By Cathal Dennehy Irish Independent

Every long-distance race is less about how you start, more about how you finish, and at the 123.ie National Cross Country Championships in Derry today, Brian Fay and Fiona Everard proved that in emphatic fashion, unleashing devastating final laps to claim the senior titles.

Both had been dropped by their rivals on the penultimate laps of the 7,500m senior events, but both managed to dig in, finding something extra, to claw their way back to the front and power clear when it mattered most.

It was a cold, wet, windy afternoon at the Templemore Sports Complex – the miserable conditions breaking many an athlete in both mind and spirit, submerging several of the track Ferraris and swinging the advantage more towards those equipped to cope in such sludgy underfoot conditions.

By the time the senior races got under way, the underage events had ensured large parts of the course resembled a scene from the National Ploughing Championships, with athletes opting to run wide on the bends as they searched for ever-diminishing grassy sections.

The senior men’s race was packed with quality and it was always likely that whoever could fire the last shot would emerge victorious. In the end, it was Fay who did that, the Raheny athlete battling to stay in contention through the first four laps before changing gears in impressive style over the final 100 metres.

Early in the race, Efrem Gidey made a bold, daring move that turned out to be more than a little reckless – the Clonliffe Harrier building a 25-metre advantage. But given the calibre of opponent behind, that was unlikely to work and after being reeled in, he swiftly dropped back through the pack, his chance evaporating as he finished sixth in 25:32, 19 seconds behind Fay.

With two of the five laps remaining, the leading pack had been reduced to five, with Fay tracking leaders Cormac Dalton and Nick Griggs alongside Darragh McElhinney and Jack O’Leary. At the bell there were just two left at the front, Dalton and Griggs, with Fay having 20 metres to find.

But find it he did, the Irish 5,000m record-holder re-entering the gold-medal chat midway through the final lap and tracking the leading duo into the home straight before shifting gears in impressive style, hitting the line in 25:13.

Griggs came home two seconds behind and Dalton was close by in third ahead of O’Leary, who secured the final automatic qualifying spot for the Europeans next month in Portugal, eight seconds clear of McElhinney, who will now await the selectors’ decision along with Gidey.

Fay had just returned from a spell in Australia and the 27-year-old had questioned his ability to cope with the mud.

“I dropped off a bit, I was working hard,” he admitted. “But coming into the last lap I was like, ‘Do you know what? I can dog this out for one more lap.’ Then I knew I could try win it, so I sat in. Once I saw the finish line, I was going for it. I’ve come second here before, fourth, fifth, so it’s nice to get the win.”

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Back in second, Griggs proved his class is matched by great courage and versatility, the 20-year-old Tyrone athlete taking the U-23 title and leading the Candour Track Club to team gold. He will lead a formidable Irish U-23 team at the Europeans where he could be backed up by Abdel Laadjel, the Dubliner who finished a superb ninth at the NCAA Championships in Missouri on Saturday.

“Usually I don’t like the mud too much, but today I just told myself to change that mentality,” said Griggs. “I really enjoyed it, I felt really good. Brian ran an unbelievable race and he deserves the win.”