Mystery runner almost won marathon from his armchair

It was almost the greatest marathon win of all time — even though the mystery runner happened to be in a different county as the drama unfolded.

It has emerged Tyrone marathon runner Henry O’Neill was ‘leading’ the Dublin City Marathon last Monday at the halfway point, even though it is understood he was at home in Omagh with an injury at the time.

How so? Well, organisers had placed his bag, with his number and timing chip, on the press bus, in the event he made the start line, leading to his times being clocked as the bus raced through the course ahead of the leading contenders.