Competitors from all over the world took part in yesterday's Dublin City Marathon in perfect conditions. Entrants exceeded 10,000 for the third consecutive year and the number of Irish runners was up by 10 per cent on 2005. It was the 27th running of the capital's marathon.
The race was won by Russian Aleksey Sokolov, who beat the course record by one minute 29 seconds, coming in at 2 hours 11 minutes and 30 seconds. That performance won him a bonus of €5,000. Sokolov also pocketed a €10,000 prize for coming in first place.
It was a day for the Russians as the women's race was won by Alina Ivanova, who came in at 2 hours 29 minutes and 49 seconds.
It was the first time either runner had taken part in the Dublin marathon.
Four other runners completed the gruelling race in under 2 hours 15 minutes, with more than 100 of the top competitors crossing the line in under three hours.
Welshman Richie Powell won the wheelchair race in 1 hour 56 minutes, 38 seconds.
The winners made it over the finishing line at Merrion Square early on but the ordinary competitors from all walks of life and all ages, who crossed the line in three, four, five hours and more, all beat the course.
Most of them were running for charities, raising an esimated €10 million in the process.
The race featured competitors from all over Ireland and entrants from 66 countries.They came from as far away as Egypt, Brazil, Malaysia, Iraq, Bahrain, Zimbabwe, the Philippines, Jamaica and the Bahamas. There were about 2,000 British entrants, 1,000 from the US and a large contingent from Canada.
The weather was good for the event and veteran marathon runners said conditions were the best for years. They also praised the crowd, which spurred them on all along the 26.2 miles of the course with cheers, applause and sometimes drinks and lollipops.
Even after five hours, onlookers were still encouraging the runners, some of whom were half-walking as they made their way to the finishing line.
"Come on, you're almost there," shouted one woman with an eastern European accent at the runners in general.
Gardaí at a crossing at Trinity College also spurred them on: "Go on there, keep going, only half a mile to go," they called to the weary runners.
Some stragglers were still making their way around the course after six or seven hours but were still determined to make it.
As always, there were those who dressed up just for fun, like the man in a Superman costume, and the Scotsman complete with kilt, red wig and tammy.
Then there were the two dressed as bottles of the black stuff with the logo "Dublin Pub Crawl Team" on their backs
Another struggled along wearing huge fluffy lion slippers.