Elizabeth Carr and Jake Byrne proudly took their places on the start line as members of Irish School’s teams in the Schools International Cross Country in Strathallen School, Perth, Scotland on Friday 28th March for their first experience as International athletes. Jake finished 4th Irishman home, 19th overall, in a quality field. He expressed some initial disappointment with his performance and thought that he should have done better, but on reflection knows that it was a very valuable experience that will stand to him. Elizabeth finished 8th Irish girl but is the only one eligible again next year, so this was a fine performance. The main thing of course is that they earned their Irish vests and wore them with pride. No doubt, these Irish vests are the first of many to come.

Meanwhile, also in Scotland was a group from Mullingar Harriers, over to see the World cross country championships in Edinburgh on Sunday 30th. Just so not to make a complete holiday of it, our young athletes competed in a novel cross country relay on the Saturday 29th against teams from far and wide, billed as the “Welcome the World Young Athletes Relays”. We had two teams of under 13 boys and two teams of under 13 girls in the 3 x 1 mile relays, the first runner on the road, second on trails, and the final runner over cross country.

As expected, Mullingar performed excellently, proving that not only can they dominate at home but can also export their talents. The girls team of Linda Conroy, Beth McGuire and Elizabeth Carr (fresh from international duty in Perth) finished 4th, while Lorraine Daly, Ann-Marie Kennedy and Lauren Casey finished a close 9th place behind. In the corresponding boys race, Padraig Moran, Thomas Lynn and Shane Fitzsimons combined well to win easily by a wide margin, with Liam O’Reilly, Patrick Fagan and Philip Giles (who had a particularly brilliant run on the last leg) finishing 9th place in a great race. These young athletes certainly proved their worth against some of the best young athletes in the UK.

On Sunday was the World cross country proper, and while our young athletes could relax and enjoy the spectacle of seeing the very best athletes in the World up close, some other members of the group took to the road in the “Welcome the World” 5km road race that was run as a warm-up event on the morning of the big race. Lee Stenson, Cormac Finnerty, Liam McGlynn, Thomas Fagan, Amie Giles, Wendy Bates, Arlene Coughlan, Nuala Moran and John Bannon were amongst a huge field of runners that took part and thoroughly enjoyed being part of such a spectacle.

The trip exceeded all expectations and proved a truly memorable experience for everyone involved and there’s no doubt but there’ll be a similar trip planned for next year, though without the added bonus of a World event. To see the likes of Kenenisa Bekele and Tirunesh Dibaba up close as they both made impressive world class comebacks to win their respective senior titles was a memorable experience, even if the spectators had to endure all four seasons in the space of two hours to do so as torrential rainstorms battered the course and spectators, making competing and spectating alike a true test of stamina and determination.

The travelling group comprised athletes who finished in the top 12 in the Leinster cross country championships and those who scored on winning All-Ireland cross country teams in 2007, so this should serve as an added incentive to all our young athletes to train hard and perform well in the Leinster cross country championships this coming autumn and perhaps be part of a similar trip in 2009?