Early season boost for Carroll

ATHLETICS News: A second-place finish for Mark Carroll in New York's Central Park Midnight Run was still a satisfying start to his new season. The Cork athlete lost out to last year's winner Christian Hesch of California, but still came away assured his recent injury problems are behind him.

Carroll got some further consolation in that the women's race was won by his American girlfriend, Amy Rudolph, whom he is due to marry next October. Like Hesch, who won in 18 minutes 28 seconds, she set a course record for the four-mile race with a time of 21:17.

Early in the race Carroll sat in the lead pack that included Moroccan Elarbi Khattabi. With less than half a mile to go Hesch surged towards the victory, while Carroll kicked past Khattabi in the final 200 metres to take second in 18:32, also under Hesch's 18:36 course record set one year ago.

Back at home, Dublin's Gary Hynes of the Metro-St Brigid's club proved strongest in wet and windy conditions to win the Tom Brennan Memorial 5k road race in the Phoenix Park, also on New Year's Day.

Hynes had six seconds to spare on Cormac Finnerty of Mullingar Harriers with Paul Fleming of Rathfarnham WSAF in third position. Roisín McGettigan, the Irish steeplechase record holder and back from the US for the holidays, won the women's race ahead of the much-improved Lucy D'Arcy of Sportsworld with Gladys Daniels of Dundrum-South Dublin in third.

Over 400 runners set off into the difficult conditions, and the very strong wind hampered any aspirations for a fast time on the flat two-lap course. Hynes was always with the leading bunch of Finnerty and Brooks and pulled away over the last 600 metres to win by six seconds.

In the absence of the injured Maria McCambridge, McGettigan easily won the women's race having a minute to spare on D'Arcy, and she goes into 2005 ready to become the first Irish woman to compete in the new steeplechase event at the World Championships in Helsinki next August.