Mud, Sweat and Tears: The Irish Mountain Running Team at The European Championships 2024

“The rain will suit us,” we said with a frustrated tone as we sat at dinner in the Balcon Du Lac Hotel in Annecy, France. “Thank goodness we suffered through all those heat preparation sessions for our race in France in June!” we joked.

I hemmed and hawed about opening this report referencing the weather as it’s a bit trite. Wherever the Irish go, conversation about the weather will follow.

A Liffey-reminiscent river of green mountain runners flowed through Dublin airport. Buzzing with excitement about the upcoming European Mountain Running Championships. After months of planning, hard training, and preparation behind us we were ready to represent our country and compete against the best mountain runners in Europe.

The Euros are divided into 3 different disciples: Uphill only, Trail and Classic Mountain.

After a few days of easy runs in the rain, team banter and plenty of food from the hotel buffet, it was time for the first race.

Uphill Only: Friday 31st May – (Elite Race: 8km-1000m Junior Race: 5km-850m)

The uphill-only race was a sharp 8k with over 1000m of ascent for the senior teams and an equally challenging 5k with 850m of ascent for the Junior (u20) squad. The rain was hammering down as the juniors began their warm-up. On my way up to the start to cheer on the team I passed by the junior girls team warming up in the corridor of the hotel.

Our hotel was perfectly located for the uphill race, the course began 200m from the hotel.

Before we knew it the juniors were off. The start began at a blistering pace, legs were covered in mud before the smoke has left the starting gun. The course had a fast start followed by increasingly muddy, steep, and rough trails. Not long after the seniors followed suit at an equally blistering pace.

The uphill teams battled the harsh conditions and awesome competition doing the country, the team and themselves proud. The top performer was Irish mountain running heroine Sarah McCormack who came an impressive 8th place in a stacked women’s field and Zak Hanna who placed 34th in an extremely challenging men’s race.

Trail: Saturday 1st June (58km-3500m)

Before the break of dawn, the trail teams were on the way to their start. The trail race this year was 58km with over 3,500m of elevation gain along some of the Alpine trails near Annecy. The ultra crews spent the day supporting the men’s and women’s teams out on the course while the rest of the team spent the day dot-watching, imagining what their teammates were experiencing and waiting at the finish line for the first finishers.

As the clock neared 6 hours since their race start, the first Irishman rounded the final corner and hit the red carpet. Enda Cloake cloaked an Irish flag with the same precision and immaculate execution as he had approached the race. Crossing the finish line in under 6 hours, a very impressive run that earned him 43rd place overall.

The first Irish lady in was Emma Stuart and the alien in her calf. Emma had been suffering with bad cramping in her calves for most of the race. The spasming calf muscles when she sat down looked like something out of an alien movie. Emma ran a brave race and pulled together an exceptional 31st place finish.

All of the Trail team members pushed through the tough conditions both internally and externally doing themselves, the singlet and the country proud!

Classic: Sunday 2nd June (Elite Race: 16.3km-1000m Junior Race: 6.8k-330m)

“It’s like Christmas morning,” Killian Mooney said immediately after switching off the alarm. This perfectly captured how I felt. Nervous excitement, almost unable to believe that the day that I’ve dreamt about had finally come. I was close to pinching my arm. Porridge and coffee in bed, a shower, suited and booted and we are off. A Red Bull in the bus on the way to the start, headphones blaring. Warm up, call room, strides, line up. BANG! What followed was a blur of cow shit, multicoloured singlets, puddles, slip marks, rocks, there’s Robbie! “Throw water on me, throw it on me”, summit, descent, pain, concentration, fading, push, the slippy bit, over the bridge, “is there anyone behind me?”, grab the flag, ring the bell, keel over.

There were no surprises in the race for me, it was tough, slippy, muddy and incredible. All the things I was expecting. 49th in Europe, sounds alright doesn’t it? I definitely want more.

I met Jared in the finish area, an amazing run from him put him 40th and first Irish home. A super result and one of many more to come.

Sarah Flanagan lead the women’s team home with an impressive 46th place.

The rest of the team aren’t long after. Sore bodies and smiles make our way to the team bus to head back to the hotel for a much-needed shower and lunch.

On our flight home, we were delayed due to a technical problem with the plane that resulted in us baking in a hot plane with no air conditioning. “Thank goodness we suffered through all those heat preparation sessions for our race in France in June!” we joked.

Acknowledgements

A massive thank you to the team managers. Without Robbie, Miriam, Richard, Kate, Phil and Paul it would not be possible for us athletes to have such transformative trips.

Thanks to all the athletes for being so nice and banding together in support of each other.

Thanks to the members of IMRA for facilitating the progression of our sport in Ireland and making it possible for us to travel to these races and represent our country.