Ndungu retains marathon title

Kenya’s Geofrey Ndungu has retained his Dublin Marathon title, although he failed to improve on the personal best that won him…

Kenya’s Geofrey Ndungu has retained his Dublin Marathon title, although he failed to improve on the personal best that won him the race last year.

His winning time of 2 hours 11 minutes and 9 seconds was outside last year’s course record of 2:08.33.

Paul Pollock was the first Irish man over the line in a time of 2:16.33. He was some 30 seconds ahead of Sean Hehir.

More than 14,000 runners are tackling this year’s Dublin Marathon and they are enjoying near perfect conditions.

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There was a record entry for this year’s marathon with about 14,300 runners taking part. The event is not being broadcast on television because it does not have a title sponsor.

For the organisers, the absence of a title sponsor this year is bad but could be critical for next year’s race.

Merrion Square North, where the finish line is located, is closed until 8pm. There will be staggered closures on the rest of Merrion Square and in the area.

There are major diversions on routes into the city and the full list of road closures and disruptions are on the Dublin Marathon website at dublinmarathon.ie.

The route takes the runners over O’Connell Bridge, through O’Connell Street, Parnell Square and the North Circular Road.

They will run through the Phoenix Park before crossing back on to the southside at Chapelizod.

The route includes Inchicore, the South Circular Road, Kimmage, Terenure, Stillorgan and Ballsbridge before heading towards the finish.