The unveiling of the new cross country course at the National Sports Campus in Abbotstown was eagerly waited today at Athletics Ireland’s Autumn open cross country race festival. The masters races also doubled as the trial for the British and Irish Masters cross country race.

First off for were the senior and masters women & M65+ men over 3 laps of 2k. 65+ women completed 2x2k laps. An undulating course which had churned up somewhat with a few days heavy rain faced the runners. First two home for the ladies were Karla Doran and Sinead Lambe. Karla and Sinead were close for a good deal of the race. In the end, just 9 seconds separated them with Karla in 37th (24.07) and 7th in the W35 category. Sinead was 39th in 24.16 and this is a great cross country comeback for her after missing a number of seasons due to injury. Karen Behan had a very impressive run in 66th (26.10). Barry Potts looks to have made the M65 team for Glasgow finishing 4th in this age-group and Terry Mee topped the M70 class booking his berth to Glasgow, as did Ann Woodlock in the W70 category.

In the men’s 8k race, first home for Donore was Eric Keogh in 20th (Lee Van Haeften unfortunately retired from the race). 7 of Donore’s master runners contested the race with M40 Niall Lynch in 75th (29.03), Philip Hennessey 91st, Ken Norgrove 93rd, masters captain Des Tremble 99th, Shane McAuley 121st in his first cross country outing and Ian O’Leary making a return after injury in 129th. Unfortunately on this occasion none of our runners in the 8k men’s race made the Irish B&I team qualification in what was a particularly competitive masters race.

At the award presentation there was a moving tribute to the late Jim McNamara. He competed in this race many times including in 2015 for the last time and he was arguably Ireland’s greatest ever masters athlete. The Irish Masters Athletics Association (IMAA) commissioned two trophies for the first master man and woman in today’s race. With the cooperation of Jim’s family, a pair of his spikes was crafted into two beautiful perpetual trophies. These were presented to Letterkenny AC’s AnneMarie McGlynn and to Slieve Gullion’s Paddy Hamilton by the IMAA and Jim’s younger brother Mick McNamara – Jim’s son James, daughter Andrea and some extended family were also present. Donore Harriers thanks the association especially Mick Fennell, Anne Gormley and Fionnuala Moore for bringing to fruition this wonderful tribute