There were some strong performances at Mary Peter’s Track in Belfast on Saturday as the annual International meet took place on the track.
Peter’s was also in attendance with the 50th anniversary of her gold medal winning performance at the Munich Olympics in 1972 being celebrated.
The battle of Tokyo Olympians Marcus Lawler (Clonliffe Harriers) and Leon Reid (Menapians) was closely watched in both the 100m and 200m races. Reid drew first blood in the 100m winning the race in 10.62s. Shaftesbury Barnet Harriers’ Jordan Watson-Brown claimed second in 10.69s, while Lawler finished third 10.78s.
All three men returned later in the day for the 200m, with results being reversed this time. Lawler took victory this time in 21.05s. Once again Watson-Brown finished second, running a new PB of 21.10s, while Reid was left to settle with third on this occasion running 21.25s.
Ciara Mageean (City of Lisburn AC) was running her second 800m race on the Belfast track in the space of two weeks. In between her exploits in the two-lap race Mageean had ran an impressive 4.05 1500m at the Birmingham Diamond League. With no pacemaker on Saturday, it certainly made things slightly more interesting. British Olympian Katie Snowden was left as the de facto pacemaker leading for the first 600m. Mageean moved past her in the final part of the race to take victory in 2.01.34. Snowden was left to settle for second in 2.02.34, while Claire Mooney (Naas AC) finished third clocking 2.04.96. India’s Mohammed Afsal Pulikkalakath won the Men’s 800m race in a time of 1:48.24 from Kevin McGrath and Conall Kirk.
Donore Harriers sisters Sorcha and Ide Nic Dhomhnaill continued their excellent starts to the season to finish first and second respectively in the 5,000m. Both athletes performed well at the recent Night of 10k PB’s event in Highgate, London. Sorcha dipped under 16 minutes to win the race in 15.58.52, while Ide finished in 16.03.44. Both times were new personal bests for the sisters. Grace Carson of Mid Ulster AC finished third in 16.12.81.
Kieran Kelly (Raheny Shamrocks) made a winning return to the 1500m, having not ran over the distance in three years. He had retired but is now back racing regularly and was pleased with his time of 3.47.99. Carla Sweeney (Rathfarnham WSAF) took victory in the Women’s 1500m clocking 4.26.46 in what was a messy race that saw two athletes crash out with less than 600m to run.
There were several other notable performances with full results available here: https://athleticsni.org/download/files/Results2022-BelfastInternational.xls
