Belfast City Marathon: Meet Claire O'Neill the woman responsible for the massive annual sporting event

As executive manger for the Belfast City Marathon, Claire has been at the helm of organising the event since 2007 (when she was just 24 years old) and still looks forward to each and every race.

“After 16 years I can honestly say that no event has ever been the same and I thrive on that. The continuous improvements that I try to bring to our home marathon has been overwhelming and hopefully that will continue as we gear up for our new women’s only event in June (Almac Belfast City Women’s 10k), totalling three events per annum.”

The mum-of-two adds: “Marathon Day is the end product and often leads me to tears when I see the promotional video. Hearing the stories as to why the participants are taking part or understanding what volunteering means to many, it is endearing.

"After all these years, the nerves never leave you and until the foghorn goes at 9am and the first participant makes their way through that tape at the finish line, my breathing is sporadic.

“We are a small team, and it is fantastic to see how everyone pulls together to stage such a massive event – I couldn’t do it without them (Eimear, Matthew, Aimee and Ewan).

"Although physically and mentally exhausted after Race Day, we all pride ourselves on the efforts which we have put in to help the community either through participation or fundraising.”

There are some 15,000 participants in this year’s Belfast City Marathon, with 1,800 relay teams, 1,000 doing the eight-mile walk and approximately 4,500 runners.

More than 25 countries are participating, including runners from across Europe, the USA and elite athletes from Kenya and Ethiopia.

The oldest person running the marathon is 79 and an 82-year-old is doing the eight mile walk.

There are more than 500 volunteers and stewards to ensure the event can be run safely and successfully.

On race day Claire, along with police representatives, NI Ambulance, St John’s Ambulance, and others, is in operation control at the finish area at the Indoor Tennis Centre (in Ormeau Park).

“We keep an eye on everything, any emergency situations and make sure that all staff and volunteers are in the right place. If there’s any accidents they phone into us and we will try and fix the situation as quickly as we can.”

Whilst planning for such a massive event is a meticulous job, there are, of course, the ‘unknowns’….particularly Northern Ireland’s temperamental weather.

“I can plan, plan, plan…dot the I’s and cross the T’s but external factors will always impact race day. My fear every year is the weather…will it be wet for our volunteers or too hot for the participants.”

And when it’s all over, just like the participants, Claire can put her feet up for a well-deserved rest.

“I love going home to my family. I am an absence mummy, wife and daughter for the weeks leading up to the event, so I love nothing more than heading home and getting cuddles and craic.”

But there’s not too much time to relax, as Claire says organising the following year’s marathon begins the day after the last one has finished.

“We get everything in place in terms of dates and entry fees and we do an official launch around October.

“Most years we would silently open the entries after that, but this year we are holding back on that because we have two other events; for the first time we have a women’s 10k in Titanic Quarter on June 18 and there’s a half marathon on September 17. We are trying to bring more events in to the running calendar year.”

Whilst due to work commitments on the day, Claire hasn’t done the Belfast City Marathon herself, but she has taken part in two half marathons, Carlingford and Bath.

"I did enter the ballot for the London Marathon after I had my first child, but I didn’t get in, so I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.

“I have considered doing the Dublin one in October as it’s my 40th year, but the idea came and went.

"I exercise at home in between the children – so early mornings or early evenings – I just jump on the Peloton bike and do 45 minutes to keep sane and fit.”

As part of her role, Claire has the opportunity to visit other marathon destinations around the world.

“We are a member of the Association of International Marathons, so over the years I have visited New York, Berlin, Amsterdam, Barcelona and Dublin. Every couple of years we would go and see what’s going on elsewhere, benchmark ourselves and see what we could bring to Belfast.

“This year is the first year Belfast City Marathon has a ‘World’ label, so we are going to be recognised by World Athletics for having that label. We are very excited about that. The way it works is that you try to sustain that label for whatever number of years and then you can progress up the ladder to the Gold, the Elite, the Platinum.”

As well as the serious running, every race day invariably brings an array of runners dressed up in weird and wonderful costumes...be it banana suits, Santa outfits and clown regalia.

“A few years ago a group of 30 dressed up as Oompah loompahs (from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory).

”There was also the craze where people were running in the morph suits (the whole skin suit that covers the face).

“This year we are looking forward to our official charity Air Ambulance NI who are going to be pushing a bed around the walking route.”

Over the years, Claire has had a number of memorable marathon events.

“I think the first one that I was in charge of in 2007 was memorable, because obviously I was responsible for absolutely everything.

“Then introducing the Half Marathon in 2013, and in 2019 working with public and private bodies to change the day of the event from a Monday to a Sunday. And then being able to put on the marathon in 2021 after Covid – we staged that event in October – instead of the traditional May- so that was very different in terms of planning. We were the first event to come back that year – Dublin postponed theirs until 2022. So there was an element of pride that we could run the event.”

And something else she is immensely proud of is the range of charities they work with to raise over £1.2 million annually.

Looking back over her career, Claire says: “I remember the first time I told my family that I was going to study Event Management at the University of Ulster and they didn’t know what it was as the course was in its infancy, but after all these years with their help and support they know I am in the perfect job. I now work very closely with University of Ulster, helping where I can and offering annual student placements.

"I love coming into work and not knowing who I am going to meet or talk to. My work is so varied that I can work through administrative duties, technical plans, marketing/digital creations, or HR tasks.

“I want to thank every walker, runner and jogger who tie their laces on Race Day, attach their number to their chest and line up at the start line to complete their event – as without you there would be no need for me, and I wouldn’t be in my dream job.”