NICK Griggs finally got the Northern Ireland record he so desired when he stopped the clock at 3:52.42 in finishing fourth in the Morton Mile in Dublin on Friday night.
On a perfect evening for athletics, Griggs finished fourth in probably the best domestic field assembled for the distance in this country. His timing was a national U23 record and erased from the record books the long-standing 3:55.0 mark set by Jim McGuinness exactly 48 years earlier to the very day.
To put in perspective, the McGuinness time at the old Belfield track in south Dublin, ranked seventh in the world in 1977, while Griggs moves up to 32nd in the listings for the current year.
En route to his mile time, Griggs clocked 3:37.72 for the 1500m, demonstrating how fast he covered the final 109 metres.
However, it was Balbriggan man Andrew Coscoran who stole the show as he took the honours after a meandering struggle with Clonliffe Harrier Cathal Doyle down the home straight.
Coscoran had wandered to lane three to hold off Doyle and got home by a narrow margin in a meeting and stadium record 3:51.12 to Doyle’s personal best timing of 3:51.26.
Darragh McElhinney also set new figures in third with a 3:51.99 mark, while other Irish men to go under four were Brian Fay (3:52.98), Shane Bracken (3:55.07), Sean Donoghue (3:55.82), and Carmen Runner James Gormley (3:56.18).
Coscoran is a changed athlete this year. He always has been able to run fast times as evidenced by his national 1500m and mile records.
However, his finishing has left something to be desired, failing to take a medal in the national championships in recent years.
Two national titles to date is a poor return for an athlete of his quality. However, all that has changed in 2025, with the Star of the Sea athlete showing unprecedented finishing speed, not only holding off proven finisher Doyle on this occasion, but out-kicking world 3000m record holder Grant Fisher in the Miami Grand Slam at the start of May. That earned him a $50,000 (€44,200) pay day.
“My last 200, and particularly the last 100 was really strong,” said Coscoran who also won the event three years ago.
“It’s always good to be competitive in races and to be able to finish fast and taking a win is always nice.”
Despite the absence of top Irish athletes like Mark English, Rhasidat Adeleke, Sarah Healy and Jack Raftery, it was a good night for home-based performers.
Cian McPhillips timed his finish to perfection in winning the 800m in 1:44.19, a meeting and stadium record.
There was also a meeting record for Sharlene Mawdsley in the women’s 400m, with a 51.61 timing, and Israel Olatunde looked to be getting back to his best with a 10.20 second clocking for victory in the 100m.
Northern successes came from recent Finn Valley recruit Conor Kelly, who clocked a national U20 record of 45.85 for fourth in the 400m, and Willowfield’s Luci Foster, who was the winner of the U20 women’s mile in 4:49.80.