The 6th USPE marathon championships took place on Sunday May 10th in the beautiful medieval citadel of Prague.  A city synonymous with breath taking architecture and regal beauty played host to police athletes from 22 European nations.  The Irish team under the wise tutelage of Jim Gaughan had prepared diligently for the task at hand.  However in typical Irish fashion the gremlins were up to their usual mischief .  With Jim anxiously eyeing weather reports, concerning Icelandic volcanic clouds, the team lost two members when injury forced the withdrawal of Anthony Malone and Lorraine Manning, at the eleventh hour.

Our four members who did travel were essentially entering a Lions Den.  Prevailing conditions on the day conspired in extracting below par runs from the team as a unit. Across the board police athletes underperformed in demanding circumstances.   Weather conditions were not conducive to walking, never mind running.  The average temperature out on the course was 21 degrees Celsius, and the route incorporated miles of cobbled streets and tram tracks.  When combined theses factors illustrate that this race was not going to produce PB performances.  That noted the lads still kept the shoulders to the wheel.  Aidan Lanigan and Mick Dunne soldiered gallantly running 3:02:01 and 3:04:59 respectively, while both were disappointed with these times, they are reflective of the burdensome circumstances.  Four members counted on a team and with this ingrained in his mind Joe Robinson somehow summed up the doggedness to finish the last 10k having been stymied by injury.  Rather than retire and thereby nullify any team results, Joe battled to the end and crossed the line in 3:30:40, and that after passing through halfway in 1:25:28.  Performance of the day was undoubtedly that of the teams most experienced marathon runner, Paul Moran.  A veteran of such prestigious events as the Marathon de Sables, Paul relied upon this reservoir of experience to combat the stifling heat.  He produced a colossal performance from gun to tape, passing halfway in 1:28:09, and clocking a final time of 2:53:31, a negative split.   

With 22 nations represented the lads finished in 14th place, which when all extenuating factors are considered was a credible performance.  The high level of competition is highlighted by the times of the top 3.  Ukraine took gold and silver in the shape of Andrii Nanov and Taras Salo in 2:13:49 and 2:18:49 with the Slovakian, Mitja Kosovelj taking bronze in 2:21:33.  In the team competition 1st were the Ukraine, 2nd was France and the Germans finished 3rd. 

The 7th USPE Marathon Championships are scheduled for Austria in 2014.  While the actual dateor venue has not yet been finalised, the current favourite is Vienna which is hosted in mid May.  Keep the dates in mind for your 2013 qualifying times.