Mark English sets new Irish 600m record to win in Boston

Mark English set a new Irish indoor 600m record in Boston on Sunday evening.

The Finn Valley AC athlete won the men’s 600m at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix.

English edged in to get ahead of John Rivera from Puerto Rico in a photo finish. English clocked 1:16.64 over three laps of the Track at New Balance, the indoor facility in Brighton, Boston.

Out of lane 5, the Letterkenny man opened 2024, an Olympic year, in fine fashion to bag a victory at the 2024 World Athletics Indoor Tour gold level meet.

English, who has won 17 Irish senior titles, lowered Zak Curran’s 2016 600m time of 1:17.52 and also took a large swathe off his own personal best, which stood at 1:18.49 since 2020.

In 2022, English was recruited by PACE Sports Management, the company of Milford native Ricky Simms, who accompanied his fellow Donegal man in Boston.

In two weeks’ time, the 30-year-old - a four-time European medalist - will defend his Irish Indoor 800m title when he goes under starter’s orders at the National Indoor Arena in Abbotstown and bid to win an 18th Irish senior gold.

The World Indoor Championships take place in Glasgow - where English won a European Indoor bronze in 2019 - in March.

Last year, English clocked a season’s best of 1:45.14 for seventh in his 800m semi-final at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest. There, in spite of an injury-hampered season, English had ran a 1:45.71 heat at the National Athletics Centre.

English followed that up with a 1:45.56 time to come fifth at the Boris Hanžeković Memorial in Zagreb in September.

On Saturday, as part of the same meet in Boston, Cranford AC’s Caolan McFadden ran in the junior boys’ international mile.

McFadden, coming off another fine cross country season, finished in 13th spot, going through in 4:25.78. JoJo Jourdon won in 3:59.87.

Jack Fenlon from the St Abban’s club in Laois was ninth in a time of 4:10.22.

Finn Valley AC race walker Brendan Boyce began his 2024 campaign in Spain.

Competing in the 10km race walk at the XXXVI Gran Premio de Marcha Atlética Ciudad de Guadix, Boyce was fifth in 42 minutes and 42 seconds.

The race was won by Francesco Fortunato from Italy in 40:18.

Boyce’s 10km best is the 41:39 recorded at the Gothenburg Trophy in Göteborg in 2020.