MY MARATHON: Andrew Ward (21) Glenageary, Dublin: 4 hours 1 min:IT'S MY first marathon. I'm running for Blackrock Hospice.
My grandad passed away about three or four years ago. His name was Barney Ward. They looked after him very, very well there. He had bowel cancer and he was with them for about six or seven months. They were very good to him so I said, why not run for a charity that is very close to home?
I was away in Spain over the summer. It was a student holiday, two or three weeks drinking, so we decided when we came home we’d get stuck in to doing something good.
One night we decided to do the marathon and we stuck to it. I’ve been off drink for about a month and a half. I’ve been doing a lot of training, I play a lot of sport anyway and that helps, though I probably wasn’t as prepared as I could have been. But I was happy to finish it.
The support was unbelievable. I was stopped there and I was walking and then the support just kind of kept me going. I was thinking about my grandad too, it’s always in the back of your head.
One of my friends is behind somewhere, so he’ll be over the finish line soon.
I’m just happy to finish it.
It was great today, great conditions
Emmet O’Hara (39) Cushendall, Antrim 3 hours 50mins
I’M RUNNING today for cystic fibrosis. My son is a CF sufferer. His name is Conor and he’s eight.
This is my second Dublin City Marathon. It was great today, great conditions. That bit of rain there at the end was lovely.
My toughest part was probably at about 24 miles. From there on was tough. We’ve been running all year but I suppose we’ve been in training properly for this for about five months.
My wife and daughter are here supporting me. There are five others running it with us as well, all raising money for cystic fibrosis. The money is going towards the CF Trust.
I don’t feel too bad now . . . but I was a bit better prepared this year for what it was going to be like. What was spurring me on along the way? I suppose just what I was running for. We’re heading back up home now. We’ll be trick or treating . . . if we get home on time.
It feels just as good every time I cross the finish line
Jerry Forde (61) Blarney, Co Cork 4 hours
THIS IS my 200th marathon.
I’ve done them all over the world – London, Boston, New York, the big one in Berlin, Sydney, Beijing, and lots of other places.
I was born with spina bifida and when I was a child, I was confined to bed on my face and hands most of the time because I suffered from pressure sores.
When I was up, I had a wheelchair but I couldn’t push it myself.
Then when I was 10, I got a wheelchair that I could push myself and it was like getting a motor car – just to be able to go from A to B on my own.
There were a few children like myself in wheelchairs and we used to have races up and down the corridor of the rehabilitation hospital in Dún Laoghaire.
I couldn’t go slow. I had to go fast.
I walk now with crutches and I use this chair for racing.
It felt very emotional out there today. I don’t know why, I think it just happens to everyone. There was such hype over my 200th marathon, I had to keep going.
It feels just as good every time I cross the finish line.
Home straight was amazing
Gillian Ryan (26) Shannon, Co Clare 4 hours 12 mins
IT WAS my first marathon and I’m wrecked. I’m a social care worker in Ennis, I look after kids with autism. The training started probably about six months ago when I started to train for a half marathon. I hadn’t really planned to do the full one. I did it on a whim really. I just said I’d stick with it.
There were a few sacrifices all right. It’s just time really, the training takes an awful lot of time. And I haven’t seen my friends in awhile and if I did go out, I wasn’t drinking, so I was getting bored and going home early.
I hit a wall at around mile eight I’d say, then the hill at mile 20 was tough but I kept going. The crowd were great. I’ve never experienced anything like it, especially coming up the home straight there, it was amazing.
I just wanted to beat 4 hours 15 minutes, that was my main aim. Just to do it, a new achievement.
What did it feel like when I crossed the line? Exhaustion, but great, great to have it done.
It’s worth the sacrifice. There’s no high like it.
The fantastic crowd dragged me around
Ryan Maxwell (30) Larne, Co Antrim 2 hours 40mins 50 seconds
I’M DOWN running with the PSNI group – I’m a constable with the tactical support group at Gough Barracks in Armagh.
We’re running together with the gardaí, we try to run together as much as we can. We had close to 50 of us down from the PSNI, it’s their first marathon for about half of them.
It was hard out there today, the wind was hard. I was going for 2 hours 37 minutes but the wind in the long stretches was so hard. And then the rain came on. But I’m happy.
It’s cheesy to say it but the crowd was fantastic. They dragged me around. In places they were that good, I found myself picking up the pace too much. I think it’s the Irish mentality to be supportive and today they did it.
My brother Justin Maxwell is down here too, he was the first guard home here last year, so I’ve taken his crown this year.
The atmosphere running with the gardaí is just brilliant. The crack is unbelievable.
We all wore a black ribbon for our colleagues North and South who have died.
I’m glad it’s over. I can see friends and family that I haven’t seen in about a month.
It was a quiet night for us last night but we’ll make up for it tonight. We’ll rehydrate first of all and have some recovery food. I’m looking forward to a ham and cheese sandwich and then a few beers. We’re meeting up with the rest of the gardaí at Pearse Street station and we’ll see where we go from there.
I ran today in memory of Dad
Deirdre Keane (23) Bronx, New York 3 hours 42 mins
I’M ORIGINALLY from New York. My dad was from Dublin, he was a marathon runner. He ran the first two Dublin marathons and then he emigrated to New York and lived there until he passed away in 2002. So I ran today in memory of him.
He was from Walkinstown. I ran right through it at the halfway point and it was great. He was on my mind. I was thinking of how happy he’d be, he’d be delighted – but I don’t know how impressed he’d by with the tutu . . . I’m so thankful to the people of Dublin because when I really felt down, all I heard was “Go Tutu!” and it definitely helped.
I met an Irish guy, Derek Harrington, here five years ago and moved over here in August. He’s from Kerry, from Kilgarvan. Jackie Healy-Rae country. He was there supporting me today. He was at mile 11, 18 and 25 so he was probably running himself.
I did the Rose of Tralee last year, representing Boston, so a bunch of my Roses are going to meet me. We’re going to go for drinks and I’m so excited, I’ll probably pass out.