Posted Date: 04-Nov-2009 Wednes

This coming Sunday will see the start of the cross-country season with the Donegal even ages and masters cross-country championships taking place in the Finn Valley Centre in Stranorlar. The action gets underway at 12.00 noon with the masters women race of 3k, with the men’s event of 6k off at 12.20. The juvenile race programme for under 10’s, 12’s 14’s, 16’s and 18’s begins at 1.00 pm. On Sunday 11th October, the County uneven ages and novice cross-country championships will be held in Fintra in Killybegs. Once again the novice women are first in action at 12.00 noon with the men racing at 12.20. The underage races for 11, 13, 15, 17 and 19 categories begin at 1.00 pm also. The action then moves to the provincial stage on Saturday 24th October with the Ulster and Northern Ireland even ages cross-country championships. The probable venue for this event will be at the University of Ulster in Coleraine. The provincial deciders for the uneven ages will return to Donegal with Fintra beach in Killybegs once again the venue on Sunday 8th November. On the senior front, the Donegal championships will take place on Sunday 1st November at the Finn Valley Centre in Stranorlar. The women’s 5k race will be off at 12.00 noon, with the men’s 10k at 12.20. By late November, the competition will have moved to the national stage with the even ages and inter-counties cross-country championships taking place in Kilbeggan on Sunday 22nd. The national programme will be rounded off with the novice and uneven ages cross-country on Sunday 6th December at a venue yet to be confirmed. To finish of the pre-Christmas cross-country season, Athletics Ireland will host the European championships in Santry, Dublin. This prestigious international event will see the top middle and long distance runners in Europe in action. Since their inception in the mid 1990’s, these championships have proved to be a prolific event for Ireland with household names such as Catherina Mc Kiernan winning individual gold and several teams amongst the medals.