They say that it takes a special type of athlete to run a full marathon in less than two hours 30 minutes. In the 1998 Dublin marathon Paddy Mangan was Ireland's fastest competitor, coming in fourth behind three Kenyan runners, winner Joshua Kipkemboi, second-placed Benson Masya and John Mutai, who was third.

But while Mangan might have been hitting the wall in his relatively short 2:29.01 jaunt around Dublin, spare a thought for American Steve La Rue, who completed the distance long after everyone had gone home. According to the list of times recently issued by the Business Houses Athletic Association (BHAA), La Rue took 15 hours 47 minutes to get around Dublin, the equivalent of two working days, to come 4,931st of 4,931 competitors.

La Rue was six hours 25 minutes five seconds slower than his American colleague, the aptly named Jeff Salvage, who finished second last in nine hours 21 minutes 55 seconds. Special types of athletes or what?