With four Irish athletes competing in the marathon at the London Olympics, and five making the A standard, Irish marathon running is back on the rise after a bleak few years.
In the three Olympiads between 1996 and 2004, not a single Irish athlete made the Olympic marathon qualifying mark. For Beijing in 2008, two made it – Martin Fagan with a men’s A standard and Pauline Curley with a B standard. Fagan pulled out with just 7km left of the race, while Curley, despite a late call-up during a family holiday, finished in 2 hours 47 minutes.
Locally, Irish male athletes were still struggling to break 2 hours 20 minutes, while the women rarely went under 2 hours 40 minutes. Yet eleven of the first fourteen Dublin Marathons had produced Irish winners, with Jerry Kiernan’s 1982 s time of 2:13.45 the course record until 2004.
Seeking a return to those glory days, Jim Aughney, Dublin Marathon race director, and a group of committed coaches, including three times Dublin winner and Olympian Dick Hooper, founded the Marathon Mission in 2009. Its aim was simple: to improve the standard of Irish marathon running by providing the support and funding athletes needed.
Any athlete who could run decent times for the 10km or half marathon was welcome to put forward their name, as were younger athletes who planned on moving up to the longer distances.
While the Marathon Mission didn’t expect overnight success, the results so far have been impressive. Linda Byrne, Ava Hutchinson, Caitriona Jennings, Maria McCambridge and Mark Kenneally all made the London A standard, while a further six – Sean Connolly, Barry Minnock, Gladys Ganiel, Breege Connolly and Barbara Sanchez – achieved the B standard.
Others, such as Alan O’Shea, Lizzie Lee, Rosemary Ryan came close, while the likes of national half marathon champion Sean Hehir and of London Olympian Fionnuala Britton are tipped as marathon stars of the future.
Want to join them? Over the next month, the Marathon Mission is holding training meetings in each of the four provinces. First up is Belfast on August 18, followed by Cork on August 25, Athenry (after National Half Marathon) on September 2 and Dublin on September 8.
Any ambitious athlete is welcome to attend, as are coaches interested in helping develop the scheme. Interested? See www.dublinmarathon.ie for a full list of contacts.
Dublin raiders dominated the Glenmore 5km in Co Louth on Friday evening. Raheny’s Dave Rooney was a clear overall winner in 15 mins 2 secs, with Maria McCambridge 11th overall and first woman in 16 mins 16 secs. Rathfarnham’s Sean Hehir is running the country – he won the Kinsale 5-Mile last Friday to add to his victory at the Balla 10km in Mayo five days earlier.
*Highlight of last week’s final Dublin Graded Meet was a thrilling women’s 800m race won by Raheny’s Iseult O’Donnell in a personal best time of 2:08.05. Chasing her all the way to the line was Alanna Lally of GCH. Steven Colvert of Crusaders had a comfortable win in the 200m.
A fine display of discus throwing from Tomas Rauktas of Clonliffe gave him the overall award in the Timing Ireland throws league. Hammer thrower Christian Furlong took the women’s award.
*Jason Fahy and Barbara Cleary were the winners at the DLR Bay 10km in Dun Laoghaire, while there was a good turn out for the Rush 10km, where Colin Costello and Helen White led them home.
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| Noel Kelly |
*The scenic roads of south Co Kildare provide a beautiful setting for Saturday’s third annual Moone Kilomarathon – a distance of 26.2km rather than the usual 26.2 miles. For the past two years, Noel Kelly of Tullamore Harriers has come home the winner, clocking a time of 1 hour 32 minutes last year. Can he make it a hat trick? Also scheduled in a 10km race, with registration from 8.30 for both races. The villages of Moone, Timolin and Ballytor are just off the M6 south of Killcullen. An ideal day out! :
*Castletown House is the venue for Sunday’s Celbridge 5km (10.30am) with fast times guaranteed on the flat, traffic-free course. Entry is €15 or €20 on the day, with goody bags for all and cash prizes for the winners. All funds raised go to local athletics.
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