RTE NEWS Paul McNamara from Athenry Athletic Club in Galway led home a field of close to 10,000 to win the Edinburgh International Marathon in 2 hours 25 minutes and three seconds. McNamara, who works as a regional development officer for Athletics Ireland, went clear in the closing stages but had to work hard all the way to finish to hold off the challenge of British runner Nathaniel Williams, who finished less than half a minute adrift.
‘We were running at 2:18 pace for the first four miles, but it was into a really strong head-wind and along the sea front,’ said McNamara.
‘A group of four of us got away and then at 22 miles I began to push the pace and managed to go clear. The time is not great, but it was really satisfying to win my first marathon after only two attempts at the distance.’
A former athletics scholarship student at Providence College in America, McNamara has continued his athletics career with some success since arriving back to work in Ireland.
‘I was hoping for a sub 2.20 time in Edinburgh, but it just was not on with the stormy winds that faced us for the first 18 miles,’ he said.
The Galway runner will now set his sights on the track and he hopes to compete in the 10,000m in the National Championships in July.
‘I will run another marathon this year – possibly the Dublin marathon in October,’ he said.
Meanwhile, Robert Heffernan from Togher AC – one of Ireland’s top medal hopes in the Beijing Olympics, was happy with his fifth place finish in the IAAF Race Walking Grand Prix in Krakow, Poland on Saturday, where he clocked an impressive 1.20.33 for the 20 kilometre distance.
Heffernan is gradually building up towards Beijing where he will compete over the same distance.
There was an impressive early season performance too on Saturday by Beijing-bound Joanne Cuddihy of UCD, who ran 51.98 seconds for 400m to finish second in an international event in Henglo, Holland.
Eileen O’Keefe of Kilkenny City Harriers was also in action at the weekend – finishing fourth in the women’s hammer competition at an international in Halle, Germany with a throw of 69.54 metres.
