Belgrade baptism of fire for Irish 

TOUGH SLOG: Hugh Armstrong of Ireland. Pic: David Fitzgerald, Sportsfile

They call it the world’s toughest race for a reason, and the eight Irish athletes learned the harsh reality of that at the World Cross Country Championships in Belgrade on Saturday.

Hugh Armstrong produced the standout run in the senior races, the Mayo man coming home 50th in the men’s race, while Anna Gardiner was the leading Irish junior, finishing 37th in the women’s U-20 race.

None of the eight Irish competitors had competed at the event before and on a hot, sunny day in the Serbian capital, with temperatures of 27 degrees, it proved a baptism of fire. 

Some wilted, others thrived, but amid the exhaustion, there was an unmistakeable sense afterwards that it had been worth the trip, that very little else they’ll face in their careers will feel as hard.

The day began in promising fashion for Ireland with both U-20 women’s competitors cracking the top-40 – no small feat in a race of this calibre – with Gardiner 37th in 21:58 and Kirsty Maher 40th in 22:10, two and a half minutes behind the Ethiopian winner Marta Alemayo.

“I’m not used to that kind of cross country, but it was absolutely brilliant to get to the start line with some of the most incredible runners in the world, l’m really chuffed with it,” said Gardiner. “It was brilliant to have the two of us working together.” 

Maher said that “6K feels a long way in that heat, at that speed.” 

Harry Colbert led the Irish home in the U-20 men’s 8km race in 25:48, just over three minutes behind Kenyan champion Samuel Kibathi, with Seamus Robinson 70th in 26:18. 

“I knew it was going to be pretty quick but even going off towards the back of the field, even if you’re back in the 80s or 90s, it’s still so quick,” said Colbert. “No matter what kind of plan you have going in, it’s always going to be a suffer-fest."

“Given the heat, we expected it’d be a tough race,” said Robinson. “We went as quick as we could, left it all on the course. We couldn’t ask for anymore. It was a great experience.” 

Ireland’s two senior women – Fiona Everard and Danielle Donegan – had a less uplifting experience, with Everard 63rd in 36:35 and Donegan 65th in 37:01. The race was won by defending champion Beatrice Chebet in 31:05, who led an astonishing Kenyan sweep of the first five places.

“It was so rough,” said Everard, the national cross country champion. “I felt prepared going into it, I obviously knew I wasn’t going to be up near the front, but I just wanted to be some way competitive and it’s annoying finishing a race knowing that wasn’t my all.” 

Donegan said it was “very different” to what she’d been used to in cross country and that it was “not what we came here for, but it’s a learning experience”.

Armstrong and his sole teammate in the senior men’s race, Keelan Kilrehill, employed a sensible strategy of picking off athletes over the latter half, with Armstrong coming home 50th in 30:18 and Kilrehill 56th in 30:25. Up front, Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo claimed his second straight title in 28:09.

“Overall, I’m happy enough with it, I gave it everything” said Kilrehill. 

“2K in I was hurting bad, at 5K I thought my head was about to explode and every lap I was going for water, just trying to survive another lap basically. I can see why everyone says it’s the toughest race in the world.” 

Armstrong, who’s in training for next month’s Hamburg Marathon, was also content with his run. 

“We thought between 40th and 60th was possible and that’s where we ended up,” he said. “We ran together for large portions and worked off each other. The last lap we both made up a good few spots and fairly went for it.”