Britton and Cragg Put in Excellent Distance Runs in Spain and New York over Weekend

Ireland's Fionnuala Britton and Alistair Cragg put in excellent individual runs over the weekend in Spain at the World Cross Country and in New York in a high-profile Half Marathon event, respectively. There was a real carnival atmosphere at the World Cross Country championships in Punta Umbria in Spain earlier today Sunday. The Spanish hosts spared nothing in their efforts to make the championships a big success, and glorious sunshine only added to the occasion. Ireland had three athletes competing at the World Cross, two in the senior women's event and one in junior men's. Fionnuala Britton (Sli Cualann AC) got a great start in the senior women's race and then settled in to a position in the mid-teens.As the race unfolded Britton never looked like losing her place, but ended up running on her own for a considerable part of the race. "Why does this always seem to happen to me?" she asked after the race, referring to times in the past when she has become detached from the leading group.

As the race unfolded, the question that kept going through the Wicklow athletes mind was "should I try to catch the leading group, or wait for the chasing runners". The 26 year old Kilcoole AC  athlete fought hard to get back to the leading group but had to run for the most of the second part of the race on her own. At the end Britton was pleased with her 16th place finish and being the second European home, the best finishing position by an Irish athlete since her own 14th place four years ago, saying that she really enjoyed the course, and the hot sunny conditions were her preferred racing conditions The fast run race was won 27 year old Vivian Cheruiyot of Kenya, getting the better of her team-mate Linet Masai, in 24:58 with Sharlane Flanagan of the USA third.Ava Hutchinson (Dundrum South Dublin AC) was 87th in her first time competing at this level. Team manager Anne Keenan Buckley was high in her praise of Britton's performance "considering how she had to overcome illness in the weeks leading up to the championships" she said, and added " I am delighted to see her back to the level that saw her finish 14th when the race was held in Kenya in 2007".

Kenya won the team prize over Ethiopia, with the USA third. The speed with which the Kenyans started the junior men's race was startling. Ireland's Shane Quinn (Ferrybank AC) got a good start and was well placed heading out the country. However, things did not work out quite according to plan and was unable to finish the race - "I felt good on the first lap, but after that my legs just seemed to go from under me, especially when going over the log obstacles on the course" he said. Kenya won the team competition by four points from Ethiopia, with Geoffrey Kipsang Kamworor causing a surprise by taking the title. The junior women's race was, as expected, a duel between Kenyan and Ethiopian runners, with both countries having four in the lead group from a long way out. Ethiopia won the team by two points from Kenya, with Faith Cherotich Rionoripo winning in a sprint finish.

The senior men's race concluded with a sprint finish, with Ethiopia's Imana Marga taking the sought-after of senior men's World Cross title champion Yesterday, Ireland's Alistair Cragg put in an excellent performance on the roads around New York City. Cragg gave his career a timely boost with a new Irish record for the half-marathon, when finishing sixth in a high profile Half Marathon event. "I felt good the whole way and it was only in the last mile or two that the leaders managed to get away from me, but it's good feeling to get another Irish record and I'm excited about where this can take me" said a clearly happy Cragg from New York yesterday. Cragg's time of 60 minutes 49 seconds knocked eight seconds off the old mark of 60:57, set two years ago in Holland by Martin Fagan of Mullingar, as well as being a personal best by more than a full minute, with victory going to Britain's Mo Farah in  60:23 after a sprint finish. This race was Cragg's pre-trial prior to making his marathon debut in Boston next month. "I've been packing in the miles in preparation for Boston and I think those miles were in my legs when it came to speeding up in the last few miles here" he said. "But I never felt the distance or did I feel tired at any stage. I finished very strong and really enjoyed it. Running this event is a bit strange for me after all my races on the track but I'm now entering a new stage of my career and I'm excited about it and will now use the next few weeks wisely to prepare for Boston." Cragg will be looking to get the standard of 2:16 in Boston that will put him in line for selection for the World Championships next August in Korea and also for the Olympics in London next year.