Anne Marie and Natasha after their superb runs. Pic by Gerry Farnan.
Another chapter in the resurgence of Lifford AC was written yesterday in the Phoenix Park, Dublin when Senior athletes Ann Marie McGlynn and Natasha Adams had two outstanding runs to claim Irish vests for forthcoming international meets.
The Gerry Farnan event marks the opening of the Irish Cross Country season in which Ireland’s leading senior, junior and masters cross country runners participate.
The double European cross country champion of 2011 and 2012, Fionnuala Britton, commenced her seasons by winning the Gerry Farnan in each of those years and yet again, Britton was in action yesterday having just returned from altitude training in France.
It was in a field of this class that both McGlynn and Adams took to the starting line.
In McGlynn’s case, a top four berth would secure selection to the Irish team for the Lotto Cross Cup in Antwerp, while Adams knew a top four placing in her Masters event would secure a first Irish vest for the upcoming international in Wales.
In recent months, all the superlatives have been written about Lifford AC athletes and their performances and progress. However, yesterdays race by Ann Marie and Natasha was simply outstanding from start to finish.
Fionnuala Britton, as expected, led straight from the gun and opened up a big gap early in the race. While a group of up to ten runners tried to keep with Britton’s blistering pace, Ann Marie ran a composed race off this chasing pack.
As the race progressed, Ann Marie worked her way through the field and on the last lap, dug deep into her reserves to pick the front runners off one by one to work her way through to a fourth placed finish behind internationals Britton, Sara Louise Tracey and Laura Crowe.
This secures an international vest for Ann Marie, certainly turning back the clock to such appearances many years ago, and showing she is coming back to her very best.
While Ann Marie ran a composed race, the same could be said of Natasha Adams, whose consistent pace was evident throughout the race.
Going into the race, Natasha would have settled for a fourth place in the Masters.
However, after her front running Masters victory in Donegal last week, Natasha showed her fearless nature by mixing it not just with the Masters, but with the top class senior opposition in this race.
From an early stage, Natasha led the Masters race with Kilmore’s Jackie Carthy not far behind. Going into the last lap, Carthy closed the gap on Natasha, but with about 800m to go, the Lifford girl put some distance between the two to claim the Masters title and a well deserved first Irish vest.
A thoroughly satisfying day out, great to see the Lifford vest at the forefront of such a high quality race, and fingers crossed for even better days to come.
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