Liffey Valley Athletic Club

Success for Women and Men at Leinster Intermediate XC
Sunday, 9 November, 2014

Adamstown, Co. Wexford

Two weeks after our team’s success at the Leinster Novice and Masters Cross Country Championships our men’s team won gold at the Leinster Intermediate with the women’s taking the silver medals.

The rolling fields of Adamstown in Wexford was the location again for these championships and despite some heavy overnight rain the underfoot conditions were relatively good.

The siting of the start for these races means runners face a slightly uphill run for the first 200 metres before moving into a figure eight type course with a number of testing inclines.

The women’s 4k race saw Sile Carroll lead the team as she contested fourth place over the first 2.5k. Siobhan Keenehan and Aileen Gittens were close at hand and Aileen began to move up to challenge for a position in the top six.

Aileen’s measured run saw her mover up to 5th. with Sile holding on to 10th. ahead of Siobhan who finished 13th. Eimear Nic An Bhaird ran her usually gritty run to complete the scoring in 28th.Annie Gittens had a fine run for someone in their first season over the country with Linda Spratt and Christine Roche ran their usual competitive races chasing every position possible.

All of which resulted in the team finishing in second place whilst Aileen scored on the Dublin winning team with Sile leading the Kilkenny team into the bronze medal position.

Damian, Peter and Chris got involved from the start and encountered a squally shower on the second circuit of the 8k race.Gavin and Paul Balfe were contesting the fourth scoring place and Arnoud and Matt were battling away.

Damian got involved in the battle for the bronze medal for a while but up front Portlaoise man Harry Lupton was running away from the field. The team contest was very tight as Donore, Sli Cualainn and Liffey Valley were seeking to secure victory. Damian chased home two Donore men and a Sli Cualainn man for 7th spot with Peter hanging on for 8th and scoring vital points as he stayed ahead of our nearest rivals scorers. Chris was 12th. and Gavin held on to the fourth scoring place ahead of Paul.

Liffey Valley’s 44 points was seven ahead of Sli Cualainn with Donore two points further back. Damain, Peter and Chris also got county medals on the victorious Dublin team.