Kemei wins Dublin Marathon, Tonosa breaks Irish record

Kenya's Moses Kemei has won Irish Life Dublin Marathon this morning in a personal best time of 2:08.47.

Ethiopia's Abebaw Desalew was runner-up with 2:09.24.

Hiko Tonosa of Dundrum South Dublin AC broke the Irish record to win the national marathon title in 2:09:42 and placed third overall.

Tonasa told RTÉ Sport: "It's a fantastic day for me. I'm so happy with the result.

"It's been very tough for me. I've battled with a lot of things and I'm really happy.

"It was my plan to get the Irish record. I'm so happy.

"This is my home championship. Everyone said go to Berlin. I said I had to do my home championship.

"I want to thank all the Irish people that are behind me. I'm so happy with that."

Tonasa, who became an Irish citizen in the last few years, said he had dreamed of being covered in the Irish flag after a race.

"It's a big thing for me," he admitted.

"I knew one day I could hold the Irish flag. I wanted to hold the Irish flag because it saved my life."

Asmirach Nega was the first placed woman in a course record time of 2:24.13.

The Irish women's national title went to Ann-Marie McGlynn of Letterkenny AC in a time of 2:34.05, repeating her success from last year.

The 44-year-old was emotional after the race.

She said: "I wear my heart on my sleeve. I wanted that today. I'm 45 in February and I’m ready to take a little step to the side and let the young athletes come through. Winning the national title once is good but doing it twice is hard. They don’t come around that often."

Scotland's Sean Frame won the wheeelchair category in 1:45.14.

Around 22,500 took part in the event.

Meanwhile, Ethiopia's Yomif Kejelcha set a new men's half marathon world record in Valencia, finishing in a time of 57:30.