Peter Lynch (Kilkenny City Harriers) has obliterated the Irish marathon record in London, clocking a time of 2:06:08.
The 28-year-old crossed the line in ninth place and was the first European finisher, taking over three minutes off his previous best (2:09:36) which was set in April 2025 in the process. Lynch’s time takes nearly two minutes off the national record set by Fearghal Curtin (2:07:54) in October of last year.
The performance is an enormous breakthrough for the Kilkenny man who is coached by former Irish 5000m and 10,000m record holder Alistair Cragg as part of the PUMA Elite Running Team in North Carolina.
Lynch finished 24th in the marathon at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Japan last year and has now comfortably qualified for this summer’s European Athletics Championships in Birmingham.
Throughout the race he looked strong, going through the halfway point with a large group in 1:03:14, before he gradually picked off athletes in the closing miles. At 35k he had moved up to 12th and continued to pass runners on his way to a remarkable top ten finish.
History was made in the race as the two-hour barrier was broken for the first time in legal conditions. Sabastian Sawe (Kenya) took victory in 1:59:30 ahead of Yomif Kejelcha (Ethiopia) who ran 1:59:41 for second.
