With €13,500 awarded to each of the top 5 finishers in both the men's and women's categories, and further prizes available, there is a lot at stake this morning.
The half marathon with follow a route around the north of Dublin. Starting on O'Connell Street racers have set off towards Croke Park, continuing on to Collins Avenue, from here they will make there way towards Raheny and then to Fairview Park before finishing the race on Guild Street. The Race is set to last a total of 3 hours and 30 minutes and will be over by 12pm.
To be in with the chance of joining the Half Marathon, much like in past years contestants had to enter a ballot system. This year however there is no longer a "priority" window for previous runners. In the past repeat runners made up 70% of the race as they had early access to the draw.
To track racers each person has been assigned a number and a timing chip. There were three different colours of bibs supplied as the race was set to start in three separate waves; orange fist followed by green, and blue. Each runner had to pay a total of €75 to the race to cover participation costs.
The O'Connell Street South will remain closed until 3pm. Talbot Street, Parnell Street and various other streets close to the race will be closed until 10:30. Guild Street will remain closed until 6pm. There will be traffic diversions in place throughout the city. A full list of road closures is available here.
There is also set to be significant closures and delays to public transport. 30 bus routes have been diverted, and the luas redline is running a restricted service.
Patrick Monahan From Kildare won the Wheelchair event with a time of 51:35.
Seán Tobin from Clonmel AC, in Tipperary won the men's race with a time of 1:03:11.
Sorcha Nic Dhomhnaill from West Limerick AC, in Limerick, has won the Women's race with a time of 1:11:24.
