Fionnuala McCormack finishes 3rd in Antrim IAAF Cross Country...Sat 16th Jan 2016

The annual Antrim IAAF Cross Country was held on Saturday the 16th of January and a number of Irish International athletes were in action.

In the Senior womens race, Fionnuala McCormack made the most of the muddy conditions and finished in an impressive 3rd place...behind two Africans but ahead of top British cross country runner Kate Avery.

Results of the Antrim IAAF Cross Country...Sat 16th Jan 2016
Senior Women Results                          
Pos    Bib    Firstname    Lastname    Club    Nation    Race    Finish      
1    19    Alice    Aprot Nawowuna        KEN    FO    00:18:05      
2    24    Mimi    Belete        BRN    FO    00:18:09      
3    23    Fionnuala    McCormack        IRL    FO    00:18:13      
4    25    Kate    Avery        GBR    FO    00:18:16      
11    1    Kerry    O'Flaherty    Newcastle & District AC    NIR    FO    00:19:46      
13    26    Roseanne    Galligan    Newbridge IRL            00:20:05      
14    643    Shona    Heaslip    Riocht AC            00:20:08      
26    644    Niamh    O'Sullivan    Riocht AC            00:22:46

Other notable performances were.....

Kerry O'Flaherty in 11th place...just one week after her 3rd place in the 4x1km mixed relay time performance in Edinburgh.

Roseanne Galligan who is the Irish 800m record holder in 13th.

21 year old Shona Heaslip of An Ríocht AC in Kerry was just 3 seconds behind Roseanne Galligan and finished in 13th place overall...an excellent performance.

Niamh O'Sullivan from An Ríocht AC finished in 26th overall. Niamh who is currently an Irish Masters athlete is also responsible in no small part for the strong performances of the Kerry womens teams in national events.

Another local athlete on the way up is Tamzin Muldowney of Midleton AC who finished 4th in the U17 race.

Tamzin Muldowney #359 of Midleton AC...4th in the U17 race

Togher AC was also represented by Chris O’Reilly (U15) and Ruairi Casey (U17).

Full results HERE

Reports...
1) Feidhlim Kelly has this report for the IAAF
2) Video clip from BBC Sport

Photos...
1) Sportsfile has a small number of photos HERE
2) Kieran Carlin of Finn Valley AC has a great album HERE (Facebook a/c may be required to view)

Video...
1) East Down AC have a video of the women's race...

Fionnuala Britton finishes 4th in Antrim Cross Country...Sat 4th Jan 2014

The Antrim IAAF International Cross Country was held in Greenmount on Saturday, the 4th of Jan 2014. In the senior womens race, Fionnuala Britton finished in 4th place which was actually a pretty good result considering the three athletes in front of her were all born in Ethiopia and are now competing for different countries.

In the European Cross Country Championships in Belgrade last month, Almensh Belete finished in 6th place some 15 seconds behind Fionnuala. Gemma Steel who won the bronze medal in Belgrade was 6 seconds ahead of Fionnuala then and was 20 seconds behind today.

Pos    Athlete    Club    Category    Nation     Finish
1    Mimi Belete        FO    BRN 18:07...$2,500
2    Maryam Jamal        FO    BRN 18:08...$1,500
3    Almensh Belete        FO    BEL 18:21...$1,250
4    Fionnuala Britton        FO    IRL 18:23...$1,000
5    Charlotte Purdue        FO    GBR 18:28...$750
6    Gemma Steel        FO    GBR 18:43...$500
7    Rosie Smith        FO    SCO 18:59
8    Juliet Potter        FO    ENG 19:08
9    Sarah Tracy        FO    IRL 19:15
10    Rachael Felton        FO    ENG 19:19
11    Michelle McGee        FO    IRL 19:23
12    Maria Sullivan        FO    IRL Celtic    F23    IRL Celtic 19:28
18    Gladys Ganiel    North Belfast Harriers    FO    NIR 20:13
19    Mary Mulhare        FO    IRL Celtic    F23    IRL Celtic 20:18
22    Fiona Clinton    Dundrum South Dublin Ac    FO 20:26
24    Una Britton    Kilcoole AC    FO 20:32
35    Meghan Ryan    Dundrum South Dublin Ac    FO    IRL Celtic    F23    IRL Celtic 21:30

Senior Men
Pos    Athlete    Club    Category    Nation     Finish
1    Japhet Korir        MO    KEN 28:40...$2,500
2    Thomas Akeyo        MO    UGA 28:42...$1,500
3    Emmanuel Bett        MO    KEN 28:43...$1,250
4    Cornelius Kipruto Kangogo        MO    KEN 29:14...$1,000
5    Titus Mbishei        MO    KEN 29:30...$750
6    Andy Vernon        MO    GBR 29:34...$500
7    Michael Mulhare        MO    IRL   29:47
11    Mick Clohisey        MO    IRL 30:23
22    James  McCarthy    East Cork AC    MO 31:26
38    Tim O Donoghue    East Cork AC    MO 33:11

Photos...
1) Photos from Editorial Image...HERE

Video of the womens race...

Video highlights...(50 mins)

Video of IAAF International Cross Country race in Antrim...

This is the official race video for the IAAF International Cross Country in Antrim which was held on Saturday, the 12th of January 2013. The first half cover the womens race which Fionnuala Britton won with ease.

Fionnuala Britton wins Antrim International Cross Country...Sat 12th Jan 2013

The current European Cross Country Champion Fionnuala Britton continued her winning streak today by finishing first at the IAAF Cross Country Race in Antrim (Sat 12th Jan 2013). Fionnuala finished a full 12 seconds ahead of her nearest rival Louise Damen in second place.

Photo by Kieran Carlin of Finn Valley AC

This was also the second time that Fionnuala Britton has won this race having won it before in January 2012 as well.

Fellow Irish international Linda Byrne also had an excellent race finishing in 4th place after a closely contested competition with the Kenyan Magdalyne Masai for third spot.

1. Fionnuala Britton (IRL) 18:17...$2,500
2. Louise Damen (GBR) 18:29...$1,500
3. Magdalyne Masai (KEN) 18:45...$1,250
4. Linda Byrne (IRL) 18:48...$1,000
5. Eunice  Kales (KEN) 18:57...$750
6. Freya Murray-Ross (SCOT) 18:57...$500
7. Steph  Twell (GBR) 18:58
8. Beth Potter (SCOT) 18:59
9. Stevi Stockton (GBR) 19:28
10. Elspeth Curran (SCOT) 19:35
11. Katie Brough (ENG) 19:41
12. Emma Clayton (ENG) 19:43
13. Gladys Ganiel, North Belfast Harriers (N IRL) 19:57
14. Katie Walshaw, North of England 20:06
15. Gemma  Kersey, Basildon (ENG) 20:20
16. Melissa Courtney, South of England 20:26
17. Samantha Johnson, North of England 20:57
18. Danielle Fegan, Armagh AC 21:18   
19. Jessica Craig, North Down AC B (N IRL) 21:34
20. Fionnuala Diver, Letterkenny AC 21:42

Full senior results for men and women HERE 

Start

Finish...

Post race interview...

 

Video of Fionnuala Britton in Antrim X-Country in January

Back in January, the European Cross Country champion Fionnuala Britton won the Antrim IAAF Cross Country race........previous post HERE

A 15 min video clip of the race has now appeared on YouTube...

Fionnuala Britton wins Antrim IAAF Cross Country - Sat 21st Jan 2012

Just in...Fionnuala Britton has won the Antrim IAAF Cross Country competition. This was her 4th race in as many weeks. Running neck and neck with Gemma Steel of the UK until the last lap, Fionnuala pulled away for a convincing victory!

Is this woman ever going to rest??? ;o)

Senior Women                  
1    37    Fionnuala Britton        IRL    00:19:32
2    35    Gemma Steel        GBR    00:19:39
3    30    Birtuken Adamu        ETH    00:19:54
4    33    Mekdes Bekele        ETH    00:20:11
5    32    Mekasha Waganesh        ETH    00:20:28
6    40    Purity Kirui        KEN    00:20:39
7    34    Annabel Gummow        GBR    00:20:44
8    42    Jane Potter    Charnwood AC    Midlands Athletics    00:21:02
9    49    Rosemary Smith        SCO    00:21:03
10    493    Aoife Culhane    Dundrum South Dublin        00:21:14
11    41    Clare Martin    Telford AC    Midlands Athletics    00:21:21
12    43    Rebekah Randell    Bristol & West    Midlands Athletics    00:21:44
13    44    Breege Connolly    North Belfast Harriers    NIR    00:21:54
14    38    Lizzie Lee        IRL    00:22:00
15    50    Laura Shaughessey        IRL    00:22:03
16    46    Julie Turley    Dromore AC    NIR    00:22:18
17    47    Lauren Scott    North Down AC    NIR    00:22:23
18    45    Cathy McCourt    North Belfast Harriers    NIR    00:22:35
19    508    Patricia O'Hagan    St Peters        00:22:44
20    48    Sharon Bird    North Belfast Harriers    NIR    00:23:00

From Northern Ireland Athletics...
Prizes...For each IAAF Senior Race, the organisers will provide a minimum financial awards structure of USD 7,500.

1st place       $2500        4th place    $1000
2nd place      $1500        5th place    $750
3rd place       $1250        6th place    $500

Race Report from NI Athletics...European Cross Country Champion logged another victory over arch rival Gemma Steel of Charnwood in the Antrim IAAF International Cross Country at Greenmount. However it was closely fought head to head contest which was only decided in the last 600 metres.

Up to that point Steel was determined not to make the same mistake as in Edinburgh where she let her Irish rival open an unbeatable gap midway through the race. In Antrim a proverbial handkerchief covered both women for much of the race with Steel taking the lead for a short period. It was only in the closing stages where the energy sapping mud enabled the stronger Britton to secure victory by 7 seconds.

Afterwards Steel said “I tried different tactics today by taking the race by the scruff of the neck. I gave it much more today from the start as there was no jogging in the early stages”. For her part Britton said the race was tougher than Edinburgh because of the heavy conditions. She said she was pleased with her performance especially after the race in Seville where she admitted she struggled.

In another interview, Fionnuala said....."It was tough, a lot tougher than Edinburgh I think. It was similar in one way because it was the two of us together, but that muck made it tough. There was a lot more running on the course in Edinburgh. Here there was a lot of ploughing through it. In Edinburgh I gradually pulled away (from Gemma), where this time we ran together for a lot more of it, so it was tougher I suppose, mentally as much as anything. Both of us are aware of the fact that there are people behind us. I suppose both of us are similar in a way, so if we get away we know we only have each other to battle against, where if we sit back and let others run the race we don't know what is going to happen. I struggled in Seville last week, so I needed it this week. I suppose after one good race you forget about it quickly. One not so good race plays on your mind for a lot longer. This would get rid of last week."