Maria McCambridge has won today’s SSE Airtricity Dublin half-marathon in 1:22:25 at the Newbridge Demesne in Donabate.
Ethiopa's Bereket Gebraslase took the men’s elite race in 1:06:45.
McCambridge, who last won the race in 2008, said: "I was delighted to win, there was great running on the course and I enjoyed the hilly parts. I am now looking forward to focusing on the Dublin Marathon."
The Dubliner was followed closely by Tara Kennedy in 1:22:43 with Denise Logue crossing the line two minutes later in 1:24:38.
Gebraslase dominated throughout the race and had a clear lead at the 10km mark: "I was very happy to win, it was my first-time racing in Ireland and I hope to return to compete in the Dublin Marathon".
He was followed home by Valdas Dopolskas of Lithuania running for Balbriggan and District AC in 1:07:11.
John Coghlan of MSB AC was third across the line in 1:08:52 following on from his winning performance at the SSE Airtricity Fingal 10K in July.
Looking like I wont make the @dublinmarathon #DublinHalfMarathon #ballsup #getthegardas pic.twitter.com/rDvp9VToQU
— brian sammon (@BriansammG) September 23, 2017
No Dublin half marathon for me, 70 mins and have moved 400m on M1, homeward bound now 😞. Some genius planning this was! #DublinHalfMarathon
— liam sheridan (@lidzer) September 23, 2017
Over 9,000 runners had signed up to take part but some were forced to abandon their plans to run after heavy traffic coming off the M1 and there were lengthy delays leaving the venue as well.
There were also reportedly only two water stations on the 21k course and many participants vented their anger at the organisers on social media.
Race Director Jim Aughney issued an apology following a delay to the start of 30 minutes from the planned 9:30am.
Aughney said: "We would like to apologise to all runners affected by the delay. We know that all those who took part today would have put in an immense amount of time and effort into preparing for this race.
"We are aware that some entrants missed out in partaking due to the traffic issues and we will be offering anyone impacted in this way a free entry into a race of their choice in next year’s SSE Airtricity Dublin Race Series."
"This was the first year running the event at this location. We had a full and comprehensive traffic management plan in place. It is clear however that there were shortcomings. We will now conduct a full and thorough review with all key stakeholders."
