special to Irish Runner.com by Eoghan Young-Murphy

Some of Ireland's finest distance runners were in action in the Gerry Farnan Cross-Country, the event which traditionally opens the domestic season, in Phoenix Park on Sunday.

As Athletics Ireland have confirmed that a complete set of junior and senior teams will be sent to the European Championships in Holland in December, with three of the six athletes being announced at the discretion of the selectors, the form of many is being closely monitored.

The men's 5-mile race clearly illustrated the emergence of a new breed of youngsters, with seasoned international Peter Matthews being beaten by National Cross-Country and 1500m champion Gary Murray.

Dubliner Matthews, a tenth place finisher in the Europeans in 2000, may be on the wane but the form displayed by Murray in recent months suggests he could soon be a force internationally.

He left the DSD man trailing almost a minute in arrears; clocking 24:12 with Matthews posting 24:57. Raheny's Mark Kirwan continues to improve rapidly, and he was good enough for third.

Aoife Byrne was once touted as an athlete capable of partially emulating the exploits of a named Cork legend when, as at age 20, she clocked a fine 2:01.89 for 800m. She's yet to progress to her believed potential but is still among the best in this isle at her discipline - and she won on Sunday, ahead of Orla O'Mahony. Byrne chose to focus on her studies in biochemistry last season but is now able to devote more time to timing.

Meanwhile, Haile Gebrselassie, perhaps the greatest distance runner of all time, may have recorded the fastest time in the world this year en route to victory in Sunday's Amsterdam Marathon, but he failed to prove to his doubters that he has the ability to replicate over the classic distance his exploits on the track.

The Ethiopian legend had beforehand deemed himself highly confident not only bettering his personal best of 2:06:35 but also of adding Paul Tergat's world mark of 2:04:55 to his vast array of records. He may have achieved the former - his winning time was 2:06:20 - but as he is now in the twilight of his career, it seems highly unlikely the latter will be accomplished.

Gebrselassie, ostensibly 32, claimed that a lack of training prevented him from landing the record, and admitted his dissatisfaction with his performance. It is, however, a measure of the high standards by which he is judged that a clocking which less than twenty years ago would have been considered exceptional is now frowned upon.

Tergat may have incessantly played second-fiddle to the Ethiopian on the track but it looks as though he will go down in folklore as a superior marathon runner. That's probably scant consolation.

And finally, Gerry Ryan saw off Neil Cusack in a close encounter in the Loughrea 5 mile Road Race on Sunday, the Galway man clocking 24:23 minutes. Rosemary Ryan took the women's crown in 27:35.