Fionnuala McCormack of Kilcoole ran a Rio 16 qualifying time of 32 mins 05.08 secs to finish 5th in the 10,000m at the Stanford Invitational in Palo Alto
, California. Winner of the race was Laura Thweatt of Boulder Track in 31:52.94; there were 28 finishers.
McCormack has also a qualifying mark for the Rio marathon, which will be her only event there, with the 10,000m final on Friday August 12 (the opening day of athletics in Rio) and the marathon two days later on Sunday August 14. She will run the 10,000m at the European Championships (thanks Dave Hooper for the info).
Earlier, Sligo’s Mary Cullen, representing Brooks UK, had finished 2nd in the 5000m in 15:26.53 – less than three seconds off the Rio qualifying mark of 15:24. Dominique Scott of Arkansas pulled away in the final 1000m to win in 15:25.10. In third place was Kim Smith of New Balance in 15:32.71. Hugh Armstrong of Providence ran 29:16 to finish 17th in the Section 2 men’s 10,000m which had a massive 34 finishers.
No comments yet.