Cormac Dalton of Mullingar Harriers is just two days away from attempting to make his sixth consecutive Irish team for the European Cross Country Championships. His bid begins at the 123.ie National Senior Cross Country Championships in Derry on Sunday.
Dalton won the national title in 2023 and has been looking to emulate that performance ever since. After a track season that he described as a “transition year”, the Mullingar man is raring to go for the remainder of his cross country season, buoyed by a positive sixth-place finish in an international field in Spain at the start of the month.
After a “perfect” build-up, he will face stiff competition, given that entries include speedy track specialists like 5k national record holder Brian Fay and 13:02 5k-man Darragh McElhinney but Dalton believes he has once again found his rhythm.
“I’m excited for Sunday. In terms of the preparation, I don’t think it could have been more perfect so far this season… I feel like… I’ve probably struggled last year or so to find my full rhythm again, but I feel like I properly have now this season,” Dalton told Athletics Ireland.
Cross country is a different beast, and track specialists like Fay and McElhinney may find themselves in difficulty if the wet weather that is predicted to hit on Sunday holds.
The 27-year-old admitted that while he isn’t a fan of muddy conditions, he seems to cope well with anything that is thrown at him on race day.
“I don’t love running through the muck, but I seem to be able to always perform in it.
“Whereas maybe some people can’t. So I’m confident that I can put in a good performance no matter the conditions.
“I’m excited to give it another lash. It’s always a fun weekend this. If you like the mud, I think it probably will be.
Cormac Dalton crossing the line in the 2024 123.ie National Senior Cross Country Championships
The primary goal for the 7.5km race is to once again earn that coveted green vest, but with only the top three guaranteed selection, aiming for the win may be the best tactic to secure a seat on the plane to Portugal for the European Cross Country Championships on December 14.
“The goal going into National Cross is always to win it for me. And that’s what I’m hoping for. But I don’t think there’s been a double, like somebody that’s won twice in a long time. I don’t know, in the last 10 years. So I’m not expecting to win it.
“But ultimately, it’s to qualify for Europeans and also perform really, really well there.”
Away from the track and cross country course the Mullingar native has continued to work three days a week as a process engineer with FPK.
This allows him more time to focus on the demands of training, but it does mean he loses out on a portion of his salary that he could earn if he worked full-time.
The 27-year-old has therefore had to get creative to support his running career and even dipped his toe into the world of vlogging on Youtube earlier this year.
“I like sharing my journey. I do it on Instagram and a few social media things. So it’s an extra little thing to do there. I enjoy letting people know what I’m doing. And I like the responses, and people seem to take well to it. But it’s almost like another full-time job at times.
Another innovative way Dalton is being supported is by local Mullingar coffee roaster, Bell Lane.
“The Bells are a family I know well in Mullingar… I just reached out to them. I’m just looking for that kind of local support to help me fund all that running takes… in terms of shoes, training camps. Surrendering that 40% to my job, it’s kind of hard to live in Dublin without an extra bit of support.
“I’m looking to expand those sponsorships, and they’ve been really cool to work with and a cool experience too, in terms of learning how some of that marketing stuff works.”
Bell Lane is hosting a community 5k on December 6, one week out from the European championships.
While Dalton will be participating, he won’t be using it as a tune-up and believes events such as this are an important bridge builder between elites like him and casual runners.
“I will be doing the 5k but I’ll probably do a session in Mullingar that morning and then not warm down from the session and use the 5k as just a really easy gentle jog and chat with a few friends and family that come out to it.
“It’s really cool to be shown off locally like that. There is that disconnect between elite-level athletes and the general public that are really starting to take to running and enjoy it.
“It will be cool to try and bridge that gap back home and then hopefully be performing at Euro Cross the week later.”
Even with his own ambitions coming to a head this week, Dalton took time to talk about Longford hero Cian McPhillips.
The pair have both been under the watchful eye of Joe Ryan since they were children and Dalton joked, he takes some credit for McPhillips’ success over the years.
“I trained with Cian since he was 14, 15, since he came to Mullingar under Joe, I take full credit for developing his aerobic strength leading into his U20 European win, I always poke fun at him that I dragged him around for tempo sessions for six weeks, and he got fit.
“It was class to see him show that on the world stage. We could expect it’d happen in his career, just not this summer… I’ve been coached by Joe since I was 10 or 11, so it’s cool to see him get that kind of result, he works hard for all of us.”
