In-form Fagan in good fettle
Although he failed to finish in the Beijing Olympics he has bounced back with a series of impressive runs including sixth in the Great North Run and, last month, finishing at the head of a star-studded field in the Manchester Road Race in Rhode Island.
His placing in Toro — the highest ever by an Irish runner in the senior men’s race — was eclipsed by the controversy which followed when he was refused re-entry into the US over a visa problem and had to abandon plans to compete in the Houston Marathon.
He travels freely now and was able to participate in some of the big road races in Britain and his performances earned him the European Athlete of the Month award for November.
“I feel I have found my niche in road running,” he admitted hinting if he is to run a marathon in the spring it will be the Boston showpiece in April.
A record number of 482 athletes from a record number of 32 countries have confirmed their participation in Sunday’s championships.
Sergey Lebid (Ukraine) has participated in every edition of the race and is looking to defend his title with his eighth victory. He will be hard pressed by British number one Mo Farah who won the title in 2006 but missed out last year due to injury.
On the women’s side, four former champions will be running but Russia’s Olympic 3,000m steeplechase champion and world record holder Gulnara Galkina-Samitova will be favourite.
Annemari Sandell-Hyvärinen (Finland), Yamna Oubouhou (France), Hayley Yelling (Great Britain) and Tatyana Holovchencko (Ukraine) were winners in 1995, 2001, 2004 and 2006 respectively.
Also competing is North Sligo athlete Mary Cullen, who is coached by Ray Treacy in Providence. She was 16th as a junior and finished 11th in the senior race in 2005 after running in fourth position for a long time. She has been free from injury for some time and has turned in a succession of impressive performances in the US.
Linda Byrne finished sixth in the under-23 women’s race last year and she had a superb run in the inter-counties championships in Tramore three weeks ago. A repeat of that performance would put her right up in contention.
It is difficult to assess the women’s under-23 team. Holly Knight, who has declared for Ireland this year and runs with Finn Valley AC, also had a big run in the NCAA championships and could be a factor if she is over that.
Craig Murphy (Togher) was fifth European when he finished 48th in the junior men’s race at this year’s world cross-country championships in Edinburgh and he could be poised for another exciting performance here.
Charlotte ffrench O’Carroll has been undergoing physiotherapy on a back problem but will line up alongside her twin sister, Rebecca, in the junior women’s race where Sarah Treacy, winner of the inter-counties title last month, will spearhead the Irish challenge.
Mark Hanrahan (Leevale), who competed in the European championships as a junior, just missed out on a place on the team this year but he will be in action on Sunday when he will be favourite to win the Cork County senior cross-country championships at Watergrasshill (12.30pm). The race was won by Alan O’Shea (Bantry) last year from Cathal Lombard who went on to win the national senior title in Belfast.
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