Monday next 5th May Almost 15,000 people and no fewer than four former winners will take the startline in next Monday’s 27th Deep RiverRock Belfast City Marathon (Start 9.00am at the City Hall). 
John Mutai of Kenya and Marashet Jumma of Ethiopia captured the male and female titles last year and are determined to repeat their success on May Day. Kenya’s Joyce Kandie who won over two years ago has also entered as has former double local champion Tommy Hughes who was a popular winner in both 1988 and 1998. With entries of this calibre there is speculation that the two former winners should set a pace capable of breaking Lemma Urge’s 2005 course record of 2.41.33. This would attract a bonus of £1000 in addition of the first prize of £3000. Jumma has a particular interest in the record as she was only 5 seconds short of setting new figures in her impressive win a year ago. She must start favourite following her sub 2.41 time in the Mumbai Marathon 3 months ago. However the amiable Kandie oozed confidence following her run in the Titanic Quarter 10K a month ago. She explained that a break from the sport to have a child only made her stronger and prepared to tackle anything the opposition had to offer. This battle has all the hallmarks of a classic confrontation which may only be decided on the approaches to the finish at Ormeau Park. Best of the opposition could be Scottish runner Rosyln Alexander and North Belfast’s Breege Connolly. On the men’s side defending champion Mutai should in theory be a convincing winner following his sub 2.19 performance in Mumbai in January. The former Dublin marathon and Great North Run champion is the model of consistency. A year ago he used the gruelling Antrim Road hill to destroy the opposition and eventually record a winning margin gap of some 6 minutes. However Mutai will need to keep a wary eye on Ethiopia’s Tsegaye Tadesse who recorded a sub 2.16 win in Addis Ababa 2 years ago. Other names well to the fore should be Finland’s Jaakko Kero (2.20.43 in London in 2006) plus Ukraine’s Vyacheslav Prykhodko who has a PB of 2.23. Top local name is North Belfast’s ever popular Tommy Hughes who is keeping his premise to race in the Belfast event every 10 years! 48 year old Hughes was victorious in 1988 (2.19.00) and 1998 (2.23.33) and is keen to do well again. Even he will admit however that any time below 2.40 on what is a difficult course is to be welcomed. Tommy could well have Dungannon’s Delfin Pimentel for company who was 6th last year and is aiming for a sub 2.30 this time round. Others of note might include Armagh’s Turlough Donnelly and East Antrim’s Sam Crawford. Marathon Day organisers have again been swamped by a record entry of 15,000 participants in the various events. The Marathon itself has 1900 entries while the 5 stage relay now has an astonishing 1741 teams most of which have raised many thousands of pounds for various charities. One particularly pleasing aspect is the number of entries with addresses outside the province, i.e. Great Britain 400, Republic of Ireland 300, Europe 20 and USA 13. Clearly the simple pursuit of running at whatever level has captured the imagination of thousands both locally and abroad. Let’s hope that this Belfast extravaganza can long continue to meet these needs! The 2008 Deep RiverRock Belfast City Marathon is sponsored by Belfast City Council, Sport Northern Ireland, Up and Running, New Balance, Reach EPS, Tayto, Translink, Eventsec and Isaac Agnew. Official broadcast partner is U105 and accommodation provider is Premier Inn, which celebrates the first anniversary of opening its first Belfast hotel on the eve of the Marathon. The 2008 Deep RiverRock Belfast City Marathon is organized by Belfast City Marathon Ltd., in partnership with Belfast City Council, Athletics Northern Ireland, Newtownabbey Borough Council, the PSNI, the Department for Regional Development, Sustrans and Translink. The official charity of the 2008 Deep RiverRock Belfast City Marathon is the British Red Cross, which is celebrating its centenary this year. The Athletics Northern Ireland Office are again submitting a team after their success last year. Their 2007 team- "An Office and a Gentleman" finished in an incredible 31st place in a time of 3.08.25. The team is made of athletes and non-athletes again and are hoping to do just as well on Monday. Athletics NI challenged the other athletic federations across Britain. The Welsh were the only team to take up the challenge this year- the rest must be afraid of the opposition! In 2007 UK:A and Wales sent over a team and both finished in the top 20. UK were an amazing 9th overall in a time of 2.37.34 and Wales were 18th with a time of 2.59.02. Team Athletics NI: 1st leg: Heather Martin (Development Officer) 2nd leg: Clare Houston (Admin Manager) 3rd leg: David Reid (Coach) 4th leg: Kerry Harty (Development Officer) 5th leg: Clare McCoy (Marketing/PR) Best of luck is also extended to Regional Development Officer for the Greater Belfast area, competing in her second Belfast City Marathon. Two years ago Heather Martin was third Northern Ireland finisher. Marathon Office: Tel: 028 90605922 or visit www.belfastcitymarathon.com 
John Mutai of Kenya and Marashet Jumma of Ethiopia captured the male and female titles last year and are determined to repeat their success on May Day. Kenya’s Joyce Kandie who won over two years ago has also entered as has former double local champion Tommy Hughes who was a popular winner in both 1988 and 1998. With entries of this calibre there is speculation that the two former winners should set a pace capable of breaking Lemma Urge’s 2005 course record of 2.41.33. This would attract a bonus of £1000 in addition of the first prize of £3000. Jumma has a particular interest in the record as she was only 5 seconds short of setting new figures in her impressive win a year ago. She must start favourite following her sub 2.41 time in the Mumbai Marathon 3 months ago. However the amiable Kandie oozed confidence following her run in the Titanic Quarter 10K a month ago. She explained that a break from the sport to have a child only made her stronger and prepared to tackle anything the opposition had to offer. This battle has all the hallmarks of a classic confrontation which may only be decided on the approaches to the finish at Ormeau Park. Best of the opposition could be Scottish runner Rosyln Alexander and North Belfast’s Breege Connolly. On the men’s side defending champion Mutai should in theory be a convincing winner following his sub 2.19 performance in Mumbai in January. The former Dublin marathon and Great North Run champion is the model of consistency. A year ago he used the gruelling Antrim Road hill to destroy the opposition and eventually record a winning margin gap of some 6 minutes. However Mutai will need to keep a wary eye on Ethiopia’s Tsegaye Tadesse who recorded a sub 2.16 win in Addis Ababa 2 years ago. Other names well to the fore should be Finland’s Jaakko Kero (2.20.43 in London in 2006) plus Ukraine’s Vyacheslav Prykhodko who has a PB of 2.23. Top local name is North Belfast’s ever popular Tommy Hughes who is keeping his premise to race in the Belfast event every 10 years! 48 year old Hughes was victorious in 1988 (2.19.00) and 1998 (2.23.33) and is keen to do well again. Even he will admit however that any time below 2.40 on what is a difficult course is to be welcomed. Tommy could well have Dungannon’s Delfin Pimentel for company who was 6th last year and is aiming for a sub 2.30 this time round. Others of note might include Armagh’s Turlough Donnelly and East Antrim’s Sam Crawford. Marathon Day organisers have again been swamped by a record entry of 15,000 participants in the various events. The Marathon itself has 1900 entries while the 5 stage relay now has an astonishing 1741 teams most of which have raised many thousands of pounds for various charities. One particularly pleasing aspect is the number of entries with addresses outside the province, i.e. Great Britain 400, Republic of Ireland 300, Europe 20 and USA 13. Clearly the simple pursuit of running at whatever level has captured the imagination of thousands both locally and abroad. Let’s hope that this Belfast extravaganza can long continue to meet these needs! The 2008 Deep RiverRock Belfast City Marathon is sponsored by Belfast City Council, Sport Northern Ireland, Up and Running, New Balance, Reach EPS, Tayto, Translink, Eventsec and Isaac Agnew. Official broadcast partner is U105 and accommodation provider is Premier Inn, which celebrates the first anniversary of opening its first Belfast hotel on the eve of the Marathon. The 2008 Deep RiverRock Belfast City Marathon is organized by Belfast City Marathon Ltd., in partnership with Belfast City Council, Athletics Northern Ireland, Newtownabbey Borough Council, the PSNI, the Department for Regional Development, Sustrans and Translink. The official charity of the 2008 Deep RiverRock Belfast City Marathon is the British Red Cross, which is celebrating its centenary this year. The Athletics Northern Ireland Office are again submitting a team after their success last year. Their 2007 team- "An Office and a Gentleman" finished in an incredible 31st place in a time of 3.08.25. The team is made of athletes and non-athletes again and are hoping to do just as well on Monday. Athletics NI challenged the other athletic federations across Britain. The Welsh were the only team to take up the challenge this year- the rest must be afraid of the opposition! In 2007 UK:A and Wales sent over a team and both finished in the top 20. UK were an amazing 9th overall in a time of 2.37.34 and Wales were 18th with a time of 2.59.02. Team Athletics NI: 1st leg: Heather Martin (Development Officer) 2nd leg: Clare Houston (Admin Manager) 3rd leg: David Reid (Coach) 4th leg: Kerry Harty (Development Officer) 5th leg: Clare McCoy (Marketing/PR) Best of luck is also extended to Regional Development Officer for the Greater Belfast area, competing in her second Belfast City Marathon. Two years ago Heather Martin was third Northern Ireland finisher. Marathon Office: Tel: 028 90605922 or visit www.belfastcitymarathon.com 
