Three Kenyans were the first runners home in the Belfast marathon yesterday in which more than 11,000 people took part.
Many relay teams raised hundreds of thousands of pounds for charity. PSNI Chief Constable Mr Hugh Orde joined junior officers in the relay race. He took part in the London marathon last month, running in full uniform to raise money for police charities. But police sources said "security implications" prevented him from taking part in the full race in Belfast.
Lezan Kimutai won the marathon in a time of 2:17:09. It was the fastest since Marty Deane set the record over the old Belfast marathon course in 1985.
Another Kenyan, Geoffrey Kinyva, came second. The first Northern Ireland runner home was David Simpson from Willowfield in a time of 2:29:36.
The women's title was retained by Trudi Thomson from Scotland. It was her third Belfast win in a time of 2:45:48. For the first time, the event started at City Hall. The wheelchair marathon, team relay and marathon walk got under way at the same time as the main event.
Runners began with a lap of City Hall . "Bringing the marathon start into the city centre is a hugely positive step forward, not only for the marathon itself, but for the city of Belfast as a whole," said the chairman of the marathon organising committee, Mr Danny O'Connor.
A US marine officer ran to raise money for the Omagh bomb families for their civil action against those they claim were responsible. Capt Mike Hudson said he wanted to help because the people of Omagh had been the first to offer their sympathy after the September 11th attacks.