They say that everybody who runs has at least one marathon in them, and so before marathon-fever leaves us completely for 2008, you may be interested to note that registration is now open for next year's Dublin City Marathon at:

http://adidasdublinmarathon.ie/entry_details.php

This promises to be a huge occasion on the 2009 athletics calendar given that it will mark the 30th running of the event in Dublin and is sure to attract a large local and international field as a result.

Perhaps you could use this as a Christmas present idea for a loved one (if registering someone for a marathon could ever be associated with love!) or maybe even as a sneaky Christmas present to yourself?

Plenty of time going into the new year to plan out your training schedules and preparation and all that...

There will of course be other full marathons taking place on the island of Ireland in 2009. The usual suspects include:

• Connemarathon - 22nd March, 2009 - see: http://www.connemarathon.com
• Belfast - 4th May, 2009 - see: http://www.belfastcitymarathon.com
• Cork - 1st June, 2009 - see: http://www.corkcitymarathon.ie
• Longford - (TBC) August, 2009 - see: http://www.longfordmarathon.com

Aside from the above, GCH club members are sure to be exploring other marathons abroad in 2009 as well, whether that is Europe (I hear talk of Rotterdam in April already), the USA, or even on one of the further flung continents, so keep your ear to the marathon grapevine as the year progresses for extra motivation.