Dublin Marathon
Photo: William Murphy

Dublin Marathon

Dublin Marathon
The Airtricity Dublin Marathon is also known as the ‘Friendly Marathon’ due to the many enthusiastic spectators lining the streets to support the exhausted marathoners with encouraging cheers – reveal your name on your shirt and you might get personal encouragement as well.

The Airtricity Dublin Marathon is run every year in late October. Since the first race in 1980, the number of runners has increased steadily and in the 2010 edition on October 25, a record number of more than 13,000 runners from over 74 countries descended upon Fitzwilliam Square to start the race. More than half of the participants are usually overseas runners combining the marathon with a weekend getaway to the Irish capital. 

The course of the Airtricity Dublin Marathon is a classic city loop with start and finish lines in the city centre near the famous Trinity College. The course is fairly flat but with a couple of climbs of about 50m. Along the way runners will – that is, if they have any energy left – appreciate the historic atmosphere of Georgian Dublin and the green oases of several parks and squares which are part of the course. The race finishes at Merrion Square where a couple of Ireland’s most celebrated writers, Oscar Wilde and W.B. Yeats, have resided. 

The number of participants was not the only record set in 2010. Both the men's and women's records were broken on that sunny day in Dublin. With a finishing time of 2:08:58, Kenyan Moses Kangogo Kibet shaved 9 seconds off Russian Aleksey Sokolov's 2007 time. This time Sokolov finished fifth. The women's race saw Russian Tatiana Aryasova take more than a minute off the record set by Ruth Kutol of Kenya in 2003. Aryasova's finishing time was 2.26.13. 

Every runner who completes the Airtricity Dublin Marathon will receive a medal and a certificate for their efforts, and the overall winner will be awarded with a prize of EUR 15,000. 

Dublin Marathon Course 

For extensive course description, registration, course map and elevation map please click here