John Phelan was one of the Hogan’s heroes! He was a key member of Donore Harriers teams that regularly won Dublin and National titles in the 1960s/70s
In this intriguing interview John gives us an exploration into the club’s golden era under the expert coaching of the legendary Eddie Hogan. John also tells us how athletics and Donore Harriers helped his career path
The Co. Tipperary native, a successful athlete in his own right, also competed for St. Mary’s College and Belgrave Harriers (both London), and for the Aer Lingus team in the early days of Business Houses races. He represented Ireland in the International cross-country in 1972
STANDARD QUESTIONS
PLACE AND YEAR OF BIRTH? 1948 in Clonmel, Co. Tipperary
WHERE WERE YOU EDUCATED? CBS Clonmel, St. Joseph’s College Cahir, and St. Mary’s College in Twickenham
WHAT WAS YOUR MAIN CAREER PATH? I worked for Aer Lingus between 1967 and 1971. In September 1971 I was awarded a Department of Education scholarship to study Physical Education in St. Mary’s College in Twickenham. In January 1973 we were brought back to the National College of Physical Education in Limerick (now UL). I completed the course the degree course in 1975. I became a PE Teacher at Crumlin CBS in 1975/76 and then transferred to teach at St. Joseph’s School in Clonmel. I later became the Principal and retired in 2009
Incidentally, one of my teammates on the St. Mary’s College team was David Bedford. He used to run 200 miles a-week and once held the World record for the 10,000 metres.
<NOTE: Dave Bedford set a World Record 27.30.8 for the 10,000m in 1973. He won the South of England junior (6 miles) and senior (9 miles) cross-country championships on the same day in 1970. He didn’t have a good finishing kick, a factor that denied him medals in major track championships. Bedford was Director of the London Marathon between 2000 and 2012>
IN WHAT YEAR DID YOU JOIN DONORE HARRIERS? In September or October of 1967
WHY DID YOU CHOOSE DONORE HARRIERS? I ran in an Aer Lingus one-mile handicap race in the summer of 1967. The race was won by Eddie Spillane and I came 3rd running off a 100 yards handicap. I asked Eddie about joining a club and he suggested Donore Harriers
WERE YOU A MEMBER OF ANY OTHER CLUB BEFORE JOINING DONORE HARRIERS? No
DID YOU PARTICIPATE IN ANY OTHER SPORT? Of course, I played hurling and Gaelic football as a kid in Tipperary. I later played GAA for Aer Lingus teams and we got regular trips to the USA, where I played in Chicago, Boston and Springfield. We also played in Rome in a game versus the Rome Irish College
WHAT WAS YOUR FAVOURITE ATHLETICS EVENT? I have to say cross-country. Of course, Donore Harriers was 90% a cross-country club at that time
WHAT WAS YOUR ROLE(S) AT THE CLUB? Athlete
WHO WERE/ARE YOUR SPORTING INSPIRATIONS/INFLUENCES? Jim McNamara. He was a blood and guts runner. He was a very nice guy, who gave me lots of encouragement. And I also admired Tom O’Riordan. Tom was a top runner who was ahead of his time in how he trained and prepared for races
SOCIAL QUESTIONS
WHAT WAS THE LAST BOOK YOU READ? No Borders by Tom English
FAVOURITE COUNTRY VISITED? I have a daughter living in Sydney and have been to Australia several times. That’s one favourite. I also liked Finland. I ran there with the Aer Lingus team in 1971 and was impressed that it was a beautiful country and the people were nice. It was different!
WHAT ARE YOUR OTHER INTERESTS AWAY FROM ATHLETICS/SPORT? More sport! I’m an addict! I also follow GAA, rugby, soccer and I play golf on a regular basis
IF DISERT ISLAND DISCS ASKED YOU TO PLAY 3 SONGS, WHAT WOULD THEY BE?
- Nancy Spain by Christy Moore (my wife is named Nancy)
- If Tomorrow Never Comes by Garth Brooks
- Lady in Red by Chris De Burgh
ATHLETICS QUESTIONS
WHO WAS YOUR COACH? Eddie Hogan
WHAT DO YOU CONSIDER TO BE YOUR BEST ATHLETICS ACHIEVEMENT? When I came 2nd in the National Inter-Counties cross-country in 1972 at Belfield. John Buckley (St. Finbarr’s Cork) won that day and Mick McNamara of Donore Harriers was 3rd
I came 4th in the inter-counties at Mallow in 1974
WHAT ARE YOUR BEST TIMES/MARKS (PBs)?
10km – 30.28 in the Intervarsities in 1974
WHAT WAS YOUR FAVOURITE COACHED SESSION? Interval 800m runs at the St. Mary’s triangle
DESCRIBE THE MOST DIFFICULT SESSION THAT YOU HAVE DONE? 10 interval miles on the road that surrounds the Polo Grounds.
Basically, every run with Donore Harriers. Once you left the clubhouse (Hospital Lane) everybody chatted for a bit until we reached St. Mary’s (Chapelizod) Gate, then somebody put the foot down and it was every man for himself. It was tough, especially having to go up Knockmaroon Hill
WHAT WAS YOUR TYPICAL WEEKLY TRAINING PLAN IN YOUR HEYDAY? When I went over to St. Mary’s College in Twickenham, I began running 100 or 110 miles in a week. It was all about miles. There was no coach at Twickenham at that time and we had no structure. Looking back, we also lacked in not getting sufficient rest and recovery. Belgrave Harriers was my London based club.
DO YOU HAVE A FUNNY STORY RELATED TO ATHLETICS/THE CLUB? We used to have good craic at Donore Harriers. Occasionally after training we’d go to Dillons for a few pints. I remember that after races the team would go to the Black and Amber for a session, then it was back out on Monday to sweat it all out
WHO ARE YOUR TOP 3 IRISH SPORTSPERSONS OF ALL TIME (all sports)?
1. Eamonn Coghlan
2. John Treacy
3. Sonia O’Sullivan
SPECIFIC QUESTIONS
WHERE DID YOUR INTEREST IN ATHLETICS STEM FROM? I was always interested in sport and we had a teacher in school who had us out running. Then I came 4th in the Tipperary Under 18 cross-country in 1966
DID YOU PREFER CROSS-COUNTRY OR ROAD RACING? I liked both. The camaraderie in team races on the road was great also. When I first arrived on the scene, I had great difficulty making the scoring 4. Then when I was the 4th man in a race the wily Willie Dunne would pass me in the last lap
ARE YOU PRESENTLY INVOVLED WITH ATHLETICS/SPORT? Well I follow my local athletics club Clonmel AC. Sean Tobin and Kevin Maunsell are their leading athletes. I am also involved with helping out coaching a couple of local GAA teams. I find that my athletics background is very useful when it comes to helping the lads improve their general fitness
YOU WERE THE 3rd SCORER (8th PLACE) ON THE DONORE HARRIERS TEAM THAT WON THE INTER-CLUBS CROSS-COUNTRY IN 1972; WHAT DO YOU REMEMEBER ABOUT THAT DAY? The race was held in Clonmel and it was a very miserable day. I was in the leading group early on with John Buckley (St. Finbarr’s AC, Cork – winner) and Tom O’Riordan (Donore Harriers – 3rd). I fell back and had to settle for 8th. I remember that Paddy Coyle (Lourdes AC) passed me at the end of the first lap.
WHAT WAS IT LIKE TO COMPETE ON THE SAME TEAM WITH THE LIKES OF TOM O’RIORDAN, EAMONN COGHLAN, JIM McNAMARA, EDDIE SPILLANE AND OTHERS? AND HOW IMPORATANT WAS THE INFLUENCE OF COACH EDDIE HOGAN? When I first came to Donore Harriers there were 6 or 7 internationals in the dressing room. I came to the conclusion ‘do what they are doing, or just walk out the door’. They had a very high standard of training. My only criticism is that they ran too hard sometimes. Some of the lads were there 4 or 5 evenings in a week. Tom and Eamonn usually came twice a week and both were smart at training. Eddie (Hogan) was there for sessions every Tuesday and Thursday. He brought the standard up. For instance, I was a novice athlete in 1967, 68, 69 and I improved to the point that I represented Ireland in the 1972 international cross-country. Eddie had us doing sessions like long fartlek runs and 800m intervals on the St. Mary’s Triangle. He was a coaching guru, who was ahead of his time in Ireland. He was probably influenced by the likes of Zatopek and the New Zealand coach Arthur Lydiard. I think he began coaching in 1955 and he quickly brought talented runners like Bertie Messitt and Tommy Dunne to the fore in Irish athletics.
Eddie Spillane was a phenomenal athlete. He was on every Donore Harriers scoring team that won the national inter-clubs between 1968 and 1975. I believe that his 8-in-a-row is a national record.
My first medal won with Donore Harriers was in 1968 in the Dublin Novice XC. I was a scoring member of the team. An interesting scorer on that team was Eddie Treacy. He competed for Ireland in the 1968 Olympic Games as a boxing featherweight. He won his first-round fight against a Jamaican but lost his next match against a local Mexican boxer. He was a good friend and neighbour of Jim and Mick McNamara
<NOTE: the following is an extract from Frank Greally’s essay series ‘Heroes and Friends’ about being ‘Homesick in Sherriff Street’> ֍ What kept me going during that first month in Sheriff Street were my evening visits to the Donore Harriers clubhouse in Islandbridge. Eddie Spillane or John Phelan would pick me up at Capel Street and drive me to Hospital Lane, and it was there that I met some of my heroes who were already legends of distance running- the likes of Tom O’Riordan, Jim McNamara, Mick Connolly, Tommy Redican and Willie Dunne.
The first evening I shared a dressing room with Tom O’Riordan and his hardy comrades always remained special. Tom was king of cross- country at the time, an Olympian and one of the sweetest movers ever to grace a track. He was a little aloof, but in a shy and not an arrogant way. It was a few years before I discovered he was a most engaging conversationalist and we became firm and lifelong friends.
On Tuesday nights as we Harriers wended our way out of Hospital Lane, Tom and Jim McNamara would set a scorching pace up steep Knockmaroon Hill and beyond. The Donore sessions were the stuff of legend, and when I was part of those sessions, I felt I had reached the promised land.֎
DO YOU REMEMBER HOW MANY NATIONAL TITLES YOU WON WITH DONORE HARRIERS? I was on the scoring cross country team that won in 1972, 73 and 74. I was 5th man in 1975 and 5th man in 1978. I was on the Donore Harriers team that won the first two national road relays in 1973 and 1974. I was the last leg runner in 73 and we were 19 seconds down, so that was a special day for me. Donore Harriers also won the 3,000m track team championships in 1973, so I had the distinction as being the only club runner to win the cross-country, road and track team championships in that year.
I was also on the team that won the National 15-mile road race in 1971.
FAST-FORWARD TO BALLYFIN 1978 WHEN DONORE HARRIERS REGAINED THE TITLE; THE DONORE HARRIERS SCORING 4 WERE IN THE TOP 10 AND YOU PLACED 11th, THAT MUST BE A BITTER-SWEET MEMORY? I was delighted that the club won the team event. I was running well at the time and had finished 2nd in the Munster championships. I was hoping to make the Irish cross-country team, so I started out in the lead group. It was a savage, tough course with a huge hill. I ran as hard as I could, and there was no sign of Mick Flood and Pat Cassidy in the early laps, who both ran a more calculated race than me and made the scoring 4. We had 6 athletes in the top 15 that day with Jim McGlynn in 15th place. It seems quite extraordinary that Donore Harriers did not win the title again for another 15 years
DO YOU REMEMBER ANY OTHER RACES WHERE YOU ACHIEVED GOOD RESULTS? In 1972 I was the London Colleges cross-country champion. It was series of 5 or 6 races, and I remember that I won four. I ran in the Middlesex County 10,000m track championship race and picked up the bronze medal.
1972 was a busy year! I was the leading Donore Harriers athlete to finish in the European Clubs championships at Arlon in Belgium; I came 5th in the European Catholic Universities cross-country in Paris, and I was the Belgrave Harriers 7-mil cross-country champion.
In 1973 I was 3rd in the Dublin senior cross-country behind Danny McDaid, who was then running for Clonliffe Harriers and runner-up Dessie McGann of Civil Services. That meant a Donegal man, a Meath man and a Tipp man in the top 3 that day. I was also 3rd in the very first All-Ireland Unity cross-country championships at Ballyclare in Co. Antrim. Donie Walsh of Leevale AC won that day.
Then I came 2nd in the Dublin 3,000m steeplechase in 1974 and I was Donore Harriers 6-mile cross-country club champion in 1976. That’s for the Faugh-A-Ballagh Challenge Cup.
I also won several Tipperary County titles in cross-country, road and track.
IS IT TRUE THAT YOU SOMETIMES HAD A HECTIC RACING SCHEDULE COMBINING CLUB AND AER LINGUS RACES? Yes, on one occasion myself and Eddie Spillane competed for Donore Harriers in a half-marathon race in the Phoenix Park and then flew to Belgium to compete in a race on the next day. Another time I ran the first 5 and-a-quarter mile leg for Donore Harriers in the 40 miles relay that went to Leixlip and back. I remember that it was the 1st of May 1971 and the race started at 12 noon. My handover point was the Hermitage Golf Club. I was then brought to the airport where I took a 747 plane to Shannon. Then it was a car journey to Killarney where I finished 2nd to Pat O’Riordan in the All Ireland 4-mile Business House championship
IS IT TRUE THAT YOU WERE RESPONSIBLE FOR BRINGING RONNIE CARROLL TO DONORE HARRIERS? HE WAS A SUPER ATHLETE! I SEE THAT HE CAME 5th IN THE WORLD JUNIOR XC AT GLASGOW IN 1978 AND WON THE NATIONAL INTER-CLUBS IN 1985. TELL US ABOUT RONNIE? I was a teacher at Crumlin CBS and Ronnie was a pupil. He did a little bit of training and then finished 4th or 5th in the West Leinster cross country. What I noticed is that he had lots of guts; he ran himself to the bone. He had a great attitude to training and racing. Ronnie joined some other strong junior athletes at the time, including Brian O’Keeffe, Vivian Devine and David Lynch. They were coached by Eddie Hogan
IS IT TRUE THAT YOU COMPETED FOR AER LINGUS IN THE EARLY DAYS OF THE BUSINESS HOUSES RACES? HOW DID THAT HAPPEN? Yes, myself and Tommy Redican worked with Aer Lingus, and together with Eddie Spillane and another lad we won the BHAA team series in 1968 and 1969
HOW DO YOU COMPARE ATHLETICS FROM 1970s/80s TO THE PRESENT DAY? MAYBE GIVE A POSITIVE AND A NEGATIVE? I think that more thought goes into the training plans these days. As example, there is a good focus on rest and recovery runs. There are also greater numbers in races. However, the quality doesn’t seem to be as good. The times of today don’t compare to the 70s and 80s. Athletes like Tom O’Riordan, Eamonn Coghlan, John Treacy, Ray Flynn, Marcus O’Sullivan were running times that are not matched today.
YOU CLOSELY FOLLOW THE ACTIVITIES AND RESULTS OF DONORE HARRIERS; ARE THERE ANY PARTICULAR ATHLETES THAT YOU TIP FOR THE TOP? Yes, I follow the club updates on the website and on Facebook. I don’t follow any particular athlete, but I hope that Donore Harriers will pick-up the national inter-clubs soon
DO YOU HAVE ANY SPORTING REGRETS? I don’t really have any regrets. Obviously, I was disappointed not the make the Irish team and the scoring 4 on the club team. However, if it were not for athletics, I would not have got my P.E. scholarship and the career path that followed. Deep down I owe a big gratitude to athletics and Donore Harriers
WHAT KEY ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO ASPIRING YOUNG ATHLETES? 1. Train hard; 2. Maintain a good lifestyle; and 3. Have a mentor (coach) to keep you confident and motivated.
You also need to learn you how to train and race properly. Sometimes rest and recovery is very important than training; and you need to learn how to taper down and how to do pace judgement.
Regular training is very important. I remember in 1970 placing 9th in the Dublin Intermediate cross-country and then placing 4th in Leinster and 12th in the National all within the space of a few weeks. My improvement was due to training consistently
HAVE YOU WON ANY IRISH SINGLETS? Yes, I got to represent Ireland twice in 1972. I ran in the International cross-country championships at Cambridge and in the Findus International cross-country race at Parliament Hill Fields in London. I was on the Irish A team that also included Dessie McGann (Civil Service), Pat Gilsenan (Metro AC), and Pat O’Riordan (Leevale AC).
<NOTE: Here is a link to a short clip of the senior international cross-country championships at Cambridge 1972 with the Irish team to the fore early on – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAoBTO5wQ2g >
<And here is a clip of the Findus cross-country race at Parliament Hills Fields, London in 1972 – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zM9SdEiKqM >
