Brady all set for European Cross Country Championships

Liam Brady will make his debut in the European Cross Country Championships in Velenje, Slovenia, this coming Sunday (December 11th) as part of a five man Irish team in the Junior Men's race over 6,070m. Liam's race starts at 10.24am Irish time. He becomes only the second athlete from Tullamore Harriers to take part in these championships, as he follows in the footsteps of Pauline Curley. The Coolderry man will be joined on the Irish team by Jake Byrne (Mullingar), Kevin Dooney (Raheny), Sean Tobin (Clonmel) and Ruairi Finnegan (Letterkenny). All five members of the team have competed at European or World Championships in the past but they will need all that experience as they battle for team medals with the likes of Russia, Spain, France, Portugal and Great Britain. Liam's coach, Robert Denmead, has been selected as one of the Irish team coaches and he says that Liam will be hoping for a good solid performance. The competition for medals will be fierce in the Junior Men's (U-20) race but Brady has always risen to the occasion in international races. A total of 33 nations have been entered to contest the six races for Men and Women at Junior, U-23 and Senior level. Fionnuala Britton (Wicklow) is expected to be Ireland's best hope of an individual medal following her fourth place finish in the senior women's race last year. The Championships are being shown on the red button on BBC at 12.30am and on RTE. The championships may also be streamed live on the internet, so check the European Athletics website for details and results. All in Tullamore Harriers wish Liam and the Irish team the best of luck. Clean sweep for Grennan There was another big turnout of 65 runners for the third and final leg of the Winter League last Thursday evening which was run over a distance of 3000 metres and incorporated both the tartan track and tarmac circuits. For the second year running, Catch Grennan made it a clean sweep of victories in the three leg series, when he led the whole way to come home a comfortable winner in a time of 9.33. Declan Fahey took second place in 9.43, just three seconds clear of Mark Serviss in third. Jason Donegan was the fastest Junior athlete on the night when finishing sixth in 10.09, just getting the better of his father, John who clocked 10.11. Pauline Curley was the first woman home and clocked 10.34. Catch Grennan took the overall Winter League title by virtue of three straight wins, with the consistent Mark Serviss taking second place. In the team competition, the winners were Team D captained by Sharon Daly with a total of 1612 points, well ahead of Team A captained by Andy O'Grady who finished with a total of 1312 points. Bernie Daly's Team B were third with 1212 points and Team C led by Michael finished in fourth place with 1060 points. Results 1 Catch Grennan 9.33; 2 Declan Fahey 9.43; 3 Mark Serviss 9.46; 4 Kevin Murphy (Guest) 9.48; 5 Michael Murphy 9.56; 6 Jason Donegan 10.09; 7 John Donegan 10.11; 8 John Harkin 10.22; 9 Brendan Abbott 10.27; 10 Harry Flynn 10.29; 11 Pauline Curley 10.34; 12 Barry Mooney 10.38; 13 Dave Gorry 10.41; 14 Conor Mooney 10.42; 15 Sean Donegan 10.50; 16 Ray Martin 10.55; 17 Ian O'Kelly 11.02; 18 James Mahon 11.06; 19 Dermot O'Carroll 11.08; 20 Liam Dunne 11.09; 21 Liam Byrne 11.10; 22 Ger Lynam 11.12; 23 Maurice Fitzgerald 11.13; 24 Glen Finlay 11.20; 25 Nicole Cuskelly 11.25; 26 Liz Cuskelly 11.35; 27 John Phelan 11.37; 29 John Monaghan 11.49; 30 Michelle Mullaney 11.52; 31 Philip Serviss 11.53; 32 Nick Devery 12.01; 33 Adrian Martin 12.03; 34 David Monaghan 12.08; 35 Leonard Owens 12.10; 36 Dean Claffey 12.12; 37 Tony McCormack 12.13; 38 Sinead Rigney 12.15; 39 Ivan Dunne 12.17; 40 Mary Bracken 12.33; 41 Kevin Bracken (Guest) 12.34; 42 Marcus Brady 12.37; 43 Shane Dunne 12.45; 44 Mary Daly 12.47; 45 John O'Connell 12.48; 46 Ger Keyes 12.51; 47 Nita McLoughlin 13.03; 48 Martina Conlon 13.07; 49 Peter Daly 13.28; 50 Rita Daly 13.31; 51 Una Mullen 13.31; 52 Mags Grennan 13.34; 53 Michael Carroll 13.40; 54 Ailish McDonald 13.47; 55 Bernie Daly 13.51; 56 Charlotte Abbott 14.19; 57 Damien Mangan 14.25; 58 Mary Casey 15.24; 59 Angela Martin 15.27; 60 Sharon Daly 15.41; 61 Jim Dolan 16.29; 62 Fiona Phelan 17.10; 63 Ellen Hogan 18.00; 64 Veronica Casey 18.01; 65 Miriam Brady 18.12. Killarney 5K road series Jim Langan had his third straight victory in his age category in the third leg of the Killarney 5K road series where he clocked 24.31. Goal Mile The Goal Mile will take place on Christmas Day between 10am and 12 noon on the Tullamore Harriers tartan track. It is a great social occasion with a real festive atmosphere and it also works up an appetite for the Christmas dinner. All you have to do is turn up, run or walk a mile and make a donation to Goal. For anyone feeling particularly energetic, there will be a competitive mile at 11am. Fixtures December 11th: National Novice Cross Country championships, Curragh, Co. Kildare. December 20th: Grand National 5K handicap race at 7pm, Tullamore Harriers. December 25th: Goal Mile in Tullamore Harriers track 10am to 12.00 noon. Training Tuesday and Thursday at 6.30pm, Sunday morning at 8.30am except on a race day. New members always welcome. With the dark evenings now here, it is important to be seen on the roads so reflective gear must be worn while training on the roads.