Letterkenny’s Anne Marie McGlynn and Kevin Seaward of St Malachy’s both ran personal best times at the Barcelona Half Marathon on Sunday (February 10)

McGlynn went under 72 minutes for the first time with a big personal best of 71:59 and finished seventh in the women’s race. Seaward was 12th of the men in 63:38 – his first time under 64 minutes.

Hiko Tonosa of Dundrum South Dublin AC and Fionnuala McCormack of Kilcoole were the winners at the Enniscorthy 10k on Sunday.

Tonosa continues his return to racing after injury with a solid victory in 31:02, while McCormack, who gave birth to her first child last September, ran a strong time of 33:21 to finish fourth overall.

Sergiu Ciobanu of Clonliffe Harriers finished second in 31:13, while David Mansfield of Clonmel AC was third in 31:47. Second woman was Linda Byrne of DSD AC, a previous winner of the race, in 36:26, with Sally Forristal of St Joseph’s AC third in 37:48.

Clonliffe’s Gary O’Hanlon broke his own course record by four minutes when winning the Donadea 50km, which doubles as the national championships, in Co Kildare on Saturday (February 9).

O’Hanlon took a commanding lead in the first 10km of the race finishing in a time of 2:50.48. A distant second was Shaun McLaughlin of Westport AC in 3:17.45.

First woman in 3:48.16 was Laura O’Driscoll of Setanta Triathlon Club in Dundalk.

Indoors

Phil Healy of Bandon ASC ran a time of 53.72 secs in a tactical women’s invitational 400m at the annual Millrose Games in the Armory, New York on Saturday evening.

Winner was Jaide Stepter of the USA in 53.25, who was third at 200m; Healy was fourth.

Healy ran a time of 52.31 in Vienna last month – not far off her personal best of 52.19. Having missed out at the World Indoors last year, her immediate target is a place in the 400m final at the European Indoors in Glasgow next month.

Winning the Fastest Kid in the world boys’ race over 55m at the Armory was Shane Haran from Curry in Co Sligo in 8.68 secs. His secret? “To pump my arms.”

Also on Saturday, Mark English ran a European Indoors qualifying time of 1:48.66 at the IFAM Meet in Ghent, Belgium. The qualifying mark is 1:49.

Lauren Roy of City of Lisburn AC clocked a time of 7.48 secs to finish eighth in the women’s 60m at the British Indoor Championships in Birmingham on Saturday.

Roy qualified for the final by running 7.54 and 7.52 in the heats and semi-finals. Race winner was Asha Philip of Newham EB in 7.19.

At the Irish University Indoor Championships in Athlone on Friday (February 8), Molly Scott and Joseph Ojewumi both ran qualifying marks for the 60m at next month’s European Indoors.

Scott, representing IT Carlow, ran a time of 7.36 secs to win the women’s title comfortably inside the required mark of 7.40. Ojewumi, a student at DCU, was just one-hundredth of a second inside the men’s qualifying mark of 6.78 secs with a time of 6.77.

Finishing second in 6.85 was Marcus Lawler of IT Carlow, with Tralee IT’s Travane Morrison third in 6.86. Scott also won the 60m hurdle in 8.34 secs, beating UCD’s Sarah Lavin.

In a closely-fought men’s 200m final, Craig Newell of the University of Ulster narrowly beat DCU’s Cillin Green with the pair timed at 21.68 and 21.70 secs.

Almost as close was the 400m, where Andrew Mellon of Queen’s clocked 47.70 to beat Brandon Arrey of DCU second in 47.83.

Winning the women’s 200m in 24.07 was Sophie Becker of DCU with Sharlene Mawdsley from UL second in 24.21. Becker already has a European Indoors qualifying time for the 400m from last weekend’s Indoor Games.

Michaela Walsh of DCU dominated the women’s shot, winning with a season’s best so far of 14.42m. Best in the men’s shot was Eoin Sheridan of DCU with 15.17m.

In the men’s combined events pentathlon, Shane Aston of IT Carlow accumulated 3324 points on his way to victory. A time of 2:49.50 in the 1000m helped UCD’s David Dagg into second place with 2949 points. Winning the women’s title with 3049 points was Katie Walsh of CIT.

Overall, DCU dominated both men and women’s competition, winning both titles. UCD and IT Carlow were second and third of the men while UCC and NUIG were second and third of the women.

Ciara Mageean continued her preparations for the European Indoors with a second place in the 1500m at the Meeting Madrid in Spain on Friday; the meet is part of the IAAF World Indoor Tour.

Winning the race in 4:08.31 was Poland’s Sofia Ennaoui; Mageean was clocked at 4:10.12.

Highlight of the NIA Live meet in Abbotstown on Tuesday (February 5) was a time of 1:52.34 clocked by Shane Fitzsimons of Mullingar Harriers in the 1500m. Next round is on February 19.

parkrun

Scottish runner Tom Roche ran 16:53 to at the Naas parkrun to record the fastest men’s time across Ireland on Saturday, while Annette Kealy claimed the women’s top spot after an 18:35 run at the Malahide event.

The top 10 runs at parkrun can be found here.

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The post Kevin Seaward and Ann-Marie McGlynn impress in Barcelona appeared first on Fast Running.

Ann-Marie McGlynn of Letterkenny AC finished a fantastic ninth for Northern Ireland in the women’s race at the Commonwealth Half Marathon Championships incorporated into the annual Cardiff Half Marathon on Sunday (October 7).

McGlynn’s personal best time of 73:47 saw her finish just four minutes behind race winner Juliet Chekwel of Uganda who crossed the line in 69:45. One second behind her was England’s Gemma Steel.

Best of the Northern Ireland men was Paul Pollock of Annadale Striders who finished 15th in 64:05. He was followed by Conor Bradley from City of Derry 27th in 67:31, Newcastle’s Eoghan Totten finished 34th in 67:44, and Andrew Annett of North Belfast Harriers 41st in 69:29.

Photo: Paul Stillman

Race winner was Jack Rayner of Australia in 61:01. Also running was Declan Reed of City of Derry Spartans who finished first M45 in 67:33. A full report can be found here.

Defending women’s champions, QUB AC, set a new course record of 33:19 to win the senior women’s race at the NI & Ulster Road Relay Championships held in Victoria Park, Belfast on Saturday (October 6).

Photo: Keith McClure

Bringing the team home was Emma Mitchell after strong legs from Rebecca Henderson and Sinead Sweeney.

With Ben Branagh their lead man, St Malachy’s AC dominated the men’s four-leg race from the start with Adam Ferris setting off on the anchor leg with a clear lead.

Photo: Keith McClure

In the battle for second place, a Derry Track Club team, which included steeplechaser Adam Kirk Smith and Gideon Kipsang, stretched away from North Belfast Harriers on the final two legs.

A dramatic master men’s race saw Willowfield Harriers leading from North Down AC after the opening leg. On the second leg, Acorns AC took over in front thanks to a strong run from Glenn Donnelly, with Vincent McAllister setting off on the final leg. He was chased down and passed by Stuart Donald of North Down, with just one second in it at the finish. Acorns AC and Willowfield Harriers finished second and third.

Winning the women’s master’s title was Beechmount Harriers, with Derry Track Club second and Victories Park and Connswater AC third. Running the fastest leg was Kelly Neely who was anchoring the City of Lisburn team and finished in 11:27.

Gary O’Hanlon of Clonliffe Harriers continued his preparations for the Dublin Marathon in three weeks time with victory at the annual Irish 3/4 Marathon held in Longwood, Co Meath on Sunday (October 7).

Last year, O’Hanlon won the national marathon title in Dublin after his victory in the 3/4 Marathon. In bitterly cold and gusting conditions, O’Hanlon and Eoin Callaghan of Star of the Sea AC ran together until the final two or so miles, when O’Hanlon pulled away for a win in 1:47:19 – almost two minutes faster than last year.

Callaghan was second in 1:47.46, while a distant third was Alexander Wallace in 1:54.50.

First woman was Caroline Donnellan of Edenderry AC in 2:14.23. Jan Corcoran of Le Cheile AC was second in 2:19.44.

At the Chicago Marathon, Patrick Monahan of Le Cheile AC finished 11th in 1:36.35. Monahan goes for a fifth title in the wheelchair race at the Dublin Marathon in three weeks time.

At the Tarmonbarry Half Marathon and associated races, Patrick Sharkey of Longford AC won the 3/4 Marathon in 1:56.05. First woman was Adrianna Mulligan, also Longford AC, in 2:11.32.

Winners of the half marathon were John Whelan in 73:16 and Therese O’Connor in 93:52. Also held was an 8km where the winners were Ross Gannon in 29:31 and Jane Harvey in 33.24.

Clonliffe’s Sean O’ Leary won the men’s race at the Dublin Novice Cross-Country, held in the Phoenix Park. Taking the women’s title was Carla Sweeney from Rathfarnham WSAF AC. In the team competition, Raheny Shamrock beat Rathfarnham WSAF on countback for the women’s title.

John Travers of Donore Harriers continued his current winning streak with victory in the Galway Bay 10km, one of a trio of distances held in Galway on Saturday (October 6) which attracted almost 3,000 entries.

Travers’ time of 20:27 put him over two minutes clear of second placed Paddy O’Toole who finished in 32.31. Fourth overall and first woman was Siobhan O’Doherty of Borrisokane AC in 35:50. Linda Grogan of Dundrum AC was second in 39:33.

Winning the Galway Bay Half Marathon in 69:05 was Mark Kirwan of Raheny Shamrock AC, who will run in the Dublin Marathon at the end of the month. Brendan McDonnell of Galway City Harriers was second in 70:44, with Elaine Walsh, also GCH, first woman in 90:08.

Kevin Mooney of Craughwell AC and Deirdre Lynn of the Marathon Club of Ireland led home 303 finishers in the full marathon. Their times were 2:40.29 and 3:15.13.

Rathfarnham WSAF’s Sean Hehir was a comfortable winner at the annual Simon 5-mile road race in Dublin Phoenix Park on Saturday (October 6).

Hehir finished in a time of 25:37. First woman was Una Britton of Kilcoole AC who was seventh overall in 28:58. Race regular Annette Kealy of Raheny Shamrock was second woman and first W50 in 30.14, with her Raheny clubmate Zoe Quinn third in 31.02.

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The post Ann-Marie McGlynn impresses in Cardiff – Irish weekend round-up appeared first on Fast Running.

Eliud Kipchoge returns to defend his Berlin Marathon title against the former world record holder Wilson Kipsang on Sunday (September 16).

The Kenyan stars have gone head-to-head on two occasions in Berlin, taking one victory apiece.

Kipchoge, who won the London Marathon in April, is expected to be attacking his personal best of 2:03:05 which would mean running at world record tempo, given that his best is only eight seconds slower than the fastest time ever.

The world record of 2:02:57 was set four years ago in the German city by his compatriot Dennis Kimetto. Kipsang broke the previous world record to win the 2013 Berlin title with 2:03:23, beating Kipchoge that day.

RELATED: Eliud Kipchoge wins Berlin Marathon, 35 seconds off world record

Tirunesh Dibaba, arguably the greatest female distance runner in history, will race for the first time in Berlin on Sunday and starts as the favourite in the women’s race.

Photo: photorun

If conditions are favourable, the Ethiopian has alluded to attacking the world record, set by Britain’s Paula Radcliffe in 2002 with 2:15:25 in London.

Dibaba, the third fastest women’s marathoner of all time with a personal best of 2:17:56, dropped out of the London Marathon in April after attacking the world record with Mary Keitany.

“I’ve heard a lot about the Berlin Marathon and did my research. I know very well that the course is fast,” said Dibaba. “I improved my training in preparation for Berlin and did more volume. I am very well prepared and want to beat my best time on Sunday.”

Last year’s women’s champion Gladys Cherono and her fellow Kenyan, the double world marathon champion Edna Kiplagat, are likely to be Dibaba’s most dangerous rivals.

British and Irish interest

Scott Overall will provide British interest in the men’s race, while Irish international Ann-Marie McGlynn lines up on the women’s race to make her marathon debut.

Overall is no stranger to Berlin and clocked his superb 2:10:55 personal best at the 2011 event. On Sunday he will be racing in the German capital for the sixth time and will hope to bed the bad memories of a DNF in last year’s event. The 35 year-old’s most recent race was the Trafford 10k where he clocked 30:27.

McGlynn, who competes for Thames Valley in the UK and Letterkenny AC in Ireland, clocked a half marathon PB of 74:28 in March and recently won the Northern Ireland and Ulster Half Marathon Championships.

The Berlin Marathon is one of the events in the Abbott World Marathon Majors and marks the start of Series XII which will finish a year from now.

RELATED: Is Eliud Kipchoge the greatest marathoner of all time?

Men – top 10 entries

Eliud Kipchoge KEN 2:03:05
Wilson Kipsang KEN 2:03:13
Eliud Kiptanui KEN 2:05:21
Amos Kipruto KEN 2:05:43
Abera Kuma ETH 2:05:50
Arata Fujiwara JPN 2:07:48
Yuki Sato JPN 2:08:58
Daisuke Uekado JPN 2:09:27
Kohei Ogino JPN 2:09:36
Kenta Murayama JPN 2:09:50

Women – top 10 entries

Tirunesh Dibaba ETH 2:17:56
Gladys Cherono KEN 2:19:25
Aselefech Mergia ETH 2:19:31
Edna Kiplagat KEN 2:19:50
Ruti Aga ETH 2:20:41
Mizuki Matsuda JPN 2:22:44
Rei Ohara JPN 2:23:20
Honami Maeda JPN 2:23:48
Andrea Deelstra NED 2:26:46
Inés Melchor PER 2:26:48

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The post Eliud Kipchoge and Tirunesh Dibaba ready for Berlin Marathon appeared first on Fast Running.