Top Middle Distance Athletes To Race In Mizuno Mile At Stormont - Athletics Ireland
General

Top Middle Distance Athletes To Race In Mizuno Mile At Stormont

7 August 2007

You're viewing an article from our old website. While we've made efforts to retain all news from past Athletics Ireland websites, this article was created based on the old site's capabilities, so there may be formatting or layout issues on this page.

Top GB and Irish International athletes will be competing tomorrow evening (Wednesday 8th) in the Mizuno Mile Challenge which takes place along the Prince of Wales Drive at Stormont (first event 7.15pm). This inaugural event is part of a UK 3 venue series and has substantial cash prizes of £750 awarded to each winning male and female athlete. Stormont Last month’s initial Mizuno Mile in Peterborough was won by GB international James Thie who will also be taking the start line in Belfast. The 29-year old Cardiff athlete is a sub 3.58 miler- he recorded 4.01.66 in an indoors meeting in New York earlier this year. Thie’s win in Peterborough plus a useful 3 minutes 43 seconds 1500m time in Watford five weeks ago shows that he will be in contention at Stormont for the top prize. However, the result will be difficult to predict as Thie’s opposition includes English International Matt Bowser and Republic of Ireland Olympian James Nolan. 24-year old Bowser from the Lincoln Wellington club is also an in form athlete as he made the 1500m final in the British Trials for the World Championships in Manchester 10 days ago. This was the same venue at which he also recorded a sub 3.45 PB over 1500m in June. Fastest athlete of the evening in terms of personal best is Nolan who ran a sub 3.55 mile time in Italy 4 years ago. The 30-year old UCD athlete has appeared in two Olympic Games and is renowned as a prodigious competitor on both the road and track. Nolan took the Irish 800m at the Odyssey in February in a sub 1.51 time. Five weeks ago he finished 5th over 1500m in the Cork City Sports and a few days later ran under 4 mins 2 secs for the Mile in Dublin. Fellow Irish International Martin Fagan will also be competing. US based Fagan took the Irish 5000m title 3 weeks ago and since then he recorded a useful 13.44 time over 5000m in Holland. Hot favourite for the £100 prize awarded to the winning Under 20 years old is Mitch Goose from Norwich. The 18-year old British International is currently on a high following victories in the English Schools Senior Cross Country in March plus the English Schools 3000m in Birmingham 3 weeks ago. Goose has particular reason to savour his recent success as some 18 months ago he suffered a potentially life threatening injury. A blood clot developed in his head after he was accidentally hit by a sprinter during training. A rather laid back Goose commented; “This ruined my track season last year as the blood clot prevented me from exercising as any exertion raised my blood pressure!” Local male interest in this event will centre around current NI 1500m champion Paul Pollock plus 800m specialists Michael Dyer of North Down, Mizuno-sponsored Patrick Hamilton of Annadale Striders, Gareth Hill of Ballymena and Andrew Gourley of Willowfield all of whom recorded respectable times in the recent NI Champs. Further information from: Clare McCoy: PRO NIAF- 02890 602707 / 07841804032 Brian Hill: Mob: 07815069697 • On the night the Open Race caters for everyone of all ages and abilities and provides the opportunity to see how fast they can run the classic distance of a mile. • Full information on the vent can be found on www.niathletics.org • Prizes for the elite race (Male & Female) are 1st- £750, 2nd- £500, 3rd- £250. Other monetary prizes will be given to the Top U20 and local runners as well as various spot prizes. • Athletes keen to compete in these races should contact Julian Moorhouse at jmoorhouse@mizuno.co.uk or call 07725 372082. Celtic ReceptionMayors Reception & heads of Delegation & Ulster Team (Copyright of Bob Given Photography) Ulster Team

You may also be interested in

Stay connected

Sign-up for the Athletics Ireland E-Zine with exclusive interviews, coaching news and offers!

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.