The 2023 Irish Life Dublin marathon will have reduced entries from last year, while a new category will be introduced for the race to allow athletes to enter as nonbinary as well as male or female.
First held in 1980, the iconic race will have a capacity of 22,500 entries, down from 25,000 in 2022.
Speaking at today's launch, race director Jim Aughney explained that while the number of entries permitted has been reduced, changes in the applications process could see more people take to the start line on the Sunday morning of the October Bank Holiday weekend.
In 2022, given the two years of roll-over entries, there was a higher than normal no-show rate, and for a number of reasons, just 14,784 crossed the finish line.
This year’s race, already a sell-out, will have a transfer option in place for the first time, allowing existing entrants to transfer their place to another runner. This will be opened in July.
"One of the big reasons for that (reduced entries) is the infrastructure that's on the streets, not just around the start and finish, where we actually went in and removed them, but out on the route," Aughney explains.
"A great example is Chesterfield Avenue in the Phoenix Park, were you have bollards left and right of you.
So, with all of that, and the critical through puts of runners around the route, we’ve reduced it to 22,500."
"We had a larger number of no-shows (in 2022) than previously because of Covid, but we expect it to be back to a normal rate. The running rate will probably be a bit higher this year because of the transfer window."
There will be a window provided to allow 2023 participants to change their entry to the nonbinary category should they wish to do so.
"We don’t know as yet how many will avail of this new category and it won’t be available until August of this year because we’re waiting for the refunds and the transfer window to finish," Aughney explained.
"We’ll sit down and consult when we get entries in with a view to improving on it year on year as the category grows."
Olympic silver medallist John Treacy has been chosen as the official race starter to mark the
30th anniversary of his win in the 1993 Dublin Marathon, with Martin Hoare (Celbridge AC) and Courtney McGuire (Clonmel AC) set to defend their national titles for an event that has been awarded Elite Status from World Athletics.
One of the first city marathons in Europe to provide entry for assisted wheelchair users, the stated aim of making it a race for all has seen further initiatives.
Any woman unable to run in October because they are pregnant or postpartum will be able to defer their place to 2024, 2025 or 2026.
Race organisers are keen to improve on female participation in the marathon which is currently below 40%.
All female participants in the half marathon will be provided with the same preferential early entry as the marathon entrants for next year’s marathon, providing an entry window before the lottery is opened to the public.
"You look at the London Marathon and it's 40-odd percent. If you then look at the charity element of London, which takes up a huge number of entrants.
"The vast majority of those are female so their percentages seem to be rising because a lot of the charity runners are female. Again, we do have a small charity element but not as big as London.
"What we're trying to do is use other initiatives and ideas to try and get the balance up much higher than what it is.
"If you start off the race series, you're looking at the five-miler that would be almost 50-50.
"You get to the 10 mile and then you see the percentages drop for the females and obviously for the half-marathon and the marathon they go down to around the 35% mark but we want to get that back up. It would be great if it was the same as the five-miler where you're almost at 50-50."
While the marathon is sold out, there are places available for the highly popular Irish Life Dublin Race Series, which begins with the Corkagh Park 5 Mile on 18 June, followed by the Fingal 10km (16 July), Frank Duffy 10 mile (19 August) and half marathon on 23 September.
"The race series is a great way to prepare for the Irish Life Dublin Marathon as the four races move up in distance throughout the summer from five miles through to the half marathon distance," says men’s national champion Hoare.
"They are great for a one-off race experience too, so pick your preferred distance and sign-up."
