Byrne holds on by mere two seconds

ATHLETICS: WOMEN'S MINI MARATHON AND CORK MARATHON:JUST WHEN Linda Byrne thought she'd safely added the Women's Mini Marathon title to her growing list of road running honours she glanced over her shoulder to see Dundrum team mate Maria McCambridge tearing after her with visible determination.

They were fast approaching St Stephen’s Green, and although Byrne managed to hold on by a mere two seconds, had the race been that little bit further than 10km then surely we would have had a photo-finish.

Just 1km earlier, coming over Leeson Street bridge for the final run in towards the finish, the only question on our minds was how much Byrne would win by.

The 24-year-old, running her first Mini Marathon, had made a decisive break on the wet course shortly before 7km, leaving her then main challenger Teresa McGloin from Donegal apparently holding on for second place. But McCambridge, who at 34 is 10 years older than Byrne, wasn’t done yet, and instead found her best form late on to produce the nail-biting finish.

“I never realised she was so close,” admitted Byrne, who clocked 34 minutes and 29 seconds to McCambridge’s 34:31 – with McGloin third in 34:36.

“I was feeling good early on and decided to go for it. That last kilometre was really hard and when people are shouting at you there is a feeling you are getting to the finish. Then you look up and there is still a bit left but thankfully I was able to find something extra to see me to the finish.”

Byrne also had the honour of becoming the first athlete from host club Dundrum South-Dublin to actually win the title of Women’s Mini Marathon champion in the 27 editions of the race. The reigning Irish cross country champion, Byrne has been focusing on road races in recent months after losing her grant from the Irish Sports Council, but she still hopes to return to the track before the season is out.

“I’m now running full time on the roads and making a living and I’m really enjoying that. I was a bit disappointed with my time on the track recently but I still have plenty of time on my side to start getting my times down and my coach, Enda Fitzpatrick, is confident that I will get faster when I get stronger.

“There was great atmosphere out there on the course and it’s a massive thrill to win it because I’ve watched some very good Irish runners win this race in the past.

“This is a great race for all the women runners in Ireland and I would compare it to winning the national cross country. It would be nice, too, if there were some overseas runners but you saw how attractive it is for so many Irish runners, internationals and fun runners.”

With an astonishing 44,000 starters in total, it was fitting the race for first was so close – although McCambridge was naturally disappointed she hadn’t judged her effort a little better.

“I just felt terrible for the first 5k,” said McCambridge, who now lives and trains in Donegal. “I couldn’t get going at all until after the Belfield flyover at 6k, and all of a sudden I felt brilliant and just went after Linda as fast as I could.

“I managed to catch Teresa but Linda looked to be that bit too far ahead. But then I started closing the gap and coming down Leeson Street I was just flying but the finishing line came that bit too soon, and just soon enough for Linda. Now I want to go after the qualifying standard for the 10,000 metres at the European Championships. ”

Last year’s winner, Rosemary Ryan of Limerick, finished back in fourth in 35:19 but the day belonged to Byrne that little bit more than the 44,000 others.

Meanwhile at the fourth annual Bord Gáis Energy Cork City Marathon, Sergiu Ciobanu proved a more comfortable winner when coming home in a new course record 2:25:54 – improving the 2:27:36 set in 2007 by Alan O’Shea. The Moldovan-born runner won, by nearly five minutes, from Galway’s Paul McNamara, who eventually finished in 2:30:15.3.