Tullamore ladies win national cross country B title

Last Sunday saw the running of the biggest race of the Cross Country calendar with the running of the Senior Inter Club Championships. The races were held in Santry Park, Dublin, and were run on the same course that will be used for the European Cross Country Championships next December. The women"s 8k race brought together most of the top runners in the country and here Tullamore"s hopes rested on Pauline Curley in the quest for individual honours. Pauline was always in the leading bunch in the early stages behind seasoned Internationals Maria McCambridge and Linda Byrne, who were setting a very fast pace. McCambridge soon pulled away from Byrne and won convincingly by a big margin from the much fancied Byrne. This left Pauline Curley in a battle for the bronze and indeed she held third position for a while. However, she was passed by old rival Annette Kealy who steadily pulled away and then in the latter stages was passed by Niamh O"Sullivan, leaving Pauline with a very creditable fifth place. Liz Cuskelly started fast but faded a little in the latter stages but still finished a fine 19th place, while Pauline Lambe ran a very steady race and finished just behind liz in a great 20th position. Rosemarie Masterson looked to be going well in the early stages but unfortunately had to drop out due to a bad stitch. Mary Daly battled hard and finished in 38th place and made up the final place on the Tullamore team. When the team points were added up, it emerged that Tullamore were 5th team overall and the winners of the B title which was just rewards for this talented team. The men"s race was run over a distance of 12,000 metres and was very competitive. Adrian Curley was best of the Harrier runners with a very strong run to finish in 62nd place; He was followed home by John Harkin in 74th, Declan Madden in 75th and Eddie Garry who placed 77th. These four combined to help Tullamore to 11th club overall and 5th in grade B. Full Results Women"s 8,000 metres: 5 Pauline Curley 31.29; 19 Liz Cuskelly 33.08; 20 Pauline Lambe 33.12; 38 Mary Daly 37.06 Men"s 12,000 Metres: 62 Adrian Curley 45.42; 74 John Harkin 48.13; 75; 75 Declan Madden 48.15; 77 Eddie Gary 48.22; 81 John O"Connell 51.26; 82 Tony McCormack 51.29. Fixtures March 8th: Peter Devery Memorial Cross Country race, second leg in Charleville Estate at 10am. March 15th: McNamara 5 Mile road race at 10pm in Tullamore Harriers. Tuesday March 24th: Spring League first Leg : 3,000 metres at 7pm. Tuesday March 31st: Spring League: mile race at 7pm. April 5th: Bupa 10k, Dublin. Tuesday April 7th: Final Leg, Spring League: 5,000 metres at 7pm. April 19th: National road Relays in Raheny, Dublin. April 26th: National 10k Road Championships, Navan. Sympathy Tullamore Harriers extend deepest sympathy to the family of Colin Dunne and to Shamrocks GAA club on the tragic death of Colin, whilst running in the Barcelona Marathon last Sunday. Training Tuesday and Thursday at 6.30pm. Sunday morning at 8.30am (except on a race day). New members always welcome.