On the road to Riga - Kilkenny athlete Peter Lynch runs for Ireland this weekend

Kilkenny athlete Peter Lynch will don the green of Ireland as he represents his country at the World Athletics Road Running Championships in Latvia this weekend.

Lynch, who boasts a best half marathon time of 1:03:19 from his outing in Houston back in January of this year, will look to work with his Irish team-mate as they seek to pick up places over the closing stages of the men's race in Riga.

The Kilkenny City Harrier and Hiko Haso Tonosa will lead Ireland's charge in the men’s race where Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo is likely to be to the fore alongside Ethiopia’s Jemal Yimer Mekonnen, Kenya’s world 10,000m silver medallist Daniel Simiu Ebenyo and European 5km record-holder Jimmy Gressier of France.

Tonosa competed at the Antrim Coast Half Marathon in Larne back in August, recording an impressive ninth-place finish in a time of 1:02.23 personal best which should stand him in good stead come Sunday afternoon.

Shona Heaslip and Fionnuala Ross will lead out the Irish in the women’s half marathon. They will take their place in a stacked field that is set to include Kenya’s Olympic marathon champion Peres Jepchirchir, Kenya’s 2023 world leader Irine Jepchumba Kimais, world cross-country silver medallist Tsigie Gebreselama, and Germany’s European 5,000m champion Konstanze Klosterhalfen.

Heaslip comes into this event on the back of a life-time best performance in Larne of 1:10:35, while Ross also set a PB over the distance earlier this year with a 1:12:17 in Inverness in March.

People can register to watch the races here