Marathon Mission

islandexile

Athletics: Aughney confident 'Marathon Mission' can boost Irish standards

By Cliona Foley
Friday January 15 2010

IRELAND'S former marathon greats may have spent the past decade puzzling over the drastic drop in standards nationally, but someone is finally addressing the problem.

A joint initiative between Athletics Ireland (AAI) and the Lifestyle Sports-adidas Dublin Marathon is set to address the issue.

Ireland's proud tradition in the event includes John Treacy's LA Olympic silver medal. However, when Martin Fagan ran 2:14.06 in 2008, he became the first Irishman to qualify for the Olympic marathon since 1992, with 2:20 now a mark that Irish runners struggle to break.

But a new programme, dubbed 'Marathon Mission,' will offer athletes plenty of incentives to raise the standard nationally.

Athletes will have to meet certain time criteria at either marathon, half-marathon or 10 miles, between January '09 and before September 2010, to join the group.Those invited will benefit from coaching support, group training, gear sponsorship and will also be considered for training camp/altitude training support.

Dublin Marathon Race Director Jim Aughney is confident that the programme will improve the strength of Irish marathon running, as well as adding to the competitiveness of his own race, which already doubles up as the National Marathon Championships.

"Despite the increase in social running and record levels of Irish participation in this year's Dublin Marathon, the standard of Irish elite running has dropped considerably over the last decade," Aughney said. "Eleven of the first 14 Dublin Marathons were won by Irish runners, routinely running sub 2:20, yet there has not been an Irish winner in 15 years.
"I believe that, with the right kind of support, we can enhance the prestige and competitiveness of domestic running."

He added: "It is going to take time to raise the bar. You're talking a minimum of four to five years because it takes a huge, huge effort to run a sub 2:20 marathon.

"But we have plenty of runners who are capable of achieving that, and I believe that with the right kind of support, we can enhance the prestige and competitiveness of domestic running."

The group's first meeting will take place tomorrow in the West County Hotel (1.0) and the necessary standards for men are sub 2:25 (marathon), sub 67:30 (half-marathon) and sub 50mins (10 miles) and sub 2:45 (marathon), sub 79:30 (half-marathon) and sub 60mins (10 miles) for women.

islandexile

I haven’t heard any names of who is likely to be a part of this ‘Marathon Mission’ initiative but I would expect the likes of Martin Fagan, Sergiu Ciobanu, Brian Maher, Joe McAllister, Cian McLoughlin, Gary Murray and Barry Minnock to be involved.

Any other names or suggestions? What about on the women’s side?

Krusty_Clown

May have been posted before, but I just noticed that the Dublin marathon site has posted details of the Marathon Mission Team.

Interesting reading, as it lists their PBs, targets, and where they ran them. It's good to see a couple of regular boards posters on the list too. I have to say I like the approach. Hopefully it'll work out and many of them can achieve their goals.

T runner

Maria McCambridge PB (should be 02:35:29 not 2:39 I think) is running Paris again as is, I believe, Brian McMahon. She recorded 75:56 for Omagh half. Last weekend. This was clearly a marathon race pace run so she's looking at a 2:32-3 result hopefully for Paris. Fantastic if she does it.