Last year, Cork's Fiona Everard shocked everyone in the Kilkenny mud, now she defends title

LEARNING DAY: Fiona Everard of Ireland competing in the senior women's 9000m during the 2023 European Cross Country Championships. Picture: Sam Barnes/Sportsfile

This year will be different. Fiona Everard won’t come in under the radar. Now she’s the national champion, her ability in this domain well established. But at Sunday’s 123.ie National Cross Country Championships in Irvinestown, Co Fermanagh, the 26-year-old Bandon athlete will face a very different test.

The Castle Irvine Estate will have significantly better underfoot conditions than the quagmire athletes endured in Gowran 12 months ago. Everard kept her head – and her footing – far better than most in that gloopy hellscape to finish 37 seconds clear of the runner-up. She’d love a repeat showing on Sunday.

“I’ve had my fingers crossed for some rain: If there’s anyone up in Enniskillen that wants to spray water on the course, I won’t complain,” she laughs.

Everard has a straightforward goal: a podium finish. The top three in each senior race will make the Irish team for the Europeans in Antalya, Turkey on December 8, with further picks at the selectors’ discretion. Things have gone smoothly on the build-up. 

“This has been the first year in so long I’ve come into it healthy, it seems foreign to me,” she says.

Training under coach Matt Lockett at the University of Galway, where she’s on the home stretch of a master’s in biomedical science, Everard has been running 75 miles a week of late, putting some injury-hit years behind her. What has clicked this year? 

“Having Matt oversee what I’m doing,” she says. 

“I’ve learned from the last few years when to pull back and when you can push on. He’s good at keeping everything controlled. Then including more strength and conditioning.” 

Everard has worked with Clare Brady at the Sport Ireland Institute and the improved strength has allowed her to handle higher volume. She shocked everyone – including herself – to win the national title in the manner she did last year, earning a spot at the Europeans in Brussels, where she finished 34th.

In March, she got her first taste of the World Cross Country Championships, a race that starts off fast and simply doesn’t slow down. Everard was 63rd in the 10km race in Belgrade, finishing five and a half minutes behind the medallists. It was, in running terms, a harrowing experience, but now she can see the value in it.

“At the time I thought it was just brutal,” she says. “But you need to go to those champs and be exposed to that level of competition to be used to that feeling. I was thinking after: That feeling of discomfort, you’ll never be able to replicate that in training. Hopefully if I make Euro Cross again it’ll feel a bit better.” 

Everard is currently on placement at Medtronic in Galway, a company that’s been “really understanding” with her commitments, allowing her to juggle her working hours around training. Having part-time work also offers a welcome distraction from running, especially for someone who “can be very all or nothing.” 

At this year’s nationals, both senior races will cover just 7.5km, a 1.5km reduction from last year which will replicate the distance at the Europeans – with organisers trying to lure more middle-distance athletes into competing. 

“I prefer the longer distance,” says Everard. “But it’s one of those things you can’t control.” 

And so, this will be a very different nationals: Shorter, drier, faster. And while that might play to others’ strengths, only Everard will toe the line as defending champion. 

“Mentality-wise, I came into this season with a bit more belief, raised my standards on what to expect of myself,” she says. “But last year is not that relevant. Every year, you have to prove yourself.”