Darragh McElhinney Breaks 44-Year-Old Irish U23 5000m Record

Darragh McElhinney broke the Irish U23 5000m record at the IFAM meeting in Oordegem, Belgium on Saturday.

The 21-year-old Cork native ran 13:17.17 as he finished sixth overall. He takes the record from John Treacy, who had run 13:26.5 in Brussels 44 years ago.

The time also puts McElhinney seventh on the all-time Irish list. The Irish 5000m record of 13:03.53 was set in 2011 by Alistair Cragg.

McElhinney, who won U23 silver for Ireland at the European Cross Country Championships in December, has had a strong opening to the outdoor season. He set a new personal best of 3:39.79 in the 1500m earlier this month.

At the same meeting in Belgium, Galway City Harriers sprinter Robert McDonnell broke the Irish U23 200m record when he ran 20:51 seconds. He bettered the previous U23 best of 20:57, which set by Steven Colvert 10 years ago.

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