THERE is nothing to concentrate an athlete’s mind better than the prospect of an important fixture being just a week away.
With the National Cross Country Championships scheduled for County Fermanagh next weekend, and selection for the Europeans also at stake, there was a flurry of competitive action from the contenders both here and across the channel over the weekend.
Nick Griggs has collected no less than five medals at the European Cross Country in the past three years. All of those were in the U20 race but this year he faces a new challenge as he moves up to the U23 age group.
And the Newmills athlete showed he has not wasted his autumn, some of which was spent training at altitude in the French Pyrenees, with a new fastest time of 13 minutes and 44 seconds at the Victoria Park parkrun in east Belfast.
Behind him in second place, Finn McNally also warmed up to assist North Belfast Harriers in their quest next Sunday for the senior men’s team title after a near miss last year.
That was when the Stags lost out to Kilkenny City Harriers by a single point after a “VAR” review of the finish footage when it looked like North had taken the team title on countback for the first time in 100 years.
Across in Lancashire, another North Belfast Harrier was in fine form, with Andrew Milligan recording a time of 14:13 in 21st place at the Podium 5K in Burnley.
Just ahead of him, Irish 1500m Olympian Andrew Coscoran returned a time of 14:07 in 17th in a race won by Belgium’s Robin Hendrix in 13:36.
Other Ulster runners included JP Williamson (14:50/63rd), Mark Carberry (14:51/67th) and Darragh Crossan (15:34/120th).
Efrem Gidey marked himself down as the favourite to take the senior title in Irvinestown with an excellent sixth place behind five Africans at the 2024 Cardiff Cross Country Challenge.
The 24-year-old Clonliffe Harrier was in the leading group for most of the 9.6km event, losing out only in the final kilometre as Uganda’s Keneth Kiprop pulled away with Kenya’s Vincent Mutai to secure his second consecutive victory in the race.
Two weeks earlier, Gidey had finished eighth, again behind a posse of Africans, at the renowned Atapuerca cross country in northern Spain. Good form suggesting he will be the man to beat at the Nationals. Portlaoise’s Mary Mulhare was 30th in the women’s race.
It was a Foyle Valley one-two at the opening fixture of the Sperrin Harriers Winter League held at Davagh Forest outside Cookstown on Saturday.
Jamie Westerman was first man home in the 10km event with a time of 35 minutes and 15 seconds. Club-mate Gary McCay followed in second place 25 seconds in arrears, with North Belfast Harrier Eoin O’Connell third in 35:57.
City of Derry Spartan Ciara Toner was the first woman home in 39:10, followed by Jog Lisburn’s Karen Wilton (41:47) and Galbally’s Denise McCann (41:25).
Earlier, Queen’s were represented in Irish Universities’ Road Relay at Maynooth. Contested over mile legs of 1/2/3/2/1, the Belfast men’s combination finished fifth behind Dublin City University.
The split times were Conall Kirk (5:06), James Gracey (10:19), Callum Morgan (14:46), Paul Carty (10:35) and Ryan Miskelly (5:01).
The Queen’s women went one better, taking fourth spot behind UCD over legs of 1/2/2/1 recording times of Catriona Edington (5:21), Kirsti Foster (11:24), Hannah Gilliland (10:55) and Erinn Leavy (5:47).
