Mayo woman part of new relay racing world record

A Mayo woman was part of a historic event was made last Wednesday, July 30, in Dublin when a new 4x800m Relay World Record was set by the Irish Masters Women Over 75.

The attempt was organised by Ronan Gately and held in conjunction with the Dublin Graded Meet at Morton Stadium.

During the track season starting in April, the Dublin Athletics Board holds a Graded League for Track and Field Athletes of all standards. Here, athletes have the opportunity to compete in Track and Field Competition with other Athletes of equal standard.

The relay attempts were at 18:45, first on a programme which included a number of 100m, 1500m, as well as Field events.

The Irish team was made up of Eileen Kenny (Tullamore Harriers), Pat Kelly, Tullamore Harriers AC/SC Striders Track Club, Evelyn McNelis, Naas AC, and the last runner in the relay, Mayo AC’s Mags Glavey.

They were assisted in the attempt by four masters women: Edel Maguire, Maura Groom, Maura Dervin, and Ann Gilsenan

The over-75 quartet blazed a trail around the track to record a time of 15:00.41, demolishing the previous record by well over four minutes.

They easily surpassed the old mark of 19:34.93 held by an Atlanta Track Club team, who ran that time just ten days previously on July 20, 2025, at the 2025 USATF Masters Outdoor Championships at Huntsville, AL.

This marks yet another World Record set by an Irish Masters Team and once again with Mayo AC involvement.

Split times for the four were as follows: Eileen 3.22.74, Pat 3.57.0, Evelyn 4.25.0, Mags 3.15.7.

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The W75 team had done some training and relay practice in recent weeks at Athlone. And the National Masters Outdoors Championships was another opportunity for some to prepare.

Mags Glavey ran the 800m there on Saturday, July 2,6 specifically as preparation, finishing in 3:19.16 to win gold.

As usual, all new records will require ratification by World Masters Athletics.