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| Men wanted for ARC Mini Mar! |
Before the current running boom, just two marathons punctuated the long-distance runners’ annual rhythm – the Dublin Marathon in October and the Belfast Marathon in May, both of them on Bank Holiday Mondays.
Now the calendar is littered with long-distance races, organised by local councils and clubs and by commercial companies.
Still Dublin and Belfast reign supreme and next Monday’s 31st Deep River Rock Belfast Marathon will attract a record entry of close to 21,000.
A unique feature of the Belfast Marathon has been the 5-person relay which artfully links five sports hall doted around the course. This year, well over a thousands teams have entered, from elite squads representing local athletics clubs to groups of pals keeping fit and out to enjoy the day.
Another feature of the day is the fun run, which allows spectators to put in a few miles during the two hours and counting that the marathon will take.
Over 3,000 plan on taking on the marathon distance,led by a high quality elite field.
Last year, Kenya’s Jacob Chesire destroyed the opposition with a four-minutes victory margin when he finished in 2:14.56 – a time that finally broke Marty Deane’s 1985 record.
Cheshire is back to defend his title and is in good form following a recent half marathon PB of 62 mins 32 secs in the Hague. His opposition will include Urga Negewo of Ethiopia, who won the 2010 Belfast Marathon by a sprint in 2:16.56, beating three-times winner John Mutai of Kenya.
Paul Ngeny of Kenya has a marathon PB of 2:12.50 from 2007, while Simon Tonui, a double winner of the Titanic 10km, also runs.
Leading the women’s elite field is Athens Olympics marathon runner Alice Chelagat of Kenya who has a personal best of 2hrs 27mins 29 seconds. Now 35, Chelagat ran 2:30.18 on her last marathon outing in 2009 before taking a maternity break. She looks very capable of breaking the 2008 course record of 2:39.22 seconds.
Poland’s Wioletta Kryza, winner of 28 from her 44 marathons, and the British pair of Shona Crombie-Hicks and Debra Mason will push her hard.
All roads lead to Carristown on Saturday when the annual RTE 5-Mile road race takes place in and around “Fair City” at Donnybrook (11am). Big crowds always turn out for this race, so get there early – registration oneline at www.bhaa.i of on the day from 10am at the RTE Sports Centre.
* Pre-entry is still open for Monday’s ARC Men’s 10km Mini Marathon in the Phoenix Park (10am). Numerous spot prizes and goodies. All funds to ARC’s invaluable service at Eccles Street, Dublin.
* Entry also open for next Wednesday’s 121st Clonliffe 2-Mile Road race – the oldest road race in Ireland and possibly the world. See www.runireland.com to register.
If you want to grab your special race t-shirt, enter the Terenure 5 mile, scheduled for Sunday May 13 (11.0) now! Entries are coming in fast with the t-shirt going only to the first 1,000 to enter. The race, organised by the Sportsworld club on a new two-lap circuit, promises fast times. Even btter any surplus from the race will go to local Special Olympics clubs. Register now at www.terenure5mile.com.
An Irish team not only finished 6th at the the World 100km Championships in Seregno, Italy but also set a new Irish team record.Team captain, Dan Doherty, in 7hrs 07 mins 26 secs, was the first home of the Irish in 25th place. John Byrne 7:16.27 and Keith Whyte 7:25.56 finished not far behind for a team total of 21:49.48. Italy was first team followed by the USA and France. Michael Collins finished in 7:43.14 and 5th M45; John O’Regan, Thomas Maguire and Jim McCormick all encountered various problems and injuries during the race. Helen Lavin, the only Irish woman in action, finished in 8:54.38.
National cross-country champion Eddie McGinley of Annadale won the 3000m at last weekend’s opening round of the annual Dublin Graded Track and Field League in Santry. McGinley finished in 8:23.61 with Sean Kelly of Fingallians three seconds behind. Claire Bergin of DSD, a member of the Irish 4 x 400m squad, moved up a distance to win the women’s 800m in 2:12.42. Robert York of Mullingar Harriers won the men’s 800m in 1:56.36. In the paralympic shot (seated), James McCarthy threw 10.11 metres, while winning the discus (seated) was Orla Barry with 26.06. Next round is at Irishtown on May 16.
Christian Drut of Sligo AC won the opening round of the Leinster Hill Running League at Bray Head. Depite the stormy conditions, 179 brave souls finished the race. Tonighr’s round is at Ticknock, Co Dublin.
“Town of Runners” the celebrated feature documentary about two runners from the small rural Ethiopian town of Bekoji has three showings at the Light House Cinema in Dublin’s Smithfield – tomorrow (Thu), Sunday and finally on Thursday May 10 (6pm). Trailer and other info at www.townofrunners.com.
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