ONCE upon a time Irish records only came along only once in a while. Now, they seem to arrive frequently, even in bunches, as happened last weekend with three new national marks being set across two continents.
Andrew Coscoran and Sarah Healy both rewrote the respective national 3000m records at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix in Boston on Sunday night.
Earlier in the day, Newry-born Kate O’Connor had smashed her own Irish pentathlon record in Estonia.
Coscoran was timed at 7:30.75, which not only broke Alistair Cragg’s previous mark but also saw him record his first victory on the circuit since he won a 1000m race in Melbourne last March.
The 28-year-old Balbriggan man went to the front with two laps remaining before going on to improve his own personal best by 10 seconds.
His time is also the fourth fastest ever by a European and qualified him for both the both the continental and world championships.
Perhaps significantly, the result comes after Coscoran joining the New Balance Manchester training group coached by Helen Clitheroe.
Healy finished fourth in an equally competitive women’s 3000m, recording a time of 8:35.19. That improved her own Irish indoor mark of 8:36.06 set last year.
The 23-year-old Dubliner is also availing of English coaching expertise, having moved a couple of years ago to Wigan, where she trains under Trevor Painter and Jenny Meadows.
O’Connor bettered her own Irish pentathlon record in Tallinn whilst competing at the World Athletics Combined Events Tour fixture.
The Commonwealth silver medallist bettered or equalled her five previous personal bests in the individual disciplines as she accumulated 4,683 point total to take second place overall.
O’Connor’s long jump leap of 6.16m was also a new Northern Ireland indoor record. Her total added 287 points to the national mark she set in 2023, with the bonus being her also securing qualification for the European Indoors in Apeldoorn next month.
More national records could fall this weekend with a host of Irish athletes in indoor action over the next few days.
Among those, it’s Friday night lights for Louise Shanahan (800m) and Tyrone’s Roisin Flanagan (3000m) in Valencia, and Cathal Doyle (1500m) in Karlsruhe.
Also, this evening, Ellie McCartney competes in the pole vault at a meeting in Loughborough with hopes of an NI record.
Tomorrow sees Mark English (800m), Sarah Healy (3000m) and Andrew Coscoran (3000m) all entered for the Millrose Games in New York, while Sharlene Mawdsley (400m), Jodie McCann (1500m) and Darragh McElhinney (3000m) are expected to line up at the Meeting Metz Moselle in France.
At home, the Athletics NI Cross Country League continues on its long home straight.
The final four of the nine scheduled fixtures are being held on consecutive weekends, with three now remaining after last weekend’s Malcolm Cup promotion by Annadale Striders at Ormeau Park.
The NI Civil Service Cross Country tomorrow is the first of the remaining three with the Irwin Speirs Meeting in Cookstown and the NI & Ulster Senior wrapping up affairs on February 15 and February 22 respectively.
Annadale Striders took advantage of North Belfast Harriers’ absence at the European Clubs’ race in Portugal to close the gap on the men’s league leaders at the Malcolm Cup.
Striders were led home by Stephen Connelly and the host club’s athletes also filled the next three places across the line for a facile team victory.
North Down AC was also in contention for the league title but was understrength and lost ground.
North Belfast Harriers, North Down and Tafelta AC are locked in a tense struggle for the women’s title and all three finished within 11 points of each other with North winning on countback from North Down.
Tafelta retain overall leadership but coach Francis Purvis will have to ensure he fields at full strength if his charges are to take the women’s crown back to Magherafelt.
The re-arranged Run Forest Run fixtures is also down for decision tomorrow with the Born2Run event company organising its latest round at Antrim.
Not such good news is that Sperrin Harriers have abandoned their winter league due to storm damage at their remaining proposed venues.
Meanwhile, best wishes are extended to Nick Griggs for a speedy recovery. The Tyrone athlete is in hospital being treated for a knee infection reportedly incurred when he suffered a fall at the start of the European Cross Country in Turkey before Christmas.
On that day, he picked himself up to take the individual silver medal in the U23 race and the same resilience should see him come through this testing time.
