THE IRISH TIMES/IRISH SPORTS COUNCIL SPORTSWOMAN AWARDS: December: Fionnuala Britton (Athletics):WHILE MOST mere mortals gently ease their way in to a new year, usually recovering from the Christmas period in or around March, our athletes, fortunately, tend to be a bit quicker off the mark.

None more so than Fionnuala Britton who got her 2011 off to an impressive start by knocking 16 seconds off the course record in the Tom Brennan Memorial 5k race in the Phoenix Park. And that was on New Year’s Day.

It was, then, a bright opening to the year for the Wicklow runner, who won her first monthly award with us back in 2006 when she finished second in the under-23 race at the European Cross Country Championships in Italy – beaten narrowly by a runner, Binnaz Uslu, who later tested positive for a banned substance.

It was in the senior race in that event last month in the Algarve she came agonisingly close to winning another medal, Britton finishing fourth, but given the same time as the runner in third, Dulce Felix of Portugal. Second in the race, which was won by Jessica Augusto, was Uslu, just back from serving her two-year ban.

Frustrating as the outcome was, it was a hugely encouraging performance from Britton, who suffered a loss of form and confidence after her early successes – among them the 2007 World Championships in Kenya where, in stifling conditions, she was the second highest European finisher in the race (14th).

While it didn’t make up for her disappointment in just missing out on a medal in Portugal, Britton was further heartened by her run a week later at an IAAF Cross Cup event in Belgium where she came second, just two seconds behind the winner (Kenya’s Caroline Chepkwony), beating two of the women who finished ahead of her in the Europeans – Augusto and Felix.

“I know I should have won a medal out there but you always learn from those experiences,” she said. “I suppose it’s a bit sweet to get some measure of revenge but it still does not make up for last Sunday. I was even more determined today, I do feel a little better now and it’s a good end to the year for me.”

With her confidence restored, Britton is currently in South Africa for three weeks of high-altitude training along with Sligo’s Mary Cullen.

If Britton was unfortunate in Portugal, it was nothing compared to Cullen’s experience when she missed out on the race having broken her collarbone in a bicycle accident.

Britton’s chief target for now is the World Cross Country Championships in March. “The race is on in Spain and I like running there, so I want to be in the best shape possible. I think I will get that preparation in South Africa because there will be other top runners in the camp as well.”

After that difficult spell, then, Britton has displayed her resolve by rediscovering her form and competing at the very highest level again. And she has started 2011 as she means to go on.