Cherono wins in Dublin

Gary Crossan was the first Irishman to finish

Frederick Cherono beat off competition from more than 8,000 runners to win the Dublin City Marathon on Monday.

Supporters from across the world gathered at the finish line in Merrion Square to see the 23-year-old Kenyan complete only the third marathon of his life.

The women's record for the course was broken by 29-year-old Russian Lidia Vassilevskaia.

Some 3,200 Irish and 5,000 international runners passed through Phoenix Park, O'Connell Street and O'Connell Bridge in the 23rd running of the race.

Lidia Vassilevskaia won the women's race

Winner Chereno achieved a personal best time of 2:14:23.

"I felt strong all the way and started picking them off at 19 or 20 miles," he said.

"I was so happy, it was not very difficult. This is my fastest marathon now."

Second in the men's race was Kenyan Luka Cherono in second place with last year's winner South African Zacharia Mpolokeng in third.

Vassilevskaia shatered the women's record with her time of 2 hrs 32 mins and 56 secs.

She was followed by Kenyan Anne Jelegat Kibor in second place and Pole Grazyna Syrek in third position.

Both winners of the men's and women's races take home 15,000 euros (£9,447).

The first Irish runner to cross the finish line was Gary Crossan, who came in 10th with a time of 2:20:16, while Ann Lennon was the first Irish woman home in 2:46:18. Winner of the wheelchair race was Scotland's Kenny Herriot, who crossed the line in 1:52:48.