Emotion and glory as Offaly woman retains national marathon title in Dublin marathon

Emotion poured from Offaly woman Ann-Marie McGlynn as she retained the national marathon title.

McGlynn, who now runs for Letterkenny AC in Donegal, was the sixth woman overall in the Irish Life Dublin Marathon and the lead Irishwoman for the second year in a row.

McGlynn crossed the finish line in 2:34:05 to overcome Aoife Kilgallon of Sligo AC (2:35:56) and Grance Lynch in the Dundrum South Dublin AC colours (2:36:09).

“I wear my heart on my sleeve, I get so emotional and I still am,” McGlynn said after crossing the finish line on Mount Street Upper.

“Last year meant a lot. I thought it meant the world. This year means more.

“It’s hard to come back here as defending champion. Your card is marked and everyone is coming for Ann-Marie. They knew I was going to go out and lead it. It was mine to lose, but I wasn’t losing that today. I was digging and I was taking that cup home one more time.

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“The support was mind-blowing. They just kept roaring at me. One man said: ‘I read your story’. Another man said: ‘Noel (Carroll, her former coach in Tullamore who helped started the Dublin Marathon in 1980) will be looking down on you’.”

Moses Kemei from Kenya took the overall win in a new personal best of 2:08:47.

Ethiopia’s Abebaw Desalew finished second in 2:09:24 with Dundrum South Dublin’s Hiko Tonosa third, shattering the Irish record when clocking 2:09:42.

A course record of 2:24:13 gave Ashmirach Nega from Ethiopia the women’s title.

“I ran my race,” McGlynn said.

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“Aoife (Kilgallon) was there until half way. I was running my numbers and I knew I was running within myself. I said to myself to get to 20 miles and maybe soak it up a bit. My hamstring was pinging  a little so I was had to watch a bit on the downhills.

“At 24 miles, I said to the guy on the lead bike: ‘Now, I’ll take it in’. At any point you can cramp and you’d be on the side of the road with nowhere to go. Until I got to the purple mat...I knew I had it, but you don’t have it until you’re home.”