Fionnuala Britton to run European Marathon Cup

RayCun

http://www.athleticsireland.ie/news/britton-added-to-european-marathon-cup-team

Four days after running the 10,000:eek:

rom

What gap did John Tracy have in 1984?

Alvin Holler

that double worked well for john tracey in 84.

Alvin Holler

rom wrote: »

What gap did John Tracy have in 1984?

think it was 6 days, he had a heat too.

Caprica

Very unlucky for Nicola Duncan to have to withdraw due to injury, I was really looking forward to seeing her compete in an Irish vest. Surprised to see Maria McCambridge withdraw, she seemed in good form of late and looked to be in line to give a good championship performance.

I hope it goes well for Fionnuala, might not be the easiest to debut in a summer championship marathon, since she has teamed back up with Chris Jones she seems to be showing a return to her old form.

Chivito550

Caprica wrote: »

. Surprised to see Maria McCambridge withdraw, she seemed in good form of late and looked to be in line to give a good championship performance.
.

Not surprised at all. She hasn't been training for the marathon from what I have heard, yet they picked her regardless of this.

Penn01

Chivito550 wrote: »

Not surprised at all. She hasn't been training for the marathon from what I have heard, yet they picked her regardless of this.

From what I've seen FB hasn't got the standard for marathon/10k, and yet has been picked for both regardless.... Clearly standards within 12 mths don't matter...it's a pity no representation for Irish women from 800/5k...Kind of hard to believe there is fair selection in Irish athletics.....

Pherekydes

Penn01 wrote: »

From what I've seen FB hasn't got the standard for marathon/10k, and yet has been picked for both regardless.... Clearly standards within 12 mths don't matter...it's a pity no representation for Irish women from 800/5k...Kind of hard to believe there is fair selection in Irish athletics.....

Britton ran 32:57.49 for 10000m on May 10 this year. There is no entry standard for the Marathon.

Penn01

Pherekydes wrote: »

Britton ran 32:57.49 for 10000m on May 10 this year. There is no entry standard for the Marathon.

So can I get this right show A standard and no form and NO form or a standard?? Sooooo what's her marathon standard???? #veryoddselection

Pherekydes

Penn01 wrote: »

So can I get this right show A standard and no form and NO form or a standard?? Sooooo what's her marathon standard???? #veryoddselection

I'm not sure I understand you. She has the 10k qualifying time and she won the national 5k title, so she has the time and form.

Regarding the marathon, there is no entry standard.

Penn01

Pherekydes wrote: »

I'm not sure I understand you. She has the 10k qualifying time and she won the national 5k title, so she has the time and form.

Regarding the marathon, there is no entry standard.

But no form Re:10 k....there has been athletes omitted from Zurich because they haven't "shown form" ...just wondering what FB's form Re:10k
Is? Re: marathon - I get there is "no standard"...says it all really? Why enter a race with no pre-form? Just very odd to me....just saying..

Pherekydes

Penn01 wrote: »

But no form Re:10 k....there has been athletes omitted from Zurich because they haven't "shown form" ...just wondering what FB's form Re:10k
Is? Re: marathon - I get there is "no standard"...says it all really? Why enter a race with no pre-form? Just very odd to me....just saying..

Well she ran over half a minute under the standard on May 10. Unless that's not recent enough for you? Maybe she should bump out 32 minute runs every Friday night to prove her form?

Regarding the Marathon, she is filling in for an absentee. The alternative might be to withdraw the team. That wouldn't be nice for the others. Also, the selectors might view it as an investment, in terms of championship experience, for Rio.

Penn01

Pherekydes wrote: »

Well she ran over half a minute under the standard on May 10. Unless that's not recent enough for you? Maybe she should bump out 32 minute runs every Friday night to prove her form?

Regarding the Marathon, she is filling in for an absentee. The alternative might be to withdraw the team. That wouldn't be nice for the others. Also, the selectors might view it as an investment, in terms of championship experience, for Rio.

A standard for 10k for Europeans is 32.15.....unless I'm mistaken??? My point is...the previous poster noted that MMC had withdrawn due to lack of form...yet a girl with Zero marathon experience is now running....again #bizarre

Also...32.57 not a A standard..? Correct me, if I'm wrong?!

Chivito550

Penn01 wrote: »

A standard for 10k for Europeans is 32.15.....unless I'm mistaken??? My point is...the previous poster noted that MMC had withdrawn due to lack of form...yet a girl with Zero marathon experience is now running....again #bizarre

Also...32.57 not a A standard..? Correct me, if I'm wrong?!

No, it's nothing to do with lack of form. MMC was not training for the marathon, and yet AAI picked her for it regardless. Like most athletes would act, I'm guessing she didn't want to show up for an event she wasn't prepared for just for the sake of it.

eliwallach

Chivito550 wrote: »

No, it's nothing to do with lack of form. MMC was not training for the marathon, and yet AAI picked her for it regardless. Like most athletes would act, I'm guessing she didn't want to show up for an event she wasn't prepared for just for the sake of it.

And after she struggled in the heat of Moscow last year ( withdrew after 8 miles ?), I guess she wouldn't be relishing the prospect of another summer marathon.

Pherekydes

Penn01 wrote: »

A standard for 10k for Europeans is 32.15.....unless I'm mistaken??? My point is...the previous poster noted that MMC had withdrawn due to lack of form...yet a girl with Zero marathon experience is now running....again #bizarre

Also...32.57 not a A standard..? Correct me, if I'm wrong?!

There are no A and B standards. Unless I'm missing something the standard is 33:30 from here.

Edit: Ok, so AI have their own A and B standards. A pointless exercise, really. We don't have lorry loads of athletes to merit complex selection policies. If the athlete gets the standard send them. End of. Everyone knows where they stand then.

runjb

Fionnuala has made this decision because obviously she feels she can give both a good shot. Her coach has said her training over the last while has been tailored with this in mind.

She has the 10k standard,full stop. She has shown good form of late and being our best female middle distance athlete right now and for the last number of years,if she feels she can give this marathon a shot,well then she should most certainly be allowed to do so. There is no qualifying standard.

I cannot believe some of the negative postingon here!

Good luck to Fionnuala,I hope she does great next week!

ecoli

runjb wrote: »

Fionnuala has made this decision because obviously she feels she can give both a good shot. Her coach has said her training over the last while has been tailored with this in mind.

She has the 10k standard,full stop. She has shown good form of late and being our best female middle distance athlete right now and for the last number of years,if she feels she can give this marathon a shot,well then she should most certainly be allowed to do so. There is no qualifying standard.

I cannot believe some of the negative postingon here!

Good luck to Fionnuala,I hope she does great next week!

Makes her appearance in the 1500 at nationals seem a little odd (could just be a case of ensuring a good workout)

Regarding debuting in Championship race I think its a great idea with no pressure on time that a big city marathon could, she can just do what she knows which is race.

overpronator

Rio is where its at, that is no doubt where her and AAIs ultimate focus is with this decision. The best of luck to her.

thirstywork2

Picking FB in the marathon a no brainer,if you can't pick her then something up with selection policy.


Her future is at the marathon and European level a perfect point to start as there will be no pace makers and she can be competitive.
Penn01 what is your issue with FB or maybe it is the selectors you have an issue here?

pmc56

Agree completely with ecoli. Less pressure on FB in a championship race in Europe against other Europeans and with no pacemakers. A natural race to begin with and also a great fillup for the Marathon Mission team ensuring that Ireland competes at both the men's and women's races

martyboy48

http://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/other-sports/endurance-coach-backs-brittons-marathon-bid-278205.html

Above linked from jump the gun facebook....

Now, just to point out, I have little to no knowledge on the topic as such, but I do like F.B and think she is a real talent. I wish her well but just don't know the reason behind it.
Could some of ye in the know explain a few things to me.
Is she going to target the marathon distance seriously in future ie Rio, and if so what is the reasoning behind this. I mean, to me, from the outside she is doing great at middle distance, so why risk wasting time when she is proven to be competitive as she is? Is it just to make up numbers for the team(I don't mean that in any negative way as I know about the other injuries), or is somebody seeing something that I missed, ie the endurance coach, and swaying her towards that distance??

From the article, it mentions that "the Wicklow woman has yet to show any significant form on the road" and, "There has been no clear plan to prepare for the marathon this year", which leads me to believe it may not have been thought out properly?
Of the Irish women who compete in HMs/marathons, who would be in the "best" form who isn't injured and not selected, and would FB still be a better bet??

As I said earlier, I have no knowledge on the subject myself, and I do like Fionnuala Britton, but would just like to hear some more thoughts on it..

ecoli

Obviously no one can say for certain the full reasons behind the decision though generally most people think its a very good move for her and there was an air of inevitability to it

martyboy48 wrote: »

Could some of ye in the know explain a few things to me.
Is she going to target the marathon distance seriously in future ie Rio, and if so what is the reasoning behind this. I mean, to me, from the outside she is doing great at middle distance, so why risk wasting time when she is proven to be competitive as she is? Is it just to make up numbers for the team(I don't mean that in any negative way as I know about the other injuries), or is somebody seeing something that I missed, ie the endurance coach, and swaying her towards that distance??

Has she been as competitive at middle distance though? If you compare here track to her XC careers they are very different

XC
2 x Euro Cross - Gold
European u23 - Silver
World Student Cross - Silver

Compare that to just one European Indoor bronze

Looking at her team mates for that Euro Gold team and the prowess of Dulce Felix they have shown that XC and Marathon can work successfully in unison and can actually push on performance.

Also given her age it makes sense that she is starting to look at securing her financial future. Unfortunately there is feck all money in track/XC at the moment but for an athlete who has the potential to be a top 3-5 European in the distance it opens up alot of avenues regarding getting into races and appearance fee's that the Diamond league doesn't.

Also looking at the championship marathons it does lend itself to non African medal possibilities at WC and Olympic level that currently 5k/10k does not in majority of cases (Straneo from Italy is an example of this from last year)

martyboy48 wrote: »

From the article, it mentions that "the Wicklow woman has yet to show any significant form on the road" and, "There has been no clear plan to prepare for the marathon this year", which leads me to believe it may not have been thought out properly?
Of the Irish women who compete in HMs/marathons, who would be in the "best" form who isn't injured and not selected, and would FB still be a better bet??

Honestly IMO if you could line up the top team we could produce (irregardless of injury) I would say that the only two people who would beat her on the roads would be Duncan and Mary Cullen. Depending on her training she well has the potential for a 2.30-2.33 debut.

RayCun

I presume she's only doing it if it makes sense for her.
And she's not keeping anyone out of the team - on the contrary, by running she's making up a team.

thirstywork2

Mary & FB on another level compared to Duncan.
I think it's great to see FB tackle the marathon,she trains high volume and there is not a huge change in training for a top 10k runner & marathon.
She runs well with no pressure and this seems perfect.
Also the team looks very strong.

ecoli

thirstywork2 wrote: »

Mary & FB on another level compared to Duncan.
I think it's great to see FB tackle the marathon,she trains high volume and there is not a huge change in training for a top 10k runner & marathon.
She runs well with no pressure and this seems perfect.
Also the team looks very strong.

I would probably agree but I think that given it would be their first foray into the distance felt here experience might bridge the gap a bit.

pconn062

While I'm not doubting her or Chris Jones's thinking on this issue, there is no doubting that it is a slightly odd decision. A 10,000m race and a marathon within four days is quite a lot, coupled with the fact that she has never raced a 1/2 marathon before and with no talk of marathon preparation, I think people are understandably slightly confused.

rom

pconn062 wrote: »

While I'm not doubting her or Chris Jones's thinking on this issue, there is no doubting that it is a slightly odd decision. A 10,000m race and a marathon within four days is quite a lot, coupled with the fact that she has never raced a 1/2 marathon before and with no talk of marathon preparation, I think people are understandably slightly confused.

Wasn't the olympics John Tracy's first marathon also? I am going to stick my neck out and say silver.

overpronator

rom wrote: »

Wasn't the olympics John Tracy's first marathon also? I am going to stick my neck out and say silver.

It was, he also said he didn't change his training too much for it either, apart from doing a longer long run.

Chivito550

overpronator wrote: »

It was, he also said he didn't change his training too much for it either, apart from doing a longer long run.

I remember him saying he used to do long runs as long as 29 miles so make no mistake he was prepared for the marathon.

tHE vAGGABOND

Is this the reason Thomas chamney is going ape **** on Twitter today, saying a range of stuff against aai and high performance team..

If this is a learning run for her before rio is a great idea, as standard of women in race is poor, so a good first run.

ultrapercy

I think the range of FB ambition stretches beyond being competitive in Europe. Olympic marathons are typically tactical affairs and times required to win medals not overly fast. In that context it would make sense for her to make use of her undoubted XC strength and move up to marathon with an eye toward Rio and this seems like a fairly low key low pressure introduction to the distance. She is a smart person and has people around her who know their stuff but a lot of success comes from gambling and taking a chance. All top level sport these days seems dominated by science, numbers and statics but the heart still has a roll to play.