Cross country outing at DkIT
CROSS COUNTRY
JIM Gonnellly and his superb organising crew remembered to turn on the switch for the good weather on Sunday as the second round of the County Cross Country Championship at DKIT took on the feel of the mid-summer Alec Fennell 5k as opposed to a wet, muddy, wind-soaked cross country event.
Spurred on by the success of last week, coupled with being host club, the North East Runners were out in force for the step up in distance as well as facing off against tougher opposition. The ladies had 4k to navigate while the men had to duke it out over 5 laps of an energy-sapping course.
First up were the ladies. Buoyed their success last Sunday, a team of 18 ladies took to the start line this week. Again, Anita Bolton led the charge for the Dundalk club as, again, she battled against Drogheda and District and Dunleer athletes for honours at the front of the field.
With a very impressive run she finished in 5th place overall. Directly behind Bolton, Aimée McNally and Patricia Mulholland came storming home with Ursula Noone finishing just outside the top ten to help the team to a superb second placed finish. Strong runs from Cathy Byrne, Louise Eccles, Susan McClean, Cliodhna Daly and Zara Nevin alongside nine others that ran last week made for a great sea of black and white at the finish line as the ladies took a deserved pat on the back from proud coach Jim Gonnelly.
No sooner had the ladies race finished, than the gun went off to signal the start the men’s race. An intriguing race was in prospect as last week’s Novice winner, Liam Fergus attempted to complete a Cross Country double.
In his way, however, were last week’s medal winners, Shane Larkin of Drogheda and Pat Fitpatrick of Dunleer, as well as last year’s Novice Champion Oisín O’Gibne and clubmate, Niall Fergus. From the outset it was clear that it was going to be a three-horse race with the Fergus’ of NER battling the young gun from Boyne. With just over a lap to go, Liam Fergus made a move and put 20 metres between himself and Niall going down the home straight. Niall Fergus, however dug deep and closed on the final lap before catching Liam on the last hill before the long run to the finish.
Liam had no response to Niall’s burst but had enough in the tank to finish strong a good distance clear of the Boyne man in third. A fantastic run from Niall Fergus which was just rewards for his hard work put in this year as he goes from strength to strength.
The individual 1st and 2nd place for the club was made all the sweeter as Rory Mulholland and Kevin Hamill put in lung-bursting performances to help the team to silver medals. Mulholland, who is on the comeback trail, improved upon his result from last week with an 11th placed finish while Hamill found a heretofore undiscovered final-straight kick to outpace a Drogheda and District rival to claim 16th place.
There were strong runs on a glorious day also from Keith Geoghegan and Mark O’Connor.
A proud day for the club on the field and behind the scenes, attention now turns to the Senior Cross Country Championship that takes place in three weeks’ time. Before that, though, there’s the small matter of 26.1 miles in Dublin where many club members will take to the streets of the capital to pit their wits against the marathon distance. The club would like to wish all members running the Dublin City Marathon all the best.