Cragg celebrates new Irish record
With the A standard set at 27:49.00, the performance qualifies Cragg for both the world championships and next year’s Olympic Games, joining European indoor 400m champion, David Gillick, and racewalkers Robert Heffernan, Colin Griffin and Olive Loughnane who have also achieved A standards in their respective events.
It was on the same track that Mark Carroll completed his hat trick of records back in 2000 when he set the new Irish record at 27:46.82, breaking the old mark which John Treacy set at 27:48.6 back in 1978. The Leevale man already held the records at 3,000m and 5,000m.
Cragg was stepping on to the outdoor track for the first time this season when he went into Sunday’s race with a previous best of 28.20 for the distance. The race was won by Galen Rupp (Oregon) in 27:33.48 from Galvan David (Mexico), 27:33.96, and Simon Ndirangu (New Balance), 27:38.56, with Cragg in fourth place.
“I’m excited because I know I could have run faster if the race had been different,” he said. “I have had six or seven weeks of quality training without a single ache or a pain and I cannot remember when that happened before.
“I really felt I could run faster but then the race did not quite work out as I expected and I have to be delighted with the result. I mean Mark Carroll is a great athlete and all his records are outstanding. At the moment this was the one I had to target given the fact that it is so early in the season and I have not done any quality track work.”
After being stripped of his 3,000m title, Cragg left the European indoor championships in Birmingham bitterly disappointed but he has clearly put all that behind him now and yesterday he was bubbling with excitement.
He is now a member of the adidas track club and his next race will be at the adidas meeting in Los Angeles in three weeks time.
“I will run 3k there,” he said. “And if that goes well for me then I will run 5k in New York the following week.”
Martin Fagan from Mullingar posted a new personal best for 10,000m at 28:18.30 back in 24th place while Dubliner, Mark Kenneally, finished 29th in 28:55.49.
“This has been a phenomenal start to the season,” Liam Hennessy, Chair of the High Performance Committee, said. “This puts Alistair (Cragg) right up there alongside Mark Carroll and John Treacy as the best middle distance runners we have had.
“He is a very talented athlete and this performance will boost his confidence no end as he prepares for the world championships. And you would also have to be impressed by Martin Fagan’s progression. He has been chipping away at his times and this is exactly the way it should be. The graph is going upwards all the time and 27:50 would appear to be well within his range in the not to distant future.”
Also at the Standford meet, Deirdre Byrne from Wicklow posted a new personal best for 1,500m at 4:12.79 while Mary Cullen from Sligo improved her personal best for 10,000m to 32:21.42.
