The return of the Dublin marathon saw many North Down runners in attendance, whether as an athlete or in a support role of which there was an abundance and very welcomed by the aforementioned athletes.
The race did provide our runners with many PB’s and for some the added bonus of a Good for Age qualification to next year’s London and other marathons. This race is also the climax every year for the students of Paul Pollock’s project to dip under the 3 hour mark.
Dale Murray and brother Ross both came away with pb’s with finishing times of 2:34:55 and 2:39:41. Ashley Dixon was next with 2:42:48, also a pb and Fiona McQuillan was delighted to once again came under the 3 hour threshold with a time of 2:57:57.
Steven Donegan undertook the rigorous training plan penned by Pollock and would have achieved his target time if not for feeling unwell towards the finish, still clocking a great time of 3:02:20 which was an 11 minute personal best. Eamon O’Reilly, a previous product of the Paul Pollock camp, recorded a pb of 3:03:52.
Philip Mulligan plans on running London next year after achieving his GFA grade with a time of 3:12:26, a chunky 9 minutes quicker than his previous best. Sarah Gibson was overjoyed as she improved on her preceding best time by a whopping 14 minutes, clocking 3:16:06. A time which is significantly inside the GFA boundary should she wish to use it next year.
Darren Edgar made it home in 3:19:57, some 9 minutes inside his last best time and by contrast, Valerie McDonough also pb’d but by less than a minute. 3:28:04 qualifies for London and other marathons but Valerie will take a rain check before committing to any further 26.2 mile races. Alan Massey followed closely in 3:28:42.
Cara Jeffrey soaked up the atmosphere during and after the race and was timed in a pb of 3:53:04. Paula Simpson recorded 3:55:26 followed by Keith Gilmore in 3:58:36, Donald Smith 4:07:36, Philip McDonough 4:21:33 and Caroline Steele who was completing her first marathon in 4:38:08. Clare Russell managed 4:45:57 while Darren Hamilton paced a friend round in 4:55:02.
Full Results: