1979 IAAF World Cross Country Championships – Senior women's race

Senior women's race at the 1979 IAAF World Cross Country Championships
Organisers	IAAF
Edition	7th
Date	25 March
Host city	Limerick, Munster, Ireland
Venue	Greenpark Racecourse
Events	1
Distances	5.04 km – Senior women
Participation	100 athletes from 19 nations
← 1978 Glasgow 1980 Paris →

The Senior women's race at the 1979 IAAF World Cross Country Championships was held in Limerick, Ireland, at the Greenpark Racecourse on 25 March 1979. A report on the event was given in the Glasgow Herald. ^[1]

Complete results, ^[2] medallists, ^[3] and the results of British athletes ^[4] were published.

Race results

Senior women's race (5.04 km)

Individual

Rank	Athlete	Country	Time
	Grete Waitz	Norway	16:48
	Raisa Smekhnova	Soviet Union	17:14
	Ellison Goodall	United States	17:18
4	Ellen Wessinghage	West Germany	17:23
5	Svetlana Ulmasova	Soviet Union	17:25
6	Mary Purcell	Ireland	17:26
7	Jan Merrill	United States	17:33
8	Julie Shea	United States	17:41
9	Ann Ford	England	17:42
10	Cristina Tomasini	Italy	17:46
11	Margaret Groos	United States	17:47
12	Giana Romanova	Soviet Union	17:48
13	Debbie Scott	Canada	17:48
14	Anne Audain	New Zealand	17:49
15	Penny Yule	England	17:50
16	Sabine Ladurner	Italy	17:57
17	Paula Fudge	England	17:58
18	Dorthe Rasmussen	Denmark	18:02
19	Jennifer White	United States	18:02
20	Heather Thomson	New Zealand	18:05
21	Marleen Mols	Belgium	18:06
22	Joëlle De Brouwer	France	18:08
23	Ingrid Kristiansen	Norway	18:10
24	Véronique Renties	France	18:11
25	Pilar Fernandez	Spain	18:12
26	Elvira Hofmann	West Germany	18:14
27	Regina Joyce	England	18:15
28	Charlotte Teske	West Germany	18:16
29	Raisa Belusova	Soviet Union	18:17
30	Deirdre Nagle	Ireland	18:18
31	Carla Beurskens	Netherlands	18:23
32	Glynis Penny	England	18:24
33	Iciar Martinez	Spain	18:26
34	Mary O'Connor	New Zealand	18:27
35	Connie Olsen	Denmark	18:28
36	Julie Brown	United States	18:31
37	Kersti Jakobsen	Denmark	18:31
38	Diane Cameron	Canada	18:32
39	Lorraine Moller	New Zealand	18:34
40	Lynne Williams	Australia	18:35
41	Mona Kleppe	Norway	18:38
42	Ruth Smeeth	England	18:39
43	Heide Brenner	West Germany	18:41
44	Judith Shepherd	Scotland	18:43
45	Shauna Miller	Canada	18:44
46	Chantal Navarro	France	18:45
47	Magda Ilands	Belgium	18:46
48	Fionnuala Morrish	Ireland	18:47
49	Jacqueline Lefeuvre	France	18:48
50	Encarnación Escudero	Spain	18:49
51	Gaylene Clews	Australia	18:50
52	Christine Ward	Ireland	18:51
53	Raisa Sadreydinova	Soviet Union	18:52
54	Zehava Shmueli	Israel	18:53
55	Veronica Duffy	Ireland	18:54
56	Barbara Moore	New Zealand	18:55
57	Fiona McQueen	Scotland	18:56
58	Asuncion Sinobas	Spain	18:56
59	Brigit de Nijs	Netherlands	18:58
60	Francine Peeters	Belgium	18:59
61	Margherita Gargano	Italy	19:01
62	Elena Rastello	Italy	19:02
63	Marie-Christine Christiaens	Belgium	19:03
64	Ann-Marie Keown	New Zealand	19:04
65	Christine Seeman	France	19:05
66	Maureen Crowley	Canada	19:06
67	Kerry Robinson	Scotland	19:07
68	Denise Verhaert	Belgium	19:08
69	Heidi Meier	Norway	19:11
70	Karin de Nijs	Netherlands	19:14
71	Birgit Friedmann	West Germany	19:18
72	Nadine Claes	Belgium	19:20
73	Susan Olsen	Denmark	19:21
74	Amelia Lorza Lopez	Spain	19:22
75	Kathy d'Arcy	Canada	19:27
76	Hilary Hollick	Wales	19:32
77	Anette Hansen	Denmark	19:38
78	Mercedes Calleja	Spain	19:40
79	Kate Davis	Ireland	19:43
80	Anat Meiri	Israel	19:45
81	Kim Lock	Wales	19:46
82	Margaret Coomber	Scotland	19:49
83	Jean Lochhead	Wales	19:50
84	Bronwen Smith	Wales	19:52
85	May-Britt Stange	Norway	19:53
86	Anna James	Wales	19:54
87	Christine Iceaga	France	20:06
88	Joyce Mehaffey	Northern Ireland	20:11
89	Angela McCullagh	Northern Ireland	20:12
90	Lynn Kanuka	Canada	20:19
91	Violet Hope	Scotland	20:20
92	Carol Nicholas	Wales	20:31
93	Elizabeth Trotter	Scotland	20:47
94	Charlotte Kaagh	Denmark	21:11
95	Susan Beattie	Northern Ireland	21:20
96	Roberta Brown	Northern Ireland	21:21
97	Avril McClung	Northern Ireland	21:31
98	Margaret Gallen	Northern Ireland	22:19
—	Gabriella Dorio	Italy	DNF
—	Agnese Possamai	Italy	DNF

Teams

Rank	Team	Points
	United States Ellison Goodall 3 Jan Merrill 7 Julie Shea 8 Margaret Groos 11 (Jennifer White) (19) (Julie Brown) (36)	29
	Soviet Union Raisa Smekhnova 2 Svetlana Ulmasova 5 Giana Romanova 12 Raisa Belusova 29 (Raisa Sadreydinova) (53)	48
	England Ann Ford 9 Penny Yule 15 Paula Fudge 17 Regina Joyce 27 (Glynis Penny) (32) (Ruth Smeeth) (42)	68
4	West Germany Ellen Wessinghage 4 Elvira Hofmann 26 Charlotte Teske 28 Heide Brenner 43 (Birgit Friedmann) (71)	101
5	New Zealand Anne Audain 14 Heather Thomson 20 Mary O'Connor 34 Lorraine Moller 39 (Barbara Moore) (56) (Ann-Marie Keown) (64)	107
6	Norway Grete Waitz 1 Ingrid Christensen 23 Mona Kleppe 41 Heidi Meier 69 (May-Britt Stange) (85)	134
7	Ireland Mary Purcell 6 Deirdre Nagle 30 Fionnuala Morrish 48 Christine Ward 52 (Veronica Duffy) (55) (Kate Davis) (79)	136
8	France Joëlle De Brouwer 22 Véronique Renties 24 Chantal Navarro 46 Jacqueline Lefeuvre 49 (Christine Seeman) (65) (Christine Iceaga) (87)	141
9	Italy Cristina Tomasini 10 Sabine Ladurner 16 Margherita Gargano 61 Elena Rastello 62 (Gabriella Dorio) (DNF) (Agnese Possamai) (DNF)	149
10	Canada Debbie Scott 13 Jean Cameron 38 Shauna Miller 45 Maureen Crowley 66 (Kathy d'Arcy) (75) (Lynn Kanuka) (90)	162
11	Denmark Dorthe Rasmussen 18 Connie Olsen 35 Kersti Jakobsen 37 Susan Olsen 73 (Anette Hansen) (77) (Charlotte Kaagh) (94)	163
12	Spain Pilar Fernandez 25 Iciar Martinez 33 Encarnación Escudero 50 Asuncion Sinobas 58 (Amelia Lorza Lopez) (74) (Mercedes Calleja) (78)	166
13	Belgium Marleen Mols 21 Magda Ilands 47 Francine Peeters 60 Marie-Christine Christiaens 63 (Denise Verhaert) (68) (Nadine Claes) (72)	191
14	Scotland Judith Shepherd 44 Fiona McQueen 57 Kerry Robinson 67 Margaret Coomber 82 (Violet Hope) (91) (Elizabeth Trotter) (93)	250
15	Wales Hilary Hollick 76 Kim Lock 81 Jean Lochhead 83 Bronwen Smith 84 (Anna James) (86) (Carol Nicholas) (92)	324
16	Northern Ireland Joyce Mehaffey 88 Angela McCullagh 89 Susan Beattie 95 Roberta Brown 96 (Avril McClung) (97) (Margaret Gallen) (98)	368

• Note: Athletes in parentheses did not score for the team result

Participation

An unofficial count yields the participation of 100 athletes from 19 countries in the Senior women's race. This is in agreement with the official numbers as published. ^[4]

•   Australia (2)
•   Belgium (6)
•   Canada (6)
•   Denmark (6)
•   England (6)
•   France (6)
•   Ireland (6)
•   Israel (2)
•   Italy (6)
•   Netherlands (3)
•   New Zealand (6)
•   Northern Ireland (6)
•   Norway (5)
•   Scotland (6)
•   Soviet Union (5)
•   Spain (6)
•   United States (6)
•   Wales (6)
•   West Germany (5)

See also

• 1979 IAAF World Cross Country Championships – Senior men's race
• 1979 IAAF World Cross Country Championships – Junior men's race

References

1. Marshall, Ron (26 March 1979), Majestic triumph for Ireland's 'King John' - John Treacy, the 21-year-old holder of the world cross-country title, set alight the hearts of 25,000 impassioned Irish spectators yesterday afternoon here at Limerick Racecourse where he retained the championship in majestic fashion, covering the 12,000 metres in 37 min, 20sec..., Glasgow Herald, p. 18, retrieved 25 December 2021
2. Magnusson, Tomas (8 February 2007), IAAF World Cross Country Championships - 5.0km CC Women -Limerick Green Park Date: Sunday, March 25, 1979, Athchamps (archived), archived from the original on 16 October 2007, retrieved 18 October 2013
3. IAAF WORLD CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS, Athletics Weekly, retrieved 9 October 2013
4. 36th IAAF WORLD CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS - EDINBURGH 2008 - FACTS & FIGURES - GREAT BRITAIN & NORTHERN IRELAND AT THE INTERNATIONAL CROSS COUNTRY & WORLD CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS (PDF), IAAF, p. 2ff, archived from the original on 27 September 2013, retrieved 9 October 2013