Belfast City Marathon: Thousands of runners complete race

The Belfast City Marathon started from the Stormont Estate on Sunday morning

Thousands of runners have taken part in Sunday's 26.2 mile-long (42.1 km) Belfast City Marathon race, which started at the Stormont Estate.

The route took runners across the city, past landmarks including City Hall and Parliament Buildings, before finishing in Ormeau Park.

Mohammed Oumaarir from Morocco won the men's event.

Shewaye Woldemeskel from Ethiopia triumphed in the women's event.

A shipyard crane looms in the background as competitors step up the pace in east Belfast

Commonwealth Games athlete Gladys Ganiel from north Belfast won the women's race last year but she was happy with her runner-up spot on Sunday in a time of 2:41:20.

"It went really well. I was two minutes faster than last last year when I won," she said.

This year's race was broadcast live in full online for the first time by BBC Northern Ireland.

It can be watched back on the BBC iPlayer and at the BBC Sport NI website.

There was no time for running on the spot, despite one entrant appearing as Cruella de Vil

Runners braved damp conditions in the early stages of the marathon race

Runners were in good spirits despite the bad weather

Jenny Finlay, from Lagan Valley Athletics Club, ran in the adult female relay event.

"The relay event has teams running for charity, groups of friends - for all sorts of reasons," she said.

"For us it's about showcasing our club, about putting all our training into practice and seeing what we can do.

"From [when] I was a child, my dad would have been running in the marathons, so I was always brought along to watch.

"It's a great event for the city, bringing all parts of the community together."

Jenny Finlay from Lagan Valley Athletics Club participated in the adult female relay event

The marathon was first held in 1982 and last year marked its 40th anniversary.

It began at Prince of Wales Avenue at the Stormont Estate at 09:00 BST.

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Roads on the marathon route were closed for most of Sunday, causing disruption for some motorists.

The marathon begins at Stormont and ends at Ormeau Park more than 26 miles later

This year around 4,500 runners competed in the marathon and wheelchair race, and 9,000 in the relay.

Last year's men's marathon was won by Irish Olympian Paul Pollock, in a time of two hours, 16 minutes and 13 seconds.

The Holywood man had to speed away from the finish line as his wife was expecting the couple's second child.