Mazerski denies O’Hanlon’s brave drive for five on Leeside
O’Hanlon’s 2013 marathon streak began in Connemara followed by wins in Limerick, Kildare, and Newry last weekend. His bid for a fifth consecutive victory fell short by 23 seconds, running 2:28:52 as Mazerski pulled away in the last mile.
“In the last two miles I was saying to myself ‘all these marathons are madness,’” said the 39-year-old Louth man who nearly died in a fatal car crash 20 years ago.
“At the start line I thought it was going to be easy enough and the field wasn’t great. I was running with the relay runners at the start at 5:10 (per mile) pace so I eased back a bit.
“Then a guy came up to me (Zawerski) and I didn’t know who he was so I asked him what his best time was. He couldn’t understand me at first but then said 2:17.”
Zawerksi’s marathon best is 2:18:25, which he set in 2005.
“I knew I was in for a long day then. He kept surging, slowing down and picking up the pace again.”
Peter Mooney rounded out the top three in 2:35:25 with seasoned marathoner Cathal O’Connell of St Finbarr’s AC the first Cork man home in fourth in 2:35:54.
Curley’s course record run came as a surprise to the Tullamore Harrier, who only registered as a late entry the previous week.
“It was an amazing atmosphere, course and weather,” said Curley. “When you are feeling good it’s a bonus. I didn’t know what the record was before the race so that was an extra bonus.”
Angela McCann (Clonmel AC) was going for a hat-trick of wins but had to settle for second in 2:55:08. Leevale’s Nollaigh O’Neill finished third and was the first Cork woman in 2:55:41.
The Cork marathon also incorporated a half marathon, relay run and youth challenge alongside the 26.2 mile distance and Leevale’s Lizzie Lee described the scene as “choc-a-bloc”.
“It’s such a great day,” said Lee who won the half marathon in 79:53. “We had to weave our way through the marathon runners.”
Claire McCarthy made it a one-two for Leevale finishing second in 1:20:18 with Emma Murphy of St Finbarr’s AC third in 1:22:23.
Kenyan Freddie Keron Sittuk won the men’s half in 68:33 with Cork men Alan O’Shea (Bantry AC) and Brian MacMahon (Clonliffe Harriers) second and third running 69:23 and 70:28 respectively.
Olympic race walker Robert Heffernan set the 8,000 runners on their way with his wife Marian and then took to the streets himself for 10 miles.
“It was electric — an unreal buzz,” said Heffernan of the event.
Nearly 500 transition year students took part in the Youth Challenge and East Cork Athletic Club won the marathon relay event in 2:18:06.
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