Runaway Reid romps home

Fiona Reid has won the women's Meath Cross-Country Championship title on a number of occasions and she did the business again on Sunday. Putting in a very strong performance the Ratoath-based PE teacher made full use of all the lessons she has learned in her career to-date to comfortably out-pace her opponents. Reid was on form from the start building up a big lead that even Sonia O'Sullivan would have struggled to bridge if she had found herself in the chasing back as the race passed the mid-way stage. "I was feeling strong so I went out in front and thankfully I didn't have any problems as the race went on, I felt fine all the way through," she said as if the 4,000m run at a good tempo was an everyday event. The top three places were all claimed by Dunboye athletes with Karen O'Hanlon putting in a consistent display to finish second while Emilia Dan wrapped up third place. Fr Murphy athlete Sharon Monaghan put in a very tenacious display tracking Reid for the early part of the race, falling back down the field before making a resurgence as the finishing line drew to a close. She was unlucky to finish out of the medals. Amy O'Keeffe, Shauna Moore, Elaine Plunkett and Ursula Byrne were others to finish close behind the top three. The combined performances of the Dunboyne runners meant that they comfortably took the team title with Dunshaughlin second and St Brigid's third. Dan's achievement in bagging the bronze medal was a considerable milestone considering she only took up athletes relatively recently. From a Romanian background Dan didn't run competitively in her native country and she didn't get immediately involved in the sport when she moved to Ireland 12 years ago. Dan, who lives in Blanchardstown, first started walking for exercise and to lose weight before graduating to running. "A few years ago I was 70 kilos then two years ago I started running. I saw a sign for Dunboyne Athletic Club and I said I would try and join," she said. "I felt I had running in me, but I was running on my own without improving my time. I needed to join a club and Dunboyne have been fantastic." Supporting the Dunboyne teams on Sunday was local politician Noel Leonard. He was among those who had worked to secure the race venue - the Cow Park - for the community. Once a commonage with grazing rights the area now effectively belongs to the local community. A number of sports clubs have signed up to be part of the project and the plan in the future is to create facilites for a number of sporting activities including soccer and tennis. Leonard said it was a proud day for the local community when one of their own won a Meath Cross-Country title. Reid did just that on Sunday capping a fine year for her and giving herself an early Christmas present in the process.