Hugh Armstrong has got his eyes on the national marathon title, after a stellar year in which he swept the Irish Life Dublin Race Series by winning the 5km, 10km, 10 miles and half-marathon events.
The chance to complete a magnificent quintuple will arise on Sunday, 27 October, when the Mayo man lines out at the 2024 Dublin Marathon, as part of a stacked field that includes current national champion Stephen Scullion, who did it with a time of 2:11:51 last year.
Armstrong's own PB is 2:12:26, achieved at the Seville Marathon in 2020, and on the back of his strong 2024 form, he is confident of getting over the line ahead of all of his compatriots on the day.
"I’ve good confidence having ran and won all of the race series. I also ran a PB over 5km and 10km this summer. I won my first national title in the half-marathon in Charleville in September as well, that was my first senior national title, so hopefully I can win a second one in Dublin.
"An even better one, probably, because it has a bit more prestige, the marathon itself.
"They’re all good prep, particularly the 10-mile and the half-marathon. They were good courses in that they were in and around the park, similar to what the marathon course itself will be.
"They’re nicely spaced out. The first one was in June, the five-mile, so you get a good bit of time for training in between and seeing have you moved on to the next level as you go up.
Armstrong has had a number of causes to celebrate this year - he also got married in August and turned 30 in September - but a national title would top the lot, in terms of on-track achievements at least.
"To win a national title is the most important but I’d also like to run a fast time, he said.
"With it being the national title, there are very good points in the Dublin Marathon, if you’re looking ahead to qualifying for the World Championships next summer. A good run in Dublin could be vitally important there.
"It’s hard to know exactly what time I’d be looking to run. I ran 2:12 in Seville and I had a couple of years struggling with injury but I finally got a fairly consistent year under my belt since around this time last year.
"It would be one of the best days I've had in the sport. Especially with it being the Dublin marathon, it’s such a big event in the city. It probably carries that greater bit of prestige than some of the other national titles. It’s a tough field, nearly all of our best marathon runners are in the field and all of the chips are on the table. Hiko (Tonosa) is running it and Ryan Creech who ran 2:12 last year.
"We have David McGlynn running it, Dave Mansfield, they’re both in good form. Eoghan Totten, who was third in Charleville. They’re all running 2:16.
"They’re all going to be looking for the title. Whoever wins it will certainly have earned it. It would be great if I could do it.
"I've also had the sharpness of running the 5km and the 10km PB over the summer. I’m feeling good, I’m probably close to running the PB but the day in Seville was as perfect a day as you’d get. Depending on the day we get in Dublin, hopefully I can be close to my PB but looking to win the title would be the main thing."
The Irish Life Dublin Marathon will take place on Sunday, October 27, with up to 22,500 entrants expected to take part on a course featuring a new start and finish.
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