Griggs cruises to a new record in Cork

NICK Griggs broke yet another record at BAM Cork City Sports during a Continental Tour Bronze meeting when he ran the 3,000 metres in a stunning time of 7:53.40 minutes.

That time, which the Tyrone teenager feels he can lower still, took a whopping eight seconds off the previous Irish under-20 outdoor mark set by Darragh McElhinney, who won the race on the night in a new Irish under-23 record time of 7:44.01.

With McElhinney calling the shots at the front of the race, 17-year-old Griggs, who will be head boy at Cookstown High School in September, settled into the chasing pack and he feels their slightly lethargic pace cost him valuable seconds on the night.

“The race went well, I was happy enough with it,” acknowledged the Newmills lad. “It was good to be fair. The race was good and we went through the first K fine but the group I was in didn’t drop off, but nobody really wanted to go with Darragh or even try and chase him so that second K we kind of lost a wee bit.

“But I felt really, really good after two K, I was really comfortable so I was a little bit disappointed because I know I can go quicker.”

“If I had chased them, it would have put me in no man’s land but it’s frustrating because when you feel really good and you feel really fresh you want to go after it, but sometimes you just have to sit.

“If I was to go I’d be taking the wind for everyone and I’d have been acting as pacemaker for the rest of the group.

“I felt frustrated halfway through the race, after two K because I could feel we were slowing down and I know I can go a lot quicker but the rest of them didn’t want to chase Darragh, which is fair enough because they have no obligation to do that.”

Just a few days prior to running that new Irish under-20 outdoor 3,000 metres record time, Griggs ran yet another sub-four minute mile at the Morton event in Dublin where, despite poor weather conditions, he finished in 3:58.51 minutes, to add to his 3:56 indoor mile.

“I was hoping we’d be a bit quicker because I felt I could run about 3:54, quicker than I did indoors, but it wasn’t the night for it and the pace wasn’t that quick,” he said.

All in all, Griggs is happy with his form at this stage of the season and with departure for the World Youth Championships in Columbia fast approaching, he’s pleased with where he is at this moment of time.

He is looking forward to the Irish Junior Championships before departing for South America on July 27th when he knows he will have a real challenge on his hands to medal against a tough African contingent, many of whom will have a couple of years experience on him, in the 3,000 metres.

“I’m not sure what I’m going to run yet [at the Irish Junior’s] but it will be interesting to go out and run against junior’s again because that will be the last prep before the World’s,” he explained.

“Everything is about preparing for the World’s and I’m happy with how things are at the minute but earlier on in the season I was a bit sick and I had poor races and something just wasn’t clicking.

“But recently I have been feeling so good, something has changed, I’m peaking at the right time!

“The target would be a medal [at the World’s] but it’s going to be very difficult against the Kenyan’s and Ugandan’s and stuff but I believe I can hang onto them and if I can hang onto them then I just have to have the pace on the last lap.”