Interview with Caroline Crowley on RTE1 Radio

Last Sunday, the third scoring member of the Irish womens team to win Bronze at the European Cross Country Championships was Caroline Crowley from Dublin. After starting running just 3 years ago, she unexpectedly finished 3rd in the Irish Cross Country Championships in November and then found herself on the Irish team. Last Sunday, she finished an amazing 23rd in Europe helping the Irish team secure Bronze.

Today, she was on RTE1 radio with Sean O'Rourke and the podcast can be heard HERE

Photos of the 2015 European Cross Country Championships in France

Following the success of the Irish Women's team winning Bronze at the European Cross Country Championships in France last Sunday, there are now some great photos available.

Gearóid Ó Laoi was over there for the race and now has a gallery of 466 photos HERE

Sportsfile have a gallery HERE

Another small gallery on the Zimbio website HERE 

Irish womens team win Bronze at the European Cross Country Championships

The Irish Senior womens team put in a fantastic performance to take Bronze at the European Cross Country Championships in Hyere in France.

4    519    Fionnuala McCormack    Ireland     26:00   
13    518    Lizzie Lee    Ireland     26:41   
23    512    Caroline Crowley    Ireland     27:01
43    514    Ciara Durkan    Ireland     27:36   
54    515    Michelle Finn    Ireland     28:05
55    523    Kerry O'Flaherty    Ireland     28:11

4+13+23+43 = 83 points

There were of course a number of excellent personal performances. Fionnuala McCormack (nee Britton) finished 4th after moving up through the field.

Lizzie Lee from Cork ran a great race finishing an amazing 13th in Europe! In 2012 when the Irish team won Gold, Lizzie was the 4th scoring member and finished in 23rd place. Fast forward to 2015 and Lizzie is the second scoring member and finished 13th.

Caroline Crowley only started running a few years ago and finished 23rd in Europe! Makes you wonder how much untapped talent is out there?

Ciara Durkan was the 4th scoring member of the Irish team.

Michelle Finn wins her second European XC Bronze

Irish team post race.......Photo: James Veale of West Waterford AC

Outside of the Irish team, there were a few other suprises. Last years winner Gemma Steele of Britain only finished 8th and the 2013 winner Sophie Duarte of France finished way back in 49th.

Looking ahead to the European Cross Country Championships...Sun 13th Dec 2015

The big international race on Sunday is of course the European Cross Country Championships in France.

There is plenty of Cork interest in the event with Lizzie Lee, Michelle Finn and Ryan Creech of Leevale AC being part of the Irish team.

Women's Senior...Fionnuala McCormack (Kilcoole), Lizzie Lee (Leevale), Caroline Crowley (Crusaders), Kerry O'Flaherty (Newcastle), Ciara Durkan (Skerries), Michelle Finn (Leevale)

Men's Senior...Mick Clohisey  (Raheny Shamrock), John Coghlan (MSB), Paul Pollock (Annadale Striders), Ryan Creech (Leevale), Joe Sweeney (DSD), Sergiu Ciobanu (Clonliffe Harriers)

Women’s Under-23 (2 athletes selected)...Shona Heaslip (An Riocht), Emma Mitchell (Banbridge)

Men’s Under-23...Thomas Moran (Dunshaughlin), Brandon Hargreaves (Clonliffe Harriers), Hugh Armstrong (Ballina), Keith Fallon (GCH), Sean Tobin (Clonmel), Aaron Hanlon (Clonliffe Harriers)

Junior Women...Emma O’Brien (Inbhear Dee), Aoibhe Richardson (KCH), Isabel Carron (Skerries), Deirdre Healy (Ratoath), Nadia Power (Templeogue), Sophie Murphy (DSD)

Junior Men...Kevin Mulcaire (Ennis Track), Peter Lynch (KCH), Jack O’ Leary (Mullingar Harriers), Cathal Doyle (Clonliffe Harriers) James Edgar (Lisburn), Pierre Murchan (Celtic)

TV...Coverage starts on RTE2 television at 11:45am and lasts until 2:15pm.

The live stream on the net is here... http://www.eurovisionsports.tv/eaa/live.html?id=4

In terms of location, the races take place on a horse racetrack in the town of Hyeres on the south coast of France. As you can see below, it is literally only a few hundred metres from the Mediterranean Sea.

The course uses the race course as well as the area to the side of it which is in under trees. There are a few man made obstacles like the one shown below which was used for a race recently.

Looking at the data from a local weather station, it last rained about 4 days ago and the mid-day temperature seems to get up around 15 deg C so it looks like the weather won't be an issue.

This is the schedule for the races...(Irish time)
Opening Ceremony ...9:15am
Junior Women ...9:35am
Junior Men ...9:59am
U23 Women... 10:42am
U23 Men... 11:26am
Senior Women ...12:30pm
Senior Men... 1:12pm

Checking out the course

Irish teams announced for the European Cross Country Championships

Following on from the National Inter-Club Cross Country Championships in Dublin yesterday, the Irish teams for the European Cross Country Championships in France were announced today.

Men's senior team: Mick Clohisey  [Raheny Shamrock AC], John Coghlan [Metro St Brigids AC], Paul Pollock [Annadale Striders AC], Ryan Creech [Leevale AC], Joe Sweeney [Dundrum South Dublin AC], Sergiu Ciobanu [Clonliffe Harriers AC]

Women's senior team: Fionnuala McCormack [Kilcoole AC], Lizzie Lee [Leevale AC], Caroline Crowley [Crusaders AC], Kerry O'Flaherty [Newcastle & District AC], Ciara Durkan [Skerries AC], Michelle Finn [Leevale AC]

Men's junior team: Kevin Mulcaire [Ennis track AC], Peter Lynch [Kilkenny City Harriers AC], Jack O’Leary [Mullingar Harriers AC], Cathal Doyle, James Edgar [City of Lisburn AC], Pierre Murchan [Celtic AC],

Women's junior team: Hope Saunders [Clonliffe Harriers AC], Aoibhe Richardson [Kilkenny City Harriers AC], Isabel Carron [Skerries AC], Deirdre Healy [Ratoath AC], Nadia Power [Templeogue AC], Sophie Murphy [Dundrum South Dublin AC]

The U23 teams will be announced at a later date.

Behind every member of the Irish team is of course a coach. A number of them have the same coach...
Donie Walsh...3, Jerry Kiernan 2, Joe Cooper 2 & Noel Richardson 2.

Fionnuala Britton finishes 4th in European Cross Country Championships

At the European Cross Country Championships in Belgrade, Serbia on Sunday, the former champion Fionnuala Britton finished in 4th place in the womens race. The Irish team finished 6th out of 10.

1     467    DUARTE, Sophie     FRA        26:34       
2     497    STEEL, Gemma     GBR        26:39       
3     582    FÉLIX, Dulce     POR        26:41       
4     519    BRITTON, Fionnuala     IRL        26:45       
5     564    GRØVDAL, Karoline Bjerkeli     NOR        26:52                    
31     532    TREACY, Sara     IRL        28:02           
36     521    DURKAN, Ciara     IRL        28:10               
44     527    MULLIGAN, Sarah     IRL        28:25           
49     523    LARKIN, Ann Marie     IRL        28:45               
55     524    MCCAMBRIDGE, Maria     IRL        29:02


Rank    BIB    Athlete    Nation    Result   
1         Great Britain & NI     GBR    35   
2         France     FRA    54   
3         Spain     ESP    61   
4         Italy     ITA    97   
5         Portugal     POR    109   
6         Ireland     IRL    115   
7         Turkey     TUR    117   
8         Czech Republic     CZE    197   
9         Denmark     DEN    219   
10         Romania     ROU    231    

Post race interview with Fionnuala Britton...


In this post race interview, Will Downing speaks to Fionnuala Britton...

 

These were the results for the senior men...
1     68    BEZABEH, Alemayehu     ESP        29:11         
2     292    ARIKAN, Polat Kemboi     TUR        29:32         
3     128    VERNON, Andy     GBR        29:35         
15     170    MULHARE, Michael     IRL        30:07             
18     164    MCCARTHY, David     IRL        30:12             
26     171    POLLOCK, Paul     IRL        30:22             
31     169    MULHARE, Dan     IRL        30:29                 
56     158    CLOHISSEY, Mick     IRL        31:23                 
63     175    SCULLION, Stephen     IRL        31:40          

Interview with Michael Mulhare...

    
Interview with David McCarthy...

Team Result
Rank    BIB    Athlete    Nation    Result   
1         Spain     ESP    31   
2         Belgium     BEL    49       
3         Great Britain & NI     GBR    60   
4         France     FRA    66   
6         Ireland     IRL    90   
7         Turkey     TUR    105       
8         Italy     ITA    151   
9         Portugal     POR    205       
10         Austria     AUT    228       
11         Serbia     SRB    275    

In the mens U23 race, the Irish team finished a very credible 4th...
Rank    Bib    Athlete    Nation    Reaction time    Result        
1     23    HANNES, Pieter-Jan     BEL        24:02       
2     36    TSENOV, Mitko     BUL        24:07       
3     263    CEROVAC, Nemanja     SRB        24:08           
9     174    ROBINSON, Paul     IRL        24:22               
32     177    TRAVERS, John     IRL        24:52           
38     161    DOONEY, Kevin     IRL        24:57           
41     172    QUINN, Shane     IRL        25:03           
60     156    BYRNE, Jake     IRL        25:29           
71     165    MCDERMOT, Ryan     IRL        25:55            

Interview with Paul Robinson...


Team Result
Rank    BIB    Athlete    Nation    Result   
1         Great Britain & NI     GBR    40   
2         Ukraine     UKR    72       
3         France     FRA    78       
4         Ireland     IRL    120       
5         Russia     RUS    139       
6         Norway     NOR    142       
7         Germany     GER    148       
8         Spain     ESP    166   
9         Italy     ITA    180   
10         Portugal     POR    185   
11         Turkey     TUR    191   
12         Estonia     EST    222   

Will Downing interviews Irish Gold Medal Cross Country team...

Irish sports commentator Will Downing has just uploaded his interview with the Irish team that won Gold at the recent European Cross Country Championships in Hungary.

Red FM interview with Lizzie Lee of Leevale AC

Just one week ago, Lizzie Lee of Leevale AC was the fourth scoring member of the winning Irish team at the European Cross Country Championships in Hungary. After a hectic week, local Cork radio station Red FM caught up with her and interviewed Lizzie about the race, how it unfolded and what it's been like since.

Well worth a listen. You can hear the 14 minute interview at this LINK

Upcoming Euro Cross Country Championships...Sun 9th Dec 2012

The 2012 SPAR European Cross Country Championships take place this Sunday, the 9th of December in Budapest, Hungary. A record number of athletes from all across Europe are set to compete with 539 athletes from 35 member federations taking part including a 30 strong Irish team.

2012 Euro Cross Team as follows:
Senior Women...Fionnuala Britton(Kilcoole AC),
Lizzie Lee (Leevale AC), Ava Hutchinson (Dundrum South Dublin), Linda Byrne( Dundrum South Dublin), Sara Treacy (Moynalvy AC), Sarah McCormack (Clonliffe Harriers AC)

Senior Men...Joe Sweeney (Dundrum South Dublin), Michael Mulhare (Portlaoise AC), Sean Hehir (Rathfarnham AC), Brian Maher (KCH AC), David Rooney (Raheny Shamrock AC), Brendan O’Neill (Dundrum South Dublin AC)

U23 Women...Una Britton (Kilcoole AC), Laura Behan (KCK AC)

U23 Men...Chris Johnston (Letterkenny AC), Dave Fitzmaurice (Clonliffe Harriers), Patrick Hogan (Ferrybank AC), Sam Mealy (Crusaders A.C), John Travers (Donore Harriers)

This is the timetable of events (Irish time)...Junior Women – 4000m 9:15 / Junior Men – 6000m 9:55 / U23 Women – 6000m 10:40 / U23 Men – 8000m 11:25 / Senior Women – 8000m 12:15 / Senior Men – 10000m 13:08

The ones to watch are Joe Sweeney who finished an impressive 5th last year and of course, Fionnuala Britton who is defending her title having won in Slovenia last year.

The event will be covered live on RTE2 television from 12-2pm or via live streaming on the European Athletics Website.

Cork runner Lizzie Lee makes Irish Cross Country team...

As the second place finisher in yesterday's Athletics Ireland Inter-County Cross Country Championships, Lizzie Lee of Leevale AC gets a spot on the Irish team going to the European Cross Country Championships in Hungary next month.

Full Irish Teams...
Senior Women...Fionnuala Britton(Kilcoole AC), Lizzie Lee (Leevale AC), Ava Hutchinson (Dundrum South Dublin), Linda Byrne( Dundrum South Dublin), Sara Treacy (Moynalvy AC), Sarah McCormack (Clonliffe Harriers AC)

Senior Men...Joe Sweeney (Dundrum South Dublin), Michael Mulhare (Portlaoise AC), Sean Hehir (Rathfarnham AC), Brian Maher (KCH AC), David Rooney (Raheny Shamrock AC), Brendan O’Neill (Dundrum South Dublin AC)

Photo courtesy of Kieran Carlin

Fionnuala Britton named European Athlete for the month of December

Back at the start of January I had a post up about Fionnuala Britton having been nominated as the European Athlete of the month for December 2011. It now looks as if all of those votes counted as the European Athletics website made the following announcement today (Thurs 19th Jan 2012)........

European Athletics is pleased to announce that the 2011 SPAR European Cross Country Championships winner Fionnuala Britton of Ireland has been voted as the European Athlete of the Month for December. Britton just missed out on a medal in Portugal in 2010 but made sure there was no repeat in Velenje when she ran away with the race from the half-way mark and was never seriously threatened, clinching Ireland’s second senior women’s gold medal in the history of these championships.

For her commanding performance in Velenje, Britton has been voted as European Athlete of the Month for December. Great Britain’s Emma Pallant, who won the under 23 race in Velenje after making a decisive move with one kilometre remaining, finished second in the women’s poll. Portugal’s Ana Dulce Felix, who finished second behind Britton in the senior women’s race in Velenje and followed it up with a superb run to win at the traditional Sao Silvestre do Lisboa over 10km on 31 December, was voted third.

European Athletics’ monthly poll received overwhelming support from thousands of athletics fans and media alike this month from across the continent. The European Athlete of the Month initiative was launched in January 2007 and is designed to recognise outstanding performers at all levels of the sport in Europe. A male and female winner each month is named and featured on the European Athletics website. Selections are based on votes by the public, media and a panel of European Athletics experts – each counting for 33.3 percent of the final vote.

The mens athlete of the month was Belgium’s Atelaw Bekele

Fionnuala Britton of Ireland wins European Cross Country Championships!

Fionnuala Britton from Wicklow took the gold medal in the Senior Womens race in the European Cross Country Championships in Velenje, Slovenia. She was in the leading group from the start and halfway through the race, she began to crank up the pace and gradually burnt off her opponents. By the finish line, she was a clear winner with Portugal’s Felix overtaking Steel to win the silver.

Two photos above courtesy of James Veale

Fionnuala's winning time was 25:55 over the 8 km course. For anyone wondering, that works out as 5'13" per mile pace. On a 5k circuit, that would give a time of 16'12".


Race report from European Athletics site...
After finishing fourth in this race last year, Fionnuala Britton of Ireland ran away with the race from the half-way mark and was never seriously threatened, clinching Ireland’s second senior women’s gold medal in the history of these championships. Portugal’s Dulce Felix was second with Britain’s Gemma Steel securing bronze.
After 1km a group of nine had already formed including Britton, Felix and Italian hope Nadia Ejjafini who was to look like a possible medallist for over half of the race before she was to pay for her effort to finish just out of the medals. At 2km in 6:35, it was Britton in the lead from Felix and Ejjafini with Turkey’s silver medallist from last year, Binnaz Uslu, in attendance. After nine minutes of running a group of three containing Britton, Felix and Ejjafini had broken away with Uslu dropping back and destined to drop out.

With three laps to go, Steel had moved into fourth and set about reducing the gap to the leaders. At this stage, it was Felix who appeared to be having difficulty as Britton and Ejjafini opened up a slight gap on the Portuguese. After 15 minutes of running, Steel was now in third and going away from Felix and making clear inroads on the leading duo. Up front Britton was making Ejjafini suffer while Steel was gaining in confidence.
Half way round the penultimate lap, Steel slipped into second with Ejjafini starting to struggle. Coming up to the bell-lap, Britton was gamely holding off Steel and the gap of 30m did not appear to be closing. There was another gap to Ejjafini as Felix was getting her second wind and moving into third six seconds down on the Irishwoman. Any sign that the Irishwoman might falter was dispelled in the final lap as Britton summoned her forces for the final push while Steel was suffering for her effort to get on equal terms with the leader and finally had to settle for bronze.

Mens Race........In the senior mens race, Joe Sweeney finished an impressive 5th and was in the leading pack for most of the race. One to watch for the future...

Irish Results.......
Irish Senior Men:Team 6th/5th Sweeney, Pollock 26th, Ledwith 35th, Hanrahan 50th & Thornton 54th.
Irish Senior Women:Team 8th/ 1st Britton 43th McCarthy, 44th Kelly, Harty 45th, Byrne 46th
Irish Men U23: Team 13th /Mulhare 31st, Jennings 54th, Tremble 73rd, Fitzmaurice 81st & Flynn 84th Team 13th overall
Women’s 23: Treacy 18th, Britton 38th
Junior Men:Team 12th/ J.Byrne 23rd, S.Tobin 45th, R.Finnegan 65th, K.Dooney in 81st and L.Brady in 96th.
Junior Women Team: Team 12th/ S.Clerigh Buttner 49th, C.McCarty 51st , K.Veale 57st, M.Mulhare 71st, M.O’Sullivan 80th.

Video of the race......

Two Cork athletes named for the Irish Cross Country Team

Following the Senior Inter County Cross-Country Championships in Sligo last Sunday, Cork athletes Claire McCarthy of St.Finbarrs AC and Mark Hanrahan of Leevale AC have been named for the Irish Team for the 18th SPAR European Cross Country Championships. This takes place in Velenje, Slovenia on the 11th of December.

Teams...
Senior Women...Fionnuala Britton (Kilcoole AC),  Claire Gibbons-McCarthy (St.Finbarrs AC),  Aoife Culhane nee Byrne (DSD AC),  Kerry Harty (Newcastle AC),  Eilish Kelly (Raheny AC)
Senior Men... Joe Sweeney (Dundrum South Dublin AC),  Andrew Ledwith (Fr. Murphy’s),  Paul Pollock (Abbey AC),  Mark Hanrahan (Leevale AC),  Gary Thornton (Galway City Harriers)

Photographs of the European Cross Country Championships...

As many of you will have seen or heard on the news, the European Cross Country Championships in Portugal were on last Sunday, the 11th of December and the Irish mens Under 23 team won the gold medal!

In the womens race, Fionnuala Britton from Wicklow (shown above) finished in 4th place, just missing out on the bronze medal by the slimmest of margins.

There was also a Cork connection with the race in that local runner Lizzie Lee of Leevale AC was also taking part. Lizzie has won many of the local races and finished in a very credible 35th position in what you can imagine at this level is a very competitive field.

Photographs...
Lizzies dad, Gearoid O'Laoi was also on hand with his camera and has put together a very large gallery.

His photographs of the European Cross Country Championships can be seen HERE

Links....
There is a race report on the AAI website HERE

The results of all of the races can be seen from this page HERE