by Elaine Kennedy
Having spent the last four months dragging myself around mucky, hilly cross country courses in the cold and rain, arriving into a warm and dry indoor arena was an absolute delight. The NIA is a fantastic venue and the NIA Live events are a great opportunity to try out some indoor running and spot some top athletes- Sarah Healy and Nadia Power were both competing on the night.
Emma Meade and myself entered the 800m and I also did the 200m. Having not quite mastered the starting blocks and still trying to figure out if I should lead with my left or right leg, I lined out in lane four for the 200m. I got out without any trips or falls, and managed to hold on for second in a time of 28ish seconds.
The timetable meant a very quick turnaround between races, which wasn’t ideal, but I soldiered onto the 800m with five minutes or two men’s 800 metre races in between. As there were too few entries in the 800m for two races, Emma and I ended up in a race with some serious runners, the word internationals was even used. However, what intimidated me most were the belly tops, there were more abs on show on the start line than on an episode of Love Island!
As expected, my legs weren’t happy doing two races in the one night and I limped home. Emma on the other hand managed to stick in the back of a pack, running a great race to get herself into the Sportsworld records.
Conor Keating also ran a fantastic 3000m and managed to nab himself a PB.
There are two more races left in the NIA series on February 11th and 18th, I would really recommend trying them out, if only to get in out of the cold for an evening.
Results
Race
Positions Bib No. Athlete Name Athletes Club Time
200 Meters – Women
2 42 Elaine kennedy Sportsworld A.C. 28.85 (New Club record)
800 Meters – Women
8 46 Emma Meade Sportsworld A.C. 2.34.92 (Now 2nd in Club Records)
9 42 Elaine kennedy Sportsworld A.C. 2.50.62
800 Meters – Men
9 98 Martin keenan Sportsworld A.C. 2.21.87
3,000 Metres – Men
6 34 Conor Keating Sportsworld A.C. 10.10.85 (New Club record)
