Sunday the 27th of October saw the 40th edition of theDublin City Marathon. The race, which was first run in 1980, is the fourthbiggest marathon in Europe and is widely reputed to be the friendliest. The marathon is along-distance running event with an official distance of 42.195 kilometres(26.219 miles, or 26 miles 385 yards). The marathon race was originally namedin commemoration of the fabled run of the Greek soldier Philippides,who carried a message of the Greeks’ victory over the Persians at the Battle of Marathon to Athens. Legend has it that havingdelivered the message Philippides then dropped down dead. Obviously histraining plan needed a little work.  TheDublin City marathon was first run in 1980, with just 2,000 runners taking tothe roads that day. Only 70 of those 2,000 in 1980 were female, a markeddifference from this year’s race which had over 8000 female runners lining upat the start line. Record numbers took part in this year’s marathon, with22,500 runners taking part. Amongst them were five members of The BlackwaterTriathlon Club; Peter O’Brien, Jonathon Kenneally, Gina Lyons, Dave Bartley andConor Bartley. They were supported by various family members and club memberswho travelled up to cheer them on from the sidelines. Most competitors make aweekend of it, enjoying the buzz around the marathon expo at the RDS on theSaturday before the race, and then going out for some serious carb loading thatnight. Running a marathon at any time is a challenge but running a marathon inOctober in Ireland can be a risky proposition, depending on the weatherconditions on the day. Fortunately, this year the weather gods were smiling andthe morning of the race dawned bright and clear with very little wind andtemperatures in single figures. Due to the large numbers competing on the daythe race was started in waves with the elite athletes setting off at 9.00 am. The BTC contingentwere all in wave 1 for the start this year and set of with over 5500 otherrunners to make their way through Dublin City. The route took the runners from the city centre,through the Phoenix Park, and around to University College Dublin, beforefinishing back at Merrion Square. After the first few kilometres thetemperatures increased a little and it turned in to a perfect day to run amarathon. As is usual in Dublin the race was very well organised with water andfeeding stations scattered every 2 to 3 miles through the course. The runners were also helped along on the day by thesupport of the spectators with large crowds shouting encouragement to therunners along virtually every metre of the course. The men’s race waswon by Moroccan runner Othmane El Goumri in a record time of 2:08:05 with Motu Gedefa ofEthiopia taking the Women’s title with a time of 2:27:48. All of the BTC crewdid really well on the day. Conor Bartley was first of them home, crossing theline in an excellent 2:55:24, a personal best and nearly 7 minutes faster than his 2018 time. Next was his brotherDave, who also cut 7 minutes off his previous year’s result, finishing in apersonal best time of 3:18:59. Peter O’Brien also did a personal best time forthe marathon on the day, finishing 6 minutes better than the previous year in3:21:08. Jonathan Kenneally, who was carrying an injury, crossed the finishline in 3:26:03 and Gina Lyons completed the group just 55 seconds later,coming home in 3:26:58, also a personal best. Gina and the guys were givengreat support on the day by her husband Frank and youngest son Ollie, who werepresent to shout them on at the 12, 18 and 25 mile marks, and Niamh Fleming andJulian Boeg, who were at the 8 mile and 26 mile marks. Excellent performances allround. Well done to everyone who took part on the day. Time to put the feet upfor a little while now.