The National Masters Cross Country Championships took place over a testing course in the Avondale Forest, County Wicklow last Saturday, where competition was very keen in all the races. The course was demanding but at times the athletes were sheltered from the strong winds for most of the route by large forest on either side of the course. In the women’s 4000m race, which also included the man’s over 65 Championships, we saw two very good performances from Sareen Walsh 102nd in 19 mins 27 secs and Nicola Maunsell 123rd in 20 mins 12 secs. In the Men’s 700m race we also saw Conor Fleming running very well when finishing 118th in 28 mins 55 secs. Conor great run saw him finishing as the 3rd man on the County team that won the Inter County bronze medals, beating Wexford by just 8 points. The other members on the County team were Dermot hay and Jim Halley (Dundrum) and the Mooreabbey Milers trio of Tom Blackburn, Willie O Donoghue and Damien Holian.