A great day for the BARRS at the Munster 4 Mile Roads

A chill wind awaits the large field of men assembled for the start

This year’s Masters 4 Mile Road Championships were held in the Tipperary village of Dundrum just a few miles down the R505 from Cashel. A diary entry for Sunday the 3rd of March 2019 might have gone something along the lines of “Day started off well and progressed steadily from bad to poo!”. Indeed, as folks headed north towards Tipperary, the weather went south and the needle began to dip from the mid teens towards single digits. By the time the women hit the start line, the wind, rain, sleet and snow were battling for supremacy on one of the harshest days in recent race day memory.

Joe Cunningham among the leaders in a very competitive men's race

In the Novice Men’s race, the BARRS team finished 2nd behind Leevale A.C. John Meade (10), Michael Corbett (16), Rory O’Sullivan (18) and Michael Morgan (20) were the top four BARRS followed by Joe Cunningham, Padraig Sheehan, David O’Connor, Enda Kiernan and Donal Murray. John Meade was the fourth place finisher for Cork County team which took the Gold medal.

In the Senior Men’s race the BARRS team was 7th overall. Once again, Cork was the Gold medal winner with John Meade (16) contributing as a 5th place finisher.

In the Masters Men’s race, the notable performances in the individual categories were a 3rd place for Joe Cunningham at M45, 1st and 3rd places respectively for Eamonn McEvoy and Willie Hayes at M60 and 1st for Michael Dunne-Snr at M70. In the M40 category, Michael Corbett, Rory O’Sullivan and Michael Morgan finished 4th, 5th and 6th respectively.

In the M35 team category, the BARRS scored a fantastic 2nd behind An Riocht A.C. John Meade (7), Michael Corbett (12), Rory O’Sullivan (13) and Michael Morgan (15) were the top four BARRS. Once again the Cork team was the M35 Gold medal winner with John Meade, Michael Corbett and Rory O’Sullivan contributing as 3rd, 5th and 6th place finishers.

Sorcha Kearney on her way to a top four finish in the women's race

In the Novice Women’s race, the BARRS team finished 4th. The Cork Novice ladies took the Gold medal with Niamh Cronin contributing as a 3rd place finisher.

In the Senior Women’s race the BARRS team was 6th overall. Cork was again the Gold medal winner with Sorcha Kearney (4) contributing as a 2nd place finisher. Indeed, Sorcha had a fantastic run finishing 4th woman overall and showing her class across all levels.

In the Masters Women’s race, the notable performances in the individual categories were 1st and 2nd places respectively for Sorcha Kearney and Niamh Cronin at F40 and a 3rd place for Margo Dinan at F50.

In the F35 category, the BARRS team was 3rd while the Cork ladies took Gold with Sorcha Kearney and Niamh Cronin contributing to the team as 1st and 4th place finishers.

A wintery scene as snow swirls around the Rock Of Cashel

Despite all the hardships, the Munster Roads was a great day out for the club especially the F35 and M35 club teams. However, credit to ALL our club members who made the journey to Dundrum on a day that was destined to test the mettle of even the most hardly athlete. And last but not least, a big thanks to Dundrum A.C. for keeping us fed and sheltered from the elements.