What a glorious day for a run, and what a glorious place to be running. Barnetts Pk is just a hop, skip and a jump from the Mary Peters track. Now the coaches at Newry A.C. hold the view that xc racing isn't altogether the best form of competition for young athletes, but at this time of year it has a value for some and is also useful as a training tool. With this in mind we took 7 athletes to the first xc of the season. First up in the P.6 race and competing for the first time was Katie O'Hare. This was a debut performance over a very tough 650 mt course full of determination and grit. Katie is a very quiet girl but is totally committed to her athletics and in the fullness of time will blossom into a very fine athlete. Boys and girls mixed in the P.7 race and had 2 laps of the course to complete. Lucy Quinn's speed took her past team mate Charlotte Rea and another competitor in the dash to the line and into a great 3rd place. Lucy really has the fire to win and this is something that cant be coached, the message is "dont take Lucy to the line, she'll beat you or bite you". Charlotte finished just behind in 5th and will improve for the run. Aodhan O'Brien ghosted into 6th place and Luc Hanna continued his improvement in 9th. Although Gary Crummy could easily have lined up in the P.5 race without raising an eyebrow his birth cert said he had to go in the year 8 group! Gary is an enigma, he has a massive stride length for someone so small, and more importantly has a high cadence to go with it. This combination will prove devastating as Gary gets older and it took him to a fine 3rd place, indeed but for a bit of tactical naivete second place might have been on the cards. Aislinn Crossey was well annoyed when she discovered that she had to run 3 laps of the course for a total of 2000 mts. The course didn't have a flat bit on it and indeed had a hill that has no place in a juvenile xc course, but thats another story. The original plan was to pull Ais out after 2 laps to preserve her speed, but circumstances changed and the decision was taken to run the full distance although the race plan also changed and Ais went off with instructions to keep her powder dry until the last lap. Maria Kinkaid, now with Dromore A.C., set of at a blistering pace and this tactic exploded the field on the first ascent of the steep hill. Aislinn soon appeared in second place albeit a long way behind. On the second climb of heartbreak hill the gap closed a bit but opened again on the following downhill. Third and last time into the bottom of the hill and the task for Aislinn looked like a bridge too far.....now perhaps this was my pessimism, never having seen a gap like this closed on a top class athlete like Maria in the last 250 mts of a race, or perhaps my lack of understanding of the power and determination in Aislinn Crossey but OMIGOD what a spectacle we were treated to over that last 250!! If you weren't there you missed a special athlete doing a special thing! Ais has only been with us for 6 months and it is very much a novice..........but she's getting better! Thanks to the Quinn family and Pat O'Hare for transport and support. Off to Stamullen next Sunday for the Star of the Sea xc, details asap.
