The County Cross Country Masters was held today in Coolgreaney hosted by Croghan AC. The rain of recent days held off and the sun shined brightly, but nothing could have prepared us for the hilly, mucky, wet and very heavy going underfoot. The course itself was a 1.5km loop with the Ladies race 4K and the Mens race 6k in length.

First off at 12.00 noon was the Ladies 4Km race, Slaney Olympic had 12 ladies out of a total field of 27 tackle the course. First across the line was Jackie Carthy of Kilmore AC in 18.16, followed by Slaney Olympic’s Emily O Connor in 19.44 and Catherine Murphy in 20.01. Emily and Catherine won individual Silver and Bronze and together with Catherine Walsh won Team Gold. Also winning medals today was Mag Dunphy 0/50 and Annis Kehoe 0/60.

Immediately after the ladies the men took to the start line and Slaney Olympic had a team consisting of 12 out of the 45 starters. The Men’s race consisted of 4 laps with St Killians Niall Sheil the overall winner in 23.58. Farmer Monaghan was first home for Slaney in 25.40 and also 0/40. The Men’s team won Team Silver together with David Kehoe winning 0/45 and Lar Doyle 0/60 categories.

Again, many thanks to all the runners who turned up today to race for their club, for some it was their first adventure in cross country racing. To all the supporters who stood in the right places and offered advice and encouragement, to Matt Murphy for the great photos and to the tea ladies, we couldn’t do it without you all.