The first road race in the 2001 Cork BHAA series, the FMC International annual four mile race, was held in rainy conditions in Little Island this morning. As ever there were over 200 entrants in the race. From the start James Grufferty raced into the lead, immediately putting the others under pressure. At the one mile mark, reached in 4:50, Grufferty was clear of a group of four, Roy Fahy, Phillip Harty, Ian O’Sullivan, and Matt Magner, with Billy O’Rourke adrift at that stage. Fahy fell back shortly after, while Magner fell back a the three mile mark, leaving O’Sullivan and Harty chasing the leader. Hard as they tried Grufferty kept his lead all the way to the finish to win comfortably in the end, with O’Sullivan second and Harty third. Mary Sheehan was again an impressive winner of the womens race, with Bernadette Muckian second ahead of Joan Hough. ( Results)