The Official Athletics Thread

[BlackpoolTerrier]

Nice win for Michelle Finn in the great scottish run half marathon.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1576540252943970304

I don't know Lily Partridge but Fionnuala Ross was irish marathon champ a few years back.

Rob Heffernan was saying on RTE she should pack up the steeple and head to the marathon. On tgis evidence she listened to him

Nice one Guapo - I didn't see that one. Regarding the move to marathon, I reckon she'd need to be sub 1:10 for the half to be a credible marathon performer - unless she was cruising yesterday. Don't forget she's a consistent finalist in the steeplechase - you'd need fair going to be that far up a marathon field.

Nice going from Ross BTW - just rocked up with a normal entry and went for it.

 

[BlackpoolTerrier]

Came across this page online today - a precious precious piece of Irish athletics history - Sonia's training diary from March 1998. This was her comeback year after the shite she went through in Atlanta and Athens - this was the year she won the double World Championship cross-country in the Spring and the double European 5,000 and 10,000m golds in the Summer. You can see the great work going in each week and how well she was going.

You read down along, gradually losing it as you absorb the volume of training and the speed of the fast stuff and then you see on the 19th - "Travel to Morocco" - here we go - and then casually noted in for the Saturday and the Sunday "World Cross Country 8km - 1st" and "World Cross Country 4km - 1st" . LOL, just like that, a crazy double gold in the Worlds.

Needless to say, like the best of us, she found Cork to Cobh tough old going on the following Wednesday before rocking into 7 X 1,000m pieces in Limerick just two days later.

Great old buzz reading this lads.

 

[El Guapo]

Paris Olympic Marathon will have a mass participation event.

Paris 2024 Marathon Pour Tous

Paris 2024 is determined to provide an outstanding Games experience. Organising mass participation events such as a general-public Marathon will be a first in Olympic history.

www.paris2024.org

483m total elevation with a 13.5% hill thrown in there

Better get back to that Glen Church Loop.

 

[Carmona]

Paris Olympic Marathon will have a mass participation event.

Paris 2024 Marathon Pour Tous

Paris 2024 is determined to provide an outstanding Games experience. Organising mass participation events such as a general-public Marathon will be a first in Olympic history.

www.paris2024.org

483m total elevation with a 13.5% hill thrown in there

Better get back to that Glen Church Loop.

I can see it coming down to Terrier and Kipchoge. Has the latter ever done that big hill that our boy does down by Monkstown? Faugheen or something. Dunno, might put a shnakey 5er on BpT.

 

[El Guapo]

I can see it coming down to Terrier and Kipchoge. Has the latter ever done that big hill that our boy does down by Monkstown? Faugheen or something. Dunno, might put a shnakey 5er on BpT.

Two fellas who have been underdeclaring their age for years

 

[El Guapo]

Looks Epic to be fair....

https://twitter.com/x/status/1577657991066750976

 

[BlackpoolTerrier]

Yep, any run around these big iconic cities is epic (you can even have epic routes in Dublin, LOL). They are avoiding the hiller "Northside" (sound familiar?) and the Southwest of the city too. 480+ metres of climbing is heavy going but since the race will be tactical, that won't be as big a deal as lads won't be trying to hold a fast pace.



The two sharp climbs are interesting - one is at the end of a sustained ascent - defo a Raffeen job as Carmona tried to say, even if there is a flat piece before the steepest kick. However, it's probably too early in the race to go for it and the main players will surely stay together through that part.

The second climb is different. Pretty much bang on 30km is where Kipchoge launched his devastating burst of graceful speed in Japan and surely lads will be eyeing up the opportnity for an escape here in the Foret de Meudon. Drop the main group near the top, give it absolute welly on the descent and then panel it over the last 10km once you hit back to the river.

This is a brilliant course - ideally set up for racing (rather than time trialling). As GuapoY says, it'll be an epic.

 

[Papa Smurf]

With that mass participation marathon, are they proposing running it alongside the mens marathon itself? In other words will the lucky few (well 19,900) be running the course at same time, starting from Pens behind the olympians??
I ran the world half in that format in Cardiff 2015 and started just behind Kamworor when he tripped over the timing mat. From memory he ran a 4:30 1st mile having been trampled and gotten up off the floor

I was hoping to make the trip to Paris to watch a few days of the action but wouldnt it be some buzz to be packing the race gear also!

 

[Papa Smurf]

in terms of the course. It certainly does look at cracker, nothing worse than a flat time trialing course particular for championship running.

 

[El Guapo]

With that mass participation marathon, are they proposing running it alongside the mens marathon itself? In other words will the lucky few (well 19,900) be running the course at same time, starting from Pens behind the olympians??
I ran the world half in that format in Cardiff 2015 and started just behind Kamworor when he tripped over the timing mat. From memory he ran a 4:30 1st mile having been trampled and gotten up off the floor

I was hoping to make the trip to Paris to watch a few days of the action but wouldnt it be some buzz to be packing the race gear also!

Not clear. It's the same day on the same route but it could start 2mins or 10 hours after the elites