It could be said that Irish marathon running is on something of an all-time high. At least on the men’s side, after Fearghal Curtin produced an unexpectedly fast time to win the Gyeongju International Marathon in South Korea last Sunday.
Curtin clocked 2:07:54, the Cork runner slicing just under two minutes off the previous record set by Peter Lynch in April. He also collected $50,000 (€43,000) for winning in Gyeongju, and it means the Irish men’s record has now been broken three times in the last year.
In last year’s Dublin Marathon, Hiko Tonosa ran 2:09:42 when he finished a surprising third place overall, and top Irish finisher. Tonosa is a late addition to this year’s staging of the race on Sunday, but until this week it appeared he wouldn’t be running.
There’s other Irish interest in the men’s side on Sunday, with Paul O’Donnell running a 2:10:17 marathon earlier this year, placing him sixth on the Irish all-time list.
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Dublin also doubles as the Irish marathon championships, and others in contention for the men’s title are Ryan Creech, who has run 2:12:28, along with Jake O’Regan and Seán Tobin.
Then there’s the usual list of international elite athletes, primarily from Kenya and Ethiopia, who are well past their prime, alongside some entrants from the US, Sweden and Norway, with the help of two pacemakers.
There will be an opportunity for Irish athletes to challenge for fast times if they are willing to shelve the national title ambitions and take some calculated risks to get among the early leaders.
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This is also in the hope that an aggressive race will deliver a high finish in the overall race, as well as holding on for a coveted national championship medal.
The elite Dublin prize money is in US dollars, in line with World Athletics elite status races, with $15,000 for first, $7,500 for second, $5,000 for third, etc. The top Irish prizes are in euro (€3,500, €2,500 and €1,500).
Dublin may not be able to match the $50,000 offered by marathons such as Gyeongju, but it’s a difficult balance to manage the right level of elite athlete who will generate interest from the fans and also provide a realistic level of competition for Irish athletes.
The idea is to get the best results by the Irish runners being stretched by the internationals to the point in the race where the focus changes to competing for a podium spot. We have seen in the past when Stephen Scullion finished in second in 2019 and third in 2023, with Tonosa also on the podium last year.
But to get the home crowd really excited, there must be some Irish presence in the race competing for a top position. The pace will be there, then it’s up to the athletes to weigh up if they are better to go with a pace slightly above what they are capable, or else run a balanced race and hope that some of the early leaders falter in the later stages.
In recent years, the women’s race has split early, with the elite internationals chasing the course-record bonus, and the Irish racing for the national championship. The past two Irish women’s titles have been won by Ann-Marie McGlynn, who is going for a hat-trick this year, with one of the possible challenges coming from Ava Crean, who is only 19.
Crean’s preparation for the Dublin has included two recent half-marathons, running a time of 75:22 in Charleville followed a month later by a personal best 74:06 in Manchester, and we just may see her alongside McGlynn in a race for the national title.
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Fionnuala McCormack is focused on the New York City marathon next month, so Dublin was never an option for her this year. Maybe in future years the organisers should try to coax her into running, knowing how popular she would be on the streets of Dublin.
As much as the Dublin Marathon is one of the most attractive races on the marathon calendar for club runners, charity runners and “tourist” runners, the elite race can get lost when the leading runners are not names that even people involved with athletics are familiar with.
Prize money hasn’t increased significantly in the past 30 years
It’s merely an opportunity for the international elite to pick up a decent pay cheque in the latter stages of their careers. But if Dublin is to attract the best Irish athletes to line up, the prize purse for Irish athletes will need to be greater.
There will also need to better time-bonus incentives. Otherwise, the likes of Curtin and Lynch will always travel abroad, where the courses are often flatter and the conditions more reliable to achieve times required to qualify for major championship marathons and get some foothold in the world rankings.
Most of our runners won’t turn up if the rewards are slim and the prize money is far more tempting elsewhere. The prize money hasn’t increased that significantly in the past 30 years, going back to when I won the women’s race in 2000.
I can also recall when John Treacy ran in 1993. It was his last marathon and there were fantastic crowds out on the streets to give him a rousing welcome home and final send-off.
But I couldn’t tell you who won the Dublin Marathon in recent years, the men’s or women’s race. I do know it’s exciting when there are Irish athletes in contention and racing for a podium spot. We need to see more of this.
It’s time for the Dublin Marathon to start dreaming up more attractive terms and conditions for the best Irish athletes. That will also create more exciting lead stories, perhaps giving the city and country a marathon champion that it deserves.
