McKiernan storms home in record time

AT THE END of it all it was a meeting of the four-titles world cross country runner-up and the five-times world cross country champion.

Catherina McKiernan, Ireland's quadruple silver medallist, embraced quadruple gold medallist Grete Waitz at the finish line on Stephen's Green before travelling back to Cavan knowing that she was the first ever runner to cover the 6.2 miles distance in under 33 minutes.

Not one to make a song and dance about anything, McKiernan was typically understated after her 32:31.00 victory: "I felt very good the whole way around the course. I didn't go out chasing a fast time. Just a nice steady run was all I was looking for," she said afterwards.

Dublin's Theresa Duffy and Monaghan's Rose Lambe took second in 34:12.00 and third in 35:06.00 respectively, as almost 30,000 runners held the Dublin streets hostage yesterday afternoon in the 15th women's mini marathon.

It took 18 minutes and 40 seconds for the entire cast of this epic to cross the starting line on Fitzwilliam Square. The bit parts were, this time, played out by anxious fathers, several of whom fretfully swept their offspring from the road to behind the barriers as the biggest participation event in Irish sport swept down towards the National Maternity Hospital in Holles Street.

The elite runners took off in a frantic sprint start - McKiernan, Duffy, Lambe, England's Tracy Swindell, Offaly's Ann Carroll, Donegal's Kay Byrne and Mags Grennan from Dublin. The streets may have surrendered, but for the runners chasing a fast time, competition was fierce for the fresh air up front.

"It was a bit claustrophobic at the beginning. Everyone was so close together," said one runner. "But once it stretched out it was all right."

The afternoon was drenched in sunshine and, typically, goodwill prevailed. No penalties coming off the crossbar in the final seconds. No end to a summer's dream. No hands buried in heads. No referee's final whistle tearing the heart out of the afternoon. No losers here.

It was the usual collection of young and middle aged women. Women who had never been asked by anyone to pull on a training shoe until the event kicked off in 1983. For the majority, all they needed was to be given a reason to run, to take part - and they jumped.

"Women in general need more inspiration," said Waitz. "They need more encouragement to take the steps and start exercising, especially adult women who didn't grow up in a society where it was taken for granted that women should run.

"So they have more obstacles to overcome, more barriers to break than men. When I started running, the longest distance I was allowed to run was 800 metres. We have come a long, long way but there are still a lot of women out there who need events like this."

Waitz organises a similar race in Oslo every May and this year it attracted 44,000 women over a shorter five kilometre course. Thirty of those runners were Irish. In Stockholm, Sweden, they have 30,000 runners. In Helsinki, Finland they have 15,000 and in New York they have 10,000 women competing. Numbers are up everywhere.

"I've run in every race bar the first one," said 53-year-old Maura Boardman from Lusk.

Kathleen Mongan from Loughrea, Galway, said: "I'm doing it again next year. I'll be hoping to do a better time. I thought if I stopped this time I wouldn't get going again. I've never run it before but I'll definitely be back."

Catherine Walsh was the first visually impaired runner home in 43:20.00 as competitors flooded down Leeson Street and into the Green. A few grazed knees. A lot of sweat. Three million pounds for charity. Not a bad day at all.