Athletics National interclubs cross countryWith another reminder that her best years mightn't be behind her Catherina McKiernan yesterday won the National Interclubs cross country title, 11 years after her last success.
The Cavan athlete oozed class once more over the fast but demanding turf of Roscommon racecourse, winning comfortably from several younger athletes determined to make the title their own.
In the end though it was the 34-year-old McKiernan who showed how it should be done, pacing herself to absolute perfection and making her move to win the race when her opponents had run themselves to exhaustion in trying to get away from her.
At the finish then there was only one athlete on show with McKiernan striding out like the star of old, who had captured four World Cross Country championship silver medals between 1992 and 1995.
"This win compares very much with those world championship medals and it was a great thrill to do it with all my family present to see it" said a delighted McKiernan.
"It's particularly sweet after being away from running for so long but all the hard work I've been doing now for a year has paid dividends for me and I want to go on from here and do more in the future."
She completed the five-mile course 16 seconds clear of the in-form Marie McCambridge of Dundrum, having made her move in the second half of the race she eventually turned into a procession.
It was expected that Rosemary Ryan of Limerick, the champion of three years ago, would make it hot for McKiernan but she faded when the crunch came and could only manage third, 33 seconds behind the winner.
The race for the senior men's title turned out to be something similar, with Séamus Power of Clare collecting his fourth title with a courageous and determined display of front-running towards the end of the race.
After defending champion Martin McCarthy of Cork dropped out, Power put in a sensational penultimate circuit to draw right away from Dermot Donnelly of Annadale Striders, Belfast, to win by 22 seconds in 35 minutes, 22 seconds. A former champion, Peter Mathews of Dundrum, took third in 35:54.
Donnelly had been in front and looked strong when Power came up to his shoulder to make his move. "I sensed that he was weakening a little and decided to take my chance and I managed to get away" said the 32-year-old Power who is hoping to make it to the Athens Olympics for the marathon when he runs in London in April.
The first three, Power, Donnelly and Mathews have gained automatic selection on the Irish team for the world championships but there is every chance that Mark Keneally, Killian Lonergan and Vinny Mulvey, who finished in that order behind them, will complete the Irish team for Brussels next month.
Mark Christie of Mullingar was a class winner of the junior men's title from Andrew Ledwith of Fr Murphy's while Azmera Gebrezgi, the Eritrean-born runner who now resides in Dublin, showed great speed in the closing stages to take the junior women's crown from Linda Byrne of Dundrum.
Clonliffe Harriers secured the senior men's team title from champions Dundrum South Dublin, who had the consolation of winning both junior men's and women's titles.
Finn Valley won the senior women's title.
