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| Tallaght 5 last year |
For a fifth consecutive year, the Dublin City Marathon, due to take place on Monday October 29, is breaking all records.
From 2008, where all previous records were broken with a 11,700 entry, the numbers have steadily increased. This year, registration closed last Monday with the figure standing at 14,350 – about 300 up on last year.
The marathon boom has coincided exactly with the current recession. A less happy side-effect of the recession means that the country’s flagship race has no title sponsor this year.
Thanks to the large entry, this won’t matter too much – and in its 32 years, the Dublin Marathon has weathered worse storms.
Also unaffected is the “Marathon Mission“ a training group organised with the backing of Athletics Ireland that aims to reverse the decline in Irish marathon running standards.
Appropriately, the head coach is Dick Hooper, winner of the first ever Dublin Marathon in 1980 when Irish male athletes regularly broke 2 hours 15 minutes for the distance. Indeed, Jerry Kiernan’s time of 2:13.45 from the 1982 Dublin Marathon remains the best Irish time for the race, while Hooper ran just two seconds slower in 1985.
Last year, Sean Connolly of Tallaght was the first Irishman home in 2 hours 18 minutes 52 seconds, the best Irish men’s time in some years. On that memorable day, Linda Byrne of Dundrum South Dublin, racing her first ever marathon, booked her place at the London Olympics with a time of 2:36.21.
Byrne was followed home by Maria McCambridge, Ava Hutchinson and Caitriona Jennings who all achieved the Olympic A standard a few months later.
McCambridge will be back this year and, in recent weeks, has won the Charleville Half Marathon and the Eco2Run 20-mile.
With Sean Connolly keeping a low profile, Clonliffe’s Sergiu Ciobanu, winner in 2009 and 1010, is favourite to take his third national men’s title. Making his marathon debut is Sean Hehir of Rathfarnham WSAF, second behind Ciobanu at the Charleville Half Marathon.
* For the first time this year, the Dublin Marathon will incorporate the Dublin County Championships, an event that had quietly died since the days when the race consisted of a 13-mile out-and-back jaunt along the Ashbourne road from Finglas. Dublin results will be taken from the National Marathon result. Info Pat Hooper 086 8158052.
The count-down to the Dublin Marathon continues this weekend with the Athlone 3/4 Marathon, which proved such a hit last year when Linda Byrne used the race as her final blow-out before winning at Dublin. Good news is that pacemakers are provided; less good news is that all 1,000 place in the race are already taken up.
Also sold out is the Galway Bay Marathon which, despite charging a staggering €45, reached its 3,000 entry limit. By comparison, Sunday’s superbly organised Cork to Cobh 15 Mile (9.30am) was charging only €10 for pre-entries and late entry at €20 is still available. See www.corkbhaa.com.
Not everyone wants to run the marathon and entry is still open for Sunday’s Tallaght 5-mile (10.30am), won last year by Sean Hehir and Aoife Culhane. Cash prizes go to the winners Registration is in the Tallaght clubhouse on the Greenhills Road. Info 01-4514844 or www.tallaghtac.ie. Also open for entry is Saturday’s Simon Fun Run in Dublin’s Phoenix Park and the women only RunHer 5km and 10km in Stormont, Belfast.
Fiona Stack from Ballyshannon produced the pick of the Irish performance at the Berlin Marathon when she finished in 2 hrs 53 mins 20 secs. Stack had shown she was in good form when she won the Waterside Half Marathon in Derry a few weeks ago in 1:22.18.
First home of the Irish was Greg Roberts of City of Derry who finished a disappointed 2:26.05 after failing to improve on the 2:21.18 he ran in Dublin two years ago.
Other strong runs came from Sli Cualann’s Ian McGrath 2:38.14, as well as from Keith Russell 2:30.19 and Colm O’Callaghan 2:32.30, both of them based in England.
Annadale’s Paul Pollock won the Bangor 10km in 30 mins 19 secs; Gladys Ganiel-O’Neill of North Belfast, third woman in last year’s Dublin Marathon, was first woman in 36 mins 49 secs. Pollock is Ireland’s only representative in Saturday’s World Half Marathon Championships.
This year’s Meet and Train Women’s Winter League will start on November 4 in Dublin’s Bushy Park with a race hosted by Sportsworld (11.0). Other dates are December 2 Swords, January 13 Dunboyne and February 3 either St Anne’s Park or Lucan. All races are over two miles off-road and ideal for novice runners who want a gentle and friendly introduction to racing. Entry fee is €7 per race or €20 for the series. New groups and individuals welcome. A great way to stay fit in winter!
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