Shoppers, bank holiday staff and city-dwellers struggling to get around Dublin amid the marathon runners yesterday suffered additional disruption due to a derailment on the green Luas line.
A tram came off the tracks around Sandyford just after 11am, causing extensive delays for part of the afternoon.
Commuters were stranded at Luas stations for up to half an hour at lunchtime, and when services resumed they were limited to the route between Balally and St Stephen's Green.
Extensive road closures and diversions left the city centre largely traffic free for the day.
As ever, some city-dwellers complained about the disruption caused by the marathon, citing the smaller than average attendance in the city centre as evidence of an error in planning.
However, a spokeswoman for the race organisers said the drop in spectator numbers early yesterday was "completely down to the weather".
Dismissing suggestions that the road closures had deterred spectators from coming into the city, she said numbers had increased in the afternoon when the sun came out.
"You will always get some people complaining but we would direct them to the likes of London and New York, which are much bigger cities, and their major thoroughfares are all cut off for their marathons."
She said "a lot of the route" had been decided by the Garda and Dublin City Council, and the latter had ruled O'Connell Street off-limits for this year's race due to road works there.
She added: "It's just one day of the year and we would hope most Dubliners would embrace it as a special occasion, and an opportunity to showcase their city to the world."
Conor Faughnan, public affairs spokesman with the Automobile Association, was also somewhat dismissive of complainants - and not just because he had twice run the marathon "many moons ago".
"We do need roads and transportation, but we have to reflect on why we want to live in the city," he said.
"Yes, the marathon is inconvenient to an extent, but it's very much part of the sporting and cultural fabric of the city. And, if you think about it, a bank holiday Monday is the ideal time for it."
Dublin Chamber of Commerce said it was also "very supportive" of the event, not least because it brought 6,000 overseas runners to the city this year, along with countless supporters.
A spokesman for the chamber said: "We did not get any complaints from any of the stores around the city centre. I don't think any of the retailers have been particularly put out. And if they have, the bars and hotels will have benefited instead."
