European T&F Championships 2026 (10th to 16th Aug)
It was a very early 7.30am start on Saturday morning 15th August for Oisin Lane when he competed in the Half Marathon Race Walk at the European T&F Championships in Birmingham. The race was held in the city centre and being so early, temperatures were not as high, but it was still quite warm. With both men and women races starting together, only a minute ahead of the men and women marathon race walk, the course soon became quite crowded and it was quite a spectacle for the large crowd of supporters, including a lot of Irish and a terrific number from Mullingar Harriers, to watch over 100 athletes racing on the tight looped course that meant the athletes came around regularly and could be cheered on enthusiastically every time they passed. Oisin stuck to his race plan and carefully negotiating the tight turns, uphill and downhill sections, differing surfaces, always under the scrutiny of the judges, was in the middle of the pack for much of the race but moving through field over the final few kilometres raced home in a brilliant eleventh place in 1:27.09, a personal best for the distance by a whopping four minutes, which is a brilliant result.
The evening session at the Alexander Stadium included the 10,000m where Jack O’Leary toed the line with 24 others in very warm conditions. The near full attendance generated a terrific atmosphere and the roar from the very large Irish contingent when Jack was introduced at the start was spine tingling. Settling in quickly to the pace, Jack kept right in the thick of the action in the big field and moved up and down the pack as needed to keep himself well placed. Even though this was his first European senior track competition, Jack ran like a seasoned pro and kept working all the way, wisely ignoring a mid-race surge by a small group that would go on to contest the medals. With 3k to go he raced to the front of the chasing pack, to push the pace and roared on by the Irish crowd he raced hard to the finish to cross the line in tenth place in 28:24.89, a season’s best, a brilliant result.
There’s no doubt, both Oisin and Jack can be extremely proud of their performances at the top level in Europe, which will drive them on for future competitions, at European and World level [GD].
