Kevin McGrath denied title by clerical error

ATHLETICS

On a bitterly cold Sunday morning in Proudstown Bohermeen AC's Kevin McGrath was in red-hot form as he headed a strong field and crossed the line five seconds ahead of second placed Michael Murphy from Tullamore.

However later on Sunday evening McGrath was informed that he was in fact ineligible to compete in the novice race as his third place finish in the 1500m at the track & field championships in 2022 meant he should have been running in the intermediate race.

Such a ruling was harsh on the Meath man who was clearly the superior athlete in the field and it is believed that Meath Athletics will bring a motion to the next Athletics congress to ensure that results from track, road and cross-country championships are treated separately when it comes to determining eligibility for national races.

McGrath was crowned Meath senior cross-country champion for the second time last month.

More renowned as a track athlete McGrath has prepared for his track season by running cross-country in recent years and he has proved to be just as formidable in the muck as he is on the tartan.

In a tough race, just a few miles from his front door, McGrath had to rely upon his 800m speed in the final stages to claim the memorable win.

The Bohermeen AC runner was pushed all the way in a competitive men’s race which saw the leading positions change on numerous occasions over the course of the 6,000m race. Ultimately it was the leading trio of McGrath, Michael Murphy (Tullamore Harriers, and William Fitzgerald (Craughwell AC) who were still in contention for gold heading into the final 1,000m.

A final decisive kick from the Bohermeen athlete saw McGrath stretch clear up the run-in on his way to gold in a time 19 minutes, 32 seconds. Murphy followed in for silver in 19:37 with Fitzgerald taking the bronze in 19:39.

However, McGrath had to surrender the gold to Murphy after he became aware of his ineligibility.