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| Linda Byrne |
Linda Byrne produced the star performance of the day at today’s National Lottery Dublin Marathon – from an Irish point of view at least.
Although still only 26 and running her first marathon, the Dundrum South Dublin athlete showed considerable maturity when she backed off the fast pace set by her former clubmate Maria McCambridge of Letterkenny, who went through the first mile in 5 mins 45 secs.
Byrne’s clubmate Ava Hutchinson, the national cross-country and half marathon champion champion, was also in contention in the early stages, but still Byrne held back. She found herself closing on McCambridge around half way and after running with her for a few miles, moved to the front at around 16 miles.
After that, she was on her own, and when she went through 20 miles in 1 hour 59 minutes, she was on target for a time of around 2 hours 36 minutes.
Despite slowing down fractionally, she held on to finish in a magnificent time of 2 hours 36 minutes 20 seconds. That not only gave her the Irish title, but an A qualifying mark for London 2012. McCambridge was second in 2:40.26.
Afterwards, Byrne confessed that she was “absolutely shocked”. She plans on running another marathon early next year to nail down her place at London.
Her victory was well deserved. Byrne, a formidable cross-country runner in her younger years, had turned to the roads with some success last year after completing her studies at DCU. She proved almost unbeatable but her decision to try a “practise” run at last year’s Dublin Marathon when she dropped out at 17 miles raised a few eyebrows.
By the end of the year, Byrne realised that she had run herself into the ground and knew she had to take a long break. She resumed training with coach Enda Fitzpatrick in May and ran a few low-key half marathons over the summer.
When she finished the Athlone Quarter-Marathon in Athlone in 1:59.45 a month ago, she timed her run perfectly, increasing her pace only in the final “quarter”. The big question was whether she could hold that pace for the final quarter of a marathon.
She did in on the streets of Dublin, although it wasn’t easy. “The last five miles was very tough. It was just a matter of getting through each mile and keeping the same pace,” she said afterwards.
In the men’s race, hopes of having two or even three men under 2 hours 20 minutes proved unfounded. Not even race winner Sean Connolly of Tallaght got close to the Olympic Standard of 2 hours 15 minutes.
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| Sean Connolly |
For Connolly it was clearly one of those days. He didn’t feel well in the early stages of the race and his hoped for pacemakers dropped out at four miles. “The conditions were not there for a fast time. There was a stiff wind after four miles I didn’t feel good and then at 13 miles, I felt horrendous.
“Still, I’m obviously pleased to have won the Irish title and also that I’m the first Irish runner to have gone under 2 hours 20 minutes in Dublin for about 10 years.”
Coming second was Sergiu Ciobanu of Clonliffe Harriers, who had won the race for the past two years. Ciobanu had kept a low profile after returning from altitude training during the summer, although he did win a low key 10km race in Clonmel the week before the marathon. He did well to finish in 2 hours 20 minutes 58 seconds, not too far off his personal best time of 2:19.33 set last year.
Fastest masters were former winners Pauric McKinney of Letterkenny and Pauline Curley of Tullamore – seventh and sixth respectively in the Irish races.
Fastest masters were former winners Pauric McKinney of Letterkenny and Pauline Curley of Tullamore – seventh and sixth respectively in the Irish races.
Overall, Kenyan athlete Geoffrey Gikuni Ndungu ran the fastest marathon time ever recorded on Irish soil marathon when he won the men’s race in 2:08:33. This improved marginally on Moses Kibet’s time of 2:08.58 set last year in Dublin. In the women’s race, Helalia Johannes from Nambia made it fourth time lucky. She took over in front with about 6km to go and finished in a personal best of 2:30.35 – a new Namibian record and London 2012 qualifying time.
Results –
Results –
Men: 1 Geoffrey Ndungu (Kenya) 2:08.33 (rec); 2 Gilbert Kiptoo (Kenya)2:09.50; 3 Jacob Kiplaget Yator (Kenya)2:10.23
Irish: 1 (12th overall) Sean Connolly (Tallaght AC) 2:18.52; 2 (14th) Sergiu Ciobanu (Clonliffe Hrs) 2:20.56; 3 (15th) Alan O’Shea (Bantry) 2:23.22; 4(16th) Joe McAllister (St Malachy’s) 2:24.43; 5 (19th) Gary O’Hanlon (Clonliffe Hrs) 2:36.32; 6 Greg Roberts 2:29.30; 7 Pauric McKinney M45 (Letterkenny) 2:29.51; 8 Andrew Ledwith (Fr Murphy’s) 2:29.58; 9 Noel Kelly M40 (Mullingar Hrs) 2:32.12; 10 Mick Boyle M40 (Raheny) 2:32.13; 11 Phil Kilgannon (Sportsworld) 2:33.31.
Wheelchair: Paul Hannon (Armagh) 2:13.58.
M40 – 1 Kelly; 2 Boyle; 3 Joe McKinney 2:37.01. M45 – 1 McKinney; 2 Cathal O’Connell 2:35.00; 3 Brendan Ward 2:38.39. M50 – 1 Gerry O’Connell 2:42.59; 2 Niall Coppinger (Tallaght) 2:49.52; 3 Martin Francis (Sli Culann) 2:50.26. M55 – 1 Gerard O’Brien 3:02.56; 2 Pat Byrne 3:07.10; 3 Tom Loftus 3:08.56. M60 – 1 Cian McHugh 3:07.42; 2 John Harty 3:10.13; 3 Tom Hunt (Mayo) 3:15.41. M65 – 1 Christy McMonagle 3:08.27; 2 Jotty Culhane 3:30.06; 3 Tony O’Brien 3:48.17. M70 – 1 Tom Horkan 4:00.27; 2 Kevin Stynes 4:04.13; 3 Tony Dunne 4:12.15. M75 – 1 Thomas Morgan 5:52.05; 2 Frank Starrs 6:36.11. M80 – 1 Phonsie Clifford 6:40.12; 2 John Collins 6:48.40; 3 Frederick Ward 6:58.28.
Teams – Senior (34 teams): 1 Clonliffe Hrs (Sergiu Ciobanu, Gary O’Hanlon, Mark Bermingham) 7:36.16; 2 Donore Hrs (Diarmuid O’Shea, Davis Heffernan, Ken Nugent ) 8:00.31; 3 Sportsworld (Phil Kilganon, Paul O’Conell, Barry Smith) 8:08.26. M40 (25 teams): 1 Rathfarnham WSAF (Paul Moran, Edwin Keville, Owen McLoughlin) 8:23.32; 2 Letterkenny (Pauric McKinney, Martin Gormley, Joe English) 8:26.00; 2 Raheny Shamrock (Mick Boyle, Dave Gargan, Ronan Walsh) 8:35.20. M50 (9 teams): 1 Sli Cualann (Francis Martin, Derek Hayes, Jack Tyrrell) 8:50.51; 2 Tallaght (Niall Coppinger, Breandan Ryan, Dessie Shorten) 9:07.28; 3 Nth East Runners ( Gerry O’Connell, Eamonn McMahon, Chris Carroll) 9:28.16
Women: 1 Helalia Johannes (Namibia) 2:30.35; 2 Emily Rotich (Kenya)2:32.10; 3 Radiya Adilo (Ethiopia) 2:32.22.
Women: 1 Helalia Johannes (Namibia) 2:30.35; 2 Emily Rotich (Kenya)2:32.10; 3 Radiya Adilo (Ethiopia) 2:32.22.
Irish: 1 (39th; 6th woman) Linda Byrne (DSD) 2:36.23; Maria McCambridge (Letterkenny) 2:40.26; 3 Gladys Ganiel O’Neill (Nth Belfast Hrs) 2:42.45; 4 Ava Hutchinson (DSD) 2:42.50; 5 Caitriona Jennings (Sportsworld) 2:43.08; 6 Pauline Curley W40 (Tullamore Hrs) 2:44.48; 7 Lorraine Manning (Raheny) 2:48.53; 8 Breege Connolly (NBH) 2:48.53; 9 Barbara Cleary 2:51.28; 10 Anne Curley W40 (Donore) 2:53.55.
W40 1 P Curley; 2 A Curley; 3 Angela McCann (Clonmel) W40 2:54.56. W45 1 Tracey Guilfoyle (Kilmurray) 2:58.50; 2 Joan Ennis 3:20.12; 3 Orla O’Rourke 3:30.23. W50 1 Mary Sheehan (St Finbarr’s) 3:15.58; 2 Susan Waterstone (Naas) 3:21.43; 2 Liz Rouine (Raheny Shamrock) 3:24.23. W55 1 Mary Jennings (Waterford) 3:27.17; 2 Joan Griffin (Limerick) 3:54.09; 3 Ursula Crossan 4:09.02. W60 1 Eileen O’Brien (Lucan Hrs) 3:42.37; 2 Judith Roche 3:57.52; 3 Mary Lynch 4:04.48. W65 1 Maggie Dunne 4:30.20; 2 Bridget Mulligan (Sr Andre) 4:44.04; 3 Terri Gough (W Waterford) 5:02.25. W70 Hazel Convery (3ROC) 6:46.13. W75 Catherine O’Regan (Slaney Oly) 4:23.08.
Teams – Senior: 1 Raheny Shamrock (Lorraine Manning, Lorraine Byrne, Aileen Hooper) 9:29.28; 2 Nth Belfast Harriers (Gladys Ganiel -O’Neill, Breege Connolly, Frankie McGivern) 9:38.51; 3 Nth East Runners (Mary Lavery, Sheena Dullaghan, Joelene Mellen) 9:44.47. W40: 1 Rathfarnham WSAF (Maria Doaln, Norita Murphy, Vanessa Salleir) 10:31.56; 2 Tallaght AC (Jacqui Boyle, Sharon Tighes, Anna King) 10:39.44; 3 St Finbarr’s (Geradline O’Shea, Mary Sweeney, Colette Daly) 10:42.24. W50: West Waterford (Josie Ui Chuirren, Bernie Prendergast, Kathleen Keane) 12:43.26.
Teams – Senior: 1 Raheny Shamrock (Lorraine Manning, Lorraine Byrne, Aileen Hooper) 9:29.28; 2 Nth Belfast Harriers (Gladys Ganiel -O’Neill, Breege Connolly, Frankie McGivern) 9:38.51; 3 Nth East Runners (Mary Lavery, Sheena Dullaghan, Joelene Mellen) 9:44.47. W40: 1 Rathfarnham WSAF (Maria Doaln, Norita Murphy, Vanessa Salleir) 10:31.56; 2 Tallaght AC (Jacqui Boyle, Sharon Tighes, Anna King) 10:39.44; 3 St Finbarr’s (Geradline O’Shea, Mary Sweeney, Colette Daly) 10:42.24. W50: West Waterford (Josie Ui Chuirren, Bernie Prendergast, Kathleen Keane) 12:43.26.
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