Fionnuala McCormack finished fifth in the Valencia Marathon on Sunday. The 37-year-old also smashed her personal best by just under three minutes.
McCormack ran 2:23.58, breaking her previous best marathon mark of 2:26.47 which she recorded two years ago in Chicago.
The run makes her the second fastest Irish-born woman ever for the marathon. She moves ahead of Mayo's Sinead Diver who runs for Australia. Only Catherina McKiernan's 2:22:23, which she ran 23 years ago in Amsterdam, is faster.
Apologies to Irish running fans! Got so excited out there I forgot one of your greats Catherina McKiernan 🤦 Commmenting solo for 3 hours means this can happen! But what a run by Fionnuala 👊 2.23 is brilliant 👏 @Cathal_Dennehy
— James Thie (@TeamThie) December 5, 2021
The Valenica Marathon won in 2:19.31 by Kenya's Nancy Jelagat. Ethiopia's Etagegne Woldu finished second in 2:20.16 with her compatriot Beyenu Degefa running 2:23.05 in third.
McCormack will have just a week to recover before she competes again. She is scheduled to run at the European Cross Country Championships, which are being held in Dublin, next weekend.
Fionnuala McCormack 🇮🇪 finishes an excellent fifth in the Valencia Marathon in a lifetime best of 2:23:58. 💥
And next weekend she is due to make her 17th appearance at the SPAR European Cross Country Championships! 🔜#FingalDublin2021 pic.twitter.com/IsDLnO0wY3— European Athletics (@EuroAthletics) December 5, 2021
Picture credit: FCG / Shutterstock.com and Sportsfile
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