It has been a week of records at Finn Valley AC – and what a start to the 2026 indoor season it has been for club athlete Mark English.
Mark English his own Irish indoor 800m record on Sunday in Luxembourg, in his first outing over the distance in 2026, just four days after setting a new Irish indoor 600m record.
Mark won the men’s 800m at the CMCM Luxembourg Indoor Meeting in 1:44.65 – a time that equalled the meeting record set by Josue Canales in 2025 and lowered the 1:45.15 he set at the Millrose Games last year in New York.
On Wednesday night, Mark opened his indoor season by setting a new Irish indoor 600m record, clocking 1:15.80 at the Track and Field Live meet held at the National Indoor Area in Abbotstown, shaving almost a second off the 1:16.64 he ran in Boston two years ago.
Following a period at altitude training in the Sierra Nevada mountains, the medical doctor returned home and won the St Stephen’s Day 5k at Finn Valley.
Last summer, he lowered his own Irish 800m outdoor record three times, going down to 1:43.37 before Cian McPhillips went to 1:42.15 on his way to finishing fourth at the World Championships in Tokyo.
Finn Valley AC’s Conor Kelly set a new Irish U20 indoor 300m record at the weekend in the United States when going 33.93 seconds while competing at the Corky Classic in Texas.
The 2025 European U20 400m gold medallist, who is now a student at the University of Texas at Austin, was making his collegiate debut across the Atlantic and was the second freshman to finish on an encouraging opening weekend of action in 2026.
The Irish senior record for an indoor 300m is the 33.27 seconds ran by Jack Raftery in 2022.
Conor was also in action in a 4x400m relay with the University of Texas team placing third in 3:06.85. Conor was joined by Chris Brinkley, Logan Popelka and John Rutledge with Kelly going quickest of the quartet in 46.31.
At the VA Indoor Showcase, Sophia Thompson helped the Union Catholic High School team to a New Jersey record in the distance medley relay at the Virginia Beach Sports Center, joined on the team by Sydney Chadwick, Abigail Robisky and Paige Sheppard to finish in 11:18.75 – just shy of the US record of 11:17.50.
In an individual 1000m, Sophia – whose father Terry hails from Letterkenny – was fifth in 2:49.05 and she will now compete over one mile in Boston at the weekend.
Cara Laverty, a Finn Valley AC athlete who is a scholarship student at Providence College, was third in a women’s 1000m at the Harvard Beantown Challenge, going around in 2:47.66, just .07 of a second off second spot.
Nadine McIntyre, a native of Co Fermanagh who has linked up with Finn Valley AC, finished a one mile race in 5:24.38 while competing at the Washburn Rust Buster event in Topeka, Kansas.
It was great to see a fine Finn Valley AC contingent travel to Dublin on Wednesday night to take part in Track and Field Live at the National Indoor Arena in Abbotstown.
Mark English clocked his new Irish indoor 600m record and there were others to shine. Over 800m, Tara Rose Smith ran a fine 2:11.61, the 15-year-old finishing second.
Odhrán McBrearty landed a big 800m PB, going around in 1:56.72. Over a mile, it was a FVAC 1-2, Mark Kearns (4:29.54) finishing ahead of Paraic McGettigan (4:41.98) and Odhrán Rodgers ended a two-year spell off track with a 53:14 400m.
Finn Valley AC athlete Mark Kearns bagged his second win of the week on Friday in Lurgan.
After winning at the Track and Field Live meet on Wednesday night in Dublin, Mark won the Ulster District D Cross Country at the Gordan Playing Fields in Lurgan.
At the AAI Games in Dublin on Saturday, Amy Timoney earned a new 60m PB of 7.83 to open her indoor season.
Shay McHugh was second in the U13 race in the Derry GAA Cross Country at Owenbeg on Saturday morning.
Finn Valley AC race walker Leah O’Gara goes to Guadix on Sunday as her preparations for a busy 2026 ramp up.
The sympathies of all at Finn Valley AC are extended to the family of Marrie McMenamin, nee McGranaghan, late of Castlefin Road, Castlederg, and formerly Keelogs, Ballindrait, who has died. Marrie was a sister of FVAC President Peadar McGranaghan and an aunt of club Chairman Dermot McGranaghan.
