Alistair Cragg Sets Irish and European 5k road race record

Alistair Cragg of Clonliffe Harriers AC set a new Irish and European road 5k record with a time of 13:26 in the Carlsbad 5000m in California. Cragg was with the leaders until the 4k mark, at this point eventual winner Ethiopian Dejen Gebremeskel launched an all out attack and no one in the 25 man elite field could respond. Cragg kept to his task and finished strongly to break the European road race record and finish in 6th place overall.

Commenting about his plans for the rest of the season Cragg mentioned “The European Championships are a big target of mine, where I will hope to double; it is a big focus for me. Other targets include achieving the A-Standard for the Olympics in the 10k.” Next up for Cragg is this weekend’s Stanford Invite where he will attempt a 1500m and 5k double.

Alistair Cragg's is also the holder of the Irish outdoor track record for 5,000m when he ran 13:03.53 in Brussels last September.