National marathon champion and former record holder Hiko Tonosa is a late addition to Sunday’s Irish Life Dublin Marathon.
The 30-year-old wasn’t among the elite entries announced earlier this week by the organisers, but after making contact on Thursday confirming he was now able to run, the Dundrum South Dublin runner will now line up on the start on Sunday.
Tonosa was the top Irish men’s finisher and third overall last year in 2:09:42, the then fastest marathon run by an Irishman, which has been broken twice since. The national title also goes to the top Irish men’s and women’s finisher on Sunday.
In Rotterdam last April, Tonosa also ran 2:09:52 to finish 10th, despite nursing a leg infection. That time qualified him for the World Championships in Tokyo in September, although Tonosa dropped out of that race.
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Six weeks after Tokyo, he has now sufficiently recovered to make the start line in Dublin, although there are still some doubts around his race fitness.
Last Sunday, Fearghal Curtin won the Gyeongju International Marathon in South Korea in 2:07:54, the Cork runner slicing just under two minutes off the previous record set by Peter Lynch in April, when he ran 2:09:36 to win the Düsseldorf Marathon and better Tonosa’s 2:09:42.
The elite Dublin prize money is in US dollars (in line with World Athletics elite status races, with $15,000 (€13,000) for first, $7,500 for second (€6,500), $5,000 (€4,300) for third, etc. The top Irish prizes are in euro (€3,500, €2,500, and €1,500).
Last year, Tonosa earned himself $5,000 for third, another €5,000 for breaking 2:12, plus the €3,500 for being top Irish finisher.
In the men’s elite category, Kenya’s Hillary Kipsambu is the fastest of the lot with his 2:04:44 set in Paris in 2021, although he’s now 40, and finished fifth in Dublin last year. Sweden’s Samuel Tsegaye also has a best of 2:06:53.
An Irish citizen since 2020, Tonosa had already won a series of national titles on the track and the road, but the national marathon title is clearly one he holds dearly.
His addition will make the race for the men’s national title more interesting. Cork’s Ryan Creech has finished runner-up twice before, with Jake O’Regan from Clare also in contention after winning the half-marathon last month.
