Leevale athlete and two-time Olympian Michelle Finn, was a dominant winner of the women’s race in the Irish Life Dublin Half Marathon in the Phoenix Park on Sunday, the 22nd of September breaking the course record as she clocked a time of 1:15:45.
The Cork woman finished ahead of Road Runners AC’s Caitlyn Harvey (1:17:55) and Raheny Shamrock AC’s Fiona Stack (1:20:24), both of whom made the podium of this race once again.
“I’m feeling grand now that I’ve stopped. I’m happy to get the win. It was a good effort, good run and a nice race,” Finn said.
Finn also won the the Irish Life Dublin Race Series Fingal 10k at Swords in July.
Hugh Armstrong (Ballina AC) became the first man to win all four races in the Irish Life Dublin Race Series in one year when taking the title.
The Knockmore native cruised to victory in a time of 1:06:25 to complete the full set on the series, having won the Corkagh 5 Mile, Fingal 10k and Frank Duffy 10 Mile earlier this year.
Armstrong, who is based in Dublin, broke clear from Dunboyne AC’s Peter Somba at the halfway point and finished strongly, winning by nearly three minutes. Somba, a previous winner of the race, settled for second (1:09:08), with Swords man David Glynn crossing the line third (1:09:42).
Speaking after the race, Armstrong who has both got married and turned thirty in the past month, expressed his delight:
“I’ve won all the races in the series this year. They’re all very good races, very well organised with lots of people in them. I’ve been planning to run the Irish Life Dublin Marathon since earlier this year, so I thought the series was good prep for that,” he said.
Thousands of runners lined up for this highly anticipated annual event which had its earliest ever sell-out in June – 3 months before race day. Throughout the race, pacers helped runners to achieve their target times.
They were also encouraged on the final part of the course with the Irish Life Supporters Cheer Zone which had music and plenty of colour and noise to get them through the final part of the 13.1mile race.
Each finisher received a goody bag, a t-shirt, together with an intricately designed medal for completing the Irish Life Dublin Half Marathon.
The medal was created by Mark Winters, a talented student and artist from NCAD. It features the diverse wildlife of Phoenix Park, which is the race route, including squirrels, foxes, a seagull, and a pigeon.
The standout feature of the medal is a beautiful depiction of a majestic deer, which is a symbol of Phoenix Park.
1 H Armstrong (Ballina AC) 1:06:25, 2 P Somba (Dunboyne AC) 1:09:08, 3 D Glynn (Swords) 1:09:42
1 M Finn (Leevale AC) 1:15:45, 2 C Harvey (Annadale Striders) 1:17:55, 3 F Stack (Raheny Shamrock AC) 1:20:24
