Belfast City Marathon Event Manager Claire O’Reilly and Athletics NI Marketing Manager Clare McCoy travelled to New York last week to promote the Belfast Marathon at the International Expo.

The BCM was well received, especially with a top competition on offer:
a chance to win flights for two (courtesy of Aer Lingus), accommodation for two nights (courtesy of Premier Inn) and two free entries to the Marathon in May.

Celebrity visitors to the BCM stand included 3-time Olympian and world championship winning athlete Eamon Coghlan and Anthony Edwards from Top Gun and ER fame.

In the marathon, two-time Olympic 10,000 metres champion Tulu, 37, first shook off Daunay and then the dogged Petrova as she turned for home at the 26-mile mark and won the race in two hours 28 minutes and 52 seconds, eight seconds ahead of the Russian with Daunay third in 2:29:16 and Radcliffe finishing fourth in 2:29:27.

There was a milestone victory in the men’s race as Meb Keflezighi became the first American since Alberto Salazar in 1982 to win in New York, shaking off four-time Boston champion Robert Cheruiyot over the three miles to take victory in a personal best 2:09.15.

Cheruiyot, from Kenya, clocked 2:09:56 with two-time world champion Jaouad Gharib of Morocco third in 2:10:25 and another American, Ryan Hall fourth in 2:10:36, six Americans in total populating the men’s top 10.

The Deep RiverRock Belfast City Marathon is also sponsored by Aer Lingus, Belfast City Council, Charles Hurst Renault, New Balance, Sport Northern Ireland, Tayto, Translink and Up and Running. Media partners are the Daily Mirror and U105. Official accommodation partner is Premier Inn.

The 2010 Deep RiverRock Belfast City Marathon is organised by Belfast City Marathon Ltd., in partnership with Athletics Northern Ireland, Belfast City Council, the Department for Regional Development, Newtownabbey Borough Council, the Police Service of Northern Ireland and Translink.

Entries for the 2010 Deep RiverRock Belfast City Marathon officially opened on Thursday 10 September. For further information, including online entry, training tips and much more, log on to www.belfastcitymarathon.com