Making her International debut in atrocious weather conditions of strong wind and very heavy rain that made the hilly and muddy course all the more difficult, Mary Scully was second Irish woman to finish and helped the Ireland team to 2nd place with a fantastic 5th place individual finish in her category at the Masters Home Countries International Cross Country in Birmingham, England on Saturday 14th November.

There was medal success too for Geraldine Walsh who provided a vital score to earn a silver team medal in her category, adding to her International medal haul.

Christy Creagh was still suffering the effects of a recent chest infection that badly affected his breathing and only 1km into the 6km race, he began to struggle but determined not to let the team down he carried on only losing out on the bronze team medals on count-back, having equaled the team score with Wales. On any other day, Christy would have finished in a better position and helped secure the medals. However, such are the trials and tribulations of International competition and won’t put Christy off and hopefully he’ll get his chance next year to make amends.

The English teams in particular were very strong but helped by the strong performances of the Mullingar athletes and their dedicated supporters, among them Matt Glennon, Alwyn Kinane, Darragh Thornton and Aidan Creagh, the Ireland teams got among the medals in most categories. Congratulations to everyone.