Mayo native Sinead Diver had broke the record for Australian Women's marathon by more than one minute in Valencia, with a time of 2:21:34.
The 45-year-old also broke the record for the fastest time ran by an Irish women in a marathon, beating Cathriona McKiernan in Amsterdam in 1998, although she will still hold the record for someone who represents Ireland.
While Sinead Diver may still represent Australia having moved there 20 years ago, she was born in Mayo and has done Ireland proud with her achievements, particularly in the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, where she finished 10th in the race.
Sinead Diver's Journey
Despite being the age of 45, Sinead Diver is still quite young to the sport, having only taken up the sport 12 years ago, but has made huge strides already.
Sinead Diver was delighted with her performance in today's marathon, having suffered disappointment in March before suffering disappointment as she was unable to complete the race.
"I have wanted this for so long and I wasn’t sure if I was good enough to get it. I’ve had a few goes at it now, this was my third crack at it and every time I line up, it takes a lot. Things have to really fall into place so I’m beyond delighted that it’s happened.
My lead-in to this has been really good. It was good for Japan as well, but I went out too fast and it was hot, but I knew I was ready for it this time. I wanted it badly but while I was running, I also knew I needed to make sure I was in control of what I was doing.
I was very conscious of how I was feeling, but this is my 14th marathon and every one of them is different. The only thing that is the same is that you go through good and bad but it was so great to get one that was fast and one that I could focus in on for the record."
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