special to Irish Runner.com by Eoghan Young-Murphy and Tim O'Dowd

A minor road race in a small town in Connecticut may not normally warrant much attention even in the pages of Athletics Weekly but, from an Irish perspective, something seemed important about this event, in which Mark Carroll and Alistair Cragg traded blows.

Carroll is the incumbent: the athlete who has solely carried the burden of Irish middle-distance fans during the past decade. The successes he has achieved - European Indoor 3,000m gold, European Outdoor 5,000m bronze, a 7:30 3km run - are all the more astounding when you consider that many of his rivals were either African or of similar proclivity to Cathal Lombard's brief stay in the headlines.

Yet, at 33, he is nearing the end of his thither. There comes a time in every athlete's life when age takes it toll, recovery powers deteriorate and you are ushered towards the athletics retirement home. Carroll has not yet reached the exit sign but he is making his way down the hallway. A hallway that will go through another European Championships and perhaps another World Champs and Olympics as well.

Injury has hampered his attempts at marathon running; he has not completed the 26.2-mile discipline since making an auspicious debut of 2:10:54 three years ago in New York.

Alistair Cragg is at the other end of his career, nearly ten years younger than the Corkman. Though he only qualifies to compete for Ireland through his maternal grandparents, he has, like many a footballer before him, been welcomed with open arms.

Part of the reason for this is that he the World Indoor 3,000m champion and tipped to lift Ireland from the cloud of doom that has descended on the sport since the demise of Sonia O'Sullivan.

Carroll and Cragg haven't raced since the World Indoors, when the former valiantly or in some eye needlessly sacrificed his own chances by becoming a pacemaker.

Both began the 4.748-mile Manchester Road Race among the favourites that has been running for 69 years. There is one hill on the course - it starts from mile one and moves gradual before becoming steep around the two-mile marker - and the course record is 21:19.

Cragg is using this race as part of his preparations for the European Cross-Country Championships next month. It has emerged that he does not intend competing in any cross-country races in the preamble to the event, as there aren't any high-level cross races available in America for non-collegians at this time, perhaps lessening his chances of winning a brace of major titles in a year.

Whilst the Irish wanted to make this race a duel between the old (Carroll) and new (Cragg) guarde, the actual race had more of friendly revenge factor built in. Cragg, who attended the University of Arkansas was up against Nick Willis, a New Zealander who competed for the University of Michigan. In March of 2004, Cragg beat Willis by less than a second to win the 2004 NCAA 3,000m title.

Despite the distance being longer than Willis' 1,500m specialty and it being his first road race, the Michigan grad finally got the better of Cragg. With a mile remaining, Willis pulled away from Cragg beating his rival by six seconds. Amidst the snow covered sidewalks on Main Street, Willis crossed the line in 21.50 with Cragg timed in 21.26.

After the race Cragg told Sherman Cain, Journal Inquirer (Conneticuit) about Willis' decisive move, "I was like 'no, no, no, not yet. I didn't know what to do. I kind of panicked a little. I should have just stuck to my guns and came out hammering instead of trying to pick it up at the end and outkick him. But speed and strength, that's a tough combination to beat."

Cragg continued, "Everybody started off really conservative and I went up the hill fresh and had my legs underneath me. But when I got to the bottom of the hill and knew we still had a mile-and-a-half to go, there's not much you can do against a guy like Nick when he has the lead at that point. Nick is a really, really talented runner. He's one of the top runners in the world."

Providence grad and New Zealand Olympian Kim Smith defended her title winning in a very fast 24.23. Last Year's Manchester event was her first race as a professional which took place only three days she obliterated the field to win the NCAA Cross Country title. Second place went to another Ray Treacy coached athlete, Mary Cullen who ran 25.00. Cullen has indoor and outdoor track eligibility for Providence College and couldn't accept the prize money. Cullen, the reigning Irish 5,000m Champion used the race to tune-up for the upcoming European Cross Country. Róisín McGettigan, yet another Providence grad and the Irish 3,000m steeplechase record-holder placed sixth in 26.18.

Top 10 Men
1) Nick Willis, New Zealand, 21.50; 2) Alistair Cragg, Ireland, 21.56; 3) Vyacheslav Shabunin, Russia, 22.07; 4) Andrew Letherby, Australia, 22.10; 5) Reid Coolsaet, Canada, 22.14; 6) Abderrahim Haji, Morocco, 22.17; 7) Celedonio Rodriguez, USA 22.21; 8) Mark Carroll, Ireland, 22.25; 9) Ian Connor, USA, 22.26; 10) Joseph Koskei, Kenya, 22.31

Top 10 Women
1) Kim Smith, New Zealand, 24.23; 2) Mary Cullen, Ireland, 25.00; 3) Tetyana Hladyr, Ukraine, 25.30; 4) Amy Mortimer, USA, 25.38; 5) Catherine Berry, Great Britain, 25.53; 6) Christin Wurth, USA, 26.08; 7) Róisín McGettigan, Ireland, 26.18; 8) Stephanie Pezzullo, USA, 26.51; 9) Debbie Thornhill, USA, 26.58; 10) Julia Stamps, USA, 27.31

Complete Results 2005 Manchester Road Race