Mark Kenneally represented Ireland in the men’s marathon at the 2012 London Olympic Games, finishing 57th in a time of 2:21:13.

From Celbridge, Co. Kildare, Kenneally is a member of Clonliffe Harriers and came to marathon running relatively late, having spent most of his career as a track and cross country runner. He began as a law student at UCD before graduating from Trinity College Dublin in 2006 with a degree in physiotherapy, and was completing a PhD in exercise physiology at the time of the Games. It was testing at Trinity’s Human Performance Lab that persuaded him to try the marathon, and he took to it immediately – running 2:17:22 on his debut in Vienna in April 2011 before breaking the Olympic A standard of 2:15:00 at the Amsterdam Marathon in October 2011 with a personal best of 2:13:55, becoming the first Irish male to qualify for London.

He was coached by Mark Carroll, a former Irish record holder. A two-time national champion – in cross country in 2010 and the 10,000 metres – his highest individual championship result was 8th at the 2009 European Cross Country Championships in Dublin, Ireland’s best ever result in that event.