McCarthy puts finishing touches to preparations for marathon debut

MARTIN McCARTHY (Leevale) put the finishing touches to his preparations for his marathon debut in Berlin in three weeks’ time when he was placed fourth in the Bristol Half Marathon at the weekend.

"Next weekend will be something of a shock to the system when I run the 5k in Rathfarnham, but really it is all about tapering down for the next three weeks," he said yesterday as he reflected on his Bristol experience.

"I was a bit disappointed with my time 65.03 but I did not run what you could describe as a clever race. The Kenyans kept surging and I covered every move. I took the lead at six miles and tried to control the race but then the winner who I mistook for one of the London-based Kenyans threw in a 4:34 mile, I tried to stay with him and I paid dearly for that effort."