Irish runner sets two masters world records in one week

Just a few days after breaking the world M55+ 3,000m record in a stunning time of eight minutes and 47 seconds, Dublin’s Shane Healy broke yet another world record on the weekend at the Irish Masters Indoor Championships on Saturday.

Healy ran 2:02.46 for 800m indoors to break the M55+ world record, making it his second world masters record in seven days. His time shattered the previous world indoor mark by three seconds and is half a second faster than the outdoor mark for his age category, set by Germany’s Peter Oberliessen at age 56 in 2016.

Interestingly enough, the 3,000m world record he broke last week was also held by a German masters runner.

Instead of competing in his age group at the Irish champs, Healy challenged himself and ran against the M35+ category, where he placed second overall. The race was won in 2:01.45, and Healy powered his way to an even split after passing through 400m in 61 seconds. His second-place time in the 800m was also faster than the M40, M45, and M50 winners.

The actual M55 Irish title was won in a respectable 2:16.34, but almost 14 seconds slower than Healy’s time. He also dedicated his new record to his former Irish Olympic teammate David Matthews, who lost his father over the Christmas holidays.

The 55-year-old middle-distance runner has been tearing up the track for several decades. In 1996, Healy represented Ireland at the Atlanta Olympics in the men’s 1,500m, where he made the semi-final. He retired from running in 1999, but after almost a five-year hiatus, he returned to the sport and began breaking Irish and world masters records.

Healy has added three world records to his name in the last year: M55+ 3,000m, 800m, and the M50+ indoor 1,500m record of 4:01.76. It is only a matter of time until he grabs the M55+ 1,500m indoor record of 4:11.79.

posted Tuesday January 16th
by Marley Dickinson