Sinéad O'Connor from Cork represents Ireland in Cardiff

Sinéad O'Connor of Leevale AC in Cork made her first outing in an Irish singlet last weekend when she represented Ireland in the Celtic Cross Country in Cardiff in Wales.

Womens Results

Batman and Robin set new Guinness World Record at Cardiff Half-Marathon

Over the weekend, the dynamic duo of Mike Kallenberg (Robin) and Carwyn Jones (Batman) set a new Guinness World record for running a half marathon in costume. While Batman ran under 71 minutes, Robin did an even better time of 63 minutes!

That time would win most half-marathons in Ireland. Somewhere in the region of 22,000 runners took part in the Cardiff Half-Marahton making it one of the biggest in Britain.

Irish & Cork runners at the IAAF World Half-Marathon Championships in Cardiff...Sat 26th Mar 2016

The IAAF World Half-Marathon Championships were held this year in Cardiff, Wales on Saturday the 26th of March 2016. While the elites were at the front end of the field, it was also a mass participation event with just over 12,000 taking part.

In the elite women's section, the only Irish woman taking part was Lizzie Lee from Cork. In wet and windy conditions, Lizzie posted a time of 75:36.

Women...
52nd Lizzie Lee (Leevale) 75:36



In the elite men's section, there was a full Irish team which finished 8th out of 14 teams.
Men
14th Paul Pollock (Annadale Striders) 62:46
41st Thomas Frazer (Crusaders) 65:20
42nd Kevin Seaward (St Malachy's) 65:23
50th Sergiu Ciobanu (Clonliffe Harriers) 66:30

Many of those taking part will also have their eyes firmly set on qualifying for the Olympics in Rio. Ireland can only send a team of 3 but more than that have already gone inside the qualifying time of 2h 19m.

Kevin Seaward    IRL2:14:52    Berlin (GER)    27.09.2015
Mick Clohisey    IRL2:15:11    Sevilla (ESP)    21.02.2016
Sergiu Ciobanu    IRL2:15:14    Berlin (GER)    27.09.2015
Paul Pollock    IRL2:15:38    Berlin (GER)    27.09.2015
Gary Thornton    IRL2:17:19    Berlin (GER)    27.09.2015
Thomas Frazer    IRL2:17:45    Rotterdam (NED)    12.04.2015
Sean Hehir    IRL2:17:48    Berlin (GER)    27.09.2015

Looking at the times above, do the selectors send the three with the fastest marathon times? In that case, Paul Pollock would miss out but based on his performance in Cardiff, he is in great shape and faster than the other Irish runners by some margin. Whatever they decide, someone is going to be disappointed.

A number of runners from clubs in Cork also ran. The fastest of these was Tim O'Donoghue of East Cork AC who was just a bit slower than some of the elite Irish runners. Tim is in flying form at the moment having finished 2nd in the Dungarvan 10 mile in January and 4th in the Ballycotton 10 mile at the start of March.

Tim O'Donoghue

These are some Cork club runners that broke 90 minutes in Cardiff....

Pos    Name        Cat    Cat Pos    Club        GunTime    Chip ChipTime
7    Tim O' Donoghue    MS    7    East Cork AC    01:06:58    01:06:56
90    Conor McCauley    MS    83    Leevale AC    01:14:54    01:14:47
140   Alan O'Brien     MS     81     Eagle AC      01:14:44 01:14:42
144    Tony Kelleher    M45    5    Togher AC    01:17:07    01:17:00
207    Eric Browne    MS    176    Togher AC    01:19:10    01:19:02
246    John O'Callaghan    M45    6    Eagle AC   01:20:14    01:20:05
301    Ronan Boland    M50    5    Eagle AC        01:21:34    01:21:25
302    David Butler    MS    238    St Finbarr's AC    01:21:35    01:21:28
364    David O'Keeffe    MS    279    Togher AC    01:22:51    01:22:39
702    Killian O'Connor     MS   412   Eagle AC    01:26:48     01:26:38

The results for the elite runners can be found HERE

The results for the non-elite runners can be seen HERE

Photos...(Updated Sun 27th @21:38)
1) Gearóid Ó Laoi has some nice photos HERE

Fall at the start of the elite men's race

Some of the non-elites

Results of the British and Irish Masters Cross Country...Sat 16th Nov 2013

The British & Irish Masters International Cross country Championships were held in Cardiff on Saturday 16th Nov. 2013. Here are the Irish team results...

Result of the Ladies Masters W35-39 team competition.
2nd...Republic of Ireland
2 0:20:35 Ladies Masters 35-39 ADAMS, Natasha 3513 3
7 0:21:40 Ladies Masters 35-39 QUAID, Annette 3514 16
8 0:21:41 Ladies Masters 35-39 O'DWYER, Martina 3515 17

Result of the Ladies Masters W40-44 team competition.
2nd...Republic of Ireland
2 0:21:32 Ladies Masters 40-44 MCCOURT, Kathy 4014 12
4 0:21:40 Ladies Masters 40-44 CARTHY, Jackie 4013 15
7 0:22:07 Ladies Masters 40-44 TOUHY, Colette 4015 24

Result of the Ladies Masters W45-49 team competition.
2nd...Republic of Ireland
3 0:22:00 Ladies Masters 45-49 CROWLEY, Carmel 4513 20
8 0:23:09 Ladies Masters 45-49 MOORE, Ann 4514 47
13 0:23:32 Ladies Masters 45-49 GORMLEY, Orla 4515 61

Result of the Ladies Masters W50-54 team competition.
3rd...Republic of Ireland
3 0:21:33 Ladies Masters 50-54 O'SULLIVAN, Niamh 5013 13
7 0:22:55 Ladies Masters 50-54 BYRNE, Kay 5015 39
9 0:23:10 Ladies Masters 50-54 SULLIVAN, Ann 5014 48

Result of the Ladies Masters W55-59 team competition.
2nd...Republic of Ireland
1 0:22:33 Ladies Masters 55-59 PARNELL, Carmel 5513 32
4 0:23:54 Ladies Masters 55-59 MORAN, Pauline 5514 72
10 0:25:00 Ladies Masters 55-59 JONES, Shelagh 5516 85

Result of the Ladies Masters W60-64 team competition.
2nd...Republic of Ireland
9 0:27:02 Ladies Masters 60-64 BROWNE, Phyllis 6013 101
10 0:27:24 Ladies Masters 60-64 LYNCH, Roisin 6014 104
14 0:29:09 Ladies Masters 60-64 O'BRIEN, Eileen 6016 115

The individual results for the women are HERE and HERE
The womens team results are HERE

Result of the Mens Masters M35-39 team competition.
1st...Republic of Ireland
4 0:25:04 Mens Masters M35-39 O'SULLIVAN, Peter 3543 12
5 0:25:05 Mens Masters M35-39 FLEMING, Paul 3540 13
6 0:25:06 Mens Masters M35-39 SHIEL, Niall 3541 14
7 0:25:09 Mens Masters M35-39 KILGANNON, Phil 3539 15

Result of the Mens Masters M40-44 team competition.
2nd...Republic of Ireland
7 0:25:16 Mens Masters M40-44 MCCARTHY, Martin 4041 19
11 0:25:41 Mens Masters M40-44 O'NEILL, Shane 4039 29
12 0:25:46 Mens Masters M40-44 LYNCH, Niall 4040 33
13 0:25:49 Mens Masters M40-44 HARKIN, John 4042 34

Result of the Mens Masters M45-49 team competition.
2nd...Republic of Ireland
4 0:25:01 Mens Masters M45-49 BURKE, Colm 4539 11
7 0:25:42 Mens Masters M45-49 TRAYNOR, Mick 4543 30
8 0:25:44 Mens Masters M45-49 MCKINNEY, Pauric 4544 31
13 0:26:14 Mens Masters M45-49 CARLIN, Kieran 4540 47

Result of the Mens Masters M50-54 team competition.
2nd...Republic of Ireland
6 0:26:14 Mens Masters M50-54 DOYLE, Gerry 5039 8
8 0:26:41 Mens Masters M50-54 STAFFORD, Jim 5042 12
9 0:26:43 Mens Masters M50-54 O'GRADY, Patrick 5040 13
13 0:26:59 Mens Masters M50-54 MALONEY, Gerard 5041 17

Result of the Mens Masters M55-59 team competition.
2nd...Republic of Ireland
Place Time Name Race Age Category
2 0:26:39 PAYNE, Tommy Mens Masters M55-59 5533 10
4 0:27:24 MCDONALD, Martin Mens Masters M55-59 5534 20
11 0:28:50 COLLINS, John Mens Masters M55-59 5535 47

Result of the Mens Masters M60-64 team competition.
4th...Republic of Ireland
9 0:28:47 Mens Masters M60-64 ELLIOTT, Paul 6033 46
10 0:29:46 Mens Masters M60-64 O'SHEA, Pat 6036 53
12 0:30:07 Mens Masters M60-64 TODD, John 6034 57

Result of the Mens Masters M65-69 team competition.
2nd...Republic of Ireland
1 0:22:19 MCEVILLY, Martin Mens Masters M65-69 6533 1
9 0:24:11 O'HARE, Liam Mens Masters M65-69 6534 10
13 0:24:38 SHANNON, Dennis Mens Masters M65-69 6535 15

Result of the Mens Masters M70+ team competition.
4th...Republic of Ireland
5 0:25:18 Mens Masters M70+ MEE, Terry 7033 22
15 0:29:27 Mens Masters M70+ LANGAN, Jim 7035 35
16 0:30:06 Mens Masters M70+ DUGGAN, Mike 7036 36

The mens individual results are HERE and HERE and HERE and HERE

The mens team results are HERE and HERE and HERE

Photos...
1) Tom Morris has a gallery HERE