Kenyan wins Belfast Marathon

The marathon was started in the centre of Belfast

Kenyan Lezan Kimutai has won the Belfast Marathon in a time of 2:19:09.

It was the fastest marathon time in Belfast since Marty Deane set the record over the old marathon course in 1985.

Another Kenyan, Geoffrey Kinyva, was second behind Kimutai, who also won the Laganside 10k race in Belfast in April.

The first Northern Ireland runner home was Willowfield's David Simpson who ran a time of 2:29.36 in his first marathon.

Scotland's Trudi Thomson retained the women's title by achieving her third marathon win in Belfast in a time of 2:45.48.

More than 11,000 people took part in the race with many relay teams expected to raise hundreds of thousands of pounds for charity.

Bringing the marathon start into the city centre is a hugely positive step forward, not only for the marathon itself, but for the city of Belfast

Danny O'Connor
Organising Committee

For the first time, the marathon started from Belfast City Hall at 0930 BST on the Mayday Bank Holiday.

The associated wheelchair marathon, team relay and marathon walk got under way at the same time as the main event.

Runners started with a lap of City Hall, leaving Donegall Square into Howard Street, College Square East and Wellington Place, back into Donegall Square North.

From there, the course took runners along Donegall Place, Royal Avenue and York Street, where it rejoined the old course at the junction of Great Patrick Street.

'Step forward'

"This is perhaps the most significant development in the history of the Belfast City Marathon," said Danny O'Connor, chairman of the marathon organising committee.

"Bringing the marathon start into the city centre is a hugely positive step forward, not only for the marathon itself, but for the city of Belfast as a whole."

A US Marine officer ran the full course to raise money to help the families of the Omagh bombing in their civil action against those they believe responsible.

The 1998 Real IRA attack killed 29 people, including a woman seven months pregnant with twins.

Captain Mike Hudson said he wanted to help because the people of Omagh had been the first to offer their sympathy after the September 11 terror attacks in the US.

"There were so many messages of support from the Omagh people and this is one way that I can repay them," he said.

Michael Gallagher, who lost his son in the bombing, said: "This is a wonderful gesture by Mike. The money he will raise is coming at a critical time for us and we are extremely grateful to Mike for doing this."