Ciaran O lionaird

thirstywork2

Mental running tonight from the cork lad 7.50 3k !!!

Gandalph

Were was that?

thirstywork2

Ciaran O’Lionaird (Leevale AC) continued his season of new PBs with another over 3,000m in Belgium tonight. Competing in Liege he finished third in a blanket finish in a time of 7:50.71, well inside his best of 8:04.05 achieved indoors in 2008. The race was won by American Lopez Lomong in 7:50.48, with Morton Mile winner Jordan McNamara second in 7:50.48. O’Lionaird is back in action in Heusden Belgium on Saturday when he races over 5,000m
Meeting international de la province de Liége BEL
3000m Men Time
1 LOMONG LOPEZ USA 7:50.36
2 MCNAMARA JORDAN USA 7:50.48
3 O’LIONAIRD CIARAN IRL 7:50.71
4 TASAMA DAME ETH 7:50.82
5 BIWOTT YUSUF KEN 7:51.31
6 NURME TIIDREK EST 7:51.63
7 HEATH GARRETT USA 7:52.91
8 MCNEILL DAVID AUS 7:53.41
9 JAGER EVAN USA 7:55.70
400m Men Time
Heat:1
1 SANFORD DONALD USA 46.98
2 GILLET ANTOINE BEL 47.04
3 MURPHY BRIAN IRL 47.07
4 DE BEER WILLEM RSA 47.30
800m Men Time
Heat:1
1 37 OLIVIER ANDRE RSA 1:48.10
2 30 CHEMUT ANTHONY KEN 1:48.25
3 35 LUDOLPH SOREN GER 1:48.45
4 22 ELLERTON ANDREW CAN 1:48.65
5 24 MCCARTHY DAVID IRL 1:49.48
6 28 BOUDJEMA AZZINE FRA 1:49.53
TRAFFORD AC - GRAND PRIX MEETING
BMC 800 MEN’S RACE B
1 Allan Ramsay Victoria Park City of Glasgow AC 1.53.86
2 Billy Ryan Newham & Essex Beagles AC 1.54.31
3 Phil Waite Barrow & Furness Striders & AC 1.54.38
6 Michael McKillop St. Malachy’s AC 1.56.74
800m Heat 1
1 Mark Patterson North Down AC 1.54.81
2 Russ Best New Marske Harriers & AC 1.55.38

Caprica

That's brilliant running. It ranks him no 5 on the European lists. Hopefully he will follow this run up with a 5k PB on Saturday. Heusden is a good track for fast times.

myflipflops

He's having some season, it's a pity about the NCAA. Something must have been wrong with him there.

The best trait is that he's either winning or being very competitive in all his races. If he's running 7.50 in a blanket finish like that, you have to think there's more than timewise.

thirstywork2

13.33 for him tonight.Sean Connolly 13.48 and Joe Sweeney 14.04

ecoli

thirstywork2 wrote: »

13.33 for him tonight.Sean Connolly 13.48 and Joe Sweeney 14.04

Some other results from the meet:

Gary Thornton 14.03, Brian Maher 14.23, Sean Hehir 14.32 Gary O Hanlon 14.37

shels4ever

thirstywork2 wrote: »

13.33 for him tonight.Sean Connolly 13.48 and Joe Sweeney 14.04

Think thats pb for Sean to I think by a couple of seconds?.

ecoli

shels4ever wrote: »

Think thats pb for Sean to I think by a couple of seconds?.

Only half a second from 13.48.51 (two or three years ago) to .05

shels4ever

ecoli wrote: »

Only half a second from 13.48.51 (two or three years ago) to .05

Ah knew it was close, think he was 13:50 or 51 last year in Finland or somewhere.
Hope he keep this form up until Dublin.

Vinny Mulvey

think sean hehir was 14.32....

ecoli

Heard conditions for this race were supposed to have been pretty bad (optimistic times if that is the case)

thirstywork2

‎3:34.43 tonight for 1500

TheRoadRunner

thirstywork2 wrote: »

‎3:34.43 tonight for 1500

Holy crap. No Irish athlete has ran that fast in years. I'll be honest I thought he would be doing very well to run 3.36-37 this year. This is major news. Brilliant.

niall1980

unreal 1500 time. anyone know where you can see confirmed times or a video

TheRoadRunner

Yeah any links to results. This is mental running. To out it in perspective he is now 4th on Irish all time list and has run quicker than Mark Carroll and Eamonn Coughlan.

thirstywork2

times.jpg

dna_leri

Awesome run.

He gets a go at the 5K standard in Crystal Palace later in the week, if he still wants it.

TheRoadRunner

Love it. Are you at the meet thirstywork? Where is it Belgium? I'm still amazed at this. Savage stuff. Looking forward to seeing him in santry the weekend.

thirstywork2

The thing about Ciaran that is amazing is that he has had many ups and downs in his career.Changed college from Michigan and since then has never looked back.
Most people would have said a sub 3.40 1500m run was possible but to take it sub 3.35 is just incredible.
Im sure he will get on a good grant now and can plan for the world Champs and Olympics.

Dan man

Awesome, Amazing, Astounding, Astonishing.....and most importantly, the A-Standard! Fantastic news.

thirtyfoot

I spoke to Nick Willis three years ago and he tipped him as the man to watch in years to come. At the time I was dubious but how wrong I was.

shels4ever

wow knew he's been running well but never expected that, super super running

tendon

What an unbelievable season and an amazing run tonight. Im sure this will be huge motivation to David mccarthy

myflipflops

Pretty damn quick for a 5k runner.

Start list for the mens 5k in Crystal Palace is actually pretty weak. If O'lionaird runs it, I hope the 13 minute Kenyan in the list is there to pace them to the A standard.

http://www.diamondleague-london.com/Live-StartlistsResults/Overview/Mens-5000m/

YFlyer

myflipflops wrote: »

Pretty damn quick for a 5k runner.

Start list for the mens 5k in Crystal Palace is actually pretty weak. If O'lionaird runs it, I hope the 13 minute Kenyan in the list is there to pace them to the A standard.

http://www.diamondleague-london.com/Live-StartlistsResults/Overview/Mens-5000m/

Much stronger field in the 3000m. Cragg is down for it.

Brianderunner

YFlyer wrote: »

Much stronger field in the 3000m. Cragg is down for it.

Would have been gas to see Collie outkick Farah the last 100m in the 3k

fiddy3

myflipflops wrote: »

Pretty damn quick for a 5k runner.

Start list for the mens 5k in Crystal Palace is actually pretty weak. If O'lionaird runs it, I hope the 13 minute Kenyan in the list is there to pace them to the A standard.

http://www.diamondleague-london.com/Live-StartlistsResults/Overview/Mens-5000m/

He's not running it.

YFlyer

Brianderunner wrote: »

Would have been gas to see Collie outkick Farah the last 100m in the 3k

I'm lost with the nickname

Is 'Collie' nickname for Cragg? Yeah it would be great but I can't see it happening unless its a slow race. Farah is on fire atm.

Brianderunner

YFlyer wrote: »

I'm lost with the nickname

Is 'Collie' nickname for Cragg? Yeah it would be great but I can't see it happening unless its a slow race. Farah is on fire atm.

Collie is Ciaran o'Lionaird. Never thought that would happen for a second just its a nice thought.

YFlyer

Yeah a fast 3000m would be great for O'Lionaird if he ran.

Wonder will Mottram take it out early to try to take the sting out of Farah legs.

Brianderunner

YFlyer wrote: »

Yeah a fast 3000m would be great for O'Lionaird if he ran.

Wonder will Mottram take it out early to try to take the sting out of Farah legs.

He'll try alright, but no way Mo is losing in front of his home crowd. I'm heading down to this one and the 3k should be the highlight of the whole meet, along with the mens 800m.

Rocket Science

Well done to Ciaran. Amazing running. An inspiration to all. He proves that the improvement curve has spikes and dips! Certainly the breakthrough performance of the Irish athletics story this season. Hugely encouraging and it just shows what can be done!

pconn062

Talking about Irish athletes, just seen that Martin Fagan is heading back to Ireland, anyone know if its for a particular race, anything big coming up over here?

Gringo78

pconn062 wrote: »

Talking about Irish athletes, just seen that Martin Fagan is heading back to Ireland, anyone know if its for a particular race, anything big coming up over here?

National Seniors this weekend

G-Money

Cragg is running in the 3000m tonight in London as well. I heard on Marathon talk that Kenenisa Bekele might be running it as well. He's not on the official start list anyway as of 10 minutes ago.

emerald007

Flotrack interview with boy

ecoli

http://www.seminoles.com/sports/c-track/spec-rel/080411aab.html

copacetic

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/sport/2011/0806/1224301949083.html

Glorious summer for old-school 'Mad Len'

ATHLETICS:*Ciarán O’Lionaird has improved his best from 3:48.36, moved to fourth on the Irish all-time list, and qualified for the World Championships and the 2012 London Olympics, writes IAN O'RIORDAN*

IT WAS close to midnight last Saturday when they got back to Leuven, and Ciarán O’Lionaird reckoned there was time for a beer. “Just the one,” he said to the small enclave of runners, knowing full well that would turn into the two or three.

They ordered a round of Belgium’s finest – Leffe Blond – and as O’Lionaird took the first sip he felt pretty satisfied: earlier, in Ghent, he clocked 3:41.34, in horrible conditions. Just shy of his 1,500-metre best, run a few weeks previous. Since basing himself in Leuven for the summer – sharing the “spare room” in the house of US athletics agent Chris Layne – he’d also run personal bests for the mile (3:57.99), for 3,000m (7:50.71), and for 5,000m (13:33.64).

Indeed his season started off with a PB, in March, in his last term on scholarship at Florida State University, he ran 28:32.30 for 10,000m. After that O’Lionaird knew he was on the right track again, or more importantly, had made the right choice. Just 12 months earlier he was practically crippled with two herniated discs in his back.

Doctors argued for surgery, the only side-effect being an end to his competitive running; O’Lionaird argued otherwise, and submitted himself to painfully slow rehab. All last summer, in the sweltering heat of Tallahassee, in the heart of the Florida Panhandle, he stuck to this regime, morning and evening, inside the college stadium, until he could at least walk without pain. “Whatever happens after this is a bonus,” he said to himself.

So now, having just turned 23, and five personal bests later, he had every reason to feel satisfied, and promptly ordered another round. A group of Canadian runners in the bar mentioned Tuesday’s meeting, in Oordegem. Nate Brennan and Taylor Milne were still chasing the 1,500m A-standard for the World Championships in Daegu, over three weeks away; so too was Belgium’s Jereon D’Hoedt. Their target was 3:35.00 – which would also give them the A-standard for the London Olympics.

Two other Canadians, Matt Lincoln and Kyle Smith, agreed to pace: “Who else is in?” O’Lionaird wasn’t so sure: he’d never heard of Oordegem, had planned to finish his season on Sunday, at the Irish championships, in Santry. He finished his second beer.

“Alright. We’re after coming out here to Europe for the summer, and we end up in races with crazy splits. That’s okay if you’re a Kenyan, running 3:30, but we need an even pace, where everyone gets in a line and just chases a fast time. If that’s the case count me in.”

They ordered another beer for the road, underestimating the strength of Leffe Blond, because by the time O’Lionaird walked the short distance back to his house he felt a little drunk. He ate three bowls of Crunchy Nut cornflakes, then fell fast asleep.

Less than 48 hours until a red-hot 1,500m – yet this didn’t worry him in the slightest. O’Lionaird has always modelled himself on being something of a throwback to the old days of distance running, where they trained hard, raced hard, and occasionally partied hard. He wears the retro gear and even cultivates the old-school look, complete with small facial tash and carefully-trimmed mullet. Put him in a picture alongside Dave Bedford, Neil Cusack, Brendan Foster, Steve Prefontaine and he’d look in perfect company.

“Why can’t it still be like that?” he often thinks, but then they don’t call him “Mad Len” for nothing. He’d also promised himself during those long, lonely rehab sessions in Tallahassee that once he got back running he’d always enjoy it. He’d been sucked into the obsessive approach in the past, when he’d finished secondary school in Cork, determined to make a name for himself as a distance runner.

Growing up in the countryside of Toonsbridge, outside Macroom, running was the only outlet for his energy, so aged seven, his mother took him to West Muskerry Athletic Club, hoping that energy could be put to some use. Later he moved to Leevale, in the city, coming under the nurturing influence of Der O’Donovan – and gradually his potential began to shine. He ran 3:50.10 at age 16, and in 2005 won 1,500m bronze at the European Youth Olympics, in Lignano.

Inevitably that drew the interest of the US colleges, and O’Lionaird was recruited by Bob Braman, coach at Florida State University, and also Ron Warhurst, coach at Michigan. In the end he went for Michigan, who already had an excellent roster of milers, including Nick Willis from New Zealand, plus the Canadian, Nate Brennan.

Typical of O’Lionaird he threw himself into the heavy workload: for the first six months of 2008 he did every training session with Willis, before breaking down with injury. Later that summer he watched Willis win the 1,500m silver at the Beijing Olympics, and thought, “I’m not far off that guy.”

An injured athlete is invariably a depressed one – although that’s not the only reason O’Lionaird was having a hard time settling into college life in Michigan: back home, his parents were separating, and his three younger brothers weren’t taking it well. His positive approach to running had become unbearably negative, and eventually he needed out of Michigan. Warhurst had done his best, but in the end he went back to Braman, who offered him a half-scholarship at Florida, and the promise of a better climate.

So he transferred in 2009, and without room and board, found the cheapest apartment in Tallahassee – sleeping on a mattress, three doors up from a crack house, with hookers on every street corner. He couldn’t have cared less, he may have been broke, yet he felt liberated. “I have a pair of running shoes, and a pair of shorts,” he reckoned. “And I don’t even need a T-shirt to run in Florida.”

Braman kept the faith, kept at him to work on his rehab, and lose “the double chin”. Last autumn O’Lionaird repaid the faith, finishing 18th in the NCAA cross country, and leading Florida to its best ever second place. That earned O’Lionaird a slot on the Irish Under-23 team for the European Cross Country, in Portugal, yet his lack of proper base work caught up with him. He went out hard but faded dramatically to 75th. Winning the team gold was little consolation; he didn’t run again until New Year’s Day, determined to make 2011 the year that finally counted.

At lunchtime on Tuesday, he paid €5 for a train from Leuven to Oordegem, where a small bus was waiting to transfer the runners to the stadium. They assumed they’d gone the wrong way until they pulled up at a small field, in the middle of which lay an immaculate, Mondo track. “Very old school,” thought O’Lionaird. “Perfect for me.”

Everything was legit: Marc Corstjens, who runs the Heusdan meeting, had brought in the electronic timing, and the 11 runners lined up, with instructions to stretch out based on personal bests. O’Lionaird was the slowest of them, so ran the first lap at the back – 59.0 seconds. With 600m to go he made one bold move, darting into second place, chasing the Ethiopian, Dawit Wolde. They passed the bell in 2:37: “I can definitely close in 60.” Instead he closed in 57 – and finished on Wolde’s heels in 3:34.46 – or in old money, a 3:51.5 mile.

In one glorious summer he’d improved his best from 3:48.36, moved to fourth on the Irish all-time list, and qualified for the World Athletics Championships and the 2012 London Olympics.

“Oh . . . my . . . God!” he thought, realising how fast he’d run, and how effortless it had actually felt. Funny thing is many of the old-school distance runners would have a similar story to tell.

oedipod

Perfect timing

Rocket Science

copacetic wrote: »

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/sport/2011/0806/1224301949083.html

I have to say I just find the whole Ciaran O Lionard breakthrough story this year inspirational. it would give hope to any athlete who struggles for a while for whatever reason. And really there are very few few athletes whose performance curve keeps on an incline year on year!

jeffontour

Sounds like a character who can engage the viewing public, both informed and not so informed on the the sport. Hopefully he can hold his form now, best of luck to him.

run_Forrest_run

emerald007 wrote: »

Flotrack interview with boy

you know if he could only increase his confidence he might be good

oedipod

Because of his injuries and the various distances he's clocked at it's difficult to chart his progression. Here's his estimated VDOT going on times for each distance over 5 years. It's clear he's made a few gains in the last year. In interview he says this is the product of stringing together a full year's injury free training. Good for him.

You can see why he's been tested twice in a week. They'd be mad not to. Fingers crossed he can stay injury free for Daegu and London.:D

Perfect timing.;)

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B_44IiDuhKl4MjdkMWJiNjctOGFlMy00YTQ3LWJlYWYtYzU4MTMwOWUwZDhk&hl=en_US