Matthews our main man at Stormont

WITH Rosemary Ryan, Catherina McKiernan and Seamus Power all missing the event, Peter Matthews is the main Southern challenger at the Reebok international cross-country race at Stormont Castle on Saturday.

Rosemary Ryan is concentrating on the national inter-club championships in Roscommon and the Almond Blossom race in the Algarve next month en route to the world cross-country championships in Brussels.

“I had a cold last weekend so I did not compete in Newcastle,” she said.

“But it is nothing much and I trained through it. I was very happy with my run in the European championships in Belgium. I would have preferred a top 10 finish but 13th was good on the day and I have something to build on.”

Her target on the track is Olympic qualification and she will plan her campaign this week. Training is going well. I think the race in the Algarve will tell me a lot. That is on a good surface and is usually a fast race so it will give me an idea of where I am at,” she said. We only have until the end of June to get standards for the Olympics and that does not leave us with very much time.

“There is talk about Athletics Ireland subsidising a training trip to the US. If that doesn’t materialise I will stick to Europe and will look to the European 10k challenge for a 10,000m time. But the 5,000m standard is realistic and that will be a target too.”

While she considers the various avenues open to her, she will concentrate on the cross-country circuit and the world championships.

“Cross-country is different; it’s all about team performances. There is good atmosphere there and I feel that we have a bit of depth if we can get everybody to the line fit and healthy,” she said. But the selectors will have to plan without Anne Keenan-Buckley when they prepare the team for the world championships.

Anne, who played a major role in Ireland’s silver medal performance at the European championships last month, celebrated her 42nd birthday yesterday and dashed hopes of postponing her retirement until after the championships.

“Definitely not,” she said. “I had my mind made up long before the European championships. I would probably have retired after the world championships in Switzerland last year but all the talk about Sonia (O’Sullivan) and Catherina (McKiernan) being available for the European championships got me thinking.

“I had done absolutely nothing all summer and I think I just made it to Edinburgh. My form was coming around at just the right time and I was delighted with my run. It was a great way to end my career with such enthusiasm in the team followed by the excitement of winning the silver medals.” “I do not miss it. It is not just the training that affects your life. There are things like watching your diet and what you eat and getting to bed early. It is not really fair on the family,” she said.

“There is no question of me going back. Age is not a factor. I could probably get another couple of years out of it. But it is a huge commitment.” She has been running competitively for more than 30 years but that competitive element is still there.

“I will probably always have that. needed the competition to keep me focused and keep me training. “I’ll get involved with the juveniles in the club and put a bit back into athletics so I will still keep in touch.”

Seamus Power will join Peter Matthews to train in Dublin next week as part of his preparations for the national championships.

“I just want to get in a block of training at this point,” he said.

Cathal Lombard already has the qualifying standard at 5,000m for Athens and continues his preparations at a training camp in Potchefstroom, near Johannesburg, with James Nolan.