An impressive evening of racing in Rome is amongst the highlights of Lindie Naughton’s Irish round up.
Sarah Healy’s magical season continued on Friday evening (6 June) when she won the won the 1500m at the Rome Diamond League. In the men’s 1500m, Cathal Doyle (Clonliffe Harriers) ran a qualifying time for the World Championships which take place later this summer.
In her first 1500m outdoor race of the season, Healy stayed out of trouble for the opening two laps, moving through the field into third place when coming into the final 100m. Only with her final few strides did she sprint clear of Australia’s Sarah Billings for victory in a time of 3:59.24. Billings was second in 359.24 and Abbey Caldwell, also from Australia, third in 3:59.32.
Just a fortnight ago at the Rabat Diamond League, Healy improved her 3000m best by almost four seconds when finishing an impressive third in a time of 8:27.02. That time knocked over three seconds off the 8:30.79 she ran indoors in New York in February, a few weeks before her memorable 3000m victory at the European Indoor Championships.
Photo: James Rhodes
Next up for Healy is the Meeting de Paris (Diamond League) at the Stade Charléty in Paris, where Healy ran her best time for the distance of 3:57.46 last July.
In the men’s 1500m, Doyle ran a lifetime best of of 3:32.15 to finish 14th in a race where all sixteen starters ran inside 3 mins 33 secs, which happens to be the A standard for the Tokyo World Championships. So job done for Doyle. The winner was France’s Azeddine Habz in 3:29.72.
Photo: James Rhodes
To France
A day later on a busy Saturday for track and field all over Europe, Darragh McElhinney from Bantry Co Cork clocked a personal best 13:16.26 to finish second in the the A grade 5000m at the Fast 5000m held at the Maison-Lafitte track in Paris. The time is inside the B standard for the World Championships later this summer in Tokyo.
In the women’s A race, Fiona Everard (Bandon AC) finished in 16:08.03.
Both Oisín Ó Gailín (Finn Valley AC) and Danielle Donegan (TullamoreAC) finished 11th in their respective B races with times of 13:47.35 and 16:20.98. In all, fourteen 5000m races were held, five of them for women.
Charlie O’Donovan (Leevale AC) was in action on Thursday (June 5) at the HOKA Festival of Miles in St Louis, USA. He clocked a time of 3:59.29 to finish eighth in his race. On May 24, O’Donovan, over the same distance, ran a time of 3:56.95, finishing third in his race at an meet in Fairfax, Virginia. He has an indoor best of 3:54.16 dating back to February 2024.
In Nerja, Spain, on Wednesday (June 4), Shane Bracken (Swinford AC) ran a personal best 3:35.96 when finishing fifth in the 1500m. That time knocked over four seconds off the time of 3:40.30 he had run at the IFAM meet ten days earlier and is just off the B standard of 3:35.75 for Tokyo.
At the Elite Jessheim meet in Bergen, Norway, on Tuesday (June 3), Jodie McCann (DCH) finished 10th in the women’s 5000m in a time of 15:43.42. McCann is chasing a time of at least 15:22 in order to qualify for Tokyo.
Brilliant at BMC
Closer to home, at the BMC Grand Prix hosted at the University of Birmingham, 19-year-old Lughaigh Mallon (UCD AC) clocked a personal best 3:41.15 when finishing sixth in the the men’s B 1500m. The time is inside the B standard for next month’s European U23 Championships in Bergen, Norway. It also qualifies Mallon for the World University Games taking place in the week after Bergen.
A grand total of fifteen 1500m races and fourteen 800m races made up a large part of the programme, with Irish club athletes lining out in quite a few of those as well as in 5000m and 3000m steeplechase races.
Indeed, from an entry of fourteen in the women’s steeplechase, seven – or exactly half – were Irish. Even better, the Irish took the top three places with Niamh Kearney (Raheny Shamrock AC) leading them home in 10:08.66, followed by Alexandra Joyce (Tuam AC) in 10:14.50 and Roisin Treacy (DSDAC) in 10:19.65. In the men’s steeplechase, Jonas Stafford (UCD AC) finished third in 8:55.13.
In the 800m, Alex O’Neill (Ennis TC) finished fourth in the A grade women’s race in 2:03.68.
Over 1500m, the C race turned into an Irish battle with Finley Daley (Sligo AC), better known as a steeplechaser, beating Sean Cronin to the line for first and second places; their times were 3:47.24 and 3:47.97. In the women’s A 1500m, distance specialist Roisin Flanagan (Finn Valley AC) clocked a time of 4:21.29.
Cathal O’Reilly (Kilkenny City Harriers) was third in the men’s A grade 5000m in 14:04.04 and Dylan Casey (Ennis TC) tenth in 14:09.30. Both times were personal bests.
Closer to Home
Carlow was the venue for the Leinster Track and Field Championships across all age groups over the weekend and a bust weekend it proved to be.
Winning the senior men’s 800m title in 1:58.51 was Godwin Matthias (Dundrum South Dublin AC). Kevin Nolan (Donore Harriers) was first M35 with a time of 4:20.58 in the 1500m and Niall Sherlock (Clonliffe Harriers) second overall and first M40 in 4:26.03. Sherlock went on to win the 800m in 2:13.36.
Over the longer distances, Louise Gaffney (Rathfarnham WSAF AC) won the W35 3000m, while Philip O’Doherty (Clonliffe Harriers) was first M65 over the same distance.
Niamh Kelly (Clonliffe Harrier) ran a personal best 2 mins 11.14 secs to win the A grade women’s 800m at the fourth Dublin Graded Track and Field meet of the season at Santry on Wednesday (June 4). A close second was Niamh Cooney (ACE AC) in 2:11.45.
Winning a closely fought men’s A 800m was Juan Ignacio Peña (Raheny Shamrock ) in 1:54.48. Second in 1:54.77 was James Foot (Bray Runners), while third was Andrew McGilton (DSD) in 1:55.36.
On the Roads
In Bohermeen, Co Meath, Sean Doran (Clonliffe Harriers) was the winner of the 39th Patrick Bell and Nicky Philips 5km with a time of 15 mins 13 secs. Just four seconds behind for second in 15:17 was Sean O’Connor (Dunshaughlin AC). Third in 15:35 was Colm Turner (Brothers Pearse AC).
Cheryl Nolan (St Abban’s AC) finished seventh overall and first woman in 16:17, with local athlete Nichola Sheridan second in 126.54 and Emma Hunt, also Bohermeen, third in 18:19. Brothers Pearse won the team prizes in both the Paddy Murtagh Cup for teams of six and the club competition for teams of four. Clonliffe Harriers was second in the club category and Dunleer third. First of the women’s teams was Bohermeen followed by Clonliffe Harriers and Brothers Pearse.
David Spalding (Ballydrain Harriers) in 25 mins 2 secs and Harriet Busell (Annadale Striders) in 30:04 were the winners at the CS Lewis 5-Mile Challenge in Belfast on Friday evening (June 6).
Sean Doran. Photo: Race Organisers
Ultra
In South Africa, Caitriona Jennings (Letterkenny AC) finished fourth W40 in the 98th Comrades Marathon on Sunday (June 8) with a time of 6 hrs 16 mins 42 secs for the 86.83km distance —‘downhill’ this year from Pietermaritzburg to Durban.
It was a fourth finish in the race for Jennings, who finished third overall in 2919 in 6:24.12, fifth in 2023 with a time of 6:10.27 and seventh in 2024 in 6:16.54.
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Source: fastrunning.com