Ciara Mageean and Kevin Dooney won their first senior titles at the Irish Life Health National Cross Country Championships held in perfect conditions at Abbotstown on Sunday (November 25).

Mageean, running in UCD colours, was first up in the women’s 8km and was part of the lead group of five that broke away early. Soon that group was down to two with the Irish 1500m specialist joined by Fionnuala Ross of Armagh AC.

Among the chasers were Sara Treacy of Dunboyne AC, Teresa Doherty of Finn Valley, DSD’s Laura Shaughnessy and Anne Marie McGlynn of Letterkenny AC.

Shaughnessy dropped out of the race while Doherty and Treacy fell back, leaving McGlynn to chase the two leaders. Moving up through the field were Michele Finn of Leevale and Newcastle’s Kerry O’Flaherty.

Photo: Lindie Naughton

With a lap to go, Mageean pulled away from Ross, with McGlynn in third place ahead of Finn and O’Flaherty. There was no catching Mageean at this stage but in the battle for second place, McGlynn caught Ross in the chase for the line.

Finn finished fourth, while Treacy dug deep to pass O’Flaherty for fifth place.

For Mageean, who had finished third behind Shona Heaslip and Kerry O’Flaherty in 2016, it was a magnificent victory and makes her that rarest of athletes to have won national titles both indoors and outdoors on the track and now also in cross-country in one year.

First U23 was Fian Sweeney of Dublin City Harriers, who finished 16th overall. Sorcha McAllister of Westport AC was second and Cliona Murphy of DCH third.

Leevale, with a team including American-born Dylan Hassett in eighth place, retained the team title. Letterkenny AC was second and North Down AC third. Donegal beat Dublin for the team title with Laois third.

“I’m absolutely delighted. It’s been a good year for me – I suppose the best for national titles and to go out and win my first national cross title is something special,” said Mageean, who will lead the Irish women’s team at next month’s European Championships in Tilburg. “We always put out a good team for the cross, so I hope we’ll be battling for the medals again.”

Photo: Lindie Naughton

In the men’s 10km, Sean Tobin of Clonmel AC declared his intentions from the start by moving to the front, but on his heels was Raheny Shamrock’s Dooney.

Not far off the pace were Donore’s John Travers and Kevin Maunsell of Clonmel AC. Leading a pack of chasers was Damien Landers of Ennis TC.

Dooney, who has been sharing his journey this year on Fast Running, missed out on the entire outdoor track season with an injury, and focussed his training in recent months on the cross country championships.

He was running a smart race and when he noticed that Tobin – an old rival from their schooldays – was struggling in the muddy section of the course, he attacked on that stretch with about two laps to go.

Although he quickly built up a lead of about 20 metres, Dooney powered on, aware that Tobin would fight back if he could. Tobin certainly did his best but it was the Raheny man’s day.

Photo: Lindie Naughton

RELATED: Kevin Dooney – Why I love and hate this time of the year

Finishing a solid third was Maunsell, while fourth and fifth were Brian Fay of Raheny Shamrock AC, who was running in the U23 ranks for the first time, and Irish marathon champion Mick Clohisey, also Raheny Shamrock. Holding on for sixth was Landers.

In the U23 race, Paul O’Donnell of Dundrum South Dublin was second behind Fay and Cathal Doyle of Clonliffe Harriers third.

With Mark Kirwan making up the team, Raheny won the men’s title ahead of Clonliffe Harriers and Clonmel. First B team was North Belfast Harriers. With six athletes in the top ten, Dublin finished best of the counties.

“I enjoyed that. I was injured early on in the year and only got back training on June 1 with this race the target,” said Dooney after the race. “I knew Sean was the man to beat and so I decided to sit on him and even when I passed him, I knew he wouldn’t let up.

“I’m looking forward to running at the European Championships for a seventh time between junior and senior – and maybe getting a place in the top 20.”

There was less drama in the junior races with pre-race favourites Sarah Healy of Blackrock AC and Bantry’s Darragh McElhinney living up to their billing.

Photo: Lindie Naughton

In the women’s 4km race, Emer O’Brien of Sli Cualann AC set the pace early on but Healy soon took over in front for a comfortable win. O’Brien was second and Jodie McCann of DCH AC third. Defending champion Laura Nicholson of Bandon AC was fourth.

Waterford AC won the team title with DSD AC second and Ennis Track AC third. Cork finished first county with Waterford second and Kilkenny third.

McElhinney was an equally comfortable winner of the men’s 6km, sitting on Dublin champion Sean O’Leary’s heels early on before making his move. O’Leary held on for second and had the consolation of leading Clonliffe Harriers to team victory. Jamie Battle of Tullamore Harriers was third, ahead of Fintan Stewart of City of Derry Spartans.

Photo: Lindie Naughton

In the team competition, Galway City Harriers finished second behind Clonliffe, with DSD AC third. Best county team was Dublin; Cork was second and Galway third.

Other weekend results

Neil McCartan of Annadale Striders won the Malcolm Cup cross country at Sixmilewater Park in Ballyclare on Saturday (November 24).

McCartan was followed home by his training partners Conall Kirk of Annadale Striders and Jonny Whan from City of Lisburn.

Dromore’s Rebekah Nixon won the women’s race ahead of Ballycastle’s Gemma McDonald and Catherine Diver of Beechmount Harriers.

Gareth Lyons won the masters’ race with Iain Taggart of Ballymena Runners and Stephen Nicolson in the minor placings. The races were the third round of the Northern Ireland Cross-Country League

parkrun

Martin Cox ran 16:10 at the Omagh parkrun to record the fastest men’s time across the island of Ireland this weekend, while Annette Kealy was once again the quickest of the women after running 18:28 on her 73rd visit to the Malahide parkrun.

The Irish parkrun top 10 can be found here.

Are you a fan of Fast Running? Then please support us and become a patron. For as little as the price of a monthly magazine you can support Fast Running – and it only takes a minute. Thank you.

The post Ciara Mageean and Kevin Dooney win Irish cross country crowns appeared first on Fast Running.

Sean Tobin and Ciara Mageean are among the top Irish endurance runners set to compete at the Irish Life Health National Senior and Juvenile Even Age Championships on Sunday (November 25).

As well as national honours, the action at Abbotstown’s National Sports Campus this weekend sees Ireland’s best battling for one of the coveted places on the team for next month’s European Cross Country Championships.

The first two athletes over the line in the senior and under-20 races will will gain automatic selection for the continental competition in Tilburg, Holland, along with the first male and female under-23 athletes. Additional selections for the European teams will be made at the discretion of the selectors.

The battle for the team titles should also prove an absorbing contest – particularly in the men’s race where Clonmel will be bidding for the first team title in their history.

Sean Tobin will lead that bid for Clonmel with his eyes also fixed on a becoming the Irish cross country champion for the first time too.

Photo: Sportsfile

Tobin, who returned to Ireland over the summer after completing his athletics scholarship, has the strong backing in the Maunsell brothers, Kevin and William, with David Mansfield and Michael Carey vying to be the fourth scorer for the club.

They would be the first team outside of Dublin to win since 1999. It won’t be plain sailing though with Raheny Shamrock bidding for three-in-a-row.

Raheny athletes set to compete on Sunday include runner-up last year Kevin Dooney, who has been sharing his running journey on Fast Running, along with 2015 champion Mick Clohisey, Brian Fay and Mark Kirwan among their ranks.

RELATED: Mick Clohisey’s Zen-like approach to running is paying dividends

Clonliffe Harriers and Kilkenny City Harriers will also be among the teams looking to be in the shake-up.

Other strong individual entries include Donore Harriers’ John Travers, St Coca’s Paul Robinson, while defending champion Paul Pollock isn’t on the entry list.

In the senior women’s race, An Riocht’s Shona Heaslip, the winner for the last two years, is out after picking up an injury competing in Europe recently.

That leaves the stage set for a champion in 2018 with Ciara Mageean bidding to win her first senior Irish cross country title.

Photo: Lindie Naughton

The 26 year-old will not have it all her own way and should expect tough competition from Armagh AC’s Fionnuala Ross, Newcastle’s Kerry O’Flaherty, Letterkenny’s Ann Marie McGlynn and newcomer on the scene Dylan Hassett of Leevale.

The course looks set to be soft underfoot with long spikes at the ready due to the heavy rain this week.It should make it an exciting spectacle for cross country aficionados.

DSD and Leevale look to have the strongest teams for the women’s race with the South Dublin club counting Laura Shaughnessy, Linda Byrne, Bethanie Murray, Maria McCambridge and Meghan Ryan among their ranks.

The Leevale team includes the Finn sisters, Michelle and Carol, Dylan Hassett and Sinead O’Connor, while North Down also send a strong team from Northern Ireland that includes Jessica Craig and Rachel Gibson.

Under-20 and under-23 battles

Blackrock’s Sarah Healy will look to continue her impressive 2018 in a quality U20 women’s 4,000m race that includes Emma O’Brien of Sli Cualann, Dublin City Harriers’ Jodie McCann and last year’s winner Laura Nicholson of Bandon.

Photo: Keith McClure

In the under-20 men’s race, the leading entries include Bantry’s Darragh McElhinney, Mullingar’s Jamie Battle, West Waterford’s Micheal Power and defending champion Craig McMeechan of North Down.

Some of the leading U23 entries include Kilkenny City Harriers’ Tom O’Keeffe, last year’s winner, Brian Fay and Clonliffe Harriers’ Cathal Doyle, while Avril Deegan and Westport’s Sorcha McAlister lead the women’s entrants.

The action gets underway at 11:30 with the U12 girls race before the senior women’s and senior men’s races at 13:45 and 14:25 respectively.

RELATED: Paul Pollock and Shona Heaslip win Irish National Cross Country titles

Are you a fan of Fast Running? Then please support us and become a patron. For as little as the price of a monthly magazine you can support Fast Running – and it only takes a minute. Thank you.

The post Ireland’s cross country stars set to battle for national honours appeared first on Fast Running.