Fagan makes history in Great Ireland Run

Mullingar's Martin Fagan became the first Irishman to win the SPAR Great Ireland Run with an impressive performance in today's event in Dublin's Phoenix Park.

The 26-year-old took control of the men's 10-kilometre race around the midway point, breaking clear of Galway City Harrier Gary Thornton and Dundrum South Dublin's Joe Sweeney.

Fagan, who finished third last year, covered the course in 29 minutes and 17 seconds for an historic win in a race which, for the first time, doubled up as the Irish 10km Championship.

It was quite an ordeal for the Arizona-based athlete to participate this afternoon as the travel chaos caused by the Icelandic ash cloud saw him travelling for three days, and he was fortunate to arrive on the final plane into the capital last night before Dublin Airport closed.

Encouragingly for Irish middle distance running, the first four men home all came in under the 30-minute mark, with Thornton battling his way to second (29.36) ahead of the fast-finishing Andrew Ledwith (29.48).

Meath native Ledwith overcame an early stitch to come home strongly, overtaking Sweeney (29.59) for third.

The travel disruption took the international element away from the men's race, with Fagan’s likely title rivals - Switzerland's 2007 World Marathon bronze medallist Viktor Rothlin and Portugal's former Olympic 1500m bronze medallist Rui Silva - unable to make it.

Fagan is planning to compete in the marathon at the European Championships in Barcelona on August 1, with his more immediate schedule including both the Great Edinburgh Run and the Great Manchester Run.