Revised 29 Nov - following review of results by AAI
There was quite a winter wonderland look about Gransha Park in Derry on Sunday 28th November for the AAI National Inter-County and Juvenile Even Ages Cross Country Championships. The course was covered with a good 3 to 4 inches of snow and regular snow showers kept it well topped up. But while it looked lovely, it was very cold and severely tested the mettle of the athletes, the younger juveniles in particular. Thankfully, the lessons learned in Coleraine in 2009 were put into practice and there could be no complaint about the organisation of the fixture in Derry, with a fantastic course, well laid out and stewarded, very good facilities, and everything went off without a hitch. Obviously, nothing could be done about the weather, but otherwise there was absolutely no reason for complaint. Well done to the local organising committee on a job very well done.

Senior Men Inter-County 10,000m
Skipping forward to the last race of the day, the senior men’s Inter-County 10,000m, Mark Christie was the Club’s sole representative and he was looking to secure one of the six automatic qualification places on the Ireland team to compete at the European Cross Country in Albufeira, Portugal on 12th December next. An added incentive to doing well was probably the knowledge that whatever the else the weather might be like on the Algarve in winter, at least there won’t be snow!

Even though there had been 10 races run on the course before the last one, the regular snow showers meant there was still a thick blanket of snow covering the course. Mark settled into his running from the off and was right with the leading group to the half way point when Joe Sweeney (DSD) made what was to be the decisive break and opened a gap that he held to the finish to win the title. Mark stuck brilliantly to his task and controlled the chasing group, which slowly dwindled from 3 or 4 down to just Mark as he moved away with ease to take 2nd place and secure his place on the Ireland team at the Europeans. This was a great piece of running by Mark and he fully deserves his place on the team and we wish him every success at the Europeans.

2,000m Girls u/12
Going right back the first race of the day, the 2,000m for girls under 12, our young team was hampered by the unfortunate late withdrawal of Meabh McNulty who had been ill all week and even though she made the journey to Derry she was just too ill to compete. The temperature dropped suddenly just before the race and there was the most ferocious snow shower that lasted for the entire race and made it extremely difficult for all the youngsters as they battled the wind and driving snow. They were extremely brave just to keep going, though there was great distress among many of them at the finish as they suffered very badly with the cold. While it was obvious that the Mullingar girls didn’t like the conditions, they still turned in sterling performances and were led home by Niamh Quinn, who just out sprinted the ever-improving Alanna Bate in the closing 200m, followed by Ellen Cronin, Alisha Martin, Nicole Gorry, Daria Fidgeon, Sarah Moloney and Caoimhe Gaffney who packed well and were very unlucky to finish in 4th place, just missing the bronze Club medals by a mere 7 points. Also missing in Derry was Katie Daly who was too ill to travel. Everyone wishes Meabh and Katie a speedy recovery.

2,000m Boys u/12
The snow stopped for the 2,000m for boys u/12 where we had Jack Moran competing on the Leinster team but he fell during the race and despite getting back on his feet quickly, just couldn’t regain the lost ground but he still finished strongly, well up the field, but unfortunately was not among the scoring number for the Leinster team.

3,000m Girls u/14
The weather really seemed to have it in for the girls and turned nasty again just in time for the 3,000m for girls u/14 but Aisling Moody who just keeps getting better and better with every outing ran a really brilliant race and was delighted with her 10th place finish to earn a top-12 individual medal and a silver medal with the Leinster team. More important however, thanks to terrific finishing from Claire Fagan, Laura Whitelaw, and Caoimhe Kelly (who is proving a rare talent) providing the vital fourth team score, and with great support from Rachel Glennon, Niamh Nolan, Faye Walsh, Hilary Harris and Lucy Langley, the girls were very unlucky to miss bronze medals for 3rd Club by only a few points delighted to win bronze medals for 3rd Club.

3,000m Boys u/14
In the 3,000m for boys u/14, Glen Gaffney also had a brilliant race and finished 8th to also win a top-12 individual medal and go one better with a gold medal with the Leinster team. Thanks to superb racing and fast finishing by Cormac Dalton, Oisin Quinn, Mervyn Harris (giving the important fourth Club team score), Patrick Shaw, Michael Moran (providing the important sixth County team score), and with Declan Brady, Eoghan Gallagher, Niall Brady and Eoin Sheridan running very well in support, the team fully deserved their gold medals for 1st Club and bronze medals for 3rd County.

4,000m Girls u/16
By now, Mullingar was really into the medal winning groove and Ciara Hewson looked fantastic and full of running in the 4,000m for girls u/16 where she cruised to second place, followed by Linda Conroy (5th) and Edel Glennon, with all three winning silver medals with the Leinster team. Lorna Moody fought hard all the way to the finish and provided the important fourth Club score to win silver for 2nd Club, with great support from Victoria Harris and Lorraine Daly who despite being quite ill still ran and even though feeling very much below par still managed to provide the vital sixth County Score, followed closely by Lorraine Claffey but with Ciara's score not eligible for Westmeath as she is only eligible for her native Kildare, unfortunately the Westmeath team finished out of the County medal places.

4,000m Boys u/16
Shane Fitzsimons is not long back training after a break of nearly 3 month due to injury and only made a late decision to compete, but what a good decision that turned out to be! The opening lap of the 4,000m for boys u/16 was a run at a steady but not too taxing pace, which suited Shane well and though his pre-race plan was to stay in the pack, found himself up with the leaders with 1,000m to go and needed little encouragement to throw caution to the wind and go for broke and see what happens. Moving powerfully to the front, pulling many of his Mullingar team mates in his considerable wake, he demonstrated why he is regarded as having few equals in the Country such is his talent, and ran to victory. Padraig Moran was clearly inspired by Shane’s performance and ran a near perfect race to take 5th. Even though finishing in 15th, just outside the individual medal places, Jack Reid was delighted to have been able to run at all as he had been quite sick all week. Padraig and Jack won gold medals with the winning Leinster team. Thomas Lynn was in 5th place with 500m to go but suffered a sudden terrible stitch and cramp that nearly stopped him in his tracks but he somehow managed to find the strength and will to make it to the finish line and provide the vital fourth Club score to win gold for 1st Club. With great team running and packing by Ryan Blundell, Liam O’Reilly, Eoin Lynam, Patrick Fagan and Philip Giles, the boys were delighted to also win gold for 1st County.

6,000m Junior Men & Boys u/18
On to the combined 6,000m for boys u/18 and Junior men, where hopes were high that Jake Byrne would earn qualification for the Ireland Junior men to compete in the Europeans. We watched Jake closely and it was obvious as the race unfolded that he was in some sort of bother and just didn’t seem to be himself at all and he finished 14th 9th, beaten by opposition that he reasonably could be expected to see off on any other day. It was afterwards that we learned that he had suffered a very bad spike injury right at the start and rather than stop, he bravely raced on hoping it wasn’t as bad as the blood he could see oozing into the snow with every step would have him believe. The doctor who examined him after the race advised him that the cut to the small toe of his left foot was so bad it would require 6 or 7 stitches. Jake made light of it though and despite being obviously disappointed not to make the Ireland team, joked that he would heal okay but the spikes weren’t so lucky!

Unaware of the drama that befell Jake, having a very good race was Vinny Connolly who enjoyed the course and was very pleased to finish 16th well up in the Junior men race. Stephen Nea was the first across the line for Mullingar in the u/18 race with his customary sprint finish, just ahead of Robert Yorke, and despite good team support from Adam Daly and Jonathan Daly, the team were unlucky to finish out of the medals. Ian McCormack also started but had to stop after becoming violently ill going in to the second lap, but thankfully seemed none the worse for it after resting for a while afterwards.

Senior Women Inter-County 8,000m
Mary Scully ran conservatively for the first few laps of the penultimate race of the day, the Senior women’s Inter-County 8,000m, but really wound up the pace on the last lap to finish a magnificent 14th place, which is a brilliant result in a National senior women’s race and will give her a huge boost in confidence ahead of the National masters cross country in the New Year.

The final race of the day of course was the Senior men’s 10,000m where Mark Christie’s performance was truly the icing on the cake for Mullingar and we’re delighted to have a Club representative on the Ireland team in the Europeans. With the juveniles winning one individual title, five other individual top-12 places, several medals with Leinster teams, two Club gold, one Club silver, one Club bronze, one County gold, one County bronze, together with Mary Scully’s and particularly Mark Christie’s performances in the Senior races, this was one of the very best day’s results for the Club and a just reward for the efforts put in at training over the past number of months by each and every one of those who competed and reinforces Mullingar’s reputation as one of the best Club’s in Ireland.

The athletes aside, the very many parents who made the long journey to Derry (and the perilous journey home!), especially those who stayed in the hotel on Saturday night and looked after the younger juveniles, are also to be congratulated. It’s not easy standing around in the freezing cold but the support you gave was tremendous. The Club is very fortunate to be able to draw a great pool of assistance when required. We couldn’t have contemplated travelling in such number without the great support of the parents.

Of course, we’re not finished with cross country yet and the next big outing is the AAI National Novice and Juvenile uneven ages in Tullamore on 19th December where we have very realistic expectations of bettering the team medal winning performances of Derry, but that will depend on all those that have qualified for Tullamore continuing to put the training in at the Club on Tuesdays and Thursday and of course in Belvedere on Sunday mornings.