Captain Scott of the Donore Harriers! The likeable Scot, Craig, has been at the club for just over 4 years, the latter two in the captaincy role. Indeed, it may be a question in a future club quiz as to who the first non-national was to captain the Donore Harriers men’s road and cross-country team.
In this interview we find out that Craig is an exceptionally fine golfer; played football for his local youth and school teams; and aspires of breaking 3 hours for the marathon.
Note that it is not unusual for the Interview Series to reveal some interesting and historical facts relating to the club and its members, but the Donore Harriers Mansfield TownFC Supporters Club!!!
STANDARD QUESTIONS
PLACE AND YEAR OF BIRTH? Dunoon a relatively small town on the Clyde in the West Coast of Scotland, also known as the “Costa Del Clyde” for the one or two nice sunny days they get during the summer and from being a popular holiday destination prior to the days of foreign travel. DOB March 1978.
WHERE WERE YOU EDUCATED? I graduated from Paisley University, now known as the University of the West Coast of Scotland with a BSc in Mechatronics.
WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR CAREER PATH? Having graduated in November 1999, I moved to Dublin in January 2000, from 2000 to 2008 in worked in Electronics manufacturing. In 2008 I started working in Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics in Swords where we manufacture Immunoassay Analysers, my current role is Senior Product Engineer.
IN WHAT YEAR DID YOU JOIN DONORE HARRIERS? I joined Donore Harriers in November 2016.I had run the Dublin Marathon in October and I wanted to improve my running, so it seemed like the natural progression to make.
I remember my first session being 600s on the track. This was a real shock to the system as I had never done anything like that before. Peter Nugent and Tom Fagan dragged me through those reps if I am being honest with you!
WHY DID YOU CHOOSE DONORE HARRIERS? Living in Palmerstown, Donore Harriers was the most local club so that’s what prompted my decision initially. In my four years I have been lucky to meet some great folks in the club.
WERE YOU A MEMBER OF ANY OTHER CLUB BEFORE JOINING DONORE HARRIERS? Apart from dabbling with the local athletics club when I was young Donore Harriers is the only club I have been a member of.
DID YOU PARTICIPATE IN ANY OTHER SPORT? I have always had a great interest in sports in general. In terms of participation when I was younger, I played football just in the local youth football league and for the school team, but my main sport was always golf.
In comparison to Ireland golf in Scotland was much more of a working-class sport. I come from a family of golfers so it was only natural that I would take it up. There is a photo of me somewhere of me out the back garden about 4 or 5 years old with an old cut down 7 iron. I continued to play golf competitively until I moved to Ireland where I played recreationally for a couple of years before taking it up more seriously again. I played off a handicap of 5 so managed to play to a decent level. I think a lot of the attributes which you apply to golf transfer well to running.
I also hold a PADI Advanced Open Water Diving qualification although I only Scuba dive while on holidays. I haven’t braved the cold waters of Ireland yet.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE ATHLETICS EVENT? To run and looking back I have probably not run enough of these, but I do like 10k on the road. When I started running there were two-time targets that I had in mind, those being sub 20 minutes for 5km – which I managed in January 2017 in the Tom Brennan Memorial Race – and sub 40 for 10km. Sub 40 for 10 took a little longer than planned, mainly due to not racing them to often or running on tough courses like the Edinburgh 10km during a Donore Harriers trip in 2018. That was never going to be flat! I finally broke 40 in Clane in 2018. Currently my PB stands at a shade over 38 so still room for improvement.
Events to watch I am going to go for 2 as I cannot separate them. The 1st would be the 100m Olympic Final; and 2nd would be the London Marathon as it’s such an iconic event and one I hope to run someday.
WHAT IS YOUR PRESENT ROLE(S) AT THE CLUB? Athlete firstly, but I have also been the Men’s Road and Cross County Captain since taking over from Rossa Hurley in 2019.
In 2020 I also helped out as one of the handicappers for the WBB Shield. A role for which I have taken a torrent of abuse – in jest!!! – as it was believed that I had given myself a favourable handicap. Let’s call the main protagonists of the “feedback” the Patron Saint of Inchicore and the Imelda Marcos of Chapelizod, they know who they are. But for the sake of being sued, I will refrain from naming them.
WHO WERE/ARE YOUR SPORTING INSPIRATIONS/INFLUENCES? From my younger days I would say from a football world Kenny Dalgleish, probably the best footballer to come out of Scotland and a man did so much for the people of Liverpool who were impacted by the Hillsborough disaster. From the golfing world Seve Ballesteros a total maverick, such a natural talent, he really was one of a kind.
SOCIAL QUESTIONS
WHAT WAS THE LAST BOOK YOU READ? Ross O’Carroll Kelly’s Bray Watch – I think I have read the full series. Light-hearted and funny.
WHAT WAS THE LAST CONCERT YOU ATTENDED? Gerry Cinnamon at the 3 Arena in November 2019, followed by a few beers in my favourite pub in Dublin, The Long Hall. I was on marathon recovery, so let’s call it rehydrating.
WHAT ARE YOUR 3 FAVOURITE FILMS?
1. Stand by Me
2. The Green Mile
3. Full Metal Jacket
FAVOURITE COUNTRY VISITED?
For this I was torn between two! Growing up I was lucky enough to spend a lot of my summers in Canada, but I am going to plump for China as my favourite country visited.
From May 2005 whilst in my first job I spent 6 months in Shanghai as we were transferring our manufacturing operation from Dublin. In my time there I managed to visit Xian to see the Terracotta Warriors and Beijing/Great Wall. It was such a change in culture and the sheer population of Shanghai was unbelievable. There were also not too many red-headed Scottish lads there, so it was a bit like being a celebrity with all the looks I was getting just walking down the street.
WHAT ARE YOUR OTHER INTERESTS AWAY FROM ATHLETICS/SPORT? I am a big music fan and there is not much that I won’t listen to, so chilling out and listening to music on Spotify. Also traveling when it is allowed, there is so much of the world that I still want to see.
IF DESSERT ISLAND DISCS ASKED YOU TO PLAY 3 SONGS, WHAT WOULD THEY BE?
1. Oasis – Live Forever
2. The Verve – Bittersweet Symphony
3. Dougie MacLean – Caledonia – although not a patch on my version with Audrey Gahan at the Donore night in The Villager!
ATHLETICS QUESTIONS
WHO IS/ARE YOUR COACH(ES)? In 2016 when I joined Donore Harriers, the men’s group where in a bit of a transition period so we had a time when Mick Bourke, Iain Morrison, Tristan Druet and Ciaran O’Flaherty all helped out with the group. From 2018 I have been coached by Willie Smith aka “The Gaffer”, a man who gives so much to our group and someone to whom we are all grateful for.
WHAT DO YOU CONSIDER TO BE YOUR BEST ATHLETICS ACHIEVEMENT? When I first joined Donore Harriers in 2016 one of my goals was to break 20 minutes for 5km. In Enfield in 2019 I ran 17.50 which is something that I was happy to achieve. There is more to come when we get back racing!
As a pretty latecomer to athletics the best achievements that I can claim are the improvements that I have made since starting to run in late 2014. I think we have to remember that we are all different in this regard and to be honest getting out and running is an achievement in itself, both for our physical and more importantly mental health.
One big aim would be to break 3 hours for the marathon.
WHAT ARE YOUR BEST TIMES/MARKS (PBs)?
1 Mile – About 5.15 in the road relays in 2019, probably the toughest race I have done.
3km – 10.40 in a Dublin Graded Meet, a rare track race for me
5km – 17.50
5 Mile – 30.06 (what a difference 7 seconds would have made; I was so disappointed that day)
10km – 38.09
10 Mile – 66.46
Half-Marathon – 1.26.11
Marathon – 3.08.33
WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE COACHED SESSION? We do some great sessions on the Polo Grounds over the summer months, so will go for 1km intervals there.
DESCRIBE THE MOST DIFFICULT SESSION THAT YOU HAVE DONE? An endurance session that we ran a couple of times last summer when we could get the group together. Starting from the bottom of the Kyber Hill up onto the Coal Road (a term I learned in Donore), around the triangle at St Marys Hospital and up the S Bends back to the start point, 3 laps and just under 10 miles.
WHAT IS YOUR TYPICAL WEEKLY TRAINING PLAN? To be honest my weekly training plan has not really changed because of the Covid-19 lockdowns. Maybe this is my runner’s OCD kicking in and being a creature of habit, but keeping up routine is something that I think is really important in these different times. The only difference is not training with the group. Doing sessions on my own, especially on the Chapo Road on a cold winters evening, can be tough. I tend to vary between 5 and 6 days a week for training. Session days are Tuesday and Saturdays. A typical Tuesday is intervals of 400s up to 1kms and Saturdays tend to be either fartlek or longer intervals. Long run on Sundays and easy runs on the other days of the week.
It is going to be great when the group get back together or even when we can train in small groups, I think Sinead is missing dropping us lads at sessions! It will also be good to get the “Donore Bus” back in action for the Sunday morning long runs.
DO YOU HAVE A FUNNY STORY RELATED TO ATHLETICS/THE CLUB? I have had two really good trips away to races with a few of our group. In 2018 we had a great trip to Edinburgh to run in the Edinburgh Marathon Series 10km and then to Galway for the Streets of Galway 8km in 2019.
One trip which will live long in the memory will be a trip myself, Alan Farrell, Peter Nugent, Stephen Dawson and Andrew Wilson made on St Patrick’s Day of 2018. Believe me I use this term lightly we travelled to Nottingham for a football match between Notts County and Mansfield Town. Who knew there was a Donore Harriers Mansfield Town supporters club? After an epic battle where Mansfield scored an 97th minute penalty to equalise, we headed for a few pints and back to the airport… Cue the longest night in history, as our flight which was scheduled to leave East Midlands at 21.30hrs was cancelled due to snow and we ended up spending the night in the airport. We eventually made it back to Dublin about 14.00hrs the next afternoon. Whilst not so funny at the time it is a trip that is brought up on many a Sunday run or warmup/cool down at sessions.
WHAT ONE CHANGE WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE AT DONORE HARRIERS? I appreciate how many people in the club give up their personal time to ensure that everything runs smoothly. A lot of this work goes on behind the scenes and it would be nice to see others step up and help out.
From a running perspective, when we get back to racing it would be great to see more people running for Donore Harriers teams, whether it be on the track or cross-country
WHO ARE YOUR TOP 3 IRISH SPORTSPERSONS OF ALL TIME?
1. Katie Taylor
2. Paul McGrath
3. Sonia O’Sullivan
WHO ARE YOUR TOP 3 SCOTTISH SPORTSPERSONS OF ALL TIME?
1. Andy Murray (Tennis)
2. Chris Hoy (Cycling)
3. Alex Ferguson – one I am going to get so much abuse for, but his record cannot be denied. (Apologies to Alan/Donal and all the other Liverpool fans in the club).
Maybe if we revisit this in a few years Laura Muir will make the list, a super talented athlete who is hopefully destined for Olympic medals in the near future.
SPECIFIC QUESTIONS
WHERE DID YOUR INTEREST IN ATHLETICS STEM FROM? Growing up the Olympics was always such a big event that I always watched. My initial interest in athletics would have stemmed from there.
In terms of my own participation, I always had an idea that I wanted to run the marathon as it is such an iconic distance. So, training for Dublin in 2016 was pretty much the start of my athletics journey properly. Looking back the first actual race that I ran was the Run in the Dark 10km in 2014 with a time of 52:44.
HAVE YOU HAD TO DEAL WITH ANY LONG-TERM INJURIES? Being a late bloomer in terms of running I have, touch wood, not had any long-term injuries. Now maybe I should look more into injury prevention I am not getting any younger.
CROSS-COUNTRY OR ROAD RACING? Honestly before I joined Donore Harriers I had never even considered cross-county, but I have quickly learned of the significance of cross-country running.
They are two entirely different beasts, but I think I still prefer road racing. Cross-country over the autumn/winter season certainly builds up the legs for the road though.
WHAT ARE THE NEGATIVES AND POSITIVES OF BEING THE MEN’S ROAD AND CROSS-COUNTRY CAPTAIN? The positives of the role far outweigh any negatives. As captain I think that the most important part of my role is to encourage everyone in our group, and to offer advice when it is required. I also get a great kick out of the Donore Harriers teams doing well. We had great success in the Dublin Marathon in 2019 and had a strong season in cross- county. We looked to be in great shape going into the road season and I really believe we would have medalled across all categories in the National Road Relays.
Being relatively new to the role it is hard to list any negatives, but of course, the Covid-19 has really impacted our training and also ability to race. We will come back stronger from this though, of that I have no doubt.
WHAT SIGNIFICANT PROBLEMS HAVE YOU HAD TO DEAL WITH DURING THE COVID-19 RESTRICTIONS/LOCKDOWNS? In terms of normal routine, I have not been hugely impacted by the Covid-19 Restrictions/Lockdowns, because of the nature of my job. I have been onsite pretty much all the time with the exception of a few days working from home. The most significant problem for me during lockdown has been that I have not been able to get back to Scotland to visit family. This is something that I will rectify when travel is allowed. All in all, when you consider what some people have had to deal with, I have not been affected too much.