Top Irish results for the 2018 Rotterdam Marathon

The 2018 Rotterdam Marathon was held last Sunday the 8th of April and almost 14,000 runners took part. This has a reputation of being a flat and fast marathon course and many Irish runners travel there to take part. In fact if you book the flights and accommodation well in advance, it can work out pretty reasonable.

These are the results for the top Irish runners....Men who broke 3 hours and Women who broke 3:30. Runners from Munster in Bold.

Also note that Gary Condon was 3rd M45 and Orla O'Rourke of Ballymore Cobh AC was 1st F50!

Irish results from the 2017 Rotterdam Marathon

The 2017 Rotterdam Marathon in the Netherlands was held on Sunday the 9th of April and attracted a large field of about 15,450 runners. This is one of the fastest courses in Europe and this year had a large number of finishers from Ireland.

Alan O'Shea of Bantry AC finished in 24th place in a time of 2h 24m 09s. Orla O'Rourke from Ballymore Cobh AC won the F50 title.

The Cork and Munster times are highlighted below in BOLD..

Mark Hanrahan of Leevale AC runs breaks 2h 20m in Rotterdam Marathon

Well done to Mark Hanrahan of Leevale AC who ran 2h 19m 52s in the Rotterdam Marathon today.

While it is just outside the 2:19 qualifying time for the Rio Olympics, it is still an exceptional time for the Cork athlete.

Net split times (difference)
5 Kilometer    16:09 (16:09)
10 Kilometer    32:23 (16:14)
15 Kilometer    48:40 (16:17)
20 Kilometer    1:04:55 (16:15)
Half marathon    1:08:28
25 Kilometer    1:21:06 (16:11)
30 Kilometer    1:37:32 (16:26)
35 Kilometer    1:54:10 (16:38)
40 Kilometer    2:11:48 (17:38)

Mark has his own article on the race HERE

There were plenty of other runners from Cork there as well .

271    Mark Hanrahan    Cork    Marathon    2:19:50    2:19:52...Leevale AC
12627    Michael Morgan    Carrigrohane, Cork    Marathon    2:35:08    2:35:14...St.Finbarr's AC
3270    Kenneth O'Regan    Cork    Marathon    2:44:12    2:44:24...Clonakilty Road Runners AC
13119    David Craig    Cork    Marathon    2:50:12    2:50:28...Bandon AC
9529    Ruarai O'Callaghan    Ballincollig, Cork    Marathon    2:57:57    2:58:17...Eagle AC
11444    Martin Leahy    Cork    Marathon    2:59:23    2:59:53...Eagle AC
11074    Padraic Birmingham    Cork    Marathon    2:59:28    2:59:58....Mallow AC
3067    Brian Mullins    Cork    Marathon    3:01:20    3:01:39...St.Finbarr's AC
4178    Michal Slomski    Cork    Marathon    3:07:37    3:08:59
9789    Declan Grogan    Cork    Marathon    3:11:33    3:11:37
7610    David Walsh    Cork    Marathon    3:12:09    3:14:18
2293    John O Reilly    Cork    Marathon    3:13:37    3:15:13
2372    Niall Twomey    Cork    Marathon    3:16:30    3:19:01
11226    Francis Maunsell    Cork    Marathon    3:19:13    3:19:31
6449    Gus Keohane    Cork    Marathon    3:22:59    3:23:50 
7397    Diarmuid Hickey    Cork    Marathon    3:35:54    3:36:24
5373    Jim O'Mahony    Cork    Marathon    3:41:48    3:42:21
7287    Eddie Trindle    Cork    Marathon    3:49:23    3:49:36 ...Eagle AC
12777    Conor McCarthy    Cork    Marathon    3:54:49    3:55:29
11636    David Mahony    Cork    Marathon    3:58:42    3:59:15
3433    Conan O'Donovan    Co.Cork    Marathon    4:08:46    4:08:57
F3556    Norita O'Keeffe    Blackrock, Cork    Marathon    4:11:24    4:12:44
11629    Kenneth Sorensen    Cork    Marathon    4:15:32    4:17:37
7390    Ken Nyhan    Ballyvolane, Cork    Marathon    4:26:42    4:27:38
8846    Paul O Brien    Cork    Marathon    4:30:15    4:32:21
F3649    Erica O Mahony    Cork    Marathon    4:37:36    4:37:58
8457    Richard Power    Cork    Marathon    5:09:15    5:13:13    

Catriona Jennings of Rathfranham AC runs Olympic qualifying time...

In the Rotterdam Marathon on Sunday, the 15th of April, Catriona Jennings of Rathfarnham AC ran 2:36:14 which is inside the qualifying A standard time of 2:37 for the 2012 London Olympics. Jennings joins Linda Byrne (Dundrum South Dublin AC) 2:36:23, Ava Hutchinson (Dundrum South Dublin AC) 2:35:33 and Maria McCambridge (Letterkenny AC) 2:36:37 as the fourth Irish women to achieve the standard for London.

This is a remarkable change from four years ago when no Irish woman ran inside the A standard then. The problem now of course is that Ireland can only send three women to the Olympic Marathon and it's possible that others may join the four that have ran qualifying times. Who will get dropped from the team? As far as I know, it's based on overall performances rather than the fastest qualifying time although the fastest qualifying time would seem to be the fairest way to go.

Others in action in Rotterdam were Breege Connolly of North Belfast Harriers who ran 2:40.25. Gladys Ganiel, also of North Belfast Harriers ran 2:43.46 which was slower than the 2:40:56 she ran in Houston, Texas last January. Lizzie Lee of Leevale AC ran 2:46.33.

In the mens race in Rotterdam, Sergiu Ciobanu of Clonliffe finished 13th in a time of 2:15. 27 - just 25 seconds outside the men's Olympic A standard of 2:15. Sean Connolly of Tallaght was 22nd in 2:16.42, Gary Thornton of GCH 28th in 2:17.27, Tom Frazer of St Malachy's 35th in 2:20.00.

In Paris, Alan O'Shea of Bantry AC ran 2:21:56 and Lorraine Manning of Raheny ran 2:46:43 to finish in 13th place.

Marathon record to go in April???

Consider the following statistic : - The qualifying 'A' standard for the Marathon for the 2012 London Olympics is 2:15. Some 150 Kenyan men have reached this standard. Out of those 150, Kenya can only send three to the Olympic games.

That is the current situation that faces some of the best Marathon runners in the world. So many world class runners yet only three can be picked. The final team will be selected on the 30th of April so it will be a case of posting an incredibly fast time between now and then. The person with the fastest time so far is Patrick Makau who won the Berlin Marathon last September to set a new Marathon record of 2:03:38.

Coming up in April, there are two Marathons with flat and fast courses.....Rotterdam on the 15th of April and London on the 22nd. The problem of course is that anyone who runs in London (Mutai and Makau) will know exactly what is required to qualify so anyone running Rotterdam will have to set a really fast time.

In an interview, the London Marathon race director David Bedford said..."It's a good bet the men's record will go. The Kenyans know only one way to race, and they're all fighting for an Olympic spot. Someone could carve a chunk off that world record. The week before our race, Moses Mosop (the 2011 Chicago Marathon champ and Boston runner-up) runs in Rotterdam. If he breaks the world record, the Kenyans running in London will know they need to break it again just to make the Olympics."

Some of those taking part in London...
Elite Men                     Personal Best
Emmanuel Mutai (Kenya)    2:04:40
Patrick Makau (Kenya)    2:03:38
Wilson Kipsang (Kenya)    2:03:42
Abel Kirui (Kenya)    2:05:04
Vincent Kipruto (Kenya)    2:05:13
Martin Lel (Kenya)    2:05:15

In Rotterdam.......
Moses Mosop finished second in Apr 2011 at the Boston Marathon in 03.02.06. (4 seconds slower than Geoffrey Mutai). His time was not recognised as a world record because the course in Boston does not comply with all the conditions of the IAAF. 

Interesting times ahead.

Alan O'Shea of Bantry AC runs 2:21 in Rotterdam Marathon

Alan O'Shea of Bantry AC ran the Rotterdam Marathon last Sunday (10th Apr 2011) in a time of 2:21:37. Alan, who is a former winner of the Cork City Marathon finished in 26th position out of a field of over 7,000 runners. The average pace was 5:24 per mile.

As you can see from the chart above, the 5k split times of 16:19, 16:56, 17:11 and 17:25 are faster than most runners achieve in local 5k road races.

From what I can gather, the qualify time for the Irish team for the 2012 Olympics in London is expected to be around the 2:16 to 2:17 mark so Alan's time is just 5 minutes or so off the mark. The actual qualifying time is expected to be announced soon.

In the same race, Sean Connolly of Tallaght AC finished in 15th position in a time of 2:17:23.