Average marathon times in Ireland in 2024
This report is a follow-up article after the report published by Marathon Coach Online on the average marathon times in Ireland in 2022 and in 2023. The aim of this report is to provide an overview of the marathons that took place in Ireland in 2024, the average finishing times for men and women and the factors that influenced the performance of the runners.
Marathons in Ireland in 2023
There were 18 marathons in Ireland in 2024, covering various locations, terrains, and seasons. The table below summarizes the main information about each marathon, including the date, location, distance, elevation, and number of participants.
| Date | Marathon 2024 | Location | Participants | size |
| 09/03/2024 | Tralee marathon | Tralee | 169 | 1% |
| 13/04/2024 | Wesport Marathon | Wesport | 276 | 1% |
| 21/04/2024 | Connemarathon | Leenaun / Maam cross | 542 | 2% |
| 05/05/2024 | Belfast Marathon | Belfast | 4,381 | 15% |
| 05/05/2024 | Limerick Marathon | Limerick | 1,161 | 4% |
| 18/05/2024 | Lap of the gap | Laragh, Wicklow | 165 | 1% |
| 25/05/2024 | Clare Burren Marathon | Ballyvaughan, Co Clare | 182 | 1% |
| 02/06/2024 | Cork Marathon | Cork | 1,855 | 7% |
| 08/06/2024 | Portumna | Portumna | 62 | 0% |
| 23/06/2024 | Waterford Marathon | Waterford | 400 | 1% |
| 25/08/2024 | Longford Marathon | Longford | 249 | 1% |
| 07/09/2024 | Dingle Marathon | Dingle | 718 | 3% |
| 14/09/2024 | Kilkenny medieval marathon | Kilkenny | 150 | 1% |
| 05/10/2024 | Galway Bay | Galway | 452 | 2% |
| 27/10/2024 | Dublin Marathon | Dublin | 17,741 | 62% |
The total number of marathon runners in Ireland in 2024 was 28,503, which was a 11% increase from the previous year (25,594).
8,099 Women (28%) and and 20,242 men (71%) ran a marathon in Ireland in 2024.
The most popular marathon was the Irish Life Dublin Marathon, which sold out months ago and had a capacity of 25,000 entries, but only 17,741 runners finished the race (18,091 crossed the start line).
The least popular marathon was the Portumna Marathon, which had only 62 participants.
Average finishing times for men and women
The average marathon finishing time in Ireland in 2024 was:
4:13′
It was a slight improvement from the previous year (4:14′).
The average finishing time in 2024 for women was 4:34′, and for men was 4:05′.
Fastest Irish marathon runners
In fact, the fastest Irish runners did not compete only in Ireland in 2024:
– Fionnuala MCCORMACK ran in 2:23’46” in Valencia, Spain.
– Hiko Tonosa HASO ran 2:09’42” in Dublin.
In the women fastest marathon runners, we find 2 athletes from Galway City Harriers:
| Place IAAF | Competitor | Time | Marathon | Score |
| 1 | Fionnuala MCCORMACK | 02:23:46 | Valencia | 1194 |
| 2 | Ann-Marie MCGLYNN | 02:34:05 | Dublin | 1137 |
| 3 | Emily HAGGARD-KEARNEY | 02:35:55 | Valencia | 1094 |
| 5 | Grace LYNCH | 02:36:09 | IRL | 1063 |
| 4 | Gladys GANIEL | 02:39:11 | Dublin | 1083 |
| 6 | Catriona JENNINGS | 02:40:31 | Dublin | 1024 |
| 7 | Caitlin HARVEY | 02:42:03 | Dublin | 1018 |
| 8 | Nichola SHERIDAN | 02:42:31 | Valencia | 1016 |
| 9 | Kate PURCELL | 02:43:03 | Dublin | 992 |
| 10 | Ciara WILSON | 02:45:03 | Dublin | 989 |
| 12 | Niamh MOORE | 02:45:23 | Dublin | 979 |
| 14 | Barbara CLEARY | 02:46:21 | Valencia | 955 |
| 11 | Meghan RYAN | 02:50:48 | Sevilla | 981 |
| 13 | Rachel BIRT | 02:51:33 | Dublin | 955 |
| 15 | Jennifer ELVIN | 02:51:52 | Frankfurt | 931 |
| … | ||||
| 25 | Neasa DE BURCA | 02:57:06 | Valencia | 885 |
| … | ||||
| 30 | Grainne UALLACHAIN | 02:58:30 | Dublin | 862 |
The top Irish marathon runners, with the fastest GCH athlete at the 41st place :
| Place IAAF | Competitor | Time | Marathon | Score |
| 1 | Hiko Tonosa HASO | 02:09:42 | Dublin | 1151 |
| 5 | Hugh ARMSTRONG | 02:13:24 | Hamburg | 1062 |
| 2 | Ryan CREECH | 02:13:49 | Dublin | 1130 |
| 4 | William MAUNSELL | 02:14:23 | Dublin | 1073 |
| 6 | David MCGLYNN | 02:15:26 | Dublin | 1044 |
| 3 | Stephen SCULLION | 02:16:04 | London | 1118 |
| 7 | Conor DUFFY | 02:21:14 | Dublin | 1017 |
| 10 | Gerry FORDE | 02:21:26 | Dublin | 964 |
| 11 | Michael FOX | 02:21:37 | Dublin | 959 |
| 9 | Kyle DOHERTY | 02:22:35 | Dublin | 965 |
| 13 | Conor MCCAULEY | 02:23:37 | Sevilla | 935 |
| 12 | Sean RENFER | 02:24:00 | Berlin | 946 |
| 15 | Gary O’HANLON | 02:24:18 | Sevilla | 925 |
| 14 | Kane COLLINS | 02:24:19 | Berlin | 935 |
| 16 | Raymond HYNES | 02:25:40 | IRL | 912 |
| … | | | | |
| 41 | James ELGAR | 02:27:50 | Valencia | 843 |
Fastest marathon ran in Ireland
If we look only at the marathon ran in Ireland, we have the top 10 finishers :
| Position | Name | Club | Chip Time | Marathon |
| 30 | Asmirach Nega | 02:24:12 | Dublin | |
| 35 | Sorome Negash | 02:24:43 | Dublin | |
| 50 | Grete Dukale | 02:28:27 | Dublin | |
| 57 | Genet Abdurkadir | 02:29:14 | Dublin | |
| 69 | Gladys Jemiyo | 02:31:25 | Dublin | |
| 88 | Ann-Marie Mc Glynn | LETTERKENNY A.C. | 02:34:04 | Dublin |
| 101 | Beatrice JEPKEMEI | 02:35:03 | Belfast | |
| 108 | Lalla AZIZA ALAOUI SELSOULI | 02:35:20 | Belfast | |
| 112 | Irene Jeroben | 02:35:35 | Dublin | |
| 119 | Aoife Kilgallon | SLIGO A.C. | 02:35:56 | Dublin |
Thanks to Richard Peyton for this great photo montage with the top 20 ladies in Dublin Marathon 2024:
For the male, the fastest marathon runners ran in Dublin:
| Position | Name | Club | Chip Time | Marathon |
| 1 | Moses Kemei | 02:08:47 | Dublin | |
| 2 | Abebaw Desalew | 02:09:23 | Dublin | |
| 3 | Hiko Tonosa | DUNDRUM SOUTH DUBLIN A.C. | 02:09:41 | Dublin |
| 4 | Abraraw Misganaw | 02:09:44 | Dublin | |
| 5 | Hillary Kipsambu | 02:10:52 | Dublin | |
| 6 | Josphat Gisemo | 02:11:44 | Dublin | |
| 7 | Ashenafi Negese | 02:11:54 | Dublin | |
| 8 | Abel Chebet | 02:11:59 | Dublin | |
| 9 | Ryan Creech | LEEVALE A.C. | 02:13:48 | Dublin |
| 10 | William Maunsell | CLONMEL A.C. | 02:14:22 | Dublin |
The Galway City Harriers team 2024 in Valencia :
Galway City Harriers marathon runners
In 2024, the athletes of the Galway City Harriers club ran internationally and in Ireland. The average time for the GCH athletes was 3:19′ in 2024 (3:41′ for Women and 3:10′ for Men).
An outstanding result was the victory in Dingle Marathon by Niamh O’Riordan
We had the following results :
Analyse by time
Looking at the women results (8,099 women), only 0.7% finished an Irish marathon sub 3hours. It is a 15% increase versus 2023!
| Time | number of women runner | percentage |
| sub 2h30 | 4 | 0.05% |
| sub 3h00 | 56 | 0.69% |
| sub 3h30 | 498 | 6% |
| sub 4h00 | 2,118 | 26% |
| sub 4h30 | 4,245 | 52% |
| sub 5h00 | 6,059 | 75% |
| sub 5h30 | 7,088 | 88% |
| sub 6h00 | 7,635 | 94% |
For men (20,242 men), 6% finished the marathon sub 3hours in Ireland.
| Time | number of male runner | percentage |
| sub 2h30 | 58 | 0.29% |
| sub 3h00 | 1,254 | 6% |
| sub 3h30 | 4,688 | 23% |
| sub 4h00 | 10,606 | 52% |
| sub 4h30 | 15,175 | 75% |
| sub 5h00 | 18,092 | 89% |
| sub 5h30 | 19,349 | 96% |
| sub 6h00 | 19,981 | 99% |
It may be easier to visualyse the finishing times on this chart:
Analysis by Age group
This analysis is very interesting for older runners like me and is looking at the times by age group. Starting with the women :
| Category | Min | Average | Max | Nr of finishers |
| FS | 02:24:43 | 04:32:31 | 08:38:51 | 2,893 |
| F35 | 02:35:20 | 04:27:13 | 07:10:35 | 998 |
| F40 | 02:24:12 | 04:26:08 | 08:25:48 | 1,393 |
| F45 | 02:39:09 | 04:31:31 | 07:29:04 | 1,307 |
| F50 | 02:57:34 | 04:42:13 | 07:47:56 | 801 |
| F55 | 03:09:58 | 04:53:40 | 07:26:53 | 447 |
| F60 | 03:14:44 | 05:01:46 | 07:32:13 | 169 |
| F65 | 03:23:55 | 05:18:39 | 07:07:18 | 60 |
| F70 | 04:10:57 | 05:58:37 | 06:58:52 | 24 |
| F75 | 06:25:01 | 06:51:12 | 07:17:19 | 4 |
| F80 | 06:46:49 | 07:10:12 | 07:28:56 | 3 |
| Women | 02:24:12 | 04:34:04 | 08:38:51 | 8,099 |
Looking now at the results by age group, men results in 2024 were :
| Category | Min | Average | Max | Nr of finishers |
| MS | 02:08:47 | 04:07:03 | 08:38:52 | 7,058 |
| M35 | 02:09:44 | 03:57:56 | 07:26:33 | 3,262 |
| M40 | 02:21:49 | 03:56:51 | 08:20:09 | 3,300 |
| M45 | 02:26:49 | 03:59:21 | 07:35:26 | 2,988 |
| M50 | 02:34:34 | 04:09:05 | 08:45:07 | 1,838 |
| M55 | 02:39:40 | 04:20:42 | 07:38:36 | 1,027 |
| M60 | 02:36:37 | 04:35:43 | 07:27:01 | 485 |
| M65 | 02:58:57 | 04:53:55 | 09:01:38 | 194 |
| M70 | 03:38:25 | 05:30:34 | 07:16:42 | 65 |
| M75 | 04:06:20 | 05:45:52 | 07:32:23 | 17 |
| M80 | 04:54:26 | 06:12:29 | 08:14:34 | 8 |
| Men in Ireland | 02:08:47 | 04:05:11 | 09:01:38 | 20,242 |
My own 2024 marathon
In 2024, I came back to race three marathon, in Limerick, in Paris for the Olympics (open race) and Valencia. I ran my fastest in Limerick marathon in 2h55’32”.
– It was the 758th time overall in Ireland in 2024 (top 2%)
Fastest marathon worldwide
In the world the fastest Marathon runners in 2024 were :
Women 2024 top list
| Time | Competitor | Event List |
| 2:09:56 | Ruth CHEPNGETICH | chicago marathon |
| 2:15:55 | Sutume Asefa KEBEDE | Tokyo |
| 2:16:49 | Megertu ALEMU | Valencia |
| 2:18:51 | Workenesh EDESA | Osaka |
| 2:22:37 | Hellen OBIRI | Boston |
| 2:22:55 | Sifan HASSAN | Paris Olympics |
| 2:22:58 | Tigst ASSEFA | Paris Olympics |
Men 2024 top list
| Time | Competitor | Event List |
| 2:02:16 | Benson KIPRUTO | Tokyo |
| 2:02:05 | Sabastian Kimaru SAWE | Valencia |
| 2:02:38 | Deresa GELETA | Valencia |
| 2:02:44 | John KORIR | Chicago |
| 2:03:17 | Milkesa MENGESHA | Berlin |
More details from World Athletics on their article.
Conclusion
If you want to improve your marathon performance, run your first marathon or change your training plan, contact me and I can prepare your dedicated training plan.
What was your marathon time in 2024, was it faster than my 2h55’32”? Was it faster than the average marathon time in Ireland (4h13′)?
I will train for a faster marathon in 2025, I hope to see you on the finih line…