British and Irish Cross Country International
An outstanding run by Longford’s Fiona Gettings on Saturday last saw her win the Women’s race at the British and Irish Cross Country International.
Fiona led home the entire Masters ladies’ field of 114 athletes in Belfast with runners representing Ireland, Northern Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales. The recent dry spell meant for good ground conditions at the Billy Neill Country Park venue which allowed for fast running and played right into the hands of the in-form Fiona.
Despite a course of twists and turns as well as testing inclines that cross-country brings, Fiona completed the 6000 metres in a brisk 22:07. This was some five seconds clear of Letterkenny athlete Claire McGuigan with Kate Rennie of England placing third. A strong final lap proved crucial in ensuring the victory after a closely contested race at the front involving the Irish duo.
Gold medal success certainly made up for consecutive fourth place finishes by Fiona in the F40 category in the previous two years of the event. Winning the race outright, finishing ahead of the F35 athletes too in the process, made it all the more impressive an achievement.
Fiona and Claire, along with Kate Purcell (Raheny Shamrock AC) and Helen McCready (Rosses AC), combined to convincingly win gold for Team Ireland in the F40 category and defend the title won at last year’s race in Glasgow.
A great end to the year for Fiona in the Irish singlet having also enjoyed master’s cross-country successes in 2024 with a gold medal won in Poland at March’s European Championships and a bronze at August’s World Championships in Sweden.
Juvenile Even Age Cross Country Championships
It was a big weekend of cross-country action as the Castle Irvine Estate in Fermanagh hosted the National Championships on Sunday. Four young Longford Athletics Club members were among the almost one thousand juvenile athletes from across the island competing.
Taking inspiration from Fiona’s exploits the day before; Ella Finnegan, Jessica Neary, Julie Taitt and Rian McCaffrey all recorded excellent placings with each in the top-half of finishers in their respective races. Having qualified for the event from last month’s regional qualifier, there were strong performances by the quartet with the competition at National level being of a high standard.
