It was a bright and crisp start to a Sunday morning in Bushy park where some ladies from Rathfarnham WSAF AC embarked on a new venture for the club; the Ladies Meet and Train XC races. These are short, 2 mile cross country races, aimed at novice ladies including those new to cross country races. They are friendly events which are both individual and team races with tea + biscuits and spot prizes at the end. Six enthusiastic ladies from Rathfarnham arrived and proceeded to get warmed up around the course, quite a confusing one at that, making the usual laps of Bushy seem quite a distant memory! There was a sizeable crowd of competitors at the start, all lined up in club colours and eager to get the new year off to a good start. The hooter went and a stampede of over a hundred ladies proceeded along the course. Therese had an eye on the leaders and was up in 5th place after the first 1km with Aisling close behind and Katherine looking comfortable, so much so that she thanked me (during the race) for my support which followed by advice from me for her to run harder and stop talking! Doireann and Kathleen were battling head to head a little further back and Naomi following looking focussed. After plenty more twists and turns around the rather muddy trails of Bushy park, the end was in site, with all showing strong form in the finish. Therese maintained a good pace to finish in an impressive 10th in 13.29, Aisling picked her way up the field during the second mile to finish 12th in 13.35, Katherine remained ever steady to come home 25th in 13.54, Doireann battled hard in the second mile to finish 35th in 14.06, Kathleen 50th in 14.32 and Naomi 82nd in 15.25 in a field of 140 runners. Team results to follow. Well done to all, a super start to the new year. There's great potential for this team of ladies. For anyone else interested, the next race is on February 15th.
Clare Sullivan, Ladies Captain.
L-R: Therese Hanly, Naomi Gilker, Katherine Howard, Kathleen Curran, Doireann Hester & Aisling O'Connor.