Twenty first championship for Tulla AC - Foundation wins first senior title

(Extract from The Clare Champion, Friday, Feb. 11, 1983)
"Michael Foundation of Marian Athletic Club competing in his seventeenth consecutive County senior cross-country championship, impressively took his first senior cross-country title at Tyreda, Tulla on Sunday last, While Tulla Athletic Club, in a thrilling and exciting finish, dramatically won their twenty-first County senior championship with two points to spare from Marian AC with Kilmurry-Ibrickane third and Redgate fourth.
The championship, which was run over seven and a half miles on a testing course with sticky underfoot conditions, attracted a good entry of 55 competitors of whom 47 completed in bitterly cold weather conditions. The championship attracted a fine attendance, who had an excellent view of the entire race, from the centre of a very well planned course, which consisted of one small and five large laps.
The pace early on was exceptionally fast and at the end of the first lap a group of six runners were forcing a very hot pace up front. This included three Tulla runners, Frankie Culligan, Donal McGrath and Michael Minogue, Marian's Michael Foundation and Redgate's Tommy Madden and Tony Ryan. After two laps and three and a half miles covered, Culligan, Foundation, Madden and McGrath were sharing the lead with Ryan fifth and Minogue sixth. At this stage Tulla were leading Marian with 54 points to 62, with Kilmurry-Ibrickane third and Redgate fourth.
With three laps completed and five miles covered, Foundation, who was running well within himself, was 15 metres clear of Culligan and Madden, with Ryan still in fourth position, with Kilmurry-Ibrickane's Pat Hehir, the 1981 champion, having moved into fifth position just ahead of Michael Minogue. At this stage Marian had cut Tulla's lead to 4 points - 55 to 59.
Foundation was clearly putting on the pressure and at the end of the fourth lap was 60 metres clear of Culligan, with Madden 30 metres further back. This trio were now 200 metres clear of the fourth man, Donal McGrath with Hehir and Minogue sharing fifth and sixth positions, Tony Ryan seventh and the Marian trio of Joe O'Loughlin, John Hynes and Gerry McCullough eighth, ninth and tenth respectively. At this stage last year's champion, Michael Culligan of Tulla who has been out of active competition since the Dublin City Marathon, was making steady progress and had moved up to fourteenth position. With one lap to go only two points separated Tulla and Marian.
As the runners went out on the final lap Foundation, who was running superbly with style and confidence, continued to stretch his lead and was well on his way to his first individual championship, wildly cheered on by his excited supporters. Over the final lap the leading positions did not change with Foundation winning with 120 metres to spare from Culligan with Madden third, McGrath fourth, Minogue fifth and Hehir sixth.
However, the real drama was quickly unfolding between the teams. Excitement ran high when supporters saw that a determined Marian team with half a mile to go had drawn level with Tulla. Each position was desperately contested and the pressure on each athlete was intense, urged on by their frantic supporters. Over the final half mile two of Tulla's most experienced runners, Michael Minogue and Eugene Conlon, each gained the vital positions, to give a fine Tulla team their twenty-first championship. Seldom has such tension and thrilling finish been seen at a cross-country championship. All the Tulla team ran and packed superbly, but Conlon and Minogue by the manner in which they snatched victory, were the stars of the team. Minogue, who holds nine senior championship medals produced an amazing burst of speed in the final 50 metres to catch Pat Hehir to move from sixth to fifth position.
The Kilmurry-Ibrickane team had to field without Cyril Donnellan who received a severe hand injury the previous day, while Redgate were also handicapped with Pat Walsh gallantly completing the course, although suffering from a cold.
Foundation's popular win is the climax to a fine athletic career in Clare senior cross-country championships, in which he was runner-up eight times, third three times and fourth five times. He afterwards said that the rigorous training programme which he did for the New York City Marathon helped him enormously.
Marie Gormley of Marian AC won her first Clare senior championship medal in the womens championship from her clubmate, Bridie Roche with Noelle Boyce, Tulla, third. Marian won the team title from Kilmurry-Ibrickane with Tulla third.