On Saturday our athletes travelled to Gowran in Co. Kilkenny to take part in the Leinster Cross Country. There was huge disappointment for Grace Kelly who travelled up with her Dad Martin, Mum and sister and was ready to race. The race was called ten minutes before the official start time of the championships and she missed the start.

Roisin O'Reilly and Ciara Dolan competed in the combined under 18 and junior race. Ciara ran well, with two days of hill walking in her legs and ran a steady race finishing 34th in the under 18 and 31st in the junior race.

Roisin was competing in her first cross country race of the season. She had a steady start keeping in contact with the leading bunch for the first of the 2km laps. The going was soft with a few very wet muddy patches, throwing runners off their stride. She worked her way to second place going into the final lap with Holly Brennan of Co Meath tracking her stride for stride. The first girl, a junior athlete, got away and Roisin and Holly battled hard to close the gap. With 500m to go Holly got a few strides ahead of Roisin, with Roisin finishing third in the junior category and 2nd in the under 18 category. A good solid opening race for Roisin

Morgan Haydon found the sloppy ground difficult to navigate with his neat stride. He toughed it out getting stuck into the middle of the race pack and improving his position through the race. He finished an excellent 29th, a very credible placing considering he only started cross country running last year.

Catherine O'Connor put in a fine performance in the novice race and finished in 64th place in a very competitive race.

Bank Holiday weekend in October means Dublin City Marathon time. The club had two members taking on the 26.2 mile challenge. Brendan Broderick after running Dingle marathon recently today ran 4.45 and Enda O'Sullivan who loves a Half Marathon today doubled the distance coming home with a 5.10. Well done gents and enjoy the celebrations.