Back in 2001, keen to boost the number of Irish entries, organisers of the Dublin Marathon started a countdown series of races that also became a good indicator of marathon potential come the day itself.
In advance of this Sunday’s marathon, Hugh Armstrong became the first man to win all four countdown races — the now five-mile, 10km, 10-mile, and half-marathon — and that’s unquestionably a good indication of his potential.
Since 2003, Dublin has also doubled as the national marathon, and it was here five years ago that Armstrong made his marathon debut, finishing third best Irish man in 2:14:22. He’s since run 2:12:26 (in Seville in 2020) and 2:13:24 in Hamburg earlier this year, and the 30-year-old from Ballina, who now lives in Dublin working as an accountant with An Post, is upbeat about his prospects.
“I do feel like I’m probably capable of running close to my best if we get a good day in Dublin,” he says. “It’s a tough enough course, but you can run fast, Stephen Scullion ran around 2:12 or just under in the last few years in it.
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“When I ran that 2:13 in Hamburg I was still doing a good percentage of my training on the cross-trainer, as I was coming back from injury. This time now I’ve been able to up the mileage that bit more so.”
Armstrong identifies Hiko Tonosa as one of his main rivals for that national title on Sunday and for good reason. At age 29, having first sought asylum in Ireland from his war-torn village in Ethiopia in 2017, and a citizen since March 2020, Tonosa was well on course to qualify for the Paris Olympics when passing the halfway mark in last April’s London Marathon in 63:39.
It was only in the final few miles that he dropped off that pace, and having recently run 1:02:46 at the Larne half-marathon in August, he looks well primed for a top finish on Sunday. Tonosa’s best of 2:15:01 was run in Valencia back in January.
There will be plenty of runners for Armstrong to contend with, including Cork’s Ryan Creech of Leevale AC, who achieved a personal best of 2:12:28 in Seville earlier this year, and was second Irishman last year.
Armstrong also won his first national title in September, at the Charleville half-marathon.
“I’ve won a medal in the marathon, won a medal in the half before, and on the track, but not the gold before, so that was good. The international field also looks very strong, so there will be plenty of people to run with.”
Spain’s Aya Lamdassem is considered the leading contender for the men’s overall win, with a personal best of 2:06:25 achieved in Seville in 2022, along with Aweke Ayalew from Bahrain, Abebaw Desalew from Ethiopia and Amine Khadirir from Cyprus.
Sorome Negash, also from Ethiopia, is back to defend her women’s title, won last year in 2:26:22, along with fellow Ethiopian Muliye Dekebo, who has a best of 2:25:35.
Ann-Marie McGlynn, who finished fifth overall last year and first Irish woman in 2:34:13, is aiming to defend her national title, The 44-year-old, originally from Tullamore, now lives in Strabane with her family.
McGlynn will face competition from Gladys Ganiel of North Belfast Harriers, who finished second in last year’s national championship. Other national title contenders include Caitlyn Harvey (Road Runners AC) and Grace Lynch (DSD AC).
