Fearghal Curtin has broken the Irish marathon record
Fearghal Curtin smashed the Irish marathon record as he stormed to victory at the Gyeongju International Marathon in South Korea on Saturday, clocking 2:07:54.
The Youghal native came home well clear of Ethiopia’s Antenayehu Dagnachew Yisma (2:10:33) and Kenya’s Stanley Kiprotich Bett (2:11:07) to record the first marathon win of his career.
His run obliterated the previous Irish record of 2:09:36, set by Peter Lynch in April at the Düsseldorf Marathon. Curtin made his marathon debut at that race, clocking 2:11.35. He ran a negatively split race in South Korea today, going through 20km in 61:34 and 30km in 1:31:33.
The signs of a breakthrough marathon had been coming, the 27-year-old smashing the Irish half marathon record back in September, clocking 1:00:22 in Copenhagen.
Curtin, who was running in the green and white vest of Youghal AC, had spent three years at Arizona State University and also had stints at Charleston Southern and Florida State while in the NCAA system, then later in Cardiff before relocating to his more recent base in Portugal.
He trained at altitude in Flagstaff, Arizona, over the summer and he still juggles part-time work, but his breakthrough run should see him given all the backing he needs to commit to running full time on the path to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. He will next turn his attention to the Singapore Marathon in early December.