DUBLINER MICK CLOHISEY finished 22nd in the IAAF World Championships men’s marathon in London earlier today with a season’s best.
Clohisey finished on 2:16:21, with Kilkishen runner Sean Hehir, winner of the Dublin City Marathon in 2013, finishing in 63rd place with 2:27:33.
“I’m happy with the placing, the main aim here was to come and get as high a placing as I could in the Championships,” Clohisey said afterwards.
“I came through well, went out at a nice decent pace, 67ish through halfway which is bang on, and then probably slowed a little bit.
“I was happy I picked off a fair few guys and finished strong, which is good because in my last two performances in Rio, and London in April, things didn’t go to plan.
“It’s positive to see myself able to get back on track.”
The 31-year-old finished 103rd in the Rio Olympics last year, with a time of 2:26.34 after a swollen blister in the weeks building up to the Games hampered his preparations.
He said today’s was a nice route which he enjoyed, with the large Irish support present in London a big boost throughout the marathon.
“The sun was out and there was a nice breeze which kept us a bit cool. There were nice shaded stretches on the course. All in all it was a good course and the Irish support out there was brilliant, it was like running in a home town.
“It was incredible going through certain parts of the course. There was Irish from all over, so it was great.
“With four laps it was a bit different, but what I like about that was that you got to know the course and there were certain parts that you would look forward to. You had the parts you didn’t really enjoy and then there were nice stretches where I could get into my rhythm.
The long distance runner completed the city course by finishing over London Bridge, afterwards saying he had no immediate plans to take part in the Dublin City Marathon later this year.
“It was an enjoyable course and a great finish going over the bridge.
“I’ll take a break, I’m not really sure marathon-wise with Dublin. I haven’t planned it but likely I’ll just aim for cross-country and then we’ll see what happens from there.”
- Reporting from Will Downing in London
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Fantastic run,well done Mick
The Irish flags stood out around the course. Also the big Tullamore Harriers sign.
No medal for 22 place
@Aidan O: How fast do you run the marathon?
@Aidan O: Definitely no medals for sitting on your hole typing snide comments.
@Aidan O: no, but hitting a seasons best time is all you can ask of an athlete in a major championship. Shows they’ve left everything on the track…
#WalkAMileInTheirShoes
@Aidan O: how much is your grant aidan