SUCCESS breeds success – just ask Fiona Everard.

The Enniskeane athlete admits that heading into the 2023 national senior cross-country championships she felt that maybe second place was the best she could hope for. Everard was as shocked as anyone when she raced away to a surprise gold medal at Gowran in Kilkenny, but the big upside of that first senior national title was the injection of belief it gave her.

So when the Bandon Athletic Club star returned to the summit at the 2025 cross-country championships in Derry, winning a second national senior crown in three years, it wasn’t a surprise. She now backs herself to perform, trusts her training, and has the confidence of someone who knows she has reached these heights before.

‘Going into 2023, of course the thinking was that at some stage I’d love to win a national championship, but until you do it, you don’t know if it’s in your potential or not,’ Everard explains.

‘So having done that in 2023, I raised my own expectations of myself, and raised my own standards. This time (2025 nationals) it was different because I knew I could do it because I had done it, and it was about piecing everything together.’

Central to her continued success – Everard also ran personal bests in the 1500m, 3000m and 5000m in 2025 – is the consistency that stems from her growing confidence. From once being in the position of simply wanting to have a chance in races, she now knows she has one.

Fiona Everard in full flight.

‘I remember talking to you (The Southern Star) after the win in 2023 and saying the biggest thing would have been my confidence, and maybe not backing myself as much going into races. That has definitely improved over the last few years, especially this year, and it’s something that I wanted to change,’ she says, reflecting her steeled mindset.

‘It’s not only about having confidence going into a race but also not putting so much pressure on races. I have enjoyed this year a lot more as a result. It’s about not expecting every race to be this perfect race – if things come together, brilliant, but if not there will be another race. That’s allowed me to run a bit more freely.

‘Heading to Derry I definitely backed myself, and I feel as you build momentum and experience it all helps build your confidence. That has gone to a different level this past year.’

Confidence manifests itself in different ways. At the national senior cross-country championships at Templemore Sports Complex in Derry on November 23rd, Everard fully believed she had a chance of gold and had a plan to execute.

‘I went into 2023 thinking maybe second is the best I could do, and that’s actually counting yourself out of a race,’ she admits, though she made national headlines with her senior success that year, just 12 months after winning the novice equivalent. ‘In Derry I wanted to start off more controlled and move through the field. You need to stay patient. I think if I wasn’t confident in that, I probably would have just gone with Niamh (Allen) who was leading, but tactically that’s not how I would run my best race.

‘I sat in, and was able to move when I had to. That’s confidence too in the training you have done, and having confidence in the plan going into it.

‘When I did make the move to try and pull through, I didn’t feel panic, I felt now was the time to push on,’ she adds, and Everard timed her surge brilliantly, pulling away to win by 15 seconds.

Her plan worked, buoyed by belief and the growing body of evidence that shows she is the real deal. The 27-year-old is now a two-time national senior champion and has also raced at three successive European Cross-Country Championships, including a career-best top ten finish at the recent edition. All those experiences matter, as did her time at home in West Cork ahead of the nationals.

Back in Enniskeane for a spell, she trained on the trails in Castlefreke and Rathbarry, around the village, on Bandon AC’s superb new all-weather track, and during Saturday morning sessions up in Curraheen. Running 80 miles a week during the block between the Autumn Open in October and the nationals the following month, Everard arrived in Derry primed to excel – and she did exactly that.