Peter Lynch has become the first Irishman in history to break 60 minutes for the half marathon, the Kilkenny athlete clocking 59:52 to finish fifth at the New York City Half Marathon on Sunday morning. Nonetheless, it marks a breakthrough performance by Lynch, whose previous best was the 1:01:15 he ran in Houston, Texas last year. Lynch set an Irish marathon record of 2:09:36 in Dusseldorf last year, a mark that was broken by Fearghal Curtin at the Gyeongju International Marathon in South Korea last October, the Youghal athlete clocking 2:07:54. Lynch will likely have that mark in his sights when he lines up at the London Marathon on April 26. Shauna Bocquet was also in action at the New York City Half Marathon, the 2024 Paralympian from Galway finishing third in the women’s wheelchair race in 1:02:59, with victory going to Britain’s Eden Rainbow-Cooper in 54:27.
