A race, an event, a spectacle? All three most likely. Anywhere Catherina McKiernan runs these days becomes worthy of serious attention, and yesterday she repeated her win of last year in the Adidas Women's Mini Marathon in Dublin when she finished more than a minute ahead of her closest rival, Teresa Duffy.
It was a day when mothers struck terror into their partners by forcing an afternoon alone with the kids. St Stephen's Green told its own sorry story of the '90s man. The chain-smoking. The frazzled eyes. The when-was-it-going-to-end stare?
On the road, a corresponding story of the '90s woman was taking shape and while almost 35,000 variously conditioned participants took to the streets in the 10km run, the breezy conditions and occasional showers put paid to a record time, although not to a record number of participants. The huge entry now makes the 10km run the biggest all-women event of its kind in the world.
McKiernan, naturally, holds the record time. Yesterday's time, 33:22.00, did not rank with last year's run of 32:32.00, but it was comfortably accomplished.
In truth, anything other than a victory for the Cavan woman would have been quite shocking, having taken the marathon world by the scruff of the neck over the past year, her first at attempting the longer distance.
"This is my first race since the London marathon so I'm happy enough with the outcome," she said. "To be honest, I wasn't going for a time. It was a matter of getting out and racing again. I've another race in two weeks' time and that will be very competitive, so things are looking good."
Her race in Portugal over 11km on June 21st should draw a faster time from McKiernan, who has shown she could become one of the outstanding distance runners of our time. The race in Porto will also feature world marathon rec ord-holder Tegla Loroupe, who clocked 2:20.47 in Rotterdam last month.
"You just have to go out and run fast from the start," McKiernan said in reply to the difficulty of transition from 26 miles to just over six. "That's what I did today. I wasn't too worried about the weather or getting wet but it was a bit blustery and it probably wasn't right for a fast time. I'll get back to running the marathon in the autumn."
McKiernan was running at record pace when she passed the 4km mark in 12:42.00 but at 8km she arrived at 26:35.00. Duffy, a former Irish cross country champion, was always trailing but has set her target on the Dublin marathon later in the year. Lucy White, another of the outside chances, from England, finished third in 34:49.00.
Patrice Dockery, who will compete in the wheelchair world championships in seven weeks' time, boosted her confidence with another win, in 31:49.00, almost 15 minutes quicker than her nearest rival.
The other side of the event, the side that includes the walkers, the joggers and those who stop for a smoke, has now raised more than £30 million for charity.
Women's Mini Marathon: 1 C McKiernan 33:22.00; 2 T Duffy 34:31.00; 3 L White 34:49.00; 4 M Synott 35:51.00; 5 R Lambe 36:18.00; 6 M Sheehan 36:26.00; 7 A Allen 36:30.00; 8 M O'Neil 36:44.00; 9 M Grennan 36:51.00; 10 A Lennon 36:57.00. Wheelchair: 1 P Dockery 31:49.00; 2 C O`Reilly 46:31.00; 3 E Patten 62:03.00.
Tom McGurk had a wonderful double over the 400m flat and hurdles to help Ireland gain promotion in the Europa Cup second league at Kaunas, Lithuania, over the weekend. McGurk was one of a number of athletes with impressive performances that gave the Irish team victory over seven competing nations. His winning time of 50.86 seconds over the hurdles also qualifies him for the European championships in August.
Paul Brizzell powered his way to victory in the 200m in an impressive 21.09 seconds that also sets him up for the championship in Budapest, while Neil Ryan was a close second over 100m in 10.68 seconds.
