Mark English has kicked off his 2026 season in record-breaking style by lowering his own national 600m indoor record at the Track and Field Live meeting at the National Indoor Arena in Abbotstown.
In his first race since the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo last September, English clocked 1:15.80 over the rarely raced distance, improving his previous Irish record of 1:16.64 (run in Boston in 2024) by almost a second.
The 32-year-old broke his Irish 800m record three times last summer, taking it down to 1:43.37 before Cian McPhillips smashed through the 1:43 barrier when running 1:42.15 to finish fourth in the 800m final at the World Championships.
English will continue his indoor season with an 800m race in Lyon next week, aiming for the World Indoor Championships in Toruń, Poland in March. He has already won five European medals, including bronze at last year’s European Indoor Championships.
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McPhillips is also set to race a 600m at the New Balance Grand Prix in Boston on January 24th, with the 23-year-old also having the World Indoors in mind.
