It’s Christmas time and we all know what that means, an early Christmas gift in the form of a Senior Cross Country has arrived for us all. This year we travelled to Piercestown, persevered through the mud and the weather and managed to escape with some good results.

The course was provided by the O’Connor family and was pure cross country. There’s nothing to get the blood pumping like a massive hill and a few metric tonnes of muck. The weather on the day was brutal, with pouring rain and massive gusts of wind. Still many of our soldiers turned up to march to battle.

First came the women’s race, 3 loops of the field and they’d be done. Fiona Kehoe, Kilmore A.C, led out the race with Ciara Wilson, DMP, and Clodagh Kelly, Croghan A.C, not far behind. I’d be remiss not to mention the sole Strider participant in the race, Beth O’Connor, coming in close behind. The first lap passed and still the front three remained the same, with the race becoming more strung out. The second lap passed and Fiona Kehoe had fully made her move, with her now being a vast distance ahead of the rest of the pack. Beth O’Connor had begun to move and was in 7th position at this point. The final lap came, and the Fiona finished a large time ahead of the rest. Then came Ciara Wilson and Clodagh Kelly, finishing in the order they started. Beth O’Connor moved up another place, finishing in 6th after an amazing run. Kilmore A.C snatched up the team prize, but maybe Striders can muster a team next year.

The men’s race was next to begin, and we had some new players to the board this year. An Olympian, Sean Hehir, has recently made the move to Croghan A.C. Joe Byrne, a young S.B.R athlete has also recently came of age to run the county senior (the main reason everyone is excited to turn 18!). The usual competitors were also all there, apart from Slaney’s David Mahon, who missed the race.

The starting line was packed, as athletes braved the terrible weather in vests and shorts. First came the whistle, and then the gunshot, beginning a great race. Sean Hehir, Croghan, came bounding out, closely followed by Joe Byrne, S.B.R, and Enda Cloake, Slaney Olympic. They moved down the first hill and vanished from sight as he they headed into the second field. When they re-emerged, their standings had changed. Sean Hehir still held the lead, while Enda Cloake was in second. Joe Byrne battled our own Paul Doran for third as they rounded the muddy corner. The next Striders were father and son duo Alan and Adam O’Connor, followed by Brendan Lyng, to finish out our scoring four.

The next couple laps passed as you might expect: Sean Hehir’s lead increased, Paul and Joe’s battle for third continued, while S.B.R and Croghan’s teams began to pack. It seemed to me that any hope we had of our team winning was extinguished. Then came the fourth lap.

Paul Doran’s grit proved too much for Joe Byrne, as Byrne began to drift back. Miles Gibbons, SBR, took Joe’s place as he went toe to toe with Doran. As Byrne drifted back, Adam O’Connor began to move forward, seeing a way to improve our team’s chances. Alan O’Connor soon followed suit, close behind his son. By the 5th Lap, the two of them, along with Lyng had passed Byrne, and given us a chance. Hehir was still leading, with a sizeable lead on Cloake.

As we entered the final lap, tensions ran high. All our hopes rested upon our men holding their positions. Adam O’Connor had forgotten to slow down when he passed Joe Byrne and was now up with Paul Doran. As they re-emerged from the second field, it seemed that the impossible had come to pass, we were now in the lead, by my count at least.

Hehir came through first, barely out of breath. Next came Enda Cloake, a renowned runner if there ever was one. Myles Gibbons ultimately grabbed third, which had been a hard-fought position during the race. Then came our boys: Paul Doran came next, followed by Adam O’Connor, with the next Striders being Alan and Brendan. Our team had finished, and the cup was in our grasp.

Tomas Harrington came next, ready to take up a position if one of our front-runners were to fall. Fending off S.B.R throughout the race, Colin Carney came through, with Tomas Moran and Pat Culleton just after. All three of them had very steady and strong runs, straight through the mud. George Delaney and John Hickey ran a good race together, both covered in dirt by the finish. We can’t forget the great efforts of Sean Meaney, Eddie Murphy and Emmet Malone, persevering through the muck and dirt to get to the finish.

Ultimately Striders won by only a four points, a close race between us and Croghan AC. Despite missing some of our most valuable players, we still managed to come out on top. The other clubs fought gamely, but Striders stepped up to the challenge, eager to win the competition for only the second time in 30+ years.

Today’s success wouldn’t have been possible without the help of our amazing coaches, all those involved with the club and, of course, Wexford Athletics. We owe all these people a huge debt for giving time from their lives to dedicate to this terrible and amazing sport.

Another year ends and another Senior passes. Seeing all our new members, along with all our old guns gives you a sense of pride, that you are part of this club. We should all be proud of our runners and coaches today, and be proud to don the black and white.

Thanks to Nicola Murphy and Fabian Flood for photos