Extending the theme of Six Nations competition this weekend will be tomorrow's Loughrea Five-Mile road race, which this year includes a team race between Ireland, England, Scotland, Wales, France and Italy.

While most of the estimated 1,000 entries will run for various charities, the elite race includes most of Ireland's leading distance men. Peter Mathews and Seamus Power form the Irish team along with Cormac Smith, who took second spot last year behind England's John Mayock.

Mayock also returns, and the six-time British 1,500 metre champion is clearly capable of repeating the win, which came last year in 23 minutes 53 seconds. Smith was just five seconds back on that occasion, but Mathews and Power are the men in form having finished one-two in the Rathfarnham 5km a fortnight ago.

Victorious Galway manager John O'Mahony, representing the Irish Heart Foundation, the official charity of the BUPA-sponsored event, will fire the start gun at 2.0.