Martin Fagan broke John Treacy’s long standing half marathon record on a wind swept rainy day in The Hague on Saturday 14th March. Billed as a World record attempt by the renowned Haile Gebrselassie, Martin took his place at the start as an equal among some of the best distance runners in the World. However, the poor weather put paid to any real attempt on the record but in his customary style, Martin went to the front and took the field through 5km in 14:12 and through 10km in 28:34, at which point Gebrselassie, fellow Ethiopian Girma Tesfaye and Kenya’s Sammy Kitwara took over the lead and with 400m to go Gebrselassie tried to sprint clear but was caught by Kitwara near the line to finish 3 seconds clear in 59:57, outside the record but World class running nonetheless.

Martin meanwhile was having the race of his life and finished 5th in 60:57 to set a new Irish record. The quality of the race was such that with the exception of Gebrselassie, everyone in the top 10 recorded personal best times. Isn’t it fantastic to see Martin mixing it so well with the best distance runners in the World? Only African athletes could outrun him in the end, and to think he receives only a paltry €12,000 grant from the Sports Council for his troubles, and he an Olympian. Surely the best distance runner that Ireland has produced in many years deserves better than this?