There was a mood of positivity from early morning right throughout the city.

No matter what corner of the course you turned, stories full of inspiration were there to greet you.

The standout story this year was Cork turning yellow in memory of Ellen Cassidy, the 24-year-old runner who tragically passed away after the 2025 half marathon. More than 200 members of Ellen’s family and friends came out to run in memory of her.

Poignantly, Ellen’s name features inside a yellow heart on all 2026 finisher medals.

The Ellen Cassidy Perpetual Cup was awarded for the half marathon, while an inaugural Ellen Cassidy Spirit of Running Award was also established.

There was a yellow balloon release ahead of the half marathon start, and a yellow memorial bench installed along the marina promenade in Cork city.

One of the many taking part in memory of Ellen was her close friend Katie Walshe, who ran the race with Ellen last year.

“She only bought the ticket the day before, but Ellen had done umpteen half marathons before. We were all in good spirits going off. I was with her until the 16km and then she told me to power on, but unfortunately then she dropped.” 

On the campaign turning Cork yellow for Ellen, Ms Walshe added: “It has been great, everybody coming together. You can just see yellow everywhere.

“Everyone coming together has made this ten times easier. This isn’t something you could have done alone. You needed the numbers. By god, we got them and everyone was brilliant.

“What was even better was people who didn’t even know her coming out in numbers to show their support. They knew how special she was and knew she deserved the massive respect of this event being in her name.” 

From people running to beat a personal best, to people raising awareness for a very worthy charity, every entrant has a motivating factor and a story behind it.

Among them included Jason Devereux from Dublin, who led a group raising awareness for his son Cobey, who has cerebral palsy. 

Cobey was pushed over the Grand Parade finish line in a wheelchair buggy by his father to scenes of joyous applause.

A proud Jason said; "The support has been unbelievable and the marathon was great. We have a team of people that back us all of the time and want to run with us all of the time.” 

Another running for a worthy cause close to his heart was Cork man David Deasy from Killeens, in aid of Breakthrough Cancer Research.

“This is personal to me. A friend of mine was diagnosed not too long ago, so I am dedicating this to him.

“That word cancer effects everybody and every family all around the world. So, if I can contribute in such a small way, then it is absolutely fantastic.” 

Of all many competitors in the Cork Marathon, very few could have matched the determination of Meath man Francis McManus, who ran a marathon in Tullaroan in Kilkenny 24 hour earlier.

Running in 20 marathons in total this year, Francis has run 332 marathons overall, but ranks Cork right up among his favourite marathons.

Another inspirational story was that of 45 year old Youghal man Gary “Gazz” Roche, who took on his first ever marathon this weekend, just two years after beginning his running journey through the weekly Youghal Parkrun 5K.

As for the race itself, Donegal man Stephen McAuley was the overall marathon winner, finishing in a time of 2:22:42.

Melissah Gibson came first in the female marathon in a time of 2:40:41 and following a win last week in Edinburgh.

The event this year also hosted the 2026 half marathon national championships. Cork athlete Ryan Creech of Leevale AC claimed the men's title in front of a home crowd in 1:04:51. Heather Murphy of St Michael's AC won the women's championship in 1:15:11.

In total, 3,000 participants completed the full marathon, while 5,000 took part in the half marathon and 4,300 competed in the 10K.