Europeans Report

14 August, 2017 - Kevin O'Riordan

Europeans Championships 2017 were held on an uphill only course in Kamnik, Slovenia. Races climbed from various points below Velnik Planina to the summit at 1660m, Velnika Planina. A similar course was used for the World Championships in 2010, cooler conditions prevailed on that occasion. Race day greeted the athletes with temperatures in excess of 30 degrees. Some welcome shade in the middle section of the course helped the athletes. Ireland had competitors in Junior men's, Senior Women's and Senior Men's.

Junior Mens: Alex Hunter had a solid run, after missing time with injury/illness and Leaving Cert commitments to finish 37th. Unfortunately Isaac Coleman became ill the day before the race and was a non starter. Both athletes will gain from the experience.

Senior Women's: Experienced team women's Sarah Mc Cormack and Sarah MacMahon led the women's with support from new comer Niamh Devlin. The team acquitted themselves well with Sarah McCormack finishing 18th, Sarah Mac Mahon 29th and Niamh Devlin 47th. Team finished in 10th position. Mathys Maude Switzerland won the individual title with GB claiming team glory.

Senior Men's: men took off at 11.15am local time, facing 1285m of climb in over 12km of running in the mid-day heat. Ian Conroy had his best European performance to date finishing 23rd, close to Brian Mac Mahon's 21st, the highest European finish since the event became in a European Championships. Brian Mac Mahon had a steady run to finish 32nd, closely followed by Mark Ryan in 33rd. Mark had a best European performance to date and will take confidence from this performance. Young Zak Hanna, the trial winner finished 52nd and will look to improve in the upcoming World Championships at the end of the month. Team finished with 88 points in 10th finish, with 3 athletes for the first time inside the top 35. Xavier Chevrier Italy took individual gold with France claiming team gold on countback from perennial winners Italy.
Next years Championships are scheduled for Macedonia on an up and down course. Most of the team will have a quick turnover for the world championships in Premana Italy at the end of the month.