LINDA BYRNE CONTINUED her preparations for the Olympic Marathon with a post-to-post win in yesterday’s Woodie’s DIY Senior Cross Country Championships.
Byrne (Dundrum South Dublin AC) led from the starting gun in the senior women’s race and came home in a winning time of 25:53, 22 seconds ahead of Una English in second place.
Byrne’s DSD team-mate Ava Hutchinson rounded out the medal positions with a time of 26:38. Hutchinson has also achieved the “A” qualification time for the Olympic marathon.
Byrne has concentrated on road racing of late and struggled slightly on the switch back to cross country terrain.
“I found the underfoot tough going after all the road racing,” Byrne said afterwards. “I plan to have two weeks easy and then get back into my marathon training.”
The senior men’s race was won by Eddie McGinley (Annadale Striders), who outlasted his rivals to win by 15 seconds in a time of 35:09. The Clonliffe Harriers pair of Sergiu Ciobanu (35:24) and Gary O’Hanlon (35:35) chased him home in second and third.
“Today was just my day,” a delighted McGinley said afterwards. “I know I would be in the mix but I never believed I could win.”
Finn Valley’s Sarah Mary Collins (19:34) won the junior women’s race, while the junior men’s gold was taken by Kevin Dooney of Raheny Shamrocks in 24:07.
