Dublin Intermediate CC 2016

Race reports by Catherine Mulleady and Conor McCarthy

Photos by Eoin O’Brien – Full Gallery: Click here

Full Results Below

Womens 5k Report By Catherine Mulleady

Race reporter Catherine

On Sunday last a group of Sportsworld athletes made the short journey to Tymon Park for the Dublin Intermediate Cross Country Championships. A new course was marked out for the occasion which made a nice change from the old, soul destroying course.
There were some tired bodies on the start line having only landed in Dublin the previous night from the Lanzarote Running Challenge but that had to be put to one side for 20 minutes or so.

[ezcol_1half][/ezcol_1half] [ezcol_1half_end][/ezcol_1half_end]

The women had to negotiate a 5km course which consisted of one small lap and two big laps.

[ezcol_1half][/ezcol_1half] [ezcol_1half_end][/ezcol_1half_end]

It was a small field with only 40 ladies lining up for the race. The race started fast as always but settled down after a few hundred meters.
Sinead went out with the early leader and had a fantastic race to take 2nd place. Catherine B wasn’t far behind and held off the rest of the field to finish in bronze medal position. Noreen put in a great race on tired legs to come in fourth and Maria had a stormer to finish in 12th position.

Myself, Margaret and Patricia worked together to finish in close succession.

[ezcol_1half][/ezcol_1half] [ezcol_1half_end][/ezcol_1half_end]

With 3 of our 4 scorers in the top 10, it was no surprise that our ladies team took the top spot and brought home the gold medal. Roll on the Nationals!!!!!!

Mens 8k Race by Conor McCarthy

Race reporter Conor

The Dublin Intermediate Cross Country Championship took place on a very mild and calm last Sunday afternoon in Tymon Park.  An early lap with Karl Chatterton to suss out the course put me at ease and assured me that the ground was going to be firmer than usual. It had not rained all week apparently and therefore the racing conditions were to be comparatively favourable to the all-too-frequent cross-country course terrain of mud, marsh and bog! “Thank God for that”, I thought to myself, having raced four times already that week in Lanzarote (as did Margaret, Catherine Mul, Patricia, Noreen, Will & Conor Keating – kudos to all) and was pleased to take any favourable running conditions which came my way. The warm-up felt good and I thanked myself for having fresh-ish legs as a result of omitting myself from the 4x400m relay in Lanzarote the previous Friday…..BOOM! 😀 Sorry, Myles.

[ezcol_1half][/ezcol_1half] [ezcol_1half_end][/ezcol_1half_end]

If one needed inspiration for the men’s race whilst doing our pre-race laps and strides, one glance over at the ladies race saw Sinead Tangney and the rest of the team bossing their field and claiming yet another gold medal victory for the club, The girls have been going very well lately and certainly have good momentum going into the big one this Sunday. Fair play and good luck to them.

Once the ladies race finished, the 59 men were busy finalising their warm-up routine and lined up awaiting the familiar sound of gun-fire to signal the start of the race. I set into the race with the mindset of getting out of the traps quickly, sit in behind a familiar jersey or two and settle into a steady rhythm for the 8 kilometres which were to come.

[ezcol_1half][/ezcol_1half] [ezcol_1half_end][/ezcol_1half_end]

Up, down, back, around, over and across the sports fields of Tymon…the familiar groove and the ebb and flow of a cross-country race began to unfold. Throughout the race your sensory awareness picks up on fellow runners dropping back, surging forward and pushing on in the race and this one was no different. The vociferous support from Sportsworld folk was fantastic throughout the race and in particular, it was personally very much appreciated when there was only approximately 300m to go.

[ezcol_1half][/ezcol_1half] [ezcol_1half_end][/ezcol_1half_end]

Generally at this point in cross-country, the race can be very much in the melting pot and the intensity increased a notch as it became apparent that Rathfarnam were in the mix for a gold medal. My team-mate from a few days previous, Paul Fleming, implored his club-mate – my familiar foe – Aaron Browne – to push on and overtake me as our race reached its conclusion. We both took the last downhill downhill adjacent to the GAA field with some vigour, perhaps a little too much so, and I felt I might have the edge on him today. Alas, it was not to be.

I recall from the Dublin Senior that this guy has a serious final burst of speed over 200m or so and he turned it on again today, giving his all for his club. Fair play. Rathfarnam did take the team gold. I gave it everything I could to catch him but it was in vain as he claimed 16th and I settled for 17th in a time of 28.07. The support from the sidelines really helped spur me on to give it all over those last few yards. Frustrated to have been beaten, I was happy enough with my days work considering it was my fifth race in eight days.

[ezcol_1half][/ezcol_1half] [ezcol_1half_end][/ezcol_1half_end]

Throughout the race, I was conscious that Kevin (who was making a welcome return to the fold) and Stephen O’Donnell were not a significant distance behind me and it;s good for the team that everyone is driving each other onwards. Kevin finished in a time of 28.29, Stephen in 28.40 and Karl took the fourth spot in 28.53. Sadanand was just a second behind Karl and it bodes well for the team going into the National Novice this Sunday – a race which promises to be fast and furious. Bring it on!

Conor McGuiness (Clonliffe), Rossa Hurley (Donore) and Shane O’Neill (Rathfarnam) took 1st, 2nd and 3rd places in this race.

Sportsworld Results

Womens 5k Race

2nd Sinead Tangney
3rd Catherine Bambrick
4th Noreen Brouder
12th Maria Jones
23rd Catherine Mulleady
27th Margaret Crowley
29th Patricia Fitzmaurice

Team Results
1st Sportsworld A.C. 21
2nd Clonliffe Harriers 53
3rd Donore Harriers A.C. 54

Mens 8k Race

17th Conor McCarthy
24th Kevin Curran
25th Stephen O’Donnell
28th Karl Chatterton
29th Sadanand Magee
41st Will GreenSmith
47th Conor Keating
49th Diarmuid O’Sulleabhain
57th Brian Conway
59th Mark Heffernan

Team Results
1st Rathfarnham WSAF 33
2nd Donore Harriers 40
3rd Clonliffe Harriers 44
7th Sportsworld A.C.95