Mulvey blows record field apart
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.
The race was fought out in typical Ballycotton sunshine except for a short shower of rain just after the start.
It started with Neil Cusack (Limerick AC), whose father Neil, the former Boston Marathon winner, finished third in 1983, setting an early pace.
Mulvey ran the first mile in 4:45 - “just about what I had planned” - accompanied by Cusack, Bralitis, McLoughlin and Alan O’Shea (Bantry), who finished 12th in the Irish Universities cross-country championships the previous day.
A 4:50 second mile split the group, and, suddenly, Mulvey was 100m clear and coasting. “But the first five miles were into a strong wind and you had nowhere to hide out there,” he recalled.
When he passed halfway mark in 24:40, Mulvey had an advantage of more than 200m and was still pulling clear. He turned for home with the wind behind him and a huge advantage, but he still had the uphill run back to Ballycotton to contend with. He responded with miles of 4:53 and 4:50, to pull further away from Bralitis, who had managed to escape from McLoughlin at the six-mile marker.
“To be honest I enjoyed it. The crowd just got behind me and they carried me along,” Mulvey said. “I enjoyed everything about the race, the organisation, the course - it was just great.”
However, he said he still has not shaken off a cold that affected him in the national cross-country championships, a week ago.
“I thought I was over it on Friday but I was coughing again last night and today but it is getting better,” he said.
Mulvey will definitely compete in the world cross-country championships in Fukuoka on the first weekend in April.
“I will travel via New York, where I will compete in the Rás na hÉireann 5k road race the week before. It will be an ideal preparation for Japan,” he said.
After that Mulvey will return to the US to complete his MBA in finance at Iona College, before coming back to reside permanently in Ireland.
Pauline Curley (Tullamore Harriers), the national marathon champion, shook off the cold that affected her performance in the national cross-country championships to record her fastest-ever 10 mile race, winning the women’s title in 56:33 with another Ballycotton debutante, Michelle Murphy-Scottm of Carrignavar, returning from the US to finish second in 59:38. Two-time Longford Marathon winner, Lucy Brennan (Sligo AC), finished third in 59:50.
“The first five miles were tough,” the Tullamore housewife said. “But, from my point of view I was lucky because I was running in a group of men and got some protection from the wind.”
She passed the five mile marker in 28 minutes and was well clear of her main rivals at 10k, in 35:10, before she too enjoyed the support of the hundreds along the roadside on the way to the finish.
“I think I will take a break now,” she said, reflecting on a hectic couple of weeks that saw her win the 3,000m at the national indoor championships in Belfast and then finish in the top six at the national cross-country championships. “I had a pretty bad cold leading up to the nationals and took a couple of days off so I am delighted with that.”
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