McGuire stuns everyone (except herself) with Dublin marathon bronze

Clonmel AC athlete scorches to third place behind vaunted Ethiopian pair in seventh-fastest time ever run by an Irishwoman 

OVER THE LINE:  Irish Women’s National Championship winner Courtney McGuire of Clonmel A.C finishes with a time of 2:32:50. Pic: INPHO/Bryan Keane

EVERYONE recalls their first marathon but Tipperary’s Courtney McGuire ensured that everyone else in Irish running will remembers hers thanks to her fairytale debut over the ultimate distance in Dublin yesterday. 

The 23-year-old Clonmel AC member shocked the elite field by finishing third overall behind two elite Ethiopians Nigist Muluneh (2:28.31) and Hawi Elemu Negeri (2:29.33). And while she was over four minutes behind the winner, her time of 2:32:50 was the seventh-fastest ever by an Irishwoman and, by the margin of a second, relegated an athlete of Lizzie Lee’s stature to eighth on the Irish all time list.