The first wave of elite confirmations for this year’s SPAR Great Ireland Run includes European Cross Country Champion Sergiy Lebid, 2010 winner Martin Fagan and Ireland’s top distance female runner Fionnuala Britton. The 10k Run takes place on Sunday April 10th in the Phoenix Park, Dublin and incorporates the Irish national championships over the distance.
Sergiy Lebid, from Ukraine, won the European Cross Country Championships in December 2010, his ninth success in the event. He is Europe’s outstanding cross country and distance runner. This year will be Lebid’s fourth visit to Dublin for the Great Ireland Run. He finished fourth in 2006 and 2007, and third in 2008.
Martin Fagan from Mullingar Harriers won the 2010 Run in 29 minutes and 17 seconds and was third in 2009. He is the Irish half marathon record holder with a time of 60 minutes 57 seconds.
Fionnuala Britton from Wicklow will be making her road debut at the SPAR Great Ireland Run and should be in top shape. She finished an excellent fourth place in the European Cross Country Championships in December 2010 and followed that a week later with second place at the Cross Cup in Belgium. She is just back from altitude training in South Africa and is targeting the World Cross Country Championships in Spain in March before coming to the Phoenix Park race in April.
Further elite names will be confirmed in the coming weeks.
Entries for the SPAR Great Ireland Run continue to pour in through www.greatirelandrun.org or telephone 1890 930 139
