Eoin Callaghan goes into Monday’s record entry Dublin marathon on the cusp of realising a dream.

In recent times Kenyan distance runners have become regular visitors to Ireland where they run for local clubs and hoover up prizes on the road racing scene before returning to the Rift Valley.

Geoffrey Ndungu of Kenya retained his Dublin Marathon title yesterday, finishing in 2:11.09, well outside last year’s course record time of 2:08.33.

Kenya’s Geofrey Ndungu successfully reclaimed his Dublin Marathon title in a time of 2:11:09 this afternoon.

Olympic champion Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia yesterday smashed the course record when he cruised to victory in the SPAR Great Ireland Run in Dublin’s Phoenix Park yesterday.