Lucy Holmes

The Penn Relays and the London Marathon are two events that should be experienced at least once in a lifetime, if not as a participant, at least as a spectator. They are both among the events with Irish interest taking place this weekend.

Road action

The peak of the spring road race season is reached with the London Marathon, Dusseldorf Marathon and the Irish National Road Relays all taking place on Sunday.

Peter Lynch is among the elite entries for London. Lynch became the first Irish man to break 1 hour for the half marathon earlier this year, albeit on a non-record eligible course, and he may well be targeting the national marathon record on Sunday.

Lynch broke the national marathon record in Düsseldorf this time last year, when he ran 2:09:36, and held it until Fearghal Curtin obliterated it with 2:07:54 on 18th October.

Ireland could send up to six athletes to the European Championships in this event in August, and seven athletes have already achieved the minimum requirements for selection. Lynch, Curtin and Paul O’Donnell all hold the automatic qualification standard, and would be expected to be selected, if available.

Ryan Creech, who just missed the automatic standard in Seville earlier this year, National Marathon champion David McGlynn, next-by-ranking Barry Keane, and former national record holder Hiko Tonosa have all bettered the Athletics Ireland B standard of 2:12.00.

The National Road Relay Championships will take place in Raheny on Sunday. Some of the athletes to watch out for include Louis O'Loughlin, John Travers, Lucy Holmes, Zoe Toland, Amy O'Donoghue, Emma McEvoy, Saoirse Fitzgerald, Ellie Hartnett and Róise Roberts. See the Athletics Ireland preview for details of the clubs expecting to make the podium.

Penn Relays

Penn Relays is one of the craziest meetings in the sport. Not only do they manage to run 60 4x100m relays in an hour (yes, that’s one per minute), but the three inside lanes are shorter than 400m, so some athletes break out, rather than in, at the relevant point in a given race.

The stands are packed as high school and college athletes compete for the distinctive Penn Relay 'Wheels' awarded to the champion teams.

Irish athletes have featured heavily on the Championship of America podiums in recent years and Seán Donoghue will be looking to win a third consecutive Wheel with his Villanova teammates. He is entered on both 4x800m and Distance Medley Relay (DMR) teams.

Maeve O’Neill, who was a member of the Providence DMR team that finished second last year, will race both the DMR and the 4x800m relay alongside Gemma Galvin and Cara Laverty. Galvin and Laverty are also both entered for the individual 1500m, as are Nicole Dinan and Jack Fenlon.

Emmy Thornton (Dartmouth), Claire Crowley (Boston College) and Killian Fahy (North Carolina) are also listed on the DMR startlists, while David Davitt (Penn) is listed for the 4x400m. Sean Aigboboh is named in both the individual 100m and the Houston 4x200m relay team.

The Carnival gets underway with distance night on Thursday, where Scott Fagan, Grace Weigele and Jane Buckley will all be racing over 5000m. Olympic Development events, which carry World Athletics Continental Tour Silver (Cat B) status, are also on the programme. Carlie O’Donovan (Mile) and Hannah Seagrave (800m) are among the entrants in those events.

Other US meetings

Just over 1700km from the Penn Relays, a meeting of similar magnitude will be staged for the 116th time in Des Moines, Iowa. The Drake Relays startlist has fewer Irish entrants than its East Coast equivalent, though Ava O’Connor is among those due to race the Continental Tour Silver 3000m steeplechase race.

Lauren Roy (100m, 200m, 4x100m Relay) and Kate Doherty (400m Hurdles) are among the entries for the Michael Johnson Invitational; Shane Howard (Long Jump) is on the Tiger Track Classic, and Victoria Amiadamen (400m Hurdles) is due to race at the J. Fred Duckett/Rice Twilight.

Some of the NCAA Div II and NAIA colleges contest conference championships this weekend. Nathan Cremin, who ran a 1:46.45 800m last weekend is entered for the 800m, 1500m and 4x400m relay at the Appalachian Athletics Conference Championships, while his Montreat teammate Heather Murphy is on the 5000m, 10,000m and 4x800m startlists.

Elsewhere

With Kate O’Connor and Anna McCauley in flying form already this season, emerging multi-event star Enya Silkena will get her first taste of World Combined Events Tour as she takes part in the Heptathlon at Multistars in Brescia, Italy.

Seán Mockler (Hammer Throw), Michael Healy (Discus, WfD), Theo Hanlon (U20 Shot Put) and Thomas Williams (U20 Hammer) are among the athletes entered for the Templemore Throws Festival on Saturday.

Keep an eye out on our calendar page for late additions and livestream links for these and other meetings, including the Continental Tour Gold meeting in Nairobi on Friday.

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.

World Indoor Tour Gold meetings in Madrid and Karlsruhe,  the European Champion Clubs Cup Cross Country, round two of the national league with big guest fields, and a splattering of college meets across the US, are just some of the events with Irish interest taking place over the coming days.

Startlists suggest the return of an Olympian who hasn’t raced since 2024, a senior international up against an Olympic and World Champion, big opportunities for some young athletes, and potential domestic sprint clashes.

World Indoor Tour meetings

Irish athletes have competed at all three World Indoor Tour Gold meetings run so far this year, and with Sarah Lavin on the startlist for both Madrid (Friday) and Karlsruhe (Sunday), that streak is set to continue.

Lavin opened her season in Paris two weeks ago, where she ran 7.98 to secure World Indoor qualification. She wasn’t able to replicate that form in Ostrava on Wednesday. where she failed to advance to the final, but she’ll be looking to bounce back this weekend.

Luke McCann hasn’t raced since 9th September 2024, a few weeks after he became an Olympian. However, he looks set to make his competitive return from injury over 1500m in Dortmund (World Indoor Tour Bronze) on Sunday. He’s also entered for an 800m in Germany next Friday.

Sean Doggett will race over 400m at the World Indoor Tour Challenger meeting in Kaunas on Saturday.

European Champion Clubs Cup Cross Country

The top cross country clubs from across Europe will decend on Albuferia, Portugal on Sunday for the battle to be the best team in Europe. There will be full Irish representation across all races, with teams having qualified by finishing top two at the national championships late last year.

While teams aren’t as strong as they could be, there are a few notable names, including Michelle Finn for Leevale in the senior women’s race. The in-form Lucy Holmes, Niamh Carr and Phillip Marron join Paul Delahunty on the Dublin City Harriers mixed relay team.

Domestic and UK action

Round 2 of the national league will take place in Athlone on Sunday. Among those entered to compete are Molly Scott (60m, 60m Hurdles), Ciara Neville, Orla Comerford, Sarah Leahy (60m), Marcus Lawler (60m, 200m), Sophie Becker (200m), Adam Nolan (60m Hurdles), Michaela Walsh (Shot Put) and Aoife O'Sullivan (High Jump), among others. Not all will show, but good battles, particularly in the sprint events

Max O'Reilly (60m) and Michael Farrelly (60m) are among the entries for the Welsh Open Senior Championships across the weekend.

The Ulster and Northern Ireland Cross Championships take place at the Necarne Estate in Irvingstown on Saturday. Meanwhile, an Ireland and Northern Ireland underage teams will travel to London for the London Cross Challenge at Parliament Hill which incorporates the Home Countries International and the Celitic International.

Action in the US

Call it the calm before the storm, or the breathing space we all needed, but this is a much quieter weekend on the collegiate and professional racing front in the US. That said, it is not without a few interesting clashes.

James Gormley is on the startlist for 1000m at the Doc Hale Invitational on Saturday, a race which is set to include Olympic and World Champion Cole Hocker, and Sean Donoghue is due to race the same distance at the Penn Classic in Philadelphia, also on Saturday.

Sean Aigboboh, Heather Murphy and Victoria Amiadamen are among those entered to compete at the various meetings taking place. See our Calendar and/or NCAA pages for more details.

The coming week

Midweek action includes the fifth NIA live of the season and the Belgrade World Indoor Tour Gold meeting on Wednesday and the Armagh International Road Races on Thursday.