East Down AC at the UK Inter Counties

East Down AC’s Aaron McGrady and Catherine O’Connor were both selected to take part in the UK Inter Counties Cross Country Championships which took place in the grounds of Prestwold Hall, Loughborough on 11th March 2023. Catherine was part of the NI & Ulster Team who travelled over to take part whereas Aaron was running for Cheshire County where he is currently living. 

Catherine had a fine run to 58th out of 263. She said that she enjoyed the course and that it was proper cross country terrain. It was more challenging than her prior experience with sticky mud uphill and down. It was billed as two 4k laps but turned out to be good bit longer with navigating the obstacles. It was a really competitive field so she was more than happy with her ranking at the end.

Aaron faced two laps of 5k and he said the start was hectic. He noted that as it was also the last round of the British Cross Challenge it attracted a high calibre of athlete. He had always fancied taking part and was glad to be in the mix. His performance placed him 112th out of 297