Kyle Doherty conquers Waterside Half Marathon on his way to Berlin!

Waterside Half Marathon winner Kyle Doherty has renewed calls for a rethink on the decision to cancel next year’s event, insisting that nothing else comes close to promoting the city as much.

On the eve of the 40th edition of the Half Marathon, Derry City &Strabane District Council revealed that, due to a cost cutting exercise, half marathon events will be alternated between Derry and Strabane in coming years.

Over 2,000 runners took part in yesterday’s event, with hundreds more turned away, but despite the popularity of the Waterside Half, it will not take place next year.

“I think it’s a shocking decision to be honest,” Kyle said. “I don’t see where else in Derry where you’ll get 2,000 runners, money into the city through visitors as well as what, 5,000 or 10,000 people on the course watching?

“I don’t see what else in the city brings people out like that. The city doesn’t have much, it doesn’t really get concerts while in Belfast there’s a concert every weekend. This is the only thing Derry really has and it doesn’t have any other races. The Derry Marathon is already gone, and if you take the Derry Half away, I can’t see it ever coming back and that would be really disappointing.

“I’m hoping that whoever makes the decision, there’s a turnaround, and if they were here today, I hope they wise up with that decision to be honest.”

The City of Derry Spartan only entered this year’s event at the last minute due to his girlfriend pulling out, but what he hoped was just extra preparation for the Berlin Half Marathon in a few weeks, turned into a day he will never forget, as he won his first ever Waterside Half, setting a new course record of 1:11:26 in the process. He finished just ahead of Road Runner Noel McNally in second, 1:13;01 and team mate Gavin McGlinchey, 1:13: 10 in third.

“I actually got an entry at the last minute because my girlfriend broke her foot,” Kyle revealed. “I just transferred the entry over and just ran marathon pace as a practice for my marathon coming up, but aye, it was good to get a win. To be fair, I always thought there was somebody coming back, because I was just trying to stay where I was, but once I got over the New Bridge, I could see that there was a good gap there, so I was very confident then.”

Memorable

The new addition of Strathfoyle into the course was an extra bonus for Kyle, who was more than happy with the event, especially the memorable finish of running into a packed Ebrington Square.  

It’s actually a great finish now compared to the track.

“As tough as it was, there were some really fast times. It is obviously a lot tougher but after you go up the hills you go down them,” he reflected.

“I live in Strathfoyle so it was nice to run up through there, that new pathway, and the finish was actually amazing, it’s a really, really nice finish outside that new hotel.

I have been practising a wee bit recently, just with the hills, to get a bit of strength. It was all last minute because I hadn’t planned to run up that hill, but it’s good. It’s a nice change.”

Kyle can now go into the Berlin Marathon on September 24 on a high.

“It’s a nice wee motivation now to keep me going for the next few weeks. It is another two weeks of hard training then I’ll taper down. There will be no breaks,” he laughed.

It proved to be a good day overall for City of Derry Spartans, with Catherine Whoriskey winning the ladies’ race and the Spartans taking gold in the team event also.

Gavin McGlinchey had arguably his best ever run as he finished with a PB. It looked like he was on course for second place, only to be caught right at the end, but a podium finish is still a significant achievement.

This set the Spartans up for a comfortable win in the four to score team championship with Conal McGinley 5th 76.08 and Peter Melarkey 11th 77.13 the other crucial scorers.