Irish results from the indoor athletics meet in Prague...Tues 25th Feb 2014

Three Irish athletes were in action at an athletics indoor meeting in the Czech capital Prague on Tuesday evening the 25th of February 2014. Both Ciara Everard and Rose-Ann Galligan were within two seconds of the Irish indoor record of 2:02.54. In the mens 300m, David McCarthy of West Waterford AC finished in 7:54.39, about three seconds away from his personal best of 7:51.24.

Women 800m
1    Jennifer Meadows    810417    Great Britain    MR2:01.67       
2    Lenka Masná    850422    Czech Republic    2:01.83       
3    Yekaterina Poistogova    910301    Russia    2:02.98       
4    Ciara Everard    900710    Ireland    SB2:04.02       
5    Irina Maracheva    840929    Russia    2:04.08       
6    Yevgeniya Zinurova    821216    Russia    2:04.11       
7    Rose-Anne Galligan    871209    Ireland    2:04.12       
8    Anastasiya Tkachuk    930420    Ukraine    2:05.15       
9    Fabienne Kohlmann    891106    Germany    2:06.28       
10    Edao Dureti    965408    Ethiopia    2:06.87       

Men 3000m
1    Koech Paul Kipsiele    811110    Kenya    MR07:47.20       
2    Yegor Nikolayev    880212    Russia    SB07:49.99       
3    Yitayal Atnafu    930120    Ethiopia    SB07:52.41       
4    Debeli Gezmu    960414    Ethiopia    PB07:53.04       
5    Jakub Holuša    880220    Czech Republic    PB07:53.21       
6    David McCarthy    880803    Ireland    SB07:54.39       
7    Mitko Tsenov    930613    Bulgaria    08:00.80       
Volodymyr Kyts    870115    Ukraine    DQ163.3a   

The best performance of the meeting was probably that of Russian Ivan Ukhov who set a new European indoor record of 2.42 metres in the high jump...

Irish athletes qualify for World Indoor Championships...

The Athletics Ireland Open Games were held at the new indoor track in Athlone over the weekend with two Irish athletes qualifying for the World Indoor Championships in Poland in early March.

In the mens 800m, Mark English (UCD AC) set a new Irish Men’s Senior Indoor Record of 1:46.82. The previous record of 1:47.21 which was held by Daniel Caulfield has stood for 13 years. This time was also inside the qualification time of 1:47.00 for the World Indoors. Mark who is just 20 years old also set a new U23 Irish Indoor record in the process.

Mark English #239 on the way to setting a new Irish indoor record...Pic : Kieran Carlin of Finn Valley AC

800 metre Sen Men International
1 KUPERS Thijem        Holland        1:46.78   
2 ENGLISH Mark        U.C.D. A.C.        1:46.82   
3 RODRIGUEZ Alex        Spain        1:48.05   

In a post race interview, Mark English said....“I had it in the back of my head that I wanted to run the World Indoor standard, I obviously got an Irish Record along with that, so that was a huge bonus to get that too. I’m coming away from here with a lot learnt and I’m very happy with that performance.”

Coach Chris Jones with David McCarthy

In the 1500m, David McCarthy of West Waterford AC finished in a time of 3:39.14, inside the World Indoor Standard of 3:41.00. He has already ran the qualifying time for the 3000m.

1500 meter Sen Men International
1 HOUOLUSA Jakub        CZE        3:38.79   
2 David McCarthy        West Waterford    Sen    3:39.14   
3 COGHLAN John        Metro/St. Brigid's A.C.        3:43.31   

Speaking after the race he said: “It was good. I ran in Vienna on Wednesday night and I ran 3:42 and it felt so tough and rough because the race was so crowded I was being pushed all over the place – all my energy was taking up trying to stay on my feet. The target for today was just to run fast and keep my energy for racing”

Some of the Cork results...

60 metre Sen Women
1 FOSTER Amy        City of Lisburn AC        7.40  
2 HEALY Phil        Bandon A.C.        7.43    
3 MCMANUS Catherine        Celtic DCH A.C.        7.59  
4 NIAMH Whelan        Ferrybank A.C.        7.62  
5 HEALY Joan        Bandon A.C.        7.65

800 metre Sen Women
1 FURLONG Brona        Slaney Olympic A.C.        2:13.60   
2 RAFTER Eileen        Tullamore Harriers A.C.        2:16.06   
3 O'SHEA Rachael        West Muskerry A.C.        2:16.11   

60m Hurdles 0,84m Sen Women
1 MCMANUS Catherine        Celtic DCH A.C.        8.64   
2   DUBO Orlane        Galway City Harriers A.C.        9.73   
3   HOWARD Roisin        Bandon A.C.        9.95   

Shot Put 4,000kg Sen Women
Pos    ID    Name    PB    Team    Cat    Result    Rank    1    2    3    4    5    6
MESLOH Sarah        Ballon Rathoe A.C.        13.00    1    13.00    12.68    12.70     X           
DALY Shauna        St. Abbans A.C.        10.50    2    10.06    10.02    10.50    10.29           
HOWARD Roisin        Bandon A.C.        10.33    3    9.69    10.33    9.82     X           
   
Long Jump Sen Men
Name    PB    Team    Cat    Result    Rank    1    2    3    4    5    6
MCMULLEN Adam        Crusaders A.C.        7.28    1    7.15    6.91    7.28    7.21           
GUILLON Benjamin    Leevale A.C.        7.09    2    7.04     X     X    7.09           
FAHEY Eamonn        Donore Harriers        6.76    3     X    6.56    6.73    6.76  

Full results HERE

Are US scholarships good for Irish athletes?

Over the weekend, the Irish radio station Newstalk had an in depth discussion on it's Off the Ball sports programme about the merits or otherwise of Irish athletes taking scholarships and going to universities in the US.

Included in the 50 minute programme are Sonia O'Sullivan, Eamonn Coghlan, Marcus O'Sullivan,  David McCarthy and Irish Times columnist Ian O'Riordan.

David McCarthy wins 1500m race at Amsterdam Open & Flame Games...31st Aug 2013

At the Amsterdam Open & Flame Games on Saturday (31st Aug 2013), David McCarthy of West Waterford AC won the mens 1500m in a time of 3:42.25.

 Other Irish athletes in action at the same meet....
Mens 100m...6th...Lane 2 SCOTT Gary        IRL    SEN    12.08   

Mens 200m...2nd...Lane 8 COLVERT Steven        IRL    SEN    21.13

Womens 400m...3rd...Lane 3 CANNON Shauna        IRL    SEN    56.59

Womens 200m...
2nd...Lane 4 CANNON Shauna        IRL    SEN    24.90   
3rd...Lane 7 MCCALLION Ciara        IRL    SEN    25.16

David McCarthy of West Waterford AC finishes 3rd in 1500m at Manchester Grand Prix

At the BMC Grand Prix meet in Stretford, Manchester yesterday (17 Aug 2013), David McCarthy of West Waterford AC finished 3rd in the mens 1500m in a time of 3:43.31

David McCarthy of West Waterford AC runs qualifying time for the European indoors

At an indoor 3000m track race in Boston on Thursday evening (14th Feb 13), David McCarthy ran almost a solo race to win in a time of 7:51.24...

2013 Makeup BU Valentine Invitational...Boston University | Boston, Massachusetts
Men 3000 Meter Run
================================================================================
    Name                    Year Team                    Seed     Finals  Points
================================================================================
  1 McCarthy, David              Unattached                      7:51.24 
  2 Sollowin, Stephen            Northeastern         8:10.31    8:11.66 
  3 Paulson, Matt                Boston U.            8:11.00    8:15.47 
  4 Bush, Jeff                   Brown                8:18.00    8:16.61 
  5 Gibson, Robert               Boston U.            8:08.00    8:17.78 
  6 Doyle, Brian                 Northeastern         8:09.23    8:19.48 
  7 Burke, Chris                 Stotan               8:10.00    8:20.95 
  8 King, Curtis                 Dartmouth            8:20.00    8:21.33 
  9 McGurrin, Mark               Brown                8:28.00    8:27.96 
 10 Gorman, Tim                  Dartmouth            8:20.00    8:34.42 
 11 McKeon, John                 Boston U.            8:50.00    8:46.66 
 12 Caputo, Michael              Boston U.            8:43.00    8:47.74 
 13 Gennaro, Paul                Boston U.            8:48.00    8:49.10 
 14 Galasso, BU                  Boston U.                       8:57.93 
 15 Mentas, Chris                Northeastern         8:45.00    9:06.86 

This is almost a full nine seconds inside the 8:00 minutes needed to qualify for the Irish team for the European Indoor Championships in Gothenborg in March.

David McCarthy of West Waterford AC runs another sub 4 min mile in Boston...

At the Boston University Terrier Invitational meet today (Sat 26th Jan), Galen Rupp of the US won the indoor mile race in a time of 3:50.92. There was a lot of speculation before the race that Rupp was going to break the American Indoor Mile record of 3:49.89 but it wasn't to be.

In second place, David McCarthy of West Waterford AC ran 3:57.22 which was slightly down on the 3:55.75 when he won this race last year.

Boston University - Boston, MA
Event 12  Men 1 Mile Run
=================================================== 
   BU Record: M 3:55.75  2012        David McCarthy, Providence
    Name                    Year Team                    Finals
===================================================
Section  1
  1 Rupp, Galen                  Nike Oregon Project    3:50.92M 1500m - 3:34.78
  2 McCarthy, David              Unattached             3:57.22
  3 Masters, Riley               Unattached             3:57.74
  4 Jenkins, Eric                Northeastern           3:58.11
  5 Peters, Rich                 Unattached             3:59.57
  6 Matthews, Julian             Providence             4:00.33

Pre-Race Interview with David McCarthy...


The race video can be seen below. David McCarthy is in the light blue top but note that the coverage is really all about Galen Rupp trying to break the American Indoor mile record.



Post race interview with Galen Rupp...



Post race interview with Rupp's coach Alberto Salazar with Galen doing a 4-5 mile tempo run at 4:40-4:50/mile pace just after running a 3:50 mile!

Results of the Kilworth Camp 5 mile road race - Fri 13th July 2012

A total of 188 runners turned out on Friday evening for the Kilworth Camp 5 mile road race, well up from the 113 of last year. This is only the second year of the particular event and was the 6th race of 11 in the ongoing Ballyhoura Active Series.

The mens race was won by David McCarthy of West Waterford AC. This was David's first race after coming back from an injury following the excellent indoor season he had in the US at the start of the year. In January, he won an indoor mile race in Boston in 3:55.75 and in February, he won a prestigious 3,000m race at the Armory in New York in 7:55.50. The US magazine Running Times had an interview with him back in March.

The womens race was won by Corinna Walsh of West Waterford AC in a time of 31:54. Corinna is a regular winner of the races in the Waterford area.

 Place    Time    Name    Team    Race Age Category    min/mile      
 1    0:24:41    MCCARTHY, David    West Waterford AC    M    04:56.1    160    1
 2    0:25:19    MCCARTHY, James    East Cork AC    M    05:03.7    829    2
 3    0:25:31    HARTY, Philip    Donore Harriers    M    05:06.1    161    3
1    0:31:54    WALSH, Corinna    West Waterford AC    F    06:22.7

2    0:32:25    O'SHEA, Geraldine    St. Finbarrs AC    F40    06:28.9

3    0:33:56    VALADEZ, Racquel    unatt/Colorado    F    06:47.1

The full results can be found HERE

Running Times interview with David McCarthy of West Waterford AC...

At the start of March, the US athletics magazine Running Times had an interview with David McCarthy from Dungarvan, Waterford. Back in January, he ran won an indoor mile race in Boston in 3:55.75 and in February, he won a 3,000 metre indoor race in New York in 7:57.50. He is currently finishing off his studies at Providence College in Rhode Island and will graduate in May. He will then prepare for the 1500m in the European championships in Helsinki in late June.

In the interview, McCarthy said...“The Europeans are the main goal for me this summer. Obviously the Olympics are there but I haven’t even qualified yet. I’m sticking to short-term goals, no long-term goals. I just want to go to Europeans and compete well. I mean if I can’t compete well there, there’s no point in thinking about the Olympics. After that I’ll hopefully get races around Europe and what comes, comes. If I get an Olympic qualifying standard (3:35.50) that would be great but my plan is to continue to enjoy my running as long as possible."

Growing up, David McCarthy had a host of national titles. Silver in the 800m at the Youth Olympics and an U23 5,000m bronze. He was the Irish age 16 record-holder for 800m (1:51.22). He ran 1:49.93 and ran 3:48.24 (1500m) indoors before his 18th birthday. In total he won 10 Irish Schools titles in five years and uniquely held the Intermediate Boys 400m, 800m and cross country titles concurrently.

The interview can be seen HERE and is well worth a read.

Typical training week :
MONDAY: a.m. – 5 miles; p.m. – 8 miles and strides 
TUESDAY: a.m. – 5 miles; p.m. –   some form of minute repeats (e.g., 5 x 5 min., 9 x 3 min., 12 x 2 min. or a ladder session working from 2 min. up to 5 min. and back down – never does same session twice in same season, always changes)
WEDNESDAY: 12 miles      
THURSDAY: 5 miles; p.m. – 10 miles and strides 
FRIDAY: a.m. - 5 miles; p.m. – 6-mile tempo @ 5-minute pace
SATURDAY: Easy Day (off or 30 min. easy)    
SUNDAY: 16 miles   

David McCarthy finishes 9th in indoor mile in Idaho

David McCarthy from Waterford was in action again over the weekend in a mile race in the NCAA Indoor Championships in Nampa, Idaho. Looking at the stats, it seems to have been a relatively slow race with McCarthy in second place for most of it but losing out in the last lap to finish in 9th place.

In the first heat the previous day, McCarthy ran 4:06.66 to finish in 2nd place and qualify for the final.

David McCarthy wins 3k race in New York in 7:57

Back in late January, I had a post about David McCarthy from Waterford winning a mile race in Boston in an impressive time of 3:55.75

Last Sunday (19th Feb 2012), David was in action at the Armory Indoor track in New York for the Big East meet. He won the 3,000 metre race in a time of 7:57.50

The video clip below is a bit shaky but still ok to watch...(David is in the Black and White singlet)

 Not only did David McCarthy break the 8 minute barrier but he also set a new 3,000 metre record for this particular Big East meet. The previous record was held by Mark Carroll of Leevale AC (8:01.56)

3000m Run
Meet Record: 8:01.56, Mark Carroll, Providence (1995)
Armory Collegiate Record: 7:49.98, Richard Kiplagat, Iona (2006)

Finals
  1  1132 David McCarthy      SR Providence             7:57.50M 10  
  2   924 Andrew Springer     SO Georgetown             7:59.55M  8  
  3  1282 Mathew Mildenhall   SO Villanova              8:04.45   6  
  4  1136 Shane Quinn         FR Providence             8:05.22   5  
  5  1292 Ryan Sheridan       SR Villanova              8:05.79   4 

Millrose games and the Wanamaker mile...

An event called the Millrose Games is being held in a 5,000-seat armory in Upper Manhattan, New York on Saturday. Back in the 1980's, the Millrose Games were the centre of indoor track and field in the United States and Eamonn Coghlan was one it's biggest stars. He won the famous Wanamaker Mile seven times and earned himself the title Chairman of the Boards as a result.

Eamonn Coghlan will be there again on Saturday to watch his son John in action after he ran a sub-four-minute mile indoors for the first time in Boston last month. John will be running anchor for Dublin City University in the distance medley relay at 7:40pm (Sunday morning 00:40 am Irish Time).

The main event, the Wanamaker Mile starts at 9:49 pm (Sunday 02:49am Irish Time). The Irish interest in this is David McCarthy from Waterford who won an indoor mile recently in 3:55. Video in an earlier post.

If you are interested in watching the games, I'll have the link up live here on the blog. Coverage of the Millrose games start at 9pm Irish Time on Saturday evening and I'll put the video link up then.

The complete list of events can be seen HERE. Remember that those times are for the USA. Add five hours for the Irish time.

David McCarthy and John Coghlan go sub 4 in the US

David McCarthy from Waterford won a mile race in the US this evening with a time of 3:55.75. Also running sub 4 was John Coghlan from Dublin. (McCarthy is in black and white, Coghlan is in blue)


Watch more videos on Flotrack

2012 BU Terrier Invitational - 28th Jan - Boston University - Boston, MA                
 Men 1 Mile Run
===============================================================
    Name                    Year Team                    Finals
===============================================================
Section  1                                                    
  1 McCarthy, David              Providence             3:55.75
  2 Ritchie, Tim                 Baa                    3:58.49
  3 Coghlan, John                Unattached             3:59.32
  4 Gonzalez, Christian          Nj-Ny Track Club       3:59.98
  5 Matthews, Julian             Providence             4:02.08
  6 Bleday, John                 Dartmouth              4:04.02
  7 Jamieson, Carlos             Cptc New Balance       4:04.05
  8 Paulson, Matt                Boston U.              4:06.05

Post race interview with David McCarthy HERE
...and John Coghlan HERE

Postscript.......Ian O'Riordan has an interesting piece in the Irish Times about how Eamonn and John Coghlan are the first Irish father-son combination to crack the 4 minute mile barrier, and become the second of only two in the world to do so. Eamonn Coghlan first broke four minutes when he was 22, John Coghlan is now 23 so he still has his whole athletics career ahead of him.

Amazingly, Eamonn Coghlan has run 83 sub-four minute miles, including a 3:49.78 – the second fastest indoors of all time – plus the only sub-four ever by an over 40-year-old.

The full article is HERE