Mayo woman delivers stunning display in Tokyo marathon

Belmullet's Sinéad Diver returned to competition with a brilliant run in the Tokyo Marathon. The Mayo AC member was the 19th woman across the line in 2:29.57.

It was her first marathon outing since the Paris Olympics in 2024, when she had to pull out due to medical issues.

Last October on a comeback trail she finished third in the Nike Melbourne Festival Half-marathon in 1:10.56, behind winner Izzi Batt-Doyle 1:08.55.

Sinéad's personal best for the half-marathon is 1:08.50 which she ran in Japan in 2020.

In Tokyo, Diver set another amazing mark in her relatively short athletics career.

After the Tokyo race she said:

“Not the time I trained for but I’m proud of the fight it took to get to the line. Some days the marathon feels like a dream. Other days it’s a beast. Today was the latter.

"Training suggested more was there, but sometimes the marathon has it’s own plan. I’ll take the learnings from this build and move forward.”

Though this latest marathon was just days after she turned 49, she is not as obsessed or concerned about masters records or status as the media.

Sinéad’s 2:21.34 marathon in December 2022 in Valencia, was an Australian record until December 2025 when her teammate and friend Jessica Stenson produced a masterful run on the same Valencia course to slice nine seconds off Sinéad’s time.

Sinéad Diver’s Valencia time is still the fastest by an Irish-born woman in the marathon.

It was also in Tokyo that Sinéad made her Olympic debut representing her adopted country Australia when she placed an outstanding tenth in challenging, hot conditions, the highest placed Australian woman in the event at the Olympics since Lisa Ondieki won silver in 1988.

It was arguably her finest performance to date.

It’s an indicator of her remarkable resilience and consistency over the years that Sinéad made her marathon debut in Melbourne in 2014, where she ran 2:34.15.

She joined Mayo AC in 2014 and is a registered member for 2026.

Depending on recovery from Tokyo, She plans to run another marathon during the year possibly in Australia.