Hersch the Midnight express as Carroll grabs second spot
Racing for the first time since beginning a training regime designed to overcome a long-standing pelvic injury, Carroll dropped down to four miles in order to get the new year off to a bright start.
The Irishman though, had no answer to defending champion Christian Hersch, as the American broke his own course record in a time of 18 minutes 28 seconds by four seconds. But Carroll accelerated past Morocco’s Elarbi Khattabi over the final 200 metres to grab second spot by a four-second margin in 18:32.
The women’s race was won by American two-time Olympian Amy Rudolph, Carroll’s fiancée, who smashed the course record by 33 seconds with a time of 21:17.
Ethiopian pair Genet Gebregiorgis (21:42) and Alemtsehay Misganaw (21:44) followed Rudolph home on a warm night in Manhattan.
Meanwhile, Leevale athlete Mark Hanrahan got the new year off to a good start when taking the Donagh Coughlan Memorial Cup over five miles at Bandon.
Having his first race since the European Junior Cross-Country in Germany three weeks ago, Hanrahan, 20 in March, was pleased with his gun to tape victory. “I was a bit disappointed with my run in the Europeans where I was sixth on the Irish team that won the silver medals,” he admitted.
“Today was my first race as a senior and I’ll to Cardiff now on January 23 for the Celtic U23 race. After that I will probably concentrate on the short course championships in early March.”
He recorded a time of 25:37 in the blustery conditions as the battle behind him saw Cathal O’Connell get the better of Fergus Meade.
Another St Finbarr’s athlete, Mary Sweeney, won the women’s race.
