‘King of Ballycotton’ to miss out on classic spectacle

NOEL BERKELEY will not line up for Sunday’s Ballycotton 10 but “The King of Ballycotton” predicts a classic spectacle involving most of Ireland’s leading distance runners, a couple of Kenyans and UK internationals.

"This is the type of battle I would love to be involved in. On a good day they should run 47:30 or 47:40 and, right now, I am not ready for that. I just could not do myself justice," he said.

This year he has had injuries. The most recent is an ankle injury he suffered in the European inter-club championships.

On top of all that he has been busy with his landscaping business which he runs from his home in Midleton so he had to scrap plans for another Ballycotton appearance.

"It is going to be a real battle the type I would love to be involved in. We will have Seamus Power, Peter Matthews and Martin McCarthy there and a couple of Kenyans. They will run fast and I would have to fancy Seamus to win it although Martin seems to be in good shape."

Cillian Lonergan has had a slight injury since the national cross-country championships and is unlikely to take part while Cian McLoughlin, who finished third behind Andy Coleman and Noel Berkeley last year is currently training in Morocco in preparation for the London Marathon.

The Kenyans will add an exciting dimension to the race. Charles Kiplagat won the Loughrea 5 last October and went on to finish fourth in the adidas Dublin Marathon while Issac Kimuge, won the Connemara Marathon.

The Welsh team will include the super-vet, Martin Rees, who ran 50:43 for 10 miles last year at the age of 50 and 24:44 for five miles.

The women's field is headed by last year's winner, Gladys Ganiel (DSD), and will include Jackie Newton (Stockport) and Michelle Wannell (Bristol).

Mary Sweeney, the inaugural winner of the women's race 25 years ago, is back again and her performance in the recent Dungarvan "10" where she ran 65:19 would indicate that she is ready to run faster than her 1979 debut.