North Belfast Harriers are one of four Ulster clubs who represent Ireland this weekend at the European Champion Clubs’ Cross Country Championships (ECCC) in the Algarve.
The meeting takes place near Quarteira on a tough grassland course containing a mixture of testing underfoot going and a steep climb on each lap.
The top two teams from each country across Europe will battle it out in U20 and senior races for both genders. There are nine Irish teams in action and five of those, Lagan Valley field sides in both U20 races, are from the northern province.
It is the second consecutive year that the north’s senior men’s team carry the standard for the country and the Stags will be hoping to improve upon the 18th place they achieved in 2024.
Whilst Athletics Ireland will make a contribution toward the expense, North could not undertake the costly trip without the generosity of Rosemount Homes. This allows the Stags to travel with a full complement of runners, plus two team managers, and a brand new set of bespoke uniforms.
“We are delighted to be able to renew our sponsorship with North Belfast Harriers following our previous association with the club back in 2022 when we sponsored the Rosemount Mile,” said Michael Lindsay, commercial director at Rosemount Homes.
“We admire the club’s commitment, not only to developing a wonderful community approach to health and well-being in North Belfast, but also nurturing and growing talent to compete at the European level. It’s a great credit to all involved at the club and we wish them every success in Portugal.”
North will be at full strength with Andrew Milligan, Finn McNally, Matthew Lavery and Conan McCaughey all fit and raring to go.
Milligan ran a personal best 10K of 29:13 on the road in Valencia earlier this month, while McNally was the first Irish man home in the race last year.
Lavery represented Ireland at European Cross in December and McCaughey is getting back to full fitness after being stricken down with the flu, as evidenced by his individual bronze medal at the recent provincial Masters’ championship.
The representation from Ulster clubs is unprecedented. In November, Candour was the first club from the north since 1955 to win the senior men’s national cross country title.
In contrast to a full strength North, only Conall McClean from the quartet who brought the trophy home from Fermanagh competes in the Algarve.
Letterkenny women qualified for the trip to the Algarve with a runner-up spot in the senior women’s race in the Nationals. The Donegal club will be at full strength and led by double national champion Ann-Marie McGlynn.
Lagan Valley in many ways take pride of place after winning the national titles in both U20 races in Irvinestown. The success is down to the hard work put into youth development by coach Jim McKeown and his team at the Mary Peters track.
Again Lagan Valley are also grateful for the support of sponsors, among others, Podium 4 Sport, Cedarmount Dental Practice, and Kenmare Stone Circle.
“This group of young men and women embody everything that’s good about Lagan Valley AC. They’ve put in an extraordinary shift and I’m confident they’ll make us all proud this weekend,” said McKeown.
“For Lagan Valley AC, this weekend represents not just a chance to compete, but to inspire the next generation coming up through the club pathway programme.
“This success also serves to highlight the strength of grassroots athletics here in Northern Ireland and the opportunities it can provide for young athletes to reach international heights.”
The ECCC Cross Country is one of the longest standing and most established cross country fixtures on the international calendar, even predating the SPAR European Cross Country Championships by more than three decades. The first edition of the ECCC Cross Country was held in Arlon, Belgium in 1962 - the venue for the first 13 editions of the championships.
It was only in 1982 when a women’s event was added to the ECCC Cross Country for the first time and the men’s and women’s competitions were held in different venues until 2005 when the championships became a combined event. Men’s and women’s U20 races were added to the programme in 2006 with a mixed relay the latest addition to the timetable in 2021.
Notable past individual winners have included many of the greats of European distance running such as Karel Lismont (1972, 1974, 1979), Carlos Lopes (1977, 1982, 1985), Francesco Panetta (1987-88) and Paulo Guerra (1995-97, 1999) and Sergey Lebid (2001) on the men’s side and Albertina Dias (1994-96), Carla Sacramento (1998, 2002) and Fernanda Ribeiro (2005) on the women’s side.
Spanish-club Playas de Castellon dominated proceedings last year by winning all five titles and their team is headed by last year’s winner Thierry Ndikumwenayo and former two-time winner Rodrigue Kwizera from Burundi who had to settle for third in 2024.
In the senior women’s race, Sporting Clube de Braga will be aiming for success on home soil. The standout name on their team is Mariana Machado who finished an excellent sixth at the European Cross at Antalya in December.
The ECCC Cross Country will be streamed live on the European Athletics website from 9.55am with English-language commentary courtesy of Eurovision Sport.
