Marathon road to Rio heats up
The marathon road to Rio is heating up with less than six months to the Olympic Games. With the IAAF relaxing the marathon standards to 2:19:00 for men and 2:45:00 for women – Ireland now has 12 athletes inside the respective qualifying times.
Most recently at the Seville marathon on February 21st, Mick Clohisey (Raheny Shamrock), Gladys Ganiel (North Belfast Harriers) and Barbara Sanchez (Clonliffe Harriers) all went under the standard.
Clohisey’s ninth place finish in 2:15:11 was a new personal best on put him into second on the men’s list on time while Ganiels’ 2:38:53 and Sanchez’s 2:39:49 sees them fourth and fifth on the list respectively.
The marathon standards have increased significantly during the last number of years in no small part due to the Dublin marathon mission and coaches such as Dick Hooper, Donie Walsh, Andrew Hobdell and Jerry Kiernan to name but a few. This has also coincided with more distance running programmes and initiatives set up by Athletics Ireland during Chris Jones’ tenure and now being progressed really well by Steven Macklin and Paul McNamara.
Kevin Seaward (St Malachy’s) and Lizzie Lee (Leevale) lead the way as the clock ticks towards the selection deadline on May 23.
High Performance Director Kevin Ankrom is encouraged by the rising standards in distance running and says “it is still all to play for come selection time.” “It’s been great to see the improvements on the road running scene in recent years”, he added. “It’s also been encouraging that initiatives to improve the standards are bearing fruit while the coaches have been playing a massive role in producing really positive results”, Ankrom said.
The marathon selections for the 2016 Olympic Games will be made on the 23rd of May when the Athletics Ireland Selection Panel sits down to select the three men and three women who will don the Irish singlet in Rio de Janeiro. Ankrom says “in general terms within the overall Olympic Games selection policy and across all selected events, Athletics Ireland will nominate athletes with the best results who have met with the Olympic Games entry standards. Specifically for the marathon events this means from the pool of athletes who have achieved the marathon entry standards, Athletics Ireland will select three(3) male/female athletes with the fastest times. If there are more than three athletes that have achieved the marathon entry standard the fastest times will be considered first although other considerations may be used by the Selection Panel to narrow the selections down to the best three athletes - other factors that may be considered are; the marathon course and/or the time of the year which an athlete achieved the entry standard.”
Many athletes have achieved the marathon qualifying standard early during the qualification period allowing them more than ten months to fully prepare for the Rio Olympic Games although with places still to play for, Cathal Dennehy profiled a number of the main contenders in the last issue of the Irish Runner magazine:
Kevin Seaward
Age: 30
Qualifying time: 2:14:52, Berlin, September 2015
As the fastest of the Irish contenders it appears, barring injury or a severe loss of form, that Seaward will be selected for the Olympic Games. The Loughborough-based school teacher was the big surprise of the Irish contingent at the Berlin Marathon last September, powering through the field over the second half of the race to take almost four minutes off his personal best and run 2:14:52. The Belfast man is entered in April’s London Marathon, but his appearance there, if it happens, will likely to be of pacing assistance to training partner Paul Pollock.
Mick Clohisey
Age: 30
Qualifying time: 2:15:11, Berlin, September 2015
A resilient performer over a range of distances and terrain, Clohisey appeared to have found his event when he recorded a two-minute personal best at the Berlin marathon last year. Having ousted Paul Pollock by just three seconds in that race, Clohisey further improved to 2:15:11 at the Seville marathon
Sergiu Ciobanu
Age: 32
Qualifying time: 2:15:14, Berlin, September 2015
Having secured the second-fastest time of the Irish athletes in Berlin, Ciobanu has decided to opt out of a spring marathon, preferring to hedge his bets that his performance will be good enough to secure qualification. The Cahir-based athlete came to Ireland from Moldova eight years ago and, having attained Irish citizenship last year, made his debut in the green singlet at the European Cross Country in December. As he begins a long build-up towards the Olympic Games, he now hopes to wear that Irish vest on the grandest stage of all.
Paul Pollock
Age: 29
Qualifying time: 2:15:38, Berlin, September 2015
Pollock has the best championship marathon performance to his name – having finished 21st at the IAAF World Championships in 2013 – but that will count for little at selection time if he cannot improve his personal best when he tackles the London Marathon in April. In Berlin, Pollock entered the race off an interrupted preparation having torn a muscle in the build-up, and lost a home-straight duel with Mick Clohisey for the position of third-fastest Irish qualifier. The result of that battle may well prove decisive in the race for Rio.
Gary Thornton
Age: 36
Qualifying time: 2:17:19, Berlin, September 2015
Having stormed through the first half of the Berlin Marathon in 67:37 last September, Thornton looked well on his way to securing an Olympic berth, but the wheels came off over the final five miles and he struggled home to a personal best of 2:17:19. The 36-year-old showed signs in that race that a sub-2:16 run is possible, but the harsh reality is even that may not be enough to secure Olympic selection.
Thomas Frazer
Age: 34
Qualifying time: 2:17:45, Rotterdam, April 2015
Few in contention are as experienced at the marathon as Frazier, who first raced the distance in Chicago back in 2006. Since then, the Belfast man has traversed the globe to compete in the world’s most renowned marathons, from Fukuoka in Japan to the European Championships in Zurich in 2014, where he finished 35th. His Olympic qualifier came at the Rotterdam Marathon last spring, where he equalled his personal best of 2:17:45.
Sean Hehir
Age: 31
Qualifying time: 2:17:48, Berlin, September 2015
A winner of the Dublin Marathon in 2013, Hehir returned to the race last year to finish ninth overall and take victory in the national championship. However in Berlin the Clare man found himself unable to match pace with the leading Irishmen over the second half of the race, and he will now need to take at least two minutes off his personal best in a spring marathon to put himself in contention for Olympic selection.
Eoin Callaghan
Age: 29
Qualifying time: 2:18:45, Manchester, April 2015
One of the surprise packages in contention for Olympic selection, Callaghan ran his qualifying time when finishing second at the Manchester Marathon last year. Having drifted away from the sport for several years in his early 20s, it was a resounding return to form for the Meath man, who took a whopping six minutes off his personal best.
Women
Lizzie Lee
Age: 35
Qualifying time: 2:32:51, Berlin, September 2015
In the weeks leading up to the Berlin Marathon last September, Lee’s coach Donie Walsh predicted that she would run under 2:33, a prophecy that was blissfully fulfilled by the Leevale athlete on a calm, sunny day in the German capital. Barring severe injury, Lee will be selected for the Olympic team in May, and though she is never one to tempt fate, the 35-year-old Leesider is understandably training with the goal of the Olympic marathon in mind.
Fionnuala McCormack
Age: 31
Qualifying time: 2:33:15, Chicago, October 2015
For many years, Irish athletics fans anticipated Fionnuala McCormack’s transition to the marathon, and when she finished 10th in her debut at the European Championships in 2014, the future looked bright. However since then her marathon career has yet to take off, at least not to the heights her ability would suggest. McCormack secured Olympic qualification at the Chicago Marathon last October, and since then, she’s impressed on a return to her cross country roots, finishing fourth at the European Championships in December. As she prepares for her third Olympics, she’ll be hoping to transfer that good form back to the roads.
Breege Connolly
Age: 38
Qualifying time: 2:37:29, London, April 2015
A lesson in the value of persistence, Connolly has gradually carved chunks off her marathon times over the last five years, and when she clocked 2:37:29 at the London Marathon last year, the North Belfast Harrier put herself in line for Olympic selection. She has raced sparingly since then, but if she can maintain her place as the third fastest Irishwoman come the selection deadline in May, she will likely earn a spot at her first Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
Barbara Sanchez
Age: 34
Qualifying time: 2:42:43, Seville, February 2015
Sanchez is the most experienced of the Irish contingent at the marathon, having run the Dublin Marathon as far back as 2006. Since then, she has lowered her personal best to 2:37:14 – run at the Seville Marathon in 2013 – and clocked her Olympic qualifying time in that same city last year. Though her time is well inside the qualifying mark of 2:45:00, Sanchez will have to run several minutes quicker in a spring marathon to hold a chance at an Olympic place.
Maria McCambridge
Age: 40
There would be few more deserving competitors of an Olympic marathon berth than Maria McCambridge, who lost out on the London Games in 2012 at the hands of selectors, despite having run 2:36:37 earlier that year. Currently only four athletes – Lee, McCormack, Connolly and Sanchez – have run inside the women’s standard of 2:45, but McCambridge is expected to stake her claim for selection in the coming months, with Connolly’s 2:37:29 appearing an obvious – and realistic – target.
Caitriona Jennings
Age: 35
A former international triathlete, Jennings made a successful transition to the marathon in time for the 2012 Olympic Games, qualifying with a 2:36:17 run at the Rotterdam Marathon four months beforehand. However the race itself proved a nightmare experience, as Jennings trailed home last, crippled by injury. Shortly before Christmas, she made a return to international racing when finishing fourth in the World 50km Championships, and is now expected to target the Rotterdam Marathon on April 10.
