Cormac Dalton reflects on national title as Brussels beckons
Mullingar’s Cormac Dalton, who won his first national senior cross country title in Gowran Park on November 19, is now preparing to lead the Irish team at the upcoming European Championships in Brussels.
The talented runner had to demonstrate resilience to secure his noteworthy success and endurance and stamina shone through as he took the 9km event in 31 minutes, in what were extremely testing conditions.
“It‘s a great feeling. It was a tough task so it was a nice feeling. It was against a bit of a ‘who’s who’ of Irish athletics at the minute, so it meant a lot,” he said, reflecting on his greatest day yet.
Having been out of the limelight for much of his teenage years, the success with Mullingar Harriers in Gowran was a welcome boost.
“I won a national title as a 12-year-old and I haven’t managed to win since. It’s just through injuries and stuff as I was growing up. I have been close: in the summer I was second in the outdoor track championships 5k event against Brian Fay, the recordholder,” he said.
“There were plenty of years when I ran well - I was second a few times, for example. But through a lot of growing injuries I struggled to get back to where I was at 11 or 12 years of age. I had to build back my strength in college, in DCU.”
Cormac’s mum, Amanda has been a big influence on his running career.
“I have been involved with the Mullingar Harriers Club since the age of nine. My mum would have ran herself back in the day: she went to Arkansas on scholarship and would have won an All-Ireland schools’ title, but gave it up in her 20s. Maybe she saw in me that I was a bit of a runner,” he remarked.
His ability was first noticed during his national school years. At U12 and U13 he won a few 600m titles and he took to the sport seamlessly.
“I started running in Gainstown primary school and I ran the schools event in Belvedere. I was fourth in my first race with no training, so mum brought me into Mullingar Harriers and I’ve trained there since,” he recalled.
RUNS IN THE FAMILY
Cormac was born in Lynn, Mullingar and his family were steeped in sport, especially athletics.
“My mum’s dad, Patrick Nolan, would have been one of the first athletes in Mullingar Harriers. He won a Leinster title back in the 1940s. So, it has been in the family and a few of my cousins would have run as juveniles. We are sports people and have either been involved in The Downs GAA or running,” he said.
His career has always been about endurance and perseverance. The 25-year-old left secondary school and earned a degree in biotechnology, a mixture of biology and engineering, in DCU. Following that, he completed a Masters in business in Tulsa, but it was more about the running than the academic side of things.
Cormac was coached by Joe Ryan, who has always coached him in Mullingar Harriers over the years, so his influence has played a key role. He earned a scholarship to the University of Tulsa in Oklahoma, where he attended for two years and that has significantly boosted his running. He returned to Ireland only this summer.
“I have been off the radar for the last two years in terms of being over there, but it has really pushed on my fitness. We had a really good team, good coaches and I just ran a lot of miles and did a lot of hard training sessions. I had a lot of good races over there and had a very successful time in Tulsa; it prepared me for stepping up to this level,” he revealed.
Such was his positive frame of mind in the lead-up to the national event in Gowran, Cormac had ambitions of being among the leading contenders.
“I knew everyone was showing up and that it would be a tough race. You never know with the conditions in cross country just how people will run it. I was definitely targeting a place on the European team, which was top six, and I actually thought I could be top three. I did have it in the back of my head, ‘I will go for the win if I can’, “ he said.
Previous experiences had prepared him well and he knew from what he had endured that he could challenge for a leading position.
“I have learned now, through a lot of my injuries and stuff, when I’m fit I want to give the race I’m in a good go. So I said to my coach, at any stage during the race I’ll have a go. And hopefully that will be the last 50 metres where I can win’. That’s what ended up happening.”
Reliving the race, he said energy-sapping conditions were a major factor on the day, but he was where he wanted to be at the business end.
“It came down to the last bend: I went around the guy from Ennis, Kevin Mulcair, who had pushed the pace a lot of the way. Over the last kilometre, we swapped the lead five or six times. Just through the muck on the corners, we were slipping and sliding: it was ankle deep at times,” he said.
“At that final bend, that’s where the crowd was loudest, too. It was very tense. We came ‘round the second last bend and he had gone through the muck better than me for the whole race, and he came out ahead though that muddy section. We had one more bend to go and it was good grass.
“I was just waiting to get there and as soon as I got away from the muck and onto the good grass, I just went as fast as I could and ended up going around him around the final bend. I pushed away from him up the home straight for the last 100 metres. You know by the momentum when you have somebody beaten and that was a great feeling: I enjoyed the last 50 metres and, as my dad said, ‘celebrated a few too many times!’ I just soaked in the moment.”
It was a 9km run, the same distance as the forthcoming European championships.
“I ran a 9km in Spain four weeks previously in 27 minutes, so it shows how muddy it was; just very, very slow and challenging. It was one of the slowest nationals in some time, but that’s down to the heavy conditions.”
The top three were guaranteed qualification for the European Championships in Brussels next Sunday week and the top six were selected.
“It’s my third senior appearance. I’ve been part of the Irish team for the last two years and I expected to get it again,” he said.
“I ran in Dublin in 2021 and in Italy last year, having qualified from America both years. My best finish was 28th in Dublin two years ago. I was sick last year and didn’t get the result I wanted.”
In Brussels, Cormac hopes he can continue his current rich vein of form.
“This year, I’m gunning for a top 10 finish and I hope to give that a good go. The Irish team is strong. We have a national record holder on the team and hopefully we can pick up a medal if all goes well. You can’t predict these things, but hopefully.”
SUPPORT
Cormac is currently employed with FPK Engineering, Kilkenny and is delighted with the support he receives as he pursues his athletics career.
“We do engineering solutions for pharmaceutical plants,” he explained.
“It’s related slightly to my degree; I’m learning a lot. They’re a new company and it’s very flexible for me. It has been great: they understand my athletics career and they want me to do well in that.”
He is proud of the Mullingar Harriers Club and all it contributes to the local community.
“It’s a great club. My mum is still involved with the juveniles and I hear plenty about it. The men’s team did really well to be fourth at the national event. We were hoping to give first place a go: it didn’t work out on the day, but hopefully in the next few years we can achieve that. We have athletes who will be in the top few in the country.”
Cross country running is not for the faint hearted and competing at the highest level is unforgiving. In Gowran, for example, a Mullingar Harriers athlete lost a shoe in the mud and had to continue bare footed in the gruelling conditions.
“It’s seriously competitive. Every corner of the country has a club that cares seriously about it. Every club has someone who is putting their whole life into it and you can see it in the results. Kilkenny won our race for example, while North Belfast did really well. Ennis were great. It’s interesting to see the whole country gunning for that event,” remarked Cormac.
“Athletics in general is on the up and it’s great to see.”