How come NI athletes are so far ahead of the rest?

Testosterscone

Looking at the World Half Marathon Championships selection it is following a trend that has become more and more apparent in recent years.

Half the team selected are from the North (Pollock, Seaward, Scullion, Graham and Ross)

Just before that we saw the Irish team made up predominantly of Northern athletes - Mageean, Foster, Reynolds (Could also argue that McMullen who was expected to get an invite)

Is there a reason for this? (club cultures, investment, infrastructure, personal drive)

OOnegative

Both Seaward & Pollock are UK based and trained by Andy Hobdell. They no doubt have access to better facilities and training groups over there. Did the Claw make himself unavailable for selection or something?

Krusty_Clown

I wouldn't have thought that 50% from the north would be a particularly controversial figure. We may have three times the population, but Northern Ireland probably has three times as many running tracks as we do down south. The figures are perhaps a little skewed as there are a few runners noticeably missing form the line-up, twinned with the emergence of some strong running talent from the North (no doubt supported as 00negative mentioned by good facilities, coaching, and sports funding (I'm guessing)). I haven't had much exposure to AthleticsNI, but what I've seen they do a very good job. There are 88 running clubs in Northern Ireland. We probably have a similar number in the South. Not a measure of quality by any means, but pretty indicative of level of engagement in the sport.

Testosterscone

OOnegative wrote: »

Both Seaward & Pollock are UK based and trained by Andy Hobdell. They no doubt have access to better facilities and training groups over there. Did the Claw make himself unavailable for selection or something?

Post Seville imagine it was not on radar. The World Half team though is just another in example in Trend. Take a look at our standout i athletes in T and F;

Amy Foster
Ciara Mageean
Adam Kirk Smith
Stephen Scullion
Adam McMullen
Kate O Connor
Emma Mitchell

Also general depth of Road and Cross Country races tends to be a bit higher (Armagh and Seeley Cup just two examples off the top of my head)

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

I wouldn't have thought that 50% from the north would be a particularly controversial figure. We may have three times the population, but Northern Ireland probably has three times as many running tracks as we do down south. The figures are perhaps a little skewed as there are a few runners noticeably missing form the line-up, twinned with the emergence of some strong running talent from the North (no doubt supported as 00negative mentioned by good facilities, coaching, and sports funding (I'm guessing)). I haven't had much exposure to AthleticsNI, but what I've seen they do a very good job. There are 88 running clubs in Northern Ireland. We probably have a similar number in the South. Not a measure of quality by any means, but pretty indicative of level of engagement in the sport.

This is the kinda stuff that I am seeing also. Perhaps there is more engagement in competitive athletics vs the recreational side down south I know alot of money is pumped into athletes via the Mary Peters Trust also. This is more just looking from afar and maybe the figures contradict my views but just something which has been becoming apparent to me over last few months and got me thinking about are there things that could be done to improve that are being done up north compared to elsewhere.

Chivito550

2 events with limited numbers does not indicate they are miles ahead of us. The European Championships numbers for Berlin will give a more accurate picture.

Purely anecdotal, but I love competing in the Northern Ireland Championships. They always seems to be better organized than events in the south.