2007 in review: Men’s Distance Running in Europe

The end of the year is traditionally a period to spend time with friends and family and reflect on the ups and downs of the year that has passed. So as we enter 2008, European Athletics invites you to spend some time with your athletic family, reflecting on what has been a successful year for our sport in Europe.

Next in our '2007 in review' series, is men’s Distance running. A traditionally difficult area for European competitors, 2007 was not a great season, however with the growing spread of youth running programmes across Europe, it is hoped that fresh talent will start feeding into the distance running ranks in the years ahead.

Men’s long distance running is not Europe’s strongest discipline, and there has been some concern in recent years about the dominance of African competitors in both the 5,000m and 10,000m distances.

5,000m

The 5,000m event holds more promise for European athletes, with ambassadors like Britain’s Mo Farah, who managed to claim a sixth place finish in Osaka and lower his personal best time to 13.07.00 in Brussels in September.

Reigning European 5,000m Champion, Jesus Espana (ESP) was the second European athlete to make the final in Osaka, finishing seventh behind Farah. 27-year-old Irishman, Alistair Cragg, set three impressive personal bests during the season, running 7:32.49 for 3000m, 13:07.10 for 5000m and 27:39.55 Irish record in the 10,000m, but he could not maintain this form in Osaka where he failed to qualify for the final.

The general results are also on a worrying downward trend, with only seven European athletes breaking the 13.30 limit during the 2007 season (less than half the number breaking this marker in 2006).

10,000m

European 10,000m runners had a disappointing year with no runners qualifying for Osaka and only four athletes breaking the 28 minute-mark. European Cup 10,000m winner André Pollmächer (GER) ran a personal best time of 27:55.56 in June this year, that placed him as second on the European Season lists for 2007, behind Alistair Craggs 27:39.55 Irish record.

2008 will bring a New Year and a new chance to improve upon European Distance Running results, there is certainly some inspiring talent in the likes of Farah, Espana and Craggs, but this must be harnessed in the right way to make Europe competitive again on the World Distance stage.

Notable Statistics

5000m
New entries for the European alltime list
13th place 13:07.00 Mo Farah GBR
14th place 13:07.10 Alistair Cragg IRL

Source/Courtesy
European Athletics (EAA)
https://www.european-athletics.org/
EAA