Despite narrowly missing the four minute barrier, Niall Bruton managed to produce a highly impressive finish to win the Morton Mile in Santry yesterday evening in what turned out to be one of the more exciting races at the Dublin venue in recent years.
Bruton was almost upset by emerging young talent Andrew Walker of UCD, but in the final straight his trademark speed made the difference as he edged home in front with a time of four minutes 01.36 seconds.
There was an almost unfamiliar buzz of excitement around Santry for the meeting which, fittingly, was commemorating the 30th anniversary of Billy Morton's death. Bruton himself has run some seven seconds faster, but going into the last lap it was only the victory that mattered.
"I think the crowd really gave me a lift," he said. "There was a lot of home support from Clonliffe here and that probably made a difference at the end. I actually thought I'd lost it. Andrew is a great runner and I knew it was going to be hard to get past him."
After passing half-way in just over two minutes, it was Walker who made the initial break for home and appeared to have opened a winning gap before Bruton eventually crept past. Still, the UCD student was rewarded for his efforts with a personal best of 4:01.78 with Ken Nason of Metro-St Brigid's coming through for third in 4:02.78.
Bruton is now confident he can attain the 3:36.8 qualifying time for the 1,500 metres at the World Championships in Seville next month. "I'm happy with my form, but I really need to get into some fast 1,500 metre races, which is getting a lot more difficult to do now. I've a few weeks to do it, and it's just a question of getting the right race."
There was also an exciting climax to the invitation 5,000 metres when Noel Berkeley of Dundrum again proved that he is still the man to beat over the longer distances by holding on for victory in 14:02.7. He was closely followed home by Noel Cullen of Clonliffe and his DSD team-mate Peter Matthews.
Earlier in the evening, Belfast's Eddie King, now running for Sale Harriers in England, took the invitation 800 metres with a late burst that saw him past David Brosnan of Leevale in the final few strides. His time of 1:48.53 was just outside his best with Brosnan recording 1:50.75.
