Sarah Healy of Blackrock AC was an impressive winner of the women’s A 1500m race at the first British Milers Club Grand Prix of the season in Manchester Saturday (May 12).

The teenager took the lead with around 700m to go in an experienced field and came home in a personal best time of 4:15.53 to just miss out on Ciara Mageean’s Irish youth record of 4:15.46.

Healy, who finished ahead of Mageean’s training partner at Team New Balance Manchester Anna Silvander, has improved with every race this year, breaking the Irish 1500m and 3000m youth and U20 indoor records along the way.

Finishing fourth in 4:18.84 was Amy O’Donoghue of Emerald AC.

Over 800m, Brian Fay of Raheny Shamrock, aged 19, won the D race in a personal best 1:50.20, while Ciara Everard of UCD continued her comeback with a time of 2:06.35 for sixth in the women’s A race.

Junior international athletes in action included Charlie O’Donovan of Leevale ninth in the B 1500m in 3:52.67, Darragh McElhinney of Bantry AC moving up the distances and finishing ninth in the men’s A 5000m in 14.25.38, Keelan Kilrehill of Moy Valley AC winner of the C 5000m in 14:59.86 and Roisin Treacy of Ashford AC third in the women’s 2000m steeplechase in 7:26.08.

You can read more about the first BMC Grand Prix of the season, including teenager Max Burgin clocking the fastest ever 800m time by a 15 year-old, here.

Road

For a third year, Peter Somba of Dunboyne AC outsprinted Mick Clohisey of Raheny Shamrock for victory in the Terenure 5-Mile in Dublin on Sunday (May 13).

Photo: Terenure 5 Mile

Somba finished in 23:57 with Clohisey, in a final burn-up before next Saturday’s European 10,000m Cup in London, just one second behind.

Finishing third in 24:42 was Tomás Fitzpatrick of Tallaght AC. First woman was Ciara Hickey of Bros Pearse, who had won the Tallaght 5km a week earlier.

Hickey finished in 28:00, with last year’s winner, Siobhan O’Doherty of Borrisokane, second in 28:39, Linda Byrne of DSD third in 28:60 and Catherina McKiernan of MSB fourth and first W40.

Photo: Terenure 5 Mile

Host club Sportsworld AC took the men’s team prize, beating Donore Harriers and Rathfarnham WSAF. Donore beat DSD for the women’s team title with Crusaders AC third.

Gerry Gallagher of Finn Valley in 73:41 and Claire McGuigan of Lifford Strabane AC in 82:08 were the winners of the Lifford Strabane Half Marathon on Sunday (May 13).

Keith Shiels of Foyle Valley AC was the winner of the Termoneeny 10km in 32:08 on Friday evening (May 11). First woman was Gemma McDonald of Ballycastle Runners in 39 mins 12 secs.

That same evening, Martin Cox, of Carmen Runners in 16:12 and Niamh Carolan of North Leitrim in 19:12 were the winners at the annual Ballyshannon 5km.

Winners of the Le Cheile 5km in Leixlip on Wednesday (May 9) were Peter Somba in 16:37 and Jane Bandila 18:09; both are Dunboyne AC members.

The fastest parkrun times across Ireland on Saturday were run by St Malachy’s AC Ben Branagh and 50 year-old masters athlete Annette Kealy of Raheny Shamrock. The top 10 times across Ireland can be found here.

Track

At last Wednesday’s Dublin Graded Meet in Tallaght, the quartet of Ciara Deely, Miriam Daly, Ellie O’Toole and Davicia Patterson set a new Irish junior record of 3:44.28 for the women’s 4×400m. Full results here.

In the USA, at the Big East Track and Field Championships in Geneva, Ohio, Siofra Cleirigh Buttner, running for Villanova, retained her women’s 800m title with a time of 2:05.52.

BACK-TO-BACK

Síofra Cléirigh Büttner wins a second-straight #BIGEASTtrack 800m Outdoor for @NovaTrackXC pic.twitter.com/md6pgi31pv

— BIG EAST Champs (@BIGEASTchamps) May 12, 2018

Buttner also anchored the Villanova 4×400m team to third place. In the men’s 400m, Harry Purcell’s time of 48.47 saw him top the list of qualifiers after the preliminary rounds, and in the final, he finished fifth in 48.60.

Sean Tobin of Clonmel AC, in his final year at Ole Miss, finished seventh in the steeplechase with a time of 9:07.04 at the SEC Championships in Knoxville, Tennessee.

At the Big 12 Championships in Waco Texas, Fellan McGuigan of Finn Valley AC was fourth in the men’s hammer with 60.92m.

Mountain and trail

Seamus Lynch of host club Newcastle was first home in 55:14 at the annual Slieve Donard mountain race in the Mournes on Saturday (May 12). For a second year, William McKee finished second with his Mourne Runners club mate Timothy Johnston third.

Lagan Valley’s Shileen O’Kane was first woman and was taking a record fifth victory in the race. Second was Dublin-based Becky Quinn with Sarah Graham of Mourne Runners third.

Paddy O’Leary finished 26th and best of the Irish at the Trail World Championships in Castellon, Spain on Saturday with a time of 9:40:03 for the 85km course. Winner in 8:38 was Luis Alberto Hernandez of Spain.

The post Sarah Healy just misses another youth record – Irish weekend round-up appeared first on Fast Running.

Villanova athlete Cleirigh Buttner clocked a personal best 2:02.46 to finish second in the indoor 800m final which also betters her own indoor school record.

The Dundrum South Dublin athlete improves on the previous Irish record of 2:02.54 by 0.08 that was set by Ciara Everard in 2013.

Going into the final lap, Cleirigh Buttner was seventh of eight athletes and a superb finish saw the 22-year-old move up the field before outkicking Texas A&M’s Sammy Watson down the home straight to take silver.

WHAT A KICK!
Watch @SabrinaaJem become an NCAA Champion in the 800m!#GoDucks pic.twitter.com/7vBS7t8dVD

— Oregon Track & Field (@OregonTF) March 11, 2018

Cleirigh Buttner is the first Villanova athlete in 30 years to finish as high as second in the 800m at the NCAA Indoor Championships.

The 22-year-old, who competed for Ireland at the World Championships in London last year, now holds Villanova’s top six best indoor records over the distance, which have all of been ran in the last 25 months.

Oregon’s Sabrina Southerland took the NCAA title in a time of 2:01.55.

Elsewhere Scottish athlete Josh Kerr successfully retained his mile crown clocking 3:57.02 in the final. More about Kerr’s win can be found here.

The post Siofra Cleirigh Buttner breaks Irish indoor 800m record appeared first on Fast Running.

McCormack, a two-time European Cross Country Champion will be joined in Spain by fellow Olympian Kerry O’Flaherty and Newcastle and District clubmate Zak Hanna.

McCormack and O’Flaherty take on a strong field that includes Steff Twell and Rebecca Murray from the United Kingdom, Gebeyenesh Ayele and Oljira Beleynesh of Ethiopia, Trihas Gebre the Ethiopian who runs for Spain, and Ruth Jebet, the Kenyan who runs in Bahrain colours.

McCormack finished an excellent fifth in this 8km race last year.

Newcastle’s Hanna competes in the men’s race where Ayalew Aweke the Ethiopian who runs for Bahrain, will wear the No 1 vest. Ranked No 2 is Awel Muktar Edris of Ethiopia. British athlete Alexys Teuten has also entered. 

On a quiet domestic athletics weekend across the island of Ireland, the Leinster Cross Country Championships in Wexford and the Northern Ireland and Ulster Uneven Age Group and Novice XC Championships in Stranorlar, Co Donegal, are the leading races.

In the Northern Ireland and Ulster Novice Championships, Conor McIlveen and John McQuade both from Derry Track Club, and Letterkenny’s Ciaran McGonigle lead the men’s entry.

Among those likely to feature in the women’s race are Edel Monaghan of Enniskillen RC, Amy Hamill from Glaslough Harriers, Elaine Connor of Derry Track Club and Leoni Mullen of host club Finn Valley.

Athletes to watch out for in the U19 men’s race include Newcastle’s Patrick McNiff, Craig McMeechan of North Down, Sean Corry from Omagh Harriers and Jack O’Farrell of St Colman’s Newry. Enya Haigney from Derry Track Club leads the women’s U19 entry.

Quite who will turn up for the Leinster Championships is anyone’s guess, although Una Britton and Shiofra O’Flaherty are expected in the senior women’s race.

Last year’s winners were Mark Christie of Mullingar Harriers and Donore veteran Barbara Cleary. Neither athlete is racing at the moment. Strong teams are expected from Raheny Shamrock, Donore Harriers, Tullamore Harriers and Mullingar Harriers.

Elsewhere

A large squad from Dublin club Dundrum South Dublin competes in the second round of the British Athletics Cross Challenge in Milton Keynes on Saturday, November 11.

The opening round took place in Cardiff, with further rounds in Liverpool and Antrim before final in Loughborough. The DSD athletes will also compete in Antrim. Good performances are expected from Abbie Taylor W17, Eimear Maher W15, Morgan Clarkson and Alex Flynn M15.

Paul O’Donnell, who won the Dublin junior title last week, is hoping for a top six placing in a strong U20 field.

RELATED: Full preview of Milton Keynes Cross Challenge.

On Friday (November 10), Siofra Cleirigh Buttner of Dundrum South Dublin is part of the Villanova team competing in the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Region cross-country qualifier in Lehigh. Villanova are the top-ranked team after winning their first Big East title since 2011 two weeks ago.

Cleirigh Buttner finished seventh in this race last year but is not in that kind of form at the moment.

Competing at the NCAA South Region Championships, hosted by the University of Alabama, is an Ole Miss team led by Sean Tobin from Clonmel, a member of the exclusive list of Irish sub-4-minute milers. He finished 10th in this race last year. The top two teams from each region qualify for the NCAA Cross-Country Championships in Louisville, Kentucky on Saturday November 18.

RELATED: Sean Tobin: “I would love to see the mile replace the 1500m”

Also taking place today, a month earlier than usual, is the SIAB Schools International Combined Events Championships in the Emirates Stadium Glasgow. Ireland has traditionally produced good results at this competition, although the English team is expected to dominate. Scotland and Wales also compete.

Catch-up

Shona Heaslip of the Riocht club in Kerry continued her preparations for the Irish National Cross Country Championships by finishing second at last weekend’s EasyKit Cross Cup round in Mol Belgium.

Race winner was Katarzyne Rutkowska of Poland in 19 mins 30 secs. The 23-year-old Heaslip was seven seconds adrift for second place with Dutch athlete Jill Holterman three seconds behind for third. Next round of the series is on November 26 – the same day as the Irish National Championships.

The post Fionnuala McCormack set to open her cross country season in Spain appeared first on Fast Running.