Athletics European Cross Country ChampionshipsIt was an afternoon without medals but not without promise. A cold sunny day that splashed some warmth on the early, junior events - where the Irish girls pulled in their best ever performance in these championships: fourth place - gave way to a misty chill, some encouraging performances and a few disappointments.
In the dank air of south Holland as the athletes herded into the mixed zone steaming like farm animals in a barn, it was debutante Mary Cullen of Sligo who earned Ireland's highest senior placing, 11th, some distance behind the effortless stride of the Kenyan born Dutch champion, Lornah Kiplagat.
Jolene Byrne, from whom the Irish challenge had been expected, injured an already twisted ankle and continued the race only to shore up the team effort.
After a succession of injuries, Cullen's run was a personal triumph, while her underage colleague Linda Byrne ran her legs off for a fourth place in the junior race, finishing just six seconds outside the medals.
Cullen, the national 5,000m champion, had to recover from a fall stepping up a greasy bank on the second lap.
"It kind of threw me off a little," said the Providence College-based woman. "When I fell I said, 'Oh my god, they're going to run past me.' This is my first senior (international cross country race) so I'm delighted. That was real Irish country out there today."
Linda Byrne (19), from Dundrum South Dublin, ran a gutsy final lap, which also helped the Irish juniors to become the fourth-best team at the championship.
Her individual excellence helped make this the best effort by far from an Irish womens' team at these championships. Byrne was 38th last year.
"It is the best junior performance from the girls ever," confirmed manager Patsy McGonagle. "And Rose Galligan (23rd) went into that race half fit."
The men stuttered to get going in the senior event on the treacherous ground around Tilburg Park.
But what would the European Cross Country Championships be without the ground giving way and athletes having to use the barriers to haul themselves around the severest of the bends on the 9,840-metre course?
When Martin Fagan took it upon himself to spearhead the Irish challenge early on against the dominant force in these championships, Sergiy Lebid - who came down from his hermit-like existence in the Russian mountains to claim his sixth win in seven years and his fifth in succession - it came as some surprise that when the chasing group rounded the bend to go into the final lap, it was Gary Murray, the national champion, who led the Irish effort, ultimately striding home in 12th place.
Fagan ended the race four places behind the Donegalman.
With Alistair Cragg's late withdrawal just before the team flew to Holland, there was little expectation that anyone on the Irish squad would genuinely challenge Lebid, who has become a Ukrainian gold-medal machine.
As it happened only Alberto Garcia, who returned to the sport earlier this year following a two-year ban for a doping offence, was able to shake off the cobwebs and the disgrace to challenge Lebid right down to midway through the final lap.
Then Lebid kicked and glided over the mud to finish in convincing style 50 metres ahead of the determined Spaniard.
Lebid had already gone into the history books last year when in Heringsdorf he became the first athlete to win five European cross-country titles. Having contested every race since its inception 12 years ago, the 30-year-old spends most of his time, when not up the mountains, training in Italy.
A second place in the World Cross Country Championships of 2001 is as close as he has got to knocking the African runners from their dominant position in the sport.
Junior Danny Darcy's 20th place on the day could have been so much better. The Bagenalstown runner simply let a moment take hold of him in the final lap and the race slipped away.
"It was so easy for the first three laps," said the teenager. "But on the last lap I lost it. I blew up and dropped my head. I felt as sharp as I could have been for the race and was in very good shape.
"I just lost it big time on the last lap."
Tilburg details
Senior men: 1 S Lebid (Ukr) 27:09; 2 A Garcia (Esp) 27:21; 3 D Maazouzi (Fra) 27:26; 4 B Tahri 27:27; 5 G Weidlinger (Aut) 27:28. Irish placings: 12 G Murray 27:41; 16 M Fagan 27:52; 51 M Kenneally 28:37; 60 G Turnbull 28:56; 72 P McNamara 29:15; 77 D Kelly 29:34. Team: 8th
Junior men: 1 B Bene (Hun) 18:41; 2 A Vernon (Bri) 18:42; 3 D Marksevic (SCG); 18:42; 4 M Elbendir (Esp) 18:50; 5 C Suhanea (Rom) 18:50. Irish placings: 20 D Darcy 19:04; 46 P Pollack 19:30; 68 M Clohessy 19:45; 70 B O'Neil 19:47; 72 D Bermingham 19:50; 84 K Lawlor 20:00. Team: 13th
Senior women: 1 L Kiplagat (Ned) 19:55; 2 S Mockenhaupt (Ger) 20:00; 3 J Nilsson (Swe) 20:01; 4 O Jevtic (SCG) 20:04; 5 A Kalovics (Hun) 20:15. Irish placings: 11 M Cullen 20:22; 29 R Ryan 20:44; 31 J Byrne 20:45; 35 O O'Mahony 20:56; 38 A Byrne 21:01; 39 F Britton 21:01. Team: 5th
Junior women: 1 A Ancuta (Rom) 15:23; 2 E Pidgeon (Bri) 15:25; 3 S Kuijken (Ned) 15:33; 4 L Byrne (Ire) 15:39; 5 G Maksimova (Rus) 15:39. Irish positions: 23 R Galligan 16:09; 34 A Gebrezgi 16:20; 37 A Baker 16:22; 62 A Cooke 16:50; 69 B Twohig 16:57. Team: 4th.
