Elizabeth Ndudi

The World Relays will take centre stage this weekend as teams from around the world descend on the Botswanan capital, Gaborone, in search of spots at September’s Ultimate Championships and the 2027 World Championships.

Two weeks out from the majority of NCAA Div I conference championships, dozens of Irish student-athletes will compete in collegiate meetings across the USA. Closer to home, Irish athletes studying at British universities will contest the BUCS Championships, the main event of their student calendar.

Laura Nicholson will race over 800m in Japan, while Rhasidat Adeleke could open her outdoor season in Austin.

The Irish Milers Club Clonmel meeting and the first Dublin Graded meeting take place on Saturday while attention will turn to the roads on Sunday with the Belfast City Marathon, the Dublin Half Marathon and the Great Limerick Run all taking place.

World Relays

Twelve of the sixteen places at next year’s World Championships will be allocated based on finishing positions at the World Relays. The top six teams in the mixed 4x400m and the mixed 4x100m will also qualify for the Ultimate Championships in September.

Ireland will be represented in the women’s 4x100m, the women’s 4x400m and the mixed 4x400m in Gaborone, and while none of the teams are quite at top strength, all three will endeavour to qualify for Beijing next year.

Qualification for this summer’s European Championships is based purely on accumulated times for the best two performances during the qualification window, but a fast time here may help improve the plight of one or more of the teams.

Currently, Irish relay teams sit in qualification spots in five of the six relay events for Birmingham, with the Men’s 4x100m (9th), the Women’s 4x400m (10th), the Men’s 4x400m (11th) and the Women’s 4x100m (12th) all well positioned, with 16 places available.

Qualification, however, is far from secured for the Mixed 4x400m team, ranked eighth with just eight spots available. A time faster than the 3:13.59 they achieved at the World Championship heats in Tokyo would increase the team’s chances of being on the startline to defend their title in Birmingham.

World Relays has been a successful meeting for Irish relay teams in recent years, with both the women’s 4x400m and mixed 4x400m teams qualifying for major championships at the past two editions.

The mixed 4x400m picked up a medal in 2024, and the now-discontinued women’s 4x200m team made the podium in 2021. The women’s 4x100m team qualified via the 2021 edition for the 2022 World Championships in Eugene, their last appearance at a major championship.

US Meetings

Among the entries for the Texas Invitational in Austin on Thursday and Friday is multiple Irish record holder Rhasidat Adeleke. The Dublin woman, who is due to race the 400m at the Shanghai Diamond League on 16th May is entered in both the 100m and 200m. Conor Kelly (400m) and Victoria Amiadamen (400m Hurdles) are also on the entry list for the Austin event.

The LSU Invitational in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, has Continental Tour Challenger status, and among the athletes looking for fast times there will be Lucy-May Sleeman. The startlists are not available at the time of writing, so it’s likely that other Irish athletes will also be racing there.

The ever-improving Sean Aigboboh is entered for both the 100m and 200m at the Cameron Burrell Alumni Invitational in Houston. The Tallaght AC athlete holds the Athletics Ireland B standard for Birmingham at both distances.

The Duke Twilight startlist includes the ever-improving Nathan Cremin (1500m) and Liam Lyons (800m and 1500m), Kate Joyce (Javelin Throw), who recently transferred allegiance to Ireland from the USA, and Heather Murphy (5000m).

Siún Quinn and Elizabeth Ndudi (Gary Wieneke Memorial), Maddie Mooney, Mark Milner (Oregon State High Performance); David Davitt, Grace Weigele and Jack Fenlon (Larry Ellis Invitational) are among the other athletes appearing on startlists for events across the USA this weekend. A small number will also compete in conference championships.

See the TrackAthletes NCAA/Collegiate page for other athletes and startlists not available at the time of writing.

Action in Japan

Laura Nicholson won the 1500m at the Oda Mikio Memorial, a continental tour bronze meeting, in Hiroshima on Wednesday, where Brian Fay placed 3rd in the men’s 1500m. She will race over 800m at the Shizuoka International Athletics Meet, another bronze event, in Fukuroi on Sunday.

Irish events

Some of the rising middle-distance athletes who have recently had their profiles added to TrackAthletes, including Pia Langton and Saoirse Fitzgerald, are among the entries for the first Irish Milers Club meeting of the year in Clonmel on Saturday. The opening Dublin graded meeting will also take place at Morton Stadium on Saturday.

Ann-Marie McGlynn is among the entrants for the Belfast City Marathon, alongside a handful of international athletes and 15,000 other participants across the marathon and marathon relay. The race also incorporates the Northern Ireland and Ulster Championships.

Paul O’Donnell, Seán Tobin, John Travers, Hugh Armstrong, Nicola Sheridan and Sorcha Nic Dhomhnaill are among the entries for the Dublin City Half Marathon. Meanwhile, Shannon-side, the sold-out Great Limerick Run will feature races over the marathon, half-marathon and 6-mile distances.

British University Championships

A dozen or so Irish athletes will compete at the British University (BUCS) T&F Championships in Cardiff over the weekend. Two-time Irish Indoor Champion David Onwudiwe and Michael Alajiki, who represented Ireland at the European Team Championships in 2025, will be among the medal contenders in the men’s triple jump.

Niamh Malone and Lucy McGlynn are among the entries for the Women’s 400m Hurdles. Frank McGrath is listed for both the 1500m and 5000m.

Summer is coming. And the track season is about to heat up. This weekend is just a taster of what's to come. Check out the Quick Updates for significant and breakthrough performances across the weekend.

This is a big weekend for student-athletes on both sides of the Atlantic. The IUAA Track and Field and Multi-Events Championships draws a close to the Intervarsity schedule for the academic year and raises the curtain on the domestic track and field season.

The US season warms up ahead of championship events, with Irish collegiate and professional athletes competing at a number of big meetings, including some on the Continental Tour calendar.

Some athletes will open their outdoor seasons at home and abroad over the coming days, while a few, including Israel Olatunde, may even register their first result of 2026.

Intervarsities

Working out who will actually compete at IUAA events is not an exact science, but if the entry list is anything to go by, there could be some exciting match-ups in the men’s sprints, the women’s 5000m, and even some of the field events at this weekend's IUAA Track & Field Championships.

The chaos and unpredictability is part of the fun, and this year’s edition marks the 10th anniversary of the ‘From the Depths of Hell’ women’s 4x400m relay, which achieved worldwide recognition for Phil Healy’s maiden 400m run, and Cathal Dennehy and Ronan Duggan’s colourful commentary.

Three of the competitors in that race (Healy, Michelle Finn and Louise Shanahan) are now Olympians, and others, including Jenna Bromell, Ellie Hartnett and Kate Doherty, have won national senior medals. For a race not obviously big on quality (the winning time was outside 4 minutes), it was sure packed with potential.

Relive the drama here!

More recently, an epic tussle for last year’s women’s 1500m title heralded bigger things to come for its two main players. Eimear Maher, the eventual victor, went on to win bronze at the European U23 Championships last July, while Lucy Holmes, the race’s runner-up, won her first national senior title earlier this year.

Many on this year's entry list are likely to have been added in hope rather than anticipation, but among the emerging stars potentially looking to add themselves to the album of memorable Intervarsity moments are Michael Farrelly, Max O’Reilly, Craig Duffy and Colin Doyle in the sprints, Adam Nolan in the 110m hurdles, Fintan Dewhirst in the 400m hurdles and Conor Callinan in the Pole Vault.

The women’s field events could be of a very high standard. Nicola Tuthill is entered in the hammer while Anna Gavigan, who last weekend extended her personal best, is expected to compete in the women’s discus. The national indoor weight for distance winner, Kotryna Pacerinskaite, could compete in the shot put, hammer and weight for distance.

Greek triple-jumper Daphni Doulaptsi-Teeuwen will look to add further silverware in the horizontal jumps, Aoife O’Sullivan may be the clear favourite for the high jump, while Laura Frawley will be looking for further multi-event honours.

Ireland’s top two male javelin throwers are both entered. Conor Cusack was due to compete at the Spring Throws last weekend, but didn’t, and Oisin Joyce has been out with injury for more than a year, but an exciting battle between the UL and Lake District AC teammates could be on the cards if both make it to the startline. The two have won the last five national senior titles between them, but World Athletics lists no meeting between them. Even if it doesn’t happen this weekend, memorable Cusack-Joyce head-to-heads can’t be far off.

Others to look out for include Róise Roberts in the women’s 5000m and Aisling Lane and Oisin Lane in the walks.

Dublin City University have won the last seventeen overall team titles. University of Limerick, who finished second on 15 of those occasions, will be among those looking to end that streak.

The event is being hosted by MTU in Cork and those who can't make it in person can follow the action on the Athletics Ireland YouTube channel.

US Track and Field meetings

Diarmuid O’Connor is competing in the Mt. SAC Relays Combined Events, which started on Wednesday. O’Connor’s overnight score after five events is 3907, 162 points down on the same point in his personal best performance last April. He is lying in 13th place, in an event that holds World Combined Events Tour Silver (Cat B) status.

The Bryan Clay Invitational in Azusa, CA has become one of the leading distance meetings for college and emerging professional athletes. The extensive startlists include Ronan McMahon-Staggs, Oisín Ó Gailín, Mark Milner, Susie Nestor, Sarah Hosey, Eimear McCarroll and Claire Crowley in the 1500m. Ryan McCarthy, Roisin Treacy and Ailish Hawkins are entered for the 5000m, and Abdel Laadjel, Shay McEvoy, Dean Casey and Claragh Keane are due to race over 10,000m.

There will also be a strong distance representation at the Wake Forest Invitational in Winston-Salem, NC. Conall Rogers and Nathan Cremin are entered for the 800m, Emer McGlynn for the 1500m and Noah Harris, Grace Richardson and Heather Murphy over 5000m.

National record holder Israel Olatunde could open his 2026 account at the Tom Jones Memorial Invitational (Continental Tour Challenger) in Gainesville, FL where he is among the entries in the 100m. He hasn’t raced since running 10.08 in London at the end of August 2025. Conor Kelly (200m, 400m), Elizabeth Ndudi (Long Jump) and Daire Mahon (High Jump) are also among the entries.

Sean Aigboboh has had an incredible start to 2026, running 20.54 over 200m last weekend, and will race again over that distance at the Tom Tellez Invitational in Houston, TX. Fellow in-form sprinter Lauren Roy is entered for the 100m and 200m at the Joe Gillespie Invitational in Stephenville, TX.

Charlie O’Donovan (Mile) and David Davitt (400m) are on the startlist for the Paul Donahue Invite in Chester, PA, while Victoria Amiadamen (400m Hurdles) and Aoife Hernon (400m) are among the entries for the Mt. SAC Relays (Continental Tour Bronze).

A sprinkling of athletes will be competing at other meetings, most of which are not on the World Athletics calendar. You can find links to results for these meetings, and details of who is competing, on the TrackAthletes calendar.

Boston Marathon

Barry Keane is among the elite entries for Monday’s Boston Marathon. The Waterford AC athlete has completed two marathons to date, with his best performance of 2:11:31 coming at The Marathon Project in Arizona in December. Keane's half marathon PB of 1:01:22 hints at faster times to come at the longer distance.

While the World Indoor Championships are still a week away, there’s plenty at stake for Irish athletes over the coming days, with the European Throwing Cup taking place in Cyprus and the NCAA Indoor Championships in the USA.

While last year's medal bonanza will be difficult to repeat in Nicosia, there is still plenty for the Irish throwers to play for, and while NCAA medals are also difficult to come by, three Irish athletes carry record-breaking form into the weekend's decider.

Meanwhile, six recently crowned National Senior Indoor Champions will be among those looking to add National U20 and U23 titles to their collections.

European Throwing Cup

The 2025 trip to Nicosia was a memorable one for Irish throwers, with three athletes making the podium. Nicola Tuthill earned her third consecutive medal in the U23 Hammer, upgrading from silver in 2023 and 2024 to win gold. Anna Gavigan threw a then PB of 53.91m to win silver in the U23 Discus, while 2024 World U20 medallist Oisin Joyce won bronze in the U23 Javelin.

Gavigan will compete again in the U23 Discus, and will look to at least match her performance from last year.

Tuthill went on to win silver at both the European U23 Championships and the World University Games before making the World Championship in Tokyo last year. She will seek to be competitive among Europe’s best senior hammer throwers here, in preparation for the European Championships in Birmingham this summer.

Niamh Fogarty broke the forty-year-old national discus record when she threw 58.40, in Oklahoma last April, and will look to improve on her 15th place from last year. Eric Favors, like Fogarty, is a regular on the Irish team for this event, and will be hoping for a big throw to set his outdoor campaign alight.

Conor Cusack made big strides in the Javelin last summer, ending the season with a PB of 75.42m. He will hope to carry that momentum into 2026, when he takes part in the senior Javelin competition for the first time.

Tuthill has already secured the qualification standard for the European Championships in Birmingham later this summer. Favors has surpassed the Athletics Ireland B standard, and is sitting well within the quota spots on ranking; indeed, his best is just 5cm short of the automatic qualification standard.

The respective Athletics Ireland B standards and the collection of ranking points will be at the forefront of Fogarty and Cussack’s minds in the coming months. Fogarty’s national record is better than the Athletics Ireland B standard of 57.80m, the minimum she would need to make her first major championships.

Cussack would need to improve to at least 79.00m to have any chance of making the cut-off for Birmingham, but given his improvement in the past 12 months, that is looking ever more possible.

NCAA battles

The startlists for the NCAA Division I Championships in Arkansas (Fayetteville) on Friday and Saturday will include five Irish athletes, including two who have also been selected for the World Indoor Championships next weekend.

Lauren Roy, who has been in scintillating form this season, will compete in the 60m and 200m. Roy has improved to 7.19 over 60m – the distance she will contest in Torun – this season and her 22.89 over 200m places her 2nd on the Irish all-time list, indoors and overall, behind Rhasidat Adeleke.

Maeve O’Neill has been another surprise package in early 2026, breaking the Irish Indoor 800m record last month and earning herself a spot at the World Indoors. She has improved her outright PB by 2.33 seconds this year and is ranked sixth on times this season heading into the weekend decider.

Elizabeth Ndudi is another to have set an Irish record this indoor season, when she added 1cm to Kelly Proper's 2010 mark. Ndudi is ranked fourth on 2026 performances, but with little to choose between the 16 contestants, this one could go down to the wire.

Abdel Laadjel had a fabulous run to finish top 10 at the NCAA Cross Country Championships in November, and he will be in the mix when the 5000m title is contested on Friday.

Seán Donoghue, a regular on successful Villanova middle-distance relay teams, is among the names listed for their Distance Medley Relay team this weekend.

The NCAA Division II and NCAA Division III championships will also be contested this weekend. Louis O’Loughlin (Mile), Ava O’Connor (Mile, 3000m) and Claragh Keane (5000m) will compete at the Division II event in Virginia Beach, VA, while Lucas Fadden (60m, 200m) is among the qualifiers for the Division III event in Birmingham, AL.

The NAIA Championships – the other division of collegiate competition in the US - took place last weekend. Nathan Cremin won gold in the 1000m (2:22.26) while Heather Murphy won silver in the 5000m (16:24.40).

U20 and U23 athletes compete for national titles

National senior champions Sean Doggett, Michael Kent, Adam Nolan, Emmanuel Osas, Meabh Corkery and Kotryna Pacerinskaite will be among those competing for age-group medals in Athlone on Saturday.

Doggett, who is the fastest Irish man over 400m in 2026 will race over 200m (U23), while Kent, the national Pole Vault champion, will compete in the U20 Long Jump. Osas will again contest the High Jump and Nolan the 60m Hurdles, both at U23 level, while Coakery will look to continue her steady improvement in the U20 Pole Vault. Pacerinskaite, the national Weight for Distance champion, is entered for both that and the Shot Put this weekend.

The U20 women’s middle-distance races look stacked with talent, and are likely to be closely-contested affairs, but there is a strong entry right across the programme, and an exciting day of action is guaranteed. See the Athletics Ireland website for a full preview.

Lynch on the roads of New York

Former Irish marathon record holder Peter Lynch will continue his preparations for next month’s London Marathon when he takes to the NYC Half startline on Sunday. This will be Lynch’s first serious test since finishing 24th at the World Championships in September.

Even with a potential six spots available, it’s likely that the competition for the Irish places in the men’s marathon in Birmingham will be hotly contested.

Fearghal Curtin and Paul O’Donnell have already secured the Automatic Qualification standard, and Ryan Creech, who just missed that standard in Seville last month, is comfortably within the quota spaces. Lynch, National Champion David McGlynn, Barry Keane and Hiko Tonosa, also have the Athletics Ireland B standard, the minimum needed for selection.

The Irish National Senior Indoor Championships takes centre stage this weekend, but Irish athletes will also be in action at Conference Championships in the US, on the roads in Japan and outdoors in Hobart.

With just over a week left in the qualification period for the World Indoors, Irish athletes hoping to compete there will have half an eye on the ranking lists for Toruń, and some may even be targeting B standards over the weekend.

National Indoor Championships

The 38th edition of the Irish Senior Indoor Championships will take place at the National Indoor Arena (NIA) in Abbotstown on Saturday and Sunday.

Among the athletes expected to headline the event is defending 60m champion and newly minted national record holder Bori Akinola, who has already secured the Auto Q for the World Indoor Championships.

The men’s middle-distance races are again packed with intrigue, and the 1500m and 3000m promise to be close battles, irrespective of which event the main contenders decide to do.

Both national 1500m, mile and 3000m national record holder Andrew Coscoran, and European U23 Cross Country Champion Nick Griggs are entered for the 1500m and 3000m. Coscoran has the standard for World Indoors in both events, while Griggs – who is still looking for his first national senior title – has the standard over the longer distance.

Darragh McElhinney has the B standard for the 3000m, and he’s entered to race over that distance on Sunday, as is the ever-improving Callum Morgan. Luke McCann and James Dunne will continue their return from injury over the metric mile.

Mark English, who has broken the national indoor 600m and 800m records in 2026 will look to add another national 800m title to his tally, while Emma Moore will be the likely favourite in the women’s 800m.

Ciara Neville is one of three Irish athletes with the Athletics Ireland B standard in for Toruń in the women's 60m, but with the other two in college in the US, she’ll start as red-hot favourite on Sunday, as will Sarah Lavin, who has the World Indoor standard, in the sprint hurdles on Saturday.

Sharlene Mawdsley looked very impressive when she opened her season over 400m last week, and she’ll look to win a third consecutive title over the distance on Sunday.

Ireland’s top female multi-eventers – Kate O’Connor and Anna McCauley – are both entered for a few events over the weekend. O’Connor, who has already secured her spot in Torun will compete over 60m hurdles and long jump, while McCauley is entered for the hurdles, long jump and shot put.

Eric Favors (shot put), Aoife O’Sullivan (high jump) and Lauren O’Callaghan (long jump) will look to add to their growing resumes in the field events, while the men’s long jump could be head-to-head between Leevale pair Reece Ademola (who is yet to open his season) and Sam Healy.

The women’s triple jump will have its first winner not named Saragh Buggy since 2015.

See the Athletics Ireland website and other media sources for in-depth previews.

The event will be broadcast on Virgin Media 2 on Sunday from 2:30-4:30pm, with Athletics Ireland YouTube streams across both days.

Take part in Fantasy National Indoors here

NCAA Conference Championships

Three of the Irish records set in 2026 (Maeve O’Neill, 800m; Diarmuid O’Connor, Heptathlon; Elizabeth Ndudi, Long Jump) and other breakthroughs (Lauren Roy, 60m and 200m) have come from athletes based in the NCAA system.

Most, if not all, of these athletes are competing for their universities in the NCAA Conference Championships this week.

Athletes qualify for NCAA nationals by being in the top 16 performances across the nation during the season. Roy, O’Neill and Ndudi all look likely to qualify, while Abdel Laadjel is currently sitting just outside the qualification spots in the men’s 5000m.

Elsewhere

Laura Nicholson has spent the winter training in Australia, and has already picked up a win in New Zealand and potentially valuable World Ranking points in Perth, Australia. She will line up in the 3000m at the Hobart Track Classic on Saturday.

Irish record holder Fearghal Curtin is among the elite entries for the Tokyo Marathon on Sunday. Curtin broke the national record last October when winning the Gyeongju International Marathon in South Korea in 2:07:54.

While there are no World Indoor Tour gold meetings this weekend, it will still be a very big one for Irish athletes, particularly in the USA, where it’s the final big weekend of pre-championship college meetings.

Rhasidat Adeleke is likely to open her season in the USA, Luke McCann will continue his comeback in Germany, and Laura Nicholson will race outdoors in Australia. 

The distance athletes will seek fast times at Boston University, the Sound Invite and elsewhere, collegiate-based sprinters and field eventers compete at Fayetteville and elsewhere, and the marathon men take on Seville.

Domestic action will be in the form of the National League final on Saturday and the National Intermediate and Masters Cross Country on Sunday.

Rhasidat’s return?

Rhasidat Adeleke, who hasn’t raced since July last year, appears on the startlists for two meetings in the US this weekend.

She is down for the 60m at the Don Kirby Elite Invitational in Albuquerque, NM, where she set the current national record for 60m (7.15a) and 200m (22.49a) in 2024, and the 300m at the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, AR, a World Indoor Tour silver event. Both races are on Saturday, so she won’t be doing both.

Other Irish athletes scheduled to compete at the Tyson Invitational are Conor Kelly (400m), Elizabeth Ndudi (Long Jump) and Siún Quinn (High Jump).

Distance athletes chasing times in the US

Four Irish athletes are set to compete in the professional races at the Sound Invite in Winston-Salem, NC, which also carries World Indoor Tour silver status. After winning his race in impressive fashion in Boston two weeks ago, Darragh McElhinney will have another crack at the World Indoor qualifying time of 8:33.00

With just two places available, and Andrew Coscoran and Nick Griggs already after securing the standard, the standard is most likely needed. James Gormley, who raced at World Indoors last year, will likely also be chasing the standard.

Ronan McMahon-Staggs will race the Mile, while Hannah Segrave is down to contest the 800m.

A healthy contingent of Irish athletes are also due to compete at the David Hemery Valentine Invite at Boston University. Among them are Jack O’Leary, who would love to add the European 5000m standard (13:08.00) to the one he’s already secured over 10,000m; Abdel Laadjel who is on the 3000m startlist; Maeve O’Neill who has recently made big improvements over 800m and Cillian Kirwan, also 800m.

Other Irish entries include Oisín Lynch, Finn Boyle, Gemma Galvin, Claire Crowley (all 800m), Emmy Thornton (1000m), Louis O'Loughlin, Oisín Ó Gailín, Seán Donoghue, Liam Lyons, Seán Cronin, Cara Laverty, Nicole Dinan (Mile), Jack Fenlon, Charlie O'Donovan, Ava O'Connor, Roisin Treacy (3000m), Ryan McCarthy (3000m, 5000m), Claragh Keane, Grace Richardson (5000m).

Three of the Adams State crew appear to be using the weekend as preparation for upcoming championships as Louis O'Loughlin (800m), Oisín Lynch (Mile) and Ava O'Connor (Mile) are also scheduled to compete at the Harvard Crimson Open and Elite meeting across the weekend.

The men compete at Boston, MA on Friday and down the road in Cambridge, MA on Saturday, and the women are scheduled the other way round (Cambridge on Friday and Boston on Saturday), so such doubles are logistically doable.

Other US collegiate action

Diarmuid O’Connor, who recently broke his own Heptathlon record, is scheduled to compete in the 60m Hurdles and the High Jump at Harvard Crimson on Saturday.

Sean Aigboboh, who had a big breakthrough over 200m last weekend is down to compete over 60m at Howie Ryan on Friday.

The ever-consistent Lucy-May Sleeman is entered for both 60m and 200m at Tiger Paw Invitational across Friday and Saturday.

Victoria Amiadamen, who was Ireland’s fastest over 400m hurdles last season, will compete over 400m at the Jarvis Scott Invit in Lubbock, TX on Friday.

Sixteen more athletes have been added to the TrackAthletes NCAA/NAIA database this week, thanks to the help of Killian Lonergan/Athletics Ireland, which means even more collegiate meetings to follow. Check out the NCAA page for more information, and let us know of any further errors or omissions.

Nicholson Down Under

Larua Nicholson won her first race of the year over the mile in New Zealand three weeks ago, but will face much stiffer opposition as she takes on the Australians over 1500m at the Continental Tour Bronze meeting in Perth on Saturday.

European action

Luke McCann will continue his return to racing over 800m at Erfurt Indoor in Germany on Friday night.

John Kelly (Shot Putt), is among the entries at Aadax Locked-In, a World Indoor Tour Challenger event, in Sweden on Sunday.

Paul O'Donnell, Ryan Creech, William Maunsell and David Mansfield are among the elite entries for the Seville Marathon on Sunday morning.

Closer to home

Michael Alajiki (Triple Jump), Rachel McCann (200m, 400m) and Jenna Breen (400m) are among the entries for the British University Indoor Championships, which take place in Sheffield from Friday to Sunday. As countries are incorrectly assigned to many athletes on the entry system, we may have missed others.

Marcus Lawler (200m), Conor Callinan (Pole Vault), Sam Healy (Long Jump), Eoin Sheridan (Shot Put), Mark Smyth (60m) and Molly Scott (60m Hurdles) are among the athletes named in their teams for the National League Final which will take place in Abbotstown on Saturday.

It is easy to be blinded by the numbers as the indoor season blasted out of the blocks, so to speak, records tumbled and qualifications standards were set left, right and centre.

But January 2026 must surely be remembered foremost for the breakthrough performances by Irish athletes at the World Cross Country Championships, with all three senior athletes finishing in the top 25 in Tallahassee.

World Cross Country Championships

Brian Fay in 16th, Niamh Allen in 21st, Fiona Everard 23rd; it’s been a long time since three Irish athletes finished in the top 25 in senior races at the World Cross Country Championships. Twenty-four years, in fact, and, on that occasion, four athletes finished in the top 25 in the now-discontinued short-course races.

Brian Fay’s 16th place was the best result by an Irish athlete at this level since Fionnuala McCormack finished 14th in the women’s race in 2013, and the best result for an Irish man since Alistar Cragg finished 16th in the short course race in 2004.

Noah Harris went with the early pace in the U20 men’s race, and was just half a lap short of also returning a great result. He was inside the top 20 going onto the final lap, but faded over the final stages to finish 38th.

National records

Mark English broke his own Irish records over both 600m (1:15.80) and 800m (1:44.65) in the space of five days. The former was essentially a solo run at the NIA, the later on the way to an impressive WIT silver win in Luxembourg.

Efrem Gidey was another to break his own Irish record, as he ran 27:38 in Valencia, the site of his previous best 12 months ago. He was pushed all the way by Jack O’Leary, who also dipped under the previous mark.

Diarmuid O’Connor added two points to his own national heptathlon performance with 5596 in Philadelphia.

Elizabeth Ndudi added 1cm to Kelly Propper’s national long jump record with 6.63, just short of her own outdoor record of 6.68m.

Sarah Leahy also bettered the best time recorded for 50m, with 6.41in Switzerland.

Among the numerous age-group records set in January were new U23 marks for Nick Griggs at both 3000m (7:32.79) and 5000m (13:19.90); an U23 800m record for Emma Moore (2:01.21) and a new U23 mark for Liam Lyons over 1000m (2:21.16). Ndudi’s aforementioned long jump mark was also a national U23 record.

More stats

World Indoor qualification standards

With qualification only opening in November, no Irish athletes had officially secured the standard for the World Indoors coming into 2026, though ranked second in the heptathlon, Kate O’Connor is already guaranteed qualification.

By the month’s end Bori Akinola (60m), English (800m), Griggs (3000m), Andrew Coscoran (3000m) and Sarah Lavin (60m Hurdles) had hit the World Athletics qualification standards.

Ciara Neville and Lauren Roy (60m), Moore and Maeve O’Neill (800m), and Ndudi (Long Jump) also bettered the Athletics Ireland B standard and, at the time of writing, are all currently within quota spots for the championships.

Irish athletes on Road to Toruń

European qualification standards

Unsurprisingly, it’s been a quieter month for European Championship qualification, though O’Leary secured the standard for the 10,000m, courtesy of his run in Valencia.

Ndudi (Long Jump) and Roy (200m) also secured Athletics Ireland B standards, which would make them eligible to be selected should they finish within quota spots based on world rankings for their respective events. Some of the sprinters, including Bori Akinola and Ciara Neville, are quietly adding to their ranking scores thanks to their fine recent form over 60 metres.

Irish athletes on Road to Birmingham

World tour events

Cian McPhillips was a clear winner of the 600m at the New Balance Grand Prix in Boston, the only WIT Gold meeting in January. Andrew Coscoran finished second in the 3000m at the same meeting and just missed the Irish record he set when winning this race in 2025. Griggs was fourth, Brian Fay 10th and James Dunne set the pace, in a race won by Australian emerging star Cameron Myers.

In addition to the WIT Silver meeting win for English in Luxembourg, Moore finished second, also at 800m in Luxembourg, while Sarah Lavin finished second in the 60m hurdles at the silver meeting in Paris. Bronze wins went to Akinola (60m) in Lyon and Lauren Callaghan (long jump) in Nantes. Akinola and Callaghan went on to set personal bests and take Challenger wins in Glasgow, where Niamh Carr added the mile win to the 2000m win she picked up the previous week at a Challenger meeting in Portugal.

Laura Nicholson won the mile at the Continental Tour Bronze meeting in Whanganui, New Zealand. Elsewhere, Darragh McElhinney got his season off to a good start with an impressive win over 3000m in Boston (Cat F meeting), though it looks like he’d need to go second on the Irish all-time list to secure a spot at the World Indoors, unless Coscoran opts to only contest the 1500m.

National titles

Laura Frawley (Nenagh Olympic) retained the national pentathlon title, while Mohammed Ibrahim Halil (Raheny) took the heptathlon title. The mixed 4x400m relay title went to Ratoath AC.

And if you thought January was busy, wait until you see what February has in store!

The indoor season is relentless, and numerous Irish athletes will again be chasing qualification standards, national records and personal bests across the globe.

Much of the attention will be focused on the east coast of the United States where Irish athletes will be competing at both the Millrose Games and the John Thomas Terrier Classic in Boston, but there is also action across Europe and in Ireland.

Irish in action at Millrose Games

The second of this season’s eight World Indoor Tour (WIT) Gold meetings will take place in New York on Sunday, and again there will be a strong Irish presence.

Cian McPhillips, who looked very impressive in his season opener over 600m at the New Balance Grand Prix in Boston last Saturday, will race his first 800m since finishing fourth at the World Championships last September.

The World Indoor standard of 1:45.90 and Mark English’s recent Irish record of 1:44.65 will be among the possible targets, though another win at this level - particularly against three fellow sub 1.43 athletes - will be just as important. Among his opposition are Bryce Hoppel, Donavan Brazier, Ben Pattison and Mohamed Attaoui.

Andrew Coscoran, who finished second in Boston, just missing his own Irish record but securing the World Indoor qualification standard, will race over the mile this weekend. The World 1500m finalist broke Eamon Coughlan’s indoor mile record and Ray Flynn’s overall record when he finished seventh last year.

Eric Favors opened his season with 19.95m on 10th January, and will be looking towards the Athletics Ireland B standard for World Indoors (20.45m).

The Millrose Games features quite a substantial pre-programme, and among the other Irish athletes competing are Margaret Hayden in the Women’s Weight Throw on Saturday and Lucas Lyons in the junior men’s mile. There are also Irish representatives in the 'Fastest Kid in the World' races.

The Irish descend on Boston in expectation of fast times.

The Boston University indoor track has a reputation for producing fast times, and while the strong middle distance fields that reputation attracts can’t guarantee personal bests and national records, they certainly increase the chances.

In addition to all the college students, a number of Irish athletes have just completed a stint of altitude training in Flagstaff, and they appear to be descending on Boston en masse for the John Thomas Terrier Classic on Friday (Women) and Saturday (Men).

Brian Fay, Nick Griggs, Callum Morgan, James Gormley, Dean Casey and Micheál Power are all in the top heat of the men’s 5000m. Griggs already has both the European standard (13:08.00) and the Commonwealth Games consideration standard (13:30.00), but both the national U23 (13:24.17) and senior (13:12.56) indoor records stand danger.

Darragh McElhinney and Jack O’Leary are among those taking on the 3000m. With just two spots available at the World Indoors, and Conscoran and Griggs already having secured the qualification standard (7:33.00) at this distance, a good run from either could cause a potential headache for selectors.

Having paced in Boston last week, James Dunne will be making his competitive return following injury. The Tullamore Harrier had a breakthrough over 1500m early last summer, when he ran 3:35.17. He will be joined in the mile by Lughaidh Mallon, who ran 3:56.09 outdoors last summer, recent U23 1000m record breaker Liam Lyons, and Irish Indoor champion Kevin McGrath. Cillian Kirwan and Conall Rogers will race over 800.

On the women’s side, Danielle Donegan, Anna Gardiner and Niamh O’Mahony will race the 5000m. Jane Buckley is entered for the 3000m, Cara Laverty and Maddy Mooney will race the mile, Gemma Galvin is entered for the 1000m and Maeve O’Neill will run her first 800m of the indoor season, having run 2:41.07 for 1000m in mid-January and 1:28.09 for 600m on this track in early December.

Elsewhere in the US

There are a number of other meetings in the US on Friday and Saturday.

Conor Kelly will race over 200m at the Razorback Invitational. Lucy-May Sleeman (60m and 200m), Elizabeth Ndudi (long jump) and Siun Quinn (high jump) are among the other Irish on the startlists.

Diarmuid O’Connor is entered for the shot put and high jump at the Harvard Invitational after improving his own Irish Heptathlon record last week.

Mark Milner (800m) and Ronan McMahon-Staggs (mile) are among the entries for the Washington Invite and Mile City in Seattle. McMahon-Staggs ran 3:51.85 for the mile on this track - which is longer than 200m, so doesn't count for indoor rankings or qualification - just over a year ago.

Check out our calendar page for details of other meetings where Irish athletes are competing.

European and Irish action

After moving to second on the Irish all-time list for the Pentathlon just two weeks ago, Anna McCauley will compete at the World Combined Events Tour Silver meeting in Tallinn on Sunday. Kate O’Connor broke the Irish record here last year before going on to have a season of dreams which included four championship medals.

Jodie McCann is on the startlist for the mile at the World Indoor Tour Silver Meeting de L’Eure in France on Sunday and Molly Scott (60m, 60m hurdles) is due to race at IFAM Gent Indoors, a WIT bronze event, on Saturday.

A little closer to home, the ScottishAthletics EAP (WIT Challenger) has a large number of athletes competing. Bori Akinola (60m) and Lauren Callaghan (Long Jump), will compete in the disciplines in which they won WIT Bronze meetings last week. Also on the startlists are Eimear Maher (Mile), Ciara Neville, Orla Comerford, Sarah Leahy and Molly O’Reilly (60m) and Rachel McCann. See our event page for full startlists.

Clodagh Walsh (Pole Vault), Michael Kent (Long Jump) and Saragh Buggy (Triple Jump) are all on the startlist for the Loughborough Indoor Open on Sunday. David Onwudiwe (Triple Jump) is entered for the South of England Championships, also on Sunday afternoon.

The Irish domestic action this weekend includes the Leinster Senior Championships on Saturday for which there are some strong fields, and the Munster Senior Championships on Monday.

There will be Irish interest in mid-week meetings in Ostrava, Czechia (World Indoor Tour Gold) and Louvain-La-Neuve, Belgium, where some of the top 400m athletes will open their seasons.

*Update since publishing: McPhillips has withdrawn from Millrose Games.

The World Indoor Tour cracks into life this weekend as the first Gold meeting of the season takes place in Boston. Four Irish athletes will compete there, as well as others in Silver, Bronze and Challenger meetings across the globe.

It’s another busy weekend of US college meetings, there’s a very strong entry for the guest races at the first round of the National Indoor League. And some athletes will take to the roads.

Friday Night Lights

European U23 1500m bronze medallist Eimear Maher looked in great form when she came home second on the opening leg of the mixed relay at the European Cross Country Championships in December. She will race the 1500m at Meeting Internacional Catalunya de Pista Coberta (World Indoor Tour Challenger) in Sabadell this evening. The Auto Q for the World indoors is 4:06.00, while the Athletics Ireland B standard is 4:09.75.

Long Jumper Lauren Callaghan will continue her season at World Indoor Tour Bronze Meeting de Nantes Metropole, a meeting that is being streamed live on the European Athletics YouTube channel.

Super Saturday

Among the star-studded fields gathered for weekend’s main event - the New Balance Grand Prix - are Andrew Coscoran, Brian Fay, Nick Griggs (3000m) and Cian McPhillips (600m).

Coscoran broke the Irish record when winning this event last year. Brian Fay arrives in Massachusetts two weeks after finishing 16th at the World Cross Country Championships. This will be Nick Griggs’s first competitive outing since romping to the European U23 Cross Country title in December, and his first indoor race since his epic battle with Cathal Doyle at the NIA almost two years ago.

In addition to having their eye on the win, and the bragging rights, some of the numbers these three may have in mind are 7:33.00 (World Indoor Auto Q), 7:41.00 (Athletics Ireland B standard for Poland), 7:30.75 (Coscoran’s National Indoor Record) and 7:30.36 (Mark Carroll’s outright Irish record). Grigg’s national U23 record is 7.45.57.

There are just two spots in each event for each federation at the World Indoors – unless an athlete can unlock a wild card by winning the World Indoor Tour in the event. Either way, competition for the spots will be fierce.

In his first track race since finishing fourth in the 800m in Tokyo, Cian McPhillips will face Donovan Brazier and Bryce Hoppel over three laps of the track. The Irish Indoor 600m record, which Mark English set in what was essentially a solo run at the NIA 10 days ago, may well receive further revision.

English himself has the opportunity to further alter the national indoor 800m record he set in Luxembourg on Sunday when he races at the Meeting Indoor de Lyon, also on Saturday. Also lining up at this World Indoor Tour Bronze meeting will be Bori Akinola (60m) and Jodie McCann (1500m).

Laura Nicholson, who has been training in Australia, will be racing over the mile at the World Continental Tour Bronze Pak'nSave Cooks International Classic in Whanganui, New Zealand on Saturday (7:50am Irish time).

The first round of the National Indoor League takes place in the NIA on Saturday and there is a big entry in the Open races. Max O'Reilly, Paul Costelloe and Michael Farrelly are among the 60m entries and Molly Scott is down for the 60m and 60m Hurdles. Declared athletes on the National League entries include Marcus Lawler (200m), Adam Nolan and Arabella Adekoya (60m Hurdles), and Conor Callinan and Matthew Callinan Keenan (Pole Vault), though they could change by tomorrow.

Something for Sunday

Sarah Lavin will open her indoor campaign at the World Indoor Tour Silver Meeting de Paris, where she will face French Indoor Champion Laeticia Bapte and Olympic finalist Alaysha Johnson (USA), among others. The first target for Lavin will be the 8.02 World Indoor standard.

Lucy Holmes, Niamh Carr and Philip Marron are all due to race over 2000m at Meeting Moniz Pereira (World Indoor Tour Challenger) in Portugal.

The AXA Raheny 5, one of only two World Athletics Label Road Races in Ireland, will also take place on Sunday. Ryan Creech, Cathal O'Reilly and Ann-Marie McGlynn are among the sold-out entries for the event.

US college action other US meetings (across Friday and Saturday)

Diarmuid O’Connor carries a 13-point cushion over his national record-breaking day one performance into Friday’s day two of the heptathlon at the Penn Elite Multi-Events in Philadelphia.

European Cross Country team gold medallists Callum Morgan and Lughaidh Mallon will race over 3000m at the Bruce Lehane Scarlet & White Invitational at Boston University on Saturday where Irish Indoor 1500m champion Kevin McGrath will take on the Mile. Finn Diver (Mile), Conall Rogers (800m), Claire Crowley (800m, 3000m) and Una Brice (Pole Vault) are also entered.

After her Northern Irish record-breaking 7.25 (60m) last weekend, Lauren Roy is entered for both the 60m and the 200m at the Stan Scott Invite in Lubbock. Lucy-May Sleeman is entered for the 60 at Orange & Purple Invitational in Clemson, where Nicole Dinan is on the 800m startlist.

Elizabeth Ndudi (Long Jump) will open her season at the Fighting Illini Challenge in Champaign. Sean Aigboboh (200m, 60m), Victoria Amiadamen (400m) and Finn O'Neill (60m Hurdles, Shot Put) are due to compete at the Ted Nelson Invitational in College Station.

Ava O’Connor, Louis O’Loughlin, Oisín Lynch and Claragh Keane are all on the mile startlists for the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Invitational at altitude in Albuquerque. Oisín Ó Gailín is also due to take on the altitude, for him over 3000m at the Colorado Invite in Boulder.

Charlie O'Donovan (mile) and Jack Fenlon (3000m) are due to compete at Penn Elite in Philadelphia. Finn Boyle (800m), Seán Cronin (800m), Sean Lawton (5000m) and Muireann Duffy (5000m) are entered for the Dr. Sander Invitational in New York.

Others due to compete for their colleges on Saturday and/or Sunday include Heather Murphy (3000m, Hokie Invitational), Cian Crampton (Weight Throw, Crossroads of America Invitational), Lucas Fadden (200m, Larry Wieczorek Invitational), Danny Hagen (60m Hurdles, 200m, LSU Bayou Bengal), Alexandra Joyce (Mile, Mark Colligan Memorial), and both Ashleigh McArdle (High Jump, 60m Hurdles, Long Jump) and Roisin Treacy (Mile) at the Notre Dame Invitational.

And finally…

In addition to the senior athletes mentioned above, Emily Bolton, Eimear Cooney, Sophia Thompson, Lorcan Forde Dunne and Liam Morris will compete in the Junior mile events at the New Balance Grand Prix in Boston on Saturday.

A small number of other athletes, including Oisin Murray, Jennifer O'Leary, Lorraine O'Connor (all 1500m) and Diarmuid Fagan (3000m), will compete at the BMC meeting in Cardiff on Sunday.

What a year 2025 has been for the field and multi-event athletes, with four international championship medals for Kate O’Connor, a world hammer final for Nicola Tuthill, new national records, breakthrough moments, and all-round momentum across many of the events.

Here’s a quick summary of the highlights from Irish field and multi events over the past year, along with what we might expect to see from these athletes in the season ahead.
 

Season of Dreams for O’Connor

Kate O’Connor started just six competitions in 2025. She set a new national indoor pentathlon in the first and won a World Championships silver medal and broke the National Heptathlon record in the last. In the intervening months she also picked up European Indoor bronze, World Indoor silver, the World University Games title, and broke the pentathlon and heptathlon records each on one other occasion.

Over the years, O’Connor has added 899 points to the national heptathlon record, and set new personal bests in every heptathlon and pentathlon discipline in 2025.

She ended 2025 as the second best in the world both by ranking (World Rankings) and performance (Top list). With World Indoor Championships, Commonwealth Games and European Championships all on the calendar, 2026 again provides multiple medal opportunities.
 

Three international medals, national U23 records, and a world final for Tuthill

Long before Tokyo places were confirmed, Nicola Tuthill had already had what can only be described as a successful season. After consecutive silver medals in 2023 and 2024, she finally won gold at the European Throwing Cup in Cyprus in March.

She then picked up silver at the European U23 Championships in Norway and the World University Games in Germany. She added 1.39 metres to her own national U23 record on 11th June and a further 4 cm at the National Senior Championships – where she took her fourth title – on 3 August.

But the icing on the cake came in Tokyo in September when, at 21-years-old, she made the World final.
 

Are we Javelin country now?

Oisin Joyce finished 2024 with a bronze medal in the Javelin at the World U20 Championships and started 2025 with a bronze medal in the U23 Javelin at the European Throwing Cup in March, throwing just 3cm short of the PB he set in Peru.

Despite injury halting his season before it really got going, Ireland wasn’t without an emerging javelin talent. Twenty-three-year-old Conor Cusack improved his best to 75.42m and elevated himself to third on the Irish all-time list.

While Terry McHugh’s Irish record is still some way off, Cusack and Joyce have the potential to ensure that the glory days of Irish javelin throwing are not all in the past.
 

Fogarty’s new discus mark

Ramona in Oklahoma is known as the place to go if you want to lob a discus a very long way. Niamh Fogarty made her first trip to the renowned venue early in 2025. After a few 55-56 metre results there, she finally got the hang of the wind assistance provided. On 27 April she launched the 2km implement out to 58.40m, adding 80cm to Patricia Walsh’s national record from 1984.

Fogarty won her seventh national discus title and her first in the shot put in August, after earning valuable points for Ireland in both events at the European Team Championships in June.
 

Ademola’s eight metre leap

Reece Ademola has long been considered one of Ireland’s top field event talents, and 7.97m in September 2023 hinted at what the future might hold. Injury intervened in 2024, however, and Ademola spent months recovering from surgery before making a return to competition in July this year.

Then in Santry in August, he jumped 8.00m (+2.6m/s) to take the Irish Senior title. Both that, and the wind-legal 7.93m (+1.6m/s) he produced that day, suggest that he is back to his best, and will have headed into the winter full of confidence. Irish record holder Ciaran McDonagh is the only other Irish athlete to have ever jumped eight metres in any conditions.
 

More multi-event madness

Kate wasn’t the only O’Connor breaking national multievent records in 2025. Twenty-three-year-old Diarmuid O’Connor – who finished fourth in the Decathlon at the European U20 Championships in 2021 – finally began to give some indication of what he’s capable of as a senior in 2024.

After a promising performance in December last year, he collected 5594 points at the Big East Conference Championships in February, adding 34 points to Joe Naughton’s National Heptathlon record. That record had been back in 2002, two months before O’Connor was born.
 

Consistent Favors

Eric Favors has been a staple name on the Irish teamsheet at major championships since 2022, having made it to two World Championships, two European Championships and an Olympic Games since then.

Despite spending most of the summer sitting in a quota spot for Tokyo, he left it very late, however, to achieve the required Athletics Ireland B standard (20.40) this time around. That he did on 8 August with a throw of 20.48. With his World Championship spot secured, Favors improved his season’s best to 20.75 on 21 August, the second furthest throw ever by an Irish man.
 

Gavigan gains

Anna Gavigan won silver in the U23 Discus at the European Throwing Cup in Cyprus. She finished eighth at the European U23 Championships in Bergen and improved her personal best to 54.20m, a distance that only three Irish women have ever exceeded, when taking the national U23 title in Tullamore.

With four metres separating them at their best, Fogarty is still the clear number one in Ireland, but she’ll need to bring her A game every time the two meet if she wishes to stay on top. Could a rivalry between these two take Irish women’s discus throwing to a world class level?
 

Young ones to watch

While none of them are throwing senior implements just yet, it’s exciting to see Cian Crampton, Thomas Williams and Theo Hanlon emerging in the throws. Crampton launched the 1.75kg discus to 58.32 in Loughborough in June, to break the Irish U20 record for the second time. He finished 6th at the European U20 Championships.

A personal best of 18.00 for the 6kg shot put in the qualifiers earned Hanlon a place in the European U20 final. Williams, the 2024 European U18 Hammer Champion, finished fourth at the European Youth Olympic Festival.
 

Elsewhere

Ruby Millet looks set to make a return in the long jump in 2025, where 2023 European U20 champion Elizabeth Ndudi already possesses world-class potential. Aoife O’Sullivan had a breakthrough year in the high jump.

Saragh Buggy received her first national championship defeat in a decade this year at the hands of Greek-national and Irish-resident Daphni Doulaptsi-Teeuwen, who exceeded 13 metres for the first time this summer. Might this competition give the St. Abban’s athlete fresh motivation in the year ahead?

Not all Irish field events contain international standard athletes at the moment, but it feels that more do than ever before. And even those which don’t, continue to provide intriguing and exciting battles on a national stage.

A rising tide lifts all boats, and with Irish athletics in rude health at the moment, the field eventers are determined not to be left behind.

Many Irish athletes will be sitting out this weekend as they prepare for the continental tour meetings in Cork and Dublin next week, but there is still plenty to look forward to, including the Eugene Diamond League and what promises to be a stellar National U20 and U23 Championships.

Diamond League
Sarah Healy has finished in the top-3 in her three Diamond League appearances so far this year, but the 1500m in Eugene on Saturday will be her toughest test yet. She will face the top 4 from last Summer’s Olympic Games and 6 of the other top 10 in the World Rankings right now.

While not a Diamond League event, there is a strong field in the women’s 400m. Rhasidat Adeleke, whose fastest time this season is 50.42, will face five athletes who have run sub-50 seconds already in 2025, including Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, the world record holder at 400m hurdles.

This 50th anniversary Prefontaine Classic includes a number of races for para athletes.  Paris bronze medallist Orla Comerford will race the mixed-category 100m while Shauna Bocquet will compete in the T54 (wheelchair) 800m.

The Eugene Diamond League will be broadcast in Ireland on Virgin Media Three. The Women’s 400m is at 9.51pm while the women’s 1500m closes the programme at 10.50pm, both within the 9-11pm broadcast window. The para events are earlier.

National U20 and U23 Championships
Most of Ireland’s top emerging talent will be competing at the National U20 and U23 Championships in Tullamore on Saturday, though not all will be contesting their usual events.

Among those entered, and expected to compete, are Nick Griggs, Conor Kelly, Maeve O’Neill, Ava O’Connor, Conor Callinan, Elizabeth Ndudi and Anna Gavigan. See Athletics Ireland preview for more.

Athletics Ireland will be livestreaming the event on Youtube, and spectator tickets are available for just €10 (plus booking fee). Action starts at 10am.

Continental Tour meetings
Andrew Coscoran is on the 1500m startlist at the Meeting Stanislas Nancy (Continental Tour Silver) in France on Friday evening.

Lauren Callaghan (Long Jump) is on the startlist for the IX Ordizia Meeting (Continental Tour Bronze) in Spain on Saturday.

Elsewhere
The preliminary round of the National League will take place on Sunday, and while it's not clear who exactly will be competing, we should expect at least some of the top field event athletes there.

With two Continental Tour Bronze meetings, the National U20 and U23 Championships, the AAI Outdoor Games and the National Combined Events Championships all happening at home, there are plenty of opportunities for athletics fans to watch some top athletics in person this July.

The FISU World University Games following immediately after the European U23 Championships, both of which are expected to feature strong Irish contenders, means that there are 11 consecutive days of championship action to round out another busy month.

There are also three Diamond League meetings, including the closest thing we have to a home one in London on 19 July, and plenty of Continental Tour silver meetings, which are great for world ranking points, across Europe and beyond.

Cork City Sports

Another exciting edition of the Cork City Sports is scheduled for Wednesday 9th July. While full startlists have yet to be announced, we should expect Bori Akinola, Marcus Lawler, Israel Olatunde, Phil Healy, Lucy-May Sleeman, Sarah Leahy, Ciara Neville, Molly Scott and Sarah Lavin across in the sprints and hurdles. Nicola Tuthill (hammer) and Eric Favors will be in action in the field, while Sophie O’Sullivan is among the distance athletes due to compete.

Morton Games

Just two days after Cork, athletes will take to the track (and field) at Morton Stadium for what promises to be another night of excitement at the Morton Games. Among the Irish senior internationals scheduled to compete are Sharlene Mawdsley, Sophie Becker, Cathal Doyle, Sarah Lavin, Israel Olatunde, Bori Akinola, Sophie O’Sullivan, Efrem Gidey, Cian McPhillips, Nick Griggs, Niamh Fogarty, Jack Raftery, Eric Favors and Louise Shanahan.

Other Domestic Competitions

The month kicks off with the National U20 and U23 Championships as athletes look to secure their place on the relevant European age-group championships later this summer. Among the U23 athletes entered are Nicola Tuthill, Elizabeth Ndudi, Nick Griggs and Ava O’Connor. The men’s 400m looks to be hotly contested in both the U20 and U23 age groups.

Later in July, the AAI Outdoor Games will provide a tune-up opportunity for Irish athletes ahead of August’s National Championships. The event, which will be held in Carlow, will incorporate the National 10,000m Championships and will be run alongside the National Senior and age-group combined events Championships.

Both the preliminary round and the final of the National League will also take place in July, and the 2025 Dublin Graded programme will conclude with meeting 7 and meeting 8.

Three Diamond League meetings in July

The Eugene Diamond League/Prefontaine Classic, the Monoco Diamond League and the London Diamond League will all take place this month.

Sarah Healy (1500m) will race the Diamond League 1500m in Eugene, where Rhasidat Adeleke (400m), Orla Comerford (Para 100m) and Shauna Bocquet (Para 800m) will contest non-Diamond League events.

Adeleke will run the 400m in Monacco, a race which she won last year. Mark English (800m) is among the Irish athletes we should expect to see in London.

European U23 Championships

We have a few days to wait until the Irish team is announced for the European U23 Championships, but it is likely to be one of the strongest yet. Last time out, in 2023, Sophie O’Sullivan and Sarah Healy went 1-2 in the 1500m. It would be a disappointment if the current crop doesn’t add further hardware in Bergen.

Update: the team has been selected.

World University Games

The Irish team is yet to be announced, but it’s likely that approximately 10 athletes will represent Ireland in the track and field programme at the FISU World University Games.

Ireland did not compete at the last edition, but Marcus Lawler won bronze in the 200m at the previous edition, while Thomas Barr won the 400m hurdles in 2015. Ronnie Delany (1961), Sonia O’Sullivan (1991) and Derval O’Rourke (2005) are also among previous medal winners.

Other Meetings

There are no Continental Tour Gold meetings in July, but there are plenty of silver meetings. Start lists have not yet been released for these, but there are likely to be Irish competitors chasing Road to Tokyo ranking points right through the month.

Cliodhna Manning, Shane Bracken, Lauren Callaghan, Cillian Kirwan, Gina Akpe-Moses, Rachel McCann, Ciarán Carthy, Rachel McCann, Arlene Crossan, Sen Donoghue, Darragh McElhinney and David McGlynn are among those already appearing on Continental Tour Bronze and Challenger meetings across Europe in July.

Another trip to Statford is also on the cards for some of Ireland’s top sprinters.

Key dates for July

5 Jul: National U20 & U23 Championships, Tullamore
5 Jul: Eugene Diamond League, Live on Virgin Media
9 Jul: Cork City Sports, MTU
11 Jul: Morton Games, Morton Stadium
11 Jul: Monaco Diamond League, Live on Virgin Media
17-20 Jul: European U23 Championships, Bergen, Norway; Live on Eurovision Sport
19 Jul: London Diamond League; Live on Virgin Media
19-20 Jul: AAI Outdoor Games, Carlow, including National Combined Events Championships
21-27 Jul: World University Games, Rhine-Ruhr, Germany; Live on FISU website

If it feels like there’s been non-stop championship action year after year since Covid, that’s because there has been. And it’s not due to end just yet: 2025 will be the fifth consecutive year with a global senior outdoor track and field championship.

Indeed we’re still experiencing the knock-on effects of earlier Covid-related postponements, with both European and World Indoor Championships set for March.

Here’s a summary of the significant international athletics events scheduled for 2025, the majority of which will feature Irish athletes.

European Indoor Championships, Apeldoorn, NED, 6-9 Mar

The Dutch city of Apeldoorn will play host to the sold-out European Indoor Championships over four days in early March. Athletes will qualify by qualification standard or world ranking. Nine Irish athletes have already achieved automatic qualification standards. Both the Women’s 4x400m and the Mixed 4x400m relay teams are also qualifed, with the latter making its European Indoor debut in 2025.

It’s been six years since Mark English (800m) and Ciara Mageean (1500m) won Ireland’s last European Indoor medals. Ireland’s best result last time out was Darragh McElhinney’s fourth place in the 3000m. Phil Healy finished fourth in the 400m in 2021.

It’s not clear yet who’ll be racing indoors, how many members of the giant-slaying relay teams will be available or who has wintered particularly well, but it’s difficult to see Ireland going a third consecutive European Indoor championship without a medal.

Event website
Athletics Ireland selection policy
Qualification status of Irish athletes

European Throwing Cup, Nicosia, CYP, 15-16 Mar

The indoor season won’t even have concluded by the time the top throwers open their 2025 campaigns. A little bit of Mediterranean sun will help break up the winter training for those lucky enough to punch their ticket to the Cypriot capital.

Nicola Tuthill finished second in the U23 hammer at the past two editions, and may well be looking to go one better in her final year in the category, though she could instead opt to compete against the senior athletes. The ever-improving Oisin Joyce (Javelin) and Niamh Fogarty (Discus) are others who may be looking to make a mark at this level.

Event information
Athletics Ireland selection policy
Irish Athletes who have achieved consideration standards

World Indoor Championships, Nanjing, CHN, 21-13 Mar

Just two weeks after the European Indoors, the World Indoor Championships will be held in Nanjing, China. If you’re thinking it’s unusual to have two championships indoors, you’re not wrong, though it’s not completely unheard of.

China is a long way to go for an athlete early in what could be another long year. But an additional championship may offer a bonus opportunity for an athlete to get on an international rostrum, or to gain experience at this level. We will wait to see how many Irish athletes will make the trip. Rhasidat Adeleke, one of only two athletes currently qualified, has already stated that she'll be skipping both the European and World Indoors this year.

Event website
Athletics Ireland selection policy
Qualification status of Irish athletes

European Running Championships, Brussels-Leuven, BEL, 12-13 Apr

The European Running Championships, which will feature 10km, marathon and half marathon championship races, is making its debut this year. The event is being billed as a festival of running, and athletes of all levels can enter to compete alongside the elite athletes.

The 10km and half marathon will be run around the streets of Leuven. The marathon will start by the Royal Palace in the centre of Brussels, and make its way east, via Tervuren Park and the Royal Museum of Central Africa, to Leuven. The half marathon will be held on Saturday 12th April, while both the 10km and marathon races will take place the following day.

The marathon championship replaces the one traditionally held with the European Championships in non-Olympic years (last held in Munich in 2022), while the half-marathon was contested alongside the European Championships in 2016 (Amsterdam) and 2014 (Rome). This will be the first time that European championship medals will be awarded for 10km on the road.

Fionnuala McCormack finished seventh in the marathon in Munich, while Shona Heaslip in 34th was Ireland’s top half-marathoner in Rome last year.

Event website
Athletics Ireland selection policy
Irish athletes who have achieved consideration standards

World Relays, Guangzhou, CHN,10-11 May

Last year the best teams were fielded in the first round of both the Women’s 4x400m and Mixed 4x400m. With Olympic qualification secured in both events, all the eggs were then placed in the mixed relay basket for the final, and the team set a (then) national record and won bronze.

Both those teams are ranked high enough to be guaranteed a spot in Guangzhou, but Ideally, the Men's 4x400m team would also qualify (they finished 2024 ranked 30th on the Road to Guangzhou, so they might just be one of the 32 teams invited). The men’s 4x100m team, currently ranked 37th, would require some withdrawals to qualify.

Fourteen of the teams for the World Championships in Tokyo will be chosen from the World Relays, the other two spots will be allocated to the next two best teams on time during the qualification window.

The Irish Women’s 4x400m are currently ranked fourth, so if two of the teams ahead compete in Guangzhou and finish top fourteen, then they’ll qualify regardless (presuming that teams are not going to run faster than the time Ireland did in the Olympic final between now and close of the Tokyo window). If the Netherlands, USA and Great Britain choose to skip World Relays, Ireland have a chance of finishing top 14 in Guangzhou without their strongest team.

The Mixed 4x400m team are currently ranked 5th. In theory, they could also qualify for Tokyo irrespective of their Guangzhou performance, but that would depend on at least three of the United States, Netherlands, Great Britain and Belgium taking automatic spots, and nobody else running faster than the 3:09.92 the Irish quartet ran on their way to the European title.

Event info
Athletics Ireland selection policy

European Race Walking Team Championships, Poděbrady, CZE, 18 May

After hosting the 2021 and 2023 editions of this biannual event, Lázeňský Park in Poděbrady will again host the European Race Walking Team Championships. The event, established in 1996, now includes senior men's and women's 20km and 35km races, and 10km races for U20 men and women.

The event provides individuals with a good opportunity to obtain qualification standards for the summer’s major events. Those finishing in the top 8 in the senior events also receive bonus placing points towards world ranking scores.

The team scores in the senior races are calculated by aggregating the positions of the first three finishers. The top two athletes per country count in the U20 team event. The Irish senior men’s 20km team (Alex Wright, Robert Heffernan and Cian McManamon) won bronze at this event in 2017.

Event website
Athletics Ireland selection policy
Irish athletes who have achieved consideration standards

European 10,000m Cup, Pacé, FRA, 24 May

Similar to Poděbrady for the Race Walking Team Championships, Pacé in France will host the European 10,000m Cup for the third time, though the last edition was actually held alongside the European Championships in Rome last summer.

There will be A and B races in both men’s and women’s categories, with athletes seeded according to prior accomplishments. The addition of pacemakers allows athletes to avail of a rare opportunity to chase personal bests and championship qualification standards while surrounded by athletes of a similar ability.

A full Irish team competed in the men’s race in Rome last year, while Íde Nic Dhomhnaill and Shona Heaslip finished first and second respectively in the women’s B race in Pacé in 2023.

Event website
Athletics Ireland selection policy
Irish athletes who have achieved consideration standards

European Team Championships, Maribor, SLO, 24-29 Jun

After a stunning team performance in the lowest division two years ago, Ireland are back where they belong in the second division of Europe’s international team competition. A lack of field event power has historically made it impossible to challenge for a place in the top division but, with growth there, 2025 will give some indication of whether or not further promotion is possible for the current generation.

The target, however, this year must surely be to solidify their place, and for athletes – particularly those in the field events – to gain experience at this level. And if everyone shows up, who knows, maybe we could all be surprised.

Ireland’s opposition in Slovenia will include the hosts Slovenia, Austria and Israel who were promoted with Ireland in 2023, Belgium, Turkey and Norway, who were relegated from the top division last time, along with Romania, Denmark, Serbia, Slovakia, Croatia, Estonia, Bulgaria, Cyprus and Latvia.

Event information
Athletics Ireland selection policy

European U23 Championships, Bergen, NOR, 17-20 Jul

Nicola Tuthill, Nick Griggs, Elizabeth Ndudi and Oisin Joyce are just some of the Irish athletes who’ll be eligible to compete at the 15th edition of the European U23 championships in Norway in July.

Tuthill finished 4th in 2023, and has improved her best by almost two-an-a-half metres, made a European Senior final, and competed in the Olympics since then. Griggs and Ndudi both European U20 champions, and Joyce, a World U20 medallist, will also be looking for medals, should they choose to compete.

Irish athletes have had much success at European U23 Championships in recent years. Sophie O'Sullivan, Sarah Healy, David Kenny, Eilish Flanagan and Nadia Power have all won medals since 2019; of those, only Healy had won won a European medal at U20 level.

Event website

FISU World University Games Summer, Rhine-Ruhr, GER, 21-27 Jul, 2025

It’s not clear yet if Ireland will send a team to the biannual, multi-sport event for students. The athletics programme, which will be held in Lohrheidestadion in Bochum, starts the day after the European U23 championships conclude in Bergen.

European U23 Championships will likely be the priority for those who are eligible for both, but athletes like Nicola Tuthill could easily compete in Norway and Germany. Others, for example Sophie O’Sullivan and Jack Raftery, would be eligible for World Universities but not European U23s.

Ireland didn’t send a team to the last edition in Chengdu. Marcus Lawler won 200m bronze six years ago, while Thomas Barr won the 400m hurdles in 2015. Ronnie Delany (1961), Sonia O’Sullivan (1991) and Derval O’Rourke (2005) are also among previous medal winners.

Event website

European U20 Championships, Tampere, FIN, 7-10 Aug

While senior athletics is very much our focus here, it’s difficult to ignore the main under-20 competition of the year. The European U20 Championships is always a good chance to watch some of the up-and-coming talent. The athletes always look like they’re having fun, and with all events shown live and for free on the Eurovision Sport site, it’s an easy event to follow.

Elizabeth Ndudi (gold LJ) and Nick Griggs (silver 3000m) made the podium in 2023. Indeed, 10 Irish athletes have earned 12 medals at European U20 level since 2017. Of those athletes, Griggs, Kate O’Connor, Sarah Healy, Darragh McElhinney and Rhasidat Adeleke have since gone on to compete in global senior championships, with John Fitzsimons also competing at European Senior level.

Irish athletes won five medals at the European U18 Championships in 2023, and some of the athletes who competed at World U20 Championships last year are still eligible, so there’ll be no shortage of talent this time either.

Event information

World Championships, Tokyo, JPN, 13-21 Sep

While there will be plenty to keep the keen athletics fan entertained all summer, they’ll have to wait until September for the ‘big dance.’

Over nine days, the world’s best athletes will compete in the Japanese capital for 49 World titles. Ireland’s last World Championship medal came in 2013 (Rob Heffernan, Gold, 50km walk), and only five Irish athletes have ever won medals at this level. With four near misses in the last two global majors, surely the Irish are due a bit of luck.

Event website
Athletics Ireland selection policy
Qualification status of Irish athletes

World Road Running Championships, San Diego, USA, 26-28 Sep

While this event may not feature an Irish team, all three Championship events (mile, 5km and half marathon) will be run alongside mass participation events, so anyone can enter.

This will be the first time either the World Half Marathon Championships, or the now-expanded World Road Running Championships, will be hosted by the USA. No Irish athlete has ever won a medal at this event.

Event website

European Cross Country Championships, Lagoa, POR, 14 Dec

After the long trip to Asia for last year’s event, Europe’s premier Cross Country event returns to the Western extremity of mainland Europe, and the Algarve town of Lagoa.

Ireland had a breakthrough performance the last time the event was held in Portugal (Lisbon, 2019), when Efrem Gidey (U20) and Stephanie Cotter (U23) won individual bronze medals and both the U23 and senior women’s teams won silver.

In the four editions since then, Darragh McElhinney (U23 silver, 2021), Nick Griggs (U20 silver, 2022; U20 bronze, 2023; U23 silver 2024) and Dean Casey (U20 bronze, 2023) have added individual medals. The U20 men, U23 men and senior women have also earned six sets of team medals between them.

It’s a long way until December and predicting who’ll be competing and challenging for medals is near impossible, but one thing we can be assured of is a big and vocal travelling group of Irish supporters.

Irish athletics fans are spoilt for opportunities to meet current and future stars of the sport across the country, and throughout the year.

Here we highlight 10 of the top events for spectators, including a mix of indoor, outdoor, cross country and road events.

Irish Senior Indoor Championships, NIA, Dublin, 22-23 February

The National indoor championships are rarely without at least one standout performance or moment of drama. In 2024, the closing stages of the men’s 1500m final, with both Cathal Doyle and Nick Griggs falling over the line, was a battle worthy of any stage.

The 2023 Championships, the year of the last European Indoors, was a particularly exciting one. Israel Olatunde smashed the national 60 metre record. Elizabeth Ndudi won the Long Jump on countback from Ruby Millett. Jack Raftery, in a last-dash effort to make European Indoors, set a new Championship Best Performance in the 400m. Mark Smyth (200m) and Saragh Buggy (Triple Jump) were both just outside the respective national records.

While some athletes, including Rhasidat Adeleki, have said that they’re foregoing the European and World Indoors this season and are therefore likely to skip nationals, there will be no shortage of athletes looking to step into the limelight.

The intensity of the indoor setting, together with the proximity of the action, gives indoor competition a particularly electric atmosphere. The short season means that many will still be chasing qualifying standards, B standards, and ranking points, and with two major championships in the calendar, and places on a couple of relay squads on the line, there’s sure to be more NIA drama in 2025.

Athletics Ireland normally do a two-day ticket at a reduced price, and those under 16 go free, but spectator seating is limited, so you are advised to secure your ticket early. Most of the track finals will be on the second day, but with half the field events and the sprint hurdles finals on the Saturday, there’s sure to be drama right across the weekend.

Belfast Irish Milers Meet, Mary Peter’s Track, Belfast, 10 May

Ten years since the first edition, the season-opening Belfast Irish Milers Meet has seen national records, Olympic and World Championships qualifying times, breakout performances and hundreds of personal bests.

The women’s 800m never disappoints. Louise Shanahan and Ciara Mageean both broke two minutes in 2022, the former in a then Irish record of 1:59.42. Shanahan won again in 2022 in 1:59.53, to date her only other time under two minutes. Great Britain’s Phoebe Gill catapulted herself into the public consciousness when she front-ran 1:57.86 last year. The seventeen-year-old was one of several athletes in action to later compete at the Olympic Games in Paris.

Sophie Becker set the tone for the year ahead when she ran 51.13 seconds for the 400m last May, which, at the time of writing, is still good enough for fifth place on the Irish Alltime list. Cillín Green, Jack Raftery, Callum Baird and Sean Doggett were all well under 47 seconds in last year’s men’s 400m.

The meet is free to attend and in addition to invitational races over 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, 1500m and 3000m, has graded middle distance races for national-level athletes. When the weather plays ball, Mary Peters track is one of the most beautiful venues for spectators. Pack the picnic, and prepare yourself for surprises, drama, and maybe even a record or too.

Irish Schools Championships, Tullamore, 30-31 May

While the focus of TrackAthletes is on senior athletes, it would be remiss of us not to mention the greatest annual gathering of rising stars. The top juveniles rarely miss this one, and with limited age-groups, it’s an opportunity to see head-to-heads that don’t happen at other juvenile events.

The Irish Schools Championships is always slickly run, and while a small number of the events now take place on the Friday evening, the Saturday is non-stop action, with straight finals throughout.

Cork City Sports, MTU Track, Cork, 9 July

With National Seniors a bit later this year, the Cork City Sports is the first of the big trio of senior domestic events. The intimate venue makes for a lovely evening out, and the athletics action rarely disappoints, with Ireland’s top athletes, especially those from Cork, battling it out against some top athletes from Britain, the USA and further afield.

Last year saw wins for Sarah Lavin (100m Hurdles) and Reece Ademola (Long Jump), with Cathal Doyle second in a very competitive mile, Nick Griggs third behind a pair of Americans in the 3000m, and Nicola Tuthill third in the Hammer Throw, just missing the 70m mark.

The 2025 programme, like last year, will include 100m, 200m, 800m and 3000m races for both men and women, as well a women’s 100m hurdles and the men’s mile, which traditionally concludes the programme. On the field, the women will compete in the Hammer Throw and the High Jump, while there will be Long Jump and Shot Put competitions for the men. Junior and national events will bolster what is typically a strong international meeting.

Morton Games, Morton Stadium, Dublin, 11 July

Just two days after the Cork City Sports, the World Continental tour will head to Morton Stadium in Santry, for the Morton Games.

The Morton Mile, which concludes the programme, is one of the highlights, not just of the meeting, but of the annual domestic calendar. After a drought of 18 years, there have been Irish winners in two of the last three editions. Andrew Coscoran ’s dive just got the better of Cathal Doyle in 2022, the pair leading five Irish athletes under four minutes on that occasion. Doyle finally got his name on the trophy with a dominant display in 2024.

In addition to the Mile, the 2025 edition will have international races over 100m, 400m, 800m and 5000m and a Shot Put competition for the men. The women will compete in 400m, 800m, 1500m, 100m hurdles, High Jump and Discus.

National Senior Championships, Morton Stadium, Dublin, 2-3 August

This is the first fixture placed in any serious Irish athletics fan’s diary. Not only is it a great weekend of athletics, but it’s the best opportunity in the year to catch up with old competitors and friends from the world of athletics.

The 2024 Championships was one of the best attended in recent years, with children from across the country, along with their responsible adults, flocking to Morton Stadium to witness Ireland’s rising stars in action, and grab an autograph or two form current and past stars of the sport.

The highlight of the 2024 edition was, no doubt, Rashidat Adeleke breaking the Irish 100m record. Other stars from the European Championships in Rome, including Nicola Tuthill, Sophie Becker, and Phil Healy also competed. While Thomas Barr’s attempt to qualify for the 400m hurdles in Paris ultimately ended in heartbreak, Cathal Doyle (1500m) and Oisin Joyce (Javelin) demonstrated why they were athletes to look out for later in the summer. Jodie McCann did enough in her front-running 5000m victory to secure a place for Paris, while Jack Raftery’s surprise victory in the 400m sealed his place on the mixed relay.

In addition to the numerous stars on display, the national championships always has some spectacular head-to-heads, particularly in the middle distance events. Who can forget the epic 1500m battle in 2020 between Paul Robinson and Sean Tobin, or the one between Sarah Healy and Sophie O’Sullivan in 2023, just weeks after they finished second and first at the European U23 Championships.

The international element means that the Cork City Sports and Morton Games are a slightly higher standard across the board, but if you want to see what a national title means to Irish athletes, then get yourself to Morton Stadium for the best weekend of athletics on the island!

Autumn Open Cross Country, Abbotstown, Dublin, 19 October

This World Cross Country Tour meeting comes very early in the season, but that makes it all the more exciting. The dry ground and shorter distances hand a slight advantage to the track athletes, and it’s always interesting to see how athletes are fairing after the end of season break.

The inclusion of U20 athletes, who race a lap fewer than the seniors, the trials for the Masters Cross Country International, and a sprinkling of international runners, add extra spice to the event.

The main Men’s and Women’s races are preceded by the National Mixed Cross Country Relay Championships, which serves as the trial race for the European Clubs Cross Country Championships, and the national juvenile relays.

Mid-October sees the purpose-built Abbottstown course at its autumnal best, and the action-packed programme makes this a great afternoon out for all the family.

Dublin Marathon, Dublin, 26 October

The streets of Dublin come alive on the final Sunday of October, as the city’s population pours out onto the streets in support of those taking on the 26.2 miles for a variety of reasons.

While not known for fast times, those who made the effort last year will have witnessed Hiko Tonaso Haso break the Irish record, and AnnMarie McGlynn complete the first stage of a historic autumn double as she took the Irish Women’s title and added the Irish Cross Country title to her resume just three weeks later.

The atmosphere in the city centre, as hundreds of spectators line the final mile of the course, is definitely worth experiencing, but there are lots of other great points along the course to get a glimpse of international stars, loved ones, and friends, and maybe to run into a fellow spectator or two that you know.

Who knows, you may even be inspired to take on the distance yourself next year!

National Senior Cross Country Championships, Derry, 23 November

Castle Irving in Fermanagh provided a beautiful backdrop for last year’s well-attended and well-organised Championships, which provided its fair share of surprises.

The event incorporates not just the National U20, U23 and Senior Individual Championships, but also the National inter-club and inter-county team competition and the European Cross Country trials. The All-Ireland Even Age Juvenile Championships also form part of the programme.

An action-packed day is guaranteed, filled with ecstasy and heartbreak, and that’s just those at the back of the field. Kileen Kilreehill’s win in the Senior men’s race in 2024 showed just what winning a national title means to an athlete, while AnnMarie’s utter shock at taking the women’s title reminded onlookers how wonderfully unpredictable this sport is.

There have been nine different winners of the Senior men’s title in the past nine editions, while seven different athletes have won the Senior women’s title since 2017. As the event heads to Derry, be sure you go too, and see who adds their name to the role of honour. Just don’t forget to pack your wellies.

National Senior 35km Walks Championship, Raheny, 14 December

In addition to being a national championship event, this meeting has World Racewalking Tour Bronze status, and in 2024 many top international walkers flocked to Dublin to record a time over what is currently the longest walk on the international programme.

As a national championships event, it also carries valuable performance points for Irish athletes looking to secure qualification for international competitions in 2026.

St Anne’s Park is a beautiful place for a Sunday morning stroll, so why not pop along and see how Ireland’s fastest walkers take it on.

Other events worth a watch include the various IUAA Intervarsity championships (indoors in February, Track and Field in April, and Cross Country and Road Relays championships in the autumn), the All-Ireland School’s Cross Country Championships (early March), the National U20 and U23 Track and Field Championships (early July), and the National Track and Field League Final in July.

For a full list of senior competitions in Ireland, search the Fixtures Calendar using the ‘country’ filter.