Proud day as Kilcoole sisters star!
at Abbotstown
KILCOOLE sisters Fionnuala McCormack and Una Britton made wonderful history last weekend when they both finished on the podium at the Irish Life Health National Cross Country Championships in Abbotstown.
Fionnuala was in outrageous form, storming home almost two minutes ahead of her nearest competitor on the way to winning her ninth Senior title while Una showed amazing strength and talent to come home in third place and secure her place alongside her older sister on the Irish team for the European Championships in Lisbon.
There were hugely emotional scenes at the end of the race with Fionnuala turning around after destroying the field and running back to check on her sister’s progress and they both embraced after Una powered home to a bronze medal finish in ideal conditions for the Kilcoole siblings.
‘It’s a great day for our family, for our club,” said Fionnuala. ‘I could hear the commentary and also family and friends telling me she was chasing me home.’
From the start, the two-time European champion stamped her supremacy on her rivals in the 8,000m race. After a mile she was already out of sight.
‘I kind of regretted that after the start because I knew if you start hard, you have to keep going hard.’
Just six weeks after clocking a huge personal best of 2:26:47 at the Chicago Marathon, there was every chance McCormack could have had heavy legs in the damp, sticky underfoot conditions - but it turned out to be the very opposite.
One of the few who can find their rhythm amid the chaos of cross country, she whirred around Abbotstown in splendid isolation, reacquainting herself with her first love in the sport.
At the finish she had a whopping 101 seconds to spare over runner-up Mary Mulhare and soon after Mulhare hit the line to take a well-deserved silver, along came Una Britton, McCormack’s 29-year-old sister, whose bronze medal proved just reward for years of persistence in the sport despite little previous success at
national level.
‘I love running and I’ve loved it all the time, whether I was coming last or getting lapped or now when you’re at the good end of it,’ said Una.
‘If you love it, you’ll stick with it. For the last few years I’ve always wished I was up here, but I got injured on and off and now I’ve had a good long spell of not being injured so it paid off.’
Britton paid tribute to the role her sister played in her success, and both will be named today on the Irish team for the European Cross Country in Lisbon on December 8.
‘I’ve looked up to her for years and she’s always been there supporting me,’ said Una.
For McCormack it was vindication of her younger sister’s ability.
‘I knew she could be top three, and it was a case of convincing her because she often doesn’t have that confidence in her own ability. It’s special to be on the podium with your sister.’
Wicklow Athletics Chairman Bill Porter said it was an amazing sight to witness history being made as
the sisters became the first sibling to ever finish on the podium in this race.
Porter paid tribute to both runners who he says have pushed Wicklow athletics into the limelight over the years.
‘That’s Fionnuala’s ninth national Senior title,’ began Bill. ‘And she has also won three under-23s and three Junior titles. The funny thing is she hasn’t won a Senior crown since 2015 because she hasn’t competed in it and nobody has ever beaten her, to the best of my knowledge, at the nationals.
The European Cross Country Championships will be Fionnuala’s 16th European race but I’m so happy for Una. Una has been trying so hard to make the national Senior team but each year she has suffered some injury or another and this year she has had no injuries.
‘To have two sisters coming home in first and third at the national Senior championships is a wonderful thing and a proud day for Wicklow athletics, for Kilcoole and for the Britton and McCormack families, for Owen and Ellen Britton
(parents of Fionnuala and Una) and Alan McCormack who was there at the finish line with Ella. It was very emotional. And when Fionnuala finished she ran back to see where Una was and how she was doing.
‘To be honest, nobody was going to beat Fionnuala, and nobody will beat Fionnuala for quite some time unless some superstar emerges. She finished two minutes in front of the next athlete so that tells you all you need to know,’ he added.
The Kilcoole sisters will now both represented Ireland at the European Cross Country Championships in Lisbon on Sunday, December 8.
A hilly course that will suit the Co. Wicklow pair, all of the county will be watching on to see how the siblings fare against the best of Europe.
The full Irish team is: Aoibhe Richardson (Kilkenny City Harriers AC), Ciara Mageean (City of Lisburn AC), Fionnuala McCormack (Kilcoole AC), Fionnuala Ross (Armagh AC), Mary Mulhare (Portlaoise AC), Una Britton (Kilcoole AC).