Roisin sets new mark as both Flanagan twins excel

TWIN sisters, Roisin and Eilish Flanagan both broke the Northern Ireland women’s 5,000 metres record in California.

The Rouskey siblings were competing for Colorado’s Adams State University in the Sound Running meet where they produced impressive times.

Both girls finished inside Emma Mitchell’s 2017 NI record performance over the distance, when she clocked 15 minutes 50.55 seconds, with Eilish coming home 11th overall in 15 minutes 40.14 seconds, while Roisin was ninth in  a stunning 13 minutes 38.27 seconds.

Neither of the sisters has had the chance to compete much during 2020, but for Roisin to break the NI record by over 12 seconds was even more surprising given that was her first ever 5000 metre race on the track.

“I hadn’t ran 5K on the track before and I didn’t really know what it was going to feel like, but I like the distance!,” Roisin beamed.

“It felt pretty good! We were lucky to have the opportunity to race, so we were thankful for that.

“I did a small meet in Belfast in the summer, which was pretty low-key, but other than that this was only the second time I competed because of Covid.

“There was probably a little bit of frustration came out during the race, but it was an exciting opportunity.

“We were very delighted, but ourselves and our coach know we can go quicker but there’s plenty of time for that. This is a good step.”

FULL STORY IN LAST WEEK’S STRABANE CHRONICLE