Zoe Toland

All eyes this weekend will be on Mary Peter’s track as the Continental Tour comes to Belfast. The Belfast Classic always showcases an athlete or two who has wintered particularly well, and the 2026 edition is set to be one of the best yet.

A quieter weekend elsewhere means that fans can focus their attention on the domestic event ahead of much busier weekends later in May.

Marquee season opener in Belfast

The first Irish continental tour meeting of the year - the Belfast Classic - plays host to some of the best Irish athletes, with stars from last weekend’s World Relays ensuring that the women’s 400m international and A races, in particular, will be very competitive.

If the startlists are anything to go by, there will also be competitive 1500m and 3000m events. The international women’s and men’s 800 deciders, which will close the programme, look particularly strong, with a small helping of Irish athletes in among the international fields.

Sophie Becker and Rachel McCann, who helped the Irish women’s 4x400m qualify for the 2027 World Championships last weekend, will be joined by Cliodhna Manning in the International 400m, where they will face stiff opposition from across the UK.

Arlene Crossan, Jenna Breen and Molly Daly, who all competed in Gaborone, along with Michelle Duggan, one of the reserves from the Tokyo team, are among the entries in the A 400m race. Erin Friel is entered in the 200m.

Jack Raftery, who also competed at the World Relays, David Mannion and Hugo Magee are on the startlist for the men’s international 400m.

The international men’s 3000m startlist includes Callum Morgan, Michael Morgan and Jamie Battle who were, earlier this week, all named in the Irish team for the upcoming European 10,000m Cup. Jack O’Leary, who finished fifth at the European Cross Country Championships in December is also set to open his outdoor campaign.

Fiona Everard, who was also this week named in the Irish team for the European 10,000m Cup, will face opposition from Belgium, Sweden and the UK in the women’s international 3000m. Among her Irish competitors are Cheryl Nolan, Zoe Toland, Róise Roberts and Abbie Sheridan.

Alex O’Neill and Andrew Thompson are the star Irish names in the International 800m races, while national indoor champion Cillian Kirwan is on the A race startlist.

Admission to Mary Peters for this action-packed day of action is free. Those who can’t make it to Belfast, can enjoy a livestream of all races across the programme.

Elsewhere

Matthew Glennon is the sole senior Irish athlete competing at the World Racewalking Tour Gold in Poděbrady, Czechia, on Friday afternoon. Glennon will be competing over the half marathon distance.

Ever-improving discus thrower Anna Gavigan is on the startlist for the Continental Tour Challenger Ter Specke Bokaal meeting in Lisse, Netherlands on Saturday. She is also entered for the Dublin Graded meeting on Sunday, as is fellow discus thrower Eoin Sheridan.

With most of the NCAA Division I schools scheduled to compete in conference championships next week, this is a quieter week in the US. There are still a handful of athletes on the startlists for meetings in Oregon, California, Kansas, New York, Arkansas and Illinois.

Una Brice, Scott Fagan, Sean Lawton, Muireann Duffy and Laura McConville are also scheduled to compete in conference championships. Check out the NCAA/Collegiate page for further details and links to startlists and livestreams, where available.

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.