National Intermediate Cross Country Championships

The long awaited (by some 🙂 ) National Cross Country Championships  in Kilcornan Estate, Clarinbridge, Co Galway was finally upon us.

The date of the Sunday 11th February has been on the club notice board for many months now. This race is the highlight  of the club running year for many people. All the training in Kiltipper Fields (Field of Screams), around the Magazine fort, Bushy Park and the build up races have been leading up to this event.

4 teams of more than 45 Sportsworld participants  (a record club entry) left Bushy Park at 9:30 sharp (didn’t it Kevin and Derek ?) on a cold beautiful blue skied morning on a coach to match the team colours.

There was good craic on the bus. There seemed to a be a nervous energy on the bus too because of the upcoming race. We had time to stop for a coffee break at Enfield .

Picture Liam Linehan and Kevin Curran  discussing tactics!!

As soon as we crossed the Shannon the clouds got darker and  then we got caught in a blizzard. This was like a foreboding of what was ahead of us

The chatter on the bus got less and less as we reached Clarinbridge.

Some  people were regretting the coffee they had earlier as we got stuck in a traffic jam on the way into the estate.

We knew we had reached the big league when they were charging people in to see the main   events  

The gazebo was set up and our numbers were allocated. It was getting very real now. Where we set up the tent the ground was so muddy and wet… Luckily the sun had come out to alleviate the impending drama.

What would the course be like?The course had various laps  an inner lap of 1.0 km (the black one on the map) and an outer one of 2.5 km.

Looking at the course it seemed a very long undulating lap.

The route was badly cut up from the previous day’s wet weather, snow and the couple of hundred juveniles running their races. The surface was so muddy, wet, sticky, squelchy, pot holed (there are not enough adjectives to describe it) it looked like a scene from a World War one film

John Flaherty and I went for a short warm up around the perimeter of the lap. We cut it short to try and conserve our energy. It was so energy sapping…. And this was outside the lap 🙂 .We were in shock at the state of the course and wondering how we were going to get round.

First off was the Masters Women. All the Sportsworld participants did really well in the really difficult conditions. Congratulations to all

The Men’s Masters were up next at 2:00pm. There was a big group of Sportsworld runners  (approx 20)in this race (approx 250 runners total). Looking from the start line up at the long incline it looked liked a grand national horse race. This 7 km race consisted of one inner lap and three outer laps. The start gun sounded and we were off. The usual jockeying for positions commenced whilst also looking down at your feet to try and find a good running line….. there were none! It was very difficult to run or get a rhythm going as your feet were trying to avoid shin height mud and your neighbours spikes that were slipping towards you. It was unbelievable.. And no words could describe it. The first “short” lap felt like an eternity.

After a while the race settled down and we found our pace (snails). The long incline up by the woods was very sticky followed by  a short level section, a short decline and then a nasty dog leg up hill to the crest of the hill again. Then a long decline (all mud)i a few short bends in the lowest and wettest soggiest part of the lap before starting up again. There was no solid ground anywhere to get a run going …. Believe me i tried all possibilities on the route.

A lot of things were going through my mind  like “what am i doing in here in the middle of a freezing cold quagmire on a Sunday afternoon in East Galway  when I could be having a latte in Dublin looking at the world going by” Some of the other participants must have thought similar thoughts and just stopped mid track and pulled off to the side. It was quite noticeable the amount of people who didn’t complete the race.

One of the things that was brilliant and gave me and the other participants great encouragement to go on and on was the  amount of enthusiastic support from the other Sportsworld runners, Myles and Emily,  and the vocal Sportsworld supporters (injured runners, well meaning people, partners etc ) who came to Galway to stand on the freezing sidelines to support the team. It was fantastic .

Joe Byrne and I had a good tussle during the race and we eventually crossed the line within seconds of each other. The finish line was the best thing about the race, I was so relieved to cross it. It seemed to take forever to reach it. It was the hardest race I ever ‘ran’ on  a course that no words could do it justice  

Next up was the Intermediate Women’s team. They had a great race. See results above.

Finally there was the Intermediate Men’s race an 8.0 km circuit. The course was even more cut up from the previous races. So much so, that Conor Keating lost one shoe in the race and ran in socks for the main part of the race. Congratulations to the 8 man team on finishing the last race of the day with dwindling freezing supporters.

After showering etc we returned to the coach, defrosted and headed for a great meal at the Shearwater Hotel in Ballinasloe where we well looked after by the staff. A few pints were taken on board too which went down very well. Everybody was in great form after the day. It was hard to leave to get back on the snowy bus. Again we had a good laugh on the bus. We eventually arrived back in Bushy Park at 9:30, wrecked but in good spirits. Some people continued the celebrations into the night in Terenure… no details to hand 🙂

All in all it was a great day for the club and it’s members