Barry Twohig and Siobhan Hoare are the winners of the Cork BHAA cross country race
Barry Twohig on his way to victory at the ESB 5km cross-country at Beaumont Park. Picture: John Walshe
THE only cross-country race on the Cork BHAA calendar saw Barry Twohig (Emerald Fencing) repeat his victory of 12 months ago with the women’s race going to Siobhan Hoare who was representing Bon Secours.
An earlier start time of 10am – a new innovation for 2024 by the Cork BHAA – and the cold but crisp conditions didn’t deter over 180 turning out for the ESB 5km event at Beaumont Park in the city.
Twohig thrives on tough and hilly conditions, having won the Bweeng Trail Run (IMRA) 10km the previous week.
A former cyclist with the Blarney club, he competed at a high level from the age of 12 up to his mid-twenties, winning the Junior Tour of Ireland the age of 17 in 1996.
Taking the lead from the start, he was in control all the way over the hilly three laps although Michael Harrington (Harrington Upvc) was closing at the finish which Twohig reached in a time of 17:54 for a six-second victory.
Trevor Cummins (Train with Trevor) was third, a further seven seconds in arrears, with Tim O’Connor (Uisce Eireann) – who was second at one stage – having to settle for fourth.
“It was harder than last year,” admitted the winner, who also has a third place finish in this race from 2022.
“Michael was right behind me for pretty much the whole race and he was gaining on me all the time.
“Every time I turned a corner I could him behind me, so he made it very hard. It’s also a kind of faster course this year, last year it was very mucky and with the cold morning the ground is kind of half frozen.”
The women’s race was equally competitive with victory going to F45 Siobhan Hoare in 21:22.
Second was F50 Breda Gaffney (Avondhu MF) in 21:29 with yet another super-master – Carmel Crowley (Stockhealth) - finishing third in 21:57.
Like the men’s winner, Hoare also has an interesting history. As Siobhan Walsh, she was a top-class juvenile with Grange-Fermoy over 30 years ago and then ran for UCD with whom she won the national junior cross-country title in 1995.
“I’ve been running since I was 10 and I love cross-country,” she explained.
“I really enjoyed the race, the hills were tough but that’s what cross-country is all about. I live now in Turner’s Cross and run with the Togher club, we’ve a great team there.”
1 B Twohig (Emerald Fencing, M40) 17:54; 2 M Harrington (Harrington Upvc Ltd, M50) 18:00; 3 T Cummins (Train with Trevor, M40) 18:07; 4 T O’Connor (Uisce Eireann, M45) 18:34; 5 N Hogan (UCC, M40) 19:00; 6 R O’Connell (Orsted, M40) 19:22.
Team: (Grade A) 1 Uisce Eireann 38; 2 Apple 95; 3 Statkraft 214. (Grade B) 1 Eli Lilly 64; 2 UCC 116; 3 Dept of Education 131. (Grade C) 1 MTU 159; 2 Musgrave 239; 3 MTU 285.
1 S Hoare (Bon Secours, F45) 21:22; 2 B Gaffney (Avondhu MF, F50) 21:29; 3 C Crowley (Stockhealth, F55) 21:57; 4 L O’Connor (Musgrave, F45) 22:15; 5 S-A Lynch (Medica) 23:36; 6 S Walsh (Abbvie, F40) 23:43.
Team: (Grade A) 1 Avondhu MF 121; 2 HSE 181; 3 UCC 190. (Grade B) 1 UCC 190; 2 Apple 215. (Grade C) 1 Dept of Education 261; 2 Apple 298.
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