A fairytale of Dublin city. It’s how Martin Hoare described his experience of the Irish Life Dublin Marathon, up running again after three years, and he was speaking for plenty others too.
Staged in perfect running conditions for the last Sunday in October – pleasantly warm, mostly bright sunshine, just a gentle breeze – Hoare was the best Irish finisher in seventh place overall, clocking a lifetime best of 2:20:21 at age 35, the Kildare man admitting in other years he’d have been back of the pack.
Not long after he finished Courtney McGuire from Clonmel produced an even bigger breakthrough as best Irish woman, nailing third-place overall, running 2:32:50 in her first marathon having just turned 23 earlier this month.
Both were pressed hard for those National titles, Hoare breaking clear just before 20 miles from Conor Gallagher, who took eighth overall in 2:22:56, with former Irish champion and 2013 outright Dublin winner Sean Hehir taking third.
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McGuire had to shake-off the persistent Ann-Marie McGlynn over the final five miles, who finished second best Irish woman in 2:33:46. The outright women’s title went to Nigist Muluneh of Ethiopia in 2:28:31, that win worth €12,000, although McGuirea actually came away better off.
Between the purse for third (€6,000), for top Irish woman (€3,500) and an Irish bonus for breaking 2:33 (€7,000), she came away with €16,000, clearly adding to her surprise after a race she only decided on running two months ago.
“Yeah, I’ve really shocked myself there,” said McGuire, “and before I say anything else I really want to thank my coach Sean Tobin, in Clonmel, and the two boys I stayed with over the weekend, and trained with the last two months, David Mansfield and Will Maunsell. I know today didn’t go their way, but only for them I would never have run this.
“The course was good, wasn’t as hilly as I expected, definitely not fast but a good one. But feeling a lot better than I thought I would after a marathon.”
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It was only after winning the Larne Half-Marathon at the end of August, running a brilliant new best of 1:13:54, that she considered Dublin an option: “And I was doing a lot on the cross-trainer, trying to keep the injuries down, but certainly glad I did it now. I actually get a bit scared by the shorter distances, I’m not great on the track, the longer distances just seem to suit me, I don’t get as nervous.”
Having just graduated with a degree in psychology, McGuire knew a little about the mental component of running 26.2-miles, and she certainly timed her effort to perfection.
As did Hoare, making his break for home from the front pack of Irish runners after the race moved between mile 19 and mile 20 approaching Clonskeagh: “About halfway I felt really strong, the pack started breaking up a little bit, and when we got to 19 miles I just pushed on. Coming into Milltown, I saw brother, and I had in my mind if I was there, I was going to kick up the hill. And I never looked back.”
Nor did outright men’s winner Taoufik Allam of Morocco, once he made his move just after Clonskeagh, racing to a clear victory by almost two and a half minutes in 2:11:30 – a fairytale for him too, improving his best by two minutes in only his second ever marathon.
