ETHIOPIAN athletes claimed victory in both men’s and women’s races at Sunday’s Irish Life Dublin Marathon.
Kemal Husen set a new men’s record of two hours, six minutes and 52 seconds, while Amente Sorome Negash was the first woman across the line in 2:26:22 to claim cheques of €12,000 each and the Noel Carroll Memorial Trophy.
Northern runners dominated the national championships held in conjunction with the event as Stephen Scullion and Ann-Marie McGlynn scored decisive wins.
Earlier, grey overcast conditions greeted the 20,000 or so runners for the 2023 edition of Irish running’s annual showpiece and it was fitting that Olympic silver medallist John Treacy was the chosen starter to set the various waves of runners on their way. It commemorated Treacy’s victory in the race 30 years earlier in what was the swansong of his long and successful career.
Belfast man Scullion was prominent in the early lead group that set off at a moderate pace, no doubt mindful that the new course contained a few testing sections in the later stages. Scullion slipped back to 11th at the 10-kilometre mark (31:29), running possibly to a strict pace schedule, as Husen was already prominent at the front (30:22).
Husen, accompanied only by a pacemaker, was 19 seconds clear at the 20kms (59:35) with Scullion now in eighth (62:00).
The Ethiopian’s lead had increased to almost two minutes by 30km (1:29:35) and, despite visibly showing signs of fatigue over the final kilometres, he crossed the finish line in wet and rainy conditions with an advantage of almost four minutes.
His 2:06:52 was not only a Dublin race record but also a qualifying time for next year’s Olympic Games in Paris.
Uganda’s Geofrey Kusuro was the next man home (2:10:45) with Scullion finishing strongly for third in an excellent 2:11:51 and in the process collecting his second Irish marathon title.
Leevale AC’s Ryan Creesh, seventh overall, in 2:14:08 claimed the Irish silver medal, one place and 35 seconds ahead of Newcastle’s Ryan Forsyth, who recorded a fine 2:14:08 on his debut at the distance.
There were notable performances from other Ulster runners including Armagh AC’s Michael Fox (2:24:59), Milford AC’s Martin Lynch (2:27:58) and City of Derry’s Declan Reed (2:29:07).
The women’s race was a much more competitive affair. Early on there were six women clear at 10km (35:24), this was down to five at halfway (73:58) with Negash at the front.
The leaders were whittled down to three at 30km (1:45:14) as the Ethiopian continued to apply steady pressure at the front. This finally paid off for her as she went clear and built up a gap of 17 seconds over Kenya’s Joan Kipyatich with just over two kilometres to run.
Negash went on to break the tape looking still full of running in 2:26:22, while Kipyatich held on for second in 2:27:04 as Genet Habela Abdurkadir from Ethiopia claimed the final place on the podium in 2:27:49.
Letterkenny’s Ann Marie McGlynn, in fifth overall, seemed to have an untroubled run to her first national title in 2:34:13 and it obviously meant a lot to her as she celebrated her victory exuberantly after crossing the finish line.
Three places back, North Belfast Harrier Gladys Ganiel claimed the national silver medal in 2:37:08, while Donore Harrier Sorcha Loughnane was third with a 2:45:31 timing.
Belfast’s Caitlyn Harvey was 10th overall in 2:45:59, with Lurgan’s Gillian McCrory 11th in 2:47:30 and Cavan’s Rachel Birt another place back in 12th recording a time of 2:48:08. That made an unprecedented number of five Ulster women in the leading half-dozen of the Irish championship.
In the wheelchair race, Patrick Monahan won his seventh Dublin Marathon in a time of one hour, 41 minutes and three seconds.
