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. The 22-year-old Bandon athlete smashed her personal best with 72.48m, edging her closer to Eileen O’Keeffe’s Irish senior record of 73.21m.

Source: Irish Independent March 15, 2026 18:17 UTC