Newlywed Hugh Armstrong's drive for five at Dublin marathon

Hugh Armstrong has got his eyes on the national marathon title, after a stellar year in which he swept the Irish Life Dublin Race Series by winning the 5km, 10km, 10 miles and half-marathon events.

The chance to complete a magnificent quintuple will arise on Sunday, 27 October, when the Mayo man lines out at the 2024 Dublin Marathon, as part of a stacked field that includes current national champion Stephen Scullion, who did it with a time of 2:11:51 last year.

Armstrong's own PB is 2:12:26, achieved at the Seville Marathon in 2020, and on the back of his strong 2024 form, he is confident of getting over the line ahead of all of his compatriots on the day.

"The fifth leg will be the hardest leg, of course," Armstrong told RTÉ Sport at the 2024 Irish Life Dublin Marathon Media Day.

"I’ve good confidence having ran and won all of the race series. I also ran a PB over 5km and 10km this summer. I won my first national title in the half-marathon in Charleville in September as well, that was my first senior national title, so hopefully I can win a second one in Dublin.

"An even better one, probably, because it has a bit more prestige, the marathon itself.

"They’re all good prep, particularly the 10-mile and the half-marathon. They were good courses in that they were in and around the park, similar to what the marathon course itself will be.

"They’re nicely spaced out. The first one was in June, the five-mile, so you get a good bit of time for training in between and seeing have you moved on to the next level as you go up.

Armstrong has had a number of causes to celebrate this year - he also got married in August and turned 30 in September - but a national title would top the lot, in terms of on-track achievements at least.

"To win a