was James Tierney who gave victory to Team 10 passing both runners and crossing the finish line first. Martin Mullen moved in to second place for Team 4 with just 200m to go and with Cormac Finnerty from Team 12 finishing fast Nuala Moran had to dig in deep to hold off the Olympian and secure third place for Team 5.

All teams made it to the finish line and after nearly three hours of running there was only a few minutes from first to twelfth place ensuring an exciting day for all involved. Keeping 72 athletes in compliance with social distancing requirements is not an easy task but the members of Mullingar Harriers are well versed with such behaviour following months of similar instructions at weekly training sessions and should be commended for the difficult task.

With the country back in level 5 restrictions for at least a month, and no sign of races returning to the calendar, events like the Ekiden for Club members only may be the sole outlet for competitive running for athletes for the foreseeable.

Great Limerick Virtual Challenge

Like so many events in 2020, the Great Limerick Run became a virtual event, where contestants could run a variety of distances from 5k to marathon on any day between 24th December and 1st January, record their run on a GPS watch and submit their time online. Joan Flynn and James Cribbin chose to run the marathon distance on Monday 28th December. It’s hard to run a marathon in normal circumstances, but even harder on your own, so they started with the Mullingar Ekiden, running stage one for their teams but carrying on and following the Ekiden route most of the way, only amending the route slightly to avoid Mullingar town at the end when marathon fatigue sets in and you just need to keep going without any sudden pace changes or distractions at traffic junctions. Running along with the Ekiden runners gave them others to run with for a lot of the way, and of course they enjoyed great encouragement as they passed through each Ekiden change over point. It was still very tough going though in wet, windy and very cold conditions but both were delighted to finish in a comfortable 3 hours 12 minutes 16 seconds, placing James 8th man and Joan 3rd woman. Joan is no stranger to the distance but for James it was his first time completing the classic distance, so he was particularly satisfied. Congratulations to the two of them on two fine performances.

Happy New Year to all our Members and Friends (27th Dec)

We wish all Club members and supporters of the Club a very happy New Year. We certainly won’t be sad to see the back of Covid-ridden 2020 and have to be hopeful 2021 will see things get back to normal, though it will still take some time. Hopefully everyone enjoyed the festive season and normally we’d be encouraging everyone to get back into training again for the season ahead, but of course there remains huge uncertainty over any competition in the coming months. Athletics Ireland and Athletics Leinster remains committed to holding cross country events from Late January into March, subject to Covid-19 restrictions allowing. However, the recent surge in the number of confirmed infections, the third such surge, together with confirmed reports of a more infectious strain of the virus, makes it extremely unlikely we will see a return to competition any time soon. In fact, judging by the recent comments of the Taoiseach that he is hopeful next summer will see a “degree of normality” return makes it clear that when dealing with Covid-19, there are no quick fixes and we’re in for the long haul!

Virtual Cross Country Challenge Team Results (23rd Dec)

On a more positive note, in response to the total lack of competition opportunities for juvenile athletes in Ireland due to the challenge of Covid-19, Athletics Ireland had organised a Virtual Cross Country Challenge last November and more than 4,600 Juveniles took on the Challenge, including more than 100 from Mullingar Harriers. The Certificates of Participation were presented just before Christmas and they were greatly appreciated by the athletes, coaches and parents.

On Wednesday 23rd December, Athletics Ireland published the team results. It took much longer than expected to standardise the various time formats sent in, as the event was much more popular than expected, with well over 4,600 individual results to rank from more than 120 different Clubs! This was a fantastic celebration of running and congratulations to all who took part.

Mullingar had girls and boys teams in the combined under 9 and 10, under 11, under 13 and under 15 events and they all featured well in the results, though team prizes were extremely hard to win, as expected in a National event. We had no team prizes in the under 9 and 10, or under 11 but Cillian Galvin excelled in the under 9 and 10 boys with a fine eight place finish overall. In the under 13 boys event, Matthew Molloy finished well up in ninth place, and in the corresponding under13 girls race, Tianna O’Leary raced into a top-20 place in sixteenth, a very noteworthy performance as she was giving away a year. The under 15 boys team of Conor Sherwin (6th), Pablo Lozano, David Burke and Criostoir Ormsby came close, finishing 5th Club, only four seconds off third but the drought of team prizes was finally ended by the under 15 girls team, led home by Grace Byrne (7th) and supported strongly by Adele Geoghegan (9th), Leah Geoghegan (14th) and Caoimhe Kilmurray (15th) to finish 3rd Club.

As Athletics Ireland noted in their report on the event, there is sure to be some reflections from coaches and athletes on how they could squeeze an extra second or two, perhaps by improved pacing, technique, tactics, concentration or finishing speed. This is what is great about athletics – there are so many areas to develop and we know the coaches of our juvenile members will continue to work towards this in 2021.

Christmas Greetings to all Members & Friends of MHAC (20th Dec)

The officers of the Club extend Christmas greetings to all members and former members of the Club, particularly those who have returned home to Mullingar for Christmas. Also to the very many people who helped in any way during the year, especially our sponsors, the local press, all our volunteers, our grounds staff for all their work maintaining the Clubhouse and grounds and to the Principal and Board of Management of Mullingar Educate Together National School for the use of their car park on training nights.

A hat for eating, not for wearing! (10th Dec)

Lynn Cross Bakery held a Facebook competition asking sports clubs for nominations of a coach who has made an extra effort through Covid-19 to be entered in a competition to win one of two Chocolate Biscuit Cake Beanie Hats in the Club colours. Joanna Tyrrell (our Treasurer) nominated Margaret Daly, our Chairperson and a coach at the 6pm group who has put in Trojan work on behalf of everyone at Mullingar Harriers. We were delighted when Lynn Cross Bakery announced that Margaret was the winner of one of the prizes and on Thursday 10th December she received a fabulous cake in maroon and white. Very many thanks to Oonagh Murphy of Lynn Cross Bakery for the beautiful prize that looks too good to eat!

Cross Country dates announced (8th/9th Dec)

Athletics Leinster and Athletics Ireland have announced, on 8th and 9th December respectively, the dates for the rescheduled cross country season. Needless to say, all dates are provisional and subject to change in line with Government guidelines in force at the time. Competitions will be subject to strict protocol and only limited numbers will be allowed to compete as per Government Guidelines. Of importance to underage athletes, even though competing in early 2021, age groups will be based on 2020 ages.

Week-end one for Leinster on 30th and 31st January 2021 in Stradbally, Co. Laois will be for junior, senior and juvenile even ages and week-end two (at a venue to be confirmed) on 13th and 14th February will be for juvenile uneven ages. Week-end two might include novice and masters, but this has not been decided yet because there are concerns about the entries anticipated for these events, which due to significant pent up desire for competition, might be too high to manage properly under the Covid-19 regulations in force at the time. The situation is being kept under constant review.

Compliance with Covid-19 regulations has required some difficult decisions to limit numbers in races and to limit overall numbers on the course. The main decisions are that there will no Club competition for juvenile even ages, or individual entries either, and there will be a maximum of just 8 athletes from each County in each underage race. Qualification for juveniles will be from County cross country only but there will be open entry for juniors and senior individuals and for Club and County teams, and if novice and masters events will be held, they will also have open entry. No spectators will be allowed on the course and juvenile athletes will be allowed to be accompanied by one parent only.

All-Ireland week-end one on 27th and 28th February will be for junior (under 19 and 20 only) and juvenile even ages, and week-end two on 13th and 14th March will be for senior and juvenile uneven ages. A third week-end is also planned for 27th and 28th March and is for juvenile uneven age Club teams, but as of now, Leinster has no plans to hold the corresponding Inter-Club competition, so this fixture will be going ahead without Leinster teams. No decision has been made regarding an All-Ireland for novice, master or intermediate athletes. As per Government Guidelines there will be a limit on the numbers permitted to participant. For the first time, there will be no open entry for senior individuals or teams and they must qualify from Leinster, with allowances made for elite, high performance and under 23 athletes based on European cross country championship participation over the last 3 years, which might be of relevance to some Mullingar athletes. For juniors, open entry is permitted but restricted to under 19 and 20 only (based on 2020 ages). For juveniles, competition will be for individual and Inter-Provincial only, and qualification is restricted to the top 15 from each Province.

With the first Leinster fixture at the end of January, this gives an opportunity to conclude County cross country fixtures but any delay at County level will very likely push back the dates for Leinster. Whether we can hold day two of the Westmeath cross country in January or not depends on what Covid-19 level we are at then, which we mightn’t know until after Christmas, so if we’re allowed to race, be prepared to move at very short notice.

Training outdoors is proving a challenge (6th Dec)

With the hall, gym and dressing rooms still out of bounds, the very cold snap we had in the first week of December reminded us of the loss of our indoor facilities, as we have nowhere to take refuge from the worst of the wet and cold. Some time ago we put up a small shelter near the outside gravel track, primarily for coaches to keep out of the elements, but it was also somewhere to put gear out of the rain, though it was proving really too small for the gear. That problem was solved on Thursday 3rd December when we took delivery of a large steel cabin where members can put their gear and water bottles during training. It’s just for storing gear and water bottles though and is not a shelter or a changing room. It has steel mesh doors, so is very well ventilated and dropping and collecting gear can be done on a one-way system – in one door and out another – making it ideal for the purpose. When we finally get to the far side of the Covid-19 pandemic, it can be used to take shelter at training, but not until then.

NOVEMBER

It’s beginning to look like Christmas (29th Nov)

The Christmas street lights are switched on in towns and villages, some homes are putting up their trees and decorations, we’ve had the Late Late Show Toy Show, so despite how Covid-19 has ravaged 2020, we know Christmas is coming! The long awaited announcement by the Taoiseach on Friday evening 27th November confirmed that the tough six week level 5 Covid-19 restrictions come to an end this week when we move to level 3 (with exceptions), meaning some rules will be relaxed in the coming days and more will follow nearer to Christmas. This is great news for households, businesses and retail outlets and injects a bit of hope that we’ll all get to enjoy Christmas, even if in a somewhat more subdued fashion and certainly not in the same way as in the past. There’s actually very little change for Club activities though and the only change is that our adult members can train together again at the Club grounds in social-distanced “pods” of 15 from this week, but outdoor events are still prohibited, so there is no likelihood of a return to competition any time soon, as that would require a move to level 2 allowing 200 to gather for outdoor competitions.

That said, Athletics Ireland has reaffirmed its commitment to doing all it can to hold National cross country events in the New Year, provisionally pencilling in dates in February, meaning the Leinster cross country fixtures would take place in mid to late January, everything being subject of course to Covid-19 restrictions at the time allowing it. It is very possible, even likely, that relaxing the rules for Christmas will lead to increased infections in the New Year and a return to tighter controls, which would clearly scupper any plans for cross country events in January, but maybe things will just push out to February and March? We continue to live in hope and training continues at the Club during the week and in Belvedere at the week-ends to make sure our athletes are in the best possible shape when we get the green light for a return to competition.

AAI Virtual Cross Country Club Challenge

There was a palpable sense of excitement at the Club on Tuesday & Thursday evenings 17th & 19th November when races were held for our younger juvenile athletes as part of the “Virtual Cross Country Club Challenge”, an initiative of Athletics Ireland to give some competition outlet for our “race-starved” juveniles. Clubs taking part were to hold races on a flat course on any training night between 1st and 24th November, awarding every runner a race time, which are to be submitted this week to create a National results sheet. Having our own flat grass track at the Club was obviously ideal for holding the races. The top four fastest times in each age group is deemed the Club team, and there will be medals for the first ten in each age group across Ireland and the top three teams in each age group will receive medals. Girls and boys aged u/9 & 10 ran 500m together, u/11 ran 1,000m, u/13 ran 1,500m, as did u/15 girls and boys.

The 1,500m races were held on Tuesday 17th November and while the numbers were obviously a lot smaller than the usual hundred or more at a Leinster or National cross country event, the competition was still very keen and of course there were also bragging rights at stake! Though not taking part, the sprinters enjoyed watching during the recovery stages of their session on the sprint lanes, and were happy to provide some vocal support. On Thursday 19th November it was the turn of the younger ages running over 500m and 1,000m and given the big number of training “pods” at the 6pm sessions, there was tremendous excitement generated by the crowd of youngsters watching and cheering on each race.

We’ll submit the results to Athletics Ireland and wait for the National individual and team results in due course.

To be (at Level 2), or not to be (at Level 2)? (15th Nov)

Overhearing someone in a shop remark “to go to 2 or not to 2 is the question” puts in mind Shakespeare’s Hamlet. What level we move to in December is really outside our control, but with apologies to Hamlet, rather than just suffer the slings and arrows of Covid-19, we must continue to take arms against it, namely wearing face masks, practicing good hand hygiene and adhering to social distancing; it won’t end it but it will certainly help.

We’re a little over half way through the current level 5 restrictions and along with the customer in the shop, the question on everyone’s mind at the moment is whether we’ll move to level 2 or level 3 in a few weeks time, which will obviously impact what sort of Christmas we might enjoy, but also if there is any chance of competition before the end of the year. To be honest, it’s looking increasingly unlikely at this stage that we’ll drop to level 2 in December, which would allow a return to competition and the smart money is on level 3, with perhaps a few days of level 2 around Christmas itself to allow travel outside the County to visit family and friends.

Realistically, our best chance of a return to competition is in the New Year, hopefully as early as possible. Athletics Ireland remains committed to holding cross country competitions up to March next year if necessary, as is Athletics Leinster, but of course on condition that Covid-19 restrictions allow it at the time. Some tentative dates have been proposed but it is too early to announce them, so we must wait and continue training.

No prospect of a reduction in timeline for level 5 restrictions (8th Nov)

It became apparent in the first week of November that despite good reductions in the number of daily cases and improvement in the all-important R-number, there is no prospect of a reduction in the six weeks timeline for the current Level 5 restrictions, so we won’t know until late November what Level we will drop back to in early December. We know that anything above Level 2 means there will be no athletics competitions, but banking on Level 2 would be very optimistic indeed and the fear is that relaxations in early December might see numbers increasing again and the prospect of a return to tighter restrictions, so no competition until the New Year remains very likely. In the meantime, we need to continue to train as best as we can in order to be ready for when competition returns.

Athletics Ireland published FAQs on Friday 6th November about Level 5, so there is no doubt what is and what isn’t allowed.

– Adults may not train collectively in groups and only individual training for adults is allowed;

– Elite athletes, of which there are a number in the Club and some that train at the Club, and school going children and young people aged 18 years or below can attend Club training;

– Club training is restricted to outdoors only, socially distanced and following good hygiene etiquette, in pods of 15 including the coaches and multiple pods can train where space allows for social distancing;

– Travel beyond 5k is allowed for athletes and coaches to attend training, even if that means crossing County boundaries;

– Indoor facilities remain closed under Level 5;

– We must continue to pre-book every session, which includes a health questionnaire;

– We must record the attendance of everyone at training; and

– We must continue to sanitise all equipment such as cones and mini hurdles before and after use.

It’s odd the things you miss during lockdown (1st Nov)

We’ve had a few cold and wet nights at training recently, and can expect more as we get further into winter, so not being able to shelter in the hall at the Club is being sorely felt, but last week – in what should have been the calm between days one and two of the Leinster Cross Country – a real loss was not being able to go into the hall and have hot chocolate after training, which has become something of a tradition at Mullingar Harriers during the cross country season. Fingers crossed we can get to carry on the tradition in the not too distant future.

OCTOBER

Dublin City “Virtual” Marathon

When the organisers of the Dublin City Marathon announced in May that it was cancelling the race this year, some might have criticised the decision as being far too early to call back then, but of course it turned out to be very foresighted in light of the current level 5 restrictions. However, keeping to the well-established October date, this year the event went “virtual”, which means that runners could run the 42.2km distance on any route of their choosing, adhering to Covid-19 restrictions at all times of course, between Saturday 24th and Monday 26th October, time themselves using a special app on their phones, and submit their times online.

Declan Costello ran his race on Saturday morning 24th October and was satisfied with his time of 4:25 considering he is still not fully fit and still on the way back from a niggling injury. That left him free on Sunday morning 25th October to selflessly assist six other Club members with their races by cycling the route with them, providing regular encouragement and carrying water and gels if required. All six left their homes at pre-determined times and merged after about 8km at the Royal Canal near the Dublin Bridge, so they could run within sight of each other but still well socially distanced. The course was laps of a mixture of canal paths and quiet country roads, so was very safe to run on. There was also water stations dotted around the course where the runners could self-serve with sanitised water bottles and also a dedicated group of supporters that travelled around the parts of the course on the road following the action and providing vocal support

Running 42.2km solo took real mental resolve and was nothing like the normal event that attracts huge entries and about 300,000 spectators lining the streets of Dublin, but of course we’re not in normal times. Leading the group home was Mary Stuart in 3:44, a big personal best for her and she was absolutely delighted at the finish. Following closely behind was Criona Reid (3:45), Joan Hickson (3:52), Linda O’Driscoll (3:55), also delighted with her new personal best, and Jane Creevy (4:02). Unfortunately Joe Fagan had to withdraw injured at 25km, very disappointing for him, but he knows he made the correct if difficult decision to stop or risk further injury and we wish him well.

It hasn’t been easy for the Club’s marathon runners to keep training for a marathon experience that would be so alien to what they know and expect, so very well done to those that competed last week-end, which is a testament to their dedication and willpower to keep going regardless.

One step forward, two steps back? (18th Oct)

We all know that up to Sunday 18th October, Westmeath was at level 3 of the Plan for Living with Covid-19 but with the number of cases across the Country continuing to rise very sharply, it was obvious that we had to move to level 4 at least, with every possibility of level 5 down the road unless there is a clear improvement in the coming weeks. At level 3 we were allowed to train in pods of 15, and that’s the same with level 4, but level 5 could put paid to that.

Mindful of the deteriorating situation and in light of developments with regard to Government restrictions, Athletics Ireland issued a press release on Friday 16th October from the Competition and Juvenile Committees reaffirming that they will be doing all they can to facilitate the hosting of the National Cross Country Championships. While there are numerous other considerations to take into account, it has been agreed that National Cross Country competitions may be pushed out as far as the end of February 2021 to ensure they can take place. Among the considerations that Athletics Ireland has in mind is the prior holding of Regional Cross Country Championships, including the Leinsters, and it is quite possible that these too might push into the New Year. Even if held in 2021, they will still be regarded as the 2020 Championships and the 2020 juvenile ages will still apply. The press release concluded by urging all Athletics Ireland stakeholders to continue to be vigilant to limit the spread of Covid-19 through social distancing, regular hand washing and sanitising, together with the wearing of face coverings and strict adherence to Government advice.

For now, we must redouble our efforts to make training as safe as possible at the Club grounds during the week and in Belvedere at the weekend with strict adherence to the Covid-19 guidelines, especially social distancing not only among athletes and coaches but among parents too dropping and collecting their children at training. We all must play our part to try and suppress this virus or we face an end to Club training, which for some is their only exercise outlet and it would be sorely missed.

Is this the end of cross country for 2020? (11th Oct)

Enjoying a fine sunny morning for training in Belvedere on Sunday 11th October, on what should have been Day 2 of the Westmeath Cross Country, it was hard not to ponder if we’ve seen the last of cross country competition this side of Christmas. On Tuesday 6th October, the Country moved to Level 3 of the Plan for Living with Covid-19 for at least three weeks, during which no athletics competitions can take place, so we can’t hold Day 2 of the Westmeath Cross Country and the Leinster Cross Country scheduled for the October Bank Holiday weekend cannot be held either. If we manage to return to Level 2 as planned after the Bank Holiday, and that’s a very big if, we hope to hold Day 2 on Sunday 1st November and the Leinsters have been pushed out a week and re-scheduled for Saturday 14th and Sunday 15th November. Together with the change in date, the Leinster programme has also been changed, and instead of the Novice with the Junior and Juvenile Even Ages, the Seniors will be held with the Junior and Juvenile Even Ages instead, to align with the programme for the first National Cross Country for Senior, Junior and Juvenile Even Ages, assuming that competition can go ahead. For now, training continues at the Club grounds during the week and in Belvedere at the weekend under strict Covid-19 guidelines.

Westmeath Cross Country – Day 1

In cold, wet and miserable conditions, day one of the Westmeath Cross Country Championships took place in Belvedere on Sunday morning 4th October. Despite the weather though, everyone agreed that it was great to be back at a live athletics competition after so long. Strict adherence was required to the Covid-19 rules, including pre-entry online only, face masks, hand sanitiser, a limit on numbers attending, only one parent allowed to accompany each athlete, no waiting around to watch later races – to be fair, not a real problem with the weather on the day – meaning it all felt strangely quiet with less of a crowd, but the day was brightened by the great competition. Credit is due to everyone that attended for complying with the Covid-19 rules, ensuring the safety of athletes, parents and officials. Many thanks too to the management and staff of Belvedere for their excellent work cutting and rolling the course during the last week to get it in the best possible condition for the event.

There were races for boys and girls u/8, 10, 12, 14, 16 and 18 years of age. Heavy overnight rain gave way to a cold windy start to the day, which was good for the youngest under 8 and 10 year old boys and girls and they avoided getting wet, but then the rain started, first a light drizzle for the under 12 races, turning steadily heavier until it was absolutely miserable for the last events of the day, the under 18 races. However, the older age groups are not easily put off and just accepted the conditions as real cross country weather and were simply glad to be back racing again, whatever the weather. We’re still all hoping it will be dry for day two though.

Possibly it was the weather forecast, or having to pre-enter online, but numbers taking part were down on last year, especially in the younger ages, but there was still great competition in each race and performances were very encouraging in the older age groups in particular, where the focus was on places on teams for 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 race distances proved no problem for those that have been training regularly. 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 the Leinsters. Thanks to all who helped last Sunday recording the results and stewarding on the course and particularly to the parents who came and supported their children.

There were some very good individual performances on day one but Championship cross country is also about team running, so everyone was being closely watched by Club officials, particularly the newcomers. The results of both days will be used to select teams for the Leinster Championships. The results of the Novice men and women races on day two will also be used to select teams for the Leinster Championships, so all adult members that want to run in the Leinster Championships must run on day two.

Competition on day two on Sunday morning 11th October will be for boys and girls u/9, 11, 13, 15, 17 and 19 years of age, and for men and women junior, novice, senior and master. Like day one, entry will be online only and again only one parent is allowed with each underage athlete but the course will be cleared after the underage races and there will be spectators allowed for the adult races.

The results of day one are HERE