Monahan first home in Dublin Marathon Wheelchair race

Patrick Monahan won the Dublin Marathon wheelchair race in a time of 1:45:05 in blustery conditions on Sunday morning.

The Caragh man won his first Dublin Marathon title in 2014 and has been a regular winner since, but said this year's conditions were the most difficult he has encountered in the race.

“That was definitely the toughest that I’ve done, with that wind,” he told TG4 after the race.

“It was hard to get into a rhythm, headwind, crosswind. I didn’t feel the tailwind made up for it, but it was a good race. The conditions just made it really tough. I think that’s one of my slowest times here. I was trying to push hard but the wind was just catching me. I was glad to get to the finish line, to be honest,” said the two-time Paralympian.

In such conditions, he said the support he received on his way around the course was more important than ever.

“I probably recognised them more this time. I needed them and it was a good boost to get me around the course. There was great support all the way around. Fair play to everyone for coming out and braving the weather. It was fantastic, a great atmosphere.

“This is the only one I do in Ireland. It’s nice to just come up the road and not have to fly. There was great support. I could hear some familiar voices on the course, my family and that, so that was great,” he said.

Monahan will not have much time to enjoy his latest success as he is back in action next week.

“I’m doing New York next week so this is good preparation for that. I’ll just recover now and try to get fresh for New York,” said Monahan.