Mary Cullen of North Sligo AC was encouraged by her performance in Saturday's Burgos International Cross Country International in Spain where she finished fourth behind Genzebe Dibaba of Ethiopia.
Cullen, who is training at home in Sligo for the SPAR European Cross Country Championships which take place at Santry Park in Dublin on 13 December, was happy to finish ahead of several European runners who will be travelling to Dublin next month.
The Sligo woman was just a second behind third place finisher, Ines Monteiro of Portugal - the only European runner to finish ahead of her, as Iness Chenonge of Kenya took the silver medal.
Cullen finished strongly in15.16, with high profile runners like Nuria Fernandez of Spain, (8th), Sarah Moreira of Portugal, (9th) and Marta Dominguez of Spain, (19th) all finishing behind her.
'I was pleased with my performance and it was good for my confidence,' Cullen said.
Last year Cullen finished fourth in the European Cross Country Championships and she has made no secret of her ambitions to deliver a big home run in Santry.
'I am looking forward to this year’s European Championships and I want to run well at home,' she said.
'The race here in Burgos was fast, which is what I was looking for and I know that it will benefit me in my preparations for Santry.'
Mark Kenneally of Clonliffe Harriers was best placed of the Irish men. The strongly built Kenneally placed 11th in the 8 kilometer event in 25.59 behind reigning World Cross Country Champion, Gebre Gebremarian of Ethiopia who won the race in 24.41.
