Here we are at the start of another season . Another winter has come and gone and yes we’ve all aged another year but we’re at the begining of another fantastic season. Another day has dawned on Irish 400m running. Last year we had the privillage of seeing Brian Gregan make the Final of the World juniors and also a promising junior 4*400m relay team . The Leaps and bounds have being massive in 12 months.

This weekend coming is the Schools All Ireland which will see a fantastic senior boys 400m packed full of young talented juniors, looking for there own qualifiers and also breaking down the door of 48 seconds. Billy Ryan had a fantastic indoors recording 48.17sec and will definitely be one to watch.

David Gillick has being out in flying form recording 45.80 so far this season. As has, Antoine Burke in Australia running 47.92. Myself, Brian Murphy and Brian Gregan will be out over the next 10 days proving fitness for the upcoming Europa Cup. As the hunt begins for all important European cup selection getting the times will be of the upmost importance for selection.

Racing Dates:

Gordon Kennedy Races in:

• Ljubljana 1st June
• Helsinki 5th June
• Tullamore 7th June
• Gothenberg 9th June

Brian Murphy races in:

• Helsinki 5th June

By Gordon Kennedy

It has been a while since any of us posted anything on the site. With the European Indoors next weekend and our double European champion, David Gillick, taking to the boards it seems like the perfect time to kick things off again.

Last year was a tough pill for us to swallow and it took a lot of time to sink in that we were not going to be competing in the Olympics, for some of us it was our last shot and for others only the beginning.

All is not lost however, in fact there is a lot to be hopeful about. Last year saw a new National Senior Record by David Gillick while Brian Greagan equalled the 8 year old National Junior Record. We also saw a new Schools record by Curtis Woods the newest member and sensation on the Irish circuit. This good form has continued into 2009 as we saw Billy Ryan win the AAA Championships in a time of 48.13, although he was unfortunately disqualified a little later, but will definitely be someone to watch this summer.

For the year ahead everyone will be doing there own preparations for various championships be it Junior, U23 or the World Championshps in Berlin. The target for the 4*4 in Berlin is tough but with the list of athletes under the 48 seconds mark growing all the time we have high hopes of translating this into more athletes under the crucial 47 seconds mark. One thing is for sure, there will be a relay team at the Europa cup come the 22 of june. Who will form the team will be decided over the coming months and I personally hope to challenge once again for my place and give it everything on the day.

For now best of luck to David. I wish him look in the next few days.

Gordon Kennedy
Project 400

Project 400 might have narrowly failed to qualify a 4*400m team for the Olympics but they will be abled represented by David Gillick in the individual 400m race.

David enters the race as the 3rd fastest European this season and Project 400 would like to wish him and all the Irish team the best of luck.

Dave starts his campaign at 9.00am on Monday morning (Beijing time).

Gordon Kennedy took his and club Tullamore Harrier’s first gold medal at the National Track and Field Championships on Sunday.

(Image from www.athleticsireland.ie)

Running an agressive race from lane 3, Kennedy lead all the way to the line, taking the victory in 46.90 on a very windy day in Santry. Gordon was pushed closely by the 3 Brians (Brian Doyle, 47.17; Brian Gregan, 47.43, Brian Murphy 47.52). Project 400’s newest member Nick Hogan finished 5th in 48.90.

Video coverage of the Woodies DIY National Athletics Championships, which was broadcast live is available on the RTE Website

In other action this weekend, Paul McKee recorded an excellent season’s best of 46.17 while placing 2nd in Barcelona on Saturday night. David Gillick had to withdraw from his chosen 200m with a slight injury.

The IAAF have rejected the Irish team’s request to sanction a last-minute 4×400m relay at the Lucerne Grand Prix in Switzerland this coming Wednesday. Following the cancellation of the last sanctioned race, this was the last and only possibility of the team meeting the required standard to qualify for the Olympics in the team event.

With the hopes of the team competition now faded, the project400 members concentration will return to their individual efforts. David Gillick has already achieved the A qualification standard for Beijing and continued his good form with a 45.52 second run at the Golden League meet in Rome last Friday.

Paul McKee is currently one second off the A qualification standard and has lined up several races over the coming week in the hopes of achieving the time before the deadline expires. For further details on his competitions please visit the BBC Sports page to read more.

Elsewhere, Brian Doyle ran an excellent 47.14 at the Cork city sports on Saturday. Brian Murphy and Gordon Kennedy were competing in Uden, Netherland and Ghent, Belgium over the weekend and a report on their results will be up in the next few days.

The AAI National Senior Track and Field Championships will be held next weekend at Santry in Dublin and project400 members will be out in force over the two days. There will also be live coverage on the Sunday by RTE, more details to follow during the week.

Congratulations to Brian Gregan on a superb performance in the World Junior Final this evening.

Running in lane 9, Brian got out well and ran a great last 60m to take fifth place (in a new National Junior Record of 46.60)

Update: Unfortunately Brian was disqualified for running out of his lane, so while the time is voided it was nevertheless a great performance.

Brian Gregan is through to tonight’s World Junior Final in Bydgoszcz in the 400m. Last night’s second place in his semi final in 46.88 saw him progress through to the final as an automatic qualifier.

Brian will run from lane 8 tonight and will be looking for a new personal best in what looks to be a very competitive final. British Eurosport will be covering the evening session of the World Junior’s tonight so tune in and cheer on Brian.

All the lads in Project400 want to wish all our Juniors competing in Poland the very best of luck.

Flying high in Sweden

Gordon Kennedy and Brian Murphy were both in action today in the Folksham GP in Sollentuna, Sweden. Ranked fourth and sixth respectively on the Irish rankings this year, the boys battled well. Taking on a top class field, Gordon led most of the way to be just pipped on the line, coming second in a time of 47.04. Brian, running on the outside lane, ran a brave race and came back to grab third place in a time of 47.73 which was a little outside his SB (47.45) that he set in Wicklow last week.

Brian Gregan through to semi final

Running in the World Juniors Championships today, Brian excelled himself winning his heat in 47.32. This was a crucial move in terms of the lane draw as Brian will now have the enviable position of lane 3 when he takes to the line for his semi-final in the morning. The very best of luck to him in his semi-final.

Congratulations to David Gillick on his nomination for this month’s European Athletics’s Athlete of the Month. David was nominated on the back of his superb 45.12 performance in Lille last week.

You can vote for David on the EAA Athlete of the Month Page. If you are feeling generous you can also vote for Irish 200m speedster Paul Hession who is also up for nomination.

You can only vote once from the same computer, so borrow your friend’s computers as well!

Gordon Kennedy was racing in the Lugano GP in Switzerland on Friday evening. Running on the outside lane he got off to a sluggish start which cost him dearly in the home straight but still managed to finish strong, claiming fourth in a time of 46.91, his second fastest time this year.

This was the first of 4 races lined up over the next 8 days for Gordon.

Next race will be in Sollentuna Sweden on Tuesday night.