Irish results from the European Clubs Cross Country in Portugal

Another event last weekend was the European Champion Clubs Cup Cross Country in Albufeira, Portugal. The results below are for the Irish athletes including Alistair Cragg. The best individual performance was Siofra Cleirigh-Buttner of DSD AC who finished in 4th in the womens U20 race.



Race video for the event with not a speck of mud to be seen...http://youtu.be/o7jj72uMAyE

Men...Cross Country 9.8 km   
1    Mohamed Moustaoui    MAR    2 Apr 85    29:13   
2    Ayad Lamdassem    ESP    11 Oct 81    29:14   
3    Daniel da Silva    BRA    10 Jul 88    29:16...Post race interview  
21    Alistair Cragg    IRL    13 Jun 80    30:25   
49    Gary O'Hanlon    IRL    3 Aug 74    31:51   
51    Jayme Rossiter    IRL    29 Sep 90    31:56   
68    Colm Rooney    IRL    23 Mar 83    32:44   
95    Guillem Dalmau    AND    8 Sep 91    37:41   

Women...Cross Country 6.2 km   
1    Hiwot Ayalew    ETH    6 Mar 90    20:15   
2    Nadia Ejjafini    ITA    8 Nov 77    20:26   
3    Natalya Gorchakova    RUS    17 Apr 83    20:39   
30    Aoife Talty    IRL    7 Apr 85    22:03...Post race interview   
39    Kate Cronin    IRL    26 Sep 83    22:34   
40    Eilish Kelly    IRL    1 Dec 78    22:34   
51    Annette Kealy    IRL    30 Nov 67    23:58   
57    Maria O'Sullivan    IRL    1 Jan 92    24:24   
66    Sandra Huberty    LUX    22 Sep 80    28:29   

U20 Men...Cross Country 6.2 km   
1    Saffet Elkatmış    TUR    1 Nov 95    19:05   
2    Enes Korkmaz    TUR    23 Jul 96    19:14   
3    Onur Aras    TUR    6 Feb 96    19:15   
34    Patrick MacGabhann    IRL    18 Dec 96    20:27   
40    Rick Nally    IRL    7 Oct 96    20:37   
43    Killian Mooney    IRL    2 Apr 95    20:40   
47    Liam Fitzpatrick    IRL    7 Oct 96    20:43   
62    Andrew Cullen    IRL    31 Mar 95    21:31   
69    Adam Dunne    IRL    15 Apr 96    22:04   
81    Akseli Leino    FIN    13 May 95    27:18   

U20 Women...Cross country 3,8 km   
1    Sarah Lahti    SWE    18 Feb 95    13:05   
2    Olga Nikolayeva    RUS    19 Aug 95    13:15   
3    Tamara Chalkova    RUS    1 Oct 95    13:16   
4    Siofra Cleirigh-Buttner    IRL    21 Jul 95    13:25   
14    Ella Fennelly    IRL    2 Oct 96    14:01   
16    Sarah Miles    IRL    27 Jul 95    14:06   
17    Isabelle Odlum    IRL    1 May 97    14:11   
20    Sorcha Humphreys    IRL    4 May 95    14:21   
27    Clare McCarthy    IRL    13 Mar 95    15:01   
41    Anna Freddi    ITA    4 Jun 96    18:00    

The full results can be seen HERE

Interview with Irish international athlete Alistair Cragg

Alistair Cragg is one of Irelands best distance runners and holds the Irish national records for both the 5000m and 10000m. In 2005, he won gold at the 3000m at the European Indoor Championships.

In more recent years, he has tried to make the transition to the marathon distance but has so far failed to do so.

On Saturday the 1st of February, Alistair Cragg gave an interview in which he outlines his plans for 2014 which includes trying to qualify for the 10,000m at the European Championships in the summer where his stamina from his marathon training could prove potent. The interview is about 11 minutes long.


Interview after the European clubs Cross Country Championships...Sun 2nd Feb 2014...

Irish international Alistair Cragg runs PB in Westfield 5k...

The Westfield 5k race was held in Massachusett, USA last Saturday, the 30th of March. Irish international runner Alistair Cragg finished in second place in a time of 13:24, beating his previous best time on the roads by two seconds.

# Name    Last Name    City    State    Age    Time    Pace    Prize
1 Simon    Ndirangu    Nyack    NY 27    M    13:16    4:16/M    $5000
2 Alistair    Cragg    Providence    RI    32    13:24    4:19/M    $3000
3 Amos    Sang    Springfield    MA    24    13:44    4:25/M    $2000
4 Wegayehu    Tefera    New York    NY    24    13:45    4:25/M    $1000
5 Philemon    Terer    Santa Fe    NM    27    13:49    4:27/M    $500
6 Zachary    Hine    Boulder    CO    25    13:51    4:27/M

His post race interview can be seen here...start to about 1:35...

Irish athletes in action at the 2012 Stanford Invitational Meet in California...

In the 2012 Stanford Invitational Meet in California on Friday 6th of April, a number of Irish athletes were in action. Fionnuala Britton (Kilcoole AC) finished in fifth place the 5,000 metres in a personal best time of 15:28.22. Fionnuala was leading in the early stages of the race but faded slighty towards the end. Her time of 15:28.22 is only eight seconds outside the Olympic A standard of 15:20.00. Although she has already qualified for London in the 3,000 metre steeplechase, she is currently looking to qualify for the 5,000 metres before the July 8th deadline. Race video below (Fionnuala is in the long green singlet)...


Alistair Cragg (Clonliffe Harriers AC) was in action also finishing sixth in the 1500m with 3:42.00 and fourth in the 5,000m with 13:32.76. The video below shows Cragg in the orange singlet in second place until about 200m to go with a very crowded finish...



This video shows Cragg in the 5,000 metres....orange singlet again...


Other Irish athletes in action were...
Brendan O’Neill (Dundrum South Dublin AC), O’Neill recorded a time of 29:28 in the men’s 10,000m
Anthony Lieghio (Tallaght AC) finished 8th in the 1500m 3:49.07
Tommy Casey (Oklahoma State) was fifth in his section of the men’s 1500m 3:52.17.
Kerry Harty (Newcastle AC) was in the womens 1500m finishing fifth in a time of 4:18.81.
David Flynn (Clonliffe Harriers AC) and Tomas Cotter (Dunleer AC) recorded times of 8:49.24 and 8:51.88 respectively in the men’s 3,000m Steeplechase.
Michelle Finn from Cork (Duhallow AC/Leevale AC) and running for Western Kentucky clocked 10:14.09 for third place in the women’s 3,000m Steeplechase....video below with Michelle running in a white and red singlet with red shorts...Michelle is back in around 13th place for most of the race before moving up to 8th with just one lap to go and put in a great last 400 metres to take third.

Full results HERE

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.

Alistair Cragg finishes 65th in Japanese Half-Marathon...

In the 2012 Kagawa Marugame International Half Marathon in Japan on Sunday (5th Feb 2012), Alistair Cragg finished 65th in a time of 1:03:39.

Men
1. Matthew Kisorio (Kenya) - 1:00:02
2. Daniel Gitau (Kenya/Team Fujitsu) - 1:01:02 - PB
3. Jacob Wanjuki (Kenya/Team Aichi Seiko) - 1:01:03
4. Benjamin Gandu (Kenya/Nihon Univ.) - 1:01:06 - PB
5. Yusuke Takabayashi (Team Toyota) - 1:01:31 - PB

65. Alistair Cragg (Ireland) - 1:03:39

I have no further info as to why he ran what was a slow time for someone of his ability. In the Fukuoka Marathon in Japan last December , he went through the half-way mark in 1:03:29 although he later pulled out of the race. In the New York City Half-Marathon on the 19th of March 2011, he set a new Irish record by running 1:00:49.

Cragg posts a DNF at the Fukuoka Marathon

Irelands Alistair Cragg had to pull out of the Fukuoka Marathon in Japan on Sunday. While he was up with the leaders at the 25 km mark, he pulled out not long after.

This is obviously a very disappointing result for the Irish 5,000m and 10,000m record holder. In his previous Marathon in Boston last April, he had to pull out as well.

In a previous interview in October, Cragg had said that he was targetting a sub 2:10 Marathon over the winter. For the moment though, he still has to prove that he can make the transition to the longer distance.

Alistair Cragg sets new 5000 metre record...

Alistair Cragg of Clonliffe Harriers set a new Irish 5000 metre record last Friday evening in Brussels by running 13:03.53, an improvement of 0.4 seconds on Mark Carroll’s 13 year old record of 13:03.93 which was set in Berlin in 1998.
Cragg finished in 5th place in a world class field in what was the last Diamond League meet of the year. The race was won by Imane Merga of Ethiopia in 12.58.32. Cragg’s time is almost a four second improvement on his previous personal best of 13.07.10 which dates back to 2007, also set in Belgium. It is also the 10th fastest time ever by a European.

A video of the full race can be seen at this LINK

Alistair Cragg breaks the Irish Half Marathon record in New York Half Marathon...Sat 19th Mar 2011

Alistair Cragg finished 6th in the New York Half-Marathon last Saturday in a time of 60:49 setting a new Irish Record....(Avg pace 4:38/mile). It was also a personal best by more than a minute.
When interviewed, he said..."I felt good the whole way and it was only in the last mile or two that the leaders managed to get away from me, but it’s good feeling to get another Irish record and I‘m excited about where this can take me".

Cragg’s time of 60 minutes 49 seconds knocked eight seconds off the old mark of 60:57 set two years ago in Holland by Martin Fagan of Mullingar, as well as being a personal best by more than a full minute, with victory going to Britain’s Mo Farah in an impressive 60:23 after a sprint finish.

This race was Cragg’s pre-trial prior to making his marathon debut in Boston next month.

“I’ve been packing in the miles in preparation for Boston and I think those miles were in my legs when it came to speeding up in the last few miles here” he said.

“But I never felt the distance or did I feel tired at any stage. I finished very strong and really enjoyed it. Running this event is a bit strange for me after all my races on the track but I’m now entering a new stage of my career and I’m excited about it and will now use the next few weeks wisely to prepare for Boston.”

Cragg will be looking to get the standard of 2:16 in Boston next month which will put him in line for selection for the World Championships next August in Korea and also for the Olympics in London next year.

Race Video of the 2011 New York City Half-Marathon...

Watch live streaming video from nyrr at livestream.com

This video clip is over 1 hour long and gives a good feel for what the New York Half-Marathon is like with over 10,000 runners taking part.

The first 16 minutes are pre-race commentary. Amongst the front runners, Alistair Cragg is wearing a green top with black cap. Pull the bar across if you want to fast forward. He is at the front of the group ~41:00.