County Tipperary Athletic News by Niall O Sullivan County Senior PRO

Abbottstown was the venue for the National Intermediate and Masters Cross Country Championships last Sunday. Due to the very bad weather in recent weeks, the distances for the races were shortened. The intermediate women and men over 65 competed over a distance of 3,000m, which consisted of three laps of a 1km loop, reduced from the original 1,500m loop. The Masters men over 35 event was reduced to 6,000m, requiring six laps. Despite these changes, it was encouraging to see excellent participation across all the adult races.

While most races benefited from good, sunny weather, the underfoot conditions were sticky and soft. This challenging terrain deteriorated further as the event programme continued, making it increasingly difficult for athletes to maintain their pace.

In the Master women’s race Catherine Fogarty of Dundrum AC led the County team, finishing 35^th in 14:08. Carol Molloy from Fethard AC also performed well, securing 40^th place with a time of 14:24. Karen Coughlan from Dundrum AC was next for the county, finishing 46^th in 14:28. Sarah Whelan of Clonmel AC was the fourth scorer for the County team, finishing 60^th in 14:49. Other notable performances included Lisa Quinlan of Moyne AC in 71^st (14:58), Jessica Kennedy of Fethard AC in 76^th (15:06), Patricia Ryan of Dundrum AC in 86^th (15:19) and Sareen Walsh of Clonmel AC in 87^th (15:22). Here the County team was 5^th.

The race also included the Master Men over 65. Myles McHugh of Clonmel AC delivered an outstanding performance in the over 80 event, winning the silver medal.

The Masters Men over 35 event was highly competitive. Sergiu Ciobanu of Clonliffe Harriers ran a brilliant race, finishing 5^th overall in 22:30 and securing the National over 40 silver medal. Emmet McNamara of Fethard AC also ran very well when finishing 9^th (23.14) and in the process won the National over 35 bronze medal. Stuart Moloney from Mooreabbey Milers finished 14^th overall in 23:40 and won the National over 45 bronze medal. Then we had Fintan Rice Fethard AC also running a brilliant race when winning the National over 60 silver medal in 26.15.

Kevin Moore of Mullingar Harriers placed 23^rd in 24 minutes, and Dermot Gorman of Carrick on Suir finished 24^th in 24:06. Eugene O’Keeffe of Carrick on Suir finished 76^th in 26:25. James Maher of Fethard AC came 108^th in 27:39, Tom Blackburn of Mooreabbey Milers was 123^rd in 28:08, Patrick Roche of Carrick on Suir placed 129^th in 28:17, Trevor Whelan from Clonmel AC finished 155^th in 29:39, John Renehan of Moyne AC was 158^th in 29:51 and Willie O’Donoghue from Mooreabbey Milers ended 174^th in 30:25. Michael Moore of Dundrum AC completed the race in 190^th position with a time of 31:22.

The County over 35 team of Sergiu Ciobanu, Emmet McNamara, Stuart Moloney, Kevin Moore, Dermot Gorman and James Maher combined very well to win the National bronze medals. The over 50 County team of Fintan Rice, Eugene O Keeffe, Tom Blackburn, John Renehan, Willie o Donoghue and Michael Moore were 5^th.