Belfast Marathon: Gladys Ganiel leads the local charge as defending champions return to defend titles

Ethiopia’s Shewaye Woldemeskel was an easy winner in last year’s Women’s event in a very fast time of 2 hrs 37 mins 20 secs which is the fourth fastest ever time in Belfast.

The 31-year-old was also second in 2019 and four months ago finished fourth in a marathon in China in 2 hrs 39 mins.

However a repeat victory in Belfast is far from certain as she will be under threat from Kenyan Beatrice Jepkemei who is the model of consistency with no fewer than nine marathons faster than 2 hrs 35 mins.

Her last win of 2.38.27 in Sofia last year makes her a serious contender for the title.

Morocco’s Laila Selsouli, who has a sub 2 hrs 41 mins to her credit and recently ran an excellent 75 mins for a half marathon, will also be to the fore .

An intriguing local entry is 47-year-old university lecturer Gladys Ganiel whose Belfast achievements are eyecatching to say the least.

The north Belfast mother of one was third in 2021, a winner in 2022 and second behind last year .

Last October, Ganiel defied her years to record her second fastest-ever time of 2 hrs 37 mins 6 secs in Dublin.

The former Commonwealth Games athlete said: “That Dublin run was probably my best ever race because I wasn’t paced like the previous year when I ran some 26 seconds faster.

“While the excellent racing shoes now help a lot, I’ve also managed to avoid major injury over the years with frequent strength and conditioning plus physiotherapy.

“I split my 75 miles a week regime by running every day, which includes sessions to and from Queen’s University .

“I mostly have to train on my own because of work and family commitments but I still find running relaxing and am never bored.

“I think I’m at a similar fitness level as a year ago but I’ll never predict how I’ll do this time as marathons are so unpredictable. I’ve learned not to look into the future — I just take one race at a time.“

In the Men’s race last year’s winner Mohammed Oumaarir took a surprise victory in a slow time of 2 hrs 23 mins.

He will be severely tested this time by Kenyan rivals Matthew Kemboi and Moses Tuyange.

Kemboi was fourth last October in Istanbul in 2.13.48 while Tuyange ran 2.12.43 a year ago in Barcelona. Also in the frame should be Bahrain’s Aweke Yimer who has a time of 2 hrs 7 mins from Frankfurt in 2019.

Locally the man to watch could well be Annadale’s 41-year-old Eddie McGinley who was fourth in the event back in 2015 which was the same time as his Dublin run two years previously.

He then retired from the sport but recently returned to distance running with a convincing victory in the Larne 10 miles in 53 mins.

He has avoided the media in the marathon build-up but will clearly be making every effort to perform well.

McGinley’s previous achievements included a classy 10,000 metres time of 29 mins 32 secs.

Another interesting local competitor is Annadale’s 31-year-old Eskander Turki, a former Ethiopian refugee who came to this country five years ago.

He arrived via Libya following a turbulent and violent background and finally achieved his ambition to gain UK citizenship and has since represented Northern Ireland twice in cross-country .

Coach Michael McKnight said Turki’s extreme background in war-torn countries can affect his health from time to time due to kidney and malaria issues.

However through determination and despite all his challenges, he finally broke through with victory in the Belfast Half Marathon last year .

McKnight has high hopes his athlete will do well in his first marathon tomorrow and thinks he has the ability to run under 2 hrs 20 mins, particularly given an excellent speed time of under 30 minutes for 10k .

Other local males of note include 2022 bronze medallist Conor Gallagher of St Malachy’s and Foyle’s Scott Rankin.

Gallagher was a superb secpnd In Belfast in his first marathon in 2 hrs 25 mins and followed this with a sub 2 hrs 23 mins time in Dublin .

If Rankin takes the start line he will be feeling the effects of his 2 hrs 30 mins time in London last weekend.

Also in the same position is last year’s Belfast runner up Adam Bowden from Bridgend who recorded 2 hrs 19 mins in the same race.

The event starts at 9.00am at Stormont Estate, where the closed entries have reached a record 5,500 for the main event plus 2,500 five-person relay teams.

These figures, combined with the 1,000 walkers, make a total of 19,000 participants which is easily the largest number involved in a sporting event in the province.