McKiernan gets back on track

Athletics News: Catherina McKiernan has laid down plans for a series of road races over the coming months in her effort to return to world-class athletics. Her next outing will be close to home when she runs the Annalee AC 10km in Cavan on May 18th.

Last Sunday, McKiernan took part in her first race of the season in Dunboyne, finishing third in the annual four-mile road race in 21 minutes 44 seconds.

Though well outside her best, it was another step forward in her quest to put over two years of injury problems behind her.

"You have to start somewhere," she said, "and it is a great feeling to be running injury-free again, and I'm also looking forward to getting back into racing mode."

The Cavan race is a promotion of the Annalee club in Ballyhaise, which McKiernan has recently switched to. The 33-year-old hasn't ruled out the possibility of returning to the marathon before the year is out, with the Dublin Marathon in October the obvious target.

Elsewhere, Ireland's Alistair Cragg looks to continue his impressive early season form when he competes in this weekend's famed Penn Relays in Philadelphia, now in its 109th year.

Cragg forms part of the Arkansas college team that hopes to break the US collegiate record for the 4 x mile relay, which currently stands at 16 minutes, 7.97 seconds. According to Arkansas coach John McDonnell the team is in form to attempt a sub-16 minute clocking.

In recent weeks, Cragg has already run 13:25.59 for 5,000 metres and a lifetime best of 3:39.24 for 1,500 metres, and will next target the World Championship 5,000-metre qualifying time of 13:21.50 - which would book his ticket to Paris next August.