Now in its third year, the series is organised by Ireland’s leading event race management company, Pop Up Races, and includes seven races nationwide. To register for any of the races just click here.

At a round table discussion today at the King’s Inns, Dublin, the three-time European medalist and second fastest Irish marathoner ever spoke about the physiological impact of having a child on her running and weighed in on recent shoe technology debates.

Huge marathon PB in 2019

In October 2019, she took 5th place at the Chicago Marathon with a smashing time of 2:26:47, eclipsing the Olympic Standard of 2:29:30 and her previous best of 2.30.38 on her way. She is currently the only Irish woman with the Olympic Standard.

The jury is still out as there are a few other hopefuls with spring marathons on the cards and as far as McCormack is concerned, she isn’t going to Tokyo until the teams are picked and announced in May.

Her most recent marathon was a sizeable personal best, but McCormack was slow to attribute her improvements to the physiological effects of having a baby, as some have mentioned.

“It is something that is hard to measure, you’re not going to have a very big group to measure it off and how do you put it down to that. Do you run better because you’ve had a year off, because you’re distracted, because you’re a year older and you’ve got a year more training in you. I don’t know. You can’t really isolate it I suppose.”

Championship racer first and foremost

Anyone who follows her career will know that she is a championship runner first and foremost. “I’d had a, probably a few not ideal years, and most of my marathons were championship marathons, they weren’t really about time.”

“So [Chicago] was probably the first time that I went into a marathon in good shape and looking to run a decent time.”

Some might say times are more controversial than ever with the sudden leap in shoe technology by one company, that has left athletes sponsored by other companies at a significant disadvantage.

“That frustrates me a little bit sometimes about the sport. I love cross country and part of it I suppose is because of the lack of times and it’s more about the competition, and I’ve always been about championships and championships have never been about times.”

If you look closely you can see some subtle Kia product placement in this picture. Photo by Sam Barnes/Sportsfile

World Athletics letting down the athletes

“The whole thing disappoints me really. I am not a fan of the shoes. It feels like World Athletics have let us down in the last week. I think they were weak and it makes me sad.”

“To me that’s not what the sport is about. I feel like I’m the only one that really feels like that. No athletes seem to feel the way I do.”

It might feel that way, but there are certainly plenty of people wholly against this technology, but they definitely seem to be in the minority. “I suppose there is the shoe and then there is Nike. I’m sponsored by New Balance so I wouldn’t be wearing a Nike shoe anyway.”

Joining the arms war in the shoe industry

New Balance does have a plated shoe but she has not worn it. “I’ve always been a minimalist I suppose, that’s just always what I have been comfortable in and it’s what I’m used to.”

Now that they have made a rule “I have to think about it differently, but I don’t really want to think about it differently.” She would “prefer not to” wear a similar New Balance version of the shoe in Tokyo. “I’ve thought about it a lot over the few days, I don’t know if I am putting myself at too much of a disadvantage to not [wear the shoe], I don’t know.”

While for most it is a Nike versus the rest of the world fight at the moment, the Irish cross country star would be against any type of shoe development by any company that gives an unfair advantage or assistance. “I don’t really feel that your shoes should be giving you an advantage.”

Unfair advantage

The rule is against unfair advantage or assistance and “they have pretty much been proven to be giving assistance” said McCormack

Would the Irish marathoner feel at a disadvantage lining up in Sapporo without the shoe?

“No, other people had the shoe in the last Olympics…and it’s the same I suppose as standing on the start line knowing that there’s people that are drug cheats beside you, you don’t look at them and you don’t think about it, you run your own race and you run the best you can.”

Not Just Nike anymore

It is no longer just one brand making controversial shoes, but many trying to catch up on the carbon plate benefits, if not as effectively as the original run boosters. Will the sudden rule change and heavy patenting by some brands make it difficult for others to catch up?

“I think they were a bit soft on the rule, it definitely seems to be playing up to the one brand, its set as, we have this and now everyone else can play catch up if they want. It doesn’t look fair to me.”

The three time Olympian also posed a very interesting question about self comparison. “How do I compare myself with myself after this. Do I have a PB before and after, do I run a PB and believe it’s me?”

Do we need to have our normal PBs and our Carbon Fibre PBs? An asterisk against the assisted marks or, as was the case at the Raheny 5 recently, just an asterisk for those not running in the special shoes, as Fionnuala McCormack (and Paul O’Donnell) seemed the only elite not sporting them.

The KIA Race Series 2020

It is the third year for the series and  McCormack reminds us that “The Kia race series has driven the standard forward of distance running in Ireland by offering an incentive for elite and top-level national athletes to race against each other.”

This year, there is a prize pot of €10,000 on offer in the Kia Race Series. There is a €1,500 cash guaranteed prize for the overall male and female series winner, with €7,000 for course record bonuses on offer. If the course record is not broken, that bonus rolls over into the overall prize pot.

Athletes must compete in four out of seven races, with the lowest combined points scores over those four races winning the series.

If you’re intersted in signing up to any of the events below then register here.

• Streets of Portlaoise 5k          March 17th, 11am
• Streets of Kilkenny 5k             April 9th, 7:30pm
• Bob Heffernan 5k, Enfield      May 19^th,8pm
• Dunshaughlin 10k                   June 20th, 7:30pm
• Roscommon 10 Mile              July 4th, 11:30am
• Edenderry 10 Mile                  July 19th, 9:30am
• Cork City 10 Mile                    August 22nd, 6pm

Are you a fan of Fast Running? Then please support us and become a patron. For as little as the price of a monthly magazine you can support Fast Running – and it only takes a minute. Thank you

The post Kia Race ambassador McCormack is focusing on her own shoes appeared first on Fast Running.

First up was Efrem Gidey, a refugee from Eritrea, who was making his Irish team debut in the men’s U20 category. Gidey ran a mature race and, despite a dip mid race when he fell back to seventh place, recovered quickly to finished third behind the Norwegian Jakob Ingebrigtsten who was taking his fourth title in this age group. In a closely fought team race, the Irish only lost out on the bronze medal to host nation Portugal on countback.

Next to win medals were the U23 women, with Stephanie Cotter finishing third, Eilish Flanagan ninth and Roisin Flanagan 17^th and the team taking silver. All three are students at Adams State college in Colorado and took the top three places at the NCAA second division championships last month.

Last on the schedule were the senior women, with hopes high that Fionnuala McCormack, in her 16^th appearance at these championships, could snatch a medal. It was not to be with the Kenyan-born Yasmin Can winning the race for a fourth year ahead of a battling Karolina Grøvdal of Norway – the true queen of European cross-country at the moment.

McCormack ran a typically battling race moving into third place around halfway through but was passed on the final lap by Samrawit Mengsteab of Sweden, who like Efrem Gidey, was born in Eritrea. It was a fourth time McCormack, who won the race in both 2011 and 2012, had finished just outside the medals.

Behind her, track specialist Ciara Mageean was as high as 11^th at one point, but it was Aoibhe Richardson, another Irish athlete benefitting hugely from the American collegiate system, who finished second of the Irish in 17^th place. Behind her Mageean collapsed over the line in 20^th place ensuring team silver for a battling Irish team by just two points.

In the men’s senior race, Sean Tobin, who had finished tenth a year earlier but is recovering from injury, led the Irish team home in 18^th place.

Photo: Michael Hynes of Raheny Shamrock

Looking ahead to Dublin 2020

McCormack’s post race interview summed up the day for the Irish, who will host next year’s championships in Dublin.

“It’s difficult because I’ve come fourth so many times before and it’s very painful to be honest. But we got a team medal today, and that’s good,” she said.

“We had a very successful team championships this year. I don’t think we’ve ever won this many medals as a group before and, going into Dublin next year, that’s promising. It will be a big year for us next year – the last time the championships was held in Ireland ten years ago, we had quite high expectations for our team. It didn’t really come off so, hopefully next year, we can spread the pressure between all of us and be successful.”

Reflecting on her own performance, she said: “The course was brilliant, the crowd were great – it’s what cross country is meant be. The only thing I didn’t like was my position. I love running, and I really like competing and it’s easier when you stand on the podium. Having done that before, I know what it feels like, so I keep trying to do it again.

“Being fourth isn’t that far away, and every time I convince myself that this year will be my year. I moved up to the marathon, but I never really moved away from cross country, so it’s nice to be able to be here, and be competitive and not just be making up the numbers because it’s my 16th time.”

Irish results –

U20 Men: 3 Efrem Gidey (Clonliffe Harriers) 19.01; 12 Darragh McElhinney (UCD AC) 19.21, 24 Thomas McStay 19.32, =25 Keelan Kilrehill 19.33, 28 Jamie Battle 19.34, 76 Shay McEvoy 20.26. Teams – 1 Great Britain 25, 2 Norway 38, 3 Portugal 39 (4,14,21), 4 Ireland 39 (3,12,24)

U20 Women: 46 Jodie McCann 15.28, 62 Aoife O Quill 15.48, 77 Sarah Kelly 16.10, 84 Danielle Donegan 16.24, 85 Eimear Maher 16.3093 Maeve Gallagher 18.08. Teams – 1 Great Britain 29, 2 Italy 29, 3 France 38…11 Ireland 185.

U23 Men: 22 Brian Fay 25.25, 25 Jack O’Leary 25.32, 26 Peter Lynch 25.31, 49 Cormac Dalton 26.0571 Cathal Doyle 27.07, 72 David McGlynn 27.13. Teams – 1 France 17, 2 Italy 29, 3 Germany 45….7 Ireland 73

U23 Women: 3 Stephanie Cotter 21.15, 9 Eilish Flanagan 21.47, 17 Roisin Flanagan 22.06, 38 Fian Sweeney 22.52, 47 Claire Fagan 23.16, 57 Sorcha McAllister 24.55. Teams – 1 Netherlands 17, 2 Ireland 29, 3 Great Britain 40.

Senior men: 18 Sean Tobin 31.11, 52 Conor Bradley 32.28, 61 Eoin Everard 32.55, 64 Liam Brady 33.01, 71 Damien Landers 34.11, dnf Kevin Maunsell. Teams – 1 Great Britain 36, 2 Belgium 38, 3 Spain 45…..13 Ireland 131.

Senior Women: 4 Fionnuala McCormack 27.45, 17 Aoibhe Richardson 28.52, 20 Ciara Mageean 28.58, 35 Mary Mulhare 29.44, 37 Una Britton 29.59, 47 Fionnuala Ross 30.50. Teams – 1 Great Britain 26, 2 Ireland 41, 3 Portugal 43

Mixed Relay: 1 Great Britain 17.55, 2 Belarus 18.01, 3 France 18.05… 7 Ireland (Nadia Power, John Travers, Amy O’Donoghue, Eoin Pierce) 18.40

… and elsewhere 

Northern Irish athletes were competing at the Telford 10km in England on Sunday (December 8) where Finn McNally led the men home finishing 22^nd in 30 mins 9 secs while Nakita Burke ran a massive personal best of 34 mins 8 secs for eighth place among the women

Yared Derese of Carrick Aces AC moved up a distance to win the Waterford Half Marathon on Saturday (December 7).

In a quality race, Derese finished in 64 mins 13 secs – over a minute clear of Mick Clohisey of Raheny Shamrock who was second in 65:23. Third in 67:48 was Eric Keogh of Donore Harriers, while fourth in 69:36 was David Mansfield of Clonmel AC.

First woman was Ruth Fitzgerald of host club Waterford AC in 80 minutes exactly. Fiona Kehoe of Kilmore AC was second in 81:38 and Jackie Carty, also Kilmore AC, third in 82.58. A total of 2,226 completed the race.

At the Jingle Bells 5km in Dublin’s Phoenix Park, Hiko Tonosa of Dundrum South Dublin AC beat his clubmate Emmett Jennings with Tonosa finishing in 14 mins 16 secs and Jennings just two seconds adrift for second. Third in 14:24 was Andrew Coscoran of Star of the Sea AC, while for fourth placed was Pierre Murchan of Dublin City Harriers out-sprinted Evan Byrne of Togher AC with the pair both timed at 14:28.

First woman was Cliona Murphy in a strong 16:29. Kate O’Neill of Metro St Brigid’s AC was second in 17:10 and Maisy O’Sullivan of St Abban’s AC third in 17:23.

As a mark of respect to the late Irwin Spiers, Saturday’s Mighty Oaks cross-country in Cookstown, organised by Acorns AC, was postponed until a later date.

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The post Celebrations in Lisbon – Irish weekend round-up appeared first on Fast Running.

Hills were the order of the day at the European Cross Country Championships in Lisbon. The course, not for the faint hearted and separated the mountain goats from the rest. Ireland brought home two team silver medals and two individual bronze medals, our first of any colour since 2015, boding well for our turn to host these championships at Abbotstown in 2020.

Efrem Gidey in his first outing for Ireland since becoming a refugee here held onto second place for most of the race and finished in a smashing third. He said “I am so happy, this is a great opportunity for me.”

Darragh McElhinney finished a fine 12th in the under 20 race “to be honest in the middle laps I was dying and it was the prospect of a team medal that kept me going. I knew that Efrem [Gidey] was right up the front and I could hear Keelin  [Kilrehill] behind me as well.

We pulled it out of the bag anyway I mean we came here looking for a team medal. I was a small bit disappointed with my own placing but to be honest it doesn’t really matter at all now that we are after getting a team medal.”

At the time of interview Ireland had been listed as placing third in the team event, however this was later changed to fourth on count back. No doubt a disappointing change of events, but it shouldn’t take away from a fine team performance by the lads.

Photo: Michael Hynes of Raheny Shamrock

Cotter leads U23 women to team silver

Stephanie Cotter brought home Ireland’s second individual medal of the day and led her team mates onto the podium with an excellent run behind Moller of Denmark and Lau of the Netherlands.

Supposed by twins Eilish and Roisin Flanagan, who finished in ninth and 17th respectively, only the Dutch team fared better and it was an excellent run by the Irish team.

This comes on the back of the trio going 1-2-3 at the NCAA Division Two Cross Country Championships in Sacramento last month, finishing in the same order as today on the bigger stage.

“If you’re not coming home in an ambulance you’re not giving enough”

Under 23 man Jack O’Leary had plenty to say on the course. “I was too aggressive in the first 5km that probably came to bite me in the ass a little. With two laps to go going through your mind is like ‘Jesus can I get to the end here’.

Liam Brady (team captain) gave us a very good speech before, he had this expression at nationals that if you’re not coming home in an ambulance you’re not giving enough.” Jamie Battle took it one hill at a time “I just focused on the next hill and the next hill to try break it up as I went along.”

On the terrain O’Leary said “the southern countries might say it was mucky but for the Irish it was very fast. Just the hills were insane. I would have loved to have the Strava on the watch and see the elevation gains.” On the very steep downhill “you have to just try and open your legs and it’s very tough when you are absolutely dying, it’s a big mental battle telling yourself open up the stride open up the legs.”

We asked Jack how the course compared to other races he has run, to which he responded “oh it was a very cool race, I don’t think there was one stage in the race when you were actually on level always either climbing or going down. I don’t think you’d find any course that can be that hilly unless you’re racing on Everest or something.”

Downhill madness at the finish

The under 23 women of silver, delighted with their reward, agreed, “it was a crazy course” said Claire Fagan. The finish line was particularly steep “it was mad at the end went downhill and into the finish like that was crazy because I’ve never done that before and your legs are going so fast.”

The unrelenting hills meant that places we’re changing by the half lap. Fian Sweeney said “you were always working and thinking you’d have the downhill to pick up momentum and then the next hill came around. Personally it was just such a mental battle the whole time, you felt like you were going back because some people are super strong on the hills and some are super strong on the downhill. I caught people going up and then lost it going down.”

Photo: Michael Hynes of Raheny Shamrock

Brave run from Tobin

Sean Tobin in the Senior race moved very well through the first few laps, hitting the bell lap in 13th. He faded to 18th.

Speaking afterwards to Fast Running, with his bare and bloody feet, barely able to stand on them, he said “there is so much friction underneath my foot I just kept getting blisters as I went and those last two laps I was trying my best to move but I felt like there were bubbles on my feet and could feel the blisters popping.”

“I couldn’t even get around the hill on the corner I was just suffering from that, so obviously I lost four of five spots on the last lap. Part of it was fatigue but my feet are just fucked.”

Hoping to place higher, he knew a top 10 was there for him but “fitness wise we gotta be really pleased but I’m just disappointed about those feet. I think a top ten was there and I hate to come out with an excuse but I was just gritting my face and I couldn’t even think about the race my feet were just going.”

Coach Feidhlim noted however that Sean placed in the top 20 at the last three cross country championships, two of them with him so “that’s some achievement.”

Inspiring the next generations

Eoin Everard, who scored third for the team today, took the time to praise Athletics Ireland for sending full teams in all events, “I must say the AAI deserve a lot of kudos for bringing six. Performance wise I know 61st people are probably going like “ah well people have won medals this weekend”, but Kilkenny City Harriers are putting on an award ceremony for us [also Aoibhe Richardson] on Tuesday and that is going to have more than 100 juveniles there getting medals off us.”

“I am 33 and I am coming to the end and some people say why don’t they only bring four but you don’t know who is in that room on Tuesday who is thinking about Kilkenny camogie or hurling that might go, feck, I want that Irish gear, I want to go there and they could be a medallist at this.”

“We are going back to local clubs and you don’t know who this keeps in a club, seeing Irish gear and seeing that as a route. You don’t know the long term benefits of that.”

You know for sure there are members of the team today that have been inspired by the medal performances of Fionnuala McCormack over the years and i’s great to know the impact this can have on young club athletes when we compete with so many sports for their dedication.

Hard and fast start for Brady

Liam Brady described his race as having “blazed into the race and then blazed out of it again just as quick. Sean and I were probably a bit too hyped up and we said we were going for a bald head the two of us, we decided we were gonna be where we wanted to finish soon after 2k had passed.”

“It worked for Tobin, fair play to him, but the harder I tried the slower I felt I was going. But I just kept going.”

Other athletes described the toughest battle as having the mental will to carry on, but for Liam the battle was physical, “ I felt like I was at my limit straight away for some reason. I think I was a bit rigid going down the hill. I was beating lads up the hill but as soon as I went to run down the hill they were gone past me again.

“I wasn’t loose enough flowing down and was just working all the time. I am disappointed yeah. I was going for top 30, to really take it on and I didn’t do that so I can’t come away and say I am happy with 63rd. But I am proud I didn’t give up, I never felt like pulling out it was never an option, it never even crossed my mind. But the sooner the finish line came the better.”

Photo: Michael Hynes of Raheny Shamrock

Finishing on a phenomenal team effort

Fionnuala McCormack led the senior women to a team silver, having been sat on for much of the race by the eventual bronze medallist from Sweden.

Second home, and bypassing Olympian Ciara Mageean in the ultimate lap, was Aoibhe Richardson, “the last lap was a bit of a blur but I just had my eyes on her and I was trying to chase her down and it really helped to have a team out there to work with.”

Like many athletes coming off the NCAA cross country season, we asked was it a stretch to hang in for another race, “I actually finished the season feeling really good and really excited about doing the race. Last year I was a bit burnt out but this year I felt ready for another race and really excited.”

Richardson attributes this to a longer and slower build up, “I changed colleges this year and I was a bit slower with my build up, less mileage, less intensity to make sure that I felt really fresh and good going into every race and that helped the longevity of my season.”

Ciara Mageean, clearly ecstatic about the Irish success noted that this is “probably the most positive euro cross that Irish athletics has ever had. And it’s a testament to our governing body and a testament to the coaches in Ireland  because they don’t get paid for it and they do it out of the love of their own heart, and most of these athletes aren’t making a hell of a lot of money out of this sport and some of them are making none.”

“They go out and put their bodies on the line, because, if anybody wants to see how tough athletics is they just have to watch euro cross. I thought I could have died… I was starting to see stars.”

Mageean once again answered Ireland’s call and it was clear to all watching that the track athlete suffered for her teammates and her country. Collapsed on the ground at the finish, a fresh looking McCormack was on hand to check on her teammate. It was great to see the team rewarded with the much deserved silver medal.

Anger where there should be hope

One downside to a wonderful day was criticism and anger sent towards young Efrem Gidey after his excellent bronze medal. Keyboard warriors were quick to criticise the young Eritrean refugee, even the commentator saying over the megaphone as he crossed the line “this black man but he runs for Ireland.” Such commentators should do well to remember that sport is a great equaliser and way of bringing people together.

As an island with the largest diaspora in the world, we are privileged to live in a peaceful and wealthy country and to be in a position to offer protection to refugees. This will no doubt change the face of Irish teams in the future, as people from all over the world bring their talent, skills and humanity to us.

Bláithín is a middle distance and cross country athlete who has been known to accidentally run into trees. She is in total denial about having to work for a living – you can follow her attempts at run-commuting to work on Strava.

Are you a fan of Fast Running? Then please support us and become a patron. For as little as the price of a monthly magazine you can support Fast Running – and it only takes a minute. Thank you.

The post Putting it on the line for Ireland in Lisbon appeared first on Fast Running.

In Chicago, Fionnuala McCormack finished 5^th woman in 2 hrs 26 mins 47 secs, knocking almost four minutes off her previous best of 2:30.38 run in Boston earlier this year. That time is comfortably inside the Tokyo 2020 qualifying standard of 2:29:30 and means that McCormack, now aged 35, is on target to compete at her fourth Olympic Games next summer.

It also puts her third on the all-time list of Irish-born athletes led by Catherina McKiernan whose Irish record of 2:22.23 dates back 21 years to Amsterdam in 1998. Second on the list is Mayo-born Sinead Diver who ran a time of 2:24.11 in London last April; Diver runs for Australia. Only four Irish women have ever gone under 2 hrs 30 mins for the marathon.

Photo: Robbie Britton

Irish success in the mountains

At the final World Cup race on the Smarna Gora in Slovenia, Sarah McCormack finished second behind defending champion Lucy Murigi from Kenya with less than a minute in it.

McCormack, who is based at Ambleside in the Lake District, had already done enough to lift the World Cup trophy after a super consistent season, where she ran six of the seven World Cup races. She finished second at the opening round in Annecy and at the Drei Zinnen in Italy as well as in Slovenia and took a big win at Snowdon, a race she had won twice before. She also picked up good points for a fourth at the savagely steep Grossglockner in Austria and for 13^th in the 31km Sierre-Zinal in Switzerland.

In the men’s race, Zak Hanna of Newcastle AC finished ninth which put him 5^th overall in the World Cup rankings. He made the top ten in the four races he ran, with his best result coming at Snowdon where he finished fourth.

Both athletes will represent Ireland at the World Mountain Running Championships taking place in Villa La Angostura, Patagonia, Argentina at the end of next month.

Photo: Kirsten Kortebein

Trail running overseas

Nicole Duncan, building up towards the World Mountain Running Long Distance Championships in Patagonia the November, was the comfortable winner at the Pentland Skyline race in Edinburgh, Scotland.  Running for the race organisers Carnethy RC, the former road marathoner clocked 3:10:51 to win the 26.6km race with 1890m of climbing. Tom Owens, running for Shettleston Harriers, was the men’s winner in 2:25:29.

US-based ultra trail runner Paddy O’Leary, who started a trio of Wicklow Round records earlier this year, was the winner of the THF Endurance Challenge Chile 50km. Also building up towards the World Longs in Argentina this November, the 2:20 marathoner is travelling and adventuring in South America before the champs and looks in fine form.

Are you a fan of Fast Running? Then please support us and become a patron. For as little as the price of a monthly magazine you can support Fast Running – and it only takes a minute. Thank you.

Lindie Naughton is a journalist and writer based in Dublin who joined the athletics club at her college many many years ago and has never quite escaped. You’ll normally find her jogging around some orienteering course somewhere – or down at the Irishtown track coaching kiddies!

The post A good weekend to be called McCormack – Irish weekend round-up appeared first on Fast Running.

Setting off like she was on a mission from the very start, Kosgei crested the finishing tape in 2:14:04 (unofficial). This is, for me, a better performance than Kipchoge’s 1:59:40 in Vienna yesterday. Simply fantastic running.

From the first 5km split it looked like something very special could be on, with the 64:28 half marathoner (although that was at the Great North Run and not record eligible) going through in 15:28. That’s around 2:10 marathon pace, although she settled into 2:14 pace and went through halfway in 66:59.

When the pacemakers dropped away around the 30km mark some expected the Kenyan to slow down, but that wasn’t the case at all. The 30-35km split was 15:57 and that’s just four seconds slower than Mo Farah ran for the same segment, albeit a few minutes earlier.

Jonathan Gault, of LetsRun.com, reported on Twitter that Kosgei then went on to run her 24th mile in 4:45, which is sub 2:05 marathon pace. That speed so late in the race is simply phenomenal. 40km passed in 2:07:11 and at this point you start to believe that this weekend marathon history is really being made.

Breaking into the top 30 overall, Brigid Kosgei smashed Paul Radcliffe’s 2:15:25 set in London back in 2003 wth a 2:14:04. That’s around 5:07 per mile for the 26.2 miles.

The men’s race

The men’s race was won in 2:05:45 by Lawrence Cherono, in a sprint finish with Dejene Debela, Asefa Mengstu and Bedan Karoki. Sir Mo Farah finished in eighth position in what must be a disappointing 2:09:58 for the 2018 winner.

It was anyone’s win coming into the final stretch, but Cherono had the legs of the other runners and all four finished within eight seconds.

Farah was off the pace of the leaders by half way, running 62:54 and forty seconds back from the lead. It may not sound like a lot, but it’s a lifetime when there are six world class marathoners in the lead pack. Farah had training partner Bashir Abdi for company, but the Belgian pulled away in the second half and went on to finish fifth in 2:06:14.

It is worth noting that both Kosgei and Cherono are managed by Federico Rosa and Associati. The Italian athlete representative was also responsible for representing Abel Kiprop, Jemima Sumgong, Matthew Kisorio, Agatha Jeruto and Rita Jeptoo, all of whom have been banned for doping offences. In 2016 Rosa himself was charged with doping offences, but the case was later dropped by authorities in Kenya.

Fionnuala McCormack PB

Irish international Fionnuala McCormack finished an excellent fifth in 2:26:47 to take a huge chunk off of her 2:30:38 PB from Boston marathon earlier this year.

The cross country star is a runner who seems suited to the hard work and grind of the marathon distance and it was great to see her pass through halfway in 1:12:56 and hold strong for a 2:26:47 finish.

We believe this puts McCormack third on the all time marathon list for Ireland, behind Catherina McKiernan (2:22:23) and Irish born Australian international Sinead Diver (2:24:11), although technically McCormack’s mark is second all time as Diver ran her time representing Australia.

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The post New Marathon World Record for Brigid Kosgei in Chicago appeared first on Fast Running.

In a tight finish to the women’s race, Ireland just held off the challenge of Romania and the Slovak Republic to win the A final in a season’s best 3:35.77. Making up the team were Nessa Millett, Nicoale Walsh, Jenna Bromell and Sharlene Mawdsley.

Minutes later the men’s quartet of Chris O’Donnell, Andrew Mellon, Cathal Crosbie and Harry Purcell ended Ireland’s campaign in Sandnes to win their A final in 3:08.77 – another season’s best. It left Ireland third overall in the 4 x 400m rankings behind Turkey and the Netherlands.

Just enough to survive

Overall, Ireland did just enough to survive in the first league for 2021, finishing seventh on the points table with a total of 227 points. Romania, just behind Ireland on 225.50 points, is relegated along with Hungary, Slovakia and Lithuania. Winning promotion to the Super League is Portugal with an impressive total of 302 points. Belarus finished second, and hosts Norway third.

While Ireland had no individual wins in a high class competition held over three days in cold and windy conditions, there were some notable performances. Mark English finished second in the men’s 800m in 1:50.06, with Balazs Vindiscs of Hungary the winner in 1:49.62. “I lost to a strong athlete today. I am not in my best shape, I was a bit rusty,” he said.

A day earlier, Christopher O’Donnell had produced the best Irish performance of the session when he finished second in the 400m in a season’s best 46.70. “I’m really pleased with my race today and running a season’s best in these conditions was great,” said the Sligo athlete after his run.

In the women’s 5000m, Fionnuala McCormack finished a close third in 16:02.78. “Being from Ireland the weather isn’t a problem for me. I took nine points for Ireland and I’m happy for that, although the distance is not my favourite, it’s too short,” said McCormack after her race.

An excellent team effort

A fighting third in the women’s 200m on Saturday was Ciara Neville who clocked a time of 11.83 despite a -1.8 headwind. She has run marginally faster in the heats a dayearlier.

Finishing fourth in the men’s 200m with a time of 21.29 sec was Marcus Lawler, while also fourth was Jayme Rossiter in the men’s steeplechase, and Andrew Coscoran in a 1500m race won by Jacon Ingebrigtsen of Norway in 3:43.43.

Thomas Barr was another Irish athletes just outside the top three, with in 400m hurdles final taking place in particularly windy conditions. Winner in 49.23 was Yasmani Capello, the Cuban who runs in Turkish colours; Barr’s time for fourth was 51.12.

On Saturday, the mens’ 4 x 100m also ran a season’s best clocking 40.31 secs for third in their heat and fifth overall.

Other track performances

Clocking a personal best time of 4:13.93 for second place in the A 1500m at the BMC Meet at Trafford on Saturday (August 10) was Nadia Power of Templeogue AC. The time was a big improvement on the 4:16.15 Power ran last June in Loughborough on her way to bronze in the 800m at the European U23 Championships.

Other Irish in action included Conal Kirk of Annadale Striders, 1:51.82 in his 15^th 800m race this season, Iseult O’Donnell of Raheny Shamrock winner of the women’s B 800m in 2:08.91, and Kieran Kelly, also Raheny Shamrock, 3:46.22 in the men’s A 1500m.

In Loughborough on Tuesday (August 6) Jason Smith of Derry Track Club ran 10.51 for 100m – a fastest time in some years for the Paralympian superstar. .

On the roads

Yared Derese of Carrick Aces proved the class of the field in the National Half Marathon Championships on Sunday (August 11) winning the men’s title in 64 mins 58 secs – a superb time on a tricky course from Dublin’s city centre into the Phoenix Park.

Second was national marathon champion Mick Clohisey of Raheny Shamrock in 65:36 while third was Hugh Armstrong of Ballina AC in 66.10. In a quality men’s race, Sergiu Ciobanu of Clonliffe Harriers finished fourth in 67:18 and David Mansfield of Clonmel AC fifth in 67.53.

More low key was the women’s race won by Katherine Wood of Sale Harriers in Manchester in 77:21, with Angela McCann of Clonmel AC second and first W45 in 80:14. McCann is having a good summer; last June, she was the first woman at the Cork Marathon.

Among the notable veteran men finishers was Tommy Hughes of Termoneeny AC 18^th overall and first M55 in 74:01.

The  championships were held in conjunction with the American Rock ’n’ Roll franchise races. Some 5,495 completed the half marathon.

A day earlier, Eoin Flynn of Rathfarnham WSAF AC won the Rock ’n’ Roll 5km in the Phoenix Park with almost a minute to spare in 15:57.

Damien Landers not only won the Streets of Galway 8km in fine style on Saturday evening (August 10), he helped his club Ennis TTC to its first team victory in the race.

Landers crossed the line in 24 mins 7secs beating Sean Hehir, a fellow Clare man, by six seconds. Kenny Rodgers of St John’s AC was third in 24.17, with prolific racer Alan O’Shea of Bantry AC fourth in 24:46.

Finishing 16^th overall and first woman in 26:41 was Anne Marie McGlynn of Letterkenny AC.

Siobhan O’Doherty of Borrisokane AC, wearing No 1 as last year’s winner , was second in 28: 1, with Regina Casey of host club Galway City Harriers third in 28.50. A total of 2,533 completed the race.

And more road action

Winning the Route to Crook 5-Mile from Goleen to Crookhaven in Co Cork on Sunday (August 11) was Eoghan McElhinney of Bantry AC in 28 mins 5 secs. Jonathhn Hughes of Rathfarnham WSAF AC was second in 28.51. Eighth overall and first woman was Una English in 32:23.

On a busy day for the East Cork Harbour Marathon, Half Marathon and 10km in Cork, Thomas Baker, an M50 athlete from Navan AC, won the Marathon in 2 hrs 49 mins 50 mins. Kevin O’Leary of East Cork AC in 73:36 and Liz Nylan of West Waterford Ac won the winners of the half marathon, while in the 10km the winners were Gary Walsh of Bweeng Trail Blazers in 36:05 and Jennifer Goggin Walsh of Carraig na bhFear AC in 42:43.

Colm Rooney of Clonliffe Harriers was the winner of the Streets of Athboy 5km on Friday evening (August 9). His time of 14 mins 45 secs put him well clear of second placed Stephen Conroy of Celbridge AC who finished in 15:26. Finishing third was Ben Brunton of St Brigid’s AC in 15:38. First woman was Michelle Cox of Newbridge AC in 18:12. Karen Costello of Dunleer AC was second in 18.16 and Rose Finnegan of UCD AC third in 18:25.

Winning the GR8km in Mitchelstown on a wet Friday evening (August 9) were Niall Shanahan of An Bru AC in 24:35 and Niamh Moore of Leevale AC in 28:48. Angela McCann of Clonmel AC warmed up for the National Half Marathon by finishing second woman.

Catch-up: Winning the Sunshine Half Marathon in Queensland, Australia (Sunday August 4th) in 64 mins 12 secs was Kevin Batt of Dundrum South Dublin AC. It puts him second on the current Irish rankings behind Kevin Seaward who ran 63:39 in Barcelona last February. Batt was given the victory after defending champion Jack Rayner ran off the course while in the lead and was disqualified.

Batt will make his marathon debut in Dublin later in the year.

In the same race, Lisa Weightman broke her own Australian all-comer’s record when she finished in 68 mins 48 secs. Mayo woman Sinead Diver, who runs for Australia, was second in 69:08 – not far her personal best of 68:55. Both Weightman and Diver are in their forties.

Sierre Zinal records go

Irish mountain running international Sarah McCormack clocked a time of 3 hours 12 mins 45.9 secs for 12^th at the Sierre Zinal classic mountain race in Switzerland’s Val d’Anniviers on Sunday (August 11).

McCormack, winner at the Snowdon International Race a fortnight ago, currently heads WMRA’s World Cup rankings with two races to go and her 12^thposition in this tough 32km race has consolidated her lead. She also finished 12^th in the Sierre Zinal last year in 3 hrs 13 mins 6 secs.

At the head of the race, five times winner Kilian Jornet from Spain smashed Jonathan Wyatt’s long standing course record with a time of 2:25.35. First woman was European champion Maude Mathys of Switzerland in 2:49.21, also smashing Czech star Anna Pichrtová’s record.

Award winning Father and Son, Tommy and Eoin Hughes, from Maghera are gearing up for breaking a Guinness World Record at the 7th Deep RiverRock Belfast City Half Marathon on Sunday 22nd September 2019

parkrun

Eoin Hughes and Elaine McGuckin ran the fastest parkrun times in Ireland this weekend, whilst Eoin’s father Tommy was third overall in a busy weekend of fast running for the pair who are targeting a world record performance later this year. Full parkrun rankings here.

If you would like to run faster at parkrun, top tips to help runners of all abilities can be found here.

RELATED: 7 ways to run faster at parkrun

Are you a fan of Fast Running? Then please support us and become a patron. For as little as the price of a monthly magazine you can support Fast Running – and it only takes a minute. Thank you.

Lindie Naughton is a journalist and writer based in Dublin who joined the athletics club at her college many many years ago and has never quite escaped. You’ll normally find her jogging around some orienteering course somewhere – or down at the Irishtown track coaching kiddies!

The post Barr leads team effort to avoid athletics relegation – Irish weekend round-up appeared first on Fast Running.

On the promise of fast running and great crowds, several Irish athletes were hunting quick times at the Night of 10,000m PBs in London on Saturday evening (July 6) .

In the women’s European Cup A race, Fionnuala McCormack of Kilcoole AC was fifth in 32.05.29; Ann Marie McGlynn, of Letterkenny AC, ran 33:38.50 and Nike’s Emma Mitchell 34:12.50.

Aoibhe Richardson was running in the women’s B race, where she finished tenth in 33:41.15; Fionnuala Ross of Armagh AC ws 21^st in 34:25.78.

Ryan Forsyth, along with Mat Bergin of Dundrum South Dublin AC, was running in the men’s B race, where – on the eve of his 23^rd birthday he finished a creditable eighth place in a PB of 29:01.27. Bergin unfortunately was forced to drop out. Totten finished sixth in the men’s D race in another personal best of 30:31.50.

Other Irish in action included Grace Lynch of Iveragh AC and Kilcooole’s Una Britton who ran times of 35:42.23 and 36:29.95 respectively in the women’s C race. In the men’s E race, Declan Reed of City of Derry Spartans ran 31:15.63 and Scott Rankin of Foyle Valley AC 31:19.14.

Photo: Gill Bland

Down Under

Further across the field in Australia, was the Gold Coast Half Marathon. There were some cracking female performances, with the top two athletes crossing the line in under 70 minutes. The Irish-born Australian long-distance runner, Sinead Diver, took gold in a beaming time of 69:45. Diver was closely followed by Ellie Pashley, only five seconds behind in 69:50. Just above the 70-minute mark was Lisa Weightman in 70:30.

10 miles on the road

Mick Clohisey and Michele Finn proved the class of the fields at the Roscommon 10-Mile road race, held on Saturday (July 6)

Clohisey of Raheny Shamrock, finished in 48:56, just off his course record time of 48:47 set in 2017. It was a thrid consecutive win for the current national marathon champion who also won last year in 49:31. David Flynn of Clonliffe Harriers was second in 49.32 and Hugh Armstrong from Ballina AC third in 51.06.

In the women’s race, Finn’s time of 58 mins 47 secs was a new course record. The Leevale athlete, who ran the steepechase at the Rio Olympics, has been in impressive form recently running a personal best 15:45.55 for 5000m as well as 9:51.22 for the steeplechase.

Behind her, Mary Mulhare of Portlaoise AC picked up valuable KIA Race Series rankings when finishing second in 60:40. Leevale’s Sinead O’Connor, who topped the KIA rankings going into the race, finished third in 61.13. Mulhare and O’Connor are now tied on 10 points apiece.

Paddy Sharkey of Longford AC, fourth place overall, was first M40 in 55:02, while Caroline Donnelan of Edenderry AC was first W40 in 63:11 ahead of Maria McCambridge of DSD AC who finished in 65.25. First M50 was Brendan Donagher of Naomh Mhuire AC in 59:06; Maura Dervin of Mullingar Harriers in 74.15 was first W50.

Of the nine races in the KIA Series, just three remain. Next round is the Edenderry 10-Mile on Sunday 12 July.

Multi-eventers win promotion to top league

Ireland has won promotion to the European Combined Events Teams Championships first league after finishing second in the second league held in Ribeira Brava, Madeira over the weekend (July 6/7). Ireland with a total of 35821 points finished second behind Belgium on 35865 points and comfortably clear of Denmark on 34240.

All three of the Irish men achieved personal best scores in the decathlon with Michael Bowler from Enniscorthy AC finishing second individual. Bowler had dropped back to third after the hurdles and discus on the second day of competition, but pulled back to second thanks to a 4.50 in the pole vault, an event in which he is national champion. He ended up with 7379 points thanks to strong performances also in the 100m, long jump and hurdles.

Pulling up from sixth to fifth place overnight was Shane Aston of Trim AC , whose throw of 59.05 in the javelin was the best in the competition and moved him up again into fourth place overall. His total of 7231 added 162 points to his previous best set last last month at the UK Championships.

Completing his first decathlon in some time for 14^th place was Rolus Olusa of Clonliffe Harriers, whose best points came in the hurdles. He ended up with a score of 6626 which added eleven points to his previous record.

In the women’s heptathlon, Ireland was missing its top three, with Elizabeth Morland scheduled to compete in the European U23 championships next week, Kate O’Connor competing in the European U20 championships a week later and Grace McKenzie based in the USA.

Finishing a fighting seventh with a personal best 5114 points was 18-year-old Anna McCauley of City of Lisburn AC, whose biggest points came in the hurdles, high jump and 200m and who recored a personal best 11.08m in the shot. Sarah Connolly pf North Down AC just missed out on her best of 5031 from last month with a score of 4990 for 11^th place, while Laura Frey of Lagan Valley AC produced a good time of 2:17.72 in the 800m and finished 20^th with 4481 points.

Track and Field action

Two thrilling 800m races proved the highlights of the Athletics Ireland Junior and U23 Track and Field Championships held in Tullamore on Saturday (July 6).

First up were the junior girls, where Sarah Healy of Blackrock AC was the pre-race favourite. As it turned out, she was given a race for her money, only winning in the sprint for the line from Jo Keane from Ennis TC. Healy’s time was 2:11.40 with Keane timed at 2:11.56.

Even closer was a tactical men’s 800m, where Darragh McElhinney of Bantry, fresh from his Irish junior 3000m record of a week earlier, was the expected winner. As it turned out, it was Louis O’Loughlin of Donore Harriers who won the race in a blanket finish. O’Loughlin was given a time of 1:54.00, Mark Milner of Mullingar Harriers was second in 1:54.01 and McElhinney third in 1:54.02.

In the junior women’s 100m, there were no surprises when Rhasidat Adeleke of Tallaght AC was a clear winner in 11.80 secs with her training training partner Patience Jumbo Gula of Dundalk St Gerard’s AC second in 12.00 secs.

With no Aaron Sexton on the start line, Reality Osuoha of Fingallians AC was the winner of the junior men’s 100m in 10.95 secs. Michael Farrelly of Raheny Shamrock was second in 11.00 and Ryan O’Leary of Leevale AC a close third in 11.01.

Records fall in field events

In the junior women’s javelin, heptathlete Kate O’Connor of Dundalk St Gerard’s AC improved her own championships record to 48.98m, although it was off the 49.46m she threw at the Leinster Schools Championships in Santry last May. O’Connor, who heads for the European U20 Championships starting on July 18, also won the long jump with 5.98m and ran a personal best 24.88 in the 200m heats, opting out of the final.

In the U23 women’s pole vault, Ellie McCartney of City of Lisburn, a 19-year-old student at Brunel University and the current British Universities champion, won with a personal best vault 4.01, improving on her own national junior record of 4.00 set last month in Bedford. It puts her fourth on the all-time Irish rankings

Notable U23 winners on the day included Ciara Neville of Emerald AC winner of a quality women’s 100m in a time of 11.69, with Molly Scott of St LOT AC second in 11.74 and Sarah Quinn of St Colman’s South Mayo AC third in 11.90. Scott went on to win the

100m hurdles in 13.71 secs with Kate Doherty of Dundrum South Dublin AC second in 14.04 and multi-eventer Elizabeth Morland of Cushinstown AC third in 14.08. Morland, who competes in the heptathlon at the European U23 Championships starting next Thursday in Gavle, Sweden, later won the long jump with 5.98m and finished second in the shot with 11.72m.

Winning the 200m in 23.74 was Sharlene Mawdsley of Newport AC. Sophie Becker of St Joseph’s AC was second in a personal best time of 24.05. Taking 400m title in 54.24 secs was Jenna Brommell of Emerald AC.

Mark Smith of Raheny Shamrock won the men’s 100m was in 10.74 secs, with Joseph Ojemumi of Tallaght AC second in 10.77 and Michael McAuley of Ballymena and Antrim AC third in 10.84.

Youghal’s Fearghal Curtin was the winner of the men’s 1500m in 3:49.54, with Shane Bracken of Swinford AC a close second in 3:50.16. Taking the 800m title in 1:52.97 was Callum Crawford-Walker of Annadale Striders AC.

Michaela Walsh of Swinford AC dominated the U23 women’s throws, winning the hammer with 58.63, the shot with 13.57 the javelin with 37.42 and weight for distance with 6.40. Best in the discus was Niamh Fogarty of Raheny Shamrock AC with 51.02, while winning the men’s hammer with 64.51 was Owen Russell of St Andrew’s AC.

At junior level, the men’s hammer was won by Sean Mockler of Moycarkey Coolcroo AC with a 68.06 effort in the fifth round. In the shot, a 16.72m throw gave the title to James Kelly of Finn Valley AC. Winning the junior high jump with 1.80m was Sommer Lecky of Finn Valley AC.

The Athletics NI Team Trophy

At the second round of the Athletics NI Team Trophy on Saturday (July 6), Lagan Valley AC came out on top in the women’s competition with a total of 186 from the two rounds. City Of Derry Spartans were second with 171 points, and City of Lisburn third on 1178 points. Lagan Valley AC has qualified in fourth place for the division 1 final of the National Track and Field League in Tullamore on July 20.

Clear winners of the men’s competition with 193 points were City of Derry Spartans. Lagan Valley on 127 were second and City of Lisburn third on 117. City of Lisburn AC has qualified for the men’s first division final of the national league finishing third overall on points after the two qualifying rounds.

Photo: Robbie Britton

Mountain Running

Sarah McCormack and Zak Hanna were Ireland’s best performers at the European Mountain Running C’ships on an uphill only course in the foothills of the Matterhorn in Zermatt, Switzerland on Sunday (July 7).

In the women’s senior race, McCormack finished a solid 16th in 66 mins 58 Secs. Race winner for a third year was Switzerland’s Maude Mathys in 60:18 [Worth noting that in 2015 Mathys was reprimanded for an ADRV for using clomiphene- Editor]; six times world champion Andrea Mayr of Austria, now aged 39, was just over a minute behind for second.

In a quality men’s race, Hanna did well to finish 19^th in 57 mins 27 secs, just over four minutes behind the winner, Britain’s Jacob Adkin, who finished in 53:21.

In the junior men’s race, Ronan Maguire was best of the Irish in 24^th place, with Tony McCambridge of St Malachy’s AC not far behind in 28^th. In the women’s junior race, Aoife Coffey of Lucan Harriers was 22^nd.

Eoin Flynn in full flight on his way to 42nd place in 59:47. Photo: Robbie Britton

Killian Mooney of Dundrum South Dublin AC proved the class of the field in the Leinster Evening League 9km race at Trooperstown in Co Wicklow on Wednesday (July 3), finishing over half a minute ahead of the chasers in 41 mins 27 secs. Second in 42.01 was Barry Minnock of Rathfarnham WSAF AC who was also first M40. In a double for DSD AC, Grace O’Rourke won the women’s race in 52:12. Patricia McLoughlin of Le Cheile AC was second and first W40 in 57.26.

Earlier in the week

Sergiu Ciobanu of Clonliffe Harriers was the winner of the Robbie Steele Memorial Corkbeg4-Mile in Co Cork on Thursday (July 4) with a time of 19 mins 43 secs. Kevin O’Leary of East Cork AC was second in 20.38 and Sharon Cleere from Thurles first woman in 24:16.

Winners of the CPO BHAA 5km, at Tramore Valley Park in Co Cork on Wednesday (July 3), were Alan O’Shea in 15:27 and Carol Finn in 19.00.

At the Coillte 10km, in Dundrum, Co Tipperary also on Wednesday (July 3), David Mansfield of Clonmel AC was first home in 31 mins 4 secs, with the top five men all funder 32 minutes. First woman was Siobhan O’Doherty of Borrisokane AC in 36:49.

parkrun

Annette Kealy and Tom Lupton were your quickest parkrunners in Ireland this weekend (July 6th). Full Irish rankings here.

RELATED: 7 ways to run faster at parkrun

Lindie Naughton is a journalist and writer based in Dublin who joined the athletics club at her college many many years ago and has never quite escaped. You’ll normally find her jogging around some orienteering course somewhere – or down at the Irishtown track coaching kiddies!

Are you a fan of Fast Running? Then please support us and become a patron. For as little as the price of a monthly magazine you can support Fast Running – and it only takes a minute. Thank you.

The post PBs at Highgate 10k and top 20s at Euro Mountain Champs – Irish Round-up appeared first on Fast Running.

McCormack, whose long-term aim is to qualify for Tokyo Olympics in the marathon, proved the class of the field in the women’s race, finishing over three minutes clear of the chasers led by Sinead O’Connor of Leevale AC in 34:51.

In the men’s race, Hiko Tonosa of Dundrum South Dublin AC continued his winning streak in the KIA Series although pressed hard by Mick Clohisey of Raheny Shamrock and Peter Somba of Dunboyne AC. Tonosa sprinted clear for victory in 29 mins 30 secs, with Clohisey just a second behind in 29:31 and Somba third in 30:16. Fourth in 30:50 was Eric Keogh of Donore Harriers, who finished second behind Tonosa in last year’s KIA Series.

Finishing fifth and first M40 was Brian Maher of Kilkenny City Harries in 30.56. First W40 was Maria McCambridge of Dundrum South Dublin AC in 37:08.

In the team competition, the Raheny men came out on top, with Clohisey and Cillian O’Leary (in sixth place), backed up by Wesley O’Brien and Colm Cassidy. Rathfarnham WSAF was second and Donore Harriers third; a massive 59 teams finished the race.

In the women’s team competition, 67 teams finished with DSD beating Donore Harriers by a single point for victory. Niamh Devlin, Maria McCambridge and Cathryn Brady were the counting three. Scoring for Donore were Sorcha Nic Dhomhnaill, Sinead Lambe and Florence Curley. Truly this was a race worthy of national championships status.

Waterford Viking Marathon

Yared Derese of Carrick Aces, who is originally from Eritrea, was the runaway winner of the Waterford Viking Half Marathon on Saturday (June 22) in a time of 64 mins 55 secs – the fastest recorded for the distance on Irish soil for some time. A distant second in 73:01 was Freddy Sittuk. Ninth overall and first woman in 81:29 was Ruth Fitzgerald of Waterford AC. A total of 991 completed the run.

David Mansfield of Clonmel AC won the quarter marathon in 38 mins 10 secs, with junior athlete Mollie Hutchinson of Ferrybank AC first woman 48:28 and 715 finishers.

In the marathon, Alexander Wallace of St Coca’s AC was first home in 2:28.51. Sarah Baryga of Sli Cualann AC was first women in 2:59.44. There were 329 finishers plus 29 relay teams.

Double whammy for Hehir

Making it a weekend double whammy was Sean Hehir of Rathfarnham WSAF AC who won the Summer Solstice 10km in Ennis on Saturday (June 22) with a time of 31 mins 19 secs and then the Strawberry Fair 10-Mile in Enniscorthy on Sunday in 52.02. First woman in Enniscorthy was Grace Kennedy of Donore Harriers in 65:17.

Winner of the Dublin Pride Run 5km which attracted a capacity 878 to the Phoenix Park on Friday evening (June 21) were Owen Fletcher of Dunboyne AC in 16 mins 51 secs and Grace Kennedy-Clarke of Donore Harriers in 19:01

Sean Doran of Clonliffe Harriers led home 916 finishers at the Drogheda and District Midsummer 5km on Friday (June 21). In a sprint for the line, Doranjust edged out Maurice McMahon of North East Runners, with the pair timed at 16:01 and 16:02 respectively. Tadhg Everitt Thompson of Drogheda and District AC was third and first junior in 16:47, with Laura McDonnell of Tallaght AC first woman in 17:50. Catherine O’Connor of East Down AC was second woman and Nicola Welsh of Dunleer AC third and first W40. Dunleer finished first of the 17 women’s team, with host club Drogheda and District best of the 20 men’s teams entered.

Fast running over 5km

Dunboyne’s Peter Somba was the winner of the Docklands 5km in Dublin on Thursday (June 20) in a time of 14 mins 56 seconds. A distant second was Andrew Sheehan of Leevale AC in 15:29, with triathlon specialist Neil Cornyn of Dunboyne AC third in 15:42.

First woman was Niamh Clifford of RCSI in 17:44. Annette Kealy of Raheny Shamrock was second woman and first W50 in 18:03 with Clare Sullivan of RCSI a close third in 18:08. Leevale AC won the men’s team prize with Sportsworld AC best of the women and Where’s the Finish Line? winning the corporate co-ed team category, which attracted a hundred teams. A total of 1,686 completed the race.

On the same night in Belfast, Gary Montgomery of Ryobi Runaways won the Grant Thornton Corporate 5km in 16 mins 57 secs. Lisa Knipe in ninth place from Almac was first woman in 18:15.

Winning the battle for top men’s team by a single second was Invest NI’s A team; McLaughlin and Harvey were second. First women’s team by some way was Danksa Bank, while best in the co-ed category was AECOM1.

Track and field action

Ireland qualified for the DNA (dynamic new athletics) quarter-finals on Tuesday June 24 after finishing fifth overall in the opening rounds at the European Games in Minsk on Sunday (Jun 23).

Stars for Ireland included Sarah Lavin 2nd 100m hurdles in 13.46, Nelvin Appiah third high jump with 2.0m, Grace Casey fourth javelin with 40.11m, Niamh Whelan fourth 100m in 11.79 secs, Sophie Meredith sixth long jump with 5.76m, and the mixed 4 x 400m team fourth in 3:24.37.

Belfast Milers Club Meet

Ann Marie McGlynn of Letterkenny AC, aged 39, showed that age is no barrier to athletics success when she won the women’s 5000m at the Belfast Milers Club Meet, held at the Mary Peters track on Saturday (June 22).

McGlynn’s time of 16:09.35 saw her finish comfortably clear of Aoibhe Richardson from Kilkenny City Harriers who came home in 16:23.61 and Emma Mitchell of Team Nike third in 16:40.37. McGlynn is in the form of her life since completing her first marathon last April in Rotterdam where she ran a time of 2:39.22. Last month, she showed that she was completely recovered from her Rotterdam exertions with a personal best time of 33:53 at the Vitality London 10,000m.

McGlynn will now team up with Fionnuala McCormack of Kilcoole AC and Fionnuala Ross of Armagh AC at the European 10,000m Championships at Highgate.

Winning the men’s 5000m in 14:32.80 was Liam Brady of Tullamore Harriers. Conor Duffy of Glaslough Harriers was second in 14:40.43 and Patrick MacGabhann of Dundrum South Dublin AC third in 14:48.71.

In the 800m, Louise Shanahan of Leevale AC knocked 3.27 secs of her PB when running 2:04.77, a European Under-23 qualifying time

More school records

Two records fell at the Tailteann Irish Schools Interprovincial match held in Santry on Saturday (June 22). In the girls’ 300m, Jennifer Kealy of Loreto Kilkenny improved the record to 33.39 secs, while in the girls’ pole vault, Orla Coffey of St Angela’s Cork soared over 3.50m to add 20 centimetres to the previous best.

On the track, Sean Donoghue of St Declan’s Cabra had a solid victory over Dylan McBridge from Grosvenor Belfast in the 1500m, while Michael Morgan of Summerhill Sligo won the 3000m in 8:54.64.

Double winners on the day were Yemi Talabi of Moyne CS in the 100m and long jump and Ciara Sheehy of St Mary’s Charleville with wins in the shot and hammer. Winners were booking their places on the Irish team for the SIAB International next month in Wales.

AI Open Games

Highlight of the AI Open Games on Saturday in Santry was a 1.84 in the women’s high jump for Sommer Lecky of Finn Valley AC. Winning the 200m in 20.91 secs was Marcus Lawler of St LOT AC. Shane Howard of Bandon AC beat many times Irish champion Adam McMullen of Crusaders AC in the long jump with a leap of 7.44m.

A day later, multi-eventer Elizabeth Moreland of Cushinstown AC threw 44.97 to win the javelin and prove that she’s returning to full fitness after a stress fracture of the foot. In a quality 100m, Marcus Lawler of St LOT AC proved fastest in 10.65 secs, with Joseph Ojumumi of Tallaght AC second in 10.72 and Jason Smyth of Derry TC third in 10.82.

National Combined Events

Also taking place over the weekend were the National Combined Events, with both defending champion Shane Aston of Trim AC and previous champion Michael Bowler of Enniscorthy AC crashing out early when neither completed the 400m on the first day of competition. That gave victory to Michael Breathnach of Galway City Harriers with 5032 points.

Winning the junior title was Aaron Malik of St Brendan’s AC with 46.16 points while first youth was Diarmuid O’Connor of Bandon AC with 6,469 points. Aston and Bowler are expected to represent Ireland at the European Team Championships in Madeira in a fortnight’s time.

French visitor Agathe Guillemot, who was chasing the European U23s qualifying mark, proved best in the senior women’s heptathlon with 5350 points. Laura Frey of Lagan Valley AC was second and first Irish with 4551 points. Lara O’Byrne of Donore Harriers won the junior title with 4140 points, while Molly Curran of St Paul’s AC was first youth on 4172 points. Irish junior internationals Kate O’Connor of St Gerard’s AC and Anna McCauley of City of Lisburn AC competed only on day 1.

Master winners were Genevieve Rowland of Templemore AC W35, Mary Scanlon of Blackrock Louth AC W40 and Shirley Fennelly of Tramore AC W50 with a new record of 2,033. Men’s winners were Francois Kulik of Sli Cualann AC M35, Trevor McGlynn of Strabane AC, M45, Pascal Halley of Waterford AC M50, and Peadar McGing of DSD AC M60.

Paul Tierney excels in the Lake District

Irish ultra-runner Paul Tierney broke the record for the fastest time taken to summit all the Lake District’s Wainwright peaks.

The Ambleside AC athlete began the challenge at Moot Hill in Keswick on Friday at 8am and finished on Thursday (June 20) in an unofficial time of 6 days, 6hrs 5mins having reached the summit of all 214 fells recorded in Wainright’s guides to the fells.

His time knocked seven hours off the time of 6 days 13 hours set by Steve Birkinshaw five years ago, which itself had broken Joss Naylor’s 28 year old record. The challenge took in 512km and 36,000 ?/ fo climb. His support included his partner Sarah McCormack, an Irish mountain running international.

Tierney, aged 36, has twice completed the tough Tor des Géants, a 205-mile race through the Italian Alps that includes 24,000m of ascent and is a former winner of the Lakeland 100 event and the Wicklow Trail 52km.

Uphill all the way

Killian Mooney of Dundrum South Dublin AC had almost a minute to spare when winning the Powerscourt Uphill race from Crone Woods in Co Wicklow on Wednesday (June 19).

Mooney finished in 37 mins 15 secs; Ruairi Long of UCD Ac was second in 38:11 and Ian Conroy of Raheny Shamrock third in 38.17. Des Kennedy of Raheny Shamrock who finished fourth was also first M50. First woman was junior athlete Aoife Coffey of Lucan Harriers in 46:39. Niamh Corbett was second and Elizabeth Wheeler third and first W40.

Twenty four hours of fun in Belfast

Dublin-based ultra runner Eoin Keith regained the men’s title he last won in 2018 at the 10th and final Energia 24 hour race in Victoria Park, Belfast on Sunday (June 23).

Keith notched up a total of 234.58 km, catching and passing the defending champion Aidan Hogan from Rising Sun AC in the final hour. Hogan held on to second place ahead of Padraig Mullins.

First woman and fourth overall was Paula Wright of Newport AC with 218.06km – a big improvement on the 196.3km Wright had run a year earlier for third place. For a second year, Louise Smart from Newtownabbey placed second with Lorraine McMahon finishing third.

Men’s relay winners with a new record distance of 335km were Willowfield Harriers. Orangegrove were first of the mixed teams and Natty’s Nutters first women’s team.

parkrun

Aoibhinn McGoldrick and Sean Carrigg are your quickest parkrunners in Ireland this weekend (June 22nd). Full rankings here. 

RELATED: 7 ways to run faster at parkrun

Lindie Naughton is a journalist and writer based in Dublin who joined the athletics club at her college many many years ago and has never quite escaped. You’ll normally find her jogging around some orienteering course somewhere – or down at the Irishtown track coaching kiddies!

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The post McCormack & Tonosa quick winners of 40th Dunshaughlin 10km – Irish Round-up appeared first on Fast Running.

Defending champions Yuki Kawauchi and Des Linden head a stacked elite field for the 123rd edition of the Boston Marathon on Monday, April 15.

Japan’s Kawauchi and USA’s Linden were the surprise 2018 winners as they battled through the rain and blustery winds while many of the favourites faltered in the far from ideal racing conditions.

Kawauchi leads a formidable men’s field that includes 15 men who have run sub 2:08 marathons. Joining the Japanese star for Monday’s race are former Boston champions Geoffrey Kirui of Kenya, Lelisa Desisa of Ethiopia, Lemi Berhanu of Ethiopia and 2012 winner Wesley Korir of Kenya.

Among those chasing the former champions are 2:04 marathoners Lawrence Cherono of Kenya, a two-time Amsterdam champion, and Ethiopians Sisay Lemma and Solomon Deksisa. The Japanese pair of Hiroto Inoue and Hayato Sonoda also race.

From Eritrea, 2015 World Championships marathon gold medalist and 2016 New York City champion Ghirmay Ghebreslassie will be in contention as will countryman Zersenay Tadese, a former world record holder in the half marathon.

American athletes include third place finisher last year, Shadrack Biwott, Olympians Dathan Ritzenhein, Abdi Abdirahman, and Jared Ward, as well as Jeffery Eggleston, Elkanah Kibet, Timothy Ritchie, Scott Fauble, Aaron Braun and Brian Shrader.

Among those making their Boston debuts are Rotterdam winner Kenneth Kipkemoi of Kenya, compatriot Benson Kipruto and Beirut winner Mohamed Reda El Aaraby of Morocco.

Also joining the field is British Olympian Scott Overall, who has a best of 2:10:55 from 2011, and 2:06 Kenyan marathoners Felix Kandie, Festus Talam and Philemon Rono.

In the women’s elite race, organisers have assembled an star field that includes 15 athletes who have run inside 2:25, 11 of whom have personal best times under 2:23:00.

Photo: Boston Marathon

Leading the way is 2018 winner Linden, 2017 Boston champion Edna Kiplagat of Kenya, 2015 Boston winner Caroline Rotich of Kenya and 2012 Boston champion Sharon Cherop of Kenya.

Challenging the Boston champions are 2:19 Ethiopian marathoners Aselefech Mergia, Mare Dibaba and Worknesh Degefa.

Last year’s second and third place finishers, Sarah Sellers of the United States and Krista DuChene of Canada return. American athletes also set to race in Boston include Jordan Hasay, third in 2017, Sara Hall, Lindsay Flanagan, Becky Wade, Sarah Crouch and Sally Kipyego.

Photo: Chicago Marathon

Joining them will be a trio of sub 2:23 Ethiopians: Meskerem Assefa, Belaynesh Oljira and Marta Megra.

Olympian Aly Dixon, who ran her best of 2:29:06 in London two years ago, leads the British hopes in Boston, while Ireland’s Fionnuala McCormack makes her return to the marathon looking to improve on her 2:31:22 best from the Rio Olympics in 2016.

Full elite men’s field

Full elite women’s field

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The post Boston Marathon: Yuki Kawauchi and Des Linden ready to defend crowns appeared first on Fast Running.

Hiko Tonosa and Barbara Cleary were the winners of the 50th Dunboyne Road Race which, for the first time, was held over the 10km distance on Sunday (March 31) and attracted an entry of close to a thousand runners.

Tonosa, of the Dundrum South Dublin club, was the class of the field in the men’s race and narrowly missed out on breaking 30 minutes with a winning time of 30:04.

In a close battle for second place, Eoin Everard of Kilkenny City Harriers used his track speed to outsprint his clubmate Brian Maher with the pair given times of 20:13 and 30:14.

First wheelchair was Jack Agnew of the TORC club in Belfast with a time of 26:50. Cillian Dunne was second in 27:49 and Sean McCullagh third in 29:46.

Cleary is continuing an impressive comeback after a long injury break; her winning time of 35:35 saw her finish 25 seconds clear of her Donore Harriers team mate Ide Nic Dhomhnaill who finished in 36:00.

Photo: Lindie Naughton

Third was Niamh Devlin of DSD AC in 37:37. Among the notable winners for the host club, Dunboyne AC, were Phelim Glynn first M50 in 34:05 and Mary Martin first W70 in 50:48.

Raheny Shamrock, led by Cillian O’Leary in fourth place, won the men’s team competition by some distance from host club Dunboyne AC and Drogheda and District. Winning the women’s team competition was Mullingar Harriers, with Dunboyne AC a close second and Raheny Shamrock third.

The success of the race means that, along with the Dunshaughlin 10km, Meath now has two top quality 10km races on fast, flat courses. Either would serve as a fitting host for a national championships.

Cathal O’Reilly was the winner of the New Inn 5km in Co Tipperary on Sunday in 16:32. Finishing second was Laura Shaughnessy of Galway City Harriers who was first woman in 17:14.

Sean Doran of C&E Products was the winner of the Dublin City Council BHAA 4-Mile in St Anne’s Park, Raheny on Saturday.

Doran finished in 20:57, with Paul Fleming of Ornua second in 21:08 and Colm Cassidy third in 21:13. Catherina Mullen, a guest runner, was seventh overall and first woman in 22:31. Ellie Hartnett was second in 23:15 and Orla Manley third in 25:43.

International competitions

Ireland finished 11th on the medals table at the World Masters Indoors in Torun, Poland which concluded on Saturday.

Joe Gough’s double in the M65 800m and 1500 was the games highlight for a strong Irish team that took 41 medals in total with ten of them gold, according to the official list.

Other winners were Snezana Bechtina of Clonliffe Harriers winner of the W35 200m, Anette Kealy of Rahney Shamrock, 8km cross country, Ann Woodlock of Donore Harriers W80 3000m, Mick Byrne of Sli Cualann ACM55 10km, John McDermott M75 400m and Sean Breathnach of Galway City Harriers in a nail-biting M40 discus throw that came down to his final throw.

Ireland also took team gold in the M55 10km and 8km cross-country and in the W60 half marathon.

Fionnuala McCormack of Kilcoole AC finished 18th and second European in the senior women’s race at the World Cross Country Championships in Aarhus, Denmark on Sunday (March 30).

Photo: Michelle Sammet

McCormack’s time of 37:59 for the tough 10,000m course put her just eight seconds behind Anna Emilie Moller of Denmark who finished 15th.

Race winner was Kenya’s Helen Obiri who became the first female athlete to hold three world titles – she already holds the world indoor 3000m and outdoor 5000m titles. Ireland’s only other representative was Sara Treacy of Dunboyne AC who finished 73rd in 40:50. Ethiopia won the team title from Kenya and Uganda, with Great Britain a distant fourth.

In the men’s senior 10km, Sean Tobin of Clonmel AC finished 62nd in 34:33, with national champion Kevin Dooney of Raheny Shamrock 105th in 36:09. Race winner was Joshua Cheptegei, who was leading Uganda to a comprehensive team victory over Kenya and defending champions Ethiopia.

Not even an athlete as talented as Jacob Ingebritsen could break the stranglehold of East Africans on international cross-country in the U20 men’s 7.7km. The European champion finished a brave 12th in a race won by Milkesa Menghesa of Ethiopia in 23:52; Ingebritsen was 47 seconds behind in 24:39.

For Ireland Darragh McElhinney of Bantry AC finished 53rd in 27:00 and Jamie Battle of Mullingar Harriers 68th in 27:24. Ethiopia, Uganda and Kenya were the top three teams; in the women’s U20 race the top three teams were Ethiopia, Kenya and Japan.

Hill racing

Former world masters mountain running champion, Robin Bryson, running in the M50 age group, was a comfortable winner of the Annagh Hill race in Co Wicklow on Sunday.

Bryson finished the steep 10.5km course in 61:42 with Barry Murray second in 62:13 and Mikey Fry a close third in 62:16. First woman was Becky Quinn in 71:52.

Juvenile Indoors

Irish international athletes Patience Jumbo Gula and Rhasidat Adeleke were among the double winners at the opening days of the National Juvenile Championships in Athlone on Saturday and Sunday (March 30/31).

Jumbo-Gula, of the St Gerard’s club in Dundalk, won the girls’ U19 60m title in 7.44 secs on Saturday and followed that up with victory in the 200m a day later in 24.79.

Adeleke, from Tallaght AC, competing in the U18 age group, won the 60m in 7.45 secs and the 200m in a new record time of 24.09.

Photo: Lindie Naughton

In the U18 boys’ 60m, Israel Olatunde of Dundealgan AC improved the record to 6.90 seconds, beating Zak Irwin’s time of 6.93 set in 2013.

Earlier this season, Olatunde set a new Irish U18 record of 6.84, also in Athlone. Fastest time of the day came from Leevale’s Conor Morey who won the boys’ U19 title in 6.84 secs; a day later, he won the 200m in 21.87.

Over 400m, 17-year-old Robert McDonnell of Galweay City Harriers dipped under 50 seconds to take the boys’ U18 400m in 49. 88 secs and followed that up a day later with victory in the 200m in 22.07.

Winning a closely contest U19 girls 400m was Simone Lalor of St LOT AC in 56.16; Rachel McCann of North Down was second in 56.47 and hurdles specialist Miriam Daly of Carrick-on-Suir AC third in 56.49.

Tadgh Donnelly of Drogheda and District beat Sligo’s Michael Morgan to win the boys’ U18 1500m in 5:05.11. Fastest girls’ time came in the U19 race won by Lauren Murphy of Cilles AC in 4:46.11.

A day later, Louis O’Loughlin of Donore Harriers showed a welcome return to form when he won the boys’ U19 800m in a new championships best time of 1:52.85. Cian McPhillips of Longford AC clocked 1:57.94 to win the U18 boys’ 800m, while winning the U17 title in 1:55.46 was Aaron Shorten of St LOT AC.

Fastest girls’ time came in the U17 race won by Ava O’Connor of Tullamore Harriers in 2:12.54. In the girls’ U16 race, a winning time of 2:13.02 from Victoria Lightbody of City of Lisburn AC was a new championships best.

In the high jump, a 2.05m effort from Nelvin Appiah of Longford AC gave him the U19 boys’ title. Una Brice of Leevale AC set a championships record of 3.0m in the girls U16 pole vault.

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The post Hiko Tonosa and Barbara Cleary win in Dunboyne as Irish impress overseas appeared first on Fast Running.