Latest news with #IrishLifeDublinMarathon
Irish Examiner
16-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Ryan Creech embracing the rocky road
The one certainty in the marathon is that it'll never be perfect. Both the build-up and the race are just too long, too arduous, not to be laden with difficulties. But some marathons are more imperfect than others. Ryan Creech, 33, has long been an athlete whose undeniable talent and work ethic have been coupled with a certain fragility, his injury list one that could rival a jump jockey. 'The lads (at Leevale AC) would be laughing at me,' he says. 'I get out of the car for training and every nut and bolt would be falling off me. The shit thing about marathon training: you're sore every day.' On the build-up to the Seville Marathon last February, his body withstood the trial of miles, with Creech the fittest he'd ever been. But just over a week out from the race, his partner's father, Kevin Murphy, had a heart attack, with Creech spending the next several days at the hospital before Murphy passed away just seven days before the race. Read More Paul O'Donovan misses out as Ireland name squad for European Rowing Championship Creech wasn't training during that time, and was barely sleeping, living off takeaways with his mind a million miles from running as he supported his partner, Chloe. Her father was buried on the Wednesday before the race, and she and Creech then flew to Seville on the Friday, two days out from it. While in Seville, Creech said to his clubmate, John Shine, 'I've no idea how this will go,' given the physical and emotional fatigue he was carrying. But to his surprise, the early miles felt like 'an absolute breeze.' At 10K, however, Creech was reminded of the marathon's ability to land punches in places you couldn't predict. Another competitor fell in front of him at a water station and Creech jarred his foot while trying to dodge him, feeling a pop in his Achilles tendon. 'I was like, 'f**king hell, what's that?' In training, you'd pull out straight away but after bringing the missus all the way over to Seville after burying her dad, to (drop out) – I couldn't be dealing with it.' He forged on through piercing pain, though at halfway it briefly subsided. Then he felt another pop and it returned, Creech running the last 12 miles 'literally like fighting cramp'. He reached the finish, against the odds, clocking a personal best of 2:12:28. 'It was a real kick in the hole,' he says. 'There was definitely a 2:10 there that day if everything stayed together, but that's just the joys of (the marathon).' He was diagnosed with a huge tear in his Achilles. He didn't run again for five months, but in April last year he had a welcome distraction with the arrival of his baby daughter, Zoe. Creech avoided going down the surgery route for his Achilles, heeding the advice of Dr Joe Jordan in Cork to just give it time. He had a couple of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections to try speed that process and last July, he started back running, getting up to 30 or 40 miles a week by the end of the month. The Irish Life Dublin Marathon, in October, was then looming into view. 'Of course, being an idiot runner, you're panicking,' he says. 'So I went from that to 80 miles (a week) and then 80 to 100.' Read More Mission accomplished for Irish in Guangzhou He wasn't shooting the lights out in sessions before Dublin, but Creech laid down a solid block despite the difficulties of being a new parent, often sleeping just two to four hours a night. Given Hiko Tonosa planned to go through halfway in 65 minutes – a touch too fast for Creech – he recruited an old college teammate, Britain's Sam Stabler, to pace him through halfway in just under 66 minutes. But then the marathon launched another jab, Stabler sustaining a calf injury in the second mile, leaving Creech to run the rest of the race alone. He figured Tonosa might come back in the latter miles but he never did, the Dubliner breaking the Irish marathon record with 2:09:42 while Creech, given the year it had been, was content enough with his effort, clocking 2:13:49 to finish as the second Irishman and ninth overall. 'It was so controlled, tempo pace the whole way, but there was no one to race against,' he says. 'That was my own fault for not being brave enough.' He had hoped to race another marathon in Valencia or Seville but his winter training was hampered by illnesses and small injuries. With his daughter sleeping better recently, so too is Creech, and in the last six weeks he's got 'back swinging' in training. He's currently preparing for the National 10-Mile Championships in Dublin in July, then plans to race a half marathon in Prague in August and another half in Copenhagen in September, where he hopes to run 62 minutes or faster. After that, all roads lead back to Dublin for another crack at the national marathon title. In recent weeks, his Achilles flared up after a track session and Creech is learning not to ignore such distress signals. He's been getting saline injections to strip his Achilles of residual scar tissue and if he can stay healthy over the next five months, he's 'really confident' of running 2:11 or faster in Dublin, which would put him in contention for the national title. But Creech knows that in this game, nothing is a given, the only certainty being that the road to Dublin will be rocky, something he's long come to accept – and embrace. *Ryan Creech was speaking at the launch for the 2025 Irish Life Dublin Marathon. The transfer window for this year's race and the Irish Life Dublin Half Marathon will run from 24 July to 26 August. A refund window for marathon entries will be available from 3-16 July. Returned marathon entries will then be made available for resale on a first-come, first-served basis from 18 July via the official event website.
Irish Independent
13-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Independent
‘I feel my dad with me all the time. In a race like the marathon, I definitely feel his presence'
It created such a buzz among her fourth class pupils that they think she's going to the Olympics. They now also ask her every Monday morning if she had a race at the weekend. Winning the Dublin City Half Marathon has been the biggest victory of Sheridan's running life. When she was a kid, her dad, Paschal – a dedicated runner in his time – used to mow a track in their garden at home in Hayestown, Navan, for his daughters to run around for fun. At 18, Sheridan took up running again after her father got very sick. He had brain tumours on and off during her childhood but a decade ago he was diagnosed with a tumour that spread to his lungs. Before his death in August 2015, bedside chats about her running used to energise her father. 'When my dad got sick after the Leaving Cert, I started running as a crutch for my mental health to get outside. He was a passionate runner. He was really excited to see that I was running,' says Sheridan, speaking at a launch for the 2025 Irish Life Dublin Marathon. 'He was in bed, he was quite weak and sick, but he still always asked me, how much did you run today? 'When he passed away, loads of his friends were calling over that he used to run with. Even races I go to this day, I meet a lot of his friends. I suppose it's nice to have that connection. I really enjoy people telling me different stories about him every race that I go to. 'I do feel him with me all the time. In a race like the marathon, I definitely feel his presence with me.' Last year's Irish Life Dublin Marathon was the 28-year-old's first experience of running a marathon. She finished 14th overall in 2:42:57 and fifth in the national championship race and she's taking on the challenge again this year. She has been coached for the past few years by David Carrie who was a great friend of her late father's. She says they're both alike with a positive outlook. When a mental health coach came to talk to staff in her school, they were asked to rate their days. On that particular day, Sheridan ranked her day with the highest of 10 even though nothing special had happened because 'I think knowing the lows of seeing someone on a hospital bed. That's a minus.' ADVERTISEMENT Learn more She knows she's a steely mentality. 'I'm an endurance runner. And mentally I'm quite strong when the demons are in your head halfway through the marathon, you just have to block it out and trust yourself. It's not so much about running in the marathon even though it's 42 kilometres, it is more about being mentally strong and bullet-proof I suppose. 'Looking at my dad in particular but my mam [Rita] was sick as well, she got breast cancer when I was in fourth class. I don't think we were ever hard done by or anything. We'd an amazing childhood. 'There might be so much chaos going on and so much hardship but you just have to focus on your own journey and get through the days. It's not every day that you're going to have an amazing day. Just ride out the hard times. 'I'd never really be doubting myself so much. If training is going well and you're not injured, there's no reason why the race shouldn't go well. When it gets tough in the race, just tell yourself you can do this.' Dublin Marathon worth over €23m to local economy Last year's Irish Life Dublin Marathon generated €23.79m in economic impact according to an independent Economic Impact Assessment by University College Dublin. The UCD study also found that for every €1 spent by attendees or organisers, an additional €2.29 was injected into the local economy, benefitting Ireland's hospitality, transport, accommodation and small business sectors. 'It is a great figure to see, especially when you're talking with Dublin City Council, and people like that,' said Jim Aughney, race director of the Dublin Marathon. 'You always knew it was worth a lot to the city, but you couldn't put a figure on it. It just proves the value of the marathon to the city.' The 2025 edition will take place on Sunday, October 26 and the continued rise in popularity of running is seen through the fact that the Half Marathon and Fingal 10k in the Irish Life Dublin Race Series have already sold out. 'The Frank Duffy 10-mile will sell out as well. We've never sold out the full race series before,' Aughney added. 'Running is on a boom, not just here in Dublin, but around the country. I think we're back to or better than pre-Covid.' It was also confirmed that the transfer window for the sold-out 2025 Irish Life Dublin Marathon and Half Marathon will run from July 24 to August 26. Returned marathon entries will be made available for resale on a first-come, first-serve basis from July 18 through the official event website.
Irish Examiner
13-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Cathal Dennehy: Nichola Sheridan found her way back to running after father's ill-health
At one stage, running was a form of therapy for Nichola Sheridan. It still is, in many ways, only these days it's also much more – the rapidly progressing Meath native hoping to win a national medal at this year's Irish Life Dublin Marathon. On her debut marathon in Dublin last October, she finished fifth in the national championship, 14th in the women's race overall, clocking 2:42:57, a personal best she lowered to 2:42:31 in Valencia last December. But Sheridan, at 28, is still a relative novice in this world. This is exclusive subscriber content. Already a subscriber? Sign in Subscribe to access all of the Irish Examiner. Annual €120€60 Best value Monthly €10€4 / month Unlimited access. Subscriber content. Daily ePaper. Additional benefits.
Irish Times
25-04-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Dublin Marathon contributes €63m to local economy, report finds
The Irish Life Dublin Marathon contributed $71 million (€63 million) to the local economy last year, according to a new report. This placed it 19th among the top 50 marathons globally in terms of economic contribution, according to research by Brand Finance and Tata Consultancy Services , which sponsors a number of top marathons and endurance events around the world. The research found that in 2024, the top 50 marathons contributed $5.2 billion to the local economies of the host cities. The Bank of America Chicago Marathon topped the ranking with a contribution of $627 million. The London Marathon, which is being run this weekend, was fourth last year with a contribution of $425 million. READ MORE 'The Dublin Marathon (12th) scored particularly highly in a number of engagement metrics, such as donated to a charity associated with the marathon, bought merchandise in association with the marathon, and volunteered at the marathon,' the report noted, adding that the top 50 races raised $425 million between them for charitable causes. [ Colin Farrell among participants as 22,000 run in Dublin Marathon Opens in new window ] Some 18,100 runners competed in the Dublin Marathon last year, in spite of 22,500 having paid a fee to enter the race. The men's race was won by Moses Kemei from Kenya while Asmirach Nega from Ethiopia was first home in the women's elite race.
