Ireland’s Peter Lynch took the continental plaudits as well as a national record in a record-breaking men’s race in the TCS London Marathon on Sunday (26).
In a historic race with Kenya’s Sabastian Sawe becoming the first man in history to break the 2:00-barrier in legal conditions with a world record of 1:59:30, Lynch also etched his name into the Irish record books.
The 28-year-old ran a sensibly paced race in just the fourth marathon of his career. He passed through the halfway point in 15th-place with a large group of predominantly British runners, including his training partner Patrick Dever, on national record pace in 63:14 before making excellent progress in the second half.
Closing with a negative second half split of 62:54, Lynch moved up to ninth-place overall in an Irish record of 2:06:08. He shaved almost two minutes from Fearghal Curtin’s previous mark of 2:07:54 which he set in winning the Gyeongju Marathon in South Korea last October.
This was Lynch's second barrier-breaking performance of the year. He gave notice to his formidable shape by clocking 59:52 in the New York Half Marathon last March to become the first Irishman in history to break the one hour-barrier for the distance, although his time could not be ratified for record purposes due to the point-to-point nature of the course.
Best of the Europeans
Lynch also won the unofficial European battle in London, pulling clear of Brits Mahamed Mahamed and New York Marathon third-placer Dever in the final two kilometres. They were also rewarded with lifetime bests of 2:06:14 and 2:06:18 to move to second and third respectively on the British all-time list behind Mo Farah's national record of 2:05:11.
Among the runners this group overtook in the latter stages were Germany's Amanal Petros who had aspirations of breaking Bashir Abdi's European record of 2:03:36.
The world marathon silver medallist was more than one minute ahead of record pace through halfway in an ambitious 61:16 but the 30-year-old, who was still on sub-2:03 pace through the 25km checkpoint, ultimately faded off to a 15th-place finish in 2:08:31.
In the women's race which was won by Ethiopia's Tigst Assefa in a women's only world record of 2:15:41, Great Britain's Eilish McColgan was the leading European finisher in seventh in 2:24:51.
McColgan was on course for a sizeable lifetime best through the halfway point in 70:55 but the Brit was stymied by foot blisters in the latter stages, causing her right shoe to fill with blood.
Now 40, Spain's Marta Galimany was 10th in 2:27:38, the third fastest time of her career and a national record in a women's only race.
2026 European men's marathon list
2:04:19 - Bashir Abdi (BEL), Rotterdam
2:04:26 - Iliass Aouani (ITA), Tokyo
2:04:45 - Samuel Fitwi (GER), Hamburg
2:05:18 - Yemaneberhan Crippa (ITA), Paris
2:05:46 - Awet Nftalem Kibrab (NOR), Paris
2:05:58 - Emmanuel Roudolff (FRA), Paris
2:05:59 - Kaan Kigen Özbilen (TUR), Barcelona
2:06:08 - Peter Lynch (IRL), London
2:06:14 - Mahamed Mahamed (GBR), London
2:06:18 - Patrick Dever (GBR), London
Photo courtesy of James Rhodes