Iona College's Vinny Mulvey ran a brilliant race winning the 10,000-metre event in 29.05.12 at the IC4A (men) and ECAC (women) Championships held at Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey from 17th-19th May.

Mulvey (Raheny Shamrocks) had been recovering from niggling injuries, which kept him off the Irish World Cross Country team and had this one last chance to qualify for the NCAA Athletics Championships slated for 29 May - 1 June in Baton Rouge, Louisiana at Louisiana State University.

As if running 25 circuits at 69.5 400-metre pace around the William Weaver Stadium oval wasn't difficult enough, the temperature was a humid 25ºC and there was no competition except for the assistance of his Iona College teammates.

With 3k remaining, Mulvey began focusing on the lapped runners. His piston-like legs churned out lap after lap. Lost in this incredible feat was how effortlessly Mulvey won the IC4A 10k title - a title that has eluded him placing second twice. After the race, he was concerned as to whether or not he will qualify for the NCAA Championships. The verdict is due on Thursday evening. With his run complete, Mulvey said of his chances to run one more race in the Iona vest, "Whether I get into NCAA's now is out of my hands."

After the race, Irish Runner.com caught up with Mulvey filed with mixed emotions described the evening's event. On finding his form: "I'm delighted that I could get back into shape so quickly after injury, although I'm a bit frustrated that I didn't get the automatic time here." On running a virtually solo effort in the 10k: "It was a very tough race, probably because myself, Peter and Graeme were on our own, and there was nobody to drag us along. Peter and myself hit 5km in 14.28, and then I hit a bad patch. I snapped out of it just after 4 miles (18.41) and passed Peter and tried to just hit 69-second laps. I got back into a rhythm and hit 5 miles around 23.20.

On his new found speed: I managed to run a decent last lap of about 62 or 63 seconds and ended up with 29.05.

On what he was thinking when Riley opened a gap: Going into the race I was confident of running under 29 minutes, so I'm a little disappointed with not doing that. After my 4th mile I was happy with how I got back in it. I almost threw in the towel when Peter dropped me, but I hung in there. Sometimes it can be tough when you're going through a bad patch, and you look up and see that there are 10 laps to go. It was tough! Those last 7 or 8 laps on my own were hard but it worked out in the end. Of course going to IC4A's to try and qualify is the hard way to do it, but that was the only option open to me.

In the men's 5k, Providence's Adam Sutton (Preston, England) won in 14.07.70 with Dermot Galvin (Kilrush, Co. Clare) in second (14.13.96) and Paul Reilly grabbing the fourth spot in 14.18.30.

On Saturday, first-year Providence Friar Liam Reale (Hospital, Co. Limerick) qualified for Sunday's 1,500m final running 3.49.92. Limerick's Emer O'Shea wasn't as fortunate and did not make the final running 4.41.76 in her race.

On Sunday, the final day of competition, Liam Reale placed fourth in the 1,500-metre event in a time of 3.48.78. Provdence's Mary Cullen placed third in the 3,000 metres. Cullen, from Sligo ran a personal best in 9.33.38, improving on her 9.39.75 that she ran in her Penn Relays victory.