Feb 4, 2007 [N. Guiden] Istanbul did not prove to be a happy hunting ground for the Clonliffe men today when a depleted team could not quite match the highs of 2006. The 2007 European Club Cross Country Championships were held over a hilly course in parklands overlooking the Sea of Marmada. A stiff breeze was blowing in from the sea all day. Snow and sleet added to the difficult conditions. A last minute change was made to the team as Mark Kenneally was concerned with a niggle and Joe Cooper made the decision to leave Mark at home and draft in Michael MacDiarmada in his place.
Colm Rooney continued his current good form with an excellent run to lead home the team taking 17th place. Cian McLoughlin was next in 36th place. Aidan Bailey 59th, Kevin English had a good run placing 73rd with late call up man Michael McDiarmada 76th and Gary O`Hanlon, clearly not back to his pre injury condition, yet, placing 85th.
Race winner, for the third time with victories in 2002 and 2003, was Alberto Garcia of Spanish giants AC Adidas. He lead home team mate Ayed Lamdarsem in 2nd with Jose Rios 4th and Carlos Caslitejo 5th making up the scoring four to yet another win for AC Adidas with a 12 point total.
The Clonliffe team finished in 10th place, somewhat disappointing, however, with Mark and Killan Lonergan to link up and still a full five weeks to go to the Nationals we should still be in the final shake up in Sligo.
Congratulations to DSD on their superb win in the Junior Womens event with a clean sweep. 1st Charlotte Ffrench-O`Carroll 14:03, with twin sister Rebecca one second in arrears and Suzanne Hunt 3rd (14:19).