Killian Mooney and Meghan Ryan of Dundrum South Dublin AC reached the podium of the national marathon championships for the first time at the 2026 Irish Life Dublin Marathon.
Photo by Sam Barnes/Sportsfile
Mooney (pictured above) was second in the men’s race with a personal best of 2:15:44, while Ryan was third in in the women’s race in 2:40:47.
The milestone edition of the event saw a record number of finishers, surpassing the 18,500 recorded last year, while hundreds of thousands of supporters came out in force through windy conditions bringing the streets of the capital to life.
Mooney was taking part in his second competitive marathon and Dublin debut, but despite this and tough conditions, he looked calm and collected, crossing the finish line two minutes faster than his previous personal best and ninth overall.
Mooney felt he had to race strategically at times to achieve that.
“I was probably targeting top three in nationals, so that was in the back of my mind, and overall I’m happy.”
“There were a lot of decisions that I had to make in the first 10-15k, I probably expended a lot more energy than I wanted to. I was concerned about going too hard and probably bigged up the conditions a lot in my head.
“I found myself gapped quite a few times in Phoenix Park or else Chapelizod and Lucan, and each time I just had to make a decision to pull it back,” said Mooney.
The 31-year-old was engaged in a close battle with Hugh Armstrong (Ballina AC), Stephen McCauley (Letterkenny AC) and Jake O’Regan (St.John’s AC), but in the end they separated and Armstrong made a decisive move to win the men’s national title in 2:14:51. McCauley finished a minute after Mooney to claim third in 2:16:37.
“It was myself, Hugh, Jake and Stephen, and I was conscious that it would be nice to get a gap on one of them around Kilmainham and I went with Hugh.
“Hugh then made the decisive break around 22 miles, and I hung on as much as I could.”
Mooney’s clubmate Meghan Ryan (pictured above) also earned a first national podium place of her career after narrowly missing out in the 2025 Irish Life Dublin Marathon, and crossed the line as the 12th woman overall.
Ryan was behind national winner Judith Storm, (City of Derry Spartans) who clocked 2:35:46 and runner-up Sorcha Nic Dhomhnaill (West Limerick AC) who followed closely in 2:35:58.
“I’m delighted with that. I thought that third place was mine to lose,” said Ryan.
“I’m usually very focused on the time, but I feel that Dublin is so special, it’s really different. I’ve plenty of time and plenty more marathons to chase times, but getting that national medal was really important to me,” she added.
The 32-year-old has two track titles but is making real progress on the roads and a habit of reaching the podium.
She also won the 2026 Irish Life Dublin Half Marathon back in September.
“This is my fourth marathon overall, but it’s great, all my family and friends were out there, and I’m in DSD and having all that support from the club is so nice, especially after 30k when all my supporters seem to come out.
“I’ve been running for 20 years now, but I think I have a lot more room to improve in the marathon.
“It’s what I’ve always wanted to do, so I hope I have plenty more in me.”
In the battle for overall honours, Abay Alemu Lesa won the men’s race in 2:10:28, marking a season’s best for the youngest international in the men’s field (22). Zenebu Fikdau Jebesa (Ethiopia) took the overall honours in the women’s race, finishing with a 17 second personal best of 2:24:26.