A mighty effort by Brian Fay produced the best Irish result at the World Cross Country Championships in Tallahassee in over a decade, his 16th-place finish also the fourth best by a European on the day.
Staged in suitably warm Florida sunshine, Fay was narrowly outsprinted to the line by Jimmy Gressier from France, the world 10,000m champion, the Dublin athlete nonetheless delighted with his run after moving up from 40th position in the early stages.
“Yeah buzzing after that,” said Fay. “This is the same course I ran my first NCAA cross-country, and knew I had to race a bit conservatively today, to come through the field.
“You live for this, I was feeling good pretty most of the whole way, but it gets harder to pass people. Bit disappointed to lose to Jimmy in the homestretch, but delighted to have come here, I really wanted to put it up to the top guys.”
Niamh Allen also mixed it with the very best in the world to finish 21st in the women’s race, the third best by any European there, just two places ahead of fellow Cork athlete Fiona Everard in 23rd.
While both senior races were once again dominated by the African runners – Jacob Kiplimo from Uganda and Agnes Ngetich from Kenya striking gold – the performances by Fay, Allen and Everard proved just reward for their commitment to the event, after so many other Irish athletes opted out.
Fay called on all his distance running experience over the 10km race at the Apalachee Regional Park, which featured several different challenge areas, including a 90ft-high rollercoaster ramp, a 20ft-long muddy Everglades swamp, a treacherous alligator alley, and a Florida sand dune.
Starting out cautiously, he was in 37th place after two of the five laps, moving up to 20th by lap four, before gaining four more places on the last lap – his 16th-place finish the best result by an Irish runner in the event since Fionnuala McCormack finished 14th back in 2013.
Kiplimo pulled clear on the last lap, winning by 18 seconds from Berihu Aregawi from Ethiopia, and Kenya’s Daniel Ebenyo in third, with Thierry Ndikumwenayo, the Burundi-born athlete representing Spain, the best European in eighth.
Still it was the best international result yet for Fay, the 27-year-old who two years ago ran 13:01.40 to break the Irish 5,000m record, before winning his first National Cross-Country title in November.
Allen and Everard were equally pleased with their efforts, the Cork duo moving up from 33rd and 38th after 2km, sticking close together for most of the way. Allen clocked 34:19, Everard three seconds back, 34:22.
Niamh Allen and Fiona Everard at the World Cross Country Championships. Photograph: Athletics Ireland
Both finished ahead of Megan Keith, who won the silver medal at last month’s European Cross-Country in Portugal. Keith was in 14th at the 4km mark, but dropped back to 25th
Maria Forero from Spain was the top European in 14th place, with Sarah Lahti from Sweden finishing 18th, just three places ahead of Allen, who was making her debut in the event. The 30-year-old only returned to competitive running less than two years ago, after the birth of her daughter Lilly in September 2024. Everard also improved considerably on her 60th placing two years ago.
The senior women’s team race was also dominated by Africa, Ethiopia (19) winning ahead of Kenya (36) and Uganda (37th). Ngetich was a runaway winner, the world 10km road record holder winning by a massive 42 seconds.
Noah Harris was the only other Irish interest, running in the men’s under-20 race, and the Wicklow athlete started with real intention, running in 16th place after the first lap of four laps, and was still 17th at the bell.
However, the warm conditions then took a toll and Harris lost 21 places on the last lap, finishing out on his feet in 38th. Frankline Kibet led home a Kenyan sweep of the top four places, with Willen Renders from Belgium in 11th, the best finish by a European in the men’s under-20 race this decade.
However many European nations were notable by their absence, with likes of Italy, Germany, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Austria, Czechia, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, Hungary, Ukraine, Turkey and Switzerland all opting not to send any athletes.
The African medal dominance was broken in the mixed 4x2km relay, where Oli Hoare, Lindan Hall, Jack Anstey and Jessica Hull won gold ahead of France and Ethiopia. Defending champions Kenya were run out of the medals there, finishing fourth.
Ethiopia’s 17-year-old Marta Alemayo defended her under-20 title, although there was no Ethiopian team in either under-20 race after 14 of their athletes had their visa entry into the US refused.
Ethiopia’s under-20 men’s team had won medals in the last 36 editions of the event, which had been the longest streak for any country at the World Cross Country.
Among the Irish athletes to opt out of the World Cross-Country were Jack O’Leary, Cormac Dalton and Efrem Gidey, who will instead race the Valencia 10km road race on Sunday along with 19-year-old Ava Crean, the national marathon champion, in the women’s race.