Laois athletes hold their own in British & Irish Mountain Running Championships
Katie McLoughlin starting into the last decent
A NUMBER of Laois athletes made their presence felt at last weekend’s British and Irish Mountain Running Championships in Wales.
Starting and finishing in the village of Y Fron, the contest saw Eliza McLoughlin of Oughaval AC and St Michael’s athlete, Riley Connolly line out in the Under 17 contest, run over 6.2km, while Katie McLoughlin (Oughaval AC) and Tadhg O'Comhraidhe (St Michael’s) competed in the Under 20 event, covering 6.9km, both races incorporating three steep climbs with a fast downhill finish.
In all, the squad was made up of 16 athletes, of which no less than 10 were first time internationals, making this a real development event for the Irish contingent, who represented a total of eight counties, with Laois and Cork each boasting four athletes on the panel.
Despite having previously won the trials when out of age, last weekend marked the first time Eliza represented Ireland, and she gave a very strong account of herself, making a solid start in the Under 17 contest and finishing as the second Irish runner.
Connolly, meanwhile, made a bright start and ran a steady first half to the race, but the effects of a cold, from which he had been suffering over the previous week, took its toll, and bad cramping towards the end of the second climb consequently saw him fade just outside the top 10.
Like Eliza, O'Comhraidhe was competing in his first international contest, and he certainly made the most of the opportunity, emerging the second scorer for his country.
“Tadhg has worked hard to improve his hills and it showed in him moving up from third in qualification to finish second Irish scorer on the day” said St Michael’s AC coach, Owen Connolly, who trains these Laois athletes.
“Katie has been on a lot of teams over the last couple of years, but has been struggling with shin splints for the last couple of months, so qualifying for the team was the goal,” explained Connolly.
The Oughaval competitor still turned in a strong performance in Wales and emerged the fourth Irish scorer on the day.
“It was great to see so many Laois athletes in the mix for Irish vests,” continued Connolly. “They all work so hard and the reward is well deserved.
“I was delighted to see Eliza make her first Irish Mountain Running team. She has performed so well in trials over the last two years when she was out of age, so that was extra special to see her line up in green.
“The whole team that represented Ireland on the mountains over the weekend are fantastic young athletes and they all have a bright future ahead of them. They will have learnt so much this weekend,” he said.
The next major international for Laois athletes will be the upcoming World Mountain and Trail Running Championships (WMTRC) which take place in Canfranc, Spain from 25-29 September.
Among those lining out in that event will be two Ballyroan Abbeyleix and District athletes, Matthew McConnell (Senior Uphill only and Classic distance) and Kate McDonald (Senior Uphill only), along with Riley Connolly of St Michael’s who goes in the Junior Classic distance.
