Peter Matthews of Dundrum South Dublin defied horrendous conditions to defend his men’s title successfully at the British and Irish Masters’ International Cross-Country in Bellahouston Park, Glasgow.
In his heyday as a senior athlete, Mathews was renowned for his toughness in bad conditions, but even he must have found the rain, mud and gusting winds of Glasgow difficult.
On the slippery, hilly 4km lap (the same lap John Treacy ran on his way to the world title in 1978) , Matthews, M40, who had become Ireland’s first ever winner of this race last year in Santry, timed his effort to perfection. He let 47-year old Austin Davies M45 make the early running before cutting loose on the second lap and finishing with half a minute to spare.
In a repeat of the Santry race, the same three took the top places this year, with Davies second for Wales and Ireland’s Ciaran Doherty M35 eleven seconds behind Davies third. David Morwood of Northern Ireland, a previous Irish masters champion, was a close fourth.
In a repeat of the Santry race, the same three took the top places this year, with Davies second for Wales and Ireland’s Ciaran Doherty M35 eleven seconds behind Davies third. David Morwood of Northern Ireland, a previous Irish masters champion, was a close fourth.
Finishing third in their age groups were Mick Traynor M45 and Martin McEvilly M60. The M35 team maintained their winning streak in this category, which was noticeably more competitive this time round.
In the 6km race for the older men’s classes , Frank Reilly was second M65 and Martin McEvilly third M60 behind the great Mike Hager of England – still going strong after two decades of masters athletics.
In a great performance by the Irish teams, the M60 won their class, while the M45s and M50s took silver and the M40s and M65s bronze.
England’s Claire Martin successfully defended her overall women’s title with Carmel Parnell, retaining her W55 title from Santry. This was a sixth win for Parnell, who is now just two off Northern Irish athlete Karen Marshall’s record of eight victories.
Previous champion Niamh O’Sullivan was third W45, while Kathleen O’Brien was third W65. The W40, 50,55, 60 and 65 teams all took silver with the W45 team taking bronze.
British and Irish Masters’ Cross-Country International, Bellahouston Park, Glasgow, Scotland.
W35: 1 Claire Martin (Eng) 21.42; 2 Lesley Chisholm (Sco) 22.02; 3 Cathy McCourt (N Irl) 22.10. Irish – 8 Maria Carey 22.44; 9 Jean Wilson 22.45; 14 Liz Cuskelly 25.52; 16 Catherine Brogan. Teams – England 12, Scotland 13, N Ireland 28; 4 Ireland 31.
W40: 1 Caroline Metmead (Sc0) 21.54; 2 Phillipa Taylor (Eng) 22.14; 3 Bev Jenkins (Eng) 22.24. Irish – 5 Donna Mahon 23.26; 10 Anne Curley 24.33; 11 Mairead Murphy 24.35; 14 Fionuala Desmond 25.28. Teams – England 6;, 2 Ireland 26,3 N Ireland 29.
W45: 1 Melissa Whyte (Sco) 22.03; 2 Sue Samme (Eng) 22.19; 3 Niamh O’Sullivan (Ire) 22.22. Other Irish – 12 Geraldine Brannagh 25.29; 13 Anne More 25.29; 16 Orla Gormley 26.17. Teams – 1 England 12; 2 Scotland 13, 3 Ireland 28.
W50: 1 Fiona Matheson (Sco) 22.09; 2 Jane Clarke (Eng) 23.08; 3 Sue Becconsall (Eng) 23.31. Irish – 6 Anne Sullivan 24.43; 8 Mary Sweeney 25.42; 9 Sheelagh Jones 25.49; dns Anne Donnelly. Teams – 1 England 9, 2 Ireland 23, 3 Scotland 24.
W55: 1 Carmell Parnell (Ire) 23.59; 2 Gail Duckworth (Eng) 24.31; 3 Sue Ogilvie (Eng) 26.02. Other Irish – 6 Mary Jennings 27.01; 11 Carmel MacDomhnaill 28.07; 15 Una Reilly 29.43. Teams – 1 England 9, 2 Ireland 18, 3 Scotland 24.
W60: 1 Angela Copson (Eng) 25.46; 2 Lou Lyness (Eng) 27.37; 3 Margaret Moody (Eng) 27.42. Irish – 5 Joan Coyle 28.40; 8 Roisin Lynch 28.50; 12 Eileen O’Brien 32.22; 14 June Comiskey 33.09. Teams – 1 England 6, 2 Ireland 25, 3 Wales 26.
W65: 1 Dot Fellowes (Eng) 28.02; 2 Betty Gilchrist (Sco) 30.32; 3 Kathleen O’Brien (Ire) 31.05. Other Irish – 6 Pam Benson 32.16; 7 Ann Woodlock 33.48; 10 Maureen Fitzgerald 34.48. Teams – 1 England 14, 2 Ireland 16, 3 Scotland 18.
M35: 1 Ciaran Doherty (Ire) 25.45; 2 Jamie Reid (Sco) 26.05; 3 Alex Gibbons (Eng) 26.18. Irish – 5 Pat Byrne 26.25; 10 Paul Fleming 26.51; 14 Peter O’Sulivan 27.05; 14 Catch Grennan 27.10; 15 James Cloney 27.12. Teams – 1 Ireland 29. 2 Scotlan 30, 3 England 32.
M40: 1 Peter Matthews (Ire) 24.54; 2 David Morwood (N Ire) 25.50; 3 Stephen Duncan (N Ire)26.03. Other Irish – 10 Noel Marum 27.36; 11 Declan Power 27.39; 14 Frank Hayes 27.44; 16 Paul Blaney 27.50; 17 Kieran Carlin 27.53. Teams – 1 England 26, 2 N Ireland 29, 3 Ireland 36.
M45: 1 Austin Davies (Wal) 25.24; 2 Paul Ward (Eng) 26.08; 3 Mick Traynor (Ire) 26.29. Other Irish – 7 Damien Martin 27.41; 8 Paul Cowhie 27.58; 9 Sean Caulfield 28.58; 10 Martin Corcoran 28.03; 13 Aengus Burke 28.29. Teams – 1 England 17, 2 Ireland 27, 3 N Ireland 56.
M50: 1 Robert Atkinson (Eng) 27.12; 2 Graeme Saker (Eng) 27.17; 3 Neil Thin (Sco) 27.18. Irish – 4 Tommy Payne 27.50; 8 Dominic Bonner 28.15; 11 Patrick O’Grady 28.53; 12 Gerard Maloney 28.57; 13 Martin McDonald 28.57; 21 Jim Stafford 29.47. Teams – 1 England 17, 2 Ireland 35, 3 Scotland 43.
M55: 1 David Butler (Eng) 28.15; 2 Greg Wilson (Eng) 28.24; 3 Brian Gardner (Sco ) 28.39. Irish – 13 Pat Muldoon 30.59; 15 Eddie Walsh 31.32; 16 Mike Mac Domhnaill 31.38; 10 Matt Alexander 32.06. Teams – 1 England 7, 2 Scotland 14, 3 N Ireland 36…5 Ireland 44.
M60: 1 Mike Hager (Eng) 27.53; 2 Andy McLindon (Sco) 29.31; 3 Martin McEvilly (Ire) 29.55. Other Irish – 4 Pat O’Shea 30.39; 5 JJ Murphy 31.14; 10 Jim Gaughan 32.50. Teams – 1 Ireland 12, 2 England 18, 3 Wales 24.
M65: 1 Malcolm Reynard (Eng) 2354; 2 Frank Reilly (Ire) 24.28; 3 George Mitchell (Sco) 24.37. Other Irish – 1 Pat Bonass 26.44; 13 Pat Healy 27.02; dns Sean McMullin. Teams – 1 England 10, 2 Scotland 25, 3 Ireland 26.
M70: 1 Peter Covey (Eng) 26.42; 2 Terry O’Gara (Eng) 26.54; 3 Brian Gough (Wal) 27.18. Irish – 15 Terry O’Keeffe 33.45; 16 Mike Duggan34.13; dns Jim McNamara. Teams – 1 England 7, 2 Wales 17, Scotland 25.
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