County Novice races will get the cross country season underway in Tipperary
Mooreabbey Milers AC will host the races in Galbally
Cross country is starting to show a revival, with many open cross country fixtures promoted by clubs throughout the country in the past few weeks.
Congratulations to Moyne AC on their very successful open cross country promotion recently.
The County Tipperary Cross Country Championships get underway this Sunday, with the County Novice titles down for decision.
Mooreabbey Milers AC are hosting these races in Galbally, the same venue as the 2023 edition.
Eligibility for these championships is that athletes must be 19 years of age as of December 31 2024.
Previous winners of this title or any higher cross country championship in any county, and athletes who have won individual county senior cross country medals are not eligible.
In the women’s race it is three athletes to score and the distance is 3,000 metres. In the men’s race, the distance is 6,000 metres and it is four to score on a team.
The women’s race is down to start at 1.15pm, with the men’s race starting soon after the women’s race finishes, so the advice is to get there early and get familiar with the course.
Every year there are usually a few athletes who move up from the juvenile ranks to this, the first adult event of the cross country season, and that can make both races competitive and interesting for both the individual and team competitions.
In last year’s events we had twenty athletes competing in the women’s race and four clubs vying for the title. The men’s race saw 45 athletes and six clubs competing.
As this is the first championship event it is hard to predict a winner, as many athletes at the moment are also preparing for the Dublin City Marathon.
Competition will be keen in both races as clubs like Thurles Crokes, Dundrum, Mooreabbey Milers, Fethard, Templemore, Moyne, Clonmel, Nenagh Olympic, Carrick-on-Suir, Moycarkey Coolcroo and Dualla Ballytarsna Boherlahan are all well capable of entering teams.