Sean McGoldrick’s The Dublin Marathon: Celebrating 40 Years (The O’Brien Press, 2019), is a rare gem of a running book. Boasting a multitude of photographs and reproductions of newspaper clippings, course maps and finishers’ results, it not only looks great, it delivers a fascinating read about the four-decades-long journey of the island’s greatest footrace.

Unlikely beginnings

That journey had an unlikely beginning: While on holidays in New York City, RTÉ Radio producer Louis Hogan was strolling through Central Park while the city’s annual marathon just happened to be taking place. He was intrigued by the spectacle. A few years later his later work with Irish athletics legend Noel Carroll brought a marathon to the streets of Dublin.

Runners take centre stage in the book, from the very fleetest of foot to those who have made up the vast majority of the field each year. Ireland’s pioneering marathon brothers, Olympians Dick and Pat Hooper, feature prominently and rightly so: Dick is a three-time winner of the race (1980, 1985, 1988). There are many photographs and clippings about the brothers, which give readers a sense that they are peeking into the family’s treasured scrapbooks.

Pioneering women’s running in Ireland

The book is also the place where the first women’s winner, Carey May, shares for the first time her experience of harassment during that race (p. 56):

‘An old guy came out of the crowd and pushed and shouted at me that a girl shouldn’t be running a marathon. It was disconcerting because I was very tired and it threw me off my stride. I knew the finish was very close though, so I kept on pushing. I wasn’t going to let an old guy stop me.’

May was competing at a time when female runners were breaking the boundaries of what was thought to be socially acceptable and physically possible. McGoldrick gives those first ladies of Irish running due regard for their role in inspiring countless other women to take up the sport. I was particularly captivated by a photograph of 13 women from Beechmount Harriers, with the accompanying caption (p. 28):

‘In 1978 Mary Butler needed permission from the race director to run a distance of ten miles; by 1982 this group of runners from Beechmount Harriers on the Falls Road in Belfast were ready to tackle the Dublin Marathon.’

As a Belfast woman myself, I can appreciate that those courageous women were not just pushing their bodies to the limits, they also would have been training at the height of the Troubles in an area heavily patrolled by the British Army.

Stories from front to back

Other memorable photographs include a pair of Mick Clohisey, Rio Olympian and first Irish finisher in the 2018 Dublin Marathon (p. 136). In one, he holds his hard-earned trophy. In the other, he is a child in a seat on the back of his mother’s bicycle, waiting for his father to run past during the Dublin Marathon. On the old photograph, someone has stuck a speech bubble [remember when it was popular to put these stickers on printed photographs?] above young Mick’s head. It reads: ‘This beats jogging!’

The book is further enriched by the stories of the so-called ordinary runners who have competed over the years. We are told in the Acknowledgements that Helen Carr from the O’Brien Press ‘commissioned’ these stories, which are interspersed in text boxes throughout the book.

An evolving race

McGoldrick also guides readers through the race’s evolution, exploring the nuts and bolts details of tensions in the early years between the Business Houses Athletics Association organisers and the national governing body for athletics; struggles for sponsorship; and the art of course design. He explains that the race might have gone under in the late 1990s if not for its promotion among American charity runners, then charts its wonderful renaissance since the early 2000s.

Here, we get a charming story about how race director Jim Aughney, Frank Greally of Irish Runner magazine, and Paul Moloney of then-sponsor Adidas were delayed in a London airport after attending the London Marathon expo in 2002 (p. 117-122). Whiling away the hours, they cooked up a scheme to bolster Irish participation in their race: the Dublin Marathon race series. It would feature shorter events during the summer (5 miles, 10 miles, half-marathon), serving as stepping stones to the big day in October.

The race series is still going strong, but participation in the Dublin Marathon itself is greater than perhaps even those three men would have imagined: The marathon had 6,493 finishers after the first race series in 2002; by 2019, there was a sold-out field of 22,500.

Of course, running in Ireland has benefited from a ‘boom’ that took off around 2008. McGoldrick links the boom to the recession, which he argues has taken people’s focus off the relentless pursuit of career and money and freed them up to discover running. He also notes that an earlier Irish ‘running boom’ in the 1980s, the decade of the Dublin Marathon’s birth, was during a period when Ireland struggled economically. As a (professional) sociologist, I would counter that there are more factors at play in the boom than simply economics – the influence of marketing, social media, and more opportunities for women, to name a few. But at the same time, McGoldrick grasps that running provides something that money can’t buy.

This book is itself a reflection of the running boom, in that everyone who loves running, no matter what their pace, can find something in it they can identify with or be inspired by. McGoldrick tells more than the story of a remarkable race – he captures the joy that the Dublin Marathon has brought to countless people.

The Dublin Marathon: Celebrating 40 Years, is available in all good bookshops or online (£16)

Gladys Ganiel lectures in sociology at Queen’s University Belfast and runs for North Belfast Harriers. She completed the 40th Dublin Marathon this October in 2.36.40.

Are you a fan of Fast Running? Then please support us and become a patron. For as little as the price of a monthly magazine you can support Fast Running – and it only takes a minute. Thank you.

The post ‘The Dublin Marathon: Celebrating 40 Years’ by Sean McGoldrick appeared first on Fast Running.

Scullion clocks 2:12:01 and Northern Irish Record at Dublin Marathon

Northern Irish athlete Stephen Scullion produced the best Irish result in years at the KBC Dublin Marathon on Sunday (October 27) when he finished second overall in 2 hrs 12 mins 1 sec.

Scullion, based in Flagstaff, Arizona for the past three years, was improving on the time of 2:14:34 he ran in Houston last January. Most recently, he finished 43rd in the marathon at the World Championships in Doha witha time of 2:21.31.

“It’s the best day of my life – during the race in Doha, I wanted to retire!” he said. His target is qualification for next year’s Tokyo Olympics, for which he will will need a time of 2 hours 11 minutes 30 seconds.

In ideal running conditions, defending Irish champion Mick Clohisey of Raheny Shamrock AC finished second of the Irish in a personal best of 2:13:19, while Hugh Armstrong of Ballina AC, making his marathon debut, was third in 2:14:22.

Sean Hehir of Metro St Brigid’s AC was fourth of the Irish in 2:16.01 and Eoghan Totten of Newcastle and District AC fifth in 2:16.09; another personal best. Gary O’Hanlon, Mark Kenneally and Sergiu Ciobanu, all Clonliffe Harriers, took the next three places all finishing in under 2 hours 18 minutes.

It was without question the best quality Irish marathon since the glory days of three decades ago. Even with David Flynn dropping out after 30km, there was no doubt either that Clonliffe would retain their men’s senior team title.

Cooke claims a stunning PB

Aoife Cooke, who has recently signed up for Eagle AC in Cork, knocked 14 minutes off her previous best to finish first of the Irish woman in 2:32.34.

Cooke, from Youghal, was a promising juvenile athlete who returned to athletics six years ago. Coached initially by her aunt Mary Sweeney, a pioneer of women’s distance running, she won the National Novice Cross-Country title in late 2015. After moving her training up a gear a year ago, she ran a time of 55 mins 17 secs at the Mallow 10-Mile in March and, last month, was first woman at the Charleville Half Marathon in 74 mins 41 secs.

“I think Ann-Marie [McGlynn] had a big enough lead on me for a while, but I was confident that if I got to 20km keeping to the pace I set out with, I would be strong enough to push on from there and that’s how it worked out,” she said after finishing.

Her time puts her fifth on the all-time Irish list with McGlynn, who finished in a personal best 2:32.54, moving up to sixth place behind her. Gladys Ganiel of North Belfast Harriers was third in 2:36:42, which improved her personal best by over a minute.

Caitriona Jennings of Letterkenny AC was fourth in 2:37.55 and Breege Connolly of City of Derry Spartans fifth in 2:38.28, which meant five Irish women broke 2 hours 40 minutes. Previous champion Laura Graham of Mourne Runners, who has struggled with injury over the past years, was forced to drop out after 30km.

Overall race winner in a new course record 2:08.06 was Othmane El Goumri of Morocco. In 2018, El Goumri returned to competition after a two-year ban for irregularities in his biological passport. First woman in 2:27.48 was Motu Gedefa; second was the 2018 champion Mesera Dubiso in 2:28.29. Ethiopian athletes took the top four places in the women’s race, with Natasha Cockram of Wales fifth in 2:30.50.

In the wheelchair race, Paralympian Patrick Monaghan of Le Cheile AC in Leixlip took a fifth title in 1:39:50. Callum Hall from England was a distant second in 1:48:44 with Tian Bosch of South Africa third in 1:49:58.

Credit: Lindie Naughton

Tommy and Eoin break the Father-Son WR

At the Frankfurt Marathon, also on Sunday, Tommy Hughes and his son Eoin set a world record for the fastest combined father-son time when they finished in 4 hrs 59 mins 22 secs. The previous world record stood at 5 hours 2 minutes 12 seconds.

59 year old Tommy finished first of the pair in 2:27.52 with Eoin less than four minutes behind in 2:31.30.

Also running in Frankfurt were Eric Keogh of Donore Harriers who finished 28th in 2:18.24, Thomas Hayes (2:25:01), Michael Morgan (2:26:42), Lee Van Haeften (2:28:32) and Neasa De Búrca (2:59:48) amongst many other fine performances.

At the Valencia Half Marathon in Spain on Sunday, Emma Mitchell, recently signed with Clonliffe Harriers, finished 12th woman in 72 mins 28 secs, knocking two minutes off her previous best.

World 24-Hour Championships

Amy Masner from Co Wicklow finished 24th woman at the World 24-Hour Championships in Albi France held over the weekend (October 26-27).

Masner finished with a total of 219.548 km having risen as high as 16th in the rankings mid-race. Finishing 29th with a total of 215.668 km was Lorraine Mahon. Sinead Kane, the visually impaired ultra runner who won her battle to compete, completed 185.848 km with the help of two guides. Making up the Irish team were Yvonne Naughton 173.176 km and Louise Smart who completed 104.473 km.

Best of the Irish men was the vastly experienced Eoin Keith who maintained a steady 9km per hour pace to complete 223.123km and finish 49th. Not too far behind was Eddie Gallen, another experienced ultra man, with 220.141km for 54th place. Alex O’Shea completed 198.377 km, Padraig Mullans 131.311 km and Aidan Hogan 107.455 km.

Mountain Running

World Mountain Running Cup winner Sarah McCormack finished second in the women’s race at the annual Trofeo Vanoni in Morbegno, Italy on Sunday (27 October).

Race winner was the Kenyan Lucy Wambui Murigi of Run2gether who finished in 21 mins 16.65 seconds; with McCormack, running for the Snowdon Race Team, home in 21:23.80, and Elise Poncet of France third in 21:28.10. Also running was IMRA’s Rebecca Quinn who finished 19th and first W45 in 25:21.65.

In the men’s relay race, Zak Hanna was running again with the Snowdon Race Team that had finished second a year earlier. They had to be content with sixth place this time in a collective time of 1hr 35 mins 56 secs for the three legs. Making up the team were Joe Baxter, Michael Cayton and Hanna on the final leg. Finishing 22nd in 1:43.14 was the Irish team of Tom Lupton, Ian Conroy and James Kevan. Race winners in 1:31.22 was the Valle Brembana team.

Cross Country

Joseph Hastings of Dundrum South Dublin AC and Clare Fagan of Mullingar were the winners at the Leinster Novice Cross-country Championship in Gowran, Co Kilkenny on Sunday (October 27).

Hastings beat James Kelly of Castlecomer AC to win the men’s race, with Michael Kelly of St Abban’s AC third. DSD finished best of the teams beating St Abban’s and Drogheda and District AC. Laois was the winning county ahead of Dublin and Kilkenny.

In the women’s race, Rose Finnegan of UCD AC was second and Lucy Barrette of Raheny Shamrock AC third. Raheny was first team with Mullingar Harriers second and Rathfarnham WSAF AC third. Dublin was a comfortable winner of the county title, with Westmeath second and Kilkenny third.

Are you a fan of Fast Running? Then please support us and become a patron. For as little as the price of a monthly magazine you can support Fast Running – and it only takes a minute. Thank you.

The post Scullion and Cooke with stunning performances in Dublin – Irish roundup appeared first on Fast Running.

With less than five hundred hours to go until the 2019 KBC Dublin marathon, the excitement is building. The majority of the long training runs have (hopefully) been completed. Every different brand of energy gel has been tested. All the race kit has been washed for the final time and is neatly laid out in preparation for what is to come.

Race day is just around the corner but first, taper time is coming. All those doubts, those concerns and those ‘oh it’s just a niggle’ thoughts are becoming magnified as each day passes. Don’t worry, that is normal. Everybody has them. It would be abnormal not to have them. So much effort and sacrifice has been put in, it is only right that you achieve the result that you have trained for. If only the sport of running was so predictable, but that is part of the appeal.

Two more sub three hour contenders

Those of you who have been following FastRunning over the past number of months will know that the DreamRun Dublin class of 2019 are nearing graduation. Once again, a group of ten Northern Irish runners has been training under the close guidance and coaching of Irish Olympian, Paul Pollock. Each athlete’s goal is simple: to run a marathon faster than ever before, and additionally, with a bit of luck, break through that magical sub 3 hour barrier.

Last week we met the first two members of the group – Martin and Adrian. This week the two athletes in the hot seat are Dale Murray and Elaine McGuckin. Read on below to find out more about their experience as part of the DreamRun project and their thoughts about how they might get on at the 2019 KBC Dublin marathon.

Name: Dale Murray

Age: 29

Club: Ward Park Runners

Current marathon pb: 3:09:31

How do you feel training has been going since you joined the #DreamRunDublin19 team?

I joined the team immediately after completing the Belfast marathon. I feel that the training has gone very well and has been an education in how to train. Previously, I would have considered training for a sub 3-hour marathon to have entailed a lot higher mileage per week and didn’t realise how specific the timings and pace of each run should be.

I have never followed a plan before and would have been guilty of doing a lot of training runs at a very slow pace. Parts of the training have been difficult, and some weeks have been very tiring, but I have noticed a big uplift in performance in recent months. Last weekend I completed the Belfast Half Marathon in 1:24:05 and I felt strong and comfortable approaching the finish line despite this being a massive PB.

How has your training changed since joining the #DreamRunDublin19 team?

Training is completely different now. I have elaborated on the key differences below.

● I predominantly now work in mile’s rather than kilometers; I find this easier regarding pacing / time incase you want to make a calculation during the run.
● Every run is completed at a specific pace and this is monitored very closely. I am now constantly looking at my watch when running.
● Weekly tempo runs have been beneficial; I wasn’t doing these properly before joining the team.
● Long runs are completed at a much faster pace than I was used too. Previously, I would have completed my long runs at a slow pace.
● I am doing more miles now but probably only about 10 miles more per week.
● When returning from a niggle or injury I have built up training again more gradually with progressive pace runs rather than going straight back into normal training.
● Easy runs are completed at a slightly faster pace now. Usually, these would be about 7.35-minute mile pace.

The focus is of course on getting that sub 3 hour finish time at the Dublin Marathon 2019, do you believe you can achieve this? Have things progressed the way you’d hoped?

Yes, I am confident of a sub 3-hour finish (although it might be 2:59:59). The Duffy 10K a few months ago went very badly but after the Belfast Half Marathon last weekend I can really see the progression. Furthermore, training has been going very well and I am hitting targeted times with a lot more consistency.

What has been your highlight in terms of your own personal favourite performance since joining the #DreamRunDublin19 team?

I was very happy with my 1:24:05 performance in the Belfast Half Marathon. My previous best was 1:35:00. Last week as a training run, I completed 15 miles at 6:45-minute mile pace, and this really pleased me and gave me confidence that I could complete a sub 3-hour marathon.

What has been your favourite training session since commencing training with Paul Pollock and the #DreamRunDublin19 team?

I really like the progressive training, wherein you gradually get faster every mile or so. It’s a nice feeling when you know you can steadily get faster and when the last miles of the run are the fastest. The tempo runs can be difficult, but you can feel yourself getting fitter week on week, so I like that feeling even if the session itself isn’t always enjoyable as its tough.

The atmosphere and camaraderie at the group training days and races is very clear – are you enjoying being part of the team?

I have really enjoyed the group training days; I have been able to attend all these sessions and have found them useful in terms of gauging personal progression against a shared goal of achieving a sub 3-hour marathon. I have also met up with members of the team for training runs and this has been helpful and made the sessions more enjoyable. Everyone in the group is very friendly and supportive and it has been good to meet new people with the same interest in running.

Any other comments?

It’s been excellent so far and I am looking forward to the next few weeks and hopefully achieving the goal of a sub 3-hour finish. If it doesn’t happen, I have learnt a lot about training and will be applying this to my marathon training going forward and know that a sub 3-hour finish will happen at some point.

What the coach thinks:

Dale is one of those rare examples of athletes that I have come across whilst coaching. It may sound quite simple, but ask Dale to run a certain distance or at a certain pace and he will do it. Rarely will he run faster, rarely will he run slower. His tempo runs have become a thing of near metronomic beauty. To run six miles back to back with a range of about two seconds between all the miles is a very hard thing to perfect. However, nearly every week, Dale has achieved this goal.

After a surprisingly disappointing below par run over 10k in July, Dale bounced back and excelled at a recent half marathon. Running a strong personal best, well under three hour marathon pace, his confidence should be high leading into the marathon. If he runs to form, he should be taking a large chunk off his marathon personal best time, and if I was a betting man, I would put a decent sum of money on him to break through that sub 3 hour barrier too.

Name: Elaine McGuckin

Age: 37

Club: Non-affiliated

Current marathon: Pb: 3.09

How do you feel training has been going since you joined the #DreamRunDublin19 team?

I am thoroughly enjoying my training with the #DreamRunDublin19 team and feel that I am getting stronger and fitter ahead of the Dublin Marathon.

How has your training changed since joining the #DreamRunDublin19 team?

My training has changed significantly since joining the #DreamRunDublin19 team as previously I used to just go out and run. I have now a much more structured schedule of training with speed work, tempo and long runs etc. which have been set by Paul. He has eventually managed to tame the human yo-yo in me and my running has become more consistent and evenly paced.

The focus is of course on getting that sub 3 hour finish time at the Dublin Marathon 2019, do you believe you can achieve this? Have things progressed the way you’d hoped?

I am hopeful that I can achieve a sub 3 hour finish but unfortunately I suffered a serious knee injury ruling me out of training for 6 weeks. Thankfully I am now back on track and fingers crossed will see the start line injury free.

What has been your highlight in terms of your own personal favourite performance since joining the #DreamRunDublin19 team?

My own personal favourite performance has been the Belfast City Half Marathon where I achieved a personal best of 1:24. I also completed my first ever Park Run finishing the fastest female in Ireland that day.

What has been your favourite training session since commencing training with Paul Pollock and the #DreamRunDublin19 team?

My favourite training session was 20x1Km set- alternating fast and slow. With no recovery in between each kilometre, I found this mentally very challenging but so satisfying to get through such a tough set.

The atmosphere and camaraderie at the group training days and races is very clear – are you enjoying being part of the team?

I love being part of the team, they are a great group of guys who are all very dedicated and supportive but can enjoy the craic as well!

Any other comments?

I really appreciate getting the opportunity to be part of the #DreamRunProject2019 and have learnt so much under the guidance of Paul and value his feedback.

What the coach thinks:

Elaine is a remarkable athlete. Regardless of what happens on raceday, the fact that she has managed to get herself to the startline in the shape that she currently is, is a testament to both her natural ability and willingness to work incredibly hard.

At the start of July, a torn meniscus was revealed as the source of her having extreme discomfort. Even simple jogging was virtually impossible. We had both all but resigned ourselves to the fact that Elaine would be the first marathon DNS of the DreamRunDublin19 group. With a prolonged time out of running, her recovery has been little short of unbelievable. There is no other word for it.

There are many ways of training for a marathon, and Elaine has definitely not taken the conventional route. However, with a recent half marathon personal best filling her with confidence, she has gone from a probable non-starter to a very realistic possibility of breaking three hours in the marathon. Having lost so much time through injury, we cannot afford the luxury of having a proper taper phase.

Elaine’s journey to the marathon startline deserves a time that she can be proud of. Having seen what she has gone through in the past few months, I firmly believe that, come the sharp end of the marathon, Elaine’s mental strength will carry her through to the finish line in a sub 3 hour time. And after all the recent injury problems that she has faced, that would be a wonderful achievement.

Are you a fan of Fast Running? Then please support us and become a patron. For as little as the price of a monthly magazine you can support Fast Running – and it only takes a minute. Thank you.

The post DreamRun Dublin Update – Three weeks to go! appeared first on Fast Running.

As September rolls into October, it can mean only one thing. Marathon season has well and truly begun. With Kenenisa Bekele narrowly missing out on the world record in Berlin on Sunday, eyes now turn to a much more local marathon. With over 22,500 entrants, the KBC Dublin Marathon has established itself as one of the best in Europe. With the number of entrants continuing to grow each year, it now ranks as the fourth largest European marathon.

The chosen few

For the third year in a row, a special group of athletes will be on the startline of the Dublin marathon. The #DreamRunDublin19 project is comprised of ten runners from Northern Ireland aiming to cross the finish line in Dublin under the magical sub 3-hour time – an elusive barrier for so many club runners throughout the country.

The ten DreamRun runners were selected from over a hundred applicants and met for the first time in May. For the past twenty weeks, they have been training steadily under the watchful eye of group coach and DreamRunDublin founder, Paul Pollock. With a 32nd placing in the 2016 Rio Olympic marathon, 14th at the 2014 World Half marathon championships and 21st at the 2013 World marathon championships, Paul has been at the forefront of distance running in Ireland for the large part of the last decade.

Track record of success

DreamRun is now in its third year. The first two years (2 groups of ten athletes) of the DreamRun project has already seen a massive 8 sub-3 performances and 13 marathon pbs. Combined with a further 12 half marathon and 12 10k new personal bests between the two groups, the pressure has been on for this year’s group to continue the trend. As things currently stand, this year’s group have already risen to the occasion, having amassed 6 half marathon and 6 10k pbs since starting the project in May. Only time will tell if there are more personal bests in store come marathon raceday!

With less than four weeks to go until the big day, the nerves are beginning to grow for each member of the group. As each week passes, FastRunning will provide a short profile of each runner and give readers an insight into their DreamRun journey. First up this week is Adrian Bennett and Martin McKenna.

Are you a fan of Fast Running? Then please support us and become a patron. For as little as the price of a monthly magazine you can support Fast Running – and it only takes a minute. Thank you.

The post DreamRun Dublin – Four weeks to go! appeared first on Fast Running.

Anyone who has been following the Dream Run project, currently in its third year, will know that ten lucky athletes from Northern Ireland have been steadily training since the beginning of May.

Their goal is simple: to break the magical sub three hour barrier, in Dublin, on the 27th October. Working together as a group, encouraging each other forward, under the watchful eye of coach and Irish Olympic marathon runner Paul Pollock, each of the ten athletes has had their own unique journey to the Dublin marathon startline.

Over the course of the next ten weeks, we will be introducing our FastRunning readers to each of the ten chosen athletes (one per week). With personal bests ranging from 4.20 to 3.02, they are all hoping to achieve something that they have never achieved before.

Last year, all 9 of the DreamRun Dublin group starting the Dublin marathon set fantastic personal bests, with 5 of the 9 breaking the sub 3 hour barrier. The bar has undoubtedly been set high for this year’s group.

The highs and lows of the journey

DreamRun founder and group coach, Paul Pollock outlines some of the highs and lows for the group and how they have been progressing so far;

Injuries. Personal bests. The general challenges of training. The DreamRun group this year has, once again, had them all! It has been the same every year of the DreamRun project. The group meets for the first time at the beginning of May, and the Dublin Marathon startline seems like a distant far off date. However, the weeks pass into months very quickly. The relaxed, jokey nature of the group slowly gets overtaken by nervousness and worry.

Marathon day is approaching. Am I ready? Can I really do this? Every run and mile split is analysed and super-analysed again and again by the athlete. With less than ten weeks to go, we might not be at that end phase of training just yet, but it is definitely coming closer.

The fine line of marathon training

It goes without saying that niggles are part of the course. Choose any ten athletes and train them for 25 weeks, in an attempt to run a marathon faster than they have ever run before, and injuries will occur. Recognising and managing those injuries when they occur is essential.

There is always a fine line between pushing hard in training and falling over the line into ‘injury territory’. It is a line that is different for each athlete and for me, as coach, finding that line is probably the most difficult challenge. Having only met each athlete for the first time at the start of May, I have to quickly learn where each athlete is coming from, where their fitness is, what work they are able to manage and how quickly their training can progress.

This year’s group seems to be having more than its fair share of injuries. Not just small short term niggles but longer, more prolonged ‘proper’ injuries. Currently, three of the ten are on the injury bench. Thankfully, there are plenty of ways to get to the startline of a marathon in a decent level of fitness, off a short block of training.

While the training in this way is nowhere near as enjoyable, running a good marathon is still very possible. However, unless an athlete can run pain-free, they are unlikely to race a time close to their true potential.

Credit: DreamRun Project

Expert input and getting race ready

Like in previous years, guest speakers have also been invited to talk to this year’s group. The group has already benefited from the advice and insight of sub 3 hour Northern Irish marathon runner and sports psychologist, Dave Woods. Coming up at the next meet up, there will be a workshop led by a strength and conditioning trainer. Feedback from previous years has shown that the athletes have found these talks really beneficial when it comes to injury prevention and physical and mental preparation for the marathon race itself.

The majority of the group raced the Frank Duffy Dublin 10 mile road race last weekend and will follow this up with a half marathon in early September, they will each have opportunities to perfect their raceday preparations and practice managing their raceday nerves.

Already 5 of the group have set 10k personal bests during this project and hopefully there are still a lot more personal bests to be run, not least of all, come the Dubin marathon finish line on the 27th October!

The ten athletes that were picked for this year’s DreamRun project are:

Gerard Donnelly 3.02
Martin McKenna 3.19
James Wilson 3.16
Dale Murray 3.09
Marina Murphy 3.08
Niamh Kellett 3.17
Ryan Galway 4.20
Adrian Bennett 3.21
Cailam Quinn First timer
Elaine McGuckin 3.09

Are you a fan of Fast Running? Then please support us. For as little as the price of a monthly magazine you can support Fast Running – and it only takes a minute. Thank you.

The post The big countdown….Dublin Marathon DreamRun update appeared first on Fast Running.

There are over 3,500 competitors set to line-up. The race will start and finish at Grange Castle Business Park in Clondalkin, Co. Dublin and will take in Corkagh Park and the Grand Canal Walkway.

There is a top field set to line up in both the men’s and women’s field, with bonuses on offer for any race series record broken as well as time bonuses.

In the men’s field Olympians, Mick Clohisey and Paul Pollock will line up against, Sean Hehir, Peter Somba and Dave Mansfield. Clohisey, the reigning national marathon champion, holds the 10k Race Series Record of 29:44 which he ran in 2015 at the Fingal 10k.  The Raheny man also took top honours in 2016 so he’ll be vying for his third 10k win in the KBC Race Series.

Previous Dublin Marathon national title holder Laura Graham, Olympian Breege Connolly and Fiona Stack will be the leading contenders in the women’s field.

Graham will be seeking top honours haven previously secured the top podium spot in 2016 35:26. They will be chasing the Race Series Record set by Lizzie Lee of 33:25 when winning the inaugural South Dublin 10k in 2019.

The KBC Race series

Following the South Dublin 10k next up in the KBC Race Series 2019, is the Frank Duffy 10 Mile on Saturday 24 August. Following the 10 miler will be the The KBC Dublin Half Marathon, which will take place on Saturday 21 September.

Finally the sold-out 2019 Dublin Marathon, which is celebrating its 40th Year Anniversary with KBC, has a record entry of 22,500. The runners will take to the start-line on Sunday 27 October.

KBC sponsoring good health

Aidan Power, Director of Customer, Brand and Marketing from KBC, said: “The KBC Race Series is an integral part of the KBC Dublin Marathon and at KBC, we’d like to wish all the competitors well this weekend. Being part of the 40th year anniversary of the marathon in our first year as a sponsor is really special for KBC and reinforces our ongoing commitment to positive health and wellbeing.

As sponsors, we want to celebrate not only the runners but also the thousands of individuals who make the race series and marathon possible such as the hardcore supporters, family members, volunteers and fans—that’s why KBC have launched the social media #RunThisTown campaign and I would encourage people to get involved.“

Are you a fan of Fast Running? Then please support us and become a patron. For as little as the price of a monthly magazine you can support Fast Running – and it only takes a minute. Thank you.

The post Top Irish athletes to compete at South Dublin 10k appeared first on Fast Running.

The KBC Dublin Marathon is set to grow to a record 22,500 entrants after organisers announced an additional 2,5000 entries for the 2019 event on Sunday, October 27.

Entry for Ireland’s largest marathon had reached full capacity with all 20,000 entries selling out in December 2018 – 10 months before the event.

However, following an agreement with key authorities, the field size of the Irish capital 26.2 miler – which celebrates its 40th anniversary this year – is set to grow by 12.5 per cent.

“The success and demand for the Dublin Marathon grows each year,” said race director Jim Aughney. “I am delighted that the Gardai, Dublin City Council and all key authorities worked with us to facilitate an increase in entries by 2,500.

Photo: Dublin Marathon

“We look forward to celebrating our 40th year with KBC and all the 22,500 runners that line up on the 27th of October.”

Over the last few years, the Dublin Marathon has reached capacity following a number of changes. The most recent catalyst for the race was the switch in 2016 from the traditional ‘Marathon Monday’ to a Sunday.

That year of 2016 was a sell-out at 19,000 entries. In 2017, the limit was increased to 20,000 and once again sold out.

In addition to the 2,500 extra entries, additional places are also expected to be made available following an opportunity for current entrants to avail of a refund (75% refund) window from at Monday, June 3 to Sunday, June 16.

The new 2,500 places and those additional places created from the refund window, will then on sale on July 1.

RELATED: The explosive growth of the Dublin Marathon

Are you a fan of Fast Running? Then please support us and become a patron. For as little as the price of a monthly magazine you can support Fast Running – and it only takes a minute. Thank you.

The post Dublin Marathon size increases to record 22,500 appeared first on Fast Running.

Successfully coming back from a career threatening injury is the inspirational story every running fan wants to read.

It is not always the case, but thankfully Natasha Cockram’s account is one of the positive tales of coming back from the depths of injury hell – and now she can’t wait to write the next chapter.

During a few difficult years the prospect of not running again was all too real, but after a successful knee surgery, plus her resilient attitude and dedication to get back running, the 26 year-old can now once again dream of earning a GB vest for a major championships.

Cockram’s breakthrough performance of 2:35.47 to finish fourth at the Dublin Marathon in October catapulted her fifth on the Welsh all-time list. It was a nine minute personal best after winning April’s Newport Marathon in 2:44:58, despite spending the prior three months only cross training.

Both performances were a surprise to the Micky Morris Racing Team athlete, and she humbly says she is just “enjoying running again, which is the main thing” after her injury battles.

The Welsh athlete now aims to target three big marathons in 2019, beginning with the Houston Marathon on January 20, followed by London in April, where she hopes her performance will bag her one of the coveted places on the GB team for the World Championships in Doha.

Dublin Marathon breakthrough

Back in 2017, Cockram made her marathon debut at the Dublin Marathon running 2:49:37. Although not the fastest of courses, she enjoyed Ireland’s premier 26.2 miler and decided to return the following year for her third outing over 26.2 miles.

It would prove a wise decision, and running somewhat under the radar she stormed through the field to cross the finish line in 2:35:49, finishing just behind Irish Olympian Lizzie Lee in fourth place.

“I surprised myself with my performance, I wasn’t expecting to run that fast, at least not yet,” says Cockram. “Before the race, my coach said to not run any quicker than 6:00 minute per mile pace or preferably keep it at 6:10 pace for the first 20 miles and then race the last six miles.

“I went out at 6:00 minute pace and it just felt so easy, so I maintained it and then dropped to a few 5:50 miles. Around mile 18 I turned the corner and the lead car was there, so I picked the pace up even more and ran a 5:35 and 5:34 mile and then raced the last six miles as fast as I could.

“It felt so easy at the start and then being able to drop down to 5:30s has given me a lot of hope for the future.”

Photo: Paul Stillman

American connections and injury

The coach Cockram refers to is US-based Tony Houchin, who also coaches Swansea Harriers’ Verity Ockenden.

Strangely they have yet to meet in person and speak on the phone or via Facetime. However, she says the relationship is working well for both of them, emphasising the trust they have with one another.

“Tony is based in America and I saw him when he was coaching another university but not as my coach,” she explains. “The relationship works well even though it is not in person. I trust him and he trusts me and my performances have been improving and that’s what ultimately matters.”

That American relationship and her academic achievements at the University of Tulsa provoke warm feelings for the US, but the jump up in training mileage after moving stateside was also a catalyst for the difficult times to come.

“I personally didn’t have the best of times,” she explains. “I don’t think I was ready when I left the UK based on my mileage and also my coach Dave Lewis passed away during my last year at high school. So it was already a hard time going out to America, but I hoped for the best.

“I was running 40 miles a week at the time and upped my mileage quite quickly to 70 and then 100 miles a week. The jump was too much for me and I was just constantly tired all the time. I was not racing well and it knocked me mentally to the point that I dreaded racing.

“The overall experience was good though. I valued my education and Tulsa was a good academic university.

“There seems to be a pattern that if you go to university in the UK first and then head to the NCAA as a graduate student you tend to do better as your body is more developed and you’re ready to make that jump. Just going straight from high school proved I wasn’t ready for that.

“I picked up the knee injury during my senior year at Tulsa after the cross country season. I raced my last race and then it happened at some point between that race and when I came home for the Christmas break.

“I then went back out to the states and basically raced on through the injury. I was having cortisone shots while cross training and rehabbing. I then did a fifth year in Tulsa before I came home that Christmas and the doctors here told me I would never run again.

“I headed back out to America in January and pretty much went to a lot of different doctors until I found one that was willing to help me.

“The surgeon saw me on the Wednesday and I had the surgery the very next day. I was out for about six months rehabbing, then learning to run again and then more rehab after that. It took almost two years to get back running.

“By the time I was finally back running my thoughts were that it would just be for fun and keeping fit. I was always hoping I could race again but I was never sure to what level.”

View this post on Instagram

This year has not gone to plan in any shape or form but hey I can walk WITHOUT crutches. And I can run after being told by doctors I'll never run again. I have a degree…got accepted into the university of South Carolina medical school- turned it down and here I am back in rainy Wales. Although I'm not racing tonight (due to tonsillitis) I am not pouting on the sideline thinking I'll never stand on a start line again! Here's to a healthier 2017!!!

A post shared by Natasha Cockram (@natruns92) on Dec 31, 2016 at 9:04am PST

Now a more robust and mentally strong athlete

After returning home to Newport after five years stateside, Cockram had a bit of a gap year working with horses mostly and she credits that time in enabling her to successfully recover from the knee surgery.

She now works full-time in the civil service, and the dedicated athlete pursues her running ambitions with early morning training that can start as early as 4:30 am.

“It is hard because my days are very long, especially on long workout days,” she explains. “Most of my days start at 4:30 or 5:00 am, but I am quite fortunate in that I do like the morning.

“Of course it is hard to balance everything, full time work and full time running along with everything else.”

One positive gained from her serious injury is becoming a mentally stronger athlete. That surely plays its part along with the motivation and dedication required to train again in the evening after the early start and a day’s work.

“The mental aspect of the injury was the hardest but that is also what has brought me back as I am a lot stronger now and more resilient,” she says. “Looking back the most difficult thing was we weren’t sure what the actual issue was, many people even said there might not be anything wrong and it was just in her head.

“When I saw the surgeon then I just envisaged him opening my knee up and seeing there was nothing wrong – and I thought ‘maybe it is in my head’ – but clearly there was and thankfully he was able to fix it.

“I also train mostly on my own and mentally I find that has made me tougher. Grinding out a 10 mile on tempo on your own just makes it feel so easy then on race day.”

Photo: Paul Stillman

Cross training plays a big role

Cockram credits the important role cross training played in her rehab from injury, and it is something she has not forgotten, with it still featuring heavily in her training programme.

“Cross training has been a big help and I know it works for me,” she says. “Leading up to the Newport Marathon in April (2018) all I did was cross train for three months and that got me a PB.

“When I then joined Tony, our main aim was about staying healthy because it has been a tough few years on the injury front. For a marathoner, my mileage is actually quite low, but supplementing that with cross training has been a big help.

“I do it mostly on an Elliptical Cross Trainer, and maybe an hour on a bike, but I am also hoping to get access to a pool soon through the council. I then plan to split my time 50/50 between the cross trainer and the pool.”

A bright future ahead

Following Cockram’s 2:35 marathon performance in Dublin, recognition of her potential came from Welsh Athletics and the London Marathon. She was named among the athletes on Wales’ Commonwealth Games Programme and the London Marathon funding for endurance athletes.

Along with some financial support that can help towards training camps, she will have vital medical and physio support, which will be a big help over the next couple of years with her running goals.

She heads into 2019 ranked fifth on the Welsh all-time list and surpassing the 30 year-old national record of 2:31:33 – belonging to Susan Wightman (Tooby) – is one of Cockram’s main aspirations.

“Looking ahead, my main aims are to get a GB vest at a major championships and chase the Welsh record,” she assuredly says. “In the immediate term, I will be running in the Houston Marathon and then have a quick turn around for the London Marathon in April.

“The two races are quite close, but I do recovery quite quickly from a marathon, so my coach and I are confident that I can run both well. For Houston, I am not aiming to run anything amazing, but hopefully repeat my 2:35 performance from Dublin or a bit quicker.

“London is then where I want to really give it my all. Ultimately the goal will be to try and get a GB vest for the World Championships in September.”

RELATED: Top British and Irish athletes set for Houston

Are you a fan of Fast Running? Then please support us and become a patron. For as little as the price of a monthly magazine you can support Fast Running – and it only takes a minute. Thank you.

The post Natasha Cockram has big marathon goals appeared first on Fast Running.

The 39th Dublin Marathon took place on October 28, and within five days, the first 7,000 ‘early bird entries’ for the 2019 event were already sold. Five days into November and that figure rose to 10,000 – and it’s now at 12,000 and counting.

“Because next year is the 40th anniversary race we knew there would be great excitement and that we would probably sell out early, but we didn’t expect it to sell out so quickly,” says race director Jim Aughney, who celebrated 21 years in the job this year.

In the past, the Dublin Marathon has taken a stand at the London Marathon in April to promote the race, but the extra promotion is no longer really needed for Ireland’s premier marathon.

“Entry for this year’s race had closed in last April and so we wondered whether we should go to London next year at all,” says Aughney. “In the end, we did book a stand.”

Now it is likely that all 20,000 places for the 40th Dublin Marathon, with new partner KBC Bank, could be gone by Christmas.

“We got 1,736 immediately from pre-sales to people who had run this year,” he explains. “Our record so far was 2,352 entries on November 2. “In the very first marathon of 1980, we had an entry of 2,997. It’s a nice complaint to have!”

Photo: Dublin Marathon

The flow has stemmed somewhat but with up to 600 entries coming in most days, it’s pretty obvious that the race will be another sell-out.

Anyone taking a walk around Dublin on Sunday, October 28 would appreciate the enormity of the task facing Aughney and the Dublin Marathon organisers every year.

The full board of the limited company which organises the marathon is chaired by Liam Ó Riain, with Dave Humphries as secretary.

Other members are Eugene Coppinger, who looks after the elite entry list and the baggage area; Paul Barnes, safety; May Tan, medical officer; Neil Kennedy, start/finish; Mick McCartan, course director; Gerry Carr, course; and Dave Hudson, logistics.

All members are volunteers and must stand for re-election at the annual meeting each year. They meet once a month. By comparison, the London Marathon has 19 full-time staff although, as an event, it is quite a different animal.

Carol McCabe, the office manager, is the only full-time employee of the marathon, although others come in to help with the race series.

Even Aughney, a 2:35 marathon man, is a part-timer, continuing to work four days a week with Eir, and keeping himself fit by running the three or four miles in and out to work each day. On Fridays, he works on the marathon, which also absorbs most of his evenings and weekends.

“We meet all the senior stewards during the year and go over plans,” he says. “We need to keep them on side; we don’t want them reading of new developments – for example, that KBC is our new title sponsors – in the media before we’ve told them.”

So how has the Dublin Marathon developed and grown?

“There were a number of catalysts down the years, some of them planned; others where we got lucky,” he says.

Although entries had increased to 11,076 by 1982, the event had many nervous years when sponsors were hard to attract and numbers fluctuated. In 1987, numbers fell to below 4,000 for the first time since the inaugural year.

A year later, Dublin’s Millennium celebrations saw a big increase in numbers to almost 9,000, but in 1989, that number dropped back to just over 3,000. Only in 1999, for the 20th edition of the race, did numbers recover and the upward trend would continue.

“Before the 1999 race, we had decided to approach the big American charities,” he explains. “They had approached Dave Bedford of the London Marathon and he had told them they weren’t welcome. Why not come to Dublin, we said?

“That year, we put on a special registration for them in the Gresham Hotel and I was standing there handing out numbers when my phone rang. It was Frank Greally ringing to tell me that Noel Carroll, one of the race founders, had passed on.”

In 2000, there were more American than Irish in the race – but that soon changed, with Aughney adding: “Then came 9/11 in 2001 – the charities were committed for that year, but we knew it was the last year they would come.”

Encouraging more Irish runners to take part

Around 2007, the board came up with the idea of the Races Series, involving three races already on the calendar which took place in the Phoenix Park in the summer and autumn – the Irish Runner 5-Mile, the Frank Duffy 10-Mile organised by the Civil Service club and the Business Houses Athletic Association Dublin Half Marathon.

Photo: Dublin Marathon

“The idea was to get the Irish up off their armchairs and out running,” he explains. “We didn’t include the marathon because we thought that might frighten people off. Our idea was to stop short at the half marathon knowing that if people got to that stage, they might then transfer over to the marathon. We were right – in 2008, the Irish entry for the marathon began to rise.

“This had two big impacts: local entries increased but also it got people out on to the streets to support the runners. We then added cheering zones to keep the kids entertained which helped create the atmosphere all along the route.”

Moving marathon day to a Sunday

The most recent catalyst for the race was the switch in 2016 from the traditional ‘Marathon Monday’ to a Sunday.

“It means we got more overseas visitors as well as runners from Northern Ireland and England, where they don’t have an October bank holiday,” he says. “We were also pleasantly surprised to get an increase in numbers from outside Dublin – entries from Cork, Limerick and Galway are all up substantially. People can run their marathon on the Sunday and then recover on Monday before returning to work.”

That year of 2016 was a sell-out at 19,000 entries.

“We weren’t sure whether it was the change to a Sunday or that the special medal for the 1916 centenary which was a big draw,” he ponders. “We have always had big entries on significant dates, with the numbers then dropping back a year later.”

That did not happen in 2017, with the limit increased to 20,000.

“We realised then that the numbers weren’t going to drop off and this year, we had to close entry at the end of April,” he happily explains. “In the first couple of weeks after, we had 1,386 queries.

“When they saw that entry had closed they would ring the office to see if by any chance they could get an entry. So we knew that there was a demand for at least 22,000 entries – maybe even 23,000 or 25,000.”

Of the 20,000 who won a coveted place this year, 16,246 finished; some dropped out but many more never got to the start line.

“We have changed a few things for next year,” he says. “If people enter now and then find they can’t run for any reason, we will give them their money back taking only a small administration fee. We will then open up entry again with those numbers.

“But we will have a cut-off date since we need to give people taking up the extra numbers time to train. It can’t be as late as September since we also have to order t-shirts and medals. We will decide on a cut-off date no later than January.”

Photo: Dublin Marathon

After six years with SSE Airtricity, the title sponsorship has moved seamlessly to KBC, unlike in 2013 when the event took place without a major sponsor and, with no budget for overseas athletes, threw up two Irish winners in Sean Hehir and Maria McCambridge.

“KBC already has experience of road racing through sponsoring the Night Run,” he says. “We hope they will help with the promotion of the race. We are not really looking for a sponsor; more a partner who will work with us and help us improve the race.”

In 1980, the first ever Dublin Marathon was sponsored by Radio 2 and televised live. That was soon reduced to a highlights programme screened later in the day; with RTE strapped for cash, that arrangement ended in 2011. Over the past two years, the race has been live streamed.

“TV would be nice, but we realised it probably wouldn’t happen,” he explains. “Televising the race is complicated – you have to film everything twice with a helicopter in the air and motorbikes on the route, so for us, live streaming was the way to go.

“In 2016, we live streamed for the first time but without much fanfare. This year we publicised it and we were on the air from 8.30am to 4.30 pm with five commentators. It’s now on our YouTube Channel forever and a day!”

So what are the major challenges facing the new and expanded Dublin Marathon?

The course itself is not a problem since the introduction of the wave system.

“This year, we changed the wave system starting them 15 minutes apart rather than ten minutes,” says the Race Director. “Also we didn’t allow people to pick their own waves because too many people were putting themselves down for wave 1. So we now have four separate races, which has alleviated problems on the course. We could take a lot more on the route.”

The big problem comes when the stream of at least 16,000 people approach the narrow finish area at Merrion Square North.

“We can have 177 runners coming in together and – for some reason! – they all stop running when they cross the finish line. We want them to keep moving, to pick up their t-shirt, go to the baggage area and then move away.

“We can have 8,000 in the baggage area and we need them to move on so others can move in. In 2016, it was a lovely day and we had a big problem because people came into the baggage area and sat down on the pavements – they were almost having a picnic!”

The Marathon Mission to support Irish distance running

A major innovation introduced by the Dublin Marathon board a decade ago was the Marathon Mission.

“We held our first Marathon Mission meeting in the West County Hotel, Chapelizod in January 2009,” explains Aughney. “In 2008, Pauline Curley had made it to the 2008 Olympics on a B standard. Martin Fagan got the men’s A standard but he didn’t travel. That was all.

“Winning times by Irish athletes in the marathon were deteriorating not only in our race but also in the Irish Championships and we wanted to see what we could do to improve standards and by extension to get far more Irish athletes qualifying for major championships. We said at the time that we wanted to give the selectors a headache – and I think we’ve succeeded there!”

The philosophy of the Marathon Mission is simple: gather qualifying athletes together and listen to what they have to say.

“Our approach is to ask what can we do for you today, not this is what you have to do: you have to run this race or that race,” he says. “We don’t claim to know anything – we’re not coaches.

“Athletes have different approaches and one cap does not fit all. What we do it to try and get athletes to race each other and if they can’t find the races here, we’ll try and find competition for them.

“For example, we brought in the Scottish lads who could break 50 minutes for the Frank Duffy 10-Mile. When Lizzie Lee was thinking of moving up to the marathon, we suggested that she go to Berlin and run the marathon for the experience and then go back a year later and race it.”

The approach has resonated well with athletes among them Lee and Mick Clohisey, who finished third and sixth overall and best of the Irish in this year’s marathon.

Photo: Dublin Marathon

RELATED: Mick Clohisey and Lizzie Lee win national titles at Dublin Marathon

The Marathon Mission also recruits previous champions to speak to the group, among them John Treacy, who remains the Irish record holder for the distance.

“We brought over Andy Hobdell from the UK who coaches Paul Pollock and Kevin Seaward,” he says. “Athletes and coaches can get new ideas from meeting up and listening to each other.”

For a second time this year, Pollock, the 2012 Irish champion, trained a team for Dublin, with the Marathon Mission giving him a number of free entries. Now Matt Shields has started a Marathon Mission in the North, with Eugene Coppinger attending the first meeting.

In a further incentive for Irish runners to take on Dublin, the prize fund was turned around to favour local athletes.

“We had the ambition to have the first such 2:10 marathon on the course and then we had a sub 2:09 minute time,” he says. “We achieved both those goals using time bonuses as an incentive to bring in international athletes.

“So then we thought let’s take out the time bonuses for international athletes and put in time bonuses for Irish athletes instead. It meant that this year Lizzie Lee probably got more than the winning man.”

It also changed the nature of the race.

“In the past, the athletes were eyeballs out going for a fast time, now they were bunching from the start and running the race, which made it a lot more interesting,” he explains. “For us, this year was almost the perfect race with Lizzie and Mick up there.”

The race organisers take care to pick the right athletes from abroad for the elite field and says: “There’s no point us bringing in, say, a woman who has run 2:25 and who will just demoralise the Irish because they can’t get anywhere near her.”

Finally, Aughney feels that, with standards rising, the Irish could snatch a medal at the next European team marathon championships.

“Most of the team selected for this year’s European Championships team marathon came from the Marathon Mission,” he proudly says. “We were very unlucky with Paul Pollock getting injured and having a bad run and Stephen Scullion deciding to run the 10,000m instead of the marathon.

“I would love to see us winning a European team medal – and I think we can do it.”

Aughney promises that next year’s 40th anniversary race will be special, especially for the 13 stalwarts who have run all 39 Dublin Marathons to date.

“We gave them all free entry for the 25th anniversary race so I’m not sure what we’ll do. But we’ll have to do something!” he adds.

RELATED: Mick Clohisey’s Zen-like approach to running is paying dividends

Are you a fan of Fast Running? Then please support us and become a patron. For as little as the price of a monthly magazine you can support Fast Running – and it only takes a minute. Thank you.

The post The explosive growth of the Dublin Marathon appeared first on Fast Running.

Ethiopia’s Asefa Bekele claimed victory in the men’s race at the SSE Airtricity Dublin Marathon on Sunday (October 28), while Mick Clohisey won the national title on his first outing in the Irish capital marathon.

Bekele, who finished third in 2017 and 2015, clocked 2:13:24 to take the win finishing nine seconds ahead of South Africa’s David Manja who crossed the line in 2:13:33.

Kenya’s Joe Kiptoo completed the men’s podium in 2:13:42 ahead of Ethiopia’ss Benard Rotich and American Seth Totten.

Raheny Shamrock’s Clohisey was the first Irish male athlete across the finish line clocking 2:15:58 in sixth place overall.

It was the Olympian’s first appearance at the Dublin Marathon and comes after his personal best 2:14:55 at the Seville Marathon in February.

Great Britain’s Josh Griffiths finished seventh in 2:16:09, while 2017 Irish national champion Gary O’Halon finished in 10th place (2:17:11) followed by Clonliffe Harriers clubmate Sergiu Ciobanu in 12th (2:17:27), with the duo completing the Irish national championships podium.

Mesera Dubiso completed an Ethiopian double in Dublin winning the women’s race in a time of 2:33:49.

Dubiso finished over 30 seconds ahead of compatriot Motu Gedefa, while Irish Olympian Lizzie Lee secured a top three spot after crossing the line in 2:35:05.

Photo: SSE Airtricity Dublin Marathon

Cork native Lee, who has a personal best of 2:32.51, has shown good form this season, setting a new personal best of 73:19 at the World Half Marathon Championships in March before winning the Women’s Mini Marathon for the first time in June.

“An Irish woman on the overall podium, I am thrilled with that! I am thrilled with the time,” said Lee afterwards. “I am thrilled with the place and I know my little girl is out there somewhere I can’t wait to give her a hug. I needed redemption after Berlin.”

Leevale’s Lee won women’s Irish national championships, with Letterkenny’s Caitriona Jennings second (sixth overall) in 2:41:17. Jill Hodgins ensured Leevale AC had a second athlete on the podium finishing 10th overall in 2:47:53.

Other Irish results in the men’s race include Raheny’s Mark Kirwan in 12th place in a time of 2:17:37, Clonliffe’s David Flynn clocked 2:19:49 to finish 15th, while David Mansfield ran 2:20:15 and Star of the Sea’s Eoin Callaghan posted 2:20:26.

In the women’s race, additional results include Galway City Harriers Jane Ann Meehan in 11th place in 2:50:30, with Adrianna Melia 14th in 2:52:20 ahead of St. Finbarrs Sorcha Kearney in 2:52:28.

Great Britain’s Johnboy Smith won the wheelchair race in 1:36:12 ahead of four-time champion Patrick Monahan.

Please note finishing times are unofficial and subject to change.

Are you a fan of Fast Running? Then please support us. For as little as the price of a monthly magazine you can support Fast Running – and it only takes a minute. Thank you.

The post Mick Clohisey and Lizzie Lee win national titles at Dublin Marathon appeared first on Fast Running.