Guest Post : AOIFE COOKE’S 55:17 AT MALLOW...by John Walshe

Following on from the Mallow 10 mile road race last Sunday, John Walshe reflects on Aoife Cooke's remarkable winning time of  55m 17s.

AOIFE COOKE’S 55:17 AT MALLOW

Regarding Aoife Cooke’s time of 55:17 for 10 miles at Mallow last Sunday, this makes her the second fastest Cork woman (after Sonia O’Sullivan) on the all-time list.

The fastest time in the country in 2018 was 56:47, which Aoife equalled in tough conditions at Duhallow on March 10th. So to run a minute-and-half faster two weeks later amounts to a superb performance.

Lizzie Lee’s average pace in her half-marathon best of 73:19 in Barcelona last year equates to a time of around 55:55 for 10 miles, although in the National Half-Marathon of 2015 in the Phoenix Park – which she won in 73:27 – Lee went though 10 miles 55:40.

In the history of the Ballycotton ‘10’, just one woman – Maria McCambridge – ran faster than 55:17. It should be noted, however, that she did it on three occasions - 54:20 (2015), 54:48 (2012), and 55:01 (2013).

Although the 10-mile distance is not as prevalent in the UK as in the past, only three women (Eilish McColgan, Alyson Dixon and Steph Twell) ran faster than Cooke’s time in all of last year.

And finally to put it all into perspective – the fastest Irish woman over 10 miles is Sonia O’Sullivan who ran 51:00 at the Great South Run back in 2002. This was a world best at the time and still remains as the tenth fastest on the world all-time list.