Carroll's sights on new Irish record

ATHLETICS: Mark Carroll has targeted the Boston Marathon on April 21st as his next attempt for a new Irish record at the distance. It follows his sixth place finish in New York last November where, in making his debut, he became the second fastest Irishman of all time after John Treacy.

Although the elite field is still being finalised, it is known that among those Carroll will face is Rodgers Rop of Kenya, who won both Boston and New York last year.

Boston was also the stage for Treacy's current Irish record of two hours, nine minutes and 15 seconds - set when finishing third in 1988.

Carroll's debut time of 2:10.54 from New York was all the more impressive considering the city's notoriously demanding course. Later this week he'll leave for Albuquerque, New Mexico, for his first period of altitude training specifically designed to progress his marathon time.

The Cork athlete had been deciding between running in Boston or a major European city, most notably London, which takes place the week before on April 13th.

It appeared, however, that the organisers in London had already filled much of their elite field and Boston, just an hour north of his US home in Providence, Rhode Island, became the obvious choice.

There is also likely to be some significant appearance money in Boston, where Irish competitors have traditionally been well received.

Treacy made several efforts to win the race, with third place being his best, while Andy Ronan of Wexford also finished third in 1991 - clocking 2:11.27.

Neil Cusack was the last Irish winner back in 1974, but unfortunately for him that preceded the days of substantial prize-money.

The Irish record is also a clear motivation, and would give Carroll, who recently turned 31, the complete set of distance records from 3,000 metres upwards.

His decision to target another marathon is likely to rule him out of the coming world indoor and cross country championships, although he may target some indoor races as part of his preparation. The outdoor season does remain a major part of his plans for 2003.

Geraldine Hendricken, meanwhile, has outlined her plans for the several races both indoors and cross country over the coming weeks, starting with the mile at the Boston Indoor Games this Saturday.

The race is part of a brief US tour that also includes the women's mile at the Millrose Games in New York on Friday week.

She will also run the Irish Indoor championships in mid-February, and later the Irish cross-country short-course trials on March 16th, which helps determine the Irish team for the World Championships in Lausanne a fortnight later.