The 27-year-old athlete from Cork has been running the 800 meters for the previous two years, and in this meeting, she beat local legend Ciara Mageean twice in under two minutes, setting an Irish record in the process in 2022.
After relocating to Belfast many months ago to join Tyrone middle-distance star Nick Griggs’ training group under coach Mark Kirk, Shanahan now has even more knowledge of the area.
Event director Eamonn Christie has put together a strong field, which includes British 20-year-old Abigail Ives, who became just the fourth British junior to go under two minutes when she clocked 1:59.92 to take second place behind the Cork woman last year. County Down woman Magean will not be among Shanahan’s 800m opponents this year.
