What a weekend of superb performances at the Schools International Cross Country Championships in Bangor, North Wales on Saturday 28th March. The finest young talent in England, Scotland Wales and Ireland was in action, in what was cross-country running at its very best. A fine traditional cross country course with plenty of hills, wonderful underfoot conditions and a really strong headwind, made it a real test of strength, that plus the fact that the distance in each race was far longer that the athletes have to run in competition here.

With six athletes from our Club in action, interest in the event was much higher than normal. Each and every one of them performed superbly, with Shane Fitzsimons involved in one of the best and closest races of the day. It was only in the final stages that the tough Scottish runner finally got the better of Shane, who ran the best race of his life to finish second and lead the Irish team to the silver medals. This should be the start of a long International career for him. Also, Thomas Lynn can be well satisfied with his run in his first International and contributed well in securing the medals.

The junior girl’s race also saw Ireland finish second and take silver medals and the presence of the four Mullingar Harriers girls on the team created something of a record. Every one of them ran their hearts out and showed that they could hold their own in any company and can only improve further with the experience gained from last weekend. Ciara Hewson was at her brilliant best and second Irish girl to finish, and then we had Lorraine Daly who really raised her performance. Next came Linda Conroy, who ran an amazing race considering she was just getting over a dose of ‘flu, and behind her came Elizabeth Carr better known as a track specialist but still very effective over the country. All four girls can feel proud of themselves and can look forward to the forthcoming track season with great confidence.