Mayo native Sinéad Diver has won the Melbourne marathon in a record-breaking time of 2:25.19.
Diver, who only began running eight years ago, slashed more than six minutes off the previous record and defeated over 30,000 athletes who were taking part in the race.
The 41-year-old Diver collected a $40,000 cash prize for her achievement - $20,000 for coming first in the race along with a $20,000 bonus for breaking the record.
"It’s been by far my best year and I really wanted to cap it off with a huge marathon. To have all of the support here has been amazing," she told the Herald Sun after her victory.
"Because I started so late I don’t have a lot of kilometres in my legs and I think that makes a big difference."
Absolutely fantastic run @diversinead today 2:25.17 around the streets of Melbourne @melbmara worth getting up before the ☀️& 💨💨 🏃♀️to cheer on while spinning around @ElliptigoE @RTEsport 2ndfastest Irish woman ever ☘️☘️🇮🇪 #whatarun #perfectpacing #justrewards @Pierceathletics pic.twitter.com/zTj051ja1q
— sonia osullivan (@soniaagrith) October 14, 2018
Additionally, Diver is now the second fastest Irish-born woman of all time behind Catherina McKiernan’s Irish record of 2:22:23, according to The Irish Times.
And despite her late arrival to the sport, competing in the marathon at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics is now a major target for Diver, who first came to Australia on a working holiday in 2002 and works in IT.
