THE Belfast Irish Milers Meet in association with Kinetica, set for May 29 at Mary Peters Track, has received a further boost with the confirmation of two major additions to the star-studded field.
Organiser, Eamonn Christie has revealed that 2014 European Championships' bronze medallist Mark English (pictured right) will take part in the men's 800m race.
The Finn Valley man represented Ireland at the Rio Olympics and is highly decorated at European Indoor and European Team Championships and will join an already strong field that includes John Fitzsimons, Zak Curran and Conall Kirk.
Also joining the field is Holly Archer, who will race in the women's 1500m. The GB athlete claimed silver at the recent European Indoor Championships in Poland and will arrive in Belfast aiming to run an Olympic qualifying time of 4:04:05.
A pacemaker has been signed up to ensure a fast race that will also involve Irish trio Amy O'Donoghue, Georgie Hartigan and Ellie Hartnett.
"It's great news to have Mark and Holly coming on board for the Belfast Irish Milers Meet in association with Kinetica," Eamonn confirmed.
“We already had a very strong field, but their inclusion has strengthened it further and will only add to what is already a very exciting day ahead.”
There was further good news for the event this week with the NI Executive confirming the relaxation of restrictions will include the resumption of competitive outdoor sport.
That means the Belfast Irish Milers Meet has been given the green light to proceed, but as it stands, there will be no spectators permitted to attend.
Belfast Irish Milers Meet organiser Eamonn Christie is hopeful that a limited number of spectators will be permitted to attend next month's event at the Mary Peters Track
However, Christie is hopeful that should the Covid-19 numbers continue to trend the right way, by the end of May there may be scope for allowing at least a small crowd to attend what promises to be a top-class day of athletics in what is a crunch time for the Tokyo Olympics' hopefuls.
“We’ll continue to abide by the restrictions but I'm hopeful that we may get further good news and can have some sort of a crowd there on the day,” Eamonn added.
“This is a major event for Belfast so I'll continue to keep an eye on developments with restrictions, but it is great news to know that the event will happen, so hopefully things can progress further in the coming weeks, and we can welcome even a limited number of spectators there on the day.”
