Delight for Sergiu Ciobanu and Laura Graham

Sergiu Ciobanu had equal measures of relief and delight when winning his fourth national marathon title in Dublin yesterday while Laura Graham made a quantum leap to win her first.

Record numbers took to the streets for the SSE Airtricity Dublin marathon in perfect conditions for runners — and the times didn’t disappoint.

Dereje Debele Tulu (Ethiopia) won outright with 2:12:18 and Namibia’s Helalia Johannes was the first woman home in 2:32:32 — just one second ahead of Ethiopia’s Ehite Bizuayehu Gebireyes.