Moore pounds way to fame as first Irishman home in London marathon

While Mo Farah was toiling under the burden of expectation among 37,000 participants in the London marathon on Sunday, Colm Moore was quietly pounding the pavements to be the first Irishman home and 59th overall in a time of 2:29:22.

The sub 2:30 mark is the milestone time for club athletes in Ireland. Moore trains with athletics powerhouse Leevale, whose women’s team won the national road relays on the same day.

Also competing on the same day was Sonia O’Sullivan at the Great Island 10 mile road race in Cobh. Moore’s time was just 21 seconds short of the Cobh legend’s best time in London and her marathon personal best (2:29:01).

Kenya’s Wilson Kipsang set a new course record of 2:04:29 while Mo Farah failed to get to grips with the classic distance running 2:08:21 in what he described as “a bad day at the office.”

It was more like a perfect day at the office for Red FM’s Moore in a race that started in 1981 with 10,000 runners toeing the line — the year after the Dublin marathon was formed.

Nicola Duncan (Galway City Harriers) was the first Irishwoman home in 2:33:28 — a time that puts her 5th on the Irish women’s all-time list and qualifies her for the marathon at the European championships in Zurich in August.

Ireland’s main male marathon runners were competing in Rotterdam but Moore can hold pride of place for 2014 with the record books forever showing he was the first Irishman home averaging 5:40 per mile.