Athletics Ireland gets set for debate

The Athletics Ireland biannual General Congress takes place this weekend in the Moran’s Silver Springs Hotel in Cork and there is expected to be some lively debate and arguments over a wide range of topics from cross-country to finance and high performance.

“The past two years have been both challenging and exciting as we continue our journey of growing the sport of athletics,” said John Foley, the chief executive of Athletics Ireland.

Among the challenges to be discussed is a crowded fixture list and the cross- country season where a motion from the Athletics Ireland board will be for an amalgamation of the inter club and inter-country cross- country championships.

Membership of the association is at an all-time high, with numbers just short of 50,000 members aided by the running boom and successful campaigns to get more people involved, along with an increasing number of juveniles taking up the sport.

On the competition front, the prestigious Penn Relays started on Thursday in Pennsylvania and Yale’s Kevin Dooney ran a personal best over 5,000m in 13:59.38, while Providence’s Sarah Collins ran 9:11.97 for 3,000m.

An Irish team will compete today in the ‘USA v the World Men Distance Medley’ where John Travers, Brian Gregan, Paul Robinson and John Coghlan will look to produce a strong showing.

Ciarán Ó Lionáird will make his season debut in the mile at the Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa and is confident of a strong showing after a successful altitude training camp in Arizona. “Training has gone well and I’m looking forward to the race,” said the Leevale athlete.