Pollock burnt off by Ndungu

ATHLETICS:THERE ARE nice and sensible ways of running your first marathon, and surging into the lead after just eight miles, racing clear of the all-conquering Kenyans and buying straight into some oxygen debt, is not one of them.

At least not one they’d teach you in respiratory medicine.

Paul Pollock should have known better, given that’s actually his primary qualification, and that it’s the pace, not the distance, that kills the marathon debutant. But then nor did he run to regret it – defying the apparent folly of his boldly ambitious start to run the fastest Irish time in Dublin in 13 years, clocking 2:16:30, good enough for ninth place overall.

In the end the Kenyans calmly restored their rightful place at the front, Geofrey Ndungu defending his Dublin Marathon title ahead of countryman Robert Kipchumba, in a seemingly comfortable winning time of 2:11:09. Not that anyone runs 26.2 miles without some discomfort, as Con Houlihan once said.

Anyway, Pollock looked far from comfortable at the finish, and for good reason: the 26-year-old from Holywood, just outside Belfast, produced the best Irish finish since Dublin’s Gerry Healy ran 2:15:37 for second overall, in 1999, and Pollock’s performance actually bettered 11 of the 32 previous winning times. Amazingly, Pollock only decided to run Dublin a few weeks ago, having initially focused on half marathons this summer, and the upcoming cross country season – and more amazing still found the time to log the necessary miles between the long and tiring GP shifts at the Royal Hospital in Belfast.

Yet in many ways it’s simply a return to form, as Pollock’s promising Irish junior career was put on hold while he concentrated on his medical studies. Clearly aware of the potential he has suddenly tapped, he joins the growing list of emerging Irish marathon talents, with fellow debutant Seán Hehir finishing just over a minute behind in 2:17:35, with his Rathfarnham club mate Barry Minnock the third best Irish finisher in 2:18:45.

For a few years there no Irish man could crack a sub-2:20 in Dublin, and although Pollock didn’t exactly do it the smart way, he certainly ran it his way.

“Happy enough,” he declared, “although I was hoping to run sub-2:15, that was the plan. So a bit disappointed with the time, from that point of view, but I think all the times were a bit slow this year. Hopefully there will be faster times to come, yeah.”

When Pollock hit the front at eight miles, leading the charge out of the Phoenix Park and briefly running 100 metres clear, it seemed inevitable he would pay a high price, or worse: instead, he stuck to his task even when the group of 10 East Africans passed him just a couple of miles later, then moved clear themselves, passing halfway in 67:04 – with Pollock isolated about 20 seconds back.

“It went out slowly,” he explained, “and I’d always planned to go for about five-minute, 5:05 pace, and everyone was sitting about 5:10 pace, so I thought I might as well take it on, see how long I could hold out for, just give it a blast.

“I wanted to go out at 66-minute half pace, and realised we were quite far down on that time. I was hoping maybe one or two other people would come with me, we’d get a wee group going, but sadly not, and I just kind of died a wee bit when all the Africans passed me by. I held on until about 20 miles, then the pain started to kick in, and the last six miles were a struggle. But for my first marathon I have to be happy enough, found it a good experience.”

Pollock also credited the Dublin Marathon Mission, set up three years ago to improve Irish standards in the event, for convincing him to take on the distance so soon, and also credited his fellow doctors at the Royal Hospital for allowing some breathing space to train. He did benefit from a year of full-time running last year, when based in London, where he linked up with his current coach Andy Hobdell: it might only be a matter of time now before Pollock runs his first championship marathon for Ireland, but in the meantime he hopes to be part of the Irish team at the European Cross Country in December.

For Ndungu, conditions were “too cold” to press for the Dublin course record of 2:08:33 which he set last year, although at least it was calm and dry, so he simply bided his time as the race unfolded, and when it came down to a trio of himself, Kipchumba and Abdisa Bedada from Ethiopia at around 19 miles, he then made one decisive surge inside the final two miles down Merrion Road, with 18 seconds to spare at the finish – to secure €15,000.