U18 International World Cup
| Author | Date | Message |
|---|---|---|
| Miriam Maher | May 25 2023, 10:46am | Best of luck to the Irish mountain running team who are heading to Annecy in the French alps today for the u18 International World cup race on this Saturday. Teams were selected following a trial race that was held in April in Glendalough, Wicklow. Boys team: Finn Craig, St. Michaels AC (Mark Higgins) Noah Harris, Parnell AC (Billy Porter) Colm O'Neill, Greystones AC (Tim Grummell/Theresa Kinane), Ryan McCarthy, Riverstick Kinsale (Donie Walsh), Girls team: Della McLoughlin, St Michaels AC (Owen Connelly) Laura Nunan, Donore Harriers (Joe Kelly/Niall Lynch) Nicole Dinan , Leevale (Chris Harrington) Eve Buckley, Leevale (Chris Harrington) Team managers Elizabeth Wheeler, Tim Grummell Wishing you all safe travels, excellent racing and an overall fantastic experience representing for Ireland! |
| Tim Grummell | Jun 7 2023, 9:06am | Heres my team manager report: Irish U18 teams at the 16th annual World Mountain Running Association U18 Cup at Annecy in the French Alps! Well done to the boys and girls who represented Ireland as part of the U18 teams at the end of May! The build up to this event started a long time ago, after last year's British and Irish juniors when many of that team came home hungry for more and started planning out their future races! At the trials held for on March 19th in Laragh we had a very competitive race, in particular for the boys, 15 lads all looking for those 4 top spots! We have to give credit to everyone who took part in that, plenty of miles ran and course recces just in preparation for the trial race. For anyone who didn't make the team, keep it up, you will have plenty opportunities again moving forwards in this sport. With the teams picked for Annecy, the preparation continued to build up. We had an extremely successful IMRA juniors’ day over the easter holidays delivered by Sarah McCormick along with Zak Hanna. Zak took a group out for a hill session, followed by a very useful talk about opportunities in international mountain running. Sarah McCormick also prepared a full training plan for the team, and, as always, she was available to provide any feedback needed by the team regarding their training. Onto the weekend itself, very early start on the Thursday, full team met up in Dublin airport at 3.45am. We travelled over with the NIMRA U18 teams and their managers, Phil Hodge and Nikki Graham, always great for these young athletes to meet up with each other on trips like this. Travelling on the Thursday did afford us loads of time to settling in well before the race on the Saturday morning. The challenge on the Thursday and Friday was to avoid staying out in the sun for too long! It was great to see how well the team bonding went, with strong interaction between all the countries, especially all the English-speaking countries, including the IMRA and NIMRA selected Irish teams, USA, Scotland, England and Wales. On the start line on Saturday, it was each athlete for themselves and for their team, but the interaction across the rest of the trip is exactly what the sport should be about! Course recce on the Friday went well, and Saturday night think it’s fair to say that us two team managers didn't sleep well, we were probably more nervous than the team itself! The girls were 1st race up, full call room experience, where you had to be in your call room at least 10mins before the race! The route itself was a fast grassy climb for 2km, with a steep enough last climb, before immediately into a 1500m fast but rocky downhill. The final km was back on the flat in across the ski lifts to complete the loop. Nicole was our 1st Irish girl across the line, in a very strong 24th place, Nicole is well used to representing Ireland, having ran track and field middle distance at schools international and European youth Olympics before, but she made the transition to the mountains very effectively. Another Irish international, Eve Buckley, who has represented Ireland at orienteering was the next Irish home, followed by seasoned IMRA athletes Laura Nunan and Della McLoughlin. At 11.45 saw the start of the boys’ race. This was a fast start, with Noah Harris, Colm O'Neill and Finn Craig right up in mix towards the front. Colm was the one with the best climb, and was in 10th position at the top, with Noah close by in 15th. The decent was very fast, and suited Noah well who held on for a fantastic 14th place overall, and one of our best results in this competition! Colm came home in an equally impressive 17th place, with Finn and Ryan McCarthy rounding out the team. The team was 8th place overall, which was very impressive but only a few points off 6th place, on another day it could have been a different story. However, both teams can hold their heads high, it was the most successful Irish performance at this world class competition ever! Afterwards all the talk was about what's next. One of the conversations was when will mountain running be in the Olympics! It's on trips like this where the seeds of lifelong ambitions are planted, and lifelong friends are made! On behalf of Elizabeth Wheeler (the IMRA junior officer) and myself, a big thank you to all the athletes who really were a fantastic and easy bunch to manage, all the parents involved, and also all of the IMRA members, without whom these trips wouldn’t be possible. AAI provides the kit for these trips and an annual contribution towards IMRA for internationals. However, the trips are funded in the main, by the income from the general membership. This support is really appreciated. A few of the athletes from both the IMRA and NIMRA U18 teams are going onto represent Ireland this weekend in the Junior men and women short course races at the World Trail and Mountain Running Championships in Innsbruck, Austria. Wishing them all the very best! Next up for any juniors who want part of all this action is the British and Irish Mountain Running Championships, due to be held in Scotland in September. We are aiming to send 4 teams of 4 to this, girls’ U17 and U20, and boys’ U17 and U20, Trials for these teams will be held on the 6th of August. More details will be posted soon on the website. |
| Laura Flynn | Jun 7 2023, 11:42am | Thanks for that report Tim and well done to all our juniors and to the team managers for taking care of them. Sounds like you all had a great trip and the seeds have been sown for many more to come. |
