Far from a damp squib, Longford's friendly marathon makes a splash

As the dust settles on the 20th anniversary of the Abbott Longford Marathon the team making it possible have already turning their attention to the next race.

“All of the committee and volunteers are out picking up litter today,” organiser Fiona Fenelon told the Leader, “We have to make sure everything is back as it was. It's very clean. I have to compliment all the volunteers who worked on the water stations. People came out and picked up the rubbish, there is very little for us to do now.”

The marathon is the culmination of a year's work. The day of the race is quite intense for all involved in making it possible: “We were out from 6am on Sunday to 5pm. There is so much preparation beforehand, but there is a lot to do to wrap things up. We have to thank all the volunteers. They came out in force yesterday,” Fiona said.

In the last two decades Longford Marathon's friendly reputation has drawn people to the town. Making that possible has been the cooperation of the organisers, the local authority, sponsors and the Gardaí: “The Guards were fantastic. We have such positive feedback about them.
“They were not only doing their duty, but also encouraging people on their run. We really ramped up safety measures this year. We have been liaising with Gardaí for months on the plan. We worked together with Garda Gerry Newton on an enhanced stop-go system to ensure everything was as safe as possible.”

Although one participant described it as “one of the wettest events since its inception in 2002”, the runners seemed to appreciate the conditions: “The weather was brilliant for the runners. Many runners liked the little drizzle. We've had Longford marathon on very hot days, but Sunday was perfect for running. People ike to watch in the sunshine, but in fairness to the supporters they put on their raincoats and brought out the umbrellas,” the event organiser said.

Fiona commended members of the public who braved the damp to cheer on those pounding the roads: “There was great support for the runners. We had music on the roads and in the villages. Lots of people had tables with drinks and sweets laid out. That's what makes us stand out from the big city marathons. It's very friendly, participants get a great welcome in Longford. We got very positive feedback.”

The longevity of the Abbott Longford Marathon is in no small part down to the support it received over the years: “Our current main sponsor, Abbott, are fantastic. We worked as one big team last weekend. Abbott had loads of people who partook in the race, but also as volunteers. There were around 60 volunteers who worked at the drink stations, stewarding, and taking care of goodie bags.
“We are thankful to all the other businesses who supported us. Without that support the marathon would not be here. It's great to see the support from business in these tough times. We have to say thank you so much to them.”

Fiona says the success of the event allows them to support a very worthy cause: “It's great to be able to help out our charity partners, St Christopher's, and see them benefiting from something that's good for the entire county.” In addition to the 42.25K marathon, the day included a variety of distance events including: Abbott Streets of Longford 5k; Half Marathon; Ultra Marathon; and the Abbott Marathon Relay. The first to finish the full marathon was Dermot Gorman in a time of 02:29:54, while the first female across the line was Deirdre Martin with a time of 03:01:07.

Half marathon winner Barry Sheil crossed the tape in a time of 01:10:26, while Adrianna Mulligan's half marathon time of 01:22:04 made her the fastest female.
The ultra marathon winner was Alastair Higgins in a time of 04:30:41, the fastest female Ultra runner was Patricia Mc Loughlin in 05:28:26.

First to break the tape was 5k runner Rian McCaffrey with a time of 00:18:22 while Leia Valentine clocked 00:21:19 to make her the fastest female 5k runner. The relay was won by Team Happy Feet in a time of 02:47:42.