Cragg getting serious with 5,000m double run
“Maybe it sounds stupid, but I feel it’s what I need right now. I need a good run over 5k,” he said. “I will run in the 5,000m in Brasschaat on Saturday and then the 5,000m at the nationals the following day.
“It is a pretty tall order but I intend to run sensibly. I have spoken to Patsy (McGonagle), the Irish team manager, about it and he said it will be OK.”
His need to get in a serious 5,000m run stems from the fact that he was forced to pull out of the 5,000m at the Golden Gala in Rome when he had been hoping for a good time.
“Unfortunately, everything was wrong with the race. I did not feel good,” he said. “I suffered from stomach cramps and then blisters. I should have held back but I tend to get carried away in a race like that. I don’t know why but I don’t think I had ever been so nervous.”
He had gone to Rome on the back of a big performance over 3,000m at the Golden League meeting in Paris where he took on the Africans, outran them in the early laps and then, when they tried to take control on the penultimate lap, he grabbed the lead again after the bell and was only pegged back in the finishing straight when Moses Kipsoro (Uganda) came from fourth place to win in 7:39.02 from the young Kenyan, Joseph Ebuya, 7:39.53, in a repeat of the Cork City Sports result.
Cragg settled for fifth place in 7:40.31, insisting afterwards that he was not at all happy with the race.
“I ran a stupid race,” he said. “But I just could not afford to wait around for a kick. I am not ready for that yet. I have not done that type of work.”
He had been hoping for better in the lead up to the Golden Gala in Rome but felt unwell the day of the race and never really got going.
“Right now I feel strong,” he said. “I just need some fine tuning. I had intended going back to the US the day after the national championships but I will be staying back for two races in Europe. I will have a 3,000m race in Monte Carlo on Wednesday and then the Super Grand Prix in London the following Friday.”
Paul Hession is set to double up at 100m and 200m for the national championships at the weekend. After his record-breaking run at the Norwich Union Grand Prix in Sheffield last Sunday, where he set the 200m record at 20.44 secs, he holds all the sprint records from 60m to 200m and now he wants all the titles.
He is the reigning national 200m champion and, after breaking the national record twice over the distance, has to be odds on to add the 100m title to that at Morton Stadium.
Derval O’Rourke will also double up again and, on current form, can add the 100m to her 100m hurdles title which would be an unprecedented double at those championships. She just failed to hold off Anna Boyle in the 100m last time around.
The team for the world championships will not be finalised until August 8, but with 14 athletes already qualified the selectors will announce their draft selection on Sunday night.
The 25th Annual Donoughmore 7-Mile road race takes place tomorrow evening at 8 pm. It attracts a high class field each year with a generous prize list as well as the Jim Bradley Memorial Cup for the first male finisher and the T. J. Forde Cup for the first female.
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