Irish Life Dublin Marathon Announce Olympic Duo as Coaching Team for 2022

Harnessing the Power of Support to Help Runners Achieve their Goals

Today, Irish Life and Dublin Marathon organisers announced Olympians Catherina McKiernan and Mick Clohisey as the coaching team for the 2022 Irish Life Dublin Marathon and Race Series. The Olympic duo have developed training plans for all races in the series and the marathon using their vast expertise and knowledge. They are part of the overall Runners’ Support Squad to help runners harness the power of support to achieve their goals, whether they aim to run sub 60 minutes for the 10km, complete the half marathon distance, or run sub 3 hours for the marathon.

Coaching Team

Irish Marathon record holder and former London Marathon winner Catherina McKiernan said, “I am delighted to be part of the Irish Life Dublin Marathon and Race Series team to help runners realise their race goals. We all run on support, from emotional encouragement to advice and guidance, especially when taking on the  challenge of training for a marathon”

Jim Aughney, Race Director, added, “It is a fantastic resource for runners who have signed up to participate in the Irish Life Dublin Marathon and Race Series to tap into the wealth of knowledge that both Mick and Catherina can provide. They will offer guidance and tips for runners of all abilities as they take on the journey to train for races ranging in distances from 5 miles to 26.2 miles.”

Runner’s Support Squad

The Irish Life Dublin Marathon and Race Series, Runners’ Support Squad will also provide advice from a panel of experts along the journey, including a nutritionist, psychologist, and physiotherapist.

Declan Bolger, CEO of Irish Life, said: “We are acutely aware of the importance of a runner’s support network. We believe that this support in the lead up to the Irish Life Dublin Race Series and Marathon will make all the difference to the 45,000 runners who will toe the line in what are the largest participating sporting events held in Ireland. We aim to positively impact their experience by supporting and empowering them with access to expert advice.”

Research has shown that support from coaches, teammates, family, friends, and runner’s support team members such as physiotherapists and psychologists, positively affects an athlete’s cognitive, emotional, and behavioural state.

Research on Social Support

Jessie Barr, Performance Sports Psychologist and one of the runners’ support squad, said, “Social support is broadly reported to be an essential factor for an athlete’s success regardless of ability. It creates a perception of being cared for by others and having a reliable network to turn to when needed. If you are taking on a significant personal challenge having the right support structure in place can increase your chance of success.”

While inherently an individual sport, having that sense of someone having your back and supporting your journey can be beneficial and vital to running success. Olympic marathon athlete Mick Clohisey said, “For me, the support of my clubmates makes such a difference. Working with others pushes us out of our comfort zone, creates accountability and exposes vulnerability. We can help each other along the way. And let’s not forget the support from those we live with, dealing with time spent on long runs and our frustration when training isn’t going to plan.”

One-to-One Coaching

There is also an exciting opportunity for two runners who have secured a place in the sold-out Irish Life Dublin Marathon to win one-to-one coaching and mentoring from either Catherina or Mick. To be in with a chance to win, all runners need to do is share why they have signed up to race the Irish Life Dublin Marathon, whether that be to raise funds for a cause close to their heart or a personal journey to prove something to themselves. Entries can be made at IrishLifeDublinMarathon.ie.

Race Series

Entry for the Irish Life Dublin Race Series is open on IrishLifeDublinMarathon.ie. There are bundle offers in place for the four races in the series: 5 Mile in Tallaght (19th June), Fingal 10km (17th July), Frank Duffy 10-Mile (20th August) and the Half Marathon (17th September). The Irish Life Dublin Marathon on Sunday 30th October is sold out.

Mentoring Coach Programme  

• To be in with a chance to win one-to-one Coaching with Olympians Catherina McKiernan and Mick Clohisey, all runners need to do is share the reasons why they have signed up to run the Irish Life Dublin Marathon, whether that be to raise funds for a cause close to your heart, or on a personal journey to prove something to yourself.
• Entries can be made on irishlifedublinmarathon.ie and winners will be selected by a panel of judges. Entries are open on Tuesday 10th May and close on Monday 7th June. Winners will be announced on Tuesday 21st June, and they will be contacted to let them know which coach they will work with as they prepare for the marathon.
• The Prize
• A goal-setting session with one of the coaches
• A training programme developed by one of the coaches to help you achieve your goal
• A monthly catch-up call with their coach
• A one-to-one training session with one of the coaches

On behalf of the team, we’re delighted to welcome Irish Life on board as the new title sponsor of the Dublin Marathon & Race Series 2022-2025 – exciting times ahead!

This sponsorship will take us into a new era, and we would like to thank Irish Life for committing their support for three years to the Dublin Marathon and Race Series. Through this partnership, we can reach new targets through a shared vision of helping people to live more physically active and healthy lives. We have ambitious plans and I look forward to working with Irish Life to continue to provide the best and most welcoming racing experience in Ireland for the running community, to inspire, encourage and support them to be active and to set new goals and achieve them.

In attendance at the announcement of Irish Life as new sponsorship of the Dublin Marathon and Race Series, are, from left, Jim Aughney, Race Director of the Irish Life Dublin Marathon, Olympians Lizzie Lee and Mick Clohisey; and Declan Bolger, Chief Executive Officer, Irish Life. This sponsorship of the Dublin Marathon marks a major stride for Irish Life in strongly reinforcing the business core value of helping people live healthier lives and build better futures. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile

We are delighted to announce that a limited number of places will be made available for the 2022 Dublin Marathon via a lottery system. An application can be made for these places on the Dublin Marathon website from Thursday 6th January until midnight on Thursday 13th January. Please note that only one entry per person will be accepted.

A fee of €15 per lottery entry will apply; € 12 will be refunded if not successful with a €3 administration charge.  If successful, the lottery entry fee will be redeemable against the entry fee of €110*.

Registrants will learn their entry status by email / SMS on Monday, 17th January. They will have until midnight on Friday 21st January to redeem the offer.

Any places not redeemed will be offered in round two of the lottery from Tuesday 1st February, with offers needing to be redeemed by midnight Monday 7th February 2022.

*The Dublin Marathon is a not-for-profit organisation with entry fees, funding the management, development and promotion of the Dublin Marathon.  The entry fee covers the escalating costs of event management from insurance, soaring prices of products and materials, and anticipated additional safety measures needed due to Covid-19.

The full refund option, for the transfer of 2020 entries,  will close at midnight on Saturday 31st July. The refund will be available on “Manage My Bookings” via Event Master, See https://youtu.be/ssyiTkup-uw.

The organisers of the Dublin Marathon have announced today the cancellation of the 2021 KBC Dublin Marathon scheduled to take place on Sunday 24th of October. The race usually sees thousands of runners of all abilities hit the street of Dublin to take on the marathon distance of 26.2 miles.

Jim Aughney, Race Director, said: “It is with great regret that we are cancelling the KBC Dublin Marathon for the second year in a row. Despite vigorous evaluations, there are still too many unknowns to be confident that we could provide a safe event given the pure scale of the marathon. We have a duty of care to the runners, volunteers, suppliers and supporters. This will be extremely disappointing news for all runners entered. We want to thank them for their continued support.”

He added: “We have come to a critical point in our event planning when a final decision needed to be made. We took into consideration the recent updates on modelling around Covid-19 and the immense challenges of creating a controlled, safe environment for the KBC Dublin Marathon which has a footprint of 26.2 miles with 25,000 runners and 200,000 supporters who line the streets to cheer them on.”

All entries for the 2021 KBC Dublin Marathon will be valid for the 2022 race. For those who do not wish to avail of this, a full refund option will be available.  The refund window will open on Wednesday 7^th of July and will close at midnight on Saturday 31st July. The refund will be available on “Manage My Bookings” via Event Master, See https://youtu.be/ssyiTkup-uw.

Runners can still enter and take part in the KBC Virtual Dublin Marathon over the October Bank Holiday weekend; Saturday 23rd, Sunday 24th and Monday the 25th.