Dublin Marathon: Russian athletes Aleksey Sokolov and Alina Ivanova retained their Dublin marathon titles with respective wins in the capital today.
Sokolov set a course record time of 2:11:39 when winning here 12 months ago but improved on that when crossing the line in a world class 2:09:07 today.
Indeed, it proved to be the fastest Dublin marathon in history.
"I am delighted to come back and win in Dublin again this year," said Sokolov.
"I have also achieved a personal best, which is an extra bonus. The atmosphere was great on the day and the crowd was really supportive."
His compatriot Ivanova crossed the line in 2:29:20 - the third fastest women's winning time.
Almost 11,000 competitors took to the Dublin street for the city's 28th Marathon.
For the fourth year running, the number of entries exceeded the 10,000 mark with more than half of those taking part from Ireland.
The marathon also attracted the strongest field in its history, with the winners of the 2004, 2005 and 2006 men's races all competing.
While the elite runners have finished the course, thousands are still pounding the capital's streets.
Richie Powell of Wales retained his wheelchair title while Pauline Curley was the first Irish lady to cross the line in 2:42:30, while Galway's Michael O'Connor took the Irish men's title in 2:25:48.
Curley said: "It is great to come back this year to take the Irish ladies title."