Barry Drake Sports Interview - Michael Harty of East Cork AC

 

Barry Drake from Youghal continues his new athletics podcast with a chat with East Cork runner Michael Harty.

Barry writes... "Michael Harty needs no introduction. A regular winner over the last number of years he has clocked some fantastic times on the roads. The East Cork man talks all things athletics including his great Cross Country success. Harty has a few big targets upcoming."

The interview with Michael can be heard below...

Cork runner Michael Harty wins the Rathfarnham 5k - Sun 24th Sept 2023

The big race in Dublin over the weekend was the Rathfarnham 5k with a field of 996 runners. The winner was Michael Harty from Cloyne in East Cork who finished in a time of 14m 32s.

Top 3 men...
1 Michael HARTY 14:32 8231 M M40 East Cork A.C.
2 Daniel STONE 14:37 5051 M M DUB MS Raheny Shamrock A.C.
3 David SCANLON 14:38 5169 M M DUB MS Rathfarnham W.S.A.F. A.C.

Full results HERE

Guest Post: MICHAEL HARTY SETS IRISH M40 RECORD ...by John Walshe

MICHAEL HARTY SETS IRISH M40 RECORD

East Cork athlete Michael Harty became the first Irishman over 40 to break 30 minutes for 10km when finishing in 10th place overall at the Leeds Abbey Dash on Sunday morning.

Harty’s time of 29:42 knocked 23 seconds off of the previous Irish record set by Brian Maher last June – a race in which Harty finished just one second behind the Kilkenny man with his previous fastest of 30:06.

The Leeds Abbey Dash, on an out and back course, is regarded as one of the fastest 10kms in the UK and attracted over 3.700 runners.

 Although he wasn’t the first M40 (Graham Rush ran 29:31 for fourth overall) the East Cork man was only 18 seconds behind the actual winner, Andrew Milligan, who recorded 29:24. Last year in the UK just three runners over 40 broke the 30-minute barrier for 10km and before today’s race just one British runner – international Chris Thompson – had run faster than Harty’s time.  

Cloyne-native Harty easily won his first Cork senior cross-title three weeks ago and now his thoughts turn to the national championships which take place at Rosapenna Golf Club, Donegal, in a month’s time.

There, places on the Irish team for the SPAR European Championships in Piemonte-La Mandria Park, just outside Turin, on Sunday December 11 will be up for grabs

Pic - Michael Harty on his way to victory at the recent Cork Senior Cross-Country Championships at Macroom. Picture: John Walshe

A list of previous guest posts from John Walshe can be seen HERE

CRY104 FM interview with Michael Harty of East Cork

John Cashman (L) of the organising committee presenting a prize to Michael Harty (R)... winner of the 2022 Ballintotis 4-mile road race

Following on from Michael Harty's victory in the Ballintotis 4-mile road race last Thursday, Barry Drake of CRY104 FM in Youghal caught up with him for a chat. You can hear the 13 minute interview below...

By the way, the results and photo post has now been updated with a 1-hour video from the organisers.

Community Radio Youghal interview with Michael Harty of East Cork AC

Leading Cork athlete Michael Harty speaks to Barry Drake (CRY 104FM and Evening Echo) about some of his biggest achievements, recent success and about his latest journey.

Michael Harty of East Cork AC wins Streets of Kilkenny 5k

The annual Streets of Kilkenny 5k road race was held on Thursday the 30th of March with 561 runners taking part. The winner of the race was Michael Harty of East Cork AC who crossed the line in a time of 14m 43s.

1. 338    Michael Harty    Male 40    East Cork AC    0:14:43
2. 214    Brian Maher    Male 40    Kilkenny City Harriers    0:14:44
1. 145    Thomas Hayes    Senior Male    Kilkenny City Harriers    0:15:04

Michael Harty of East Cork AC wins Rock n Roll 5k in Dublin

While the Rock n Roll Half-Marathon in Dublin was held on Sunday, the associated 5k race with 2,302 finishers was on the previous day, Saturday the 12th of August.  The winner of the race was Michael Harty of East Cork AC in a time of 15m 17s.

1    Michael HARTY    00:15:17.43
2    Eoin FLYNN    00:15:49.96
3    Efrem GIDEY    00:16:33.17

Michael Harty of East Cork AC sets new course record to win the 2017 Adare 10k

This year's Adare 10k road race in Co.Limerick a record crowd of 726 runners, a jump of 22% on the 2016 figure. While many of the races in Munster have seen their peaks a few years back, this one continues to grow and is now one of the main 10k races in the province. The race was organised by West Limerick AC.

The winner of the mens race was Michael Harty of East Cork AC who set a new course record in the process. The person in second place was Sean Hehir who is a former National Marathon Champion.

1 Michael Harty MS East Cork A.C. 00:30:59
2 Sean Hehir MS Rathfarnham W.S.A.F. A.C. 00:31:12
3 Andrew Connick MS Ferrybank A.C. 00:31:46
38 Sorcha Mac Domhnaill FS Donore Harriers 00:38:37
39 Carolyn Maria Hayes FS West Limerick A.C. 00:38:40
42 Caitriona Farrell FS An Bru A.C 00:39:00

Some of the clubs with 10 or more members were....
Mallow AC...27, West Limerick AC 25, Dooneen AC 23, Bweeng Trailblazers 19, An Brú AC 16,  Kilfinane AC 12, St.Nicholas AC 11.

Results & photos on the Running in Munster site.

Michael Harty of East Cork AC wins National Master Cross Country title

The Athletics Ireland Masters Cross Country Championships were held on Sunday the 12th of February in Waterford IT. The winner of the mens race was Michael Harty of East Cork AC.

255 23:24 1 Michael Harty East Cork A.C. East Cork A.C.
408 23:50 2 Tim O'Connor An Riocht A.C. An Riocht A.C.
260 23:55 3 Tim Twomey Leevale A.C. Leevale A.C.
112 14:51 1 Rosemary Ryan Dooneen A.C. Dooneen A.C.
48 15:02 2 Sara Doohan Corran A.C.
72 15:04 3 Barbara Cleary Donore Harriers Donore Harriers

The full results are up on the Athletics Ireland website

Photos...
1) West Waterford AC have a gallery HERE

Photo courtesy of John Cashman

Michael Harty of East Cork AC finishes 3rd in Irish Runner 5 mile road race in Dublin

Well done to Michael Harty of East Cork AC who finished 3rd today in the Irish Runner 5 mile road race in Dublin.

Results for the 15th SSE Airtricity Irish Runner 5 Mile event:

Men's Race:
• Peter Samba in 1st 00:23:55
• Mick Clohisey in 2nd 00:23:56
• Michael Harty in 3rd 00:24:08

Women's Race:
• Gladys Ganiel in 1st 00:28:36
• Catherina McKiernan in 2nd 00:28:54

Cork runners take top two places in MSB 5k race in Dublin

The MSB St. Patrick's Festival 5k Race was held in the centre of Dublin on Sunday the 20th of March 2016 and attracted a large field of 1312 runners. The winner of the race was Colm Sheahan of Leevale AC pictured above closely followed by Michael Harty of East Cork AC.

Place   Name           Net Time         Gross Time      Bib     Cat     Sub Cat Club
1       Colm SHEAHAN  14:43   14:43        1175    MS (1)  Leevale AC
2       Michael HARTY   14:42     14:44        1236    MS (2)  East Cork
3       Sean HEHIR      15:05        15:05        313     MS (3)  Rathfarnham WSAF

This is a photo of the top 3 men out on the course.... L to R...Sean O'Hehir, Michael Harty and Colm Sheahan.

If you examine the results closely then you'll see that Michael Harty actually ran the 5km course one second faster than Colm Sheahan but finished second. This was due to the fact that for whatever reason, it took Michael two seconds to cross the start line whereas Colm started at the front.

It doesn't change anything of course as the first person to break the tape wins the race but it reminded me of the recent Ballycotton '10' comments when some runners were debating whether the times should be in order of gun time or chip time.

The photo above shows the holding area before the start of the race. Colm is on the left and Michael is on the right. By the time the runners had moved up to the start line, Michael had lost his front place resulting in a two second delay.

Photo by Stephen McGuinness

Those two seconds would make all the difference though at the finish line.

Photo by Stephen McGuinness

It's just one of those quirks of road racing that is unusual and rarely seen.

The full results can be seen on the MyRunResults website.

Photos...
1) Stephen McGuinness has a nice gallery HERE
2) Sportsworld Running Club has some HERE