Emma Mitchell Sets New NI 10,000m Record

NI & Ulster 10k Champion Emma Mitchell (Coach: Eamonn Christie) set a new Northern Ireland 10,000m record as she reached the Commonwealth Games qualifying standard at this weekend’s prestigious Highgate Harriers Night of 10,000m Personal Bests in London, England (Saturday 20th May 2017).

The 23 year old student clocked 32:51.78 in the elite ladies race at the Parliament Hill Track, bettering Teresa Duffy’s 20 year old record of 33:33.70 (1997).  This was just one week after Emma, a QUB AC athlete, broke the Northern Ireland 5,000m, when running 15:50.55 in Solihull.

Straight after the event, Emma told Athletics NI: “I’m delighted with tonight's race. It was my first 10,000m on the track and to come away with another Northern Ireland record and Commonwealth Games standard is fantastic. The atmosphere at Highgate was incredible! The aim for this year was to achieve the Commonwealth Games standard and to do that this early in the season is fantastic”.

Northern Ireland’s Ann-Marie McGlynn (Letterkenny AC) also dipped under the previous record when crossing the line in a new personal best of 33:16.73.

There was significant Northern Ireland interest in the popular night of racing, with at least four other local runners running personal bests.  Newcastle AC duo Eoghan Totten and Seamus Lynch ran 31:01 and 32:13 respectively, while City of Derry AC’s Aaron Doherty recorded 31:32.  Northern Ireland international and regular at the Highgate Harriers event, Danielle Fegan (Armagh AC), crossed the line in 35:27.

Spartan Kyle Doherty (City of Derry AC) also ran well, clocking 33:19 for the distance – Northern Ireland mountain runner Megan Wilson went well under the 40-minute mark with a 39:15 finish.

Source: NiRunning