Mark English and Ciara Mageean won bronze medals at the European Indoor Championships in Glasgow on Sunday (March 3).

English clocked 1:47.39 in the men’s 800m final, while Mageean ran 4:09.43 in the women’s 1500m final.

English had to get through to the final on an appeal after being impeded in the semi-final but there was no doubting his metal in the final.

The UCD athlete was at the head of the field from the get go after pre-race adivce from his coach Steve Magness.

“Steve told me to get out from the start and expend some energy so I’ve to thank him for that,” said English. “It was really good to get a medal and it shows the young athletes out there to keep sticking at it.”

This was the Donegal man’s third European medal over 800m – he won bronze outdoors in Zurich and silver indoors in Prague.

Mageean has endured some difficult moments the last couple of years but this was a brilliant response and added to her European outdoor bronze in 2016.

“It can’t always be up, up, up,” all the time said Mageean afterwards. “I run to wear the green, white and gold. It’s brilliant to be back on the podium. I went out there to run my best race.”

Irish marathon champion Mick Clohisey of Raheny Shamrock AC led home almost 700 finishers at the Lusk 4 Mile road race in north Co Dublin on Sunday.

Clohisey finished in 19:16, with Clonliffe’s Ian Guiden second in 19:32 and Padraig Moran of Mullingar Harriers third in 19:52.

Catherina McKiernan of Annalee AC was tenth overall and first woman in 22:49. Ailish Murtagh of Raheny Shamrock was second in 24:48 and Harriette Robinson of Dundrum South Dublin AC a close third in 24:33.

Host club Lusk took the men’s team prize ahead of Raheny Shamrock. Raheny proved best of the women’s teams with Portmarnock second.

At the Kearney and McBride Cup 5km in Co Louth, also on Sunday, Peter Arthur of Liffey Valley AC was the runaway winner.

Arthur’s time of 15:06 put him over a minute clear of Stephen Kelly of Drogheda and District AC who finished in 16:23. Catherine O’Connor of East Down AC was first woman in 18:04 with Sile Carroll of Liffey Valley AC second in 19:14. Liffey Valley won both men and women’s team titles.

A number of the women making up teams in Lusk had already taken part in the third and final Meet and Train women’s two-mile cross country at Abbotstown earlier in the day. This was the first time a club race had taken place at the National Cross Country venue.

Making it a hat trick of victories was Claire Ni Fhaircheallaigh of Dunboyne AC. Crusaders AC pair Fiona Shine and Grainne Regan were second and third, with Sinead Tighe of Bros Pearse AC fourth.

Phil Kilgannon of Sportsworld AC and Aisling O’Connor of Edenderry AC were winners of the Adamstown Community 10km held on Sunday. Their times were 36:21 and 38:01.

Irish junior international athlete Emma O’Brien, representing DCU, won the women’s 5km race at the Irish Universities Cross Country Championships at St Mary’s Galway on Saturday (March 2).

With a time of 19:05, O’Brien finished comfortably clear of her DCU team mates Avril Deegan and Nadia Power. DCU were comprehensive winners of the team trophy ahead of Trinity College and UCD.

Making in a DCU double in the men’s 8km was Paul Robinson, who had a tough battle with Damien Landers of NUIG and out-sprinted him for victory. Robinson’s winning time was 26:40 with Landers on 26:41.

Finishing a distant third in 27:01 was Paul O’Donnell of UCD. DCU was first team, with UCD second and NUIG third. DCU also finished best overall college ahead of UCD and TCD.

Clonliffe’s David Flynn set a new course record of 52:15 on his way to an untroubled victory in the Walled City Derry 10 Mile road race on Saturday.

Second was Gary Slevin in 53:43. First woman was Ciara Toner of Springwell RC in 61 minutes exactly. Catherine Whoriskey of City of Derry Spartans was second in 63:09.

Indoors

Dean Adams of Ballymena and Antrim AC had a narrow victory in the 60m at the Leinster Indoor Championships held in Abbotstown on Saturday.

Adams time of 6.85 secs put him just one-hundredth of a second ahead of Leo Morgan of Clonliffe Harriers who was second in 6.86 secs.

Winning the women’s 60m title in 7.77 secs was Kate Doherty of Dundrum South Dublin, the recently crowned Irish 60m hurdles champion. Sive O’Toole of St LOT AC won the junior women’s race in 7.56 secs.

Israel Olatunde of Dundealgan AC won the junior men’s 60m in 6.96 secs and also took the 200m title in 22.44.

Carla Sweeney of Rathfarnham WSAF AC won the senior women’s 800m in 2:17.14. Winning the senior men’s title was Philip Marron of Ratoath AC in 1:55.68 with Colin Smith of Mullingar Harriers a close second in 1:55.68.

Abbie Taylor of Dundrum South Dublin was a clear winner of the junior women’s 3000m in 10:07.34 with Holly Brennan of Cilles AC second in 10:30.63.

Clonliffe master Snezana Bechtina won the senior women’s 400m in 59.9 secs. Keith Marks, also Clonliffe, won the senior men’s long jump with a 7.30m effort, while Saragh Buggy of St Abban’s jumped 13.09m for victory in the women’s triple jump.

Winning the junior men’s pole vault with 4.40m was 18-year-old Matthew Callinan Keenan of St LOT AC. Taking the senior men’s combined events title with 5151 points was Shane Aston of Trim AC. His best points came in the 60m hurdles and the high jump.

parkrun

Martin Cox ran 15:52 at the MUSA Cookstown parkrun to record the fastest men’s time across Ireland on Saturday, while Rachel Gibson was the quickest woman after running 17:20 at the Belfast Victoria event.

The 10 fastest times at Irish parkruns can be found here.

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The post Mark English and Ciara Mageean win European indoor bronze medals appeared first on Fast Running.

Despite being in the middle of heavy marathon training, Mick Clohisey made it a home win at the 235th Raheny 5 Mile in Dublin on Sunday (January 27).

The Raheny man broke away early with Matthew Bergin of Dundrum South Dublin AC and Yared Derese of Carrick Aces on his heels throughout.

Leading the chasers was Kevin Maunsell of Clonmel AC and Hiko Tonosa of DSD AC, while not far off was Tomas Fitzpatrick of Tallaght and Ian Guiden of Clonliffe Harriers.

As the race progressed, Bergin pushed to the front nut Clohisey had his measure and came home the winner in 23:26 with nine seconds to spare. A close third was Derese. For fourth place, Maunsell held on for fourth place with Fitzpatrick passing Tonosa for fifth.

Winning the women’s race in 26 minutes exactly was Ann-Marie McGlynn of Letterkenny AC.

Photo: Lindie Naughton

Emma Mitchell, another athlete in heavy marathon training finished second for the Nike team in 26:39 while third was Olympic marathon woman Breege Connolly of City of Derry Spartans who was also first over 40.

Dundrum South Dublin AC made it a team double, winning the men’s title from Raheny Shamrock and Clonliffe Harriers and the women’s title from Raheny and Sli Cualann.

Overseas, David Flynn of Clonliffe Harriers ran a personal best time of 64:00 to finish 11th and first European at the Marrakesh Half Marathon in Morocco on Sunday.

However, there seems to have been an error on the organisers part with Flynn officially given a time of 64:32. The Irish half marathon champion has now filed a complaint in order to get his official time corrected.

In Australia, Sean Tobin ran 3:45.24 to win the men’s 1500m at the Canberra Track Classic on Monday (January 28).

The Clonmel athlete has been training with the Melbourne Track Club in recent weeks.

Mageean and O’Connor impress indoors

Indoors, the Irish highlights were a new Irish mile record for Ciara Mageean – and Kate O’Connor snatching back her Irish pentathlon record by just three points.

Ciara Mageean set a new Irish indoor mile record of 4:28.31 at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix in Boston, USA, on Saturday night (January 26) improving on her own 2015 Irish record of 4:28.40.

.@ciaramageean runs 4:28.31 to set a new @irishathletics indoor mile record at the @NBIndoorGP in Boston! https://t.co/2b0AG66qC5

— Fast Running Ireland (@fastrunning_ire) January 26, 2019

She finished sixth in the race won by Canada’s Gabriela Stafford in a new national record time of 4:24.80. Mageean’s time is well inside the 1500m qualification time (4.36 mile) for the European Indoor Championships taking place in Glasgow in early March. She went through 1500m in 4:09.53.

In Cardiff, Kate O’Connor was determined to win back the Irish indoor pentathlon record she had lost to Grace McKenzie of Belgooly AC last week.

Earlier this month, O’Connor had improved her own indoor record to 4174 points in Sheffield, but US-based McKenzie bumped that up to 4211 points in Alabama twelve days later.

A personal best of 2:17.22 in the 800m gave O’Connor a points total of 4214, adding three precious points to McKenzie’s record. Exciting times!

Winning the master’s mile in Boston was Mark O’Shea of Drogheda and District with a time of 4:28.35. O’Shea had trailed Stefan Lingmerth of Sweden at 1500m but caught him in the chase for the line.

Also booking her place for Glasgow this weekend was sprinter Phil Healy of Bandon AC who won the 400m at the Vienna International Indoor Meet on Saturday (January 27) in a time of 52.31. The European Indoors qualifying mark is 53.75 secs.

A small Irish team had travelled to Vienna with Megan Kiely of Ferrybank AC running a personal best of 56.20 in the 400m; Simone Lalor of St LOT ran 56.52.

In the men’s 400m, held over 14 heats, Luke Lennon Ford of Clonliffe Harriers finished eighth fastest in the men’s 400m with a season’s best time of 47.86 secs – not far off the European Indoors qualifying mark of 47.30. Lennon Ford had run 49.13 secs in London a week earlier.

Brandon Arrey of Raheny Shamrock clocked 48.02 for his second fastest time ever and Robert Bennett clocked a personal best PB with 49.02.

In the 1500m, Kieran Kelly of Raheny Shamrock finished seventh in 3:46.05, followed by Letterkenny’s Darren McBrearty tenth in 3:48.23, and Conor Duncan of Ratoath AC 19th in 4:00.42.

Highlight of the National U23 and Junior Indoor Championships at Abbotstown on Sunday was a championship record for Joseph Ojemumi of Tallaght AC in the U23 60m.

There were also track records for Cian McPhillips of Longford AC, Jo Keane of Ennis TC and Luke McCann of Dublin City Harriers in the 1500m races.

Ojemumi ran a time of 6.83 secs to win the 60m comfortably. In the junior 1500m, McPhillips clocked 3:54.77 while in the junior girls race, Keane’s time of 4:36.19 was improving her own 2018 record. In the U23 men’s 1500m, McCann clocked a time of 3:48.03.

The junior women’s 60m saw a showdown between Lauren Roy of City of Lisburn and Patience Jumbo Gula of St Gerard’s Dundalk, with Roy coming out on top in 7.42.

Neville was in action in the U23 200m where she finished second behind Sophie Becker of St Joseph’s AC who recorded a time of 24.25 secs to 24.87 secs for Neville. Winning the junior 200m in 24.46 secs was Davicia Patterson of Beechmount Harriers.

Winning the U23 400m with a time of 48.41 secs was Shane Irwin of Finn Valley AC who recorded a narrow victory over Craig Newall of Ballymena and Antrim AC; Newall’s time was 48.49. Winning the junior title in 48.75 was Christopher Duffy of Tallaght AC.

In the women’s junior 400m, Deirdre Murray of Na Fianna beat Kilkenny’s Ciara Deely to win in 56.11 secs.

Cillin Green of Galway City Harriers won the U23 men’s 200m in 21.47 secs, while Jenna Bromell of Emerald AC took the U23 women’s 800m title in 2:09.07.

Pick of the field events was an Irish record of 3.55m in the junior women’s pole vault for Clodagh Walsh of Abbey Striders AC. There were also championships best performances in the junior men’s pole vault of 4.45m for Matthew Callinan Keenan of St L O’Toole AC and in the junior women’s long jump for Ruby Millett of St Abban’s with a 6.12m effort.

Winning the U23 shot with 14.33m was Michaela Walsh of Swinford AC and DCU, whose recent training woes have been highlighted in the press. Last year, Walsh won the competition with a 15.34 effort.

At the second and final round of the National Indoor League a day earlier, Clonliffe Harriers mad it four in a row with victory in the men’s competition. Donore Harriers finished second and Raheny Shamrock third.

A few days earlier in Abbotstown, Marcus Lawler of St LOT had got his indoor season off to a good start with a time of 6.84 secs for victory in the 60m at the NIA Live meet on Tuesday (January 22). The time puts him top of the current Irish rankings; qualifying mark for the European Indoors is 6.78 secs.

In the 800m, Paul Robinson of St Coca’s AC clocked a time of 1:52.78, while Davicia Patterson of Beechmount Harriers clocked a time of 25.25 secs for 200m, while Craig Newall of Ballymena and Antrim AC ran 21.85 secs in the men’s 200m series.

Cross Country

Zak Hanna of Newcastle AC won the men’s intermediate title at the NI and Ulster Inter and Masters Cross Country Championships, held at Barnett Demesne, Belfast on Saturday.

His Newcastle clubmate Patrick McNiff finished second and Aaron McGrady of East Down AC third. Newcastle AC finished best of the teams ahead of Acorns AC and Springwell RC.

Pretty special day yesterday being crowned NI & Ulster Intermediate XC Champion and lifting the overall team prize with @NewcastleAC, if Carlsberg did Saturdays! pic.twitter.com/0qMRxaBv2Z

— Zak Hanna (@zakhanna95) January 27, 2019

Winning the women’s intermediate title was Ciara Toner of Springwell RC ahead of Helen McCready of Rosses AC and Sarah Kelly of Inishowen AC. East Down AC were first team with Omgah Harriers second and Willowfield Harriers third.

In the women’s masters race, Gemma McDonald of Ballycastle Runners AC recorded a solid victory over Amy Bulman from Willowfield Harriers. Julie Murphy of Lagan Valley was third. In a closely fought team race, Ballydrain Harriers beat Lagan Valley AC by two points. Willowfield Harriers was third.

Mark Kinstry of North Belfast Harriers was a clear winner of the men’s masters race finishing over 50 seconds clear of Chris McGuinness of Foyle Valley AC. Eoin Mullan of Omagh Harriers was third. First M65, over a shorter distance, was Paul Elliott of Beechmount Harriers.

North Belfast Harriers, with four in the top eight, was first team followed by Willowfield Harriers and Annadale Striders.

Catch up

Already qualified for the European Indoors the previous weekend were was John Travers of Donore Harriers and Siofra Cleirigh Buttner of DSD. Travers ran a time of 8:01.04 in the 3000m at the Non-Thomas Open in Cardiff on January 20; the qualifying standard is 8:03.00.

Winning the women’s 1500m was Claire Tarplee of St Coca’s in 4:18.87. Clonliffe’s Eoin Pierce finished second in the men’s 1500m in 3:51.20, with Callum Crawford-Walker fifth in the same race in 3:53.76.

In the USA, Cleirigh Buttner made a return to racing with victory in the 800m at Clemson SC on January 19 in 2:03.30. This time is well under the European Indoors time of 2:04.00.

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The post Mick Clohisey and Ciara Mageean impress – Irish weekend round-up appeared first on Fast Running.

Gideon Kipsang, a native of Kenya, who competes for Derry Track club in Northern Ireland, clocked 67:45 to successfully retain his title at the Deep RiverRock Belfast City Half Marathon on Sunday (September 23).

Beechmount Harriers’ athlete Gerrie Short won the women’s race in a time of 85:32 to win her first title in the sixth year of Northern Ireland’s largest half marathon.

The runner-up spot in the men’s race went to Acorns AC athlete, Vincent McKenna, who crossed the line in a time of 71:09.

Letterkenny AC’s Karol Duggan was just two seconds behind and completed the podium in a time of 71:11.

Ballymena Runners’ Paula Worthington bagged the women’s runner-up spot with an 86:33 performance in her debut half marathon. In third place was Colette McCourt of Dub Running Club in a time of 87:11.

This year was the biggest Belfast City Half Marathon yet, with over 4000 participants taking part.

David Flynn and Emilia Dan win Dublin Half Marathon

On Saturday (September 22), David Flynn and Emilia Dan won the titles at the SSE Airtricity Dublin Half Marathon in the Phoenix Park.

Clonliffe Harriers’ Flynn won the men’s race in a personal best time of 66:21, finishing over three minutes ahead of second place.

Runner-up Eoin Callaghan of Star of the Sea crossed the line in 69:41 and he was followed by Italo Giancaterina in 72:06 to complete the podium.

“I took off at a good pace; there were some downhills and some nice flat parts so I really pushed the pace from the beginning, held it until about ten miles and then let loose for the last three miles,” said Flynn after the race. “That is a personal best time for me today so I am happy with that.

“My debut marathon will be the Dublin Marathon which is coming up, I couldn’t be happier with how today went and my preparation [for the marathon] so far.”

In the women’s race, Dunboyne’s Dan crossed the finish line in first place with a time of 84:10, followed closely by Shirley Coyle in second with a time of 84:12 and Jill Horan in third with a time of 85:01.

Delighted with the win, speaking after the race, 49 year old Emilia Dan said: “I wasn’t expecting it. I didn’t want to claim first place too early in the race because anything can happen, but in the last kilometre, I just went for it.

“I would have been happy with a personal best but I am shocked and happy, I have never won such a big race!”

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The post Gideon Kipsang and Gerrie Short win Belfast City Half Marathon appeared first on Fast Running.

Recently crowned national half marathon champion David Flynn of Clonliffe Harriers proved the class of the field at the Tullamore Quinlan Cup Half Marathon on Saturday (August 25).

Flynn’s time of 68:44 saw him finishing with a minute to spare over second-placed Paddy Birch from Toronto who finished in 69:26. A distant third in 72:13 was Mick Fogarty.

First woman was Aisling O’Connor of Edenderry AC in 81:21. She was followed by Caroline Donnellan, also Edenderry AC, in 84:17 and Emma Boland of Newbridge AC in 93:24.

Newbridge AC won the Quinlan Cup as first team (mixed) team, with host club Tullamore Harriers second and Celbridge AC third.

Local athlete Kevin Maunsell ran the fastest half marathon time of the weekend when winning Boston Scientific Clonmel Half Marathon on Sunday (August 26) in 67:22.

His time put him four minutes clear of the chasers led by William Stephen’s of Coolquill AC in 71:87. Third in 73:11 was Leevale’s John Shine.

First woman in 88:27 was Linda Grogan of Dundrum AC. Jacqueline O’Connor of Serpentine RC in London was second in 89.42, while third was Joan Ennis of Grange Fermoy AC in 90.24.

Also on Sunday, Freddy Sittuk won the Oylegate Half Marathon in Co Wexford in a time of 77:32. Second in 77:39 was Joe Lillis of United Striders. First woman was Deirdre Ni Chearbhaill of Crusaders AC in 1:40.45.

A margin of over three minutes gave Mick Clohisey of Raheny Shamrock victory in the Claregalway 10k on Saturday (August 25).

Clohisey, who ran the marathon at the European Championships only fortnight ago, finished in 30:27, with Conor Dolan of Galway City Harriers a distant second in 33:33. First woman in 37:39 was Regina Casey of GCH.

Off road

Winning the Warrior’s Run 15km from Strandhill to the top of Knocknarea and back in Co. Sligo was Jake O’Regan of St John’s AC in 54:44. Second in 54:53 was local athlete John Paul Carty, who had led to the bottom of the hills, while third in 57:30 was Aidan McMorland, another Sligo native.

Deirdre Byrne of Sli Cualann was first woman in 64:59 followed by previous winner Heather Foley, in 65:35. Eimear O’Connor was third in 69:45.
Winners of the Junior race were Malachy O’Brien and Ava Griffin.

Off the Antrim coast, Neil Weir of Willowfield Harriers and Clare Tonry of Dub Runners were the winners of the Rathlin Run 10-Mile.

Weir’s time of 58:59 put him comfortably clear of second-placed Philip Goss of North Belfast Harriers who finished in 60:14. Third in 67:03 was Keith Dawson.

Tonry was fifth overall in 68:07. Second was her Dublin Runners club mate Colette McCourt in 72.49 while third was Beverly Mitchell of Albertville Harriers in 75:37

Winners of the 5km race were Peter Fleming of Ballymena Runners and Erica Calder of Dundrum South Dublin.

Track and field

Irish decathlon champion Shane Aston of Trim AC retained his title at the NI and Ulster Combined Events Championships at the Mary Peters track in Belfast over the weekend.

Retaining the NI & Ulster Senior Men's Multi Event title is Shane Aston (Trim AC) with 6617. 2nd Liam Reveley (Blaydon Harriers) with a new PB of 6295. 3rd place Michael Bowler (Enniscorthy AC) with 5800. pic.twitter.com/ueAnDjnNQj

— Athletics NI (@AthleticsNI) August 26, 2018

Aston has had a busy summer, most notably breaking into the 7000 point bracket for the first time with a total of 7057 at Hexham last month. Bowler, who is based in the UK, had finished second in the British Championships last May with a score of 7263 points. Most recently he won the Irish pole vault title with 4.40. Also competing was British U23 athlete Liam Reveley of Blaydon Harriers and AC, who had a senior best of 5867 points.

Bowler started well with the best time of the day in the 100m and a 6.73 in the long jump, with Aston not far behind. Reveley made the most of a friendly wind to leap out to 6.85m in the long jump and also soared over 2.04 in the high jump. Good scores in the shot and 400m were enough to put Aston on top of the points table overnight, with 3606 points. Reveley was a close second on 3587 and Bowler third on 3355.

On the second day, Aston pulled away on the second day with solid performances in the hurdles, discus and javelin. Bowler proved best in the pole vault while Reveley raced away with the final 1500m race. With the scores were totted up, Aston was a clear winner with 6617 points followed by Reveley with a personal best 6295 and Bowler third on 5800.

In the women’s heptathlon, it all came down to the final 800m.

Megan Marrs, the City Lisburn international hurdler, had led overnight and held on to that lead on the second day, despite big points for Laura Frey of Lagan Valley AC in the shot and javelin. With only the 800m left, Marrs had a lead of over 300 points.

All changed when Frey pulled out an excellent time of 2:22.23 which gave her 793 points and a total of 4344. Marrs was left trailing her wake, crossing the line in 2:56.58 for 398 points. It meant that in her first-ever heptathlon, she had to settle for second place with a total of 4329.

Senior ladies NI & Ulster Multi Events Champion is Laura Frey (Lagan Valley) with a new PB of 4344 points closely followed by Megan Marrs (City of Lisburn) in her first ever Heptathlon with 4329 points. pic.twitter.com/lKlEBaNew9

— Athletics NI (@AthleticsNI) August 26, 2018

European Para Athletics Championships

Ireland’s 10 athletes were in exceptional form in Berlin taking home nine medals, six of which were gold.

Jason Smyth and Orla Comerford won two sprint medals each in the T13 100m and T13 200m events. The Dery Track Club man clocked 10.66 and 21.44 to win gold in his respective finals, while Raheny Shamrock’s Comerford posted times of 12.82 and 26.76 for a double bronze.

Also taking gold medals back to Ireland was Greta Streimikyte of Clonliffe Harriers who posted a superb 4:48.54 to win T13 1500m gold, while in the field events there was discuss gold for Eagle AC’s Noelle Lenihan in the F38 event in a world record 32.95m.

North Cork’s Niamh McCarthy set a European record 31.76m to win gold in the F41 discus, while Orla Barry of Leevale AC threw 28.76m to win gold in the F57 discus event.

In the T47 high jump, Jordan Lee of Killarney Valley AC jumped 1.75m to win a bronze medal. Elsewhere in the T37 200m Paul Keogan of Cushinstown finished fifth in 25.20. Patrick Monahan of Le Cheile AC doubled up in the T53 400m and T53 800m, finishing fifth and fourth in times of 55.9 and 1:51.76.

Earlier in the week

Raheny’s Annette Kealy, who is off to the World Masters Athletics Championships in Malaga this week, was first woman and fourth overall in the 5km at the Portmarnock 5-mile and 5km races on Thursday evening (August 23).

Kealy finished in 18:25; overall winner of the 5km was John Canning of Newbridge AC in 17:15.

Winners of the 5-Mile race were Colm Rooney of Clonliffe Harriers and Zoe Quinn of Raheny Shamrock. Rooney’s time of 25:29 put him over a minute ahead of the chasers, led by Ray Hynes of Donore Harriers who finished in 26:36.

Third in 28:08 was Stephen Butler of Dublin Bay RC. Quinn finished 11th overall in 31:20; Sharon Cleere and Elaine Howard were second and third.

Scott Rankin of Foyle Valley was a clear winner of Dessie’s Run 10km in Derry on Wednesday evening (August 22). Rankin, who finished in 31:48, was followed home by Kyle Doherty of City of Derry Spartans in 32:16 and Eoin Hughes of Acorns AC in 32:38.

Finishing eighth overall and first woman in an eye-catching time of 33:59 was Anne Marie McGlynn of Letterkenny AC. Ciara Toner of Springwell RC was second in 36:37 and Nakita Burke of Letterkenny AC third in 36:44.

The post David Flynn and Mick Clohisey among weekend winners in Ireland appeared first on Fast Running.

Thomas Barr made the most of a last minute call-up for the Anniversary Games in London to run a season’s best time of 48.99 secs.

Barr produced his trademark finish off the final hurdles to pull himself into third place. Winning the race was Swedish phenomenon Karsten Warholm in a meet record time of 47.65 secs. (See here for a recent feature on Thomas Barr’s hopes for the forthcoming European Championships).

Also in action was Irish sprinter of the moment Phil Healy of Bandon AC who, despite running a record 200m and a speedy 400m in the previous five days, clocked a time of 11.54 secs in the 100m heats.

A day later, Healy anchored the Irish 4 x 100m team which finished seventh in 44.23 secs – not far off the team’s season’s best of 43.50. First off was Joan Healy followed by Gina Akpe- Moses and Ciara Neville. The performance of the Irish U20 team in Finland means that the Irish relay team is sure of a place at next month’s European Championships in Berlin. A strong British quartet dominated the race.

In the men’s 4 x 100m, the team of David McDonald, Jeremy Phillips, Jack Dempsey and Joseph Ojewumi finished eighth in 40.47.

Competing in the women’s 100m hurdles was Megan Marrs of City of Lisburn who clocked a time of 13.37 in the heats – not far off her best of 13.32.

Aimee Hayde of Newport AC cantered away from the field to win the U16 girls 1500m title at the final day of the National Juvenile Championships in Tullamore on Sunday (July 22).

Hayde’s time of 4:30.91 knocked over five seconds off the time of 4:36.29 run by Siofra Cleirigh Buttner of DSD AC in 2010. A week earlier, Hayde had won the 800m, also in a record time.

A thrilling U19 girls 200m saw Lauren Cadden of Sligo AC winning in 24.48 secs – inside Phil Healy’s 2012 record of 24.60, with wind speed yet to be confirmed. Alana Ryan of Greystones AC and Lauren Roy of City of Lisburn were second and third.

A clear winner of the boys’ U19 title was Shane Monagle of Tramore AC in 22.47 secs, while winning a closely-fought U18 men’s final was Tony O’Leary of Leevale AC in 22.68. John Grant of Celbridge AC was second in 22.73 and Aaron Keane of Tullamore Harriers third in 22.71.

A closely-fought women’s 800m proved the highlight of Thursday’s (July 19) Morton Games held in Santry.

In the charge for the line Ciara Mageean of UCD just missed out on victory with a time of 2:02.13, which is a season’s best.

Ciara Mageean ran a season’s best

Siofra Cleirigh Buttner of DSD was fourth with 2:02.63 and Claire Mooney of UCD seventh in 2:03.19.

Two days later, on Saturday, Mooney, who was celebrating her birthday, did it in style at a meet in Heusden, Belgium, when she finished second in 2:01.61 and jumped to the top of the Irish 800m rankings.

Back in Santry, Donore’s John Travers proved the best of the local runners in the night’s feature event, the Morton Mile, finishing sixth in 3:57.35. Behind him 19-year-old Brian Fay of Raheny Shamrock was agonisingly close to becoming the youngest ever Irish sub-four minute miler with the clock stopping at 4:00.45.

In the 5000m, Stephen Scullion of Clonliffe Harriers was seventh in 13:50.04 – well off the European Championships A qualifying time of 13 mins 35 secs.

Stephen Scullion

A throw of 75.89m from Stephen Rice was not only an U23 record but enough to put the Clonliffe athlete second on the all-time Irish list behind the great Terry McHugh, winner of 21 Irish titles in his long career.

In the 400m, Phil Healy of Bandon AC, after setting a new Irish record of 22.99 secs for 200m in Cork three days earlier, finished a fighting second in 52.88 secs.

In the men’s 800m, Zak Curran was fourth in 1:47.07 while John Fitzsimons of Kildare AC ran a personal best 1:48.09. Mark English of UCD failed to finish.

Winning the wheelchair 800m in 1:52.44 was Irish marathon record holder Patrick Monahan of Le Cheile AC. Cillian Dunne of Borrisokane AC was second in 1:53.51.

On Wednesday evening, (July 18), Michele Finn travelled to Naimette-Xhovemont in Belgium where she finished fourth in the steeplechase in a time of 9:51.43, which is inside the B standard for the European Championships. Sara Treacy of Dunboyne AC finished 12th in 10:13.29.

Mountain Running

Zak Hanna of Newcastle and District, representing Northern Ireland, finished seventh at the annual Snowdon International Mountain Race in Wales.

Hanna, who had won the World Championships trial race a week earlier in Wicklow, clocked a time of 68 mins 56 secs for the gruelling 10-mile race. He reached the summit turnaround in 43 minutes 50 secs.

Race winner was Italy’s Alberto Vendor in 66:41, with England’s Chris Holdsworth second in 67:29. James Kevan for the Republic of Ireland was 12th in 71.16.

Making up the Northern Ireland team were Willian McKee 24th, Gavin Mulholland 25th, and Timothy Johnston 33rd.

For the Republic of Ireland, Brian Furay of Rathfarnham WSAF AC was 39th.

Irish women have had a good record at Snowden in the past few years, but this year it was Bronwen Jenkinson of Wales who took overall victory and finished 51st overall in 80:41.

Finishing 11th was Sarah Graham of Northern Ireland in 89.55, followed closely by Shileen O’Kane 13th in 90:16, and Esther Dickson 14th in 91:31.

Schools International

Wins for Cian McPhilips of Moyne C.S. in the boys’ 1500m and for race walkers Oisin Lane of Mercy Ballymahon and Emily MacHugh of St Mary’s Naas were the highlights of the Irish performance at the SIAB Schools’ International held in Grangemouth, Scotland on Saturday (July 21).

Taking strong second places were Louis O’Loughlin of Moyle Park in the boys’ 800m, Israel Olatunde of St Mary’s Dundalk in the boys’ 100m, Ciara Sheehy of St Mary’s Charleville in the girl’s shot and Conor Cusack of Lake District Harriers in the javelin.

In the relays, both the boys’ and girls’ 4 x 100m teams and the boys 4 x 400m finished second, while Conor Cusack of Ballinrobe C.S. threw 61.89m.

Roads

David Flynn of Clonliffe Harriers led home over 2,200 finishers at the South Dublin 10km in Clondalkin Dublin – but all the talk was of Leevale’s Lizzie Lee who will run the marathon for the Irish team at next month’s European Championships in Berlin.

Photo: Michael Scott – Lizzie Lee

Lee came close to finishing second overall in the race, with her time of 33:25 putting her just four seconds behind Italo Giancaterina in 33:21 and not all that far behind Flynn who finished in in 32 mins 3 secs.

Second woman was Laura Graham of Mourne Runners in 35.10, while third in 36:01 was Catherina McKiernan of Cornafean, who still holds the Irish marathon record with her 1998 time of 2:22.23. Fourth was Gladys Ganiel of North Belfast Harriers in 36:20. Both Graham and Ganiel will join Lee on the marathon team in Berlin, along with Claire McCathy and Breege Connolly.

A day earlier, Cathy McCourt was the winner of the Blue Belles 5km on Magherafelt. Leanne Sands and Lisa Simpson, both of host club Acorns AC, were second and third.

On the same day, David Simpson of Newcastle AC in 79 mins 39 secs and Louise Smith of North Belfast Harriers in 86:43 were the winners at the Dervock Half Marathon.

Kevin Swann and Martsje Hell made it a North Belfast Harriers double at the Dalriada Festival 10km held in Glenarm, Co Antrim on Friday evening (July 20).

Swann led home over 200 finishers in 36:12 with Stephen Nicholson (PACE Running Club) second in 36:53 and Hall third and first woman in 39:54. Winners of the 5km race were Ian Taggart of Ballymena in 17 mins 4 secs and and Paula Worthington in 19:47. Both are members of Ballymena Runners.

Freddy Sittuk of Raheny Shamrock was a clear winner of the B-5 Bettystown 5 Mile in Co Meath on Thursday evening (July 19). Sittuk finished in 26 mins 7 secs, with Simon Ryan of Boyne AC second in 26:21 and Yasmin Canning of Drogheda and District first woman in 33:09. Team winners were the women of Balbriggan and District and the men of Drogheda and District.

Willowfield’s Neil Weir and Sinead Murtagh of Newcastle and District took the honours at the Portaferry 10-mile on Thursday (July 19).

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