DUBLIN MARATHON 2014

TONY JOINS “SUB” 3 HOUR CLUB

Kilmarnock Harrier athlete Tony Rodden saw months of rapid improvement come to a head on the last Monday in October  in Dublin, as his big target came real in the City’s annual Marathon. Tony has smashed his lifetime bests in all distances in 2014 and in London he took almost 30 minutes off of his previous Marathon time by running 3.08 to not unrealistically set himself up for a crack at getting below the magical 3 hour barrier later on in the year.

Last month in Berlin he was disappointed with his run, although in clocking 3 hours and 17 minutes it was a measure of his improvement that he had still easily ran his second fastest Marathon so he decided to have another bash at the 26.2 miles in Dublin with little recovery.

Being in the shape of his life, Tony ran a very sensible race by staying just ahead of the sub 3 hour pacemaker and in a brilliantly paced first half of the run he was bang on target by passing this point in 1.29. Roared on by magnificent support throughout the City he found the last miles tough as everyone does at this point in a Marathon, but dug in gamely and as the clock stopped in 2 hours and 59 minutes he was over the moon to join the ever growing number of Kilmarnock Harriers who have ran below 3 hours, including John Cairns, Stuart Murdoch and David McCleod.

Hats off to him, and with further improvements to come Tony deservedly enjoyed the rest of his time over the Irish Sea.