Average marathon times in Ireland in 2023

Average marathon times in Ireland in 2023

This report is a follow-up article after the report published by Marathon Coach Online on the average marathon times in Ireland in 2022. The aim of this report is to provide an overview of the marathons that took place in Ireland in 2023, 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 2023, 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.

The total number of marathon runners in Ireland in 2023 was 25,594, which was a 16% increase from the previous year (22,000). 7,454 Women (29%) and and 18,119 men (71%) ran a marathon in Ireland in 2023 . The most popular marathon was the Irish Life Dublin Marathon, which sold out months ago and had a capacity of 22,500 entries, but only 16,413 runners finished the race. The least popular marathon was the Roscommon Marathon, which had only 53 participants.

Average finishing times for men and women

The average marathon finishing time in Ireland in 2023 was:

4:14′

It was a slight improvement from the previous year (4:16′).

The average finishing time for women was 4:36′, and for men was 4:05′.

Fastest Irish marathon runners

In fact, the fastest Irish runners did not compete only in Ireland in 2023:
– Fionnuala MCCORMACK ran in 2:26’19” in Valencia, Spain.
– Stephen SCULLION ran 2:11’51” in Dublin.

In the women fastest marathon runners, we find 2 athletes from Galway City Harriers:

The top Irish marathon runners :

Fastest marathon ran in Ireland

If we look only at the marathon ran in Ireland, we have the top 10 finishers :

Thanks to Richard Peyton for this great photo montage with the top 10 ladies in Dublin Marathon 2023:

For the male, the fastest marathon runners ran in Dublin:

The Galway City Harriers team 2023 :

Galway City Harriers marathon runners

In 2023, the athletes of the Galway City Harriers club ran internationally and in Ireland. The average time for the GCH athletes was 3:26′ in 2023 (3:43′ for Women and 3:16′ for Men).

We had the following results :

Analyse by time

Looking at the women results (7,454 women), only 0.6% finished an Irish marathon sub 3hours. The results are very similar than the 2022 results.

For men (18,119 men), 6% finished the marathon sub 3hours in Ireland.

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 :

Looking now at the results by age group, men results in 2023 were :

My own 2023 marathon

In 2023, I came back to race half-marathons and one marathon, in Limerick. I struggled after 30km but was happy to race again sub 3 hours. I ran this marathon in 2h51’38”. With this result I placed in the top 3% in Limerick :
– It was the 458th time overall in Ireland in 2023 (top 2%)
– 2h51’38” was the 440th male time (top 3%)
– It was the 70th time in the M45 category (top 3%)

Fastest marathon worldwide

In the world the fastest Marathon runners in 2023 were :

Women 2023 top list

Men 2023 top list

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 2023, was it faster than my 2h51’38”? Was it faster than the average marathon time in Ireland (4h14′)?

I will train for a faster marathon in 2024, I hope to see you on the finih line…