Mulvey blows record field apart

VINNY MULVEY of Raheny Shamrocks raced to a comprehensive winning debut in the Ballycotton 10 yesterday as Ireland’s most popular road race entered a new dimension - with a record field of more than 3,000.

After years of trying to curtail entries, race organiser John Walshe bowed to public pressure and accepted over 4,000 entries. Few of those runners saw much of the newly crowned national cross-country champion, who left a four-man leading group after two miles to stamp his authority on the race with every stride.

His winning time of 49 mins 03 secs did not get him into the all-time top 20 men but his winning advantage was 1 min 21 secs over runner-up Sandis Bralitis, of Latvia, with Cian McLoughlin (Clonliffe Harriers) 25 secs further back in third place.