Munster runners at the Berlin Marathon - 29th Sept 2024

The big marathon in Europe over the weekend was in Berlin, a course noted for being flat and fast.

Looking through the results, there were several hundred runners from Ireland.

Here are the top finishers from Cork & Munster... sub 3:00 for men and sub 3:30 for women.

Sub 3:30 men...

 Place Pl. AC Name Number AC Club Overall time Chip  time
23 116 Kinsella, John (IRL) 67127 40 Bilbao AC 02:28:49 02:28:40
45 2112O Sullivan, Tadhg (IRL) 26197H Bweeng trail blazers 02:33:40 02:33:30
137 1377O Hehir, Nathan Ryan (IRL) 2619030 St Finbarrs AC 02:43:32 02:43:14
211 9361Hoc, Pawel (IRL) 1996840 Clonmel AC 02:51:44 02:48:52
229 519 Cotter, Liam (IRL) 1555755 St Finbarrs AC 02:51:17 02:50:10
357 7606O Brien, Paul (IRL) 7489440 Eagle AC 02:59:19 02:57:05

Sub  3:30 women...

201 231 Ryan, Clara (IRL) 7963230 St Finbarrs AC 02:49:43 02:48:14
328 614 Murphy, Catherine (IRL) 2559945 Eagle AC 02:59:53 02:55:48
469 853 Grogan, Linda (IRL) 6229340 Dundrum AC 03:01:49 03:00:39
520 9117 Knox, Emily (IRL) 67521H Leevale AC 03:10:59 03:03:46
569 645O Donoghue, Brenda (IRL) 2618445 Togher AC 03:11:23 03:06:29
589 852O Donoghue, Aine (IRL) 2618345 Togher AC 03:12:25 03:07:31
679 5163 Dunlea, Heather (IRL) 16602H Leevale AC 03:18:38 03:11:25
744 539 Crowley, Lisa (IRL) 1564250– 03:20:39 03:13:49
957 7163 Barry, Pamela (IRL) 5196645 Aghada RC 03:35:21 03:20:58
128 78316 Kane, Sinead (IRL) 2116740– 03:35:52 03:29:41

Sinead Kane is a visually impaired runner from Youghal and is a regular on the ultra running circuit.

Full results... https://berlin.r.mikatiming.com/2024/?pidp=start

Single use shoes help Ethiopian woman set new marathon world record in Berlin

At the 2023 Berlin Marathon last weekend, Tigist Assefa from Ethiopia set a new women's world record for the marathon with a finishing time of 2h 11m 53s. The previous record of 2:14:04 was set by Brigid Kosgei in the 2019 Chicago Marathon. The previous record to that was the 2:15:25 set by Paula Radcliffe in the 2003 London Marathon.

Assefa also ran the 2022 Berlin Marathon in a time of 2:15:37, which was the third-fastest women’s marathon in history at the time.

The improvement of the new record was 2m 11s and it's fair to say that the huge improvement will raise a lot of eyebrows. Irish sports journalist Cathal Dennehy made the following observations...

1) Tigist Assefa's time of 2:11:53 was faster than the first 11 men's winners of the Berlin Marathon (1974 to 1984).

2) It took until 1967 for a man to run a marathon this fast.

3) The half-marathon split of 1:06:21 would have been a half-marathon world record for women until 2001.

A lot of coverage has been given to the Adizero Adios Pro Evo 1 shoes which weigh just 138 grams. Like other modern high tech shoes, these ones have a forefoot rocker which is designed to trigger forward momentum and increase energy return.

Not only do these shoes cost an eye-watering €500 but Adidas say that they are designed for 'one race – so one marathon – plus familiarisation time'.

The world record time was due in no small part to the technology of these new shoes but I'm sure a lot of people will question if there was something else.

Three Irish women run 2:38 in the 2022 Berlin Marathon

While much of the media attention was focused on Eliud Kipchoge breaking the marathon record in Berlin last Sunday, there were some fine Irish performances as well.

The one that really stood out for me was the three Irish women that finished in 2h 38. This would have been an Olympic qualifying time not so many years ago.

Place Name Number AC Club Finish
29 Nic Dhomhnaill, Ide (IRL) F54 W35 West Limerick 02:38:11 
30 Lynch, Grace (IRL) F48 WH IVERAGH A.C. 02:38:18 
31 Nic Dhomhnaill, Sorcha (IRL) F46 W35 Donore Harriers 02:38:19

Twins sisters Íde & Sorcha Nic Dhomhnaill

As can be seen from the results above, Íde, Grace and Sorcha were the 29th, 30th & 31st women home and all finished within eight seconds of each other.

Grace Lynch finished the 2021 edition of the Berlin Marathon in 2:40:26 so she improved on her marathon time by just over two minutes.

To put those times in perspective, they are the 2nd, 3rd & 4th fastest times for Irish women in the marathon in 2022 and only Fionnuala McCormack has run faster this year (2:29:25).

The three results are also the 28th, 30th & 31st on the all-time Irish marathon list.

Grace Lynch

To close off the post, it would be remiss of me not to mention one other fine performance.

Niamh Clifford from Killorglin in Kerry ran a time of 2:47:36 and was the 53rd woman home. Niamh's chip time was 2:45:54.

Will a new marathon record be set in Berlin next Sunday??

Back in September of 2018, Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya won the Berlin Marathon in a time of 2:01:39. This was a new world record for the marathon, breaking the previous world record by 1 minute and 18 seconds (2:02:57).

On the 12th of October 2019 in Vienna, Kipchoge ran 1:59:40 for the INEOS 1:59 Challenge. This involved running 4.4 laps of the Hauptallee, a tree-lined avenue picked as the location because of its long, flat straight sections and its protection from the wind.

The effort did not count as an official new world record under IAAF rules due to several factors...

a) It was not an open event.
b) Kipchoge was handed fluids by his support team throughout.
c) The run featured a pace car.
d) Kipchoge had a team of 41 pacemakers, featuring some of the best middle and long-distance runners. 

With the Berlin marathon coming up next Sunday, Kipchoge has given a few hints that he may try to break his marathon record again.

This short 8-minute video below from Total Running Productions gives a good preview of Kipchoge's recent times and history of his records.

Irish results from the 2021 Berlin Marathon - Sun 26th Sept 2021

There was a large contingent of runners from Ireland in Germany last weekend for the Berlin Marathon with a good few from Cork as well... shown below in Red.

In the Women's race, Grace Lynch from Caherciveen in Co. Kerry ran an impressive time of 2h 40m for her debut marathon. Not so long ago, that would have been a qualifying time for the Olympics.

2:40 time for Grace Lynch in her debut marathon

Irish women under 3h 30m (chip time)

Place Pl.Cat Name Number Cat Club Gun time Chip Time

20 10 Lynch, Grace (IRL) 15901 WH ASICS Frontrunner UK 02:40:26 02:40:06 
53 10 Mc Cready, Helen (IRL) 27693 W35 ROSSES AC 02:56:51 02:56:03
67 3 De Búrca, Neasa (IRL) 24194 W45 Galway City Harriers 03:00:21 02:59:36
91 11 Rooney, Laura (IRL) 58875 W40 Watergrasshill AC 03:05:28 03:03:38
117 25 Bowe, Hannah (IRL) 15129 W35– 03:12:07 03:08:32
246 39 Egan, Clodagh (IRL) 20097 W40– 03:41:36 03:20:52
262 43 Kirwan, Julie (IRL) 55216 W40– 03:23:26 03:22:18

***

In the men's race, David Mansfield of Clonmel AC posted a fine time of just under 2 hours 20 minutes.

Sub 2:20 time for David Mansfield

Irish men under 3h 00m (chip time)

Place Pl.Cat Name Number Cat Club Gun time Chip Time

Irish results from the 2017 Berlin Marathon...

Some great times were recorded by Irish runners in this years Berlin Marathon. See below

                       
place    number    Name    ac    club    Brutto    Finish
20    25    » Seaward, Kevin (IRL)    M30    St Malachy's AC    2:15:50    2:15:50
41    116    » O'Hanlon, Gary (IRL)    M40    Clonliffe Harriers    2:19:25    2:19:25
79    133    » O'Shea, Alan (IRL)    M35    Bantry Ac    2:27:29    2:27:29
87    33489    » O'Leary, Cillian (IRL)    M35    Raheny Shamrock Ac    2:28:26    2:28:21
100    33296    » O'Brien, Alan (IRL)    M35    Eagle AC    2:28:53    2:28:46
148    59469    » O'Kelly, Brian (IRL)    M30    Crusaders A C    2:33:08    2:32:58
154    33263    » O Riordan, Niall (IRL)    M35        2:33:15    2:33:10
155    31943    » Morgan, Michael (IRL)    M40    St Finbarr Ac Cork    2:33:17    2:33:11
178    18481    » Ennis, Pauric (IRL)    MH    Tullamore Harriers A C    2:34:38    2:34:31
205    17602    » Doran, James (IRL)    M30    An Riocht Ac    2:35:37    2:35:30
206    33735    » O'Toole, Paddy (IRL)    M40    Westport Ac    2:36:00    2:35:32
209    23862    » Horan, Mark (IRL)    M35    Celbridge    2:35:47    2:35:40

244    28510    » Lehane, Alan (IRL)    M35    St Finbarrs    2:37:09    2:36:57
14    F30    » Graham, Laura (IRL)    W30    Mourne runners    2:37:05    2:37:05
267    16411    » Cross, Rob (IRL)    M40    Crusaders Ac    2:37:56    2:37:46