Mark Hoy produced a storming run at the Irish Varsity Championships in Waterford last week to secure the 1500m title, and in doing so clinching qualification on the Irish team that will participate at the Celtic Varsity Championships in Scotland next month, with Mark hoping to retain the title in Scotland that he won last year.

Hoy had been drawn in the first heat of the 1500m on the Friday which worked in his favour as the other main contenders for the title were in the second.

It meant that Hoy, who runs for Finn Valley, could afford to run slower and still qualify for the final which he duly did.

The final though on Saturday was to be a more tactical race than a fast one. The favourite for the title was Niall Touy, who had won the National Senior Indoor 800m title two months ago and had the advantage of running on the track that his club trains on.

Mark though carried out his game plan to perfection to secure the victory.

“I knew that if I let the race get to the point of 200-300m to go and he was still in contention that he may have had an edge on me in a sprint. So I relied on all the strength and endurance work I have been doing all winter to break the field up earlier and give myself a lead. I made my move with 500m left to go and got away with no one able to match the pace and went on to win by four seconds in the end,” he said.

And Mark will now look to go on and retain the Celtic Varsity title.

“I’m looking forward to that as I won it last year so it would be nice to retain my title,” he said.