The big Irish performance of the day at the Dublin Marathon belonged to Linda Byrne who achieved the London 2012 Olympic standard running 2:36.21 ( standard is 2:37 )
This was the highlight performance of twenty five year old Linda Byrne’s athletic career to date and the DSD runner ran a well-planned race where good pace judgement played a central role.
Last year Byrne ran seventeen miles of the Dublin Marathon, to get a feel for the event, but by year end illness forced her to take a lengthy break from training. “I had a low blood count and some stomach problems and it was only last May that I got back into full training for the marathon,” Byrne said.
The DSD runner, who is a graduate of Dublin City University, had shown a lot of promise through Junior and Under 23 ranks, but her career took a dip after that. “I lost a bit of confidence for a while, but I have had great support from my family and friends and also my coach, Enda Fitzpatrick” she said.
Byrne ran a sensibly paced race and only found the going really tough in the final six miles. “The crowd support along the marathon route was brilliant and it was only after 20 miles that I began to really feel the pressure,” she said.
