Cork athlete Ciarán Ó'Lionáird joins Oregon Track Club Elite

Ciarán Ó'Lionáird, who finished tenth at last summer's world championships at 1500m, has decided to switch training groups in advance of this summer's Olympic Games. Previously, Ciaran had trained with another Nike-sponsored group, the Oregon Distance Project under coaches Alberto Salazar and Steve Magness.

In an interview, he said..."At a personal level I feel like I needed a change. I think moving down to Eugene will be a good change for me on both a personal and a training level." Commenting on his time at the Oregon Distance Project, he said that Salazar was "an unbelievable coach" and that he had "learned a ton and became a better athlete".

With reference to new coach Mark Rowland and the OTC, he said that their expertise in the middle distances would benefit him. "I got to sit down with him before I made a decision," O'Lionaird recounted.  "We kind of immediately hit it off.  He's the kind of guy who is an extremely dedicated coach, and a really down to earth guy.  He's a guy I can easily relate to.  I'm really excited to work with him and I think training with the team will be great."

O'Lionaird and Rowland are now battling against the clock in their Olympic preparations.  O'Lionaird has been managing an inflamed left Achilles tendon, so he is behind in his training schedule.

Ciarán Ó Lionáird from Cork wins the mens mile at Boston Indoor Grand Prix

Ciarán Ó Lionáird from Macroom, Cork won the mens mile in the Boston Indoor Grand Prix last night (Sat 4th Feb 2012). In a high quality field which included Mo Farah from Britain and Galen Rupp from the US, Ciarán Ó Lionáird won in a time of 3:56.01.

Subject to correction but I think that was a new personal best time beating his old record of 3:57.99 in Dublin last July.

Post race interview HERE

Race report.......The men’s Mile featured the meet’s biggest shock when, just three-quarters into the first lap, 5000-meter World Champion Mo Farah of Great Britain, running in front, caught his foot on a trailing runner and sprawled hands-first to the track. After the rest of the field successfully hurdled or otherwise dodged him, Farah sprung back up to give chase. With six laps to go and training partner Galen Rupp in the lead, Farah had worked his way into the middle of the pack, and with three laps to go he was in second.
For an instant, it looked as if he would pull off a miraculous win, but “my legs just didn’t have it,” he said later. “I just had to get back as quickly as possible and work my way through. It wasn’t easy.”
With about 150 meters remaining, Rupp was caught by another training partner, Irishman Ciaran O’Lionard, and Canada’s Taylor Milne. The 23-year-old O’Lionard, who ran for Florida State University, held off Milne for the win, 3:56.01 to 3:56.40. Rupp ended up third, in 3:57.10, while Farah managed a personal-best 3:57.92 in fourth.

“It was disappointing seeing [Farah] fall down,” said Rupp. “We were planning on taking it after halfway, but things happen so you just have to be ready for it.”
O’Lionard, a relative rookie in this company, was thrilled. “I’m so new to the game, and so unbelievably privileged to have such great training partners,” he said, standing with Rupp and Farah. “Part of me is like oh man, this guy has just taken a bad fall and he’s already coming up and kicking my butt. That just shows the character he has and the courage, to be able to get back up and do that.”

Running Times interview with Ciarán O’Lionaird from Cork

2011 was the year when Ciarán O'Lionaird from Macroom in Cork showed his true potential. He set multiple personal best times during the year and also made the final of the 1500 metres in the World Championships in Daegu in South Korea last August.

The times below show how much he has improved recently...

Ciarán O'Lionaird's Personal Records (Bests prior to 2011 in brackets)
1500m: Aug. 2, 2011: 3:34.46 Oordegem, Belgium (3:48.36, 2008)
1 Mile: July 8, 2011: 3:57.99 Dublin (4:06.59 OTi, 2008)
3,000m: July 13, 2011: 7:50.71 Naimette-Xhovémont, Belgium (8:04.05 OTi, 2008)
5,000m: July 6, 2011: 13:33.64 Heusden, Belgium (14:07.92, 2008)
10,000m: March 25, 2011: 28:32.30 Stanford, Calif. (no previous mark)

TRAINING
Here's a typical week of O’Lionaird’s training during the Autumn:
Mon...a.m. – 10 miles; p.m. 4 miles ,
Tue...a.m. – Short intervals on grass plus 200m hills ; p.m. – 4 miles plus strength/conditioning
Wed...a.m. – 12 miles steady ; p.m. – 5 miles underwater treadmill
Thurs...a.m. – 10 miles + strides, p.m. – 4 miles plus strength/conditioning
Fri...a.m. – Long intervals on grass ; p.m. – 4 miles easy
Sat...a.m. – 5 miles easy, ; p.m. – 5 miles underwater treadmill plus strength/conditioning
Sun...18 miles with 8 miles at tempo pace

The full article can be seen HERE

Ciarán Ó Lionáird finishes 10th in 1500m World Championships...

Ciarán Ó Lionáird of Leevale AC finished in a very credible 10th place in the 1500 metre final of the 2011 World Championships in Daegu, South Korea. In a bunched finish, Ciarán was only 2 seconds behind the winner Asbel Kiprop and finished ahead of the 2008 Olympic silver medalist Nick Willis of New Zealand.

An impressive performance considering that he is only 23 years old. A video clip of the race can be seen below (in German ;o) with Nick Willis leading for the fist 800m and Ciarán of course in green.

Ciarán Ó'Lionáird qualifies for the 1500 metre final in World Championships

Just out...Ciarán Ó'Lionáird of Leevale AC has just qualified for the 1500 metre final in the World Championships in Daegu, South Korea. Here is the semi-final...