PAUL POLLOCK RAN the second-fastest marathon time in Irish athletics history on Sunday morning as he booked his ticket to Tokyo 2020.
The 34-year-old finished 18th at the Valencia Marathon in 2:10:25, taking more than five minutes off his personal best and comfortably meeting the Olympic qualification standard.
Pollock’s time is second only to John Treacy’s national record of 2:09:15, set 31 years ago at the 1988 Boston Marathon.
“On 9th September, I was lying in [an] MRI scanner with broken metatarsal,” Pollock tweeted afterwards. “Today I went No. 2 on Irish all time list.”
Pollock becomes the first Irish marathon runner to meet the IAAF standard of 2:11:30 for Tokyo qualification.
Ethiopia’s Kinde Atanaw won the men’s race, setting a new course record in 2:03:51, while second-placed Kaan Kigen Özbilen set a new European record for Turkey in 2:04:16.
Women’s winner Roza Dereje also set a new course record in 2:18:30.
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