Efrem Gidey, an Irish long-distance runner, significantly bettered his personal record by more than three minutes at a half-marathon in Copenhagen, registering a new Irish record with a time of 1:00:51. This surpassed the previous record of 1:00:57 established by Martin Fagan in 2009. The Copenhagen race boasted some of the finest distance runners globally, with Olympic 5,000m gold medallist Jakob Ingebrigtsen participating. However, it was Kenya’s Sabastian Sawe who emerged victorious, clocking in at 58:05. Gidey, who is 24 years of age, secured the 15th place.
Fagan’s former record was achieved in The Hague, and remarkably it retained its merit despite his testing positive for the prohibited drug EPO in 2011. Gidey showed his prowess by passing the first 5km mark in 14:16, reaching 10km at 28:43. His new record marks his successful transition from track running, which was his focus this summer, to road racing. Previously, he recorded a time of 1:04:03 at last year’s Great North Run in Newcastle, where he came fifth — his best half-marathon result at the time.
Gidey, originally from Eritrea, sought asylum status in 2017 and was granted Irish citizenship in 2019. Shortly afterward, he secured a bronze medal in the under-20 category at the European Cross-Country in Lisbon, a race won by Ingebrigtsen. Notably, Ingebrigtsen, having won the 1,500m at the Diamond League final in Brussels, ran in the Copenhagen marathon, but after a promising start, he slowed and came in 34th with a time of 1:03:13.
On a different note, Hugh Armstrong and Shona Heaslip emerged as national half-marathon champions at the fully-subscribed Charleville Half-Marathon in Cork. Armstrong, a runner for Ballina AC, clinched the victory with a time of 1:04:35, closely trailed by previous champion Ryan Creech, who finished second with 1:04:54. Coming in third was Eoghan Totten, with 1:05:56.
Heaslip, a member of An Riocht AC in Castleisland, triumphed in the women’s marathon, clocking 1:10:57, thereby pocketing the half-marathon crown in addition to her 10k road championship clinched earlier this year. Grace Lynch of Dundrum South Dublin A.C secured consecutive national road titles after winning the 10-mile run earlier in the year. Registering a timing of 1:15:38, Lynch concluded ahead of Ciara Wilson of D.M.P AC.