Darragh McElhinney Runs in Under-20 World XC Championships 2019 - Aarhus Denmark
Darragh McElhinney is Cork's Sole Representative at World Cross-Country Championships
Aarhus, Denmark
Saturday March 30th 2019
Darragh McElhinney, Bantry AC, celebrating his recent Irish Junior Indoor 5,000m record
Darragh McElhinney, Bantry AC, is the only Cork athlete among a strong sextet of Irish athletes selected for the World Cross-Country Championships, which will be held in Aarhus, Denmark, tomorrow, Saturday March 30th.
Unfortunately, even with six high-calibre representatives, and a western European location, Ireland is only sending two athletes in each of the Senior Men, Senior Women and Under-20 Men's events. Sadly, even though the event is, literally, on their doorstep, many European federations will not have full representations
Irish Schedule
11:10am - Under 20 Men – Darragh McElhinney (Bantry AC), Jamie Battle
12:00 noon - Senior Women – Fionnuala McCormack, Sara Treacy
13:00pm Senior Men – Sean Tobin, Kevin Dooney
10:00: Mixed relay – 8km (combined)
10:35: Under-20 women’s race – 6km
11:10: Under-20 men’s race – 8km
12:00: Senior women’s race – 10km
13:00: Senior men’s race – 10km
Livestream and TV Coverage
It will also be shown on BBC, via the RED button
(Not sure if it will be available in Ireland, due to restrictions - if not, watch it on the livestream)
Athletics Ireland Release
McCormack Leads Irish Six for Ultimate Cross Test
An Irish team of six athletes will take on the exciting and challenging prospect of the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Aarhus, Denmark on Saturday (March 30).
Two-time European Cross Country champion Fionnuala McCormack (Kilcoole AC) is the lead athlete and goes in the women’s 10,000m race along with Sara Treacy (Dunboyne AC).
McCormack’s best finishes have been 14th, in Mombassa, in 2007, and in Bydgoszcz, in 2013. The testing nature of the course will excite McCormack, with the 2km loop having lots of twists and turns, steep uphill and downhill, along with mud and water sections. This is the ultimate test in natural terrain running – the type of running that gave the Wicklow woman the love for the sport on her favourite surface.
More than 300 athletes (171 men, 139 women) are entered for the individual senior races, while more than 200 (121 men, 111 women) will be in action in the U20 races.
Sean Tobin (Clonmel AC) and Kevin Dooney (Raheny Shamrock AC) go in the senior men’s 10,000m – both making their senior debuts.
Darragh McElhinney (Bantry AC) and Jamie Battle (Mullingar Harriers) are also making their debuts in the U20 men’s 8,000m, and this will all be about their development as distance runners, and working towards the European Cross Country Championships in Dublin in 2020.
This event also marks 40 years since John Treacy won the World Cross Country Championships in Limerick, in 1979, along with guiding the men’s team to historic silver medals.
Irish Medallists in IAAF World Cross Country Championships
Individual:
1975 Junior - John Treacy BRONZE 21.43
1976 Junior - John Treacy BRONZE 21.23
1978 Long Course - John Treacy GOLD 39.25
1979 Long Course - John Treacy GOLD 37.20
1992 Long Course - Catherina McKiernan SILVER 21.18
1993 Long Course - Catherina McKiernan SILVER 20.09
1994 Long Course - Catherina McKiernan SILVER 20.52
1995 Long Course - Catherina McKiernan SILVER 20.29
1998 Long Course - Sonia O’Sullivan GOLD 25.39
1998 Short Course - Sonia O’Sullivan GOLD 12.20
Teams:
1975 Junior Team - SILVER 35pts
John Treacy 3rd, Louis Kenny 9th, Gerry Finnegan 10th, Gerry Redmond 13th, Dick Hooper 28th
1979 Long Course Team - SILVER 198 pts
John Treacy 1st, Danny McDaid 11th, Gerry Deegan 43rd, Mick O’Shea 46th, Donie Walsh 47th, Tony O’Brien 50th, Eamonn Coghlan 70th, Ray Treacy 79th, Eddie Leddy 127th
1997 Long Course Team - BRONZE 64 pts
Catherina McKiernan 7th, Sonia O’Sullivan 9th, Valerie Vaughan 23rd, Una English 25th, Maureen Harrington 108th, Pauline Curley 117th
2002 Short Course Team - BRONZE 85 pts
Sonia O’Sullivan 7th, Ann Keenan-Buckley 10th, Rosemary Ryan 18th (19th), Maria McCambridge 50th (62nd), Valerie Vaughan 64th, Maureen Harrington 92nd
