IAU 24 Hour World Championships 2017

The 12th IAU 24 Hour World Championships took place in Belfast Victoria Park on July 01st/02nd 2017.  This was thanks to Ed Smith, the Energia 24 hour Race Director and a dedicated team of volunteers along with the title sponsor Schneider Electric.  


In addition to the World Championship Race there were also 100 extra places available in the Energia 24 hour open race running at the same time.  The combined event also included the AAI National Championships and for the first time the World Masters Association also included age group categories.

 In the main event there were 300 runners from 40 Countries and Ireland was well represented by an experienced squad from the four provinces of 6 Male & 6 Female Athletes with a support crew of 6. 

 

Men's Team:

1. Eddie Gallen - Captain 

2. Eoin Keith.

3. Aidan Hogan.

4. Tim Brownlie.

5. Daragh O'Loughlin.

6. Malcolm Gamble.

 

Women's Team.

1. Ruthann Sheahan.

2. Amy Masner.

3. Louise Smart.

4. Yvonne Naughton.

5. Susan McCartney.

6. Catherine Guthrie.

 

Support Crew:

1. John O'Regan - Manager

2. Kevin Belton.

3. Gary McConville.

4. Liam Tilly.

5. Louis Byrne.

6. Philip Bourke.

 

In the men´s race, Yoshihiko Ishikawa (JPN) won with a distance of 270.870km. He was followed by Sebastian Bialobrzeski (POL) in 2nd place with a distance of 267.187km and Johan Steene (SWE) finished in 3rd place with a distance of 266.515km.
In the women´s race, Patrycja Bereznowska (POL) won with a distance of 259.991km. The distance run by Bereznowska is a World's Best Performance (pending ratification). She was followed by Aleksandra Niwinska (POL) with a distance of 251.078km and Katalin Nagy (USA) finished in 3rd place running 248.970km. 
In the team´s competition, Japan won the men´s division with a combined distance of 786.463km followed by Poland in second with 766.934km, France in third with a distance of 758.599km and Ireland finished in 9th with 716.993km.
In the women´s division, Poland won the team title with 741.886km. United States of America finished second with 740.856km, Germany third in 691.274km and Ireland finished in 8th with 638.072km.

The next 24 hour World Championships is proposed for July 2019 in Irdning, Austria.

National Championships Female

1st Amy Masner (Parnell AC)                                                                                     228.581Km

2nd Louise Smart (Co Antrim Harriers)                                                                     205.608Km

3rd Susan McCartney (Belfast Association of Rock Climbers & Fell Runners)        203.883Km

National Championships Male

1st Eoin Keith (Sportsworld)                                                                                     248.436Km

2nd Alex O'Shea (St Finbars AC)                                                                              244.253Km

3rd Tim Brownlie (Willowfield Temperance Harriers AC.)                                     242.662Km

 

We also had some results in the World Masters Association Race with Collette O'Hagan (Marathon Club of Ireland) winning Gold medal in her age group with a distance of 142.085km and Eoin Keith (Sportsworld) winning a category Bronze medal with his distance of 246.784km.  Eoin Keith’s distance of 248.436Km is a new National Record beating the previous record of 248.392Km set by Thomas Maguire in Monaco on the 21^st/22^nd Nov 2009. 


For selection purposes the minimum standard required for the men's team is the International B standard of 220km.  For the women's team the minimum required distance is the International B standard of 200km.  Achieving the standard does not guarantee selection as places are limited.  


Next year the Energia 24 hour race returns to the Mary Peter's Track and with the extra interest it's sure to sell out early.   This race will again host the AAI National Championships and notable results will be considered for future Team selection. 

For enquiries regarding next year’s Energia 24 please contact the race director Ed Smith at Ed_n_Smith@hotmail.com

 

John O'Regan

International Teams Coordinator for Ultra Running.

Doherty 8th in 100K European Championships 2013.

Dan Doherty & Keith Whyte, Seregno 2012.

Dan Doherty finished an excellent 8th in the European 100k championships in Belves, France on Sunday 28th April. Dan’s time of 7.05.58 was less than a minute outside the Irish record for the distance. Dan paced himself well and finished strongly, picking off a number of competitors in the closing stages. This displays incredible consistency as he recently recorded a time of 7.05.23 when winning the Self Transcendence (Anglo Celtic Plate)100k in Scotland. Dan will now turn his attention to the World and European 24H championships to be held in the Netherlands in May.

Ireland’s other competitor Keith Whyte unfortunately had to withdraw due to injury at 80k. Keith was also performing strongly up to this point and was disappointed not to post a result. He also demonstrated good form recently when he won the Connemara Ultra.

Special mention must also go to John Collins, Kevin Belton and Jeff Fitsimons. The support crew travelled the 100k course on bikes to provide hydration, nutrition and encouragement to the runners.

24hr World & European Championships 2012

A very successful trip to Poland.  I'll post a detailed race report in a few days but for the moment here's a news item from Athletics Ireland.

The World and European 24 Hour Championships took place over the weekend in Katowice, Poland. Ireland were represented in both men’s and women’s races by experienced ultrarunners and some strong performances reflected this. Pride of place must go to Ruthann Sheahan’s extraordinary performance. Ruthann covered in excess of 229 kilometres over the 24 hours and finished in 5th place in the European Championships and 7th in the World Championships. This is a new Irish record for the event and a breakthrough performance for Ruthann.

Deirdre Finn, the Irish 24 hour champion from 2011, was the other Irish representative but unfortunately her challenge was hampered by stomach problems and she finished in 73rd position.

The men were led home by John O’Regan who is the Irish 24 hour champion.
John finished 25th European and 31st in the World Championship. He was supported by Eddie Gallen who completed his 5th World Championships 24 Hour. Eddie was 33rd in the Europeans and 42nd in the World Championships.

This was a very competitive championships with numbers increased from previous championships. Over 250 athletes took part representing 35 nations.

T minus 3 days.

Stuck for words at the moment but can say my training has gone to plan and I've no possible excuses.
Updates will be available from the Race Website or from the IAU Website.

From the Athletics Ireland Website.

The World and European 24 Hour Championships takes place in Katowice, Poland on 8/9 September.  Ireland will have teams participating in both men’s and women’s events.  The men’s team will consist of John O’Regan and Eddie Gallen.  John is the reigning national champion having won the title at the Energia 24 Hour race in Bangor, Co Down on July 6/7.  Eddie finished third in this race and was runner up to John in 2011 also.

The women’s team will comprise of Deirdre Finn and Ruthann Sheahan.  Deirdre was the national 24 hour champion in 2011 and also included the Bangor 24 Hour race as part of her preparations for Katowice.  The weather conditions were very wet on that occasion so the team will be anticipating a different challenge in Poland.

Each of the team will have a support person in attendance to assist with refuelling and race strategy in what promises to be a gruelling competition.

IAU 24-hr World & European Championships 2012

24-hr World & European Championships 2010.

This is the one I've been waiting for and can now confirm that I've been selected to represent Ireland in the 24-hr World & European Championships 2012 which is less than 3 weeks away.  My year was planned around this race and even though confirmation of selection only happened recently I had trained as if I was doing it.  All races have led to this point and my peak and taper was planned around the race date.

The following appeared on the Athletics Ireland Website.

The World and European 24 Hour Championships takes place in Katowice, Poland on 8/9 September.  Ireland will have teams participating in both men’s and women’s events.  The men’s team will consist of John O’Regan and Eddie Gallen.  John is the reigning national champion having won the title at the Energia 24 Hour race in Bangor, Co Down on July 6/7.  Eddie finished third in this race and was runner up to John in 2011 also.

The women’s team will comprise of Deirdre Finn and Ruthann Sheahan.  Deirdre was the national 24 hour champion in 2011 and also included the Bangor 24 Hour race as part of her preparations for Katowice.  The weather conditions were very wet on that occasion so the team will be anticipating a different challenge in Poland.

Each of the team will have a support person in attendance to assist with refuelling and race strategy in what promises to be a gruelling competition.

IAU & WMA 100K World & European Championships.

I didn't get what I went for but I'm happy with what I got.  I'm not on form for writing a race report at the moment so I've attached a few photos and will hopefully have my race report in a few days.

Athlete Village Winschoten.

The Athlete Parade.

Pre Race Massage

Team Ireland

Food station.

Outstanding Trail World Champs 2011

The official IAU Trail World Championships took place in Connemara on Saturday 9th July and the event has been heralded as an outstanding success.

Elite ultramarathon runners from every populated continent took part in the race, incuding over 120 athletes from the athletics federations of Argentina, Australia, Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Nepal, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, South Africa, Spain and the USA.

The event was also filmed for broadcast on Channel 4, Eurosport, Setanta and a host of other international channels over the coming weeks, surpassing the guaranteed international coverage of any other athletics event in Ireland this year. In addition, official London 2012 Olympic photographer, Mike King, travelled from the UK to photograph the event as well as journalists from France and Italy, which are trail running strongholds.

It was the first occasion an official world championships at trail running came to Ireland.

Race director Richard Donovan, who also organises extreme runs in the polar regions, planned an ambitious route of 70km, starting at Kylemore Abbey and encompassing mountains, grassland trails, compacted gravel trails, bog, loose rock trails and open countryside. He said Connemara was an obvious choice of location for such an extreme race given the amazing natural beautly of the region.

The Reserve Defence Force, Red Cross, Mountain Rescue and local volunteers were all out in force to guide and support people over the specially marked route. Meanwhile, thousands of people around the world logged on to live updates available on the race website www.runconnemara.com.

Incredibly, the first runner home, Erik Clavery (FRA), took only 6.39.07 hrs to complete the gruelling course. He was closely followed by Jason Loutitt (CAN) and Patrick Bringer (FRA). France dominated the team competition with Italy and Norway taking silver and bronze medals, respectively. Ireland finished 7th in the team competition and the first 3 Irishmen were Daniel Doherty 17th (7:19:18), Paul Tierney 24th (7:29:35) and Eoin Keith 27th (7:34:27).

Meanwhile, the women's race was won by Maud Gobert (FRA) in 7:41:31 hrs ahead of defending world champion Cecilia Mora (ITA) and Lucy Colquhoun (GBR). France once again dominated the team competition ahead of Italy and Canada.

Richard Donovan said "It was a fantastic day for everybody and the bonus good weather ensured that Connemara will be showcased to millions of people around the world in a way that the region has never been shown before. The aerial footage of elite ultramarathon runners moving at speed over difficult terrain is incredible."

Adding to the day's success, the International Association of Ultra Runners awarded the Order of Merit to the organisers for their planning and execution of the event.

RESULTS

Men1. Erik Clavery (FRA) - 6:39:07
2. Jason Loutitt (CAN) - 6:40:32
3. Patrick Bringer (FRA) - 6:47:50

TEAM
1. France - 20:24:50
2. Italy - 20:56:36
3. Norway - 21:29:02

Women1. Maud Gobert (FRA) - 7:41:31
2. Cecilia Mora (ITA) - 7:50:02
3. Lucy Colquhoun (FRA) - 7:57:20

TEAM
1. France - 24:00:42
2. Italy - 24:21:35
3. Canada - 27:01:08