Well done to all the club teams who ran in very mucky conditions in the National Masters and Intermediate Cross Country championships in Dunboyne yesterday. Maria Dolan was first home from the club in the Masters Women's 4k race, finishing 23rd in the field of 108 athletes in a time of 17.16. She was followed by teammates Vanessa Sallier (26th in 17.39), Zoe Melling (68th in 19.57) and Laura Flynn (77th in 20.36). The team finished in 9th place. On the same course Peter McDermott was 3rd in the O/65 men’s race in a time of 18.30, scoring bronze in his age category. Next up was the Masters Men 7k, in which a record field of 239 runners competed. Barry Minnock was 9th overall and 3rd O/35 in a time of 25.04, followed by Shane O’Neill (12th in 25.19), Paul Fleming (13th in 25.20), Gerry Doyle (33rd and 1st O/50 in 26.15), Ronan Kearns (42nd in 26.27), Tommy Bishop (135th in 29.07), Sean Doyle (147th in 29.34) and Eoin Murray (212th in 32.53). Barry, Shane, Paul and Ronan scored silver on the M35 team and the M50 team of Gerry, Tommy, Sean and Eoin won gold. In the 5k Intermediate Women’s race Clare Sullivan finished 19th in the field of 62 in a time of 22.14, followed by Lorraine Nolan (26th in 22.46), Maura Kearns (32nd in 23.04), Ciara Hassett (34th in 23.08) and Aisling O’Connor (56th in 25.12). The team finished in 6th place. Last race of the day was the Intermediate Men's 8k. Matthew Horrigan (who had an extra long warm-up earlier after running to collect the club race numbers from a community hall a couple of kilometres down the road) had a great race, finishing 6th in a competitive field of 79 athletes in 28.53, and leading his teammates Eoghain McGuinley (11th in 29.28), David Scanlon (15th in 29.43), David Power (18th in 30.03), Gerald Forde (21st in 30.35), Ciaran Aylward (34th in 31.29), Peter Toomey (48th in 32.50) and David Danagher (55th in 33.48) home to team bronze. Well done to all. Full results are on the AAI website and photos are in the gallery.
Masters Women's team: Maria Dolan, Laura Flynn, Zoe Melling and Vanessa Sallier
Masters Men M40 team: Shane O'Neill, Paul Fleming, Barry Minnock and Ronan Kearns
Intermediate Women's team: Clare Sullivan, Ciara Hassett, Lorraine Nolan, Maura Kearns and Aisling O'Connor
Intermediate Men's team: Gerald Forde, Matthew Horrigan, Eoghain McGuinley, Ciaran Aylward, David Scanlon, David Power, David Danagher and Peter Toomey