The almost traditional Irish victory didn't quite materialise at the Millrose Games in New York's Madison Square Gardens on Friday night; although both Mark Carroll and James Nolan certainly came as close as it gets.
Carroll, produced one of his best indoor runs yet with a brave effort to dominate the 3,000m from start to finish; but was eventually outpaced on the final lap by Kenyan Paul Bitok. Still, Carroll's pace brought both men inside the Millrose record with Bitok finishing in seven minutes 43.81 seconds and Carroll just under a second behind in 4:44.73.
Afterwards Carroll announced his plans to run the short course event at the world cross country championships in Belfast next month and this performance will bring renewed hope of an Irish victory.
"All the training right now is purely endurance based, so I was lacking that bit of speed at the finish," said Carroll. "A couple more races and I'll be a lot sharper so things should be going just about right by the time I get to Belfast. I'm happy with the run here because I made it a strong solid pace and that is exactly what I'm working on at the moment."
After a brief pace-making stint by England's Andy Keith, Carroll, who has won this race for the last three years, was out in front, passing the 1,600m mark in 4:09, with only Bitok on his heels. Just coming off the bell lap, Bitok, the two-time Olympic silver medallist over 5,000m, kicked and held the slight lead around to the finish. "I suppose he sat on me the whole way, " said Carroll. "But that's the kind of runner he is. It was important for me to have a strong race, so its not too disappointing in that respect."
This weekend Carroll heads to Birmingham where he'll run the 5,000m, a race in which Ethiopia's Haile Gebrsellassie is looking for a world record. Carroll won't be returning for the world cross country trial and instead is hoping for pre-selection for the short course event.
Nolan was making his debut at the Millrose Games and for all but the last few strides of the 800m was headed for an impressive victory. Unfortunately, the lack of experience proved fatal as American Johnny Gray crept up at the last moment to claim victory, just 0.02 of a second ahead of Nolan. The UCD student had otherwise run a perfect tactical race, staying in the top three until the last lap and then opening what looked like a winning lead. Gray, however, first won here 13 years ago and his judgment was razor sharp, dipping past Nolan as the Irishman raised his arms to finish in 1:48.69.
Niall Bruton was back in the Garden in search of a third victory in the Wanamaker Mile, the last of which came three years ago. His form has been more suspect in recent times and it never looked like he could pull off another victory on this occasion. The Kenyan element again proved decisive as William Tanui, closely followed the pace-setting of countryman Robert Kibet, cruised home in 3:59.26.
Bruton, was part of a four-man group that trailed from the start and he finished fourth in 4:02.29.
Men's 800m: 1 J Gray (USA) 1:48.69; 2 J Nolan (Irl) 1:48.71; 3 R Kenah (USA) 1:49.52.
Wanamaker Mile: 1 W Tanui (Kenya) 3:59.26; 2 J Njorge (Kenya) 4:00.63; 3 M Holthus (USA) 4:01.61; 4 N Bruton (Irl) 4:02.29.
Men's 3000m: 1 P Bitok (Kenya) 7:43.81; 2 M Carroll (Irl) 7:44.73; 3 D Browne (USA) 7:49.82.
