The 43rd annual Irish Life Dublin Marathon is scheduled for this Sunday, October 27th, with the same 26.2-mile route as previous years, but with two key changes: the start line and the finish line. After some consideration last year about moving the start and finish out of the city center due to public transport concerns, the changes this year are minor. The new start line is on Leeson Street Lower, leading onto St Stephen’s Green, and the finish line will be on Mount Street Upper, all within the Dublin 2 area.
The event will feature five start times, beginning with the wheelchair participants at 8:40am, followed by wave 1 at 8:45am, wave 2 at 9:05am, wave 3 at 9:25am, and wave 4 at 9:45am. Runners are advised to give themselves extra time to get to the start due to the narrower start line on Leeson Street and to familiarize themselves with the area and race-entry routes. The course will be open for seven hours from the last person crossing the start line.
Late entries are not possible as all 22,500 spots have been sold out, with an influx of 40,000 entry requests. Race numbers can be picked up at the Dublin Marathon Expo at the RDS on Friday, October 25th, and Saturday, October 26th, with valid ID required for collection.
Wave positions are determined by predicted finishing times, and runners cannot swap waves. Pacers will be available on the day to help runners achieve their target finish times, with different pacing groups allocated to each wave. The course is marked at every mile, 5km, and the halfway point, with 10 refreshment stations offering water, Lucozade Sport, and High5 gels.
Spectators can show their support at various Irish Life Support Zones along the course, including the Irish Life Mile on Northumberland Road. For those unable to attend, the Dublin Marathon will be live-streamed on the Dublin Marathon YouTube channel. Road closures will be in effect on Sunday along the race route.
Best of luck to all participants in this year’s Dublin Marathon!
