Who TF is Fearghal Curtin? 2:07:54 Marathon FTW (Irish record, former NCAA runner)

Monster!

I never wrote that, by the way, although I agree with his assessment of Fearghal's performance in South Korea.

FEARGHAL CURTIN SMASHES IRISH MARATHON RECORD IN SOUTH KOREA - Athletics Ireland

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FEARGHAL CURTIN SMASHES IRISH MARATHON RECORD IN SOUTH KOREA - Athletics Ireland

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He ran for FSU and before that at Charleston Southern, before that at Arizona State and before that at Charleston Southern again. Made some NCAA appearances individually in cross and the 10k once but was never one of those top guys. He was just solid

Did he beat Scullions national record?

No

Scullion has a best of 2:09:49, London, 2020, so Curtin bested that by almost 2 minutes.

It is partly the shoes and that this monster is made for the marathon. His shorter distance performances are not so stellar.

Good running economy. Quite quick cadence, similar to Japanese runners.

Follow the Cork monster (13:34/28:25/1:00:22) on Instagram.

He's 27, so by age 31, could get down to 2:05:00.

Basic speed: 1:54.37, 3:42.80, 7:50.00 (monster performance in 2023), 13:34.44, 28:25.43, 1:00:22 (Copenhagen 2025), 2:11:35 (Dusseldorf, April 2025)

Dude has all the fundamentals to go far but will he become a future super monster? only time will tell.

Only Scullion called that an NR.

The ratified NR was John Tracy in Boston 85 I think, 2:09:15, which was record eligible at the time.

Curtin took the NR at the weekend.

Might as well assume doping like everyone else who in their late 20s has a massive improvement….

Or you go being a 28:00/2:08 isn’t crazy fast these days. Still an outstanding performance but it is at the level where you might not know the guys name before hand…

Two shifts at Charleston Southern is wild

I think he's legit although obviously I have no proof or anyone else at this time. Basically he's a four minute miler (3:42.80) by way of 7:50 for 3000, 13:34/28:25/1:00:22, and previous best 2:11:35 in Düsseldorf, 6 months ago.

Yes I was thinking the same thing and it's very rare for athletes to return to their former school especially if they transferred to another college.

Dude is now based in Portugal which is an interesting choice. I think he's one of these digital nomads working remotely.

Best NCAA cross country result 82nd.

2022: Also 20th NCAA 10,000 in 28:52, some 40 seconds behind winner, Jacobs (28:12). He had run 28:25 in March, Raleigh Relays, in less than ideal conditions.

I'm thinking this guy is worth a lot better on the track had he gone to Europe on summer and ran in some of those Twilight meets. I'm thinking 7:45, 13:20, 27:50. Dude is more diesel than sprinter.

He's got all the tools to run 2:05:00 at some point in the future within the next five years I think. If things go right I think he's a solid bet to represent Ireland in the marathon in Los Angeles 2028.

Go look up who was ahead of him in college, and how many Americans are still running? 1-2?

it’s almost as if getting a scholarship, training, going home to that sweet euro cheap healthy care insurance provides athletes more time to develop.

No it wasn't, Peter Lynch held the record from Dusseldorf earlier this year. Curtin beat it by over a minute

To be honest I think 2:09 is a very soft record because Ireland actually has very good distance runners if you look at distance runners in Ireland over 5000/10,000 meters there are some quasi world-class runners there now (a bunch of 13:00-13:15 ) and if you were to put them (transition over 2-3 years specialist training) in the marathon the same type of fundamental times you would be looking at a bunch of 2:07:00 marathon runners from Ireland. Let's be honest running 13:00-13:10 is great, but those kinds of times in the 5,000 don't win a lot of money whereas equivalent times in the marathon say 206 to 208 you could survive on prize money if you picked your road races carefully.

A guy like Sondre Moen, from Norway, understood this many years ago when he was limited to 1320/27:20, and shifted to marathon eventually winning the Fukuoka in 2017 in 2:05:40 and becoming a successful roadrunner with a nice contract for the last couple of years with Puma.

Seemed to give the nod to Treacy.

Treacy a known heel striker and would have ran who knows what in the shoes which really help heel strikers.

Curtin is cracked.. ran that marathon solo and with a 3.25 first km. Not a flat course but fairly quick second half. Seems a mad choice doing Singapore next but maybe he's practicing for the hot ones like LA!