If any runner is used to meeting triumph and disaster over the course of a marathon, and treating those two imposters just the same, then it must be Stephen Scullion.
By his own reckoning Scullion doubted himself maybe “15 times” throughout Sunday’s Dublin Marathon on his way to an outright third-place finish, his 2:11:51 the fastest time ever run by an Irishman in this country – thus sealing the triumph part of the deal.
Run between occasional sunshine and torrential rain, the race also produced the fastest marathon by anyone in this country, 20-year-old Kemal Husen from Ethiopia winning in 2:06:52, and taking home the top prize of €12,000 while smashing the course record of 2:08:06 set back in 2019.
On that same day, four years ago, Scullion finished second outright in 2:12:01 (behind the controversial Othmane El Gourmi from Morocco, just back from a two-year doping ban). Now 34, the Belfast runner improved his best to 2:09:49 in 2020, but has often struggled with the distance, dropping out of the Tokyo Olympic marathon around halfway.
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[ Dublin Marathon in picturesOpens in new window ]
Open about his mental health challenges throughout this period, Scullion was a perfectly justifiable mix of emotions afterwards: on crossing the line he promptly fell onto the flat of his back, partly in relief, Dublin race director Jim Aughney jokingly telling to get up quick for a photo, knowing full well what this triumph meant.
“Everyone gives me a hard time, sometimes, that I pull out of races, don’t do this and don’t do that,” Scullion said, his post-race interview more like a monologue of Shakespearean quality.
“I know how hard this is, when you’ve run 2:09, or 61:08 (half-marathon), there is this expectation. I don’t get to just stand on start lines and get a free run. I probably emailed Jim 100 times over the years, get me pencilled in, that’s it I’m going to go win it. Then two weeks later I’m like ‘God, why did I say that, I don’t want to do Dublin’.
“If you’re ever watched the Tyson Fury documentary, that’s me, in the morning I’m entering Dublin, going to win Dublin, and in the afternoon I’m like ‘I can’t believe I just did that’.
“I came here four years ago, came second, and everyone was like ‘what are you going to achieve next?’ And I was like ‘this could be it!’ You have to really appreciate the good days, and when you’re running well, consistently well… I mean I went 2:17, 2:15, 2:13, 2:11, 2:09, it’s like I was invincible, and nothing could stop me.
“Then it starts going backwards, so to come to Dublin again, and to step up again on such a big occasion. And for Jim, who has backed me since I was 16, 17 years of age ... I love doing it for them.”
Scullion’s winning time, and qualifying points via the Irish marathon title, puts him in contention for next year’s Paris Olympics. And with €6,000 for third, an Irish time bonus of €5,000 for running sub-2:12, plus €3,500 for the top Irish finisher, it was also a decent payday.
“This is not being rude, and saying anything against the Olympics, but this was for me, my happiness, my wellbeing,” added Scullion, who worked his way through from around 12th position at halfway, which he passed in 65:37.
“I really do struggle, and I think I learned six or seven weeks ago this was nothing about running, or running fast times, this was about me. If this journey does take me to the Olympics, and I get there, and for once maybe run well in a f-ing Irish jersey, which I never seem able to do, that would mean a lot to me.
“But I think what means more to me, and this is going to sound ridiculous, but four years ago if I had died the next day, 100 people might have cared, been really sad. If I die now, the amount of people I’ve been able to impact, and say ‘keep fighting, keep pushing’, that means a lot more to me than the running.
“I’d love to go to the Olympics, but this is about one day at a time, believing in yourself, and if you have a bad day that’s okay, dust it off, and try again tomorrow. Like I doubted myself maybe 15 times on that course today, ‘What am I going to tell people if I stop? How am I going to explain it? What’s my reason?’ And I just went ‘ah f**k it kid, one more mile, keep going….
“I just want to keep enjoying it, I haven’t enjoyed a race in two or three years, and I really enjoyed that. We’re in a sport now where there’s 2:01 and 2:02, so sometimes you just have to accept maybe this is your platform, this is your stage.”
Already well ahead of the chasing pack by halfway, Husen broke clear of pacesetter Aggrey Kiprotich down Orwell Park, at 19 miles, and never looked back; he finished nearly four minutes clear of Uganda’s Geofrey Kusuro, who ran 2:10:45 in second place.
Ryan Creech of Leevale was the second Irishman home, the 34-year-old running 2:14:08 in his second marathon, with Seattle-based Ryan Forsyth of Newcastle and District AC taking national bronze in 2:14:43 on his marathon debut.
In the wheelchair race, Ireland’s Patrick Monaghan made it seven wins, the Kildare athlete finishing in 1:41:04, using this event in part as preparation for next Sunday’s New York Marathon.
2023 Irish Life Dublin Marathon
Men: 1 K Husen (Ethiopia) 2:06:52, 2 G Kusuro (Uganda) 2:10:45, 3 S Scullion (Clonliffe Harriers AC) 2:11:51.
Women: 1 S Negash (Ethiopia) 2:26:22, 2 J Kipyatich (Kenya) 2:27:04, 3 G Abdurkadir (Ethiopia) 2:27:49
Irish Marathon Championship
Men: 1 S Scullion (Clonliffe Harriers AC) 2:11:51, 2 R Creech (Leevale AC) 2:14:08, 3 R Forsyth (Newcastle & District AC) 2:14:43
Women: 1 A-M McGlynn (Letterkenny AC) 2:34:13, 2 G Ganiel (North Belfast Harriers) 2:37:08, 3 S Loughnane (Donore Harriers AC) 2:45:31
