Chesterfield Avenue, Phoenix Park
Chesterfield Avenue, Phoenix Park, Dublin waits to greet over four thousand athletes. Five miles away, at 8.50 am in Dublin city centre, the marathon had begun.
Home of our President: Áras an Uachtaráin
President Michael D. Higgins only had to step outside his front door to catch all the action. Meanwhile, I hung around the Phoenix monument. Maybe I’d catch sight of Michael D. or a man in a skirt, or a barefoot runner even.
Well, as the song says, two outta three ain’t bad….
Lead car
There was a great buzz about the place. Buoyed up by the steady beat of music from a local pop station and armed with clappers and balloons, the crowd clustered about the monument, and formed little knots along the footpath. Soon, sirens sounded, and a great cheer arose at the sight of the first athlete pushing his way along the avenue.
Anyone give me a name for this athlete please?
Wonderful to watch, the wheelchair athletes must have serious arm and upper body strength.
Here come the women
He was followed, some ten minutes later, by the lead runner, Dmitry Safronov.
First man at the Phoenix monument
…while two clusters of leading men hung back, no doubt as part of their race strategy.
Leading men
Number three is Russian athlete, Aleksei Sokolov.
More elites
Pavel Teplykh is leading this group along, followed by Ethiopian Fikru Teshager.
Who is this guy? I can’t see him on the results sheet.
And here’s… well, actually, I don’t know. There’s no sign of number 17 on the results page this evening. Help, anyone!
Maria McCambridge
The lead lady couldn’t be far behind now, could she?
Yes, here she is~Maria McCambridge. Maria was intent on keeping her marathon first from last year and, while that didn’t quite run out, she ran a mighty race, gaining a personal best and a finishing an agonizing four seconds behind the winning lady.
This lady was faring very well at this point too. She’s Gemma Rankin from Scotland.
And here’s a girl who was well able to keep up with the guys too.
While further along the line, this lady from Raheny Shamrocks looked very comfortable, making it all seem just like a nice little jaunt.
David Carrie
There’s David Carrie in white and blue shirt leading Team Carrie along and already looking set to earn another yet sub-3 hour marathon.
Three Hour Pacers
The three hour pacers brought a huge crowd with them.
The cool shades and gloves worked well for this guy as he was making terrific progress at this point and completed the marathon in three hours four minutes and fourteen seconds.
There are pacers at every ten minutes at the DCM
While l`homme français was keeping up with the 3.10 pacers to the cries of “Allez!” from the crowd.
Conditions for running might have been a tad warm, if anything. A gentle south-westerly had brought temperatures up to the mid-teens and I marvelled at how oblivious some runners seemed to be to such heat.
Take this guy, for instance…
Today was practically balmy
Of course, he couldn’t possibly have been as warm as…
FLASH! A-ah….Saviour of the universe…
Flash Gordon
And there were other charitable folk about who suffered on for their cause too…
A grand bit o`skirt!
Another guy with a great sense of humour.
Though I am not sure if charity was the cause here. Perhaps he was being patriotic?
I hope he has running shorts under that kilt…
Oh, and check out the barefoot look! I wonder how he fared by mile 26?
Ouch!
We’re only at mile five remember, and already the heat was getting to some folk.
Gosh, it’s warm…
And I wondered if this kid really stuck the pace? Three hours seems too long to be pushed around in a buggy.
Mammy, Mammy, I want to get out!
It was striking how serious and focused everyone was in the first and second wave of runners.
They were so intent that they barely noticed the crazy lady photographer snapping at their feet. But as time wore on and the ordinary runners came along, there was a greater variation of expression. Some were there purely for a fun day out. For others, it had been a challenge to get to this point, and a challenge to work their way through it. These are my people, the Third Wavers.
Some took the waving literally.
Hi! to you too, Francis!
Other just laughed their way along
Thumbs up!
Or clowned their way through the twenty six miles. Don’t you just love that outfit, though?
Oh, only twenty one miles to go in this get up.
While others were happy to say…
“Yes, we did it. We were part of the Dublin City Marathon in 2014”
Considering that the winners would streak through the distance in a little over two hours, the less athletic possibly suffered more as they were a lot longer on their feet and not quite as streamlined.
In four hours time it will all be over.
Hey Well done you too!
It’s a challenge for everyone and for lots of different reasons. All of them deserve a great round of applause.
Disclaimer: Obviously I am not a race reporter so if you want to give me feedback on any aspect of this report please get in touch or comment below. I have some pics from last year’s Dublin Marathon here and will add more from this year’s photoshoot in the next day or two.
redhenrun 
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Knowing how you sweat for your sport I thought this was a great post from a different perspective from you as the onlooker. You make a great race commentator, RH!
Oh, I think I am begining to enjoy onlooking even more than participation, though my stint in the third wave has given me a deep appreciation for all of those who struggle across the finish line!
One for the race bucket list 🙂
The crowd support and getting through so much of the city makes this a wonderful race.
Enjoyed that! HOW MANY pictures did you take? Crazy!
Oh, you know how it is. You just get greedy and keep on clicking! Glad you enjoyed. I really enjoyed the occasion too.
I thought I’d taken a lot on a 2 day visit to Bath – but that was a mere 90! Even those took ages to go through. It’s not that long since 90 photos would have been several years’ worth!
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Love the diversity that you’ve captured. Well done!
I hadn’t thought about that until you mentioned it, but yes, diversity is the name of the game at the Dublin City marathon. You certainly see all sorts.
Nice shots RH. As you say, early in proceedings when people are still chirpy 🙂 One of my marathon training runs used to be up the canal from town to Ashtown, a lap around the park and back to town down the Luas tracks. I doubt the founders of the Park in 1662 foresaw its modern uses!
Yes, I was glad that everyone looked so good, especially as I was taking their photos! Last time around I was further along the field and it really didn’t seem right to be taking pics of so much agony.
Oh, the Phoenix Park is just so wonderful and terrifically well utilized by so many different bodies. I am glad that you have pleasant memories of your time there. I adore Dublin but I know, that for visitors, they may only see it’s grimmer side and, indeed, be hurt by the darker side of this country, but there are so many wonderful things to celebrate here too.
Great report and pictures. I thought you might have been a participant this year, though!
My feet are still recovering after 2012!
Great curbside commentary.
Ah, thank you SR! And it is just so sweet to be curbside knowing the agony that so many of those runners face will not be mine.
Well, that was a run and a half. I feel like I should have a treadmill in front of the computer. Great run! I get warm just by looking.
Haha! Consider yourself lucky-it was a marathon photoshoot. I took over a thousand pics! Ooohh, just you wait `til I get them all up:-)