To start the week Lindie Naughton brings us all the Irish endurance action and news from the weekend just gone (Monday 27th January).

Hiko Tonosa (Dundrum South Dublin AC) equalled Efrem Gidey’s Irish half marathon record  when he ran a time of 60 mins 51 secs on a damp morning in Seville on Sunday (January 26).

The time knocked 92 seconds off his previous best of 62:23 run in Larne in August 2023.

Last August Tonosa ran 62:46 in the same race and in October broke John Treacy’s long-held Irish record for the marathon when finishing first Irish athlete at the Dublin Marathon last October in 2 hrs 9 min 42 secs..

His next target is the Rotterdam Marathon on Sunday April 12, which means he will not be available for the Irish team at the European Road Running Championships, in Brussels, Belgium which includes a 10km, half marathon and marathon. The qualifying time for the half marathon in 62:33.

Already comfortably inside that time are  Peter Lynch (Kilkenny City Harriers)  and Barry Keane (Waterford AC) with times of  61:15 and 61:22 at the recent Houston Half Marathon.  Keane, who will make his marathon debut in Boston on Monday April 21, is unlikely to make himself available.

Others eligible for selection are Efrem Gidey (Clonliffe Harriers) thanks to his Irish record breaking time of 60:51 run in Copenhagen last September, and Fearghal Curtain (Youghal AC) the only other Irishman to have broken 62 minutes. With the qualification period for Brussels dating back to 1 January 2024 for all three distances, Curtin who ran 61:45 in  the 2024 Houston Half Marathon is also eligible for selection, although he hasn’t raced much in the past year.  The team  will be announced on March 24.

Photo: Clonliffe Harriers

Local roads

Clonliffe’s Efrem Gidey defied the wet blustery conditions and a last-minute change of course to win the AXA 41st Raheny 5-Mile on Sunday (January 26) in  a time of 22 mins 47 secs

It was the fastest time since Hiko Tonosa’s winning time of 22:40 in 2020 and it means that Gidey joins a select group of just four men to have broken 23 minutes in  this race, first held forty years ago in 1985. Two years later, in 1987, the course record of 22:39 was set by  Gerry Curtis (Donore Harriers), and tin 1995 Cormac Finnerty (Mullingar Harriers) equalled that time. Tonosa’s 2020 time was an agonising one second off the record.

On Sunday, Gidey sprinted home over a minute clear of the chasers led by mountain running specialist Killian Mooney of Dundrum South Dublin AC who finished in 23:51. Third and first M40 in 24:05 was Colm Rooney (Clonliffe Harriers), the recently-crowned Dublin Masters cross-country champion. First junior was Danny Nugent (ACE AC)  in  25.00.

As usual, the race was well supported by Northern Ireland clubs and first woman was Hannah Gilliland of Annadale Striders in 26:34.  Second in 26:47 was Ide Nic Dhomhnaill (West Limerick AC), with Jessica Craig (North Down AC) third in 27:13.

In the team competition, Clonliffe Harriers with three in the top ten were clear winners of the men’s senior title on just 14 points.  Host club Raheny Shamrock with 22 points was second and Dublin City Harriers a distant third on 88 points. Best of the women’s teams with 24 points was Dublin City Harriers, followed by Raheny Shamrock on 32 points and Dundrum South Dublin with 59 points.

Indoors in the warm

In Nantes, France, Mark English (Finn Valley AC) clocked a time of 1:46.48 for second place in the men’s 800m. His time was just outside the automatic qualifying mark  for the European Indoors, starting in Apeldoorn, Netherlands, on March 6.

In the USA, Laura Nicolson  (Bandon AC) won the mile on an ‘oversized track’  at the Notre Dame Invitational in 4:35.61.  Roisin Treacy from Wicklow ran a personal best 4:49.12 in the  heats of the same event. In the Armory New York at the Dr Sander Scorcher, Tadhg Donnelly (Drogheda and District AC) won the men’s 5000m in 13:52.34, while Grace Richardson (Kilkenny City Harriers) was just off her personal best when clocking a time of 4:50.70 in the women’s mile.

In Philadelphia, Charlie O’Donovan (Leevale AC)  clocked 3:56.98 for eighth place in the mile and Finn Boyle  (Crusaders AC) ran a personal best 1:51.55 for 800m.

Outside and off the roads

At the  SEMA the Long Way Round 15km in the Comeragh mountains near Clonmel, Co Tipperary on Saturday night (January 25), Emmet McNamara from Tullow was the clear winner in 67 mins 2 seconds.

Fourth and first woman in 70:54 was Kealey Tideswell from Clogheen.  A total of 641 completed the distance, with some taking close to four hours for the highly course.

All funds raised are going to the South Eastern Mountain Rescue Association. The race had been postponed from last November because of  bad weather.