Ciara Mageean breaks her own 1500m indoor national record

Irish international Ciara Mageean has just broken her own national indoor 1500m record at the AIT International Grand Prix indoor meet in Athlone on Wed 13th Feb 2019.

Her latest time of 4m 06.78s was almost two seconds ahead of her old record which she set back in 2016. Not only is she the fastest Irish woman over the distance but she is the only one to break 4m10s!

Usually records on the track are broken by fractions of a second but to take almost two seconds off her old time just shows what great shape she is in.

New record...
1 4.06.78 NR Ciara Mageean AIT Int GP Athlone 13 Feb 2019

Previous table before today...
1 4:08.66 NR Ciara Mageean 168/56 Karlsruhe 6 Feb 2016
2 4:11.06+ NR Sinéad Evans NBG    New York NY 8 Jan 2000
3 4:11.07 Rose-Anne Galligan AIT GP Athlone 17 Feb 2016
4 4:11.27 Sonia O'Sullivan WC Lisboa 10 Mar 2001
5 4:11.31+ Roísín McGettigan Reebok Boston MA 7 Feb 2009
6 4:12.50 Geraldine Hendricken NC Belfast 16 Feb 2003
7 4:13.16 Claire Tarplee XL-Galan Stockholm 21 Feb 2013
8 4:13.96 Fionnuala McCormack NC Athlone 17 Feb 2013
9 4:14.2a Mary Purcell EC Sindelfingen 2 Mar 1980
10 4:14.54 Emma Mitchell Athlone 21 Feb 2018
11 4:14.63 Kelly Neely NC Belfast 7 Feb 2010
11 4:14.63 Kerry O'Flaherty Athlone 15 Feb 2017

Video below...

Top Irish sprinter Phil Healy from Cork sets new national record

Joan & Phil Healy

At a national league meeting in Athlone last Saturday, Phil Healy of Bandon AC ran 7.25 seconds in the Indoor 60m race to set a new Irish Under 23 record. Phil who is from Ballineen in West Cork is still only 21 years old and is already one of Ireland top female sprinters. Her time of 7.35 seconds moves her up into joint 4th on the all time Irish list.

Athlone. Women 60m. 6th Feb 2016
1 Phil Healy Bandon A.C. 7.35
2 Joan Healy Bandon A.C. 7.41
3 Sarah Kate Lacey Kilkenny City Harriers A.C. 7.85
4 Louise Kiernan Fingallians 7.97
5 Margaret Caldbeck Kilkenny City Harriers A.C. 8.06
6 Cara Brennan Donore Harriers  8.16
7 Carol Kearney Lucan Harriers A.C. 9.22
8 Edith Coakley Lucan Harriers A.C. 9.23

60m Irish Women Indoors All time list
1 7.30 Anna Boyle Birmingham    3 Mar 2007
2 7.32 Ailis McSweeney Belfast 20 Feb 2011
2 7.32 Amy Foster    Athlone    16 Feb 2014
4 7.35 Claire Brady     Belfast    7 Feb 2010
4 7.35 Phil Healy Athlone 6 Feb 2016
6 7.36 Emily Maher Belfast 19 Feb 2006
7 7.38 Michelle Carroll Birmingham 27 Feb 1993
7 7.38 Kelly Proper     Athlone    22 Feb 2015
9 7.41 Joan Healy    Athlone    6 Feb 2016
10 7.43 Sarah Reilly Birmingham 12 Jan 2002

Phil's sister Joan Healy also recorded a personal best of 7.47 seconds in the same race and moves up into 9th on the all time Irish indoor list.

On the Sunday, the Healy sisters were in action again in the AAI Indoor Games. In the 60m, both were fractionally slower with only Amy Foster managing to post a faster time on the day.
 
60m SEN  Women  Time :11:42 ..Athlone 7th Feb 2016
1 FOSTER Amy                   7.38           
2 HEALY Phil                   7.43           
3 HEALY Joan                   7.47           
4 NEVILLE Ciara                7.56           
5 MURRAY  Sarah                7.67           
6 LAVIN Sarah                  7.68           
7 MCCARTHY Sarah               7.71           
8 FREEMAN Ara                  7.85   

Phil was back in action in the afternoon and won the 200m race in a new personal best time of 23.74 seconds. That's two PB's in two days! That performance now moves her up into 4th on the Irish 200m Indoor all time list.

200m  All time Irish indoor list
1 23.17 Ciara Sheehy Birmingham 2 Mar 2003
2 23.27 Kelly Proper Athlone    22 Feb 2015
3 23.30 Sarah Reilly Birmingham    13 Jan 2002
4 23.74    Phil Healy Athlone    7 Feb 2016
5 23.82     Steffi Creaner    Athlone    6 Feb 2015

The results of both competitions can be found on the Leevale AC website... National League on Sat HERE ..... AAI Games on Sun HERE

Ciara Mageean sets new Irish 1500m record in Germany

One of Ireland's rising track stars Ciara Mageean broke the Irish Indoor 1500m record in a race in Karlsruhe, Germany last Saturday the 6th of Feb 2016.

Ciara who is aged just 23 years old finished third in the race in a time of 4m 08.66 seconds, over two seconds ahead of the previous 16 year old record of 4m 11.06s which was set by Sinéad Evans in New York in Jan 2000.

After showing some great promise a few years back, she has been plagued in recent years by injuries. Coached by former Olympic marathon runner Jerry Kiernan, she is now back to showing her true form with her new PB an improvement by a massive 9 seconds! Her time now qualifies her for the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Oregon in March and already has a qualifying time for the Olympics in Rio.

1500 m Indoors...Times for the Top 10 Irish Women
1 4:08.66    NR Ciara Mageean    Karlsruhe    6 Feb 2016
2 4:11.06    NR Sinéad Evans    New York NY    8 Jan 2000
3 4:11.27    Sonia O'Sullivan    Lisboa    10 Mar 2001
4 4:11.31    Roísín McGettigan    Reebok    Boston MA 7 Feb 2009
5 4:12.50     Geraldine Hendricken Belfast 16 Feb 2003
6 4:12.72     Rose-Anne Galligan Valencia 27 Feb 2010
7 4:13.16     Claire Tarplee Stockholm    21 Feb 2013
8 4:13.96     Fionnuala McCormack Athlone 17 Feb 2013
9 4:14.2     Mary Purcell Sindelfingen     2 Mar 1980
10 4:14.63   Kelly Neely Belfast     7 Feb 2010

The video clip below shows Ciara in the 1500m race in Karlruhe.....she is on the inside in the red shorts...


As you can see, she gets a bit boxed in the final stages but comes through strongly in the end to take third.

Phil Healy of Bandon AC opens indoor season with win in Manchester

Top Irish sprinter Phil Healy of Bandon AC opened her indoor season last weekend with a win in the womens 60m race in Manchester. This was part of the Sale Harriers Open Series in Manchester held on Sunday the 4th of January.

What was even more impressive was Phil's winning time of 7.46 seconds, just a mere ten one-hundredths of a second off her PB of 7.36 and this was her first race of the season.

60 SX 1.12
Pos Perf Name  AG Age Club    SB    PB   
1 7.46 Phil Healy SB U23 W  Bandon/Ireland 7.46 7.43   
2 7.61 Rebekah Wilson SEN W    23 Sale Harriers Manchester    7.60 7.50   
3 7.71 Megan Hoult PB SEN    W 23 Kingston upon Hull/Hull Uni 7.71    7.71   
4 7.80 Alexandra Russell SB SEN W 24 Wigan & District/Liverpool John Moores Uni 7.80    7.67   
5 8.04 Abigayle Fitzpatrick  SB U23 W 21 Sale Harriers Manchester/Liverpool John Moores Uni 8.04    7.84

2nd race of the day...
60 SX 2.5
Pos Perf Name AG     Age Club    SB    PB    
1 7.47 i Phil Healy U23 W Bandon/Ireland 7.46 7.43

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...

Phil Healy of Bandon AC sets new Irish 60m indoor U23 record

The Irish University Athletics Indoor Championships were held in the AIT International Arena, Athlone on Friday, 7th of February. In the womens 60m, Phil Healy of Bandon AC and representing UCC won the race in a time of 7.36 seconds. This was a new Irish U23 record breaking the old mark of 7.37 held by Ailis McSweeney of Leevale AC. This time also moves Phil to equal 5th place on the Irish senior all time lists over 60m.

Looking back at the Spring of 2013, Phil Healy's personal best was 7.58 seconds and she was 19th fastest on the Irish all time list. Back in early January of this year, she ran 7.46 seconds and moved up into 10th fastest. In mid-January, she ran 7.43 seconds in Cardiff and moved up to joint 7th. This latest time of 7.36 now moves her up into joint 5th. As you can see from the times, improvements in such a short race are often measured in a few one-hundreds of a second.


The current Irish indoor 60m record is 7.30 seconds which was set by Anna Boyle in 2007. It's worth pointing out that the four women faster than Phil Healy ran their times when they were aged 23-28. Phil Healy is still only 19 years old.

The full results of the IUAA Indoor Championships can be seen HERE

Ethiopian Genzebe Dibaba breaks second world record in 5 days...

Just five days after breaking the world indoor 1500m record, Ethiopia’s Genzebe Dibaba smashed the world indoor 3000m record at Stockholm’s XL Galan, an IAAF Indoor Permit meeting, with a stunning 8:16.60 run on Thursday (6th Feb). This was more than 7 seconds faster than the 8:23.72 mark set by Meseret Defar in 2007.

Genzebe Dibaba from Ethiopia runs new indoor 1500m world record

At the IAAF Indoor 1500m race in Karlsruhe, Germany over the weekend, Genzebe Dibaba from Ethiopia set a new world record by running 3m 55.17s. This was a huge three seconds faster than the old record of 3m 58.28s set by Yelena Soboleva of Russia back in 2006.

Here are the top 10 indoor times...
1  3:55.17  Genzebe Dibaba     ETH  Karlsruhe       01.02.2014
2  3:58.28  Yelena Soboleva    RUS  Moskva          18.02.2006
3  3:58.40  Abebe Arigawi      SWE  Stockholm       21.02.2013
4  3:59.75  Gelete Burka       ETH  Valencia        09.03.2008
5  3:59.79  Maryam Yusuf Jamal BRN  Valencia        09.03.2008
6  3:59.98  Regina Jacobs      USA  Boston          01.02.2003
7  4:00.13  Genzebe Dibaba     ETH  Karlsruhe       12.02.2012
8  4:00.2+  Mary Slaney        USA  Houston         16.02.1980
9  4:00.27+ Doina Melinte      ROU  East Rutherford 09.02.1990
10 4:00.72  Natalya Gorelova   RUS  Moskva          27.02.2003

The splits below show even splits for the new world record in italics compared to what Dibaba actually ran. As you can see, she was about 4 seconds behind at 800m/1000m before putting in a very fast second half.
200m    31    31 / 400m    1:02     1:03 / 600m    1:35     1:34 / 800m    2:09    2:05 / 1000m    2:41    2:37 / 1200m    3:10    3:08 / 1400m    3:40     3:39 / Finish    3:55     3:55

Video in German...

Phil Healy of Bandon AC wins 60m race in Cardiff

Just one week ago, Phil Healy of Bandon AC won a 60m indoor race in Athlone in 7.46 seconds, the 10th fastest ever by an Irish woman. Yesterday, Phil Healy won the womens 60m final at the Cardiff Met Uni Grad Prix Wales in a time of 7.43 seconds, an improvement of three one hundredths of a second. Although it's a small improvement, it now moves Phil from 10th to joint 7th on the Irish all time list.

T012-Female 60m Final
Final
Pos Bib Athlete Club Perf
1 58 Phil HEALY (SENM) Bandon AC (G-P) 7.43
2 84 Mica MOORE (SENW) Cardiff AAC (G-P) 7.51
3 70 Hannah THOMAS (SENW) Wrexham AAC (G-P) 7.60
4 80 Rebecca CHAPMAN (SENW) Cardiff Met (G-P) 7.63
5 54 Joey DUCK (SENW) Marshall Milton Keynes AC (G-P) 7.66
6 33 Charlotte WINGFIELD (SENW) enfield & Harringey ac (G-P) 7.70
7 55 Jennifer BATTEN (SENW) University of birmingham (G-P) 7.76
8 89 Claire WILLIAMS (SENW) Swansea University (G-P) 7.85

Phil Healy of Bandon AC wins 60m indoor race in Athlone...

At the new national indoor league in the AIT International Arena in Athlone today, Phil Healy of Bandon AC in Cork won the womens 60m race in a time of 7.46 seconds. Phil's previous best time was 7.58 seconds and she now moves to 10th overall on the all time Irish indoor list.

Phil Healy #16 and Sarah Lavin #72 in the womens 60m

Athletics Ireland said this about Phil Healy's performance..."The performance of the day in the individual competition came from Phil Healy (Bandon AC). European junior 100m fourth placer Healy stormed down the track to win the 60m in a time of 7.46. The time moves Healy to tenth on the Irish all time indoor 60m lists, a very impressive performance in her first year in the senior ranks."

In the same race, European junior silver medalist Sarah Lavin of Emerald AC in Limerick finished in second place in a time of 7.61, just five one hundredths of a second slower than her personal best of 7.56. Sarah Lavin had earlier run 8.40 seconds to win in the 60m hurdles event.

Women's 60 m
 1 Phil Healy Bandon A.C. 7.46
 2 Sarah Lavin U.C.D. A.C. 7.61
 3 Catherine McManus Dublin City Harriers A.C. 7.66

Women's 60 m Hurdles
1 Sarah Lavin U.C.D. A.C. 8.4
2 Laura Frey Lagan Valley A.C. 9.98
3 Karen Dunne Bohermeen A.C. 12.22

The full results can be seen HERE 

Also in action over the weekend was Kelly Proper of Ferrybank AC in the English Athletics Combined Events Championships in Sheffield. In the womens 60m hurdles, Kelly finished in 3rd place in a time of 8.68 seconds. That is the joint 9th fastest time on the Irish indoor all time list.

Senior Women's 60m Hurdles - Race 4
1 Karla Drew City of Sheffield AC 8.36
2 Marilyn Nwawulor Harrow AC 8.47
3 Kelly Proper Ireland 8.68
4 Jade Surman Birchfield Harriers 8.69 

Woman in US sets a new indoor Marathon record of 2:57

In Minnesota in the US recently, Nichole Porath set a new world record for a Marathon indoors. Running 150 laps of a 282 metre indoor track, she covered the 16.2 miles in a time of 2h 57m 34s. This was the first time any woman has actually run a sub 3 hour Marathon indoors. In fact, she was almost six minutes faster than then first male runner in the race. The previous record was 3h 08m 53s which was set in 2012 by Melissa Gilette in Indiana, USA.

The course wasn't without it's problems though. Between the runners reversing direction every 30 minutes and having to run four very tight corners per lap, blisters were a real problem.

As many of you will note however, the time of 2:57 is still a long, long way short of Paula Radcliffe's outdoor Marathon record of 2:15. The reason?.....Nichole Porath probably sums it up best when she said..."I must take the time for a brief aside to mention that I know this is an obsure world record, and I in NO way think that I am a world class runner. I am just merely the fastest crazy woman to run an indoor marathon!"

There you go, a fast crazy woman........but you just know it's only a matter of time before the record is broken again.

Perath's best time outdoors is 2:44 which she did in the US Olympic trial in January of 2012.

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.

Fionnuala Britton sets new PB time for 3,000m indoors in Germany

Last Saturday (2nd Feb), the European Cross Country Champion Fionnuala Britton set a new personal best time of 8:55.22 at a 3,000m indoor race in Karlsruhe, Germany. Even though she finished in third place, her time was nearly 5 seconds faster than the 9:00 minutes needed to qualify for selection for the Irish team to go to the European Indoor Track and Field Championships in Gothenbourg, Sweden in March.

The race was won by the Olympic 5,000m Champion Meseret Defar of Ethiopia in a time of 8.35.28.

Results - Women's 3000m
Rank    Athlete    Nation    Result    React.time
1    Defar, Meseret    ETH    WL, MR 8:35:28
2    HARRER, Corinna    GER    EL 8:51:04
3    BRITTON, Fionnuala    IRL    PB 8:55:22
4    ABDULLAYEVA, Layes    AZE      8:57:17
5    DIMA Gete,    ETH      9:02:48
6    GONZALEZ, Paula    ESP      9:06:02
7    BEKELE, Mekdes    ETH      9:06.99
8    URBINA, Teresa    ESP    PB 9:09:50

Prior to this, Fionnuala's best time for the 3,000m indoors was 9:00.7 which was set back in February 2011. Her latest time makes her the third fastest Irish woman for this distance indoors.

3000m...Irish Indoor Records...Sub 9 mins
1 8.43.74 Mary Cullen 82 1 Boston 13.02.09
2 8.44.37  Sonia O'Sullivan 69 7 Lisbon 10.03.01
3 8.55.22  Fionnuala Britton 84 3 Karlsruhe 02.02.13
4 8.56.48  Maria McCambridge 75 1 Belfast 14.02.04
5 8.58.33  Sinead Delahunty 71 2 Atlanta 04.03.95
6 8.58.55  Marie Davenport 75 1 Boston 14.02.04
7 8.58.94 Deirdre Byrne 82 10 Doha 12.03.10