Irish athlete Paul Robinson runs 4:17 mile in Antarctica

Paul Robinson is one of the fastest Irish runners over the mile distance with a personal best of 3min 54.77sec. Recently, he was part of a project to set a new mile record on the continent of Antarctica which he did in 4min 17.9sec in minus 20 deg C!

Irishman Paul Robinson has broken the record for the fastest time running a mile in Antarctica pic.twitter.com/2kX990M8iy

— Sky News (@SkyNews) December 3, 2017

After the run, he said...“I definitely think I could go faster but it would need a very groomed, hard surface that just didn’t absorb your energy. On the snow, that’s going to be very hard to do.
In perfect conditions, running a sub-four minute mile is still a great achievement. There are very few athletes who have actually done it on a track. I know how hard it is when conditions are ideal so I knew there was no chance running [a sub-four minute mile] on snow. But I gave it my best effort, and I’m proud of getting anywhere close to four minutes, especially as I was slipping and sliding and even thought I was going to fall over at one stage.”

Additional Info...
1) The 42 Article 

Ciara Mageean & Paul Robinson finish 3rd in New York 5th Avenue Mile

The New York 5th Avenue Mile Race was held on Saturday the 13th of Sept 2014. Irish athletes Ciara Mageean and Paul Robinson finished 3rd in their respective races and picked up $2,500 apiece.

For Ciara Mageean, her time of 4:21.2 was a huge improvement on the 4:35.47 which she ran last week at the Great North City Games Mile in Newcastle. I'm not sure if the time will count for official record as it is a dead straight course and doesn't have all the corners that are on a full size track but if it did, it would place her second on the Irish all time list. Only Sonia O'Sullivan has run a faster time.

1. Jenny Simpson 4:19.4...$5,000
2. Brenda Martinez 4:19.6...$3,500
3. Ciara Mageean 4:21.2...$2,500
4. Heather Kampf 4:21.4...$1,500
5. Ingvill Makestad Bovim 4:21.9...$1,000
6. Morgan Uceny 4:22.0...$750
7. Hannah England 4:23.1...$500
8. Jordan Hasay 4:23.9...$250
9. Treniere Moser 4:234.3
10. Mary Cain 4:25.5
11. Laura Weightman 4:26.9
12. Sarah Brown 4:28.3
13. Violah Lagat 4:29.3
14. Sally Kipyego 4:29.4
15. Brie Felnagle 4:31.1
16. Beverly Ramos 4:33.6
17. Gesa Krause 4:35.6
18. Diane Cummins 4:40.2

Womens Race video.......remember, she is just 22 years old, just back from injury and only started training last March! What a talent.

For Paul Robinson, it was a great result to finish 3rd in such a prestigious race. His own personal best on the track is 3:54.77.

1. Jordan McNamara 3:51.0...$5,000
2. Garrett Heath 3:51.0...$3,500
3. Paul Robinson 3:51.1...$2,500
4. Augustine Choge 3:51.2...$1,500
5. Ryan Hill 3:52.3...$1,000
6. Matt Centrowitz 3:52.4...$750
7. Dan Hulin 3:52.9...$500
8. Kyle Merber 3:53.5...$250
9. Lawi Lalang 3:53.9
10. Ciaran O’€™Lionaird 3:54.3
11. David Torrence 3:55.4
12. Will Leer 3:55.9
13. Andy Bayer 3:56.9
14. German Fernandez 3:57.5
15. Ben Blankenship 3:57.8
16. Michael Rutt 4:03.4

Mens race video...What a finish by Paul Robinson. Within a whisker of finishing first.

Irish Athletics News from the past week or so...

Just some athletics news from the last week or so....

Back on the 31st of May, Ciarán Ó Lionáird from Cork broke the 4 minute barrier for the mile again when he ran 3:57.99 at the Men's International Mile at the Prefontaine Classic in Oregon in the US. This was a seasons best for Ciarán and shows the progress he is making as he regains his fitness after an operation on his Achilles last Autumn. A post race interview can be seen on Ciarán's website.

Also on the 31st of May, Thomas Barr from Ferrybank AC in Waterford set a new Irish record in the 400m hurdles when finished in 49.61 seconds at the IFAM International Flanders Meet in Oordegem Belgium. The previous record of 49.73 was set by Tom McGuirk. The time that Thomas set was also inside the qualification time of 50.15 for the European Track and Field Championships that take place in Zurich in August.

On the 8th of June, Mark English from Donegal ran a seasons best of 1.46.22 in the 800m race at the FBK Games in Hengelo, Netherlands.This was inside the qualification time of 1.46.45 for the European Track and Field Championships.

On Thursday the 5th of June, Paul Robinson (St Coca’s AC) ran a season’s best of 3.36.45 to place 12th in the 1500m in a high class field at the IAAF Diamond League in Rome. This is the second time this season that he has dipped inside the European qualification standard of 3.39.30.

On Sunday the 8th of June, Luke Hickey of Leevale AC finished 3rd in the mens 20k at the Grand Prix of Race Walking meet in York, England. This race incorporated the Irish 20k championships so Luke also took the Irish national 20k title. His time was 1.28.10. Just behind him was Brendan Boyce from Donegal in 1:28:25. Both Luke and Brendan are part of Rob Heffernan's training group based in Cork.

20 km Men
1 Dane Bird-Smith 1992 U23 Australia 01:24:03
2 Quentin Rew 1984 Men New Zealand 01:27:54
3 Luke Hickey 1994 U23 Ireland 01:28:13
4 Brendan Boyce 1986 Men Ireland 01:28:25
5 Thomas Bosworth 1990 Men England 01:29:10
6 James Treanor 1993 U23 Ireland 01:30:32
7 Anders Hansson 1992 U23 Sweden 01:32:36
8 Joakim Saelen 1993 U23 Norway 01:37:11
9 Ian Richards 1948 M65 Steyning AC 01:49:27
10 Jonathon Hobbs 1993 U23 Ashford AC 01:53:17
11 Richard Wild 1970 M40 Manx Harriers 01:54:53
12 Steve Uttley 1957 M55 Ilford AC 01:57:57

On Monday the 9th of June, Rose-Anne Galligan finished 5th in the 800m race at the Memorial Josefa Odlozila in Prague. Her time time was 2m 03.95s. The qualifying standard for the European Championships is 2:01.3

5    Galligan Rose-Anne    IRL     2:03.95

Laura Crowe and Paul Robinson at Boston Mile Race...

As part of the build-up to the Boston Marathon, the Boston Athletic Association held an invitational mile for elite athletes last Saturday. In the womens race, Laura Crowe of An Ríocht AC finished in 5th place in a time of 4:46.1

1. Morgan Uceny (USA) 4:44.0
2. Heather Kampf (USA) 4:44.3
3. Brie Felnagle (USA) 4:44.8
4. Sara Hall (USA) 4:45.9
5. Laura Crowe (IRL) 4:46.1
6. Chelsea Reilly (USA) 4:46.6
7. Violah Lagat (KEN) 4:48.0

In the mens event, Paul Robinson of St.Coca's AC finished an impressive second place only to be out-kicked by the 2008 Olympic 1500m Silver medalist Nick Willis from New Zealand in what was a tactical race.

1. Nick Willis (NZL) 4:11.3
2. Paul Robinson (IRL) 4:12.0
3. Leo Manzano (USA) 4:13.3
4. Chris O’Hare (GBR) 4:13.6
5. De’Sean Turner (USA) 4:14.5
6. Rob Finnerty (USA) 4:15.2
7. Criag Miller (USA) 4:22.2

Irish athlete Paul Robinson breaks 4 minute mile again

Paul Robinson of St.Coca's AC was in action in Australia on Saturday the 22nd of February at the 2014 Perth Track Classic at the Western Australia Athletics Centre.                      

1 Mile Run Herb Elliott Men
  1 James Magut KEN 3:53.73M  1500M 3:38.4h
  2 Collis Birmingham VIC 3:54.92M  1500M 3:38.7h
  3 Paul Robinson IRL 3:59.56   1500M 3:41.4h
  4 Marc See 89 WA 4:08.92   1500M 3:52.1h
  5 Scott Tamblin 79 WA 4:11.92   1500M 3:54.6h
  6 Christopher Dale 91 WA 4:13.32   1500M 3:55.2h
  7 Brandon Hargreaves WA 4:14.85   1500M 3:57.0h
  8 John Newcomb WA 4:19.15   1500M 3:59.3h

His personal best for the mile is 3:56.18 which was set in Cork in July of 2013.

Irish athletes in action in Tasmania...1st Feb 2014

Three Irish athletes were in action at the Brigg Athletics Classic in Hobart, Tasmania on Saturday the 1st of February.

In the womens 1500m, Laura Crowe of An Riocht AC finished in third place in a time of 4:13.84. This is down a bit on her personal best of 4:11.49 which she set two weeks ago.

Women 1500 Metres Open
1 Melissa Duncan 90 VICTORIA 4:10.20...$750
2 Zoe Buckman 88 VIS 4:10.49...$350
3 Laura Crowe 87 IRELAND 4:13.84...$150
4 Madeline Heiner 87 NEW SOUTH WALES 4:14.74
5 Bridey Delaney 89 NEW SOUTH WALES 4:15.26
6 Brittany McGowan 91 QUEENSLAND 4:19.86
7 Kate Spencer 95 NEW SOUTH WALES 4:21.26
8 Jenny Blundell 94 NEW SOUTH WALES 4:21.88
9 Eliza Curnow 92 VIS 4:25.18
10 Coreena Cleland 89 VICTORIA 4:25.46
11 Paige Graham 89 SOUTH AUSTRALIA 4:26.37
12 Milly Clark 89 NEW SOUTH WALES 4:26.88
13 Gen LaCaze 89 QUEENSLAND 4:29.21
14 Julia Minucci 96 EASTERN SUBURBS 4:37.52
15 Madeliene Murphy 97 NORTH WEST AC 4:42.21
16 Tessa Johns 97 EASTERN SUBURBS 4:49.55

In the mens 5000m, Paul Robinson of St.Coca's AC set a new personal best time of  13:54.34
Men 5000 Metres Open
1 Ben St Lawrence 81 NSWIS 13:31.56...$750
2 Liam Adams 86 VICTORIA 13:45.35...$350
3 Brenton Rowe 87 AUSTRIA 13:47.96...$150
4 Malcolm Hicks 87 NEW ZEALAND 13:52.43
5 Paul Robinson 91 IRELAND 13:54.34
6 Olle Wallerang 85 SWEDEN 14:02.47
7 Mark Hanrahan 85 IRELAND 14:05.82
8 Harry Summers 90 NEW SOUTH WALES 14:09.44
9 Mikke Ekvall 89 SWEDEN 14:09.62
10 Morgan McDonald 96 NEW SOUTH WALES 14:15.78
11 Brady Threlfall 87 VICTORIA 14:19.55
12 Nick Wightman 85 VICTORIA 14:22.51
13 Toby Rayner 86 VICTORIA 14:23.54
14 Anthony Aloisio 92 VICTORIA 14:25.97
15 Jack Rayner 95 VICTORIA 14:31.43
16 James Connor 92 NEW SOUTH WALES 14:38.66
17 Hugh Williams 92 NEW SOUTH WALES 14:50.27
18 Josh Harris 90 VICTORIA 14:55.45
19 Jack Davies 95 VICTORIA 14:59.74

Irish athletics round up from the weekend...Sat 18th & Sun 19th Jan 2014

Sun 19th...At the Reykjavik International Games in Iceland, Rose-Anne Galligan of Ireland finished in second place in the womens indoor 800m in a time of 2:03:69. This was just outside the 2:03:00 needed to qualify for the World Indoor Track and Field Championships which takes place in Sopot Poland in March.

Rose-Anne has a personal best of 2:00.58 for 800m outdoors which she set in London last July.

800 m   
Athletes    Nationality    Date    Time   
1    Aníta Hinriksdóttir    ISL    13 Jan 96    2:01.81
2    Rose-Anne Galligan    IRL    9 Dec 87    2:03.69
3    Aline Krebs    GER    5 Sep 88    2:06.24

Video of the race HERE

Sun 19th...At the Munster Indoor Athletic Championships in Nenagh, Co.Tipperary, Sinead O'Connor of Leevale AC won the womens 3000m in a time of 10:18.10. James Grufferty of Leevale AC won the mens 3000m title in a time of 9:04.93.

The track results are HERE and the field results are HERE

Sat 18th Jan...At the Hunter Track Classic in Glendale, Australia, several Irish athletes were in action.

In the mens 3,000m, Paul Robinson of St.Coca's AC finished second while Mark Hanrahan of Leevale AC finished fourth.

Hunter Track Classic 2014 - 18/01/2014. Athletics Australia National Series. Hunter Sports Centre, Glendale                    
Men 3000 Metre Run
  1 Batt, Kevin               23 Nsw                    7:57.11       
  2 Robinson, Paul            23 Ireland                7:58.56       
  3 Wright, Joshua            23 Nswis                  8:05.13       
  4 Hanrahan, Mark            29 Ireland                8:05.73       
  5 Saunders, Philo           38 Act                    8:09.40       
  6 Hansen, James             21 Nsw                    8:11.38       
  7 Fawthorpe, Tom            24 Vic                    8:17.78       
  8 McDonald, Morgan          18 Nsw                    8:20.21       
  9 Hunter, Charlie           18 Nswis                  8:20.34       
 10 Connor, James             22 Nsw                    8:21.46       
 11 Cox, Matthew              24 Nsw                    8:22.42       
 12 Roeger, Michael           26 Sasi                   8:24.53       
 13 Gebreselassie, Dejen      21 Nsw                    8:39.20       
 14 Walters, Guy              20 Nsw                    8:40.49       
 15 Williams, Hugh            22 Nsw                    8:40.85  

In the womens 1500m, Laura Crowe of An Riocht AC finished in third spot in a time of 4:11.49, an improvement on her previous personal best of 4:12.06 which was set in Italy last September.
Women 1500 Metre Run
  1 McKnight, Kaila     28 Vis                    4:09.87 CGB         
  2 Duncan, Melissa     24 Vic                    4:09.98 CGB         
  3 Crowe, Laura        27 Ireland                4:11.49             
  4 Hetherington, Kell  25 Vis                    4:14.11             
  5 Laman, Anna         19 Nsw                    4:19.55             
  6 Wellings, Eliose    32 Nsw                    4:22.23             
  7 Delaney, Bridey     25 Nsw                    4:22.81             
  8 Powell, Courtney    19 Vic                    4:23.39             
  9 Powell, Laura       15 Vic                    4:24.99             
 10 Davies, Rose        15 Nsw                    4:31.52             
 11 Lord, Arianna       17 Nzl                    4:31.68             
 12 Augustine, Emily    17 Nsw                    4:33.17             
 13 Witchard, Melinda   28 Nsw                    4:36.42

Sat 18th Jan...At the guest mile at the Athlone indoor track, John Travers of Donore Harriers can close to the 4 minute mark.

Place Heat Posn Elite Mile Club Time
1 F 1 John Travers Donore Harriers AC / AIT AC 4:01.47
2 F 2 Danny Mooney Letterkenny AC 4:02.88
3 F 3 Joe Warne Doheny AC / DCU AC 4:04.06
4 F 4 John Coghlan MSB AC / DCU AC 4:10.65
5 F 5 Emmet Dunleavy Sligo AC 4:12.10
6 F 6 Richard Owens Sli Cualainn AC / UCD AC 4:13.97
7 F 7 Kevin Kelly St. Coca’s 4:26.46

Race video...

Sat 18th Jan...At the Scottish Open Athletics indoor meet in Glasgow, Kelly Proper of Ferrybank AC ran 24:01 in the 200m, not far outside her PB of 23:58. In the Long Jump, Kelly jumped 6.26 metres.

200m...2 24.01 Kelly Proper SEN    W Ferrybank/Ireland 23.58

LJ...1 6.26 Kelly Proper     SEN    W Ferrybank/Ireland 6.48

Irish athletes Paul Robinson, Mark Englsh and Laura Crowe in European races this weekend

On Friday evening the 6th of September, Paul Robinson finished 3rd in the mens 'B' 800m race at the Diamond League meeting in Brussels, Belgium. His time of 1:46.06 was only 0.2 seconds his personal best.

800m B race in Brussels
1 JOHNSON Brandon USA 1:45.45
2 CRONJE Johan RSA 1:45.85
3 ROBINSON Paul IRL 1:46.06
4 RIMMER Michael GBR 1:46.19
5 MANZANO Leonel USA 1:46.31
6 JAMAA Samir MAR 1:46.70
7 BENEDETTI Giordano ITA 1:48.15
8 VAN DEN BROECK Jan BEL 1:49.43
9 BALHAN Pierre BEL 1:50.30

On Sunday the 8th of September at the IAAF Challenge in Rieti, Italy, both Paul Robinson and Mark English were in action. In the mens 800m race, Mark English finished 4th in an impressive time of 1:44.89, just five one-hundredths of a second slower than his personal best.

Rieti IAAF World Challenge (ITA)...07-08.09.2013 - B
800m MEN :
1.    Musaeb Abdulrahman BALLA    (QAT    )    1:43.93 PB
2.    Edwin Kiplagat MELI    (KEN)     1:44.49    SB
3.    Brandon JOHNSON    (USA)     1:44.55   
4.    Mark ENGLISH    (IRL)     1:44.89   
5.    Tamás KAZI    (HUN)     1:45.37    PB
6.    Michael RIMMER    (GBR)     1:46.09   
7.    James EICHBERGER    (MEX)     1:47.07   

In the mens 1500m race, Paul Robinson set a new personal best time of 3:35.22. This was over 2 seconds faster than his previous best of 3:37.66 which was set in Belfast last June. That is a huge jump in terms of performance which moves Paul from 16th to 6th on the Irish all time list. Just to put it in perspective, Eamonn Coghlan is now 8th on that list.

1500m MEN :
1.    Silas KIPLAGAT    (KEN)     3:30.13    SB
2.    Johan CRONJE    (RSA)     3:31.93    PB
3.    Mohamed MOUSTAOUI    (MAR    )    3:32.08    SB
4.    Nick WILLIS    (NZL)     3:32.57    SB
5.    Augustine Kiprono CHOGE    (KEN)     3:33.21    SB
6.    David TORRENCE    (USA)     3:33.23    PB
7.    Krzysztof ŻEBROWSKI    (POL)     3:35.07    PB
8.    Paul ROBINSON    (IRL)     3:35.22    PB
9.    Zane ROBERTSON    (NZL)     3:35.45    PB
10.    Jonathan Kiplimo SAWE    (KEN)     3:40.83   
11.    Abdellah HAIDANE    (ITA)     3:41.96    SB
12.    Miles BATTY    (USA)     3:45.75   
13.    Leonel MANZANO    (USA)     3:48.83    

In the womens 800m race, Laura Crowe of An Ríocht AC set a new personal best time of 2:00.93, a big jump up from her previous best time of 2:02.63 which was set in Dublin in July. This new time now moves Laura from 8th to 4th on the Irish all time list.

  
800m WOMEN :
1.    Caster SEMENYA    (RSA)     1:58.92    SB
2.    Nelly JEPKOSGEI    (KEN)     1:59.40    PB
3.    Nataliya LUPU    (UKR)     1:59.52   
4.    Hannah ENGLAND    (GBR)     2:00.39    SB
5.    Zoe BUCKMAN    (AUS)     2:00.93    PB
6.    Laura CROWE    (IRL)     2:00.93    PB
7.    Anna ROSTKOWSKA    (POL)     2:01.34    SB
8.    Renata PLIŚ    (POL)     2:01.48    SB
9.    Mary KURIA    (KEN)     2:01.90   
10.    Lea WALLACE    (USA)     2:03.13     

With the track season now coming to a close, Both Laura Crowe and Rose-Ann Galligan have both come with a second of breaking the two minute barrier. Will 2014 be the year when the first Irish woman goes sub two??

Irish athletes in action in Padova, Italy...Sun 1st Sept 2013

At the Citta di Padova meet in Italy on Sunday, three Irish athletes were in action. Laura Crowe of An Ríocht AC set a new personal best time of 4m 12.06s in the womens 1500m when she finished in 4th place. Her previous best was 4:12.25 which she set back in June in Manchester.

In the mens 400m, Brian Gregan was 5th in 46.48 and Paul Robinson was 7th in 1:48.05 in the 800m

Padova (Italy), 1.9.2013 -27th Meeting Città di Padova-
1500m
1 Elena Korobkina (rus) 4:11.42;
2 Emily Infeld (usa) 4:11.51;
3 Margherita Magnani 4:11.56;
4 Laura Crowe (irl) 4:12.06;
5 Violah Lagat (ken) 4:12.94;
6 Lea Wallace (usa) 4:13.33;
7 Dureti Edao (eth) (96) 4:15.91;
8 Sonja Roman (slo) 4:17.45;
9 Beverly Ramos (pur) 4:19.82;

400m
1 LaShawn Merritt (usa) 45.18;
2 Rusheen McDonald (jam) 45.56;
3 Matteo Galvan 45.57;
4 Manteo Mitchell (usa) 45.96;
5 Brian Gregan (irl) 46.48; (PB 45.53)
6 Isalbet Juarez 46.90;
7 Michele Tricca 47.50;

800m
1 Giordano Benedetti (ita) 1:46.93;
2 Antoine Gakeme (bdi) 1:47.06;
3 Erik Sowinski (usa) 1:47.31;
4 Andrew Wheating (usa) 1:47.33;
5 Tamás Kazi (hun) 1:47.38;
6 Sammy Kirongo (ken) (94) 1:47.40;
7 Paul Robinson (irl) 1:48.05;  (PB 1:45.86)
8 David Torrance (usa) 1:48.20;

Paul Robinson of St.Coca's AC wins mens elite 1 km race in Austria

Last night (Mon 26th Aug 2013), Irish international Paul Robinson of St. Coca’s AC won the mens elite 1 km race at the Gugl Games in Linz, Austria.

After staying around 7th place for most of the race, Paul weaved his way through a field of runners in the final 100m to take the victory on the line. His time of 2:18.29 minutes is just outside David Matthews Irish Record of 2:17.59 minutes.

In the video below, Paul is in the light blue singlet in 5th place in lane 1 at 19 seconds. At the bell with 400 to go, he is in 6th place.

Paul Robinson just misses out on a podium finish at the European U23 Athletic Championships...

In the final of the 1500m at the European U23 Athletic Championships in Tampere, Finland, Ireland's Paul Robinson just finished outside of the medals in 4th place. In what was a very physical race, the St.Coca's AC athlete was passed in the last 50 metres to finish in 3:45.12.

Paul had run 3:44.73 in the qualifying race for the final and his PB over the distance is 3:37.91.