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.

Complete results, medallists, and the results of British athletes were published.

Race results

Senior women's race (5.04 km)

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

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

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

References