Search
20 Sept 2025
Search
20 Sept 2025
Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content.
Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist.
If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider contributing and/or subscribing to our free daily Newsletter .
Support our mission and join our community now.
To continue reading this article, you can subscribe for as little as €0.50 per week which will also give you access to all of our premium content and archived articles!
Alternatively, you can pay €0.50 per article, capped at €1 per day.
Thank you for supporting Ireland's best local journalism!
Peter Lynch of Ireland competing in the men’s marathon final at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo. Picture: Sam Barnes / SPORTSFILE
Taking an ‘all-in’ approach saw Peter Lynch turn into one of the world’s top 25 marathon runners.
The Kilkenny City Harriers athlete and two-time national record holder capped what has been a great year when he ran to 24th place at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo in the early hours of Monday morning.
Lynch battled against heat and humidity - and a mass false start - to finish 24th in a time of 2:14:12, picking off a number of athletes in the latter half.
The run came little over a year since Lynch ran for Ireland in the 10,000m at the European Championships in Italy. Not satisfied with his performance, the Kilkenny athlete felt it was time to rethink his strategy.
“A year ago, I was almost last in the 10k at Europeans,” he said in the media room after the run. “I wasn’t happy with just being there - I wanted to perform on this level. I just didn’t have a good performance, so I really want to come to these champs and get the best out of myself on the day.”
Lynch made the decision to move back to the US and join up with Alistair Cragg’s Puma Elite training group. The move paid off - he set the Irish record for the 10 mile in Washington, before breaking the national marathon record when he ran 2:09:36 in Düsseldorf, a run that secured his place on the Irish team for Tokyo.
Keeping a controlled pace, Lynch was 61st after 10km, which he completed in 31:52. He had moved up to 55th by halfway, clocking 67:03 for the 21.1km. He maintained that control as the field began to fall away, moving up to 40th by the 30km mark, before another surge saw him claw back six more places with a few kilometres to go.
And the run has only fuelled his hunger for more.
“I was content with that run, but next time I want to be up in those front groups,” he said. “I want to be able to be more aggressive in these races, take bigger risks and shoot for higher results.”
Lynch’s clubmate Cliodhna Manning will be in action for Ireland in the women’s 4x400m this weekend.
Subscribe or register today to discover more from DonegalLive.ie
Buy the e-paper of the Donegal Democrat, Donegal People's Press, Donegal Post and Inish Times here for instant access to Donegal's premier news titles.
Keep up with the latest news from Donegal with our daily newsletter featuring the most important stories of the day delivered to your inbox every evening at 5pm.
This publication supports the work of the Press Council of Ireland and Office of the Press Ombudsman, and our staff operate within the Code of Practice of the Press Council. You can obtain a copy of the Code, or contact the Council, at www.presscouncil.ie, Lo-call 1800 208 080 or email: info@presscouncil.ie.
