An athletic event that will go down in history will take place at the AIT arena in Athlone, tomorrow, St Patrick’s Day at 4pm.
The return to Irish soil of Sean Tobin will see a classy quartet of Irish milers assemble to take on a World Record set by the USA only weeks ago! If successful, Ireland would be in the unique position of holding both the indoor and outdoor 4 x 1 mile world records, the former having been set in Belfield in 1985 by Eamon Coughlan, Ray Flynn, Marcus O’Sullivan and Frank O’Mara.
The four Irish elite athletes are all in brilliant form with some standout indoor performances already this year. Tobin, from Clonmel is a young man making a serious name for himself Stateside with his most recent success a comfortable solo 4 minute mile in January. He’ll be a serious asset to this world-class Irish team. Tobin’s strength and competitiveness and will be backed up by European 4th place finisher Paul Robinson who has been getting back to form lately running a 4.02 mile at the AIT International. Robinson is flying in from Sweden where he has been sharpening up for the World Record attempt. Another one of the milers in brilliant form is John Travers, a finalist at the recent European Indoors. Travers ran a 4.02 mile at the AIT international and just pipped Robinson in a thrilling championship 1500m final in February. Making up the quartet is the ultra consistent Eoin Everard who has recently posted a 4.02 mile and is going so well recently that a sub-4 from Everard is likely on Paddy’s Day. This quartet’s season’s best would see them take down the recent record set by the USA back in February, a record which previously had stood since 1993.
The team will be captained and mentored by Paul Donovan, a two-time Olympian, world indoor medallist and a specialist in middle distance relay events. In the 1980s, Paul was NCAA indoor champion at both 1500m and 3,000m and anchored his University of Arkansas team to a 4 x 800m national championship title, numerous prestigious Penn Relay titles, a USA collegiate record and a World Best at 4 x 1500m. The Galwayman ran a 3:55 mile before his 21st birthday.
Ireland has a big tradition in indoor running, particularly over middle distance events, and the new crop of Irish milers will attempt to emulate one of the glory days of the 1980s. With these four milers current form, the prospect of establishing a new world record is certainly on the cards. Their season’s bests would see them smash the World Record which may only be held by the US team for less than a month! This exciting event will be like no other ever held on Irish soil. It promises to deliver some serious fireworks! Come along to the AIT arena from 4 – 5 pm to witness athletics history!