Cork City Sports - Atletics Leinster Steeplechase Invitation - Mizuno Mile - Donovan attempts Mizen to Malin Record Upshaw to challenge Kluft in Cork. Meet record holder for the long jump in Cork, U.S. champion Grace Upshaw, returns to the Mardyke for the 57th Cork City Sports on July 12 for an eagerly awaited head-to-head clash with Carolina Kluft, undefeated world champion for the heptathlon on three occasions. Upshaw, last year's winner, set her meeting record figures of 6.74m in Cork in 2003 and showed her current good form with a 6.82m victory at Chula Vista (USA) last weekend. Kluft meantime won at Malmo, a week ago with an encouraging 6.77m jump. Japan's leading jumper, Kumiko Ikeda and another strong American contender, Rose Richmond will provide stern opposition while Kelly Proper from Waterford will have her eyes on Terri Horgan's Irish record of 6.48m which stands since 1992 Atletics Leinster Steeplechase Invitation CHANGE OF DATE : Due to the poor weather forecast for Sunday the Junior steeplechase planned for the Leinster Championships this weekend has been rescheduled for Saturday - June 21st. Junior Men’s 3000m Steeplechase 12-30pm ( approx. ) Junior Women’s 3000m Steeplechase 1-00pm ( approx. ) The men’s event will be scheduled after the Leinster U13 - U19 Hurdles events and the Women’s event will run after the 3000m events. See Leinster programme on www.athleticsleinster.com The age group steeplechase races scheduled for Sunday will go ahead according to the programme. All are welcome. THE MAGIC NUMBER FOUR It was in 1954 that the four minute mile barrier was broken for the first time, and organisers of the Mizuno Mile series are hoping that the ‘miracle mile’ will feature as part of this year’s series. The Mizuno Mile Series, now in its second year, comprises of three events where runners – professional and fun-runners – are invited to compete and try and break the four minute mile. The series sees a road race in Horwich on June 22, a track race in Peterborough on August 13 and a downhill race at the Stormont Estate on August 27. There are also discussions for an uphill race and also a beach race, but dates and venues are yet to be confirmed. Julian Moorhouse, race co-ordinator for Mizuno, says: “We launched the Mizuno Mile in 2007, and it was so successful that we are repeating the series this year. “We had some great times last year – we had many competitors who were close to breaking the four minute mile, but very few people actually did. We have male and female pacemakers, and some very fast courses, so we are really hoping to achieve a ‘sub four’ on all of our courses.” While the events in Horwich and Peterborough are invitation only, the downhill mile in Stormont – which takes place on the Prince of Wales Drive and is being organised by Athletics Northern Ireland – is open to the general public as well. Online entries are now open, and competitors can also enter on the night. Peterborough – which is being called the Mizuno Miles’ Festival - will include race categories for the under 17s, under 20s, seniors and masters. There are cash prizes for the winners of each event, as well as a number of spot prizes. Last year, Cardiff’s Jamie Thie won the Peterborough event, running an impressive 4 minutes 01.19 – the fastest mile the city has even seen. Lincoln’s Matt Bowser smashed the four minute mile barrier at Stormont last year, with an impressive 3 minutes 54. Roger Banister was a 25-year-old British medical student when he became the first man to run a mile in less than four minutes. His time was 3 minutes 59.4 seconds Early registration is recommended. Entry is free and enquiries should be sent to mizunomileseries@mizuno.co.uk or call 07725 372082. For Stormont, visit www.niathletics.org Donovan attempts Mizen to Malin Record Richard Donovan, a Galway international ultra runner, begins a record-breaking attempt from Mizen Head to Malin Head next week. The distance between Ireland's most southerly and northerly points is 365 miles and Richard is planning to cover the route in a mere 4 ½ days. Starting on Monday June 23rd at 6am, he intends to cover more than 80 miles per day, or 3 full marathons, in order to finish by Friday 27th June at 7pm. In doing so, Richard would run the equivalent of 14 marathons during the four-and-a-half-day period. He will run through all four provinces and eleven counties en route: - Cork, Limerick, Tipperary, Offaly, Westmeath, Longford, Leitrim, Fermanagh, Tyrone, Derry, and Donegal. County Cork will account for 120 miles of the epic run. Although Richard already holds the Malin to Mizen record, British ultrarunner Richard Brown holds the record for the Mizen to Malin direction at 4 days 12 hours. This record has stood since April 1-5, 1988. Donovan's attempt, called 'Run the Country', is in aid of Camp Claddagh, an outreach group of Chernobyl Children's Project. The goal of Run the Country is to raise €45,000 to help Camp Claddagh bring 50 children to Galway in July for recuperation from the contaminated zones of Belarus. To this end, €25,000 has already been raised via Run the Country. Richard is dedicating the record attempt to his sister-in-law, Fiona Carrick, who died of cancer 10 weeks ago. Richard's progress on Run the Country can be followed on a dedicated website - www.runthecountry.ie. Throughout the week of his run, the site will have frequent video and text updates and people can donate directly to the Charity online. A trip to Ireland is a life-changing event for the children from Chernobyl-effected regions, not only improving the quality of their lives but also adding years to them. "Doctors have proven that a month here in Ireland, with good diet, clean air and water can add up to two years life expectancy to a child", explains Shane Lennon of Camp Claddagh. "We hope that the public will get behind the immense physical challenge of the Mizen to Malin run and help these children in the process." Every single cent contributed by the public will go directly to helping the children as Camp Claddagh is a voluntary organisation and the children will stay with volunteer host families. Run the Country is sponsored by the Kings Head Pub and Malt House Restaurant, Galway. Photos supplied on request - no fee Photos from Mike King (twice UK Sports Photgrapher of the Year) Press Contact: Fearghal Murphy - 086 1714383 All details on www.runthecountry.ie