McCarthy and Fitzgibbon can keep the Leevale flag flying
His older brother, Cathal, said the Birmingham-based athlete had been ill for the past week and will have a blood test today in a bid to determine the cause of the problem.
“Fiachra has not run for a week and is definitely out,” he said, confirming that he, too, will be an absentee.
With the world championships in Lausanne just two weeks away, Fiachra will be hoping to get this problem behind him.
However, Leevale could still produce the first two Irish athletes across the line in Martin McCarthy, who has the potential to bring off the double, and Brendan Fitzgibbon.
The latter, whose father is from Tralee, flew in from San Francisco during the week with an 8.08 indoor 3,000m behind him.
“That would indicate that he is in pretty good shape,” said Leevale distance coach, Der O’Donovan.
McCarthy will go to the line amongst the favourites for the race although he admitted yesterday it is not top of his priorities.
“Right now I am getting ready for the world championships and hoping for a place in the long course race,” he said.
“I am not easing down for it. In fact by Sunday I will have done 90 miles. I will be relying on my strength.”
The other big challengers for the Irish title will be Mark Kenneally, who won the Irish universities title at the weekend, and the two northern runners, Dermot Donnelly and Gareth Turnbull and if Turnbull arrives on the line in shape then he will be the one to beat.
Noel Berkeley, third in the inter-clubs and runner-up in Ballycotton at the weekend is all set to join his clubmate, Robert Connolly, in the race.
The race differs this year in that it is being staged in conjunction with Rás na hÉireann and Charlie Breagy and Larry McGuill have put an exciting field together for the event.
“It will be a good race and the Irish will be right up there,” Charlie Breagy insisted. “There are no super fast individuals in there but they are all strong runners so it will be pretty even.”
Several of the runners are en route to Lausanne for the world cross-country championships and they include Dan Wilson and Karl Savage who were second and fourth, respectively, in the US national cross-country championships.
Wilson was a Big East Conference cross-country and track champion while at University of Connecticut while Savage was the Atlantic 10 champion in both cross-country and track.
Other recent additions to the field are Olly English, the UK universities champion who finished in fifth spot in the recent cross-country race in Brussels, and Rob Burchall who has already been selected for the team for the world cross-country championships.
There are also teams from Wales and Scotland and, for the first time, a Norwegian team in the line-up.
Anne Keenan-Buckley will be fancied to complete the double having won the long course race a couple of weeks ago.
Her biggest threat could come from Mrisho Zakia of Tanzania, a 19 year old up and coming athlete who has won races in Sweden and Spain as well as her native country.
Una English, who won the Swiss championship last weekend, will also go close if she decides to compete while the Scottish champion, Susan Partridge, is included on the Scottish team along with Freya Murray, leading UK runner in the Great North Cross-Country at just 19, Toni McIntosh and Trudi Thomson who won the Belfast marathon.
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