Running News Daily

Six-time world champion confirms attendance for this year’s Antrim Coast Half-Marathon

Six-time world champion and former Olympic silver medalist Genzebe Dibaba has confirmed she will take to the starting line for this year’s Antrim Coast Half-Marathon.

The 32-year-old Ethiopian, who finished second in the 1500m at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro, is the latest elite name to be added to the field for this year’s event, which takes place on August 25-27.

A former World Junior champion, and a two-time junior race winner at the World Cross Country Championships, Dibaba won her first world title in the 1500m at the 2012 World Indoors in Istanbul.

Her second came two years later in the 3000m at the World Indoors in Sopot, Poland, before she added the 1500m title at the 2013 World Championships in Beijing.

She would add another 1500m World Indoor title in 2016 in Portland before claiming gold in both the 1500m and 3000m at the 2018 World Indoors in Birmingham.

Dibaba, whose best half-marathon time is 1:05.18, will face stern competition from the likes of Amsterdam Marathon winner Degitu Azimeraw and former Great Ethiopian Run winner Zeineba Yimer.

However, Dibaba will enter the event as one of the favorites to cross the line first and race director Ruth McIlroy is thrilled they have added another huge name to the line-up.

"Everyone is delighted we have secured Genzebe, she's been someone we have been working towards getting to the event over the last 12 months,” said McIlroy.

"We feel we have one of the fastest half marathon courses in the world and think she, along with some other stars, will run extremely quick.

"Both the men's and women's elite races have a similar calibre to a global final so we could be looking at something very special in August.”

On the men’s side of the event, Ethiopian great Jemal Yimer is going for his third straight win in the event and is boasting considerable form after winning the Los Angeles Marathon and setting a UK & Ireland All-Comers record with a time of 58.33.

However, Yimer is only one of three runners who have broken the 59-minute mark in the field this year, with Kenya’s Daniel Mateiko having set a time of 58.26 and two-time Tokyo Marathon winner Birhanu Legese also competing.

The local challenge will be spearheaded by Irish Olympian duo Paul Pollock and Kevin Seaward, while Scotland’s Callum Hawkins also runs in a star-studded field.

Meanwhile, world junior champion Ermias Girma has been confirmed for the Condor Executive Street Mile to be run on the Friday night, with the Ethiopian eyeing up the first sub-four-minute mile.

Former Commonwealth Games bronze medalist Winnie Nanyondo is also confirmed for the event as she looks to better her personal best time of four minutes and 18 seconds.

Elsewhere, McIlroy is keen to see the Antrim Coast & Belfast bid given the green light to represent the United Kingdom in its bid to host either the 2025 or 2026 World Road Running Championships.

The bid, which has already been endorsed by Northern Ireland’s five main political parties, is Athletics UK’s preferred choice and will be the last to present to World Athletics president Sebastian Coe.

"With 50,000 runners from over 160 countries, it would be a truly great way to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement and showcase the beauty of our province and sporting excellence to the rest of the world,” added McIlroy.

The bid will be heard on Tuesday, July 4, with the winning regions revealed on August 18 at the World Track & Field Championships in Budapest.

(07/19/2023) Views: 726 ⚡AMP
by Adam McKendry

Becky Briggs and Jonny Mellor take Manchester Marathon victories

Becky Briggs enjoyed a huge breakthrough as she took five minutes off her PB with 2:29:04, while Jonny Mellor was close to his lifetime best with a commanding men’s win in 2:10:46 at the Therme Manchester Marathon on Sunday April 3.

In ideal conditions for marathon running, Briggs and Mellor both smashed the England qualifying standard for the Commonwealth Games of 2:14:00 plus the European Championships mark of 2:14:30 on a day of brilliant racing.

A total of 20 Brits broke the 2:20 barrier with Mellor’s training partner Ross Millington clocking 2:11:38 in his debut marathon in second place, as Kevin Seaward of Northern Ireland was third in 2:11:54.

Behind Briggs, Naomi Mitchell was runner-up in a PB of 2:30:54 while Georgina Schwiening was third in 2:31:37 and Sonia Samuels, 42, fourth in 2:32:32.

All of them were well inside the 2:34:00 women’s qualifying standard for the Commonwealth Games. Although in addition to places in the England team for Birmingham in July and GB team for Munich in August, the race was also a trial for the GB team for the IAU 50km European Championships in Avila, Spain, in October.

In a race packed with top-class performances, the super-vet Tommy Hughes (second photo) clocked a phenomenal 2:30:05 aged 62, although it is not quite as quick as his M60 record of 2:30:02 set two years ago.

Defending champion Matt Crehan enjoyed an early lead in the race but he was caught before halfway – which the leaders reached in 66:05 – and Mellor, who had been helped by pacemakers such as Ben Connor, Omar Ahmed and Charlie Hulson, made a strong move just after 20 miles to break away from his rivals.

Mellor and Millington are both members of Team New Balance Manchester and are coached by Steve Vernon. Millington ran for Britain over 10,000m at the Rio Olympics but Mellor has endured bad luck with major championships qualification, being overlooked by England in the run-up to the 2018 Commonwealth Games and then being forced to miss last year’s Olympic marathon trial due to a freak leg injury caused, he thinks, by compression socks during his sleep.

Briggs only turned 22 last month but looks ideally suited to the marathon. Just three years ago she was the third British athlete in the under-20 race at the World Cross Country Championships in Aarhus but ran 2:38:58 on her marathon debut in the Olympic trial last year and then 2:34:34 in London last October.

Here she went through halfway in 74:16, then overhauled long-time leader Mitchell with about 10km to go and finished strongly to smash the 2:30 barrier and to go No.20 on the UK all-time rankings.

Tom Craggs, England Athletics road running manager, added: “We are delighted to see such tight competition today, with the athletes pushing themselves to place within the top three in order to join Team England this year for the Commonwealth Games 2022.

“This year is an incredibly exciting year for home nations athletes with three major championships taking place, and we were delighted to have worked with the team at Therme Manchester Marathon to support athletes to have the best possible experience at the England Commonwealth Games and British Athletics European Championship trials.”

With a rich history dating back to 1908, the Therme Manchester Marathon is increasingly popular due to its fast, flat course, welcoming Mancunian atmosphere – and Sunday saw 24,000 runners taking part.

Next year’s event is on April 16, 2023. 

(04/04/2022) Views: 1,249 ⚡AMP
by Athletics Weekly

The Belfast man was due to make his first appearance at an Olympics in Tokyo but will now not compete as he struggles with mental health issues.

"I will not be going to Tokyo Olympics & until I feel in a better place with mental health I am taking some time to myself," Scullion tweeted on Saturday.

"Sometimes in life you have to do what is right, and I need to find a happy place," he added.

"I apologise to anybody who has supported me until now and feels lets down."

"It's ok to struggle. I promise you we all struggle and I'm sorry that it's not easier to open up," Scullion had said in an earlier tweet on Friday.

"I'm sorry that as a society it's seen as weakness struggling with mental health. It's not, and we need to talk about it more, and how to cope."

Scullion's scheduled maiden participation in the Olympic men's marathon had been confirmed on June 15.

Ireland will be represented in the event by Paul Pollock and Kevin Seaward, who both ran at the 2016 Rio Games.

(07/10/2021) Views: 1,068 ⚡AMP

Race against time for Irish athletes to qualify for Tokyo Olympic marathon

With spring marathons abandoned due to Covid, handful of elite races offer last chance

Aoife Cooke from Cork after winning the women’s category in the 2019 Dublin Marathon (photo).  She is targeting the elite-only Wrexham marathon in Wales on April 25th in her bid to qualify for Tokyo. 

Irish athletes are facing a race against time and opportunity in their quest to qualify for the Tokyo Olympic marathon, the worry being not just where to run, but whether that run will even happen.

With the normally busy spring marathon calendar effectively abandoned for another season due to Covid-19 – London, Boston and Paris among those postponed to the autumn – a handful of elite-only races present the last chance before the qualification cut-off date of May 31st, given the nature and distance of the event that’s fast becoming a sprint.

Three Irish men – the full quota per event – have already achieved the qualifying standard, although they are not yet officially selected. Stephen Scullion, Kevin Seaward and Paul Pollock all hit the necessary mark over a year ago, unlikely, it seems, to be ousted by a faster time at this point.

Fionnuala McCormack remains the only Irish woman qualified, in line for her fourth Olympics, after she ran 2:26.47 in the 2019 Chicago marathon. McCormack gave birth to her second daughter in December, and has now resumed full training in the build-up to Tokyo.

Two more Irish women still have Tokyo very much in mind, and are targeting the elite-only Wrexham marathon in Wales on April 25th. Aoife Cooke won the national title that came with being the top Irish woman in the 2019 Dublin Marathon, clocking a personal best of 2:32:34. That moved her from 55th to fifth on the Irish all-time list, and within touching distance of the Tokyo standard of 2:29:30, with possibility also of still qualifying via the ranking quota.

Best shot

The 34-year-old from Cork was all set to race the Vienna marathon this time last year, before that fell victim to Covid-19, and, despite the long and uncertain wait, is for now on course at least to give Tokyo her best shot in the unlikely surrounds of the seven-lap course in Wrexham.

Also running in Wrexham is Ann-Marie McGlynn, who improved her best to 2:32:54 in Dublin in 2019, and then ran 2:35:41 in Valencia last December. Mick Clohisey is also down to run in the Welsh event, the 2016 Olympic marathon representative eying the men’s standard of 2:11.30, which will require some improvement on his best of 2:13:19.

Of the three Irish men’s qualifiers already, Stephen Scullion is the fastest, thanks to the 2:09:49 he clocked at the elite-only London Marathon last October, over two minutes faster than his previous best, and 11th best in a strictly elite field of the world’s finest marathon runners.

While Scullion’s time was actually outside the Tokyo qualifying window (suspended between April 5th and November 30th, 2020), it stands as the fastest official Irish marathon. John Treacy’s Irish marathon best is still considered the 2:09:15 he ran when finishing third in Boston back in 1988, although for world record purposes Boston is considered a slightly downhill course, and therefore not deemed eligible, according to World Athletics.

Ratified

Although ratified at the time, Treacy’s only other sub-2:10 was the 2:09:56 he ran when winning silver at the LA Olympic marathon back in 1984. Scullion was just inside that in London, his 2:09:49 bettering his own 2:11:52 run in fifth place in Houston back in January (also his official Olympic qualifier by virtue of a top-five finish in a Gold Label marathon such as Houston).

Kevin Seaward put himself first in line for selection after clocking a lifetime best of 2:10.10 at the Seville marathon, in February 2020; Paul Pollock clocked his qualifier in December 2019, in the Valencia marathon, a new personal best of 2:10.25, and also inside the automatic Tokyo time.

That marathon – and race walking events – will be taking place in Sapporo, 800km north of Tokyo, after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) deemed the conditions there to be less gruelling come the height of the Japanese summer.

(04/02/2021) Views: 1,061 ⚡AMP

Stephen Scullion sets new Irish Marathon record in London Marathon

An Irish record for Stephen Scullion, an unexpected defeat for pre-race favorite Eliud Kipchoge and business as usual for Brigid Kosgei were just some of the talking points from yesterday’s very unusual London Marathon.

Run over 19 and a bit laps of St James Park, an autumn date and no spectators all marked out the 40th edition of the event as very different to the norm.

One aspect not to change was the unpredictable nature of marathon racing.

Things have been going swimmingly for Scullion over the past 12 months, apart from the occasional retirement.

A runner-up spot and Irish title at last year’s Dublin Marathon were followed by a fifth place in the Houston Marathon last January.

That qualified him for the Olympics because it was a gold standard marathon, although his time was outside the 2:11:30 qualifying standard.

As much affected by the lockdown as everyone else, the 31-year-old Belfast man set the athletics world talking with a Northern Ireland half-marathon record in Larne last month.

But surely only a few expected him to become arguably the fastest Irishman of all time with a 2:09:49 clocking for 11th in yesterday’s race.

Scullion put down a marker from early on, moving away from a group, consisting largely of British runners chasing the Olympic qualifying time and paced by Sir Mo Farah.

Instead, he ran in a small group of three, equidistant between the lead pack and Mo’s gang, for most of the way.

Whilst many faded in the rainy conditions, the Clonliffe Harrier stayed strong to complete his best-ever performance over the 26.2 mile distance.

Whilst Scullion’s time clearly displaces Kevin Seaward (2:10:09) as NI record-holder, it also eclipses John Treacy’s 2:09:56, set when winning the silver medal at the LA Olympics, as the national record.

(10/05/2020) Views: 1,410 ⚡AMP
by Malcolm McCausland

Mo Farah and Lily Partridge were the winners at Antrim Coast Half Marathon

Mo Farah takes first as Marc Scott, Ben Connor, Stephen Scullion and M60 Tommy Hughes impress, while Lily Partridge enjoys women’s win

Mo Farah was first across the line in the Antrim Coast Half Marathon on Saturday (Sept 12) in 60:31 but the most eye-catching performances came from those following in his slipstream.

Runner-up Marc Scott was close behind with 60:43 on his debut at the distance to go No.3 on the UK all-time rankings. In third, London Marathon-bound Ben Connor took 16 seconds off his PB with 60:59 to go equal fourth with Steve Jones in fourth on the UK all-time lists.

Stephen Scullion, in fourth, smashed the Northern Ireland record by a big margin with 61:12. Like Connor, the Belfast man is set to run the London Marathon on October 4 too as the popular local athlete took more than two minutes off his best.

Lily Partridge, another London Marathon-bound Olympic hope, impressed as well as she broke away from Sam Harrison to win the women’s race in a Northern Ireland all-comers’ record of 71:36 – around a minute outside her PB but 23 seconds ahead of Harrison (71:58) as Clara Evans was third 72:21 and Becky Briggs, in fourth, ran a UK under-20 record of 72:54.

Perhaps most impressive of all, though, was masters sensation Tommy Hughes, who broke Martin Rees’ world half-marathon record for an M60 with 71:09 (even quicker than the 71:26 originally publicised shortly after he finished).

An Olympian in the marathon back in 1992, the Irish runner Hughes has been on a record-breaking spree recently and continued his great form here.

Ordinarily Farah and others might have been racing in the 40th Great North Run this weekend but with the event cancelled due to coronavirus he came to Northern Ireland instead to run in an event organised by his old friend and fellow athlete from his student days, James McIlroy.

McIlroy put together a fine domestic field for the event and Farah certainly did not have it all his own way as he only broke away from the in-form Scott in the final mile.

Scott has broken the UK 5km road record this summer and took the British 5000m title last week. He was leading in the closing stages but had no answer to Farah’s breakaway surge in the final mile.

A lead quartet of Farah, Scott, Connor and Scullion broke away early and ran together for much of the distance. Behind, Kevin Seaward was fifth in 63:09 followed by Josh Griffiths (63:12), Tom Evans (63:19), Adam Craig (63:28) and Adam Hickey (64:37).

There had been talk of Farah potentially attacking his UK record of 59:32 from Lisbon in 2015 but during media interviews on Friday he said winning the race was the main goal and he did not want to underestimate his rivals and treat it as a time trial.

Runners in this elite-only event, which was sponsored by P&O Ferries, enjoyed decent weather on a picturesque course that proved a great advertisement for athletics in Northern Ireland. The only frustration for fans was the poor quality of the live stream, which made following the race difficult after organisers had, ironically, encouraged spectators to stay at home instead of supporting from the side of the road.

(09/12/2020) Views: 2,416 ⚡AMP
by Jason Henderson

Irish marathon runner Kevin Seaward believes Olympics probably won't happen

Irish marathon runner Kevin Seaward feels there is "every likelihood" this year's Olympics will not take place because of the coronavirus crisis.

Seaward ran the distance for Ireland at the Rio Games and set a new Northern Ireland marathon record of 2:10.09 last month to seemingly book his Tokyo spot.

"The Olympics symbolize something more than a Games at the moment," he said.

"It would be a beacon of hope for people. But I honestly don't think they are going to happen."

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is continuing to insist the Games could still begin on 24 July despite the pandemic but several high profile athletes including British heptathlete Katarina Johnson-Thompson have criticized this stance.

World champion Johnson-Thompson says training has become "impossible" because of the restrictions around coronavirus and has had to move back home from her normal base in France after the country was put on lockdown.

As a distance runner who does most of his workouts alone and rarely uses a track, Seaward says his training is not being hindered to the same extent as the Englishwoman, but nevertheless feels the IOC will have to at least move the Games to a later date if not cancel altogether.

Seaward, 36, is an assistant head teacher at a Leicestershire secondary school and has been working flat out with his colleagues to make arrangements for the children of key workers who will remain in school in the coming weeks after the British Government's school closures announcement on Wednesday.

"It's challenging times. School has been pretty crazy the last three or four days but we've got a little bit of clarity now," the Northern Irishman told BBC Sport Northern Ireland.

"You don't know that the Olympics are going to happen. I've come to the conclusion that there's every likelihood of them not happening. We've certainly got bigger things to worry about globally at the minute."

Seaward believes the postponement and cancellation of numerous Olympic qualifiers and other events which would have offered the opportunity to book Tokyo berths is another reason why the Games are unlikely to happen - certainly in the summer.

"I read an article today where Seb Coe said it was too early to make a decision (on the Games) and I kind of agree it's too early to definitively say yes or no.

"Aside from the fact that what we're experiencing now may not have cleared by then, people still have to qualify. There's a lot of thought that would have to go into making the process fair for everyone.

"From a marathoner's perspective, we have three Irish qualifiers (Seaward, Paul Pollock and Stephen Scullion) but we also know there are multiple other guys (Sean Tobin, Hugh Armstrong and Mick Clohisey) who were training hard and who were determined to give it a go to qualify but their marathons were cancelled."

(03/20/2020) Views: 1,606 ⚡AMP
by John Haughey

Kevin Seaward clocked a lifetime best and became the second-fasted Irish marathon runner of all time in the process at the Seville Marathon on Sunday

Belfast man Kevin Seaward, a school teacher, ran the second-fastest Irish marathon time ever as he finished 26th at the Seville Marathon on Sunday morning.

Belfast’s Seaward ran a PB of 2:10:10 – second only to John Treacy’s national record of 2:09:15.

Seaward’s time was more than three minutes quicker than his previous best of 2:13:39, which he ran in Berlin last September.

Only John Treacy, in 1988, has ran a faster Marathon time for Ireland than Seaward while the 36-year-old now becomes the fastest Northern Ireland marathon man of all time. 

It is also comfortably inside the IAAF time of 2:11:30 for Tokyo 2020 qualification as he becomes the third Irish marathon runner to achieve the Olympic criteria.

The 34-year-old joins Paul Pollock, who ran a 2:10:25 in Valencia in December, and Stephen Scullion who is eligible by virtue of his fifth-place finish at the “gold label” Houston Marathon where he ran a time of 2:11:52.

Ballina’s Hugh Armstrong missed out on the Olympic time by less than a minute this morning, finishing 35th in a personal best of 2:12:26.

Seaward joins Paul Pollock and Stephen Scullion as Tokyo 2020 qualifiers.

(02/24/2020) Views: 1,644 ⚡AMP
by Niall Kelly

Ireland's team is set to run the World Half Marathon Championships

Paul Pollock and Kevin Seaward are among five Northern Ireland athletes named for the Ireland team for this month's World Half Marathon Championships. They will be joined by Stephen Scullion in the men's race in Valencia with Fionnuala Ross and Laura Graham both in the women's event. "This is perfect timing with regards to the Commonwealth Games," said Pollock. The Holywood man finished a superb 14th at the World Half in Cardiff in 2016. "When I looked ahead before last Christmas, the World Half was definitely a goal," added the 31-year-old medical doctor. "I know some of Northern Ireland's athletes will go out to Australia the week before then but I was really pleased Athletics NI recognised that it would be really beneficial for Kevin and me to go to Valencia." (03/08/2018) Views: 2,021 ⚡AMP