Brigid Dennehy crosses the 2025 Auckland Marathon finishline in record time. Photo / Auckland Marathon
By Sarah Cowley Ross for LockerRoom
Brigid Dennehy may have just shattered the long-standing Auckland Marathon record, but her heart, until recently, belonged to Gaelic football.
A community physiotherapist by day, Dennehy was determined to rewrite the record books after she fell just two seconds short of the Auckland Marathon record in the 2024 race.
This time, she absolutely smashed Alexandra Williams’ 2012 mark of 2h 41m 29s, to stop the clock at 2h 38m 10s in her “home marathon” to claim back-to-back titles – and win by more than 10 minutes from 2023 champion, Alice Mason.
“To do all that training and know you’re capable of the time – but then to actually do it – well, it’s amazing,” says Dennehy.
She overcame a few speed bumps along the way. In the final week her pacer, Tokyo Olympian Malcolm Hicks, tore his calf, leaving Dennehy scrambling.
She quickly found experienced runner Jono Jackson to step in, and he teamed up with Luke Cotter to guide her through the 42km.
Last month’s race – with more than 17,000 people across all distances – was only Dennehy’s third marathon, after what she calls a “disaster” debut on the Gold Coast in 2024.
“It wasn’t a good experience for my first attempt,” she says, after getting sick late in the build-up.
“I didn’t want to leave it too long and get scarred by it, so I thought, let’s do Auckland and maybe get on the podium.”
The lure of long distance had always appealed, but her coach Paul Hamblyn wanted her to build more speed first.
When Dennehy moved to New Zealand from Ireland in August 2019, it was supposed to be a chance to see the world. Instead, she found home.
“When Covid came, I would have lost my visa if I’d left. But I stayed and looking back, I was so lucky,” she says.
Growing up in County Kerry in the west of Ireland, Dennehy dabbled in running but Gaelic football was her first love.
Arriving in Auckland knowing no one, she found community through sport – first through the local Gaelic football community, then through the North Harbour Bays running club.
It didn’t take long before she was running most evenings and discovering a tight-knit team.
“I just loved the team – the Bays Babes – and everyone is passionate about running, so it makes it really enjoyable,” Dennehy says.
Just six months before moving to New Zealand, she had only just broken 20 minutes for 5km.
Her goal with Hamblyn was to crack 18 minutes. In 2024, she ran 16m 10s to win the New Zealand 5000m national title.
“That’s the power of teammates and enjoying what you do.”
More “pinch-me moments” followed, including a sponsorship with adidas.
“I feel so lucky to have their support. The shoe technology, especially the carbons, helps so much in training and on race day,” Dennehy says.
Over the final two months before the Auckland Marathon, Dennehy loved seeing crowds of runners training along the waterfront.
“The only downside was the hundreds of gel packets littered. I don’t get it because they carried the gel in their pocket to start with, so why not just put it back in after?” she says.
Jackson grabbed each of her 10 drink bottles from the aid stations so she could keep her rhythm and nail her nutrition. After a few sips, she’d hand them back through the small pack running with her.
“At 25km I could feel it in my legs, but by 30km I was confident I was in a comfortable position.”
During the race, Dennehy and her pacers settled into a 3m 45s per km rhythm, intentionally keeping the first half conservative.
They hit halfway in 1h 21m before unleashing a 1h 17m negative split.
“I actually didn’t ask how we were tracking until the last kilometre. I just said, ‘Are we safe?’ Past 35km in a marathon it’s hard to do the maths,” she laughs.
Dennehy works as a community physiotherapist Monday to Thursday, with the odd shift at a private hospital on weekends. After her marathon win, some of her patients spotted her on the news.
“They asked why I didn’t tell them I was a runner,” she smiles, with typical Dennehy humility.
She’s now easing back into training with a plan to race an international marathon next April to bring her time down even further.
Her long-term goal: to make an international team for her beloved Ireland even though New Zealand has her heart.
“I call New Zealand home, but I’ll always be Irish.”
This story was originally published at Newsroom.co.nz and is republished with permission.