Thousands limber up for May Day marathon in Belfast

More than 15,000 people will be taking to the streets of Belfast today for the city’s May Day marathon.

The Deep RiverRock Belfast City Marathon will bring together serious athletes and fun runners for the 27th annual event.

All runs will be starting at 9am at Belfast City Hall and will finish in Ormeau Park.

Current champions John Mutai of Kenya and Marashet Jumma of Ethiopia will be defending their titles as over 1,900 runners take part in the main marathon in a bid to win the top prize of £3,000 (€3,823).

Most runners today will be taking part in the relay event and 1,800 teams have registered. They will be joined by some 2,000 walkers and 1,500 people taking part in the Fun Run.

More than 14,300 people took part in the marathon last year which raised £30,000 (€38,236) for the Down’s Syndrome Association. This year’s official charity is the British Red Cross.