Even without what might be deemed a properly elite field there is no lack of anticipation around Sunday’s inaugural running of the Dublin City Half Marathon. Nor should the prize pot of €13,500 be anything less than eagerly contested.
The new event already made headlines in early January when all 12,500 entries sold out in just two hours, the online registration system crashing several times such was the sprint to gain a starting place. Organised by the same team behind the Dublin Marathon, first staged in 1980, the potential for future growth is also evident, given so many hopeful entrants missed out.
Unlike the Dublin Marathon, there wasn’t any push to attract overseas runners, elite or otherwise, meaning the inaugural winners are likely to be Irish and, in profile terms, possibly unknown – the €13,500 is to be divided among the top five men and women, as well as master and wheelchair categories.
Given some other unknowns, the organisers have concentrated on these home elements, with most entrants being club runners or from meet-and-train groups around the country. The event also differs from the Dublin Half Marathon staged in September as part of the marathon countdown series of races, entirely within the Phoenix Park, as this time it takes to the city streets and starts on O’Connell Street.
“Not in our wildest dreams did we think it would sell out in just over an hour or so,” race director, Jim Aughney, said of that early interest. “If we sold all the entries by the time the event came around in March, we thought we’d be doing really well. So, this is clearly a huge statement from the running community in Ireland.”
Current Irish half marathon record holder Efrem Gidey did attend the event launch, only he’s focused on the start of the outdoor track season and is set to race the 10,000m this Saturday at The TEN meeting in San Juan Capistrano in California.
Gidey ran 60:51 in the Copenhagen half marathon last September, adding the Irish record for 10km on the road when running 27:43 in Valencia in January. The 24-year-old has been training at altitude in Arizona for the last few weeks with the aim of transferring that form to the track. The Irish 10,000m record of 27:39.55 has stood to Alistair Cragg since 2007, Gidey aiming for around 27:15 pace.
Hiko Tonosa was another potential starter on Sunday, the top Irish finisher at last October’s Dublin Marathon later equalling Gidey’s half marathon mark when also clocking 60:51 in Seville in January. Tonosa ran 2:09:42 in Dublin, officially the Irish marathon record, and he hopes to better that again when running the Rotterdam marathon on April 13th.
On the women’s front, Ann-Marie McGlynn has also decided to bypass the event, the top Irish woman in the Dublin Marathon racing last Sunday’s National 10km in Dunboyne and finishing second to Niamh Allen, who clocked an impressive 31:44.
Sunday’s entries do include several of the top club runners in the country – Evan Fitzgerald from Waterford AC and Jake O’Regan from St. John’s in Clare willing for another go at the distance after finishing one-two in the Mullingar Half Marathon on St Patrick’s Day. Fitzgerald won by three seconds in 67:28.
Hugh Armstrong from Ballina AC has a best of 63:37, the sixth-fastest Irish man over the distance, and Killian Mooney from Dundrum South Dublin clocked 64:43 at last month’s Napoli City Half Marathon.
In the women’s race, Nichola Sheridan also starts, having won her home Bohermeen AC Half Marathon last month in 76:30, Fiona Stack from Raheny Shamrock AC running close to home.
Though an entirely new – and hitherto untested course – the route does take in a part of the original Dublin Marathon route in Raheny. Starting on O’Connell Street at 8.30am, the northside route takes in Ballybough, passing Croke Park, then through Whitehall, Killester, Howth Road, Raheny, St Anne’s Park, Clontarf, Fairview Park and finishing on Guild Street. The €68 fee clearly didn’t slow the entries and the mostly flat course and road closures should be conducive to fast times.
Meanwhile, Rhasidat Adeleke will have her first outdoor race this season on Saturday at the Texas Relays in Austin, set to feature as part of the professional 4x400m relay with some of her training partners.
