Pictures and footage: Everyone’s a winner at the Cork City Marathon

MORE than 10,000 people took to the streets for the Cork City Marathon, which was won by Polish runner Pawel Kosek, with a time of 2:23:54.

The first woman to cross the finish line was Olympian Aoife Cooke, with a time of 2:56:33.

The event took place in glorious sunshine, with heat an issue even at the 8.15am start for those that were taking on the full marathon.

Some 550 international participants from 26 countries participated in the marathon, and more than 500 volunteers worked hard to make the big day happen.

Race director Eamon Hayes told The Echo that entrants this year had so far raised over €150,000 for local and national charities.

WARM CONDITIONS

Some runners in this year’s Cork City Marathon said they had never been so grateful for the Jack Lynch Tunnel.

The breeze was cooling when they ran through it.

Thoughtful residents used garden hoses to spray cooling jets of water on passing runners.

Whatever about the heat, there seemed to be few complaints about the management of the marathon, or its route, with many complimenting the various small changes along the way.

The sunshine was glorious, especially for the tens of thousands not running who lined the streets to cheer on the 10,000 or so who were, and the Centra shop by the finish line on Patrick St was already doing a brisk trade in 99 ice creams as the first runners in the 10k returned after 9am.

Over on Monahan Road, a mighty cheer went up around 10.15am when the participants in the half-marathon headed off to the strains of Iggy Pop’s ‘Lust for Life’, just as, around the corner, the full marathon runners passed the half-way mark on Centre Park Road. William Maunsell, from Clonmel AC, was the fastest man in the half-marathon, finishing with 1:08:30, while Niamh Moore, of Leevale AC, finished on 1:21:21.

In the 10k race, Michal Wojcik finished on 31.22, and Niamh O Mahony, from An Riocht AC, completed the race in 35.25.

More than 500 volunteers helped to make the marathon a success, with approximately 80,000 bottles of water and Lucozade, 15,000 bananas, and 120,000 jellybeans handed out to participants.

There were 550 international participants, from 26 countries, and more than 350 members of the Sanctuary Runners.

One of them, Laurence Afolabi, an international-protection applicant from Nigeria who lives in Abbeyville House in Fermoy, said it had been a great joy to take part, and he had been delighted to meet so many friendly people.

“People in Cork are just the best in the world, they are so kind and they are very welcoming people,” he said.

Noeleen Kenny, from St Finbarr’s AC in Grenagh, said she was very happy to have completed the 10k. “The heat was very tough at times, but it’s a great course and a great buzz. The crowd kept you going till the end, and 10k isn’t too taxing.”

Vinnie Murphy, from Bartlemy, agreed that the crowd had helped bring people along. “The first few miles were grand, but then the heat hit you, so it was great to have that encouragement.”

One marathon entrant doing more running than most at the moment is Pádraig Rice, who completed the 10k and is contesting the local elections in Cork City South Central for the Social Democrats.

“It’s always a great race, a brilliant event, and it’s great to see people out and about and happy in the sunshine; it’s a fantastic day out for the city, bringing people in from all around, and it’s good for tourism,” he said.

Race director Eamon Hayes told The Echo that more than €150,000 had been raised for the charity by participants, and added that it was full steam ahead for the next Cork City Marathon, on June 1, 2025.