Ireland’s Mary Cullen received a boost ahead of Sunday’s SPAR European Cross Country Championships as she was named the Crowne Plaza Athlete of the Month for November.
The Sligo runner has been in good form in preparation for this weekend’s event where she will be favoured by many to be a genuine medal contender.
Cullen was placed fourth in last year’s European Cross Country, narrowly missing out on her first major championship medal. However she didn’t have to wait long to fill that void, as she went on to take bronze at 3000m at the European Indoor Championships in Turin earlier this year.
It has been a difficult year for Cullen, despite her medal success in Italy. She suffered with injury during the track season which meant she was unable to compete at the World Championships in Berlin but she has always had the European Cross Country in the back of her mind.
‘The event has been building up for six months now and I have really been focused on that through everything this year. It was tough to miss the track season but I was always looking at Santry and thinking that it would be my focus once I would be back to full fitness, right now I just want to get out there,’ she said.
Cullen’s form has been good in recent months and no more so than at the recent Inter County Cross Country Championships in Kilbeggan where she took gold in impressive fashion.
‘I was really happy with how it all went at the national championships.
'The conditions were tough but it will probably be very similar to how conditions will be in Santry on Sunday so that was very encouraging for me Since then as well my preparations have been going very well and training back in Sligo has worked out good for me.’
