Ethiopia’s Tilahun Nigussie leaves rest of field in his wake to set new record on way to winning Belfast Marathon

The women’s race was won by Kenya’s Millicent Kibet but the main headline-maker and record-breaker was Tilahun Nigussie from Ethiopia.

He put on arguably the most spectacular display ever in this the 43rd running of the event that boasted some 6,000 runners in the marathon plus 2,750 teams in the five-person relay making a total of over 20,000 participants.

Warm weather conditions and negligible wind facilitated good times and many runners fulfilled their expectations.

The quality of local talent was possibly the best yet with some 205 athletes breaking the magical three-hour barrier.

However pride of place must go to Nigussie with an eye-catching time of 2 hrs 13 mins 37 secs which took four seconds off the 2012 record set by fellow countryman Urga Negewo .

Yesterday’s run was even more special as Nigussie raced with no one for company throughout the race whereas the 2012 time was the result of the combined efforts of three different athletes .

There had was some doubt as to Nigussie’s fitness as he had recorded a classy PB time of just outside 2 hrs 13 mins in South Korea last October .

However the 28-year-old has talent to burn as shown by his record of five marathons under 2 hrs 16 mins since 2015 and afterwards revealed he could return to Belfast to defend his crown.

In the race itself Nigussie had opened a huge two minute gap on the field at the seven-mile mark in Ormeau Park.

Behind him Drogheda’s Aaron Hanlon was battling with surprise runner Millicent Kibet of Kenya. Next came James Largy of the North East, Annadale’s Stephen Connolly in his first marathon, Robbie Hagan and English athlete David Stewart .

These athletes remained in these positions for much of the race with the only development being Nigussie’s incredible change of pace in the second half of the race where he was timed some five minutes faster than in his first half .

At the finish, officials had to wait over 13 minutes before Hanlon secured second in 2:27:06. Bronze and first NI finisher went to Connolly with 2:29:30 while Largy was fourth in 2:32:09.

The top six was completed by Hallamshire’s David Stewart (2:33:58 ) and Daniel Squires (2:34:14) who had run 2hrs 31 mins in March in Barcelona.

Hanlon was naturally pleased with his first marathon time but faced a balancing act now over his future plans due to teaching responsibilities. His plan in Belfast had been aiming at a 2 hrs 23 mins time but his legs cramped over the last three miles.

Connolly also experienced cramp at that stage but was nevertheless pleased by his top NI spot.

In the ladies’ race, Kibet was lucky to finish as she had a grim experience in the second half which she ran almost 10 minute slower than her first.

She finished in 2:38:30 and was so exhausted after her race she had difficulty talking other than to simply say she was, unsurprisingly, very tired!

This was in contrast to a positive Lalla Aziza Selsouli in second place who said she found the course harder than a year ago when she set new record figures of 2:35:20.

Selsouli said she was grateful to the organisers for inviting her back and was more than happy to return again next year to finally secure victory.

Local star Gladys Ganiel commented that she had never raced in a marathon before where she ran the entire event on her own.

She finished third in 2:45:46 and said she was pleased to again retain her NI title but the 48-year-old revealed she would take time to consider her future.

There were PBs for fourth-placed Judith Storm (2:48:28), Sarah McNutt of North Belfast (2:53:33) and Anna Donner (2:56:08).