National titles at stake on the road and on the track
National Road and Track glory at stake
It’s set to be an open battle at the National Half Marathon Championships in Dublin while Ireland’s best clubs will battle for glory in Tullamore this Sunday (August 7th).
Runners will take to the roads as part of the Affidea Dublin Rock ‘N’ Roll Half Marathon in a bid for individual and team medals.
It is set to be an open affair with defending champions Lizzie Lee (Leevale) and Paul Pollock (Annadale Striders) in Rio de Janeiro for the Olympic Games – they will be representing Ireland in the marathon.
Catherine Whoriskey (City of Derry Spartans) could bag herself a national title with entrants for the national half exceeding well over 900 entrants. Whoriskey ran 80:13 in the mass participation race at the IAAF World Half Marathon in Cardiff and also finished fifth in the 5,000m at the GloHealth National Track and Field Championships in 17:06.79.
Norah Newcombe-Pieterse (Mayo AC), Emilia Dan (Dunboyne) F45, Ann Lennon (Mayo) F50 and Lucy Brennan (Sligo) F55 should also be among the top females on the road.
In the men’s race Gary Thornton (Galway City Harriers) is among the lead entrants – the Galway man holds an Olympic marathon qualifying time. He should be joined by Matt Bidwell M45 and look like having a good club team if they declare as a senior team.
Tomas Fitzpatrick (Tallaght) and Gary O’Hanlon (Clonliffe Harriers) will also have a tilt at individual glory while stalwarts Pauric McKinney (Inishowen) M50 and John Byrne (Mayo) will be aiming to have good runs.
GloHealth National League honours up for grabs
The GloHealth National League Final takes place on the same day in Tullamore and sees Clonliffe Harriers and DSD looking to defend their respective men’s and women’s team titles.
There will be plenty of competition in the midlands with Division 1 teams looking to get promoted to the top table of club athletics. The timetable is available on the fixtures section HERE
Meanwhile the Celtic Games International takes place in Swansea tomorrow (August 6th) and you can find the full team HERE