Irish junior international athletes Sarah Healy and Darragh McElhinney turned out for UCD at the Irish Universities Road Relays at NUI Maynooth on Saturday (November 16) – although neither was on a winning team.

After completing her Leaving Cert exams last June, Healy took silver in the 1500m at the European U20 Championships in Boras, Sweden. She’s now studying law at UCD. Also in Boras, McElhinney took bronze in the 5000m.

First up on Saturday were the women with teams of three running a mile leg, two two mile legs, and a final mile leg. Winners with Trinity College with a total time of 34 mins 10 secs. Making up the team were Caron Ryan, Sorcha McAlister, Cliona Murphy and Eavan McLoughlin. The team moved steadily through the field catching early leaders DCU on the third leg. DCU’s quartet of Aoibheann McGoldrick, Jodie McCann, Lauren Tinkler and Nadia Power finished second in 34:22; UCD, with Healy running the second two-mile leg, finished third in 35:12.

The men’s event

In the men’s race, similar to the women’s but with the addition of a three mile leg, DCU took the lead on the second leg and went on to win in 43 mins 14 secs. Making up the team were Conor Duncan, Cathal Doyle, Cormac Dalton, Brian Fay and Colin Smith.

UCD, with McElhinney running the 3-mile leg, finished second in 43:43; also running were Fionn Buttner, Paul O’Donnell, Luke McCann and Christian McKenna. Finishing third in 44:48 was NUI Galway.

Carrick Aces Yared Derese receives the Viking 10k trophy from Patsy Carroll, brother of Annagassan’s legendary Olympic athlete Noel Carroll

Battles on the roads

Yared Derese of Carrick Aces AC clocked a time of 30 mins 36 secs to win the Viking 10km in Annagassan, Co Louth on Sunday (November 17) .

Gary Campbell of Dunleer Ac was second in 31:10 and Declan Toal of North East Runners AC third in 32:07. First woman was Laura Mathews of North East Runners in 37:21. Michelle Cox of Newbridge AC was second in 38.20 and Claire Leavy third in 40:10.

Pauric Ennis of Tullamore Harriers was the winner of the men’s 10km at the Hollymount International Road Race in Co Mayo on Sunday (November 17).

Ennis was a clear winner in 33 mins 56 secs, with David Bohan of Mayo AC clocking 35:23 for second and Ger Hartnett of Tuam AC third in 35:28. Best of the teams was Tuam AC.

Winning the women’s 6km was Regina Casey of Galway City Harriers in 22 mins 24 secs. Edel Reilly of Mayo AC was second in 23:25 and Heather Foley from Sligo TC third in 23:58. Mayo AC was first team. In the junior 3km, Rory Gallagher and Leah Toner were the winners.

Also on the roads on Sunday, Kieran McKeown of Watergrasshill AC in 12 mins 55 secs and Leevale’s Niamh Roe in 14 mins 53 secs were the winners at the Cloyne Commons 4km which attracted an entry of close to 500.

In Co Kilkenny, William Maunsell of Clonmel AC beat his brother Kevin to win the Stook 10km held near Gowran, also on Sunday.

William finished in 32 mins 24 secs, with Kevin just three seconds behind. Third was Brian Kirwan of St LOT AC in 37:55. First woman in 42:27 was Bronwen Kiernan of St LOT AC.

Winning the 10-mile race, held on the same day, were Freddy Sittuk in 54 mins 12 secs and Angela McCann in 61:50.

Masters tackle Grand (inter) National

Irish and Northern Irish teams competed at the British and Irish Masters Cross-Country International in Aintree, England, with both teams picking up wins.

Overall winner of the men’s M35-45 race for a second year was Mark McKinstry of Northern Ireland. Other winners for Northern Ireland were Terry Eakin M70 and Brigid Quinn W75 and the M50 team of Eamon White, Steve Cairns, Gary Henderson and Justin Reid.

For the Republic, Annette Kealy won the W50 title, while both the W35 and M40 teams teams took gold. Making up the W35 team were the trio of Fiona Kehoe, Claire McGuigan and Kate O’Neill who packed brilliantly to take the fourth to sixth places.

Leading the M40 team home, in another fine example of good packing, was Paul Moloney who finished second followed by Alan O’Brien 3rd, Paddy O’Toole 5th and Dermot McElchar 6th.

Last year’s women’s winner Teresa Doherty of the Republic had to be content with second place overall this time behind England’s Kirsty Longley, both of them in the W40 age category. There were also second places for Kay Byrne W55 and Tommy Hughes M55, and third places for Jackie Carthy W45, Niamh O’Sullivan W55, Pauline Moran W60, Margaret Glavey W65 and Paul Elliott 3rd M65, plus eight second places for teams.

For Northern Ireland, Eamonn White and Steve Cairns were 2nd and 3rd M50, while David Clarke 3rd M60. The W35 and M35 teams both finished third. Overall winner (as usual) was England.

World Mountain Running Association Champs

Best of the Irish at the World Mountain Running Championships in Villa La Angostuna, Argentina on Friday (November 15) was World Cup champion Sarah McCormack who finished 12th in the women’s race in 80 mins 43 secs.

That put her five minutes behind the American winner Grayson Murphy of the USA, a recently converted steeplechase runner, who finished in 75:40. The 14.7km race, held in wet and windy conditions, included a waist-high river crossing and a super-fast trail descent.

Of the other Irish women, Kate Cronin was 31st in 85:58 and Henriette Robinson in 98:34. The last of the 61 finishers crossed the line in 2:13.39. Failing to show on the day were the Kenyan and Ugandan teams with visa problems stopping the Kenyans apparently. First of 14 teams was France ahead of the Czech Republic and Great Britain; Ireland was 9th.

Men’s classic race

In the men’s race, won by Joseph Gray of the USA in 65 mins 13 secs, Zak Hanna finished 32nd in 73:53, followed by Ian Conroy 64th in 81:59, and Eoin Flynn 69th in 83.02. First of the 17 teams was the Czech Republic, with the USA second and Italy third. Ireland was 16th.

A day later, at the long distance championship on a 41.5km course which included not one but two river crossings, Paddy O’Leary finished 50th in 3:57.42; Winner was Jim Walmsley of the USA in 3:12.18. Of the other Irish, Brian Furey was 69th in 4:12.32 and Gavin Byrne 76th in 4:32.23. Spain was first team, with Ireland 15th.

Best of the Irish women was Angela Speight who finished 36th in 4:40.05. Becky Quinn was 40th in 4:40.46 and Nicola Duncan 47th in 4:47.03. The Irish team did have a rather difficult ordeal getting to the event with airport staff strikes leading to an additional night travelling to the race.

Running the line

Winner of the Run the Line 13km trail race from Glencullen in the Dublin Mountains on Saturday (November 16) was John McAuley of Crusaders AC in 58 mins 32 secs.

His team mate Warren Swords was second and first M40 in 58.44. Ninth overall and first women was Sonya McConnon of Dundrum South Dublin AC in 62.46. Barry Cronin was first home on the 26km long course in 2 hrs 10 mins 43 secs. First woman was Elizabeth Wheeler in 2:34.13.

Grassroots cross country

Annette Quaid of Leevale AC won the women’s title at the Munster Masters Cross-Country held in Beaufort, Co Kerry on Sunday (November 17).

Mary Daly of Farranfore Main Valley AC was second and Sinead O’Driscoll of Midleton AC third. Tenth overall and first W45 was Evelyn Cashman of Youghal AC. Karina Teahan of St Finbarr’s AC was seventh overall and first W35.

Other winners were Joan Ennis of Grange/Fermoy W55, Aisling Power of Ennis TC W50, Joan Ennis og Grange/Fermoy AC W55, Anne Mangan of Star of the Laune AC W60, Marion Lyons of St Finbarr’s AC W65 and Kathleen O’Brien of St Catherine’s AC first W70. Dooneen AC was first of the W35 teams and Ennis TC first W45 team.

Niall Shanahan of An Bru AC won the men’s race and was first M35 with Martin Doody of Limerick AC second and first M40 and Sean McGrath of East Cork AC third and second M35.

Winning the other age groups were Michal Harrington of Durrus AC M45, Dermot Hayes of Dundrum AC M50, Kevin Griffin of An Riocht AC M55, James Kenny of Kilmurray/Ibrick/N.Clare AC M60, Joe Gough of West Waterford AC M65, Richard Piotrowski of Eagle AC M70 and Billy Caball of Rising Sun AC M75. East Cork AC was first of the M35 teams ahead of Leevale AC , while Dundrum AC was first M50 team.

Irish Life BHAA 6km XC – Lindie Naughton

Other cross country

Perfect running conditions for the Women’s Meet and Train League 2-mile at the Cow Park, Dunboyne on Sunday (November 17) where there was a miraculous absence of the usual muck. Top three were Lorna Quinn of Sportsworld, Eimear English of Dunboyne AC and Maura Mahoney of Crusaders, with teams in the four grades still to comeNext round is at Irishtown, Dublin, on Sunday December 8.

A day earlier, the Business Houses Athletic Association celebrated its 40th anniversary at the Irish Life 6km cross-country in Santry – a month later than planned after permission to run in the national course at Abbotstown was withdrawn by Campus Ireland at the last minute.

A good race up front was won by Sean Doran of C& E Products in 20 mins 42 secs, with Rory O’Connor and Darragh Lynch second and third and just five seconds separating the top three.

First woman was Ciara Durkan of Teachers who was running her first race after a long battle with injury. She finished in 24 mins 22secs; second was BHAA regular Adrienne Jordan, also Teachers, in 24.47, while for third place Alma Hanevy of the Health Group just pipped Blaithin Shiel of the Law Society – and Fastrunning.com.

Since the race was also the BHAA Championships all finishers received a special commemorative medal plus a copy of “Keeping Business on the Run – 40 Years of the BHAA”, the recently published history of this remarkable organisation with its philosophy of putting on friendly races for runners of all standards.

Even better, everyone has a chance of winning a prize thanks to its unique grading system for teams from the workplace.

Want to join in? See www.bhaa.ie or www.corkbhaa.com.

Catch up

Amy O’Donoghue of Emerald AC was the winner of the women’s senior race at the Munster Cross-Country Championships held in Conna, Co Cork on Sunday November 10. Fiona Santry of East Cork AC was second and Aisling Kelly of St John’s AC third. St John’s was first team ahead of Leevale and East Cork.

Winning the men’s race was Sean Doyle of North Cork AC. Tim O’Donoghue of East Cork AC was second and Evan Byrne of Togher AC third. East Cork beat Ennis TC and Togher AC for the team title.

parkrun

Irish international  Sean Tobin ran a new Irish parkrun best of 14:19 at Malahide parkrun this weekend and Iseult O’Donnell was the quickest lady, also at Malahide in 17:25. Full rankings here.

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 Cross country season in full swing – Irish round-up appeared first on Fast Running.

Mark English of UCD won the 800m in sensational style at the Birmingham Diamond League meeting on Sunday (August 18).

Only last Wednesday, English had dropped out of the 800m at the Cork City Sports and his chances of qualifying for next month’s World Championships were starting to look shaky.

But English came back with a bang in Birmingham going from eighth to first in the final 100m of the race and clocking a season’s best time of 1:45.94. That puts him 39th on the current rankings and with 48 places on offer for the World Championships, that should see him through safely. Second in the race was the Kenyan Alfred Kipketer in 1:46.10.

[Editor – If you have the time it’s well worth watching English’s finish on Youtube. Miles from contention until the last 100m and it’s almost like he just decides he’ll go win it. The looks of disbelief on Webb & Kipketer’s faces are brilliant and English commandingly takes the victory. A real joy to watch.]

Next up for English is the Morton Games in Santry on Wednesday evening (August 21). Also competing in Santry is Ciara Mageean, who has already qualified for Doha.

In the 400m hurdles, Thomas Barr of Ferrybank AC finished fourth in 50.16 secs, while in the Millicent Fawcett Mile, Sarah Healy of Blackrock AC, making her Diamond League debut, clocked 4:40.72 for 12th place. Three Diamond League meets remain.

Elsewhere on the track

A night earlier, at the Flanders Cup meet in Belgium, Nadia Power, who is soon to transfer to Dublin City Harriers AC, won the women’s 800m in a personal best time of 2 mins 2.39 secs. In the 200m series, Leon Reid of Menapians AC finished second in his heat in 20.93 secs, while in the 400m hurdles, Jason Harvey of Crusaders AC was third in 52.09 secs.

Phil Healy of Bantry AC finished fourth in the women’s 100m at the 58th Cork City Sports held at the CIT track on Wednesday (August 14) with an encouraging time of 11.49 secs.The race was won by the American Candace Hill in 11.37; Healy later finished fourth in the 200, also behind Hill, with their times 23.07 and 23.40 respectively. In the men’s 200m, Leon Reid of Menapians AC, was third in 20.89 secs.

In the women’s 800m, Nadia Power of Templeogue AC finished fifth in 2:03.19 in the women’s 800m. Luvo Manyonga, the current world champion, won the long jump with a stadium record of 8.20; his lifetime best is 8.65 m. Pippa Rogan finished fourth and Sommer Lecky fifth in the high jump both getting over 1.80.

Photo: Lindie Naughton

Masters Athletics

Tommy Hughes of Termoneeny in Co Derry, who has transferred to Dublin club Rathfarnham WSAF AC, was the winner of the men’s over 50 5000m race at the National Masters Track and Field Championships in rain-sodden Tullamore on Sunday (August 18). Hughes, who turns 60 next January, headed the race from the start and finished ahead of Tommy Payne of Tinryland AC and Ian O’Leary of Leevale AC.

Moving down from his favoured 800m distance was many times world champion Joe Gough of West Waterford AC, who won the M65 200m in 29.23 secs.

There should be more results available on the Athletics Ireland website.

Road running

Clonliffe’s Ian Guiden proved the class of the field at the Fr Mulligan 5km in Dundalk on Saturday (August 18) winning in 15 mins 5 secs. A distant second in 17:54 was Shane Larkin of Drogheda and District. First woman was Josephine Killeen in 21:24.

At the Rathkenny 5km in Co Meath on Friday evening (August 16) , Ben Brunton of St Brigid’s AC was the winner in 16 minutes exactly with Shauna Moran of Dunshaughlin AN first woman in 19 mins 47 secs. Star of the Sea AC was first of the women’s club teams, with Dunshaughlin AC best of the men.

Hiko Tonosa of Dundrum South Dublin AC was the clear winner of the Castlepollard 5km on Wednesday (August 16) in a time of 14 mins 49 secs. Second and first M35 was Brian O’Kelly of Crusaders AC in 15:06 while third was Ronan Maguire of OMG AC in 15:27.

First woman as Leevale’s Sinead O’Connor in 16:50. Siobhan O’Doherty of Borrisokane AC was second in 17:11 and Mary Mulhare of Portlaoise AC third in 17:21. The race was the eighth round of the KIA Series, with only the Lakes 10km in Blessington on September 7 to come.

Overall rankings

With the five best results counting, Mary Mulhare currently tops the women’s rankings with three wins , a second and a third for eight points. Also on eight points with two wins and three seconds is Sinead O’Connor.

With five wins from six races, Tonosa is uncatchable in the men’s competition; as indeed he was last year when the fact that he didn’t have a driver’s license meant he could not take on the 12-month lease of a car that went to the overall winner.

Winners at the Musgrave S& BHAA 5km in Cork on Tuesday (August 13) were Alan O’Shea of Mercy Hospital and Carol Finn of Finn Physiotherapy.

O’Shea finished in 15 mins 10 secs, with Alan O’Brien of McCarthy Insurance Group four seconds behind for second and Joe Cunningham of Eli Lilly third and first M45 in 15:18. Finn clocked 18 mins 1 sec; Clare O’Brien of Department of Education was second in 18:30 and with Niamh Roe third in 18.49.

Department of Education was first team in women’s grade A, with HSE best in B and Musgrave in C. UCC was first team in men’s grade A ahead of Eli Lilly; Stryker were clear winners of B while PM Group won C. A total of 478 completed the race. Next Cork BHAA race is the Cork to Cobh 15 mile on Sunday October 9 for which online registration is opening soon.

parkrun

Kirsti Foster and Tom Aldred ran the fastest parkrun times in Ireland this weekend. Full 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 Mark English gives an 800m masterclass – Irish round-up appeared first on Fast Running.

Finishing a strong fourth in the under-23 men’s race, Ryan Forsyth was the top performing Irish athlete in the morning racing at the European Cross Country Championships in Tilburg on Sunday (December 9).

The Newcastle AC athlete, who grew up in America with his mother from Northern Ireland, took the race out from the gun and led the mass start before finding himself in a battle for the final medal position.

In the end, France’s Hugo Hay won the contest for bronze with Irish debutant Forsyth finishing just one second off.

Defending champion Jimmy Gressier successfully retained his title ahead of Germany’s Samual Fitwi and led France to team gold ahead of Great Britain and Spain.

Gressier did have an awkward finish though as he attempted to slide across the finish line with two French flags in hands.

How not to finish a cross country race. #Tilburg2018 pic.twitter.com/2kJ3I6WOFb

— European Athletics (@EuroAthletics) December 9, 2018

The Irish team finishing sixth overall led by Forsyth in fourth, Brian Fay 29th, Paul O’Donnell 36th, Cathal Doyle 51st, Jack O’Leary 56th and Garry Campbell 80th.

“I like to race aggressively,” said Forsyth, who finished 11th last month at the NCAA Championships. “I believe I should be up there and so should the team. It’s an honour to wear the vest.”

The under-20 women’s race was the first event of the day over the testing Tilburg course, with Ireland’s Emma O’Brien and Sarah Healy claiming top 10 places, while the team finished sixth overall.

Photo: Andy Peat

Healy, the European U18 1500m and 3000m champion, had been pipped as the favourite by many, but a fall at the halfway point severely hampered any medal hopes for the youngster.

The Blackrock athlete will surely learn from the experience ahead of another two years at this level.

Bad news for one of the favourites.

European U18 1500m and 3000m champion Sarah Healy took a tumble in the U20 women's race. #Tilburg2018 pic.twitter.com/FJKRR7IIFH

— European Athletics (@EuroAthletics) December 9, 2018

O’Brien finished eighth ahead of Healy in ninth, while Stephanie Cotter was the next counting athlete in 25th. Completing the team was Jodie McCann in 35th, Sophie O’Sullivan in 59th and Laura Nicholson in 60th.

Ireland’s under-20 men finished a strong fifth with Darragh McElhinney first across the finish line in 16th place.

Sean O’Leary was 18th ahead of Jamie Battle in 21st, Michael Power in 60th, Fintan Stewart in 75th and Daire Finn completed the team in 86th.

Ireland’s under-23 women’s team finished ninth overall with Eilish Flanagan and Aoibhe Richardson securing top 25 places in 16th and 25th respectively.

Roisin Flanagan was next in 41st ahead of Fian Sweeney in 43rd, while Siobhra O’Flaherty finished 54th and Sorcha McAllister was 66th.

In the senior races, Sean Tobin finished a strong 10th in the men’s event, while Sara Treacy was the first Irish woman in 26th place. A full report from the senior races can be found here.

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The post Ireland’s Ryan Forsyth fourth in U23 men’s race at Euro Cross appeared first on Fast Running.

Gary O’Hanlon ran 2:18:15 to finish 31st overall and also won the M40 category at the Valencia Marathon on Sunday (December 2).

The Clonliffe Harriers’ athlete was back to racing over 26.2 miles little over a month after running a personal best 2:17:11 in Dublin.

It was the 44 year-old’s sixth marathon of the year after runs in London, Cork, Longford and finishing 22nd in September’s Berlin Marathon.

Eoin Everard of Kilkenny City Harriers and Finn Valley’s Teresa Doherty were the winners of a quality – and sell-out – Jingle Bells 5k held in Dublin Phoenix Park on Saturday (December 1).

Everard finished in 14:37, while for second place, Clonliffe junior Efrem Gidey out-sprinted Colin Moore of Ballyfin AC with the pair given times of 14:44 and 14:46. Fourth in 14:50 was William Maunsell of Clonmel AC. First home for the host club Donore Harriers was Ray Hynes in fifth place with a time of 14:52.

Fresh from her win at the British and Irish Masters International, Doherty was a clear winner of the women’s race with a time of 16:13.

Congratulations Teresa Doherty on a brilliant new pb 16.15 at the Jingle Bells 5k in Dublin. We love the tee-shirt Teresa!!! @CaniceNic Teresa with Fionnuala OConnell, Sligo AC and Breege Connolly City of Derry Spartans – regulars at the Cara Challenge each year. Photo Sligo AC. pic.twitter.com/XqSAaqdlwD

— Paddy Donoghue (@Paddyrun1) December 2, 2018

In what was perhaps her first official road run, Blackrock junior Sarah Healy warmed up for next weekend’s European Cross Country Championships by finishing second woman in 16:28.

Finishing third woman was Sinead O’Connor of Leevale AC with a time of 16:49; a strong woman’s team from the Cork club had travelled for the race.

Kilcoole’s Una Britton in 16:53 was fourth woman, while Olympic marathon runner Breege Connolly of City of Derry Spartans was fifth woman in 17:02.

Finishing lucky 13th and first M50 was Shane Healy of Metro St Brigid’s, who on Tuesday (November 27) had set a new Irish M50 indoor record of 2:01.37 for the 800m at the National Indoor Arena in Abbotstown.

With the festive season fast approaching, the race attracted a full house of almost 1,200 starters, many dressed as Santas, elves and snowmen.

St Malachy’s Ben Branagh and Letterkenny’s Nakita Burke won the Seeley Cup 10k titles in Belfast on Saturday (December 1).

Branagh won the men’s race in a personal best time of 30:29, while Burke won the women’s race in a PB of 34:57 (CT:34:54).

Photo: Keith McClure

Despite not hosting the NI & Ulster 10k Championships this year, the prestigious road race, once again welcomed the strongest depth of any 10k in Northern Ireland with 23 men finishing under 33 minutes and seven women under 37 minutes.

A full report from the Seeley Cup 10k can be found here.

Freddy Sittuk of Raheny Shamrock and national marathon champion Lizzie Lee of Leevale were the winners of the Waterford Half Marathon held in ideal weather conditions on Saturday (December 1).

Sittuk led home 2,338 finishers in a time of 68:01. Just four seconds behind for second was Tomas Fitzpatrick of Tallaght AC in 68:05, while third was Thomas Hayes of Kilkenny City Harriers AC in 68: 12.

Lee finished best of the women in 78:45, followed by Ruth Fitzgerald of host club, Waterford AC in 78:42 and Kilmore’s Fiona Keogh in 82:01.

Lisa Madden of Sportsworld AC and Rathfarnham WSAF’s Mitchell Byrne were the winners of a well-supported Dublin Intermediate Cross Country Championships held in Tymon Park, Tallaght on Sunday (December 2).

In the women’s 5km race, Madden took the lead after the opening lap and finished comfortably clear of Louise Gaffney from Rathfarnham WSAF and Ciara Brady of Sportsworld. With three finishers in the top 10, Sportsworld finished best of the teams ahead of Rathfarnham WSAF and Clonliffe Harriers.

Mitchell, who has returned to Ireland after three years on scholarship in the USA, was the class of the field in the men’s 8km, although his clubmate Robert Murphy did his best to narrow the gap and finished second. Third was Adam O’Brien of Clonliffe Harriers.

In a closely fought-team competition, Brothers Pearse AC were the winners on countback from Rathfarnham WSAF. Just eight years ago, Brothers Pearse had joined the world of club athletics by entering a team in this very race and finishing last.

Third team was Donore Harriers, with Sportsworld, who had 26 athletes running, finishing fourth.

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The post Gary O’Hanlon impresses at Valencia Marathon – Irish weekend round-up appeared first on Fast Running.

Thomas Barr was named as the Athlete of the Year at the Irish Life Health National Athletics Awards in Blanchardstown on Thursday (November 29).

Barr got the top honour with his superb bronze medal in the 400m hurdles at the European Championships in Berlin over the summer.

The Ferrybank athlete also collected the Track and Field Athlete of the Year award holding off Phil Healy, who was named inspirational performance for her 100m and 200m record exploits, and European finalists Leon Reid and Ciara Mageean.

Sommer Lecky was named Junior Athlete of Year after her high jump silver medal winning performance – and an Irish U20 record – at the IAAF World U20 Athletics Championships in Tampere, Finland.

The relay squad of Molly Scott Gina Akpe-Moses, Ciara Neville and Patience Jumbo-Gula and Rhasidat Adeleke, who also won silver in Tampere, were named the team of the year.

Mary Purcell was inducted into the Hall of Fame for 2018. She was the dominant figure in women’s athletics in Ireland throughout the 1970s.

While the Irish Life Health National Athletics Awards is a celebration of the many successes of our international and national it also commemorates the association’s exceptional volunteer base. Paddy Marley was named as the Lifetime Achievement Award recipient – the pinnacle volunteer award while Sean Callan won the Outstanding Official of the Year.

Both stalwarts of Clonliffe Harriers, they are very popular people on the athletics scene. Frank Greally, editor of the Irish Runner magazine for over 30 years was a very worthy recipient of a Special Recognition Award.

“The awards not only allow us to celebrate the great performances of our athletes over the course of the year, but it also gives Athletics Ireland the opportunity to formally acknowledge our coaches, officials and clubs for their enormous contribution to the success of our sport,” said CEO of Athletics Ireland, Hamish Adams.

“We wish all our athletes success at the forthcoming European Cross Country Championships, and we look forward to ensuring that we too deliver a world class experience for both athletes and spectators when we play host to the event in 2020.”

Irish Athletics Awards winners

Hall of Fame: Mary Purcell
Lifetime Services to Athletics: Paddy Marley
Athlete of the Year: Thomas Barr (Ferrybank)
Endurance Athlete of the Year: Alex Wright (Leevale)
U20 Athlete of the Year: Sommer Lecky (Finn Valley)
U23 Athlete of the Year: Matthew Behan (Crusaders)

Track & Field Athlete of the Year: Thomas Barr (Ferrybank)
Performance Club of the Year: Clonliffe Harriers
Services to Coaching: Eamon Harvey
Official of the Year: Sean Callan
Team of the Year: Women’s U20 4x100m Relay Team
Inspirational Performance of the Year on Irish Soil: Phil Healy

Development Club of the Year: West Waterford A.C.
Mountain Runner of the Year: Sarah McCormack (Clonliffe Harriers)
Master Athlete of the Year: Joe Gough (West Waterford)
Ultra-Athlete of the Year: Aidan Hogan (Rising Sun)
Schools Athlete of the Year: Sarah Healy (Holy Child Killiney/Blackrock), Aaron Sexton (Bangor Grammar/North Down)
University Athlete of the Year: Elizabeth Morland (DCU/Cushinstown)
Special Recognition Award: Frank Greally

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The post Thomas Barr wins Irish athlete of the year award appeared first on Fast Running.

After winning Ireland’s first gold at the European U18 Championships two days ago, Sarah Healy stepped back onto the track in Gyor, Hungary on Sunday (July 8) and delivered another stellar performance to claim victory in the girls 1500m final.

Going into the race some 10 seconds quicker than her nearest challenger the expectancy was on Healy to perform and that she did with a 4:18.71 win.

Healy led from the start and stretched out the field as she moved through gears her competitors just don’t possess at this stage of their young athletics careers. Over the final lap, the 17 year-old kicked and opened up a gap of 25m before crossing the line to win her second European title.

Great Britain’s Emily William’s took silver in 4:22.11 ahead of Poland’s Klaudia Kazimierska in 4:22.90.

Sarah Healy has ruled the distance events at the European U18 Championships!

Two days after winning the 3000m title in a championship record, the Irishwoman does the same to win the 1500m title in Gyor.

Ireland's third gold medal of the championships! pic.twitter.com/si9l0NQqMO

— European Athletics (@EuroAthletics) July 8, 2018

The Blackrock athlete completed the first half of her distance running double with a dominating win over 3000m on Friday (July 6), running a championship best time of 9:18.05.

That performance added another distance to her European topping U18 list that already included the 800m and 1500m.

After that win, Healy said: “I wasn’t always planning on doing it but I decided: why not? The schedule worked out, so we thought we’d give it a go and it feels amazing. The competition is that bit tougher, but I’m really happy I did the 3km, it feels great.”

Photo: European Athletics via Getty Images

Heading into the championships Healy ran a personal best 1500m time of 4:09.25 at a meet in Tübingen, Germany on June 16. It was the fastest time in 32 years by a European youth athlete. She followed that up with an Irish U18 and U20 record over 800m in Belfast on June 26.

It has been a competition of great success for Ireland’s youngsters and not only because of the medals won by Healy, Rhasidat Adeleke, and Sophie O’Sullivan, but in the manner in which they performed in the finals.

European 200m champion Adeleke and 800m silver medalist O’Sullivan both clocked personal best times, running 23.52 (championship record) and 2:06.05, in their respective showdowns.

Photo: European Athletics via Getty Images

Brian Lynch (Old Abbey) was the only other athlete competing on the final day and he finished 26th in the boys’ decathlon with a total of 6,306 points. His leading marks after the first day of competition were: 100m 11.61, long jump 6.74m, shot put 12.48m, high jump 1.76m and 400m 53.12.

Lynch started day two (Sunday) with a PB in the 110m hurdles in 15.53, discus 35.93, pole vault 3.60m which was a 30cm PB, javelin 37.04m and finished out with the 1500m in 4:46.33. So that was four personal bests in ten events and valuable exposure to competition at this level.

The Irish team won four medals in total at the second edition of the continental competition.

The post Sarah Healy wins second European U18 gold appeared first on Fast Running.

Sarah Healy made it look easy as she won girls 3000m gold for Ireland on the second day (July 6) of the European U18 Championships in Gyor, Hungary.

The 17 year-old Irish star was relaxed in the early laps before she increased the pace to open up a huge gap over the final two laps and took victory in a championships record 9:18:05.

Healy ran a blistering 2:57 in the final kilometre and still looked at ease as she crossed the line to win her second race of the day, having earlier won her 1500m heat in 4:30.19. It was a new Irish youth outdoor record for the Blackrock athlete who now tops the European U18 lists in the 800m, 1500m and 3000m.

“I wasn’t always planning on doing it but I decided: why not?” Healy said afterwards.

It's gold for Ireland in the 3000m!

Sarah Healy produced a final kilometre of 2:57 to win the 3000m title at the European U18 Championships in a championship record of 9:18.05. pic.twitter.com/KvbJX22X4E

— European Athletics (@EuroAthletics) July 6, 2018

Finishing second to Healy was Turkey’s Inci Kalkan in 9:24.01, with France’s Alessia Zarbo taking bronze in 9:25.25. Great Britain’s Charlotte Alexander finished ninth in 9:41.18 and teammate Kiara Frizelle was 13th in 9:51.08.

Healy, who tops the 1500m rankings by 10 seconds after her recent 4:09.25 run in Tubingen, Germany, will next race on Sunday in the 1500m final where she will aim to win a fantastic second gold medal.

After her June performance in Tubingen, Germany the youngster moved to second on the European U18 all-time list behind Romania’s Ana Padurean who ran 4:06.02 in 1982.

In May, the Blackrock AC youngster ran the fastest time ever by an Irish U18 athlete when she clocked 4:13.32 in Belgium to break Ciara Mageean’s best of 4:15.46.

On the same track last year she also won 1500m gold at the European Youth Olympics.

Meanwhile, Patience Jumbo-Gula was disappointed to finish fifth in the girls’ 100m final in 11.87 but it was still a fantastic championship for the rising sprinter.

Rhasidat Adeleke was first of the Irish in competition on the evening session and she qualified in second in her 200m heat in 23.90. Running blind in lane eight it was a solid start to Adeleke’s championships with the semi-finals coming up.

Sophie O’Sullivan had a great burst of speed to qualify for the final of the 800m. She eased off the throttle in the final metres to finish second in 2:07.95.

The post Ireland’s Sarah Healy wins European U18 gold appeared first on Fast Running.

A 23-strong Irish team is set to take on the best from the continent at the European Athletics U18 Championships that begins today (Thursday, July 5) in Gyor, Hungary.

Sarah Healy, Rhasidat Adeleke, and Cian McPhillips are also among with medals in their sights in the second edition of the competition.

17 year-old Healy tops the 1500m rankings by 10 seconds after her recent 4:09.25 run Tubingen, Germany. It was the fastest run in 32 years by a European youth athlete.

Adeleke heads the rankings for the 100m and is fifth on the 200m list. She is selected for the 200m with Patience Jumbo Gula selected for the 100m.

Longford’s McPhillips is another leading light on the rankings and he is second in the 1500m with his time of 3:49.85.

The teenager daughter of Irish legend Sonia O’Sullivan, who has both Irish and Australian citizenship, will make her international debut in the 800m.

Europe’s best young athletes from 50 nations will be in action over the four-day competition and Ireland’s full team can be found here.

Day one preview (Thursday, July 5)

There are 14 Irish athletes involved on day one seeking progression into the latter stages of the competition.

O’Sullivan (Ballymore Cobh) competes in the 800m heat three and Molly Brown (MSB) in heat six. In the girls’ 800m there will be three rounds with the first three and three next fastest advancing to the semi-finals.

The 1500m for boys has the qualification of first four and next four fastest for the final with McPhillips (Longford) in heat one and Brian Maguire (DSD) in heat two.

Sprinters Simone Lalor (St Laurence O’Toole) goes in heat three of the girls 400m. Conor Morey (Leevale) and Israel Olatunde (Dundealgan) compete in heat two and heat three respectively in the 100m with the first three and six next fastest advancing to the semi-finals later in the evening.

Patience Jumbo Gula (St Gerard’s Dundalk) then goes in the girls’ 100m where she currently tops the rankings with the first three and three next fastest advancing to the semis.

Sarah Glennon (Mullingar Harriers) and Emily MacHugh (Naas) are in action in the 5km race walk.

In the field events, Miranda Tcheutchoua (Lusk) is the first athlete to don the green singlet. The athlete, now based in Canada, competes in group B of the hammer.

Conor Cusack (Lake District) throws in the javelin with 70.00m the automatic or 12 best performances for the final.

There is a duo also in the girls’ long jump with Sophie Meredith (St Mary’s) in Group A and Ruby Millet (St Abban’s) in Group B.

All of the action from Gyor can be watched live on Eurosport 2 and on the European Athletics website. The timetable for each day can be found here and results here.

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Sarah Healy continued her systematic erasure of Ciara Mageean from the record books when she took both the Portaferry woman’s Irish Youth and Junior 800m records at the Belfast International on Tuesday evening (June 26).

The meeting was held in ideal conditions but fraught with timing and other technical difficulties that meant it ran an hour over its scheduled finishing time.

Pacemaker par excellence Sinead Denny took the field through the opening lap of the 800m in a swift 59 seconds before Ciara Mageean was left at the front of the field. Mageean led at 600m reached in 90 seconds with Claire Mooney leading the chase and Healy tucked in nicely on the inside of Sweden’s Anna Silvander.

That positions remained unchanged until the home straight when the County Down woman visibly started to falter under the challenge from Mooney. The dogged Kildare athlete finally got to the front with 30 metres to run but immediately came under attack from the Blackrock AC 17-year-old Healy who was finishing fastest of all.

Mooney held on to break the electronic beam in a personal best 2:02.61, just narrowly missing out on the 2:02.50 European qualifying mark.

Healy followed in 2:02.76 for new Irish Youth (U18) and Junior (U20) marks and removing the UCD AC athlete’s 2:03.07 from the record books on both counts. Healy has earlier taken most of Mageean’s national and schools’ 1500m records in a season that continues to get better with every outing.

Mageean had to settle for fourth in 2:03.19 which represents slow progress for her as she targets a repeat podium place in the 1500m at the European Championships in Berlin this August.

Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Leon Reid was denied a sprint double by Greece’s Likourgos-Stefanos Tsakonas. The Bath-based athlete strode to a comfortable win in the 100m with a 10.34 timing that was just one-hundredth of a second outside his best and showed no sign of his earlier exertions as he returned to track later in the evening for the 200m.

But the Greek ran a superb bend to give himself what proved to be a vital two metres lead entering the straight. Despite fighting all the way to line Reid had to accept defeat after a photo finish gave the win to Tsakonas with both men sharing a 20.69 timing.

In a closely contested men’s 200m A race, Tsakonas Stefanoslykpurgos just edges out Leon Reid to win in 20.69! #BelfastInternationalMeet pic.twitter.com/GxvCqvuHEm

— Athletics NI (@AthleticsNI) June 26, 2018

Annadale Strider Conall Kirk through in the final few metres to snatch victory in the men’s 800m with another personal best 1:50.37 timing. Sudan’s Sadam Koumi won a tight battle to see off the challenge of Raheny Shamrock Brandon Arrey to win the 400m in 46.83 seconds.

Crusaders AC’s Jason Harvey, who featured on Fast Running recently, looked to be getting back to his best form with a smooth win in the 400m hurdles in 52.14 seconds while North Down’s Ben Reynolds claimed his customary win at this meeting in the 110m hurdles in 13.92 (-0.7).

City of Lisburn’s Megan Marrs is another who continues to improve with every race and was only one-hundredth of a second outside the longstanding record of a certain Dame Mary Peters in the 100m hurdles with a 13.32 (-0.1) clocking.

City of Lisburn athlete also took both sprints with Amy Foster closing strongly in the 100m for a 11.90 finish and Lauren Roy first past the post in the 200m with a 24.54 (0.3) mark

There was a double in the local 3000m races for the North Down club with Craig McMeechan moving clear of the men’s field at the bell to win in 8:45.13. Jessica Craig was equally dominant in the women’s contest clocking 9:52.95.

Photo: Athletics NI

The men’s javelin was probably the most competitive of the field events with Swiss athlete Laurent Carron winning with a throw of 67.60m. Jack Magee, in fifth, was the best of the home throwers.

Despite a lack of serious competition, Castlederg 18-year-old Sommer Lecky cleared 1.83 to win the women’s high jump. Jonathan Hill won the men’s long jump in 6.66m (0.0) and Mark Burton was the best of the triple jumpers with a 14.42m (0.0) best effort.

The post Sarah Healy smashes more records in Belfast appeared first on Fast Running.

Sophie O’Sullivan has been named in the Irish squad for the European under-18 Championships in Gyor, Hungary, which take place from July 5-8.

The teenager daughter of Irish legend Sonia O’Sullivan, who has both Irish and Australian citizenship, will make her international debut in the 800m.

O’Sullivan raced in Ireland last summer winning three times in seven days, the crowning moment being under-17 gold over 1500m at the Irish National Juvenile Championships.

Earlier in 2017, she also won Australian U17 titles over 800m and 1500m.

Sarah Healy, Rhasidat Adeleke, and Cian McPhillips are also among the 23 strong team set for the Youth Championships.

17 year-old Healy tops the 1500m rankings by 10 seconds after her superb 4:09.25 run Tubingen, Germany last weekend. It was the fastest run in 32 years by a European youth athlete.

The fastest U18 European in 32 years!

17 year-old Sarah Healy smashed not only the Irish U18 1500m record but is now the second fastest European youth of all-time!https://t.co/XVwY3zCVNQ

— Fast Running (@FastRunning_) June 17, 2018

Adeleke, heads the rankings for the 100m and is fifth on the 200m list. She is selected for the 200m with Patience Jumbo Gula selected for the 100m.

Longford’s McPhillips is another leading light on the rankings and he is second in the 1500m with his time of 3:49.85.

In terms of number breakdown, 15 of the team are girls and eight are boys.

Meanwhile, an Irish U20 team has been selected for the Mannheim Gala this weekend (June 23 and 24). The team is headed by European U20 100m champion Gina Akpe-Moses.

Irish team for European U18 Championships

Girls
Patience Jumbo-Gula (St. Gerard’s AC) 100m & Medley Relay, Rhasidat Adeleke (Tallaght AC) 200m & Medley Relay, Simone Lalor (St. LO’T AC) 400m & Medley Relay, Sophie O’Sullivan (Ballymore Cobh AC) 800m, Molly Brown (Metro St. Brigids AC) 800m, Sarah Healy (Blackrock AC) 1500m, Miriam Daly (Carrick-on-Suir AC) 400m hurdles & Medley Relay, Sarah Glennon (Mullingar Harriers AC) 5km Race Walk, Emily MacHugh (Naas AC) 5km Race Walk, Ruby Millet (St. Abban’s AC) Long Jump, Sophie Meredith (St. Mary’s AC) Long Jump, Ciara Kennelly (Killarney Valley AC) High Jump, Miranda Tcheutchoua (Lusk AC) Hammer, Adeyemi Talabi (Longford AC) Medley Relay, Rachel McCann (North Down AC) Medley Relay

Boys
Conor Morey (Leevale AC) 100m, Israel Olatunde (Dundealgan AC) 100m, Louis O’Loughlin (Donore Harriers AC) 800m, Cian McPhillips (Longford AC) 1500m, Brian Maguire (DSD AC) 1500m, Oisin Lane (Mullingar Harriers AC) 10km Race Walk, Conor Cusack (Lake District AC) Javelin, Brian Lynch (Old Abbey AC) Decathlon

Irish U20 team for Mannheim Gala, Germany (June 23-24)
Gina Akpe-Moses (Blackrock Louth) 200M & 4X100M, Ciara Neville (Emerald) 100M & 4X100M, Patience Jumbo Gula (St Gerard’s Dundalk) 100M & 4X100M, Rhasidat Adeleke (Tallaght) 200M & 4X100M, Molly Scott (SLOT) 100MH & 4X100M, Davicia Patterson (Beechmount Harriers) 400M & 4X400M, Ciara Deely (Kilkenny City Harriers) 400M & 4X400M, Miriam Daly (Carrick on Suir) 400Mh & 4X400M, Sommer Lecky (Finn Valley) high jump, Niamh Fogarty (North Westmeath) discus, Sophie Meredith (St Mary’s Limerick) long jump, Ruby Millet (St Abban’s) long jump, Simone Lalor (SLOT) 4 x 400m, Aaron Sexton (North Down) 100M & 4X100M. David McDonald (Menapians) 200M & 4X100M, David Murphy (Gowran) 100M & 4X100M, Michael McCauley (Ballymena & Antrim) 100M & 4X100M, Jack Dempsey (Galway City Harriers) 200M & 4X100M

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