MARY CULLEN smashed the women’s course record as Finn Valley AC hosted its St Stephen’s Day 5k this afternoon.
The 33-year-old Olympic hopeful from Sligo had a storming race and finished in a blistering time of 15 minutes and 45 seconds.
Cullen is very much back on track after a difficult period during which she contemplated her future in the sport and a course record on St Stephen’s Day showed that she’s in the mood again.
Cullen’s time was 29 seconds faster than the previous best around the courset, the 16:14 set by the Kenyan 5,000 and 10,000m gold medalist Vivian Cheruiyiot in 2007.
https://wwwyoutube.com/watch?v=bdB7728DJMA
The event has been a popular and hardy St Stephen’s Day annual on the Finn Valley AC calendar since its first running in 1972 through Drumboe Woods.
Today’s was no different and Cullen – the 2009 European Indoor bronze medalist – was the star turn in a field that also included Donegal Olympian Brendan Boyce, who finished in 20:24.
The men’s course record still stands at the 13:29.68 set by the iconic Mo Farah in 2006.
The event was won by Kilkenny’s Thomas Hayes, in 15:09, from Rathfarnam’s David Scanlon (15:28) and Greg Roberts from City of Derry (15:35).
Teresa Doherty was the second woman home Finn Valley pair Dermot McElchar and Catriona Devine were the leading masters athletes and the Under-15 sections were claimed by Karen Gallagher (Finn Valley) and Oisin Farren (Letterkenny AC).
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2015 FVAC ST STEPHENS DAY 5K RESULTS
