Mayo AC were proud to have three representatives selected on the Irish team competing in the 34rd Annual British & Irish International Masters Cross-Country which took place in Tollcross Park, Glasgow on Saturday morning (November 11)
It’s a very special weekend for teams of 80 men/women from England, Wales, Northern Ireland,
Scotland and Ireland.
The friendly rivalry that has existed for the last 33 years was resumed in Glasgow
Races were over three or four laps of a tough 2k course.
World masters medallist Pauline Moran, led the Irish F65 team and finished a brilliant first overall of 39 o65 women finishers in 25:48. She was almost 40 seconds ahead of second place. Pauline won individual gold and her Irish team won silver.
Scotland took team gold with 9 points (2,3 4) ahead of Ireland 16 points – 1,7 8.
She said afterwards “I felt good and just went for it”! Pauline is a great competitor and a proven winner whatever the terrain – cross-country, road or track.
In the same race, Mags Glavey finished sixth overall and 2nd F70, winning individual silver in 28.17. She was first of her Irish team home, leading them to gold with 12 points – Eileen Kenny was 3rd and Mary Lynch 7th!
She says ‘it was a challenging course, but perfect weather after a frosty sunny morning – I’m delighted with results’!
In the very competitive F40 category Norah Newcombe Pieterse finished 12th in 22:48.
She kept well up in the fast paced race and was happy to be part of the Irish gold medal winning F40 team – a well deserved reward for another great performance.
The three Mayo AC runners won 5 Medals in total: Pauline Moran F65 individual gold and team silver, Mags Glavey F70 individual silver and team gold, and Norah Newcombe Pieterse F40 team gold.
England won the overall title with a score of 72 points.
Last years winners Ireland came 2nd with 63 points ahead of Scotland's 62 points - the narrowest of margins.
However, Ireland’s women won the British & Irish women’s overall teams title. A great result which was underlined by the three excellent performances by Norah, Pauline and Mags.
Medals were presented at the traditional post race Banquet, which was held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel on the banks of the Clyde. The awards banquet is always a highlight of the international weekend.
Full results are on www.mayoac.com.
On Sunday morning Mayo AC’s Paul Brennan took on the challenge of the Athens Marathon - officially titled Athens Classic Marathon The Authentic.
The Kiltimagh runner who is in the M50 category prepared for Athens with an excellent PB in the National Half-marathon in Tullamore in August.
He finished there in 1:37.03 – more than four minutes improvement on his 1:41.45 in the River Moy half-marathon the previous May.
He reached halfway in Athens 1:59.03. But his pace dropped to over 6 minute kilometres in the hilly second half, and with the temperature rising, it became a tough task to complete the distance. Paul came home in 4:37.27. The marathon is not a 'fun run' on any day!
- Well done Paul!
