Cork City Sports - Athlete of the Month Award February 2015 - Lizzie Lee


Lizzie Lee (Leevale AC) - Cork City Sports Athlete of the Month - February 2015
Lizzie Lee, Cork City Sports Athlete of the Month, February 2015, with award judges, Liam O'Brien and Dick Hodgkins
L-R, Liam O'Brien, Technical Director, Cork City Sports, Lizzie Lee, Leevale AC, and Dick Hodgkins, Meet Director, Cork City Sports

The Cork City Sports Athlete of the Month Award is sponsored by 96FM/C103FM, The Evening Echo and The River Lee Hotel

Lizzie Lee, Leevale AC - Cork City Sports Athlete of the Month - February 2015

Photos from Function - on Cork AAI Flickr account

Award Citation

'In February Lizzie Lee travelled to Spain to take part in the Barcelona International half marathon where she finished a creditable second to Kenyan athlete Florance Kiplagat. In this race Kiplagat set a new women's world record for the distance.'

During his citation speech, Liam O'Brien, awards judge, and Cork City Sports Technical Director, outlined some of Lizzuie's PBs:
Half-Marathon - Barcelona - 74:06
Marathon - 2:38:09
10 Miles - Ballycotton - 57:17
3k - 9:37.91
1500m - Cork City Sports - 4:36.80
5k - 15:54.46

She was also a member of the Gold medal winning Irish team at the 2012 European Cross Country Championships, in Szentendre, Hungary.

Speaking about her Barcelona performance, during interview, Lizzie related how things went.  ....there were just four girls in the elite tent, and while chatting with Florence Kiplegat, we exchanged our aspirations.  She was planning on breaking the World Record and I said I was hoping to come second, with a PB. She asked me to pin on her number, so I said that 'it would bring her the luck of the Irish'

The race itself went well up to 10 miles.  She got a "niggle" around 8 miles, then "I went through 10 in 55:10, but then tore a calf muscle.  I had been in a good group, doing 5:30's but started half-limping, and dropped back to 6:05 pace..  I knew Rotterdam was gone.  I had to take two weeks off to recover"

Lizzie is now planning towards the National Half-Marathon, in August, and the Berlin Marathon, in September.  However, if selected, she would go in the European Cup (10k), in June.  As preparation races she is considering the Ballycotton 5 and Dunshaughlin 10.

Lizzie is hoping to qualify for the 2016 Olympic Marathon, in Rio de Janeiro, The qualifying standard is 2:44, but she reckons that "....a lot of people will come out of the woodwork.  There are about 12 girls capable of qualifying" - and there are only three places!

Speaking at the ceremony, Maurice Gubbins, Editor, Evening Echo, awards sponsor, said that Lizzie was "a suitable recipient  and an inspirational firure for women in athletics and women in general" and, of Leevale, that it had regained its place as"one of the most powerful athletic clubs in Ireland"

Cork City Sports Star of the Month - February 2015 - Leevale Group
Leevale Group
(L to R), John Calnan, Finbarr O'Brien, Caroline Philpott, Terry O'Rourke, Lizzie Lee, Ina Killeen and Dick Hodgkins

Cork City Sports Star of the Month - February 2015 - Sponsors & Officials
Sponsors & Officials
(L to R) Terry O'Rourke, Cork City Sports, Tony O'Connell, Cork City Sports, Ruairi O'Connor, General Manager, River Lee Hotel, Lizzie Lee, Sports Star of the Month, Kieran McGeary, CEO, 96 & 103 FM and Maurice Gubbins, Editor, Evening Echo

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