By Lee Maginnis
THE forecast cold and wet conditions thankfully never materialised at the Irvinestown course for the 2024 Irish National Cross Country Championships, the County Fermanagh venue perhaps better known for agricultural shows. The action was fast and furious despite the soft conditions underfoot.
Ann Marie McGlynn a couple of weeks ago won the Dublin Marathon, aged 44! She was not going to allow age or any fatigue from the roads stop her bid for success on the country. It didn’t take her long to make her presence known at the front of the field.
When she took the lead, she pushed on and opened a big gap, taking the win, 11 seconds ahead of Leevale’s Niamh Allen to become the first woman to hold Irish Marathon and Cross Country titles at the same time. Danielle Donegan of Tullamore Harriers was third.
Ann Marie’s win also helped her club, Letterkenny AC, to second place.
In an extremely competitive U23 race, Emma McEvoy came out on top for Dundrum South Dublin AC. Then came Amy Greene of Finn Valley. Third was Roise Roberts of CNDR AC with a terrific run – the DCU student is coached by Mark Kirk in Belfast.
Rebecca Rossiter was fifth, again of CNDR, a UU student in Belfast. Hannah Gilliland of Annadale Striders was seventh, showing the depth of quality in this field.
Lucy Foster of Willowfield Temperance Harriers AC was runaway winner of the U20 race, opening up a huge gap over the rest of the field. Enniskillen’s Annabel Morrison, the local heroine, was second. Both athletes secured automatic selection for the European Cross Country Championships which are being held in Turkey on Sunday, December 8. Ann Marie McGlynn will also be on the plane.
Lagan Valley AC’s Eva Bartlett took the U18 title from Megan Brunt (Blackrock AC, Dublin. In third was Willowfield Harrier Emer McKee who has featured in Local Women Sport many times.
Emer McKee
Lucy Foster
Roise Roberts (1720) who went on to claim 3rd place in the U23 race (Picture: Paul Lawther)
Current Irish 5000m champion and Olympian Jodi McCann (1619) leads the early stages of senior womens race
