Paul Robinson, Kildare’s new distance sensation, spoke to jumpingthegun.ie in the first podcast with co-anchors Feidhlim Kelly and Thomas Chamney. Robinson talks about his coaching and training as he eyes up a  World ‘A’ standard in Marseille tomorrow. We also discuss the recent goings on in Irish and World athletics.

I still think about Con Houlihan every morning when I wake up. It is morning – well, mid-morning – as I start to write this column. This used to be the customary start of our daily ritual of tea and toast and Sky Sports News on mute. Frank Greally introduced

“The pony express always comes through,” Con Houlihan would often say with a wry smile after we finished a newspaper column. I unwittingly joined the pony express in Martin Street in the Winter of 2007. I was 24 when I walked through the door of Con’s house for the first

Irish distance running has hit a few bum notes since the glorious ’80s. So can a classical musician who specialised in the French horn put the wind back in our endurance stars? And can a landmark move to professional coaching help build on the recent promise shown by Fionnuala Britton

Kenenisa Bekele’s star quality was able to pierce through a blustery crosswind at the Spar Great Ireland Run 10km in the Phoenix Park yesterday. The Ethiopian retained his title in 28:51 and now has his sights set on qualifying for the World Track and Field Championships in Moscow in August. 

The Irish women’s European Cross-Country winning team will be amongst the medal favourites in the 40th edition of the IAAF World Cross-Country Championships in snow-swept Bydgoszcz, Poland tomorrow. With Fionnuala Britton merging the gap to world-class level by the month, as evidenced by her fine European indoor bronze medal over

“I couldn’t leave that one go,” admitted senior boy’s winner Sean Tobin of his last chance at glory in Saturday’s Aviva All-Ireland Schools’ and Universities’ Cross Country Championships at University of Ulster, Jordanstown. Finishing second last year in an exciting duel with CBC Monkstown’s Kevin Dooney, the High School Clonmel

Four-time world cross country silver medallist Catherina McKiernan has urged the future distance running stars “to enjoy” the Aviva Irish Schools’ Cross Country Championships that take place tomorrow in the University of Ulster, Jordanstown if they are to succeed. McKiernan, who famously won the senior girls schools’ title in 1988

It was a case of “deja vu” for Fionnuala Britton and part of a childhood ambition achieved for Ciaran O’Lionaird as they led a successful Irish team homecoming from the European Indoor Championships in Gothenburg with their bronze medals in the 3,000 metres to a small but intimate crowd at

“I’m not finishing fourth,” was Fionnuala Britton’s mantra in the last three laps of the 3,000m final as the teak tough Wicklow woman won a fighting bronze medal yesterday. “Fourth place is the worst place to finish,” said Britton afterwards and that message would have resonated clearly having seen Derval

Ciarán Ó Lionáird turned a “turbulent” 2012 into a composed bronze medal-winning performance on Saturday evening at the European Indoor championships in Gothenburg and now wants to make an impact on the world stage. “I ran for gold,” said Ó Lionáird after the race run in a personal best of

Derval O’Rourke was left holding back the tears after just missing out on a medal in the 60m hurdles final but even that heartbreak couldn’t take away from an exceptional day’s work by the Irish team on day one of the European indoors in Gothenburg. O’Rourke came fourth with a

Sonia O’Sullivan believes success “should be expected” by Irish athletes at the European Indoor Championships, which begin this morning in Gothenburg. “I think the level of competition at European indoors is the first step on the international ladder for Irish athletes,” said Ireland’s most decorated athlete speaking from her home

Not even a missing spike key could deter Mary Cullen from dominating the Woodie’s DIY Inter Club Cross Country Championships in Charleville Estate in Tullamore yesterday. “I must have texted half the country,” smiled Cullen (North Sligo) before the race as she was looking for a key to tighten the

With grown men banging the blue-boarded track and a raucous crowd standing on their feet as John Travers broke eight minutes for the 3,000m, it truly was Super Sunday at the Woodie’s DIY National Indoor Championships in Athlone in a day to remember for Irish athletics aficionados. It looked like