Munster Senior XC Gold - November 14th, 2023

Munster Senior XC:
We had a very successful medal haul at the Munster Senior XC Championships this year held in Two Mile Borris. Oddly enough the race was held the weekend before the National Senior XC but this didn't deter 6 of our dedicated athletes.

Michael had another stormer of a race sitting on defending champion Jake O'Regan for the majority of the race making him feel very uncomfortable before releasing his inevitable trademark kick with a few hundred meters to go and taking a decisive win. This was Michaels second individual win last claiming the title in 2015. Michael lead the the team to golden glory with John Spelman, Ciaran McNamee and Donal Giltinan having their own individual battles against each other. John came out on top finishing 11th with Ciaran just behind in 12th and Donal completed the scoring 4 in 13th, his first race after Berlin marathon in September. Fergus Meade was 19th overall as well. Congrats to the team on winning another Munster title.

Michael, John, Ciaran and Donal also scored on the Cork team who finished 2nd behind Tipperary.

Eadaoin was our sole lady representative in the womens 6k race where she finished a strong 11th overall.

Road Running:
The Thomas Kent 10 was on Sunday in Castlelyons . Michael Furlong was 29th in 38.45 and Christine Kelly had a great run to finish 8th lady in 42.42.

John and Ciaran also raced in the University Road Relays in Maynooth on Friday. Both ran mile legs, John ran in the first leg for UCC in 5.27 with Ciaran on the anchor leg for MTU in 5.16.

Munster Championship XC History:
- Overall since the club first competed in the Munster Senior XC championship we have won an impressive 24 out of 38 runnings of the event.
- We have won the individual title 10 times by five men: Donnacha O'Mahoney (x4), Liam O'Brien (x2), Michael Harty (x2), James McCarthy (x1), and Tim O'Donoghue (x1).
- Donnacha on his own has won 4 times with an unprecedented 14 team titles along the way stretching over 20 years from 1987 to his final team title in 2010.
- Our longest streak was 9 wins from 2004 to 2012 until St Johns won in Limerick Racecourse in 2013.
- Of the 24 titles won 25 men have contributed directly to the team by scoring in the top four (see table below).
- As mentioned Donnacha tops this list with 14. Right on his tail is Sean now with 12 and James on 11, both are soley responsible for the consistent run of team results in the mid 00's.
- Note: Traditionally the Munster Senior XC was held in January which fitted naturally in the XC calander a number of weeks before the Interclub All Irelands. However with the merging of the intercounties and interclubs to one race in December the Munsters changed to a November date in 2015. Which is why there were two races in that year.

Up Next:
The National Senior XC is on in Gowran Park on Sunday the 19th. We have our Silver medal winning team from last year on the start line again looking to repeat their success so promises to be another great day of racing.

AGM:
The club AGM is on Tuesday November 21st in Ballintotis Hall at 8pm sharp. Everyone is welcome to attend and participate.

Christmas Night Out:
The Christmas night out is on in Rosies in Aghada on December 14th at 7pm . If you/your partner would like to attend please let Lorna or Kevin know asap so the booking can be finalised. ​