Irish Life Health National Track and Field timetable released for August 22nd & 23rd

Top class national athletics action returns with a bang this weekend with the publication of the 2020 Irish Life Health National Track and Field Championships schedule for August 22nd and 23rd.

The 2020 Irish Life Health National Senior and U23 Track and Field Championships will take place over two successive weekends at the Morton Stadium in Santry across nine sessions - three on August 22, and two each on August 23rd ,29th, and 30th. A detailed schedule for August 29th and 30th will be announced in the coming days.

A Sport Ireland expert group informed Athletics Ireland that the championships may proceed behind closed doors with strict health and safety measures in place.

The action gets underway at 10.30am on Saturday August 22nd and Athletics Ireland CEO Hamish Adams is looking forward to an exciting championships which has seen a record entry: “The senior championships are the highlight of our track and field year and it’s certainly been a priority to get them across the line. The demand from athletes for competition is huge, and with a record entry we owe it to them to put on a top-class event and do everything we can to promote the sport.”

Adams paid tribute to the work of Athletics Ireland’s competition committee, particularly chairperson John Cronin, the incoming AAI president. “There has been a huge amount of work that has gone on behind the scenes and we owe much thanks to all those involved in getting us to this stage.”

“A special word of thanks to our sponsor Irish Life Health for their continued and unwavering support of our championships. I look forward to what promises to be another great weekend of athletics and best of luck to all those competing”, said Adams.

A number of Ireland’s top athletes will be returning to the Morton Stadium over the course of these championships including Michelle Finn and Brendan Boyce who would likely have been only recently returned from Tokyo 2020 had the Olympics Games not been postponed until 2021 because of the Covid-19 pandemic. These athletes, like the 727 other competitors entered will be eager to make their own bit of history at the 148th edition of these championships.

Liz Rowen, Head of Marketing at Irish Life Health is looking forward to seeing the best Irish athletes competing in what is the longest unbroken run of any athletics championships anywhere in the world.

“We’re delighted to sponsor this historic National Track and Field Championships and are thankful that all the hard work behind the scenes has paid off, allowing athletes who have trained all year the chance to compete. The schedule will be new to us all this year, however we have no doubt that the performances from our athletes will excite us more than ever. The team at Irish Life Health would like to wish all athletes and their coaches the best of luck, and say a big thank you to officials and volunteers who have made these championships possible.”

Irish Life Health and Athletics Ireland had recently teamed up to promote a national Mile Challenge to the 650,000 new and regular runners who had been keeping active over the last few months. It is fitting that the Mile Challenge will conclude on the Sunday August 23rd as some of our brightest athletics stars take to the track.

This year’s Irish Life Health National Track and Field Championships will have a strict limit of 200 people per session, and there will be no coaches, spectators or media allowed at any of the sessions, all of which will be streamed live on the Athletics Ireland Youtube Channel. RTÉ will be broadcasting live from Morton Stadium from 5.30pm on Sunday August 23rd.

Fixtures

22nd/23rd August-Irish Life Health National Senior Championships (incorporating National U23 Championships) - Morton Stadium
29th/30th August-Irish Life Health National Senior Championships (incorporating National U23 Championships) - Morton Stadium

Notes

• Irish Life Health National Senior and U23 Championships timetable: Click HERE
• Championship preview to follow tomorrow
• Further event information available: https://www.athleticsireland.ie/news/national-championships-update
• A live stream will be available daily on the Athletics Ireland Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/AthleticsIRL/
• RTÉ 2 Coverage: Sunday August 23rd from 5.30pm – 7.55pm.
• Irish Life Health Mile Challenge details available: https://www.irishlifehealth.ie/campaigns/athletics-ireland/mile-challenge