In Pictures: Belfast City Marathon sees record number of competitors take part

A record number of participants have pounded the streets of Belfast for the city’s annual marathon.

Over 5,000 people ran the full 26.2-mile route, which snaked through east, west and north Belfast before finishing up at Ormeau Park.

Along with those running the full marathon, over 12,500 relay runners also took part, while more than 1,000 completed an eight-mile walk comprising the east Belfast stage of the main route.

The men’s and women’s marathon winners were Kenyans Mathew Kiplimo and Beatrice Kepkemei, with Ms Kepkemei shaving one minute and 47 seconds off the previous women’s record with an incredible finishing time of two hours and 35 minutes.

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Many ran to raise funds for charities and various causes, including the family and friends of Ciara McElvanna, a mother-of-four who died in a horror crash in Co Armagh last November.

Ms McElvenna (44) was killed alongside friends Patrick Grimley and his wife Ciera in the crash close to Markethill as they returned in a taxi from a night out in Dundalk celebrating Patrick’s 40th birthday.

Her loved ones have raised over £22,400 by taking part in the marathon, with the money to be donated to the charity Revive, which supports the work of the Regional Intensive Care Unit and High Dependency Unit in Belfast’s Royal Victoria Hospital.

Meanwhile, staff from The Irish News parent company IntoMedia ran to fundraise in memory of three colleagues who died last year.

Twenty-seven people from the Irish News and Q Radio ran to honour late colleagues Hugh Russell, Dawn Egan and Lorraine McCarthy, with funds raised going to charities chosen by their families.

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Meanwhile, SDLP MP for South Belfast, Claire Hanna, has praised the actions of those who used a defibrillator on a runner who collapsed at the Upper Lisburn Road stretch of the marathon.

The man was taken to hospital by ambulance, and Ms Hanna said the quick-thinking actions of the people with the defibrillator likely ended up “saving his life”.