Taoufik Allam of Morrocco was a comfortable winner of the Irish Life Dublin Marathon on the streets of the capital on Sunday morning. In what was only his second-ever marathon, the 33-year-old knocked over two minutes off his personal best, crossing the line in a time of two hours, eleven minutes, and thirty seconds.
Nigist Muluneh (Ethiopia) took the women’s title in an impressive time of 2:28.31. This was an improvement of over one minute on her previous personal best set in Madrid early this year. Compatriot Hawi Alemu Negeri who had kept Muluneh company for most of the race finished second (2:29:33), with Courtney McGuire (Clonmel AC) crossing the line third (2:32:50).
McGuire’s podium position ensured that she took national honours in what was her debut marathon. The 23-year-old, who won the Antrim Coast Half Marathon earlier this year, is currently studying for a Masters at the University of Limerick. “I only decided to do it about two months ago, my team kept me going. They really meant a lot to me over the past couple of months. I felt a lot better than I thought I would after a marathon, so we’ll stay with this. I’m a little bit overwhelmed but I’m delighted that I did it.”
14,773 finishers were listed on the official website after just under 18,000 of the original 25,000 entry had collected their race bags. It is not unusual for 20 percent of those who sign up not to make it to the start line and that number was expected to rise with most of these entries having originally been made for the race that was postponed in 2020 and again in 2021.
The ‘goodie bags’ of race gear will now be recycled and where possible distributed among different charities.
This was the smallest number of finishers in a number of years, despite the entry number rising to 25,000 but it is hoped that this will bounce back in 2023, the entries for which open this morning with a 48-hour window for those who entered this year’s race to do so again. Next year’s race will take place on Sunday, October 29th.
The fee will rise this year to €110 from €90. Any spaces not taken up will be made available via a public lottery in a two-week window. There will be a €10 lottery fee, €7 of which will be refunded if unsuccessful, and all of which will be redeemable against the fee for those who do win a spot.
The atmosphere before and after the race around Merrion Square was buoyant with the weather kind for the most part, especially given the conditions that there were before and after the day.
This was the first year that sponsors Irish Life were on board and we will talk with the team over the coming weeks to discover what worked best for them and how they will be stepping up again in 2023 and 2024.
This year saw the addition of the Purple Mile organised by title sponsor Irish Life to give runners that extra support as they run their last mile into Merrion Square and cross the finish line, completing the 26.2 miles.
