Clohisey and Ross win national marathon championships

Instead of the traditional setting in Dublin, the Belfast City Marathon played host to many of Ireland’s best on Sunday morning.

Sun, 03 Oct, 2021 - 15:21

Cathal Dennehy

It was the national marathon championships, just not as most people know it. Instead of the traditional setting in Dublin, the Belfast City Marathon played host to many of Ireland’s best on Sunday morning, with Mick Clohisey of Raheny winning the men’s race in 2:20:42 and Fionnuala Ross the women’s in 2:43:43.

Although mass-participation marathons have been going on in cities across Europe in recent weeks, even those with vaccination levels much lower than Ireland’s, organisers of the Dublin Marathon felt they had no choice but to cancel this year’s race in July, pulling the plug after months of deliberating, with Race Director Jim Aughney saying there were “too many unknowns” to provide a safe event.