Aprot and Ayalew Victorious in Antrim

Published by IAAF on January 16, 2016

Kenya’s Alice Aprot and Bahrain’s Aweke Ayalew triumphed at the Antrim International Cross Country in competitive races at the IAAF Cross Country Permit meeting on Sunday (16).

Biting cold and muddy underfoot conditions greeted the runners in Greenmount for the annual international with an expected duel between Great Britain’s Kate Avery and Ireland’s Fionnuala McCormack in the women’s 5.8km race never really materialising.

McCormack ended up leading in the early stages by virtue of the fact of the conditions rather than a pre-race plan.

"In the first lap it kind of just happened," said the Irish woman on hitting the front on the rhythm-breaking course. "I think the Africans thought they could get around the mud but realised they couldn’t. That’s how I ended up at the front because I just went through it."