Two thousand athletes take part in the very first Dublin city marathon.
First to the finishing post was Dick Hooper with a time of 2 hours, 16 minutes and 14 seconds, followed by Neil Cusack from Limerick and John O'Flynn from Cork.
Dick Hooper winning the Dublin City Marathon (1980)
Dick Hooper describes his win as
The best win of my life.
Dick Hooper went on to win the Dublin marathon again in 1985 and 1988. He also represented Ireland in the Olympic marathon in Moscow 1980, Los Angeles 1984 and Seoul 1988.
Of the two thousand participants, only seventy were women. The first woman across the line was Carey May of the Dublin City Harriers with a time of 2 hours, 42 minutes and 11 seconds. May went on to win the Osaka Women's Marathon in 1983 and 1985.
The 1980 Dublin Marathon was sponsored by RTÉ Radio 2 and took place on 27 October 1980.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 27 October 1980. The reporter is Joe O'Brien.
