Thursday 3rd April 2008 Star studded elite field to lead 8,000 runners in the sixth Great Ireland Run this Sunday Some of the world’s outstanding distance runners will lead off 8,000 runners in the Great Ireland Run at lunchtime on Sunday next, April 6th in the Phoenix Park, Dublin. Last year’s champions, Abraham Chebii of Kenya and Victoria Mitchell of Australia, return to defend their titles and both will face exceptionally strong challengers.
Chebii will race among others against Ahmed Hassan Abdullah of Qatar who finished in eighth place last weekend at the World Cross Country Championships in Edinburgh and seven times and current European cross country champion Sergiy Lebid of the Ukraine who finished fourth in the Run last year. The Run also includes Yared Asmeron of Eritrea who finished fourth in the World Championships marathon in Osaka last year.
The domestic challenge will be led by Vinnie Mulvey of Raheny Shamrocks who finished third in the Irish cross country championships this year, former national half marathon and 10k champion Joe McAllister from St Malachy’s in Belfast and Alan O’Shea from Bantry who won the Cork City Marathon last year.
The women’s field will be led by defending champion Victoria Mitchell of Australia. She will face Doris Changeywo of Kenya who finished fourth in the World Cross Country Championships last weekend, and her Australian compatriots Benita Johnson (11th in Edinburgh) and Lisa Weightman (20th). They will be joined by last year’s Run runner up, Britain’s Helen Clitheroe. Another Briton, Jo Pavey will open her 2008 season in Dublin. Pavey was fourth in the 10,000m at the 2007 World Championships and fifth in the 5,000m at the 2004 Olympic Games. Irish hopes will rest with Maria McCambridge of DSD AC and Rosemary Ryan from Bilboa AC.
Ireland’s most successful female athlete, Sonia O’Sullivan will also participate, using the Run as a training spin before the Boston Marathon on 21st April.
Other overseas elite entrants include Moumin Geele (Somalia), Ivan Babaryka (Ukraine), Nick McCormick (Great Britain), Andy Lemoncello (Great Britain), Martin Dent (Australia), Oskar Kack (Sweden), Kate Reed (Great Britain), Aniko Kalovics (Hungary), Helen Clitheroe (Great Britain), Tina Ramos (Spain) and Nicola Bamford (Great Britain).
While late entries cannot be accepted on the day, they will be taken in the Phoenix Park between 10 am and 4 pm on Saturday 5th and at Lifestyle Sports in Blanchardstown between 12 noon and 7 pm on Friday 4th.
The Run begins at 1:15 pm and will be shown live on RTE Two television. The Run is now Ireland’s largest mixed 10k race.
The official starter will be An Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern TD.
The Run will incorporate a novel inter-county challenge between all 32 counties in Ireland based on the cumulative finishing times of their first seven runners under one hour. The time of every runner crossing the finish line is instantly logged through the smart chip worn by every runner. When the seventh runner from each county has crossed the line, the total time for that county’s first seven runners will be calculated and a ranking list for all 32 counties produced.
The county with the lowest total time will be declared the winner of the Ronnie Delany Perpetual Trophy for the best county in Ireland. The full results will provide an interesting and informative snapshot of the relative rankings of runners in all 32 counties. County Cavan was the winner in 2007 followed by Wicklow and Wexford.
Many participants are running for good causes including the Run’s two nominated charities: The Marie Keating Foundation and Our Lady’s Hospital for Sick Children, Crumlin.
The Run will be preceded at 11:15 am by the Great BUPA Ireland Junior Run for children aged between 8 and 15 years over a distance of 2.5 km. This event has also grown dramatically in size and over 600 will take part.
END
Further information:
Roy Dooney, The Media Group 087 2414165/ 01 2301815
