Hersch the Midnight express as Carroll grabs second spot

MARK CARROLL produced a strong sprint to the line to earn second place in the Emerald Nuts Midnight Run in New York’s Central Park on New Year’s Eve.

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.