ATHLETICS 100 day countdown to Ireland's biggest international athletics event

Athletes meet for European Cross Country Championships training camp

There are only 100 days left until Ireland's biggest athletics event this year, the SPAR European Cross Country Championships. This is the first time that Ireland has hosted a European Championship athletics event and it will be held in Santry Demesne on the 13th of December.

The SPAR European Cross Country Championships will see the continent's finest cross country runners taking part along with some of Ireland's top athletes. The Championships will also mark the 30th anniversary of when John Treacy won the World Cross Country title in Limerick.

This weekend some of Ireland's top cross country runners are taking part in a pre European Cross country Championships training camp in Santry. Those included in the training squad are 2006 U-23 European silver medallist Fionnuala Britton, her Sli Cualann teammate Deirdre Byrne, who recently competed in Berlin at the World Championships, and Alan McCormack who was part of last year's European Cross Country team.

Ireland's team manager is Anne Keenan-Buckley and she is looking forward to event in December. "We are getting to the final stages of preparation now so things are getting serious. The fact that we have a major championship on home soil is a huge incentive for our athletes. Everyone wants to be involved so that means we have great competition for places on the team, which is always good," Keenan-Buckley said ahead of the camp.

We have Martin (Fagan) and Mary (Cullen) who are in the US and have had a tough time recently with injuries but they should hopefully both be back to fitness soon. We also have the likes of Ciara Mageean and the Ffrench O'Carroll sisters who are very exciting talents. The training camp will give us a chance to work with the athletes and look at training and racing over the next couple of months to ensure they are in good shape for Santry in December," she went on to say.

Ireland has a fantastic history at the European Cross Country Championships especially in recent years. Fionnuala Britton took silver at U-23 level in the European Cross Country Championships, while last year Mary Cullen was close to taking a bronze medal in Brussels before finally finishing fourth. Cullen then went on to take indoor bronze at the European Championships in Turin earlier this year.

Liam Hennessy, President of Athletics Ireland, is looking forward to the event. "With 100 days to go the countdown really begins here for the SPAR European Cross Country Championships. We have been working with European Athletics on this event for over 18 months and now there is a real excitement that we are bringing a top class athletics event to Ireland. We are working around the clock to make this the biggest and most exciting European Cross Country Championships and we hope that the athletics community and the wider sports community in Ireland will be out to support what will be a great event for the country."

People are being encouraged to snap up their tickets for the event as soon as possible and they can be bought online at www.ticketmaster.ie. Prices for the tickets are €20 for adults and €10 for U-16, while a special family ticket which will admit two adults and two children is available at a price of €40. There are also discounted tickets available for all athletics club members. Senior member tickets will be €10 plus service charge while juvenile member tickets will be free and details are available from local clubs.

For more information and regular updates on the event and to sign up to the mailing list for the SPAR European Cross Country Championships then log on to www.Dublin2009.ie. Athletics Ireland is supported nationally in running this event by the Irish Sports Council, Dublin City Council, Fingal County Council, RTة and Clonliffe Harriers.