This years Munster Cross Country Championships were held at the Limerick Race Course and a reasonable number of competitors took part.
In the Junior race, there were 12 women and 16 men. While the numbers are low and lots of counties were missing, at least they managed to get into double figures.
In the Senior Men's race, East Cork AC were very much to the fore in flying the flag for Cork with Sean McGrath taking an individual Silver and the club taking a team Silver. A total of 46 men took part with all counties fielding a full team except Kerry.
The Cork mens team also took Silver in the county event and these were the scoring Cork runners...
2 Sean McGrath East Cork A.C. Cork
9 Ben Thistlewood Leevale A.C. Cork
13 James McCarthy East Cork A.C. Cork
18 Fergus Meade East Cork A.C. Cork
19 Anthony Mannix Leevale A.C. Cork
Senior Men
1 Dara Chesser Ennis Track A.C. Clare
2 Sean McGrath East Cork A.C. Cork
3 Sean Hehir Rathfarnham W.S.A.F. A.C. Clare
Club Team Points
Place Club Positions...Points
1 Ennis Track A.C. 1, 4, 5, 7...17
2 East Cork A.C. 2, 13, 18, 24...57
3 Clonmel A.C. 6, 16, 36, 38...96
County Team Points
Place County Positions...Points
1 Clare 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 10...30
2 Cork 2, 9, 11, 13, 18, 19...72
3 Tipperary 6, 12, 16, 22, 28, 29...113
***********
Senior Women...In the Senior women's race, Martina Kiely of St.Finbarr's AC took an individual Bronze. Other than Martina, there were only two other Cork runners which means that Cork as the largest County in Munster were unable to field a women's team for the Munster Championships.
A total of 38 women took part in the race.
Senior Women
1 Siobhan O'Doherty Borrisokane A.C. Tipperary
2 Rosemary Ryan Dooneen A.C. Limerick
3 Martina Kiely St. Finbarrs A.C. Cork
Club Team Points
Place Club Positions...Points
1 Dooneen A.C. 2, 6, 17, 25...50
2 Ennis Track A.C. 12, 15, 19, 21...67
3 Dundrum A.C. 8, 26, 32, 34...100
County Team Points
Place County Positions...Points
1 Limerick 2, 5, 6, 9...22
2 Tipperary 1, 8, 18, 20...47
3 Clare 12, 13, 14, 15...54
The full results can be seen on the Munster Athletics website.
Photos...
1) Bilboa AC have a gallery HERE
2) Dooneen AC have a large gallery HERE
3) Dundrum AC have a gallery HERE
"A total of 46 men took part with all counties represented except Kerry" - correction: 3 runners from Kerry took part from An Riocht AC, Iveragh AC and St.Brendan's AC.
ReplyDeleteThanks. I've corrected it now.
ReplyDeleteConsidering that Cork is one of the largest counties for athletics in the country, it is frankly an embarrassment that a full womens team could not be fielded for the Munster Senior XC championships.
ReplyDeleteDid the Cork county athletics board even try to get a team together? Do they even care?
What was the point on spending 300 thousand euro on a dedicated cross country course in Riverstick and then they can't even field a team for the Munster Championships?
Still beyond me how east cork ac have very little numbers and are to the fore in most races....is it a private club or what? Anybody know?
ReplyDeleteDidn't even know the race was on.No advertising or publicity. You have to go out of your way to find out when AAI county and Munster events are on.maybe more would run it if they knew it was on and if a bit of hype was created about it
ReplyDeleteAsk your club about county and munster events. No excuse for not knowing when these events are on. Since the cross country season has been condenced into a shorter time frame it seems less runner's are interested. This might be down to a number of reasons...but the big one is that there is no fun in running a field of shit when your not an experienced runner. We had a munster masters cross country race with junviles in tipp last year.....cow shit was flowing out the gaps.....this is not on and I will never run cross again unless it's on a safe course....if someone got spiked that day god only knows what infection could have been picked up
ReplyDeleteEast Cork are to the fore because they have good runners simple as that. Don,t understand comment about private club? Whats that about
ReplyDeleteWhats all the complaining about,everyone knows cross country is on at this time of year.The reason the east cork lads are good is because they train hard and do cross country while the rest are here complaining behind their keyboards,i wont even say anything about the person who is complaing about the bad conditions
ReplyDeleteCross country is exactly that and conditions vary, I love a wet muddy hilly course,
ReplyDeleteits a great way to build endurance and strength over the winter, too many runners are looking for flat courses with a big spread after. in relation to East Cork AC - they are successful because the train hard and compete across the full range of athletics, track cross country and road. I'm sure they welcome new members too!!
Please do say something about the conditions. ...is it ok for children to run in a field where slurry is literally flowing across the course? ? Are you telling me that this is ok?
ReplyDeleteI think it's the Environmental Protection Agency you should be contacting if you find slurry "flowing" across a field and not complaining about it on an athletics blog.i wouldn't be so worried about getting an infection from a stray spike as to an epidemic from a polluted water source if it was that bad!!
ReplyDeleteIf it was that bad!!! ....yes it was that bad.....would you allow a child to play football or hurling on a playing field of slurry? ..no you wouldnt....but its ok sure its cross country, .....it's the lazy attitude like the response above that gives rise to events been held in such an unsuitable setting. .....would the national championships be held in such a course?? No it wouldn't so why should it be ok to hold a munster championship in a field full of slurry?.....and yes it was "flowing".....this is the exact place to bring it up....as it's an athletics event, my concerns are just as valid. Do munster council have a risk assessment under taken for such events?
ReplyDeleteI agree that where CC is held the course should have set standards.but it can also be hard to get people to give up there land. Do cork athletics not allow the field they paid for be used for races outside of cork.
ReplyDeleteIn relation to the Munster athletics board. Why is it that we have never been told why the Munster half marathon road championship was taken to Linerick for 3 years, arrangement finishes in 2018. The county boards weren't asked about this it was just done. Plus don't forget the great linerick run is not a charity event it's a commercial event. Not one euro of your entry fee goes to a charity. You must opt in to pay to the charity when you reg.
ReplyDeleteWhat if you slip on a tartened track?,what if you twist an ankle in a pothole? Always positives and negative s in anything. Personally i think cross country is the safest event for my child to run in or even me. All this talk about slurry is nonsense
ReplyDeleteLots of good comments made here. That includes the one about the Great Limerick Run. It is amazing the pull some people have, in particular some of the older guys.
ReplyDeleteI ran the masters race in Tipp last year that sparked the comment regarding slurry above. There was no slurry flowing anywhere that day. There was cow dung yes and lots of mud. It was one of the worst conditions i ran in, in 20 years but my decision to run at the end of the day. The conditions were the same for everyone. As for the comment regarding risk assesment and infection - I'm sure it would be well below the risk getting knocked down during a road race on open roads. Will be ban them too! Seriously, XC is fantastic for runners of all ages we should all give it a go.
ReplyDeleteI must agree that some courses are just not good enough. It's a fair comment to say ask would a national event be held in such a course or even a European event
ReplyDeleteA spike injury with fresh slurry on it or near/on the wound would be a mush higher risk wound than a graze or abrasion.The spike wound is usually deeper and penetrating into deep tissue where as the abrasion wouldn't be.Slurry would be full of bacteria as the slurry provides a medium for growth whereas the Tarmac wouldn't
ReplyDelete