Harriers looking to seize their European opportunity

It’s a big weekend for the Kilkenny City Harriers as two teams from the club get set to represent Ireland in the European Champions Clubs Cup Cross Country in Albufeira, Portugal on Sunday.

Ninety-eight teams featuring 379 athletes will be competing, making it the biggest edition of the competition in recent years.

It is the 12th time in which Albufeira has hosted a version of the championships, which has a history stretching back to 1962.

It is also on the same course which hosted the 2010 SPAR European Cross Country Championships.

The Harriers will be represented by a senior men’s team and an under-20 women’s team.

The senior men’s side features Jamie Gahan, Cathal O’Reilly, Eoin Everard, Ger Forde, Brian Maher and James Ledingham and will be managed by Noel Richardson.

The under-20 women’s team has Pia Langton, Isabella Burke, Hazel Coogan, Clodagh O’Callaghan and manager Niamh Richardson in their ranks.

The two teams booked their place to Portugal when qualifying from the national championships that took place in Gowran last November where the senior men claimed a brilliant victory.

While looking ahead to the weekend, the senior men’s team are looking to grasp the opportunity.

“For the club I think it’s a very special win for us and it’ll be definitely cherished for the rest of our lives,” said James Ledingham.

“When you look at the age-profile of all of the athletes here, we’re at the winter of our careers so to finally have won the national championships is a significant achievement,” he added. “We’ll push on now from here and hopefully perform well.”

The 39 year-old is part of a very experienced team and he know what a boost to the club it is to have two teams competing at European level.

“To have two clubs going from the club is an exceptional achievement and to have the balance from both the male and female side is of significant value,” he said. “It’s very good for the under-age athletes to see achieving European success.”

Jamie Gahan is another member of the team and admits that training has been going well ahead of the big trip.

“Preparations have been going well since we won the nationals,” he said. “Everyone has been digging in and having this in the back of their mind, this has been our aim. We’ve had a couple of injuries but overall everything is going well.

“It was the first time the club had won nationals so it’s a real honour to be going over to this,” he added. “We want to go over and put in a good showing of ourselves.

“The role of the club is huge,” Gahan continued. “The support we’ve been getting is fantastic throughout, I’ve only come back to Kilkenny over the past few years and it’s brilliant to join back in to the club so seamlessly and heading over with fellas your training with two/three times a week is great.”

While the majority of the men’s senior team are in the twilight of their career, the under-20 women’s team are only getting started so to achieve national success as a team already is fair going.

“The seniors have been a great support,” said Pia Langton. “They’re a great influence for us to keep going and to drive for a bigger goal.

“It’s a big goal just to become like them and get better as time goes on.”

What is the goal for the team?

“I always try to go out in a race and try and get a personal best because you do want to get better when you train harder so you have a goal when you get out there,” said Clodagh O’Callaghan.

“I’m very excited it’s a completely new experience because we’ve never really been away before,” added Isabella Burke.

The Kilkenny City Harriers are already well used to the big stage and this offers another chance to showcase their talent.

Club chairman John Maye is delighted to see some of the clubs stars performing so well.

“It’s a great reward for years of hard work. It was such a wonderful day when they won the national senior championships out in Gowran. Then we also have our junior women’s team where we have a real depth coming through with lots of great work there from coaches.

“We have these athletes coming through where they can see national champions heading out to European Championships to represent the club and I suppose we would like to see the Harriers staying on that stage.

“It’s very exciting. You’re representing the club, the country and yes you might get a bit of a sun tan while you’re out there for a couple of days,” he added.

“The team fly out on Friday and will prepare for the race on Sunday morning, when they will be able to rub shoulders with athletes from around the world.”

The men and women will race over the same distances with the senior races over a five-lap course totalling 9.28km while the under-20s contest races of three laps totalling 5.62km.

The championships will be streamed in its entirety through Eurovision Sport with separate English, French and Spanish commentaries. There will also be extensive coverage of the event on the European Athletics website and social media channels.