As debut marathons gme o Fionnuala Britton had good reason to be satisfied with her 10th place finish at the European Championships in Zurich earlier today.
Her time of two hours, 31 minutes and 46 seconds was certainly satisfying, with only three Irish women ever running the distance faster: it also turned out to be the fastest marathon in European Championship history for gold medallist Christelle Daunay, the 39-year-old from France, who won in record tiof 2:25.14.
Britton was never in contention for a medal, nor did she gamble on going with the fast pace up front. Instead, she effectively ran her own race, finishing with a smile across her face and the realisation that there is definitely more to come once she fully concentrates on the 26.2-mile distance.
“Well I don’t really know whether to be completely happy with that or not,” said Britton, who just four days earlier finished eighth in the 10,000m final.
“I suppose I didn’t really know what expect, and I definitely didn’t think the race up front would be run that fast, that they would go out so quick, because it was quick, especially for a tough course like that. And in fairness those leading girls are all very good.
“So I have to be happy enough. Top-10 doesn’t sound as good as maybe it was for a race like that, given how fast the times were. I’d hoped maybe it might have been a bit slower, but I wasn’t going to be able to run at the pace they were.”
Indeed, the pace up front was unexpectedly past, Daunay joined for a long time by the Italian Valeria Straneo, who at 38, took second in 2:25:27. Jessica Augusto, also highly experienced from Portugal, took third, in 2:25:41. All three medallists were inside the championship record of 2:26:05, set by the Italian Maria Guida, in Munich back in 2002.
For Britton, who at 29 was actually the youngest woman in the top 10, part of the satisfaction came from the fact she was only a late addition to the marathon field, having geared most of her preparations for the track. Now, she says, she feels ready to move up to the event proper.
“It’s funny, because on the Irish team, I felt like the old one, with all the experience. But I’m definitely happy to have finished without dying completely, glad to have got through it okay. And I suppose I did enjoy it. I didn’t have a target time, because you can’t really, in a championship marathon. For me, it was about keeping my own form for as long as I could. There were bad patches and good patches, but it’s about getting through it.
“After 10 miles, I heard they were on 2:25 pace, and I knew that was too quick for me, unless they started coming back. I was on my own for most of the time too.
“So I think it was a positive debut, and hopefully I can move on from here. I think the marathon is where it’s at for me, from now on. I definitely would like to go again. I’m getting older, and if I really do want to run the marathon in Rio, I will have to get a lot more experience. It’s only two years away now.”
Her coach Chris Jones had good reason to be satisfied too, describing it as “solid” performance, and although she will now turn back to cross country training for the winter, they will target a big city marathon in the spring, where a faster time will be a real focus.
The only other Irish women to run faster are Catherina McKiernan, with her Irish record of 2:22:23, plus Sonia O'Sullivan and Carey May.
Also satisfied with their runs in Zurich were Sarah Mulligan, who finished in 36th place, clocking 2:42:43, and Barbara Sanchez, who finished five places back in 41st, running 2:43:59, which meant as a team they finished 7th best overall.
Results from the European championships Women’s Marathon
1. Christelle Daunay (France) 2:25:14
2. Valeria Straneo (Italy) 2:25:27
3. Jessica Augusto (Portugal) 2:25:41
4. Lisa Christina Nemec (Croatia) 2:28:36
5. Elvan Abeylegesse (Turkey) 2:29:46
6. Anna Incerti (Italy) 2:29:58
7. Rasa Drazdauskaite (Lithuania) 2:30:32
8. Jessica Draskau-Petersson (Denmark) 2:30:53
9. Maja Neuenschwander (Switzerland) 2:31:08
10. Fionnuala Britton (Ireland) 2:31:46
11. Natalya Puchkova (Russia) 2:32:22
12. Nadia Ejjafini (Italy) 2:32:34
13. Andrea Deelstra (Netherlands) 2:32:39
14. Emma Quaglia (Italy) 2:32:45
15. Filomena Costa (Portugal) 2:32:50
16. Deborah Toniolo (Italy) 2:33:02
17. Albina Mayorova (Russia) 2:33:45
18. Maryna Damantsevich (Belarus) 2:33:57
19. Miranda Boonstra (Netherlands) 2:34:29
20. Marisa Barros (Portugal) 2:34:35
21. Remalda Kergyte (Lithuania) 2:35:13
22. Mona Stockhecke (Germany) 2:35:44
23. Gulnara Vygovskaya (Russia) 2:35:56
24. Nicola Spirig (Switzerland) 2:37:12
25. Tetyana Vernyhor (Ukraine) 2:38:01
26. Patricia Morceli-Buehler (Switzerland) 2:38:41
27. Zivile Balciunaite (Lithuania) 2:39:53
28. Katharina Heinig (Germany) 2:40:11
29. Liina Luik (Estonia) 2:41:48
30. Annelie Johansson (Sweden) 2:42:04
36. Sarah Mulligan (Ireland) 2:42:43
41. Barbara Sanchez (Ireland) 2:43:59
