SSE Airtricity Walled City Marathon 2018:

Project Africa Athletics man Dan Tanui retaining his title in a record time and Irish athlete Heather Noone claimed the ladies top prize as a capacity field took on the 6th annual running of the Walled City Marathon in Derry / Londonderry (Sunday 3rd June 2018).

Nothing separated Walled City Marathon 2017 Champion Dan Tanui and his Project Africa Athletics team mate Eric Keoch for much of the race.  At 15 miles, the pair were striding side-by-side as they made their way into the latter stages of the race.

As the sun burned its way through the early morning clouds, Dan moved clear of Belfast City Marathon Champion Eric to take charge; he quickly increased his lead.  Relentlessly, Dan covered the final miles before breaking the tape on the famous Guildhall finish line in a new course record of 2:19:44 (1st place).

Behind, a tired Eric took the runners up spot in 2:25:29 (2nd place).  Thomas Maguire (Unattached) completed the top three in 2:46:40 (3rd place).

In the ladies race, Heather Noone emerged victorious after an excellent race.  Up until the final 6 miles, it looked like North Belfast Harriers athlete Louise Smith was going to claim victory, having led for much of the race.

However, Heather, a Doctor, came through well to take the lead with approximately four miles remaining.  There was no looking back as she made her way to the finish to seal a memorable win in 3:05:33 (1st place).

Louise followed in 3:10:14 for 2nd place and was followed by North West based athlete Denise Ward – the Foyle Valley AC lady received the cheer of the day as she crossed the line in 3:18:18 for 3rd place.

Full results for the Walled City Marathon 2018 are available HERE.