Hugh Armstrong inspired by Mayo GAA stars as he lands Irish men’s marathon title

With no fear of any exaggeration, Hugh Armstrong traces his decisive moment in Sunday’s Irish Life Dublin Marathon straight back to Mayo winning the All-Ireland football title in Croke Park last July.

On a day when fast times and perhaps some higher finishing positions were blown off course, Armstrong delivered on the promise he made to himself when his native county ended their 75-year wait for the All-Ireland, as he won the Irish national marathon title which goes to the top men’s and women’s finishers in Dublin.

The 32-year-old from Ballina made his marathon debut in Dublin seven years ago, finishing third best Irishman. Thoroughly reinspired this time, he judged his effort to perfection to finish in 2:14:51, eighth best overall, just one place ahead of Killian Mooney, who had matched him stride-for-stride for long stages, before finishing in 2:15:44.

“I was at the match when Mayo won, and honest to God, I thought to myself that day, I’ll try go out now and win my cup as well,” said Armstrong, who had played some underage football with Knockmore before winning his first senior running title as national half-marathon champion two years ago.

“Obviously that was a great day for Mayo, and we were all out celebrating and everything, but that was the day I decided I’m going to win my national title as well.”

He also attended secondary school in Crossmolina with the likes of current Mayo footballer Conor Loftus, the same school Kobe McDonald attended some years later.

Mooney was nonetheless satisfied with finishing second best Irishman, the 31-year-old from Dundrum South Dublin making the national podium for the first time. Stephen McAuley from Letterkenny AC was also content with his hard-fought bronze medal, finishing in 2:16:37, good enough for 10^th best overall.

With Ethiopian runners ultimately dominating the elite international races – Abay Alemu Lesa and Zenebu Fikadu taking the top men’s and women’s prizes of €15,000 – the race for the first Irish women’s finisher was only decided inside the last 400m, when Judith Storm finally reeled in long-time leader Sorcha Nic Dhómhnaill.

In contrast to Armstrong, Storm only took up competitive running four years ago, the 39-year-old mother of four joining City of Derry Spartans AC, having originally moved to Belfast from her native Scotland 16 years ago.

After a conservative first half, passed in 1:18:08, at that point over 90 seconds behind Nic Dhómhnaill, Storm finished in 2:35:46, 10th best woman overall and just 12 seconds clear of Nic Dhómhnaill. Meghan Ryan from Dundrum South Dublin, who’d finished fourth best Irishwoman last year, was well satisfied with her performance to claim bronze in 2:40:47.

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Armstrong considers himself more a lifelong runner, going back to his schoolboy days in Mayo, and later while on a running scholarship in Providence College in Rhode Island – following in the strides of David McGlynn, another Providence graduate who was the first Irish finisher last year.

Living in Portarlington and an accountant with An Post, Armstrong also became a father to son Conor for the first time last November, along with his Kenyan-born wife Shiru.

He also credits his coach Feidhlim Kelly of the Dublin Track Club for keeping him on course in recent years: “Feidhlim puts an awful lot of his life into this sport, he deserves a lot of praise. I think this is one of the titles he hadn’t won yet, as a coach. So I can’t wait to give him a hug and celebrate with him,” he said.

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“I was also watching the interview with Jerry Kiernan, after he won Dublin in 1982. It was the year Kerry lost the All-Ireland to Offaly, when they were going for the five in a row, and he was saying this was good compensation for Kerry, that he went and won the marathon title. For me it’s both titles for Mayo, so no need for compensation.

“Maybe if we had better weather today, I might have run a bit faster, but I won’t worry about that. I’m glad just to take the Irish title. It probably is the pinnacle for me. I’d say the marathon title is probably one of the toughest ones to win and one of the most high-profile ones.”

Patrick Monahan from Le Chéile AC in Kildare won his ninth title in the wheelchair race in 1:46:03, and will take on the New York Marathon next Sunday.