To highlight the diversity of Donore Harriers we catch up with Suzie Henley-Willis. Suzie is progressing her own running in Willie Smith’s group and is also a mentor and administrator for the club’s Little Athletics programme. The Little Athletics programme introduces children aged between 8 and 10 to athletics in a fun and engaging environment. It focuses on the use of games to develop fitness whilst enhancing coordination and balance – all fundamental to longer-term physical athletic development. Suzie explains how she got ‘enlisted’ into coaching the Little Athletics group and how much she is enjoying the experience. Suzie is one of those people who brings a ray of sunshine to athletics. Leonie Newman described her contribution: “Suzie is just brilliant at supporting the kids and is a great asset to the club”. Then, of course, Suzie has become a regular competitor in club colours. Post the 2021 covid-lockdown she competed in a Dublin Graded 5,000m, the Dublin Novice XC, the Clondalkin Half-Marathon, the Tallaght/Dublin Novice 5km, the National Novice XC, the Captain’s Run, and the Waterhouse-Byrne-Baird Shield 10-mile handicap race. This year she has already competed in the Dublin Masters XC championships, the Raheny 5-mile, and the Bohermeen Half-Marathon. Looking forward, Suzie hopes to compete in the Stockholm and Dublin marathons this year. Suzie is a wonderful contributor to the club, and we wish her all the best in her athletics pursuits.

STANDARD QUESTIONS
PLACE AND YEAR OF BIRTH? I was born in November 1980 in Dublin and am a proud Ballyfermot girl although now live in Palmerstown with my husband Ken and four children, Lauren, Max, Eli, and Lyza
WHERE WERE YOU EDUCATED? I went to Primary School in Chapelizod N.S. No. 1 as it was once called. Then onto Caritas College in Ballyfermot and onto Inchicore College of Further Education to study Computer Applications
WHAT WAS YOUR MAIN CAREER PATH? I started working in a Betting Office part-time at the age of 18 before quickly moving up to managing shops from the age of 20. I continued working in the Betting Industry for a further 21 years for various companies
IN WHAT YEAR DID YOU JOIN DONORE HARRIERS? I became a member of Donore Harriers in 2019 as I started to coach the Little Athletics section but only recently started to train as an athlete in Willie’s (Smith) coached group in May 2021. My only regret was not following up what Maurice Ahern had encouraged me to do for years in joining the club as we had spent many a time discussing my passion for running but hey better late than never
WHY DID YOU CHOOSE DONORE HARRIERS? It was a follow on really. Lauren my daughter has been a member of Donore Harriers since 2006
WERE YOU A MEMBER OF ANY OTHER CLUB BEFORE JOINING DONORE HARRIERS? I started off running in primary school where I spent many a lunch break doing a short lap from the school to the swing gate of Phoenix Park up to the gate opposite Donore Harriers – and using our side lane in the school yard as our ‘sprint track’.
I competed in schools’ competitions at Santry and Belfield though I wouldn’t be shouting from the rooftops on my success… but I always participated. I did very little competition in Caritas College and the last race I remember competing in was a cross country in 1997 at the Curragh Army Camp for the Leinster Schools
DID YOU PARTICIPATE IN ANY OTHER SPORT? I did a small bit of GAA in school but running was always where my heart was
WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE ATHLETICS EVENT? The 4 x 100 relays, because it can be so unpredictable and brings the best out of each athlete on the team
WHAT ARE YOUR MAIN ROLE(S) AT THE CLUB? I coach in the Little Athletics section and also look after all the administration for that group. Please note that the admin role is open for applicants! More recently I have become an athlete and am finding my feet at competing again
WHO WERE YOUR SPORTING INSPIRATIONS/INFLUENCES? Mr Quill, the former principal at Chapelizod primary school, who got me into athletics from an early age. However, I never forgave him for having us run around in Kerry-coloured jerseys.

SOCIAL QUESTIONS
WHAT WAS THE LAST CONCERT YOU ATTENDED? Christy Moore
WHAT ARE YOUR 3 FAVOURITE FILMS?
1. Ocean’s Eleven
2. Taken
3. SING 2
FAVOURITE COUNTRY VISITED? AND WHY? We tend to travel to Florida every other year with the kids and hit all the parks. It is my favourite time on holiday as we maximise our time be it at the water parks or on the roller coasters for about 12 hours every day of the holiday
WHAT ARE YOUR OTHER INTERESTS AWAY FROM ATHLETICS/SPORT? Being a builder’s daughter and having spent 7 years doing woodwork in Kylemore College in the evenings its safe to say I am passionate about DIY. I have been known to be quite handy around the house fixing anything from door hinges to washing machine carbon brushes. I enjoy upcycling old furniture too, be it painting or upholstery. I’m a crafty one!
IF DESERT ISLAND DISCS ASKED YOU TO PLAY 3 SONGS, WHAT WOULD THEY BE?
1. Labri Sifree – Something Inside So Strong
2. Lionel Richie – Stuck on You
3. Rod Stewart – Maggie May

ATHLETICS QUESTIONS
WHO IS YOUR COACH? Willie Smith is my coach. I admire the dedication and hard work he puts into each athlete and takes the time to talk to each one of us, from the elite down to the beginners like myself. With the sound advice and knowledge, he has passed onto me in the last 10 months has given me a great start to my goals
WHAT DO YOU CONSIDER TO BE YOUR BEST ATHLETICS ACHIEVEMENT? I really wanted to do a marathon before I hit the 40 mark and I set a goal to break the 4hr mark which I did on my first attempt back in 2019. Part of my reason for joining Donore was to try and improve on that time. Since joining I have really got into the team camaraderie with Willie’s group and have been known to enter any type of race to try and improve
WHAT ARE YOUR BEST TIMES/MARKS (PBs)?
5km – 23:00
5-Mile – 38:15
10km – 50:00
10-Mile – 85:20
Half-Marathon – 1:48.58
Marathon – 3:59:24
WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE COACHED SESSION? I love the Magazine trails in the Phoenix Park we do on a Saturday. The undulating hills makes it a fun session with the team
DESCRIBE THE MOST DIFFICULT SESSION THAT YOU DID? The first session I ever did with Willie’s group on the Polo Grounds was the toughest. I turned up and Willie asked what my fitness was like, and I had thought it was OK as I was doing 25 miles a week and in one gear only. Little did I know that my OK and Willie’s OK were not the same thing!
WHAT WAS A TYPICAL WEEKLY TRAINING PLAN IN YOUR HEYDAY? For around 15 years all I ever did was a few days of 3 or 4 miles at the same pace each week until I started training for the marathon in 2019
DO YOU HAVE A FUNNY OR UNUSUAL STORY RELATED TO ATHLETICS/THE CLUB? We landed down to Tullamore for a Juvenile track and field event, and we entered the venue via the scenic route – i.e., under the leylandii trees. A steward was quick to advise us of the entrance fee… much to the embarrassment of some of our current club members… who shall remain anonymous
WHO ARE YOUR TOP 3 IRISH SPORTSPERSONS OF ALL TIME?
1. Katie Taylor
2. Rachel Blackmore
3. Sonia O’Sullivan

SPECIFIC QUESTIONS
ARE ANY OF YOUR FAMILY MEMBERS OF DONORE HARRIERS? Yes – Lauren runs with the Sprint Group Coached by Paul and Emily and has been a member for over 15 years. Max and Eli my two sons are part of the Little Athletics section. I managed to con my husband into volunteering this year to help with all the competition entries. My youngest daughter Lyza will be due to start soon also. It is a whole family thing!
HOW DID YOU GET INTO COACHING/TEAM LEADER? In 2019, I was out on a run passing the club and popped down to see Lauren training and bumped into Leonie (Newman) and asked her about Max joining the club as he had just turned eight. I told her I would give a dig out when he started and by the time I jogged the 1-mile home, I had been added to a WhatsApp group for Little Athletics Leaders. I quickly jumped on an AI Course for Little Athletics Leaders and suddenly found myself knees deep in the club. I feel like I owe the club for time that was given to Lauren over the past 15 years and am happy to spend any spare time I have as payback, although I am enjoying it all very much
WHAT ARE THE MAIN CHALLENGES OF COACHING YOUNG ATHLETES? Trying to keep such a mixed age group of kids (8-10 Years old) focussed and concentrating during the session is certainly a challenge. Also, trying to get a warmup and a full session done in the short 35 minutes timeslot can be difficult. We sometimes need to deal with varying behavioural issues which can impact the quality of the sessions
WHAT CHANGES WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE IN THE ATHLETICS COMPETITION STRUCTURE FOR YOUNG ATHLETES? I think if there were different levels of competition for individual events in T&F for young athletes i.e., beginner / novice / intermediate. I often wonder would there be more interest from the less competitive athlete or the “new to athletics” athlete to take part
THERE IS A WAITING LIST FOR YOUNG PERSONS TO JOIN THE CLUB, YET THE CLUB STRUGGLES TO FIELD TEAMS AT CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS. THIS BRINGS THE DEBATE THAT YOUNG ATHLETES SHOULD BE SUBJECT TO TRIALS BEFORE BEING ALLOWED TO JOIN. WHAT IS YOUR TAKE ON THIS ISSUE? I think finding out if the child is interested in athletics or just joining for the social end of things would be a great advantage up front. Therefore, I think there should be some sort of structure in place. Having just come out of the Dublin Indoors myself and Michael McCarthy who coaches Little Athletics with me discussed how disheartening it can be as a coach of 46 athletes and yet struggled to make at least one team of the same age within our group for the relays. I doubt the local Soccer or GAA club has a training facility where the athlete doesn’t play matches so why should we as a sports club be any different!
I think its very important to encourage athletes from a young age to take part in sport and to take pride in representing the club. It should not be about training as a fitness path without competition, although I do think making new friends and enjoying being there is very important but should be the BONUS factor
WHAT KEEPS YOU MOTIVATED AS A COACH/LEADER? Watching the children compete at events is the most satisfying part for me as a coach. It makes it all worthwhile to see the athlete’s confidence grow and showcase all the hard work they put in at training and knowing that you played a part in their improvement journey is definitely very rewarding. It also helps with pointing out what area/areas the athlete may need to work on for next time
DO YOU HAVE ANY COACHING PHILOSOPHIES, PARTICULARLY FOR YOUNG ATHLETES? FUN! For example, if I ask the group to run three laps of the track, I hear 30+ kids moan. If I ask them to run three laps and I will time them they moan a little. If I ask them to run three laps, add two dice in there and call it Track Bingo it’s the best thing ever. At the end of it all, with the fun factor it’s a win win situation they get the job done and enjoy it too
SOME VERY GOOD COACHES STARTED OUT BY MENTORING YOUNG ATHLETES AND MOVED UP THE AGE GROUPS, HOW DO YOU SEE YOUR OWN PROGRESSION PATH AS A COACH? Having completed two Athletics Ireland courses the next step for me is to progress to the Level 1 which I am eager to get started on. I’d like to grow my knowledge a lot more on the T&F stuff
YOU RECENTLY COMPETED IN THE WATERHOUSE BYRNE BAIRD SHIELD 10-MILE HANDICAP RACE. HOW WAS THAT EVENT FOR YOU? I loved every minute of it. The Waterhouse Byrne Baird Shield along with the other club related races are great ways to come together as a team in a mainly individual sport and celebrate together. We have great support along the route and the fact it was over the Christmas period made it that much special. I don’t think I took the smile off my face for the whole 10 miles. It’s definitely my favourite race to complete since joining Willie’s group. It’s in the calendar for 2022 for sure and will be dragging my run buddy Louise Kelly by the ponytail this time if she dares try to bail
IS THE MARATHON AN EVENT THAT YOU WILL TARGET AGAIN IN THE FUTURE? Having completed the Dublin Marathon in 2019, this year I am planning on taking on the challenge of two marathons. One in June in Stockholm and then the Dublin Marathon in October.

In this edition we catch up with the 2021 Waterhouse Byrne Baird Shield winner Ken Nugent. Of course, since then Ken has gone on to win individual bronze medals in both the Dublin Master Cross-Country championships and the Leinster Masters XC.

 

 

 
Ken ran a 2.41.38 in the 2011 Dublin Marathon, but a stress fracture hampered his attempt to break the sub-2.30 mark in 2012. That target remains a key ambition on his athletics journey and his recent good form in cross-country races makes it a strong possibility within the next couple of seasons.
Ken worked in the UK in recent years but continued to participate in races in the colours of Donore Harriers. In 2016 he won the Flitwick 10km in 32.55 and came 2nd in the Leighton Buzzard 10-mile in 56. 33. He returned to win the Flitwick 10km (33.13) in 2018. In the same year he won the St. Ives 10km in 32.56 and came 4th in the Belvoir Half-Marathon in 74.48. His best result in 2019 and 2020 came in the Cambridge Half-Marathon. He ran 1.11.29 in 2019 to place 13th and 1.14.19 in 2020 to take 54th spot.
The Donore Harriers stalwart came into good form last autumn. He won the Wissey Half-Marathon in Norfolk in 1.13.47 and then won the Northampton Half-Marathon in 1.12.22. He followed that up with a strong run in the National Senior cross-country championship race at the Santry Demesne.
Ken’s win in the WBB Shield race was greeted with universal approval due to his dedication to the club and the sport of athletics. Ken is amiable, dependable, and a committed sportsperson who is well respected by his peers and club colleagues.
STANDARD QUESTIONS
PLACE AND YEAR OF BIRTH? Dublin, 1984
WHERE WERE YOU EDUCATED? Templeogue College and UCD
WHAT IS YOUR PLANNED CAREER PATH? I’m an accountant
IN WHAT YEAR DID YOU JOIN DONORE HARRIERS? Around 2007
WHY DID YOU CHOOSE DONORE HARRIERS? My father was a member for many years before I joined so I was aware of the club for some time. Word got to Maurice Ahern, through his son who was in my class in college, that I did some running and he also encouraged me to join the club. I will split the credit between my father and Maurice. I will give former member Keith Daly a mention too as we trained together at UCD, and he spoke well of the club.
I trained myself and with UCD when I was in college and was also interested in doing duathlons, triathlons, mountain running and marathons. For a time, I was more interested in doing various events rather than getting involved in club athletics where the focus is often on shorter road races, track, and cross-country events.
WERE YOU A MEMBER OF ANY OTHER CLUB BEFORE JOINING DONORE HARRIERS? When I was a boy (12-14), I trained with Rathfarnham AC (before they merged with Walkinstown AC) as they were local to me. We had a small but strong group, and I did some cross country and track running. I recall that group diminishing as people went to train with college teams (I was the youngest in the group) and I drifted away from the club after that although I never stopped running.
DID YOU PARTICIPATE IN ANY OTHER SPORT? I swam, played soccer, tennis, football, hurling and rugby at various times. I have always been active and love exercising and participating in sport.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE ATHLETICS EVENT? The marathon is always a special event, but I would say my best running has been on the roads, 10km to half marathon distance.
WHO WERE/ARE YOUR SPORTING INSPIRATIONS/INFLUENCES? I think what Kipchoge has done in the marathon and for marathon running generally has been great and is inspirational. The sub-2hr marathon was among the most inspiring sports achievements I have seen. The discipline and humility he seems to have and which is a key part of his success is also inspiring.
I always admired the way that Paula Radcliffe used to run – fearlessly and aggressively even against better athletes. There are lots of people in athletics to draw motivation from and at all levels – not least within Donore Harriers. Away from running, most of the sportspeople, past and present, that I admire are from motorsports.
SOCIAL QUESTIONS
WHAT WAS THE LAST BOOK YOU READ? I read a series of running books by the same author during lockdown which I enjoyed. A journalist spent time training with Kenyan athletes, living Japanese running culture and attempting ultra-running and wrote about his experiences. Running with the Kenyans, The Way of the Runner, The Rise of the Ultra Runners.
WHAT ARE YOUR 3 FAVOURITE FILMS? I’ve never really been interested in films.
FAVOURITE COUNTRY VISITED? Portugal.
WHAT ARE YOUR OTHER INTERESTS AWAY FROM ATHLETICS/SPORT? Motorsport (particularly F1 and MotoGp) and football. I’m interested in current affairs/business/entrepreneurship/economics/investing, cars, technology.
ATHLETICS QUESTIONS
WHO IS/WERE YOUR COACH(ES)? I have mostly set my own training schedules but have benefitted from the influence of several coaches over the years such as Iain Morrison and John Downes at Donore Harriers and Tom Dunne at UCD. When I’m in Dublin, I join in for sessions that Phil (Hennessy) takes from his training manuals.
WHAT DO YOU CONSIDER TO BE YOUR BEST ATHLETICS ACHIEVEMENT? I am lucky to have lots of good memories from club-level athletics over the years. To pick one, I would go with winning the WBB shield this year. The history and tradition behind it are great and I have enjoyed taking part in it many times over the years. Anyone who ever ran it is part of the tradition. To have won it is a real privilege and picking up the Tommie Hayward trophy on the day also made it even better.
WHAT ARE YOUR BEST TIMES/MARKS? Marathon 2hrs:41mins, half-marathon 1hr:11mins, 10miles 53:15, 10km 31:50, 5km 15:39.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE COACHED SESSION? It may have stretched what a coach asked us to do but Fergal (Whitty) and I used to do a 3 x 3-mile interval session with a recovery mile between each rep. We would often have done 16 miles or more in total as part of the session, so it was tough but good for bringing up the weekly mileage too and aligned with marathon objectives– ‘If you’re not dying, you’re not trying’ as Fergal says.
DESCRIBE THE MOST DIFFICULT SESSION THAT YOU HAVE DONE? Those 25 x 400m track sessions we occasionally did were tough although I haven’t done that many reps in a long time.
WHAT IS YOUR TYPICAL WEEKLY TRAINING PLAN? Mileage-wise I generally aim for 70-80miles but will cut that to 50-60miles on race weeks. I try to fit-in two speed work sessions and a long run. The rest of the time I just run easy and often do a short morning and evening run. My sessions are generally not particularly planned or formal, I know broadly what I’m looking to achieve and try to adapt my sessions around that. I tend not to set a minimum or maximum to what I’m going to do in terms of volume, speed, total distance as I find it works better for me to go with what I feel I can do at the time. When I’m here, I will often join in with whatever session Phil/Fergal have planned.
WHAT ONE CHANGE WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE AT DONORE HARRIERS? I’m happy with the club – the Phoenix Park is on our doorstep and the best resource any athletics club could have.
SPECIFIC QUESTIONS
YOU RAN A STORMER TO WIN THE WBB SHIELD 2021 IN STICKY UNDERFOOT CONDITIONS. DID YOU SPECIFICALLY TARGET THE RACE? DID THE SOFT UNDERFOOT CONDITIONS SUIT YOU? AND IN WHAT PART OF THE RACE DID YOU BELIEVE YOU WOULD GO ON TO WIN? I wasn’t in great shape towards the end of 2020, my running definitely took a hit during the lockdown periods but, over the Christmas/New Year break, I resolved to improve my fitness and get back to racing in 2021. It took me quite a while to improve my fitness and I had an opportunity to take some time off work over the summer and come back to Ireland when I trained a lot with Phil’s (Hennessy) group which really helped me. My focus was then on an October marathon.
I then adapted my training for cross-country and the WBB Shield was part of the thinking, but I also wanted to take part in the National Senior and Masters’ races. One thing I take from the pandemic is that you never know when you won’t be able to run/race/do what you want so I really wanted to make sure to get myself to as many start lines as I could – particularly as I was in decent shape by this time.
My approach to the WBB shield has always been just to focus on my own run and not think about where anyone else is or what time I might need to run to have a chance. I thought I had a chance to win the Tommie Hayward cup this year if I ran well on the day but didn’t let thoughts of winning the WBB shield enter my mind. During the race, I just concentrated on maintaining my own pace and didn’t know where I was overall and in relation to the leader – the crowd at the finish line told me I won.
I was disappointed that it rained so heavily on Christmas day, I was looking forward to the ground being firm on race-day – not from a competitiveness perspective as it’s the same for everybody but as it would be faster and more enjoyable. As it happened, the ground was a little soft but nothing like as bad as I thought it might be.
WHERE DID YOUR INTEREST IN ATHLETICS STEM FROM? My father ran when I was very young although he then stopped for several years. In primary school I had a teacher who ran marathons and added to my interest in running. He arranged for John Treacy to visit our class and we watched a video of the ’84 Olympic marathon – I can’t remember who won but Treacy had a great race to just beat Charlie Spedding to the silver medal. I used to also watch athletics at the Olympics and World Championships.
We did some running at PE class and on sports days which I enjoyed, and I started running with my father, I persuaded him to get back into it – this would have been around 1995/’96 and I never stopped running since then. My first road race was the ’96 Jingle Bells when it was held in town.
DID YOU EVER COMPETE AS A JUVENILE OR JUNIOR OR IN SCHOOLS COMPETITION? Yes, but not to any great extent. I don’t remember there being any formal running programme in secondary school, but I recall going to at least one schools cross-country race. I also ran a bit on the country and on track for Rathfarnham. Even then, I was more interested in running far rather than the very short races they held on the country and track for younger age groups. I ran a lot of road races back then – Jingle Bells, Raheny 5, Sportsworld 5, Dunshaughlin 10k, Rathfarnham 5k.
YOU WERE BASED IN ENGLAND FROM 2015. DID YOU JOIN A CLUB OVER THERE? No, I just train by myself when I’m in England.
AND HOW DO YOU COMPARE THE ROAD AND CROSS-COUNTRY SCENE IN ENGLAND AS COMPARED TO IRELAND? I have done a lot of road races in England and some parkruns but nothing on the cross-country scene. There is always something on whether you prefer small, local races or larger mass-participation events. I have found most races to be well-organised and enjoyable.
I think the larger events are pretty similar everywhere, but I think the smaller races are done better at home (e.g., races which are to raise funds for community clubs) and particularly the post-race tea and snacks!
They tend to do trophies rather than cash for prizes in England which I like.
YOU WON THE NORTHAMPTON HALF-MARATHON (1.12.22) AND WISSEY (SWAFFHAM) HALF-MARATHON (1.13.49) IN THE AUTUMN OF 2021 THAT SIGNALLED A RETURN TO FORM. TELL US ABOUT THOSE RACES? They were my first road races since the Sunday before the first lockdown in 2020. I had been training well throughout the year, so those races were pretty much in-line with what I expected to run timewise and it’s always nice to win. The races were part of my October marathon build-up, and I didn’t rest-up or adapt my training for them so there may have been the potential to post slightly faster times.
The Swaffham one was tough as it was really hot and quite hilly in the second half. The Northampton one was enjoyable but the route got really narrow and twisty in places (routes through parks) so it wasn’t the fastest course. Both were competitive for part of the race particularly Swaffham and fortunately I was able to hold the pace better than others on the day.
YOU RAN THE DUBLIN MARATHON IN 2011 IN A TIME OF 2.41.34. DID YOU IMPROVE YOUR 26.2-MILE TIME SINCE THEN? I ran a very similar time in 2018 (Gran Canaria) but have not managed to improve. I should have been able to run a sub-2hrs 40m in Chelmsford in October, but I got the pacing wrong from about half-way to 20 miles. Pushing the pace by 5-10s per mile to go with a small group that chased down the leader cost me beyond 20 miles. I felt good and thought it was worth the gamble.
I should have been able to run sub-2hrs 30m in 2012 but I picked up a stress-fracture 10 miles into the Dublin Marathon and didn’t start another Marathon for several years.
AND IS THE MARATHON AN EVENT THAT YOU WILL CONCENTRATE ON IN THE FUTURE? Yes, I was most interested in the marathon long before joining the club and generally consider other events to be a break from or build-up to a marathon. I do enjoy road racing and cross-country too and there is clearly some overlap in the necessary training.
Ideally, I’d like to do the Dublin marathon in October and confirmed my good for age entry this week. My last marathon was a disappointment, but it’s forgotten about now and I am looking forward to getting back to a marathon focus soon. I have not decided yet if I will do another marathon before Dublin but will be adapting my training for the marathon and road racing after the cross-country season.
I also want to do a good number of races this year – particularly Dublin, Leinster, National events.
DO YOU PREFER TO RACE ROAD OR CROSS-COUNTRY? Road.
HAVE YOU STRUGGLED WITH MOTIVATION AND/OR INJURY? TELL US ABOUT THAT? I have generally been lucky with injury given how long I have been running and the periods of quite intense training done. The 2012 stress-fracture was the worst injury I ever got because I couldn’t do anything for a few months in addition to the disappointment of all the hard marathon work being for nothing – I felt I had sub-2hrs 30m potential at that time although I was probably over-training which may have taken the edge off me anyway.
I lost all my fitness and struggled to get back into it and picked up some niggles in trying to come back too quickly. That was a real shame as I was training and running so well at the time.
I have always been quite motivated to run and to be competitive but putting everything together to do that is difficult particularly over extended periods of time. For me, it’s mostly work and other things that get in the way rather than a lack of desire to train well – any good day involves a run.
I think that what you do outside of the actual running is key and, in some ways the hardest part of achieving your potential. Assuming, you can find the time for the training and are motivated to work hard you then need to be really disciplined about rest, recovery, and diet in particular. It is also important to know when you need to cut down on the mileage and sessions to give yourself the best opportunity in a race which is tough to do when you love running.
For me, the non-running part of the overall picture is the more difficult.
WHAT ARE YOU NEXT BIG TARGETS IN ATHLETICS? I have had an ambition to run a sub-2hr 30m marathon for some time. The marathon has never really worked out for me, but I will try again. A sub-70m half-marathon would also be an ambition. It would also be nice to pick up some Masters’ medals whether on the roads or the country this season.

 

Eric Keogh enjoys running! It’s a part of who he is! It’s his relaxation away from all the digital screens and is the pathway along his sporting journey. Eric is a quiet, but steely person who has developed his athletics profile through careful strategy and sheer hard work.

 

 

 

 
Now plying his academic and athletics career at the Queen’s University in Charlotte, North Carolina he can reflect on many successes in the colours of Donore Harriers between 2007 and 2021. Most of the Donore Harriers senior and junior team glory days in the past decade and more have included the name Eric Keogh on the scoring sheet. The list includes – team silver in the National Junior XC in 2010, team gold in the National Novice XC in 2013, team bronze in National Senior Inter-Clubs in 2014 and 2015, team gold in the National Senior Road Relay in 2015 and team silver in the Road Relay in both 2017 and 2019.
Among his best individual performances were National 10,000m (30.18.85) track bronze in 2019 and silver in the National 10,000m (29.36.21) in 2020 – when he finished just one second behind leading Irish international Sean Tobin. He ran a personal best of 29.20.30 to win the Dublin 10k Championship in 2020, ranking him 5th in Ireland last year.
Arguably his best performance was his 2.18.24 run in the Frankfurt Marathon in October 2019, ranking Eric just outside the top 60 on the all-time Irish marathon list. That time ranks him equal 4th <subject to correction> in the Donore Harriers rankings behind Jim McNamara (2.14.54 at Limerick 1976), Brendan O’Shea (2.16.50 at Berchem 1972), and Willie Dunne (2.17.54 also at Berchem 1972) – and equal to Jim McGlynn’s 2.18.24 set in Glasgow in 1981. With lofty marathon ambitions there can be no doubt that Eric Keogh’s name will sit higher in the rankings.
Eric was a regular on the Irish road racing scene and was a key member of the Donore Harriers track and field league team. He represented Ireland in the Celtic International Cross-Country at Cardiff in January 2017.
Eric represented UCD between 2013 and 2015 winning the Intervarsities 3,000m Indoors gold in 2014 (8.36.53) and team cross-country gold at Jordanstown in 2013.
We salute and thank Eric for his outstanding contribution to our sport and to Donore Harriers. Hopefully we will see Eric back in the black and white of Donore Harriers in 2022.
STANDARDS QUESTIONS
PLACE AND YEAR OF BIRTH? The Coombe Hospital, Dublin. 1991
IN WHAT YEAR DID YOU JOIN DONORE HARRIERS? 2007
WHY DID YOU CHOOSE DONORE HARRIERS? I was recruited by Lee Van Haeften when we ran together on the Salesian College Celbridge cross country team. I also met with Maurice Ahern at DCU Invitational in like 2006, I think.
WERE YOU A MEMBER OF ANY OTHER CLUB BEFORE JOINING DONORE HARRIERS? I was a member of Celbridge Athletics Club when I was in my early teens. I tried my hand at sprinting as my brother had been sprinting competitively with them. I wasn’t very good and didn’t stick around long.
DID YOU PARTICIPATE IN ANY OTHER SPORT? Yes, soccer and rugby were my passions growing up. I’m a keen Manchester United fan. I played soccer with Ballyoulster United for several years. I was a left winger, always prided myself on my industry rather than technical ability! I also played Rugby with Barnhall RFC in Leixilp as an Out-Half and Centre. I really loved playing Rugby alongside my athletics career, however decided to pack it in after a bad injury ruled me out of my whole athletics season in 5th year.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE ATHLETICS EVENT? It’s extremely difficult to pick just one. I think each event has its own unique quality and energy. I really enjoy a good track meet on a summer evening, particularly in Belgium. I also love a fresh autumn morning for a big city marathon. In terms of spectating, I love the 1500m, it is always such a fascinating tactical battle in championship races. As a participant, nothing beats the occasion of a big city marathon. I’ve only done one, but I was captivated by the whole event. The build-up, the atmosphere with the expo all weekend beforehand and then of course taking on the challenge of the race itself. And making up for the calories burned afterwards!
WHO WERE/ARE YOUR SPORTING INFLUENCES? I take influence from a broad array of people across many sports. I’m a huge NBA fan and I’m really inspired by the late Kobe Bryant and his “Mamba Mentality”. His work ethic was unrivalled and really reinforced the idea to me that you don’t need to be the most talented guy to be successful. A good work ethic and love of the ‘day in, day out’ process will get you much further than just talent. Obviously, Michael Jordan is also a huge inspiration. I think anyone who has recently seen his ‘The Last Dance’ documentary on Netflix will appreciate how inspirational his competitive mindset was. Closer to athletics, I was always a huge fan of Craig Mottram growing up. His mantra of it “takes weeks to build speed and years to build strength” has been a philosophy of mine throughout my athletics career. I also really looked up to my coach Mark Kenneally, who grew up and trained on the same roads I did. Seeing him make it to the Olympics in 2012 reinforced the idea that you didn’t need special circumstances to be successful.
SOCIAL QUESTIONS
WHAT IS THE LAST BOOK YOU READ? Dune by Frank Herbert
WHAT WAS THE LAST CONCERT YOU ATTENDED? Milky Chance at the Fillmore in Charlotte, my first concert in almost 2 years. Before that it was David Keenan at The Olympia in Jan 2020, right before Covid decimated that industry.
WHAT ARE YOUR 3 FAVOURITE FILMS?
1. Apocalypse Now (1979)
2. Beautiful Boy (2018)
3. Good Will Hunting (1997)
FAVOURITE COUNTRY VISITED? The U.S. I love spending time in NYC when I can, I’ve been quite a few times now. It’s such a diverse city with so much to see and do. I’m still discovering new places to visit every time I go. I also spent some time in New Orleans in 2019, which was a lot of fun. I highly recommend it to anyone thinking of visiting. It’s got such a great energy and jazz scene, lots of bars and good food also!
WHAT ARE YOUR OTHER INTERESTS AWAY FROM ATHLETICS/SPORT? I’m a huge music fan and I play guitar. My Dad was a musician, so it’s always been around our family. My older brother is also a guitarist. I’ve been fortunate to go to see many of heroes live in concert, including Bruce Springsteen and The E Street band like almost 10 times now!
IF DESERT ISLAND DISCS ASKED YOU TO PLAY 3 SONGS, WHAT WOULD THEY BE?
Jungleland by Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band
There Is a Light That Never Goes Out by The Smiths
Slide Away by Oasis
ATHLETICS QUESTIONS
WHO IS/WAS YOUR COACH(ES)? Jake Krolick / Mark Kenneally
WHAT DO YOU CONSIDER TO BE YOUR BEST ATHLETICS ACHIEVEMENTS? From an individual perspective, Silver Medal at AAI Track Champs in 10,000m (2020). From a team perspective, winning gold at National Road Relays in 2015.
WHAT ARE YOUR BEST TIMES / PBS? 800m – 1:55.10, 1500m – 3:47.08, 1 Mile – 4:09.36, 3000m – 8:12.74, 5000m – 14:15.43, 10,000m – 29:20.3, 5 mile – 23:22, 10 miles – 48:40, Half Marathon – 65:11, Marathon – 2:18.24
WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE COACHING SESSION? I love doing a threshold / tempo run like 30-40 mins at specific heart rate zone. I’m also a big fan of 8 x 1km reps off 60 seconds recovery @10k pace. That’s my bread and butter.
DESCRIBE THE MOST DIFFICULT SESSION THAT YOU HAVE DONE? I distinctly remember doing a marathon workout when building up to Frankfurt in 2019, on a Friday evening after a week in work (the worst time of the week to do a session!). During a 100+ mile week, we done 5 x 5km with 1km float recovery averaging like 16:10 per 5k. It ended up being like 20+ mile @ 5:28 per mile pace. The worst part was coming back out on the Sunday morning for a 25-mile-long run. It was a brutal weekend of training, but once I got through it in one piece, I was confident I was ready to take on the marathon.
WHAT IS YOUR TYPICAL WEEKLY TRAINING PLAN? I’ll normally do a workout Tuesday focusing on 10k/Half Marathon pace reps (8x1km) and a workout Friday (Threshold / Tempo run). I’ll do a midweek long run of like 12-14 mile on Wednesday and a long run on Sunday 15-20 mile. On the other days I’ll double easy runs like 9 mile in A.M and 5 mile in the P.M
DO YOU HAVE A FUNNY STORY RELATED TO ATHLETICS / THE CLUB? I remember when we hosted the national cross-country championships in 2010, John Travers won the junior race, and our team came second. We celebrated with a few cold beverages that evening. I can’t quite remember how or why, but John ended up down on the track sprinting around with a giant Irish flag in tow. Good times!
WHAT ONE CHANGE WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE AT DONORE HARRIERS? I think we could do a better job creating a culture of excellence amongst our senior teams if we want to be competitive with the likes of Raheny, Dundrum South Dublin, Clonliffe Harriers. We had made huge progress in 2013-2016 period with the LTDP in closing the gap to these clubs evidenced with results at Road Relays, Inter-Club Cross Country and National League. It feels like this has plateaued a bit in recent years for one reason or another. Of course, we have a great social and recreational culture in the club but at the top level we have some great young athletes who need to be supported going forward to achieve success for the club and themselves. I think we can maintain the fun aspect whilst creating a culture focused on delivering these results.
WHO ARE YOUR TOP 3 IRISH SPORTSPERSONS OF ALL TIME?
1. Roy Keane
2. Katie Taylor
3. Sonia O’Sullivan
SPECIFIC QUESTIONS
WHERE DID YOUR INTEREST IN ATHLETICS STEM FROM? My brother was a keen sprinter growing up, so we always had Golden League (now the Diamond League) races on TV, and I became familiar with many of the top athletes in the early 2000’s. I remember watching Kenenisa Bekele and Eliud Kipchoge competing in World Champs in Paris in 2003.
DID YOU EVER COMPETE AS A JUVENILE OR JUNIOR OR IN SCHOOL’S COMPETITIONS? Yes, I competed both as a juvenile and in schools. My best placings were 4th at Schools Track and Field 1500m champs when I was in Transition Year. I think I was 14th at the Cross Country Champs in both Transition year and 6th year.
WHAT WERE YOUR BEST RESULTS IN THE FATHER ARCHER CUP (SALESIAN COLLEGE ANNUAL ROAD RACE)? My best result was in 6th year when I won and broke the record for the old course (14:09). I’ll list my results below for each year.
1st Year – 112th
2nd Year – 133rd
3rd Year – 14th
4th Year – 4th
5th Year – Injured
6th Year – 1st
YOU WERE ON THE DONORE HARRIERS TEAM THAT CAME 3rd IN BOTH THE 2014 (17TH individual) and 2015 (13th individual) INTER-CLUBS CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS. WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER ABOUT THOSE RACES? I have mixed emotions about those races. When I first started running, the inter club cross country was always the big cross-country race of the season. 12km for the senior men and selection for World Cross was always a huge incentive. However, this race declined so quickly when Ireland stopped sending teams to World Cross. When we competed and got our medals it was fantastic, but the race was not as supported as it had been historically and there were only maybe 5/6 teams competing. It kind of felt a little empty. It wasn’t as gratifying as it would have been had the race had the popularity of years gone by. I guess you can only beat who shows up at the end of the day, but that’s just how I look back on it.
YOUT WERE ALSO ON THE DONORE HARRIERS TEAMS THAT WON THE NATIONAL SENIOR ROAD RELAY IN 2015 AND GOT SECOND PLACE IN 2017 AND 2019 – BOTH VERY CLOSE RACES! WHAT ARE YOUR ABIDING MEMORIES OF THOSE EVENTS? 2015 was a special day for the club. As mentioned, there was a big focus on improving the excellence of the team with the LTDP program in 2013. To get the result of this program in 2015 was hugely gratifying as we came out on top with a competitive field. The team was made up of John Travers, Daragh Fitzgibbon, Lee Van Haeften and me. We had all grown up together, training together so to win with those guys was an extra special feeling. I remember John having an incredible performance on the 3-mile leg.
In 2017, and 2019 we were beaten into a silver medal by Raheny Shamrocks. Both times I was on the final leg and was extremely frustrated to be beaten. Both occasions were my two fastest times on that leg, but I felt I had let the team down. 2019 felt like a case of Déjà vu from 2017!
YOU REPRESENTED IRELAND IN THE 2017 CELTIC CROSS-COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS AT CARDIFF. HOW WAS THAT EXPERIENCE? AND DID YOU REPRESENT IRELAND ON ANY OTHER OCCASION? Representing Ireland was always a dream of mine, so to have this come to reality in 2017 was amazing. We used to talk about getting “the shams” when we were juniors. I finished 10th in the race and was first Irish man home. I was very proud to be able to put in a good performance on this occasion to justify my selection. It’s the only time I’ve represented Ireland.
YOU RAN A FANTASTIC 2.18.24 IN THE 2019 FRANKFURT MARATHON. IS THE MARATHON AN EVENT THAT YOU WILL CONCENTRATE ON IN THE FUTURE? Yes, for sure, I feel have a lot of scope to improve in the marathon and was only scratching the surface in Frankfurt. Long term, I would like to try run the Olympic standard of 2:11.30.
YOU REGULARLY COMPETED IN ROAD RACES OVER VARIOUS DISTANCES. WHAT WAS/ARE YOUR FAVOURITE EVENTS BOTH IN IRELAND AND ABROAD? I quite enjoy running the half marathon distance. The Dublin Marathon race series always had a great atmosphere and energy in the build up to “marathon season”. The Dublin half marathon around the Phoenix Park was probably my favourite on home soil. Abroad, the Barcelona half marathon was by far my favourite event. Everything from the organisation to the course, the atmosphere, the standard and the weather! I ran my PB there and would go back in a heartbeat. It’s a good time of the year also in February. Highly recommend it to anyone looking for a fast half.
YOU CAME INTO REALLY GOOD FORM IN 2020. YOU WON THE DUBLIN 10,000m TRACK CHAMPIONSHIPS IN 29.20.3 AND THEN TOOK SILVER BEHIND SEAN TOBIN IN THE NATIONAL 10k TRACK IN A TIME OF 29.36.21. YOU THEN HAD TO DEAL WITH INJURY. PLEASE TELL US ABOUT THE NATURE OF THE INJURY AND THE RECOVERY PROCESS? Yes 2020 was a breakthrough year, I really upped my training and started committing myself a lot more to the sport. After the summer, I built on it and had a great winter despite no races. Early in 2021, I began having issues with my calf which really impacted my ability to run hard. It went undiagnosed for a long time up until the summer. Once the issue was identified as mechanical, I was given a rehab program to help me get back running properly. It’s still not back to 100%, I’m working hard to try get there!
YOU TOOK UP A SCHOLARSHIP AT THE QUEENS UNIVERSITY OF CHARLOTTE IN NORTH CAROLINA IN AUGUST 2021. HOW IS THAT GENERAL EXPERIENCE FOR YOU? AND HOW DOES THE AMERICAN ATHLTICS SCENE DIFFER FROM THAT IN IRELAND? I love it here. It’s been everything I hoped it would be and more. The place, coaches and teammates have been so supportive and welcoming. I feel very much at home here and there is a family atmosphere amongst the team. We have a culture of excellence but we also all look out for one another. The scene is crazy over here. The enthusiasm for cross country is so fresh compared to at home. Obviously, there is a much bigger pool of resources but just the general organisation, love and support for the sport is great. It’s infectious when you’re surrounded by it. I think associations back home could learn a lot from the NCAA.
YOU TRAINED WITH THE SENIOR & ACADEMY GROUP PRIOR TO GOING TO THE STATES AND YOU KEEP A KEEN EYE ON THE PROGRESS OF DEVELOPMENT ATHLETES IN THE CLUB LIKE GAVIN CURTIN, OLIVER HOPKINS, LOUIS O’LOUGHLIN, ETC. WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO THOSE YOUNG ATHLETES? Stay consistent, listen to your coaches and be honest with yourself. Work hard and work smart. Take a long-term approach, time is on your side. If you can get a consistent 3-4 years of training under your belt, like you guys have been doing over the last year(s) you’ll achieve things you may not have though possible for yourself.
DID YOU EVER HAVE A PROBLEM STAYING ‘MOTIVATED’ AS AN ATHLETE? AND WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO YOUNG ATHLETES AND THEIR COACHES AROUND MOTIVATION AND DEVELOPMENT? Yes, I have, I think everyone goes through this at some stage of their career. In 2018 I was really struggling for motivation ahead of XC season, which led me to shift a focus towards road races and the marathon early in 2019. A new fresh challenge brought renewed enthusiasm for the sport. I think having short- and long-term goals are extremely important. Nobody wants to be training full tilt 100% of the time, that’s where these goals come in. There has to be a purpose to your training. I find this helps get you out the door on those days when you don’t’ feel like working. It’s important to be honest with yourself and able to differentiate when you’re too tired to train and when you’re just lacking motivation.
It’s also very important to enjoy running, and not get too caught up in the competition side. For me, just getting out for a run is my favourite part of the day. Sometimes it’s nice just to get out and run off feel, enjoy the time away from phones, computer screens and TV’s. It sounds counter-intuitive but running can be a great way to just relax sometimes.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR ERIC KEOGH IN TERMS OF TARGETS? Right now, I’m getting ready for my first indoor season. I’m still not back to 100% fitness so I’m hoping I can get back to that level by early 2022. Long term, I’m hoping to run some PB’s over 5,000m and 10,000m over the next years here in the Charlotte before focusing solely on the marathon career.

From a boy scout with little interest in sport to captaining the Irish senior team in the International cross-country championships. That’s just a part of the sporting journey of Tony Murphy. Tony competed in Donore Harriers club colours for almost three decades, many as the club captain. Indeed, he was integral to the club’s great success in the golden Eddie Hogan coaching era of the 1960s and early 70s.

Here is a summary of Tony’s outstanding athletics career –

In 1960 Murphy was on the Donore Harriers team that won the National Novice cross-country championships. In the following year, he was a member of the successful National Junior XC team and came 2^nd in the Junior 3-mile track championship.

1962 saw the junior team retain their XC title, with Murphy being selected to represent the Irish team to compete in the International Under 20 XC championships at Sheffield. This was the 2^nd time the U20 competition was held and Ireland’s first participation in the event. He also came 2^nd in the IAAU 3,000m steeplechase.

He represented Ireland in track and field internationals versus Scotland in 1963 and England in 1964. Also in 64, he won the National Senior steeplechase (IAAB) for the first time.

He came 2^nd in the 1965 AAUE National Senior XC behind teammate Tom O’Riordan and was on the Irish team that contested the International XC championship at Oostend in Belgium. On the track he won the IAAB National 3,000m steeplechase title.

<<NOTE: 1965 National Senior XC: 1^st Donore Harriers – 1 Tom O’Riordan, 2 Tony Murphy, 3. Jim McNamara, 4. Brendan Dunne – 2^nd Donore Harriers ‘B’, 3^rd Crusaders AC>>

In 1966 Tony Murphy again finished 2^nd to O’Riordan in the National Senior XC championship as the Donore Harriers team won its 9^th consecutive title. The team went on to finish 2^nd in the European Club XC championships at Arlon in Belgium behind Portsmouth AC. Tony won the AAUE steeplechase and 10-mile track titles in the same year.

<<NOTE: 1966 National Senior XC: 1^st Donore Harriers – 1 Tom O’Riordan, 2 Tony Murphy, 3. Tony Hopkins, also T. Power, N. Dunne & P. Redican – 2^nd Civil Service AC>>

Murphy won the 2^nd BLE (formed 1967) senior steeplechase title in 1968. He also won the Eastern Region XC title and came 2^nd in the BLE national 15-mile road championship.

Work relocation saw Murphy compete in the London athletics scene in the late 60s and early 70s. Competing for Ealing & Southall AC he helped his new team to team victory in the North of the Thames XC championship in 1969. In 1971 the team came 3^rd in both the North of the Thames and Middlesex County XC championships.

The Donore Harriers star was Ealing & Southall AC club champion over 5,000m and 10,000m in 1972. He spearheaded the E&S AC team to win the highly competitive Middlesex County XC championship and came 3^rd in the Middlesex 3,000m SC in that year.

Back home in Dublin in 1973, Tony Murphy came 2^nd in the Eastern Region XC and led the Donore Harriers team to victory. He was also a key member of the team that won the Dublin XC senior team.

Tony was also on the Donore Harriers teams that won the National Road Relay and the Dublin and Eastern Region XC titles in 1974. In the same year, he came 2^nd in both the Dublin 5,000m and 10,000m championships. He also represented Ireland in a track match versus Romania and Germany at Bielefeld, Germany.

In the following year he came 17^th and 4^th team scorer in the National Senior XC championship at Naas, as the Donore Harriers team won their 18^th consecutive XC title. The team also won the National Road Relay and Eastern Region XC team titles – and came 2^nd team in the Dublin XC. Tony won a silver medal in the Dublin 5,000m.

<<NOTE: 1975 National Senior XC: 1^st Donore Harriers – 4 Tom O’Riordan, 9 Eddie Spillane, 13 Mick Flood, 17 Tony Murphy – 2^nd Galway City Harriers, 3^rd St. Finbarr’s AC>>

Tony was on the Donore Harriers team that came 3^rd behind winners Clonliffe Harriers in the 1976 senior XC championship at Ballinasloe. The team also came 2^nd in the ’76 National Road Relay. He won a bronze medal in the Eastern Region 5,000m race.

Murphy was also part of the Donore Harriers team that came won the Dublin XC title in 1978 and then came 2^nd in 1979. Tony won his last senior medal in 1980, when the Donore Harriers team came 3^rd in the National XC championship at the Phoenix Park. Clonliffe Harriers won the title and Jim McGlynn was first Donore Harriers athlete home in 14^th place.

In 1982 Tony was on the Donore Harriers team that came 3^rd in the Dublin 10-mile road championship. In the following year he won the National Masters XC, leading the team to victory. He also won the National Masters 5.000m title.

He also won several open road races and his best result in the Waterhouse Byrne Baird Shield was 2^nd behind Eddie Spillane in 1973. Tony also won the Faugh-A-Ballagh Cup as men’s club XC champion in 1980.

A sensitive pelvic injury required Tony to retire from competitive athletics around 1987.

It should be noted that Tony Murphy was a well-respected Club Captain in a period when the club dominated senior cross-country in Ireland. He later served as the Club President between 1983 and 1985. That was a significant period in the club’s history, as the women’s section had been newly formed and plans to relocate the club away from its Hospital Lane base were in process. Tony was also the Club Coach for a time – and is an Honorary Life Vice-President based on his services rendered to the club over the years.

In this interview Tony talks about Eddie Hogan, the legendary club coach, and his experiences at international cross-country championships.

STANDARD QUESTIONS

PLACE AND YEAR OF BIRTH? Dublin 1942.

WHERE WERE YOU EDUCATED? Haddington Road National School.

WHAT WAS YOUR CAREER PATH? I left school at aged 14 and then completed a dental technician apprenticeship. After that Pat Mullaly, the club treasurer, got me a job as a clerk with the Automobile Association. I worked for several years with the AA, including a 3 and a-half year term in London. Then I got a job with PMPA Insurance, whom I stayed with until my retirement.

IN WHAT YEAR DID YOU JOIN DONORE HARRIERS? 1959

WHY DID YOU CHOOSE DONORE HARRIERS? A long story! I was in the scouts and had little interest in sports and running. The scouts had an annual camp at the Mount Juliet area in Kilkenny and one day we followed the river – but were not allowed to go swimming due to the fast waters. So, we decided to run back to the campsite, and I was the first back. After that we used to do paper chase runs with me acting as the hare.

Later in the summer I was entered to the scouts sports day at Santry and came 2^nd in the one-mile race. It was 1958 and there was a lot of focus on the mile and the Morton Stadium at that time, as five men broke the 4-minute mile barrier in the 1958 Morton Mile.

Ignatius O’Brien, who organised the scouts races, put me into a couple of cross country races in the following winter and I placed in the top 3. In the following summer Ignatius invited me to join the club sessions at the old track at Irishtown. I have to admit that I knew very little about running and club athletics at that time. As I lived in Donnybrook at the time my local club was really Crusaders AC, but I later became a regular at Donore Harriers clubhouse at Hospital Lane.

It took me a while to adapt to proper training levels. In my very first championship race I was part of the Donore Harriers team that won the National Novice cross-country in 1960.

WERE YOU A MEMBER OF ANY OTHER CLUB BEFORE JOINING DONORE HARRIERS? No

DID YOU PARTICIPATE IN ANY OTHER SPORT? No.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE ATHLETICS EVENT? My favourite event was 4 and 5-mile road races. I won the Crusaders 5-mile road race in 1964 and subsequently won that event two more times. I also enjoyed the Dunboyne 4-mile, which I won in 1967. It was the first open race after the formation of BLE (Bord Luthchleas na hEireann) when the AAUE and NACA were merged. I was also the first winner of the Bowden Maguire 5-mile road race at Drogheda in 1968.

WHAT WERE YOUR ROLES AT THE CLUB? I was an athlete for the best part of 30 years. I had to give up running in 1987/88 due to a pelvic injury. I was the Club Captain for a very long time, and in the era when Eddie Hogan was the club coach. I was also the Club President between 1983 and 1985.

WHO WERE YOUR SPORTING INSPIRATIONS/INFLUENCES? Obviously, Ronnie Delany after his gold medal in the 1956 Olympic Games. There weren’t too many people out running the roads in the 1960s, so fellas used to shout out “Did you bring it with you Ronnie?” – a reference to the Olympic gold medal – to any man out on his run. As an avid Shamrock Rovers fan and a regular to their Milltown ground my heroes back then also included the likes of Paddy Coad, Tommy Hamilton, Liam Touhy, and Ronnie Nolan.

SOCIAL QUESTIONS

WHAT WAS THE LAST CONCERT YOU ATTENDED? I can’t remember which one, but either Cliff Richard at the RDS or John Denver at the Point.

WHAT ARE YOUR 3 FAVOURITE FILMS?

1. Westside Story

2. Vera Cruz (a Mexican/American cowboy film)

3. Sound of Music

FAVOURITE COUNTRY VISITED? As a rule, I don’t return to a country once visited, but I have gone back to Italy several times. In particular, I like Sorrento – a southern city that overlooks the Bay of Naples.

WHAT ARE YOUR OTHER INTERESTS AWAY FROM ATHLETICS/SPORT? Bridge, golf, and community work – particularly with my local resident’s association. To be honest, I don’t play golf anymore as my flexibility and coordination is not as good as it used to be. When my handicap went from 9 to 25, I decided it was time to quit.

IF DISERT ISLAND DISCS ASKED YOU TO PLAY 3 SONGS, WHAT WOULD THEY BE?

1. My Way by Frank Sinatra

2. That’s Amore by Dean Martin

3. You’ll Never Walk Alone by Gerry & the Pacemakers

ATHLETICS QUESTIONS

WHO WAS YOUR COACH(ES)? Eddie Hogan and myself.

YOU ARE THE CLUB CAPTAIN DURING THE EDDIE HOGAN ERA. WHAT MADE EDDIE SUCH A GREAT AND WELL-RESPECTED COACH? As far as I know he went to Germany on a coaching course. Eddie was always present for club sessions, so he built a trust with his athletes. He explained the session prior to each run. The sessions were seasonal and formed an overall plan that targeted major championships, in particular the national cross-country championships. He never told us to avoid open races, except in the lead-up to big championships. The other thing is that he varied the training sessions according to the time of the year.

WHAT DO YOU CONSIDER TO BE YOUR BEST ATHLETICS ACHIEVEMENT? I’d like to think that my overall athletics experience was the best. Probably my 6-mile run of 28.48 was my best run. It ranked me 2^nd in Ireland behind Bertie Messitt and was around 20 seconds short of the qualifying time for the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City. I also get great satisfaction from the fact that I beat every other Irish athletes that I came up against at one time or another. The list includes the likes of John Treacy, Eamon Coghlan, Derek Graham, Niall Cusack, Gerry Deegan. I may not have won the respective races, but it was nice to finish ahead of these great athletes.

WHAT ARE YOUR BEST TIMES (PBs)? 6-miles – 28.48; 3-miles – 14.00; 2-miles – 8.59; One Mile – 4.13; 880 yards – 1.57.5; 440 yards – 53.5; 220 yards – 23.5; 10,000m – 29.59; 5,000m – 14.30; 3,000m – 8.24; 1,500m – 4.00; 3,000m Steeplechase – 9.07; 400m Hurdles – 58.5; 15-mile Road – 75.35; 10-mile Road – 49.30; Marathon – 2.27.

WHAT WAS YOUR FAVOURITE COACHED SESSION? Probably 20 x 400m on the track.

DESCRIBE THE MOST DIFFICULT SESSION THAT YOU HAVE DONE? Going up the Knockmaroon Hill 10 times and down the Anglers Rest side and over and back. If was difficult, but it was a great session for race fitness. Of course, the Hill had much less traffic back then, so it was safe enough to do a session.

WHAT WAS A TYPICAL WEEKLY TRAINING PLAN? Long run on the weekend, usually 15 to 20 miles depending on season. Club sessions on Tuesday & Thursday evenings and Saturday afternoons. Easy running in-between. I never liked running in the morning, so most of my training was done in the evenings.

DO YOU HAVE A FUNNY STORY RELATED TO ATHLETICS/THE CLUB? I competed in every event in the National Track & Field League expect the Hammer and Pole Vault. In one match I was pitted again Paddy Smee in the 400m Hurdles. Paddy had either won or placed in the National Championships, so was favourite to get maximum points. He was in one of the inside lanes, whilst I was on the outside. Anyway, I ran well and won the race. The fact that I was practicing for the steeplechase helped my hurdling technique.

WHO ARE YOUR TOP 3 IRISH SPORTSPERSONS OF ALL TIME?

1. Ronnie Delany

2. Liam Brady

3. Sonia O’Sullivan

SPECIFIC QUESTIONS

WHAT WERE YOUR BEST RESULTS AS A JUNIOR ATHLETE? I was on the first Irish team to compete in the Under 20 international cross-country championships in 1962. It was the 2^nd year of the junior event, and the first time for Ireland to take part.

I was on the Donore Harriers team that won the AAU National Junior cross-country team championships in 1961 and 1962; and I was 2^nd in the 3-mile junior track championship in 1961 and 2^nd in the 1962 3,000m junior steeplechase.

TELL US MORE ABOUT THE UNDER 20 INTERNATIONAL RACE IN 1962. I NOTE IT WAS HELD AT GRAVES PARK IN SHEFFIELD? There is not a lot to say really about the event. There was a lack of communication and camaraderie compared to the open races back home. It was very much gun and go! The standard was obviously much higher, so it was hard racing and just trying to hang on to places.

I do remember that one of the other athletes – I think he was South African – asked me to swap singlets. I refused, as I wanted to keep my first Irish vest.

YOU WERE ON THE IRISH SENIOR TEAM AT THE INTERNATIONAL CROSS-COUNTRY AT OOSTEND IN 1965, ALONGSIDE ATHLETES LIKE DEREK GRAHAM, JIM McNAMARA AND JIM HOGAN. WHAT ARE YOUR ABIDING MEMORIES OF THAT CHAMPIONSHIP? Jim Hogan did not run. He wanted to be put on a flight from London, but his request was refused. He was there as a spectator only. The team travelled by ship from Dublin to Holyhead, then took a train and another boat to Oostend. On the way back, we were given flights from London.

It was a frantic fast start, and I made my way to the front in the early stages. One week later when I returned to compete in the Martini International in Brussels, I saw a front-page newspaper photo in a window that showed me in the front group of the race.

YOU MADE THE IRISH TEAM AGAIN IN 1966, THIS TIME AT RABAT IN MOROCCO. THERE WAS A STRONG DONORE HARRIERS REPRESENTATION ON THAT TEAM. DEREK GRAHAM OF ANNADALE STRIDERS FINISHED 2^ND. TELL US ABOUT THE WHOLE MOROCCO EXPERIENCE? AND TELL US ABOUT DEREK GRAHAM? I was the captain of the Irish team that day. We were flown to Gibraltar and then took a boat and train to reach Rabat. Derek and Jim McNamara were great rivals who shared a great mutual respect.

Rabat was a nice place, and the people were friendly. We visited the kasbahs and stalls. However, one problem was that the natives did not speak English.

YOU WERE NATIONAL STEEPLECHASE CHAMPION 3 TIMES. WHY DID YOU TAKE UP THAT EVENT? I think it was Willie Dunne who suggested that I try the steeplechase. At first, I stepped onto all the barriers and would put my two feet into the water. But I went away and practiced the barriers and became more efficient at the event. Perhaps the jumping and landing impact caused the pelvic problems that ended my running experience.

WHAT ARE YOUR MEMORIES OF THE HOSPITAL LANE CLUB FACILITIES? It was small and did not allow the club to expand in terms of membership and events. The club had some great field event athletes among the membership, which we very rarely saw. People like Brendan O’Reilly, Val McGahan, Jim Fanning, Dick O’Rafferty were never seen at Hospital Lane, but trained elsewhere.

YOU WERE THE CLUB PRESIDENT BETWEEN 1983 AND 1985, AN IMPORTANT ERA FOR THE CLUB WITH THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE NEWLY FORMED WOMEN’S SECTION AND PLANS TO RELOCATE THE CLUB. WHAT CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT THE ATMOSPHERE/ACTIVITIES AT THE CLUB IN THAT PERIOD?

We purchased a portacabin to facilitate the women’s group. It was not an ideal facility, but it was the first step.

At one time, we had the idea to develop the facilities at Islandbridge (Hospital Lane), but it would have been too costly. Thus, people like Maurice Ahern, Pat Mullaly and myself were busy looking at alternative locations for the club. Maurice worked with the Youth Council and Pat with the Dublin Corporation, so they had good contacts. We all considered it necessary to obtain better club facilities in order to develop the club, in particular the juvenile and women’s sections.

HOW DO YOU CONSIDER THE PRESENT STATUS OF THE CLUB? I am probably not in touch enough to give a give a full answer. The great thing is that the club can accommodate more athletes and a wider variety events than in the old times. Athletes have better facilities and there are more coaches. The key to better success is to be able to hold on to your senior athletes. That’s an age-old problem!

Most of you will be thinking who Margaret O’Halloran is in the context of Donore Harriers! Well, she was one of the club’s leading track and field athletes in the early days of the women’s section – and was a pioneer of women’s pole vaulting in Ireland. Indeed, she was the first women’s national pole vault champion in 1998, and then went on to represent Ireland in the Europa Cup at Kaunas, Lithuania in June of that year. The team included the likes of Karen Shinkins, James Nolan, Nick Sweeney, Susan Smith and Donore’s Roman Linscheid, so she was among some great Irish athletes on that trip.

Mags won an array of medals in Leinster and National championships in sprints and hurdles – and later won two Intervarsity gold medals in the Pole Vault, including victory in the 1998 Celtic Games at the Antrim Forum.

Here is what her former coach Gerry Ronan says about Margaret: “Margaret was one of the early members of the Donore Harriers Ladies section – a multi-talented athlete and an academically gifted student. Having started out as a hurdler she later progressed to the Pole Vault, where she set the first officially recognised women’s national record in the event. A real trailblazer, in every sense of the word, she made training all the more enjoyable for her training partners by her relentless positivity. She even managed to secure for herself a summer training abroad with the coach of a German world champion. Margaret would never be told a dream was impossible. She was, and remains, one of the most resilient athletes I have ever had the honour to coach”.

STANDARD QUESTIONS

PLACE AND YEAR OF BIRTH? Dublin 1976

WHERE WERE YOU EDUCATED? UCD – undergrad degree in psychology, masters degree in psychology.

WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR CAREER PATH? Studied psychology and worked with children with autism for a few years. About 4 years ago I started coaching tennis and absolutely love it.

IN WHAT YEAR DID YOU JOIN DONORE HARRIERS? I’d say it was about 1987. I was 11 – I think!

WHY DID YOU CHOOSE DONORE HARRIERS? My coach Gerry Ronan was with the club.

WERE YOU A MEMBER OF ANY OTHER CLUB BEFORE JOINING DONORE HARRIERS? No, I just ran for my school.

DID YOU PARTICIPATE IN ANY OTHER SPORT? Swimming

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE ATHLETICS EVENT? Pole Vault

WHAT WAS YOUR ROLE AT THE CLUB? Athlete

WHO WERE/ARE YOUR SPORTING INSPIRATIONS/INFLUENCES? Katrin Krabbe, the European 100m and 200m champion in 1990. I worked for her in her sports shop in Neubrandenburg, Germany for a summer in 1993. I spent that summer training in a sports boarding school there.

SOCIAL QUESTIONS

WHAT WAS THE LAST BOOK YOU READ? Open by Andre Agassi

WHAT WAS THE LAST CONCERT YOU ATTENDED? Ed Sheeran

WHAT ARE YOUR 3 FAVOURITE FILMS?

1. Dead Poet’s Society

2. Mrs. Doubtfire

3. Mama Mia

FAVOURITE COUNTRY VISITED? Australia

WHAT ARE YOUR OTHER INTERESTS AWAY FROM ATHLETICS/SPORT? Tennis, Weights, Netflix, Surfing

IF DISERT ISLAND DISCS ASKED YOU TO PLAY 3 SONGS, WHAT WOULD THEY BE?

1. Dance Monkey – Tones & I

2. If Your Over Me – Years & Years

3. Titanium – David Guetta

ATHLETICS QUESTIONS

WHO WAS YOUR COACH(ES)? Gerry Ronan for sprints and strength training between ages 10 and 25. Jim Alexander and Brendan Dunne for the Pole Vault.

WHAT DO YOU CONSIDER TO BE YOUR BEST ATHLETICS ACHIEVEMENT? Representing Ireland in the Pole Vault in the Europa Cup in Lithuania

WHAT ARE YOUR BEST TIMES/MARKS (PBs)?

3 metres – Pole Vault

I can’t remember my times for the sprints!

WHAT WAS YOUR FAVOURITE COACHED SESSION? Technique work, starts and weights with coach Gerry Ronan.

DESCRIBE THE MOST DIFFICULT SESSION THAT YOU HAVE DONE? Sand dunes at Donabate with coach Gerry. Double Dunne Killer!

WHAT WAS YOUR TYPICAL WEEKLY TRAINING PLAN? Running/technique/fitness 3 or 4 times a week.

Strength training twice per week.

WHO ARE YOUR TOP 3 IRISH SPORTSPERSONS OF ALL TIME?

1. Sonia O’Sullivan

2. Katie Taylor

3. Rachael Blackmore

SPECIFIC QUESTIONS

YOU JOINED THE CLUB WHILST IT WAS STILL BASED AT HOSPITAL LANE. TELL US ABOUT THE FACILITIES AND GENERAL MOOD AT THE ‘COTTAGE’ HEADQUARTERS? I was very young, but I can remember meeting outside the club and jogging to the Phoenix Park, where we did our training sessions.

WERE YOU DAUNTED BY THE FACT THAT YOU WERE JOINING A TRADITIONAL ‘HARRIERS’ CLUB? Not at all!

WHO WERE THE BIG CHARACTERS AT THE CLUB BACK THEN? I only knew my training group.

WHAT WAS A TYPICAL TRAINING SESSION LIKE? AND WHAT VENUES, FACILITIES DID YOU USE? In the early days I trained in the Phoenix Park and Sundrive Road track. Later on, I did most of my training in UCD, Belfield and Santry.

Sessions were usually warm-up, stretches, drills, technique, interval training and some endurance work.

DID YOU WIN ANY MEDALS AT UNDERAGE (JUVENILE, SCHOOLS, JUNIOR) LEVEL? Yes, I won several Leinster and All-Ireland medals for the 100m, 200m, 400m and 400m Hurdles.

WHAT WAS YOUR MOST MEMORABLE TRIP/OUTING ASSOCIATED WITH ATHLETICS/THE CLUB? AND WHY? Representing Ireland at the Europa Cup in Lithuania. It was so amazing to be chosen to represent Ireland. Loved every minute of the trip.

YOU STARTED OUT AS A SPRINTER, BUT LATER TOOK UP THE POLE VAULT. WHAT WAS THE CATALYST FOR TAKING UP SUCH A TECHNICAL EVENT? I was injured and bend running was aggravating my injury. I was competing in the Glasgow Indoor Meet in the 400m and saw women starting to compete in the Pole Vault. I really wanted to try the event, it looked fun!

YOU BECAME THE FIRST IRISH WOMAN POLE VAULT CHAMPION IN 1998, SO YOU WERE VERY MUCH A PIONEER OF THE EVENT IN IRELAND. TELL US ABOUT THAT EXPERIENCE IN TERMS OF EQUIPMENT, FACILITIES AND TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES? I did most of my training in the Indoor part of the stadium in Santry and sometimes in UCD. I also traned with Brendan Dunne in Monkstown School. Jim Alexander also came down from Belfast for coaching sessions.

A group of us also went warm weather training to Spain with Jim. We also sent to Poland to train the coaches there. The training facilities were amazing. They had gymnastic sessions, which we didn’t have here. The training was also incorporated into the school day for the athletes.

YOU REPRESENTED IRELAND IN THE EUROPA CUP MATCH AT KAUNAS, LITHUANIA ON 6^th OF JUNE 1998. WHAT ARE YOUR ABIDING MEMORIES OF THAT TRIP/EVENT? I loved every minute. It was so fantastic to be part of an Irish team. Great team spirit.

DO YOU HAVE ANY SPORTING REGRETS? I wish I had started tennis at an earlier age.

ARE YOU PRESENTLY INVOLVED WITH SPORT IN ANY CAPACITY? Yes, I play and coach tennis at the Sunday’s Well Tennis Club in Cork on most days.

 

 

In the past decade there are few who have rallied more to the cause of Donore Harriers than Niall Lynch. Despite coming relatively late to the sport of athletics, he has made a notable contribution as a competitor, coach, event volunteer, and parent.

 

 

 

Niall has been a key scoring member on Donore Harriers teams in Dublin, Leinster and National road-race and cross-country senior and masters championships. The County Cavan native has completed 11 marathons, with a best time of 2.41.42 in the 2014 DCM – and run in each of the last 7 Waterhouse-Byrne-Baird Shield 10-mile handicap races with a best of 3^rd place in 2016. He was the first winner of the Tommie Hayward Perpetual Trophy as the fastest man to complete the W-B-B course in 2016. He also won this award in 2018 and 2019.

Niall Lynch has represented Ireland 5 times in the British & Irish Masters cross-country championships – and has been a regular competitor with the Irish Mountain Running Association, participating in 49 races with 8 victories and 20 top-3 placings.

<<NOTE: Here’s a link to Niall competing in the B&I Masters XC at Santry Demesne in 2015. He is wearing No. 4008 and passes at 32 to 34 seconds into the clip – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDHy6FgpykY >>

Much of Niall’s training has been done under the mentoring of coach Terry McConnan, whose city-based lunchtime group – known as the TT-racers – is a wonderful initiative allowing athletes from different clubs to train together. He also regularly takes the benefit of joining into Willie Smith’s innovative sessions.

Over the past few years Niall has been a coach of the younger club juveniles, and more recently as a part of the LTAD Juvenile Distance Squad coaching team with Graham Hopkins and Thomas Delaney.

Niall has been joined at the club by his daughters Honor and Amber – both of whom are enthusiastic members of the juvenile team. Amber was the 2^nd winner of the Willie Dunne Shield handicap race on St. Stephen’s Day 2018.

Here is a list of some of Niall’s other achievements: –

2014: 1^st in M40 category Dublin Half-Marathon championships; led the DH team to win the Dublin Novice XC; 1^st M40 in Autumn Open Cross; 1^st in Leinster Masters XC championships; won a team silver with the Ireland masters team at B&I championships at Nottingham; came 4^th in Leinster Intermediate XC leading DH to 3^rd team: 1^st M40 IMRA Leinster League.

2015: 1^st M40 Dublin Masters XC, 2^nd scorer of DH winning team; 2^nd Leinster Masters XC; 3^rd scorer on DH team to win National Masters XC; 3^rd M40 Frank Duffy 10 incorporating Dublin championships; 2^nd Dingle Half-Marathon; 1^st Breffni 3-Province Half-Marathon; 1^st IMRA Leinster League.

2016: 3^rd Dingle Half-Marathon; 3^rd Connemara Marathon; 1^st team IMRA Wicklow Way Relay.

2017: 1^st team IMRA Wicklow Way Relay; 3^rd scorer on Irish team 2^nd in M45 category in B&I Masters XC.

2018: 1^st Cavan 10km; 1^st team IMRA Wicklow Way Relay.

2019: 1^st team IMRA Wicklow Way Relay.

STANDARD QUESTIONS

PLACE AND YEAR OF BIRTH? Dublin 1971

WHERE WERE/ARE YOU EDUCATED? St. Feilim’s Boys School Cavan Town,

St. Patrick’s College Cavan, Dublin City University, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin Institute of Technology.

WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR CAREER PATH? I studied Electronic Engineering, started a Masters in Mobile Networks then got a job in a telecoms research company. I did a masters in distributed computing and moved into programming and started contract programming in 2000 in the Netherlands and Belgium, came back to Ireland in 2004 and continued contracting. I’m still at that game. I’ve been contracting at the Department of Agriculture on their web-based applications for the last 14 years.

IN WHAT YEAR DID YOU JOIN DONORE HARRIERS? 2011

WHY DID YOU CHOOSE DONORE HARRIERS? I was training for Dublin Marathon in 2011 and met up with a bunch of lunchtime runners in Trinity College, Graham Hopkins was one of them and he was in Donore Harriers and told me to join as it was a great club, which I did.

WERE YOU A MEMBER OF ANY OTHER CLUB BEFORE JOINING DONORE HARRIERS? I was a member of Rathfarnham for one year before joining Donore Harriers.

DID/DO YOU PARTICIPATE IN ANY OTHER SPORT? I played Gaelic Football mostly growing up and then for many years with my beloved Cavan Gaels. I experienced many years of heartache with them, but it was nice representing your hometown. When I left Ireland to go working in the Netherlands the team won their first championship in 24 years in 2001. It still hurts a little that I wasn’t part of that team. I came back in 2004 and played for a couple of years, got too many injuries to make a real go of it but it was enjoyable being back playing the game for a couple of years.

I did gymnastics for a few years when I was young, it was very popular in Cavan in the 80s thanks to local dentist Paddy King who ran the club. Myself and my brother competed as a double act in the national championships, I still remember vividly all the training we did for it.

I played on the Cavan rugby team for a few years underage, it was a lot of fun. There were no leagues at the time so we just played challenge matches all over the place.

I played hurling in school because I couldn’t get on the football team, it gave me an appreciation of how skillful those hurlers we see on tv are.

I played a lot of soccer in business leagues in Dublin in the 90s and then played in a club in Amsterdam when I lived there. I also played on the first Amsterdam Gaelic football team for the last year we were living there.

I now play a bit of tennis because there is a tennis club in front of my house. I’d like to get better at that mainly to beat my brother, but I also enjoy the game.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE ATHLETICS EVENT? I love cross country and mountain running events.

WHAT IS YOUR PRESENT ROLE(S) AT THE CLUB? I’m a coach of one of the juvenile groups and a masters athlete.

WHO WERE/ARE YOUR SPORTING INSPIRATIONS/INFLUENCES? When I was a kid, I played loads of sports so each sport had someone I wanted to be like. Playing soccer in the yard I wanted to be like Kenny Dalglish or Liam Brady. For running it was between Eamonn Coghlan and Ray Flynn. For Gaelic football I loved watching Jack O’Shea play. Locally a few coaches kept me at football, Tony Looney, Phil Finnegan, JJ Reilly, Mickey Flynn all were really encouraging and gave me a love for the sport.

SOCIAL QUESTIONS

WHAT WAS THE LAST BOOK YOU READ? The Murder of Roger Ackroyd – Agatha Christie. My daughter Honor is a big fan of Agatha Christie, and she gave me this one to read so we could chat about it. Very enjoyable, she was a trailblazer for the popular genre. Currently reading a book by a former schoolteacher of mine, The Gallant John Joe, lots of local history in it. I think I now know all the townlands in south Cavan.

WHAT WAS THE LAST CONCERT YOU ATTENDED? Jon Hopkins at the Bord Gais Energy Theatre, just before everything shut down due to pandemic. It was hard to enjoy as there was a sense of foreboding that something bad was about to happen. The gig was a little shambolic too as there were lots of technical issues.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE FILM? This is very hard, I’m a big fan of the cinema. The top film will probably change depending on my mood. For today I’ll go with one of my favourite directors of all time, David Lynch and his most accessible movie The Straight Story, very sentimental but very beautiful telling of a true story, gorgeous soundtrack and beautiful cinematography. You need to be made of stone not to shed a few tears during this film.

FAVOURITE COUNTRY VISITED? As a family we’ve been to Italy many times from north to south, great weather tonnes of history, gorgeous landscape, I have a big soft spot for Sicily.

WHAT ARE YOUR OTHER INTERESTS AWAY FROM ATHLETICS/SPORT? I love music and going to gigs whenever I can. Unfortunately, the last year hasn’t been great. The online experience is not the same, although I did enjoy the Glastonbury show last Saturday night. I can’t wait to get back to gigs later in the year.

IF DESERT ISLAND DISCS ASKED YOU TO PLAY ONE SONG, WHAT WOULD IT BE? I’m a big music fan, so this was very hard. If it’s just one tune I’ll bring Impossible Soul by Sufjan Stevens. It will remind me of the best gig I was ever at which was his in the Olympia in 2011. He finished with this tune. it’s an epic 25 minutes long and has everything in it from full on dance rave to Sufjan’s trademark quiet guitar.

ATHLETICS QUESTIONS

WHO IS/ARE YOUR COACH(ES)? Terry McConnan from TTRacers sends out a programme each week which I try to follow. Terry knows me well since 2011 and gives great advice and encouragement. I love jumping in on Willie’s sessions on the Polo Grounds whenever I can. They are really imaginative and challenging and enjoyable.

WHAT DO YOU CONSIDER TO BE YOUR BEST ATHLETICS ACHIEVEMENT? Running the Waterhouse Byrne Baird shield race for the last 7 years. I mean any of us who do that race must be a bit insane, who else would sign up to run 10 miles cross country on St. Stephen’s Day?

WHAT ARE YOUR BEST TIMES (PBs)?

5km – 15:55

10km – 33:51

10 Mile – 56:10

Half Marathon – 1:14:04

Marathon – 2:41:42

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE COACHED SESSION? 8 x 800m with 2-minute interval. 800m is a nice distance for a session, you can feel like you’re moving fast.

DESCRIBE THE MOST DIFFICULT SESSION THAT YOU HAVE DONE? 20 x 400m with 45 seconds interval. I did this once training for the marathon; I think it was a minor homage to Emil Zapoteck.

WHAT IS YOUR TYPICAL WEEKLY TRAINING PLAN?

Monday – rest

Tuesday – long interval session like 6 x 800m or 5 x 1 mile or pyramid

Wednesday – 50 mins easy

Thursday – 12 x 400m

Friday – rest

Saturday – 30 min tempo

Sunday – 1:30 mins easy

YOU TRAIN WITH THE TT-RACERS LUNCHTIME GROUP UNDER COACH TERRY MCCONNON. TELL US MORE ABOUT THE GROUP, ESPECIALLY IN TERMS OF THE BENEFITS? The lunchtime sessions are magic, it’s a real shot of excellent focussed training with a group of really good, focussed people who are really encouraging. Training with a group is so beneficial, you will push yourself to places you didn’t think was possible.

The group caters for every level of runner, is really supportive and diverse, from loads of different backgrounds. Terry keeps track of us and groups us with people who he thinks will push us along.

DO YOU HAVE A FUNNY STORY RELATED TO ATHLETICS/THE CLUB?

Sorry, no funny story.

WHO IS YOUR TOP IRISH SPORTSPERSON OF ALL TIME? It’s got to be Sonia O’Sullivan, with Catherina McKiernan a close second. I followed Sonia throughout her career and loved how superhuman and human she was at the same time. She dominated and then went through bad patches and bounced back. I loved her winning the world cross country double in Morocco, amazing running. Her world championship wins were incredible too and of course her silver in Sydney was amazing. She had a brilliant career. Catherina is a legend in Cavan, everyone could see her training and the effort she put in over the years. Her marathon times were incredible, she still holds the Irish record. I would say if she was running now her career would have lasted longer. In her era there was an expectation to retire, that isn’t as prevalent now.

SPECIFIC QUESTIONS

DID YOU EVER COMPETE AS A JUVENILE OR IN SCHOOLS COMPETITIONS?

I was in an athletics club in my hometown of Cavan from age 8 til about 13, then Gaelic football took over. Athletics was big across Ireland in the 80s, there were loads of clubs in Cavan and Ulster and across the country. I remember the road leagues, cross country championships and track and field. We used to get buses all over the place for competitions. Highlights at the time were reaching the Under 13 All-Ireland 4 x 100m final as part of the Cavan team which was run on the track in UCD.

I also made national cross-country championships with the Cavan team. The race was in Thurles, and I remember coming 101^st. I still vividly remember the hurt of coming so far down the running order. I thought I was handy enough, but it was a real eye opener for me, and I think I started to concentrate more on Gaelic football from then on.

WHAT DO YOU CONSIDER TO BE YOUR BEST DISTANCE/EVENT? I think a half marathon is probably my optimal distance.

YOU COMPETE IN MOUNTAIN RACES – AND THE I.M.R.A. STATS SHOW THAT YOU WON 8 OF 41 RACES WITH 22 CATEGORY WINS. HOW DID YOU GET ATTRACTED TO MOUNTAIN RUNNING? A good buddy of mine Ronan Hickey needed a pal to recce leg 2 of the Wicklow Way relay. This was about 8 years ago. So, I went out with Ronan and ran from Curtlestown Wood to Lough Tay. It was an absolutely gorgeous evening, spectacular scenery and lovely to be running off road. Ronan filled me in on all things IMRA, so I signed up and spent a few years racing out of Dublin on a Wednesday evening to race in the Wicklow mountains. The races are really challenging, the scenery is beautiful, the IMRA people are so nice. There is a great buzz at the finish line of those races, and we always head to a local hostelry for a prize giving and exchange war stories about the race. I’ve missed them over the last few years. It’s been hard to get out of work and also of course the pandemic wiped out last year and this year.

The highlight of the IMRA calendar for me is the Wicklow Way Relay. It’s like the Japanese Ekiden, a team of 8 do different legs over a large part of the Wicklow Way. It takes a lot of preparation and training and logistics on the day, but it is a fantastic event to be part of. I have run it as part of a TTRacers team about 6 times. I really recommend it to anyone in the club to give it a go. It’s another type of running challenge and really nice to be part of a big team.

YOU FIRST RAN THE DUBLIN MARATHON IN 2011. HOW MANY MARATHONS HAVE YOU RUN IN SINCE? AND WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR BEST RESULT? I have run 11 marathons. Dublin 2014 was my fastest. I put in the best amount of training for that. I haven’t been able to get in enough quality training for the rest since then. There are no shortcuts in training for a marathon, you get out what you put in. Even if you’re only a little bit off the full amount of training you’ll be found out and spat out by the end, it has no mercy.

YOU WERE ON THE DONORE HARRIERS MASTERS TEAM THAT WON NATIONAL XC GOLD IN 2015. WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER ABOUT THAT DAY?

I remember that event very well. It was a foggy day, and I was feeling really unwell and was going to say I couldn’t make it, but the team would have been down to 4 so I togged out. I went off ambitiously and then just hung on. It was a brilliant result, and I was delighted I made the effort. Amazing run by John Dunne to finish 3rd on the day, he really carried the team home that day.

YOU HAVE REPRESENTED IRELAND FIVE TIMES IN THE BRITISH & IRISH MASTERS XC CHAMPIONSHIPS. WHAT WAS YOUR FAVOURITE B&I XC EVENT? I think it was my first one in Cardiff in Wales. I didn’t know what I was getting myself into, but it was a real blast. We had a great Irish gang over there. I was sharing a room with an absolute legend Martin McEvilly who I felt unworthy to be on the same team as particularly as Martin was telling me about his 2:14 for the marathon he ran in Gothenburg. I met loads of great people that weekend and learned a lot about running. I remember the start of the race was insane. I was swept up in the wave and belted out what was probably a sub-5-minute first mile, so I was hanging on for the rest of the race.

TELL US ABOUT YOUR COACHING ROLE AT DONORE HARRIERS? AND DO YOU HAVE ANY SPECIAL COACHING PHILOSOPHY? I think as a coach you are there to just guide the runner to get them to be the best they can be. Everyone has their own reason to be out running, so you need to tap into that and try to remind them why and what they can do to get the best out of themselves.

I haven’t got as much time to spend coaching as I would like, so I’m just helping Graham Hopkins out once a week with the 12 to 16 age middle distance group. He’s doing all the heavy lifting. I’m just trying to encourage the runners around during the sessions.

Simon Taggart was a regular on the Donore Harriers national track and league team that won promotion to the Premier Division. He was a key points scorer in the team’s drive towards the top division. An example of Simon’s endeavours was in a Division One qualifying round in 2013, when he won the 110m hurdles, ran in both relay races and came 5^th in the Discus.

 

Indeed, Simon was one the club’s most successful athletes in the past decade. He was the national senior 110m Hurdles champion in 2012 (14.27), came 2^nd in 2013 (15.16), and 3^rd in 2011 (14.44) and 2015 (14.83). He won the AAI Games in the high hurdles in 2012 (14.19) and 2013 (15.04) and the AAI Indoor Games in the 60m Hurdles in 2013 (15.04) and 2015 (15.03).

Representing Trinity College Dublin (TCD) in the Intervarsities between 2005 and 2011 Simon took gold and silver in the 110mH, two golds in the 400m, a silver in the Combined Events (3328 points), a bronze in the Shot Putt and a silver and bronze in the 4 x 100m relay. Indoors he won a gold, silver, and bronze in the 400m, a silver in the Combined Events (2641 points), and a silver and bronze in the 4 x 200m relay. He then won the 110m Hurdles in the 2013 Celtic Games at Tallaght in a time of 15.38.

The story is that Simon had been indirectly recruited to Donore Harriers by Maurice Ahern: “I got to know the athletics coach at Terenure College. One of his athletes, probably a lad who played rugby on the wings, won the West Leinster Schools 100 metres. So, I contacted the coach, and he persuaded the lad to meet up with Cyril White for a coached session at the Belfield track. That lad brought along another guy with him, who happened to be Simon Taggart. Simon was a fine athlete. He could do the Long Jump, High Jump, throws, you name it! The bottom line is that the rugby playing sprinter didn’t become a regular Donore Harriers athlete, but Simon did. Simon initially concentrated on the 400 metres, but then changed to the 110m Hurdles. He holds the club record in that event. The other thing to say about Simon is that he was a great man to have in the League”.

Simon Taggart was awarded the 2012 Donore Harriers senior athlete of the year.

Now living in Canada, Simon has many fond memories of competing for Donore Harriers.

STANDARD QUESTIONS

PLACE AND YEAR OF BIRTH? Copenhagen, 1986

WHERE WERE YOU EDUCATED? Terenure College and Trinity College Dublin

WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR CAREER PATH? I have been working in restaurants and bars full-time since 2012. I intend to open my own place in the next few years.

IN WHAT YEAR DID YOU JOIN DONORE HARRIERS? I honestly can’t remember! Whenever it was, I don’t have any digital proof to check up on. Somewhere between ages of 14 and 16 I reckon.

<<about 2001>>

WHY DID YOU CHOOSE DONORE HARRIERS? In truth I didn’t choose Donore, it was a great bit of luck. A lad I went to school with was lightning quick at the West Leinster 100m in Santry one year and Maurice Ahern signed him up. I did the Triple Jump and on the coach back to school he was telling me about it and I just said “I’ll come with you” and that was that. Unfortunately, he didn’t run many races for the club but, in me, Donore Harriers got a very average triple jumper as consolation.

WERE YOU A MEMBER OF ANY OTHER CLUB BEFORE JOINING DONORE HARRIERS? No

DID YOU PARTICIPATE IN ANY OTHER SPORT? I did a bit of everything in school but mostly rugby and badminton – and I played for a couple of local football clubs. Athletics didn’t get a look-in by the coaches in school until the rugby season was done and I always looked forward to that. I didn’t have much of a head for rugby. I’ve even done a bit of cross country.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE ATHLETICS EVENT? To compete in, it has to be the 110m hurdles. There’s just such an adrenaline rush that I didn’t get in other events. The hurdles come at you so fast there’s no time to be stuck in your head or think about mistakes because there’s another barrier coming your way, so you have to keep going.

WHAT WAS YOUR ROLE AT THE CLUB? Athlete

WHO WERE/ARE YOUR SPORTING INSPIRATIONS/INFLUENCES? Michael Johnson – I think he has to be my favourite athlete. The 400m was my first love. I admired his level of dedication and he was just incredibly dominant. His records seemed untouchable until Bolt’s performance in Beijing. On top of that I think he’s a great pundit, he keeps the BBC’s feet on the ground.

Maurice Ahern – I don’t know what I can say about Maurice that hasn’t already been said and felt by everyone at the club. I owe him a huge amount for getting me involved, linking me with my first coach Cyril White, for giving me lifts to races, for always supporting me through my athletics journey and for his endless encouragement. I don’t think of Donore Harriers without thinking of Maurice.

SOCIAL QUESTIONS

WHAT WAS THE LAST BOOK YOU READ? Wherever You Go, There You Are – Jon Kabat-Zinn

WHAT WAS THE LAST CONCERT YOU ATTENDED? FKA Twigs, November 2019 in Toronto (which feels like forever ago)

WHAT ARE YOUR 3 FAVOURITE FILMS? Don’t watch a tonne of films to be honest!

1. Gran Torino

2. Jaws

3. Shawshank Redemption

FAVOURITE COUNTRY VISITED? Not a country but I love New York City. There are few places in the world that I know I could visit again every year and still look forward to the next time. There’s so much character, great food, dive bars, music clubs etc.

WHAT ARE YOUR OTHER INTERESTS AWAY FROM ATHLETICS/SPORT? I listen to and play music and I cook a lot. I got into fermentation this past year, so I make my own ginger beer now and hot sauces.

IF DESERT ISLAND DISCS ASKED YOU TO PLAY 3 SONGS, WHAT WOULD THEY BE?

1. Sister Sledge – Pretty Baby

2. Van Morrison – Brown Eyed Girl

3. New Order – Bizarre Love Triangle

ATHLETICS QUESTIONS

WHO WERE YOUR COACH(ES)? In order, my coaches were Cyril White, Jim Kidd, John Coghlan and Gerry Ronan.

WHAT DO YOU CONSIDER TO BE YOUR BEST ATHLETICS ACHIEVEMENT? Even though I ran well, my national senior title was a bit anticlimactic due to a very poor turn-out that year. I’m quite proud to be ranked in the Irish top 10 all-time at 110m Hurdles. I’ll enjoy that stat while it lasts! As a sprinter, I think the fact that I’ve never pulled a muscle is a pretty big achievement!! Plenty of other injuries unfortunately!

WHAT ARE YOUR BEST TIMES/MARKS (PBs)? These are the ones I can remember –

400m – 49.00s

110mH – 14.19s

60mH – 8.22s

100m – 11.0x

600m 1:21

WHAT WAS/IS YOUR FAVOURITE COACHED SESSION? I liked any fast technical sessions with starts over the hurdles. I had one interesting session where we would take away the 3rd or the 4th hurdle, build up speed and really attack the 5th.

I used to like hill sessions during the winter and 150s because of that feeling where you sling off the bend into the straight. I was a terrible bend runner.

DESCRIBE THE MOST DIFFICULT SESSION THAT YOU HAVE DONE? I’ve probably blocked it from my memory. We did some tough sessions when I was training for 400m. 600m, 500m, 400m, 300m, 200m, 100m was brutal going flat out by the end.

WHAT WAS YOUR TYPICAL WEEKLY TRAINING PLAN? I haven’t had one for many years now. 2012 was my last committed year and we trained 20 – 25 hours per week, 3 days we did both gym work and track sessions. Lots of drills and conditioning work on the days we weren’t on the track. Prior to that season it was 6 days (about 14 – 16 hours) 4 track sessions and 2 in the gym.

DO YOU HAVE A FUNNY OR UNUSUAL STORY RELATED TO ATHLETICS/THE CLUB? I can’t think of many! I must have been a bit too serious as an athlete.

When I got into the hurdles I started to do a couple of things to mess with my competitors a little bit before a race. I remember feeling sick as a dog before any 400m race but for some reason I didn’t get that way before the hurdles. Sometimes I’d feel a bit sluggish or tired maybe, but I developed a coping technique whereby I’d just tell myself persistently that I felt amazing, and really strong and I would have a huge smile on my face. I could see the other lads were nervous, so I’d smile even more and sometimes say things to them like “this is going to be good fun, isn’t it?!”. It can get so serious at the track and it helped me to take the edge off and felt a bit cheeky. I’d keep smiling all the way to the blocks. I also used to breathe very heavily and audibly when we were on our marks which I’m sure was distracting.

In 2011, I entered the 400m and 60mH in the Odyssey. I ended up making the final in hurdles and unexpectedly the B final at 400m. They were only a few minutes apart and I had a medal chance in the hurdles. If I pulled out of the 400m final having run the heats I would have been ineligible to then run the 60mH final. If I ran the 400m my legs would have been shot. So, I took to the start of the 400m, ran to the end of the back straight and pulled-up without finishing the race. An official figured out what I was up to and told me to start acting like I had tweaked something because if it looked like I hadn’t made an effort I could get DQed anyway!! Luckily that official was TCD athletics president, Cyril Smyth, and I went off and came 2nd the 60mH, my first national senior medal.

WHO ARE YOUR TOP 3 IRISH SPORTSPERSONS OF ALL TIME?

1. Paul McGrath

2. Roy Keane

3. Sonia O’Sullivan

SPECIFIC QUESTIONS

YOU RAN A 49.01 FOR THE 400 METRES IN SANTRY (COMPETING FOR TCD) IN 2007, SO WHEN AND WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO CONCENTRATE ON THE 110M HURDLES? I started doing the hurdles after getting into a rut with the 400m and a few injury lay-offs. I wanted to have a bit of fun and began training for the decathlon, so we built hurdles into my training.

DID YOU EVER GET TO REPRESENT IRELAND AT ANY LEVEL? No. That was certainly a goal, but it wasn’t to be.

YOU WERE A VERY ACTIVE COMPETITOR WHILST ATTENDING TCD. INDEED, YOU REPRESENTED THE COLLEGE ON 50 OCCASIONS WINNING 4 GOLD, 6 SILVER AND 4 BRONZE MEDALS OVER 400m, 110m Hurdles and Relays. WHAT IS YOUR BEST MEMORY FROM YOUR TCD DAYS? Lots of great memories from intervarsity competition. In my second year I won the 400m outdoors in 49.01 which was a big PB at the time. I ran a solid heat and, in the final, came into the home straight well back in 3rd and caught the lad from UCC only a few metres from the finish line. I think I came 7th the year before and was well off the pace so it felt fantastic.

We also regularly over performed in the sprint relays. We rarely had finalists in the 100m or 200m and yet we were able to pull a team together and squeeze into the medals more often than we should have on paper. It was great fun.

IS IT TRUE THAT YOU COMPETED IN THE 3,000m RACE WALK IN THE COLOURS OF TCD? Haha, yes! Just the once. That year, I was captain, injured and TCD were hosting the Intervarsities. I didn’t have a race walker and we wanted to have as many people in as many events as possible and no-one would do the walk. I told Sam Mealy of Crusaders that if he did it, I would line up beside him so that was that. It was a bit of a laugh, quite a painful laugh actually.

YOU COMPETED FOR THE DONORE HARRIERS NATIONAL LEAGUE TEAM IN THE SPRINTS, HURDLES, HIGH JUMP, THROWS… DID YOU EVER CONSIDER COMPETING IN A DECATHLON EVENT? I had a goal of completing a decathlon and was training for that in 2011 when I first stepped over the senior hurdles. I did the multi-events for TCD that year and I carried on competing over both the hurdles and 400m that season and got medals at National Seniors. I had a lot of fun that season and I think it upset a few of the more experienced hurdlers. The reason I never did a decathlon was I tore cartilage in my shoulder doing Pole Vault at the combined events squad day and that was that. So, I focussed on hurdling from then on.

YOU RANK 8^th ON THE ALL-TIME 110m HURDLES IRISH LIST WITH 14.19 IN THE AAI GAMES 2012. DO YOU THINK THAT YOUR CAREER WAS A BARRIER TO YOU REACHING TO THE NEXT LEVEL IN THE HIGH HURDLES? Yes and no. Working long shifts in hospitality and trying to have a consistent training routine is something I found very difficult, but ultimately it was a choice I made to pursue that line of work. I knew what that would mean for me and my hurdling. I was content with that.

DO YOU HAVE ANY SPORTING REGRETS? No regrets, plenty of “what ifs”.

I had a few difficult injuries that kept me out for long periods and one that really stung was in January 2012 when I picked up a stress fracture in my foot. I was actually still able to manage it and run. In February I was even going to run indoors over in Birmingham but snow cancelled my flight and so I trained the next day instead. I was struggling to push out of the blocks and ended up clattering the first hurdle badly. I took a heavy fall and needed stitches on a gash as deep as my shinbone from the support of the hurdle kicking up when I hit it. So, we decided to take some rest and heal the fracture. That took about 6 weeks and when I came back jogging, we discovered that I had damaged my ankle in that accident and cost me another 4 weeks. Suddenly it was May, and the outdoor season was kicking off. I was fast and at my strongest that year but technically short. I had already decided that if I didn’t reach my targets, I would take a step back from training after that season and focus on work. So, it was a shame to not find out how I might have gone with fewer setbacks as that wasn’t the only injury that year.

In 2015, I started working with Gerry Ronan when I fancied doing a bit of casual training down at the club and a few races. I wonder what I could have done if we had struck that partnership when I was younger. He helped me to understand the technical elements of the hurdles that had been missing. I actually think running 14.8 at national seniors that season into a headwind was down to that work because I wasn’t in particularly good shape. In different circumstances, I would have enjoyed having another go.

It always annoyed me that I never broke 49sec in the 400m. I ran 49.01 and 49.00 in the same season.

Overall, I have nothing to regret about my time in the sport. It has taught me more than I ever expected it to.

YOU WILL BECOME A MASTER ATHLETE IN 2021. DO YOU PLAN ON COMPETING IN THIS CATEGORY, PERHAPS WITH THE EUROPEAN AND WORLD MASTERS CHAMPIONSHIPS AS A FOCUS? I’ve thought about it. I live in Toronto now since 2016 and if I could find a space to train with hurdles, I’ll certainly give it some thought. I’d love to sprint race again and I just can’t get into the rhythm of long-distance running, it’s not for me!

 

 

 

Eric Hayward was born to be a Donore Harrier!

His father Tommie (1921-2016), who joined the club in 1941, was club secretary for 13 years from 1957, and served two terms as Club President -1981-83 and 1993-96.

 

 

 

Tommie was a meticulous administrator and was widely respected in the athletics community. He was one of the negotiators in the formation of An Bord Lúthchleas na hÉireann (BLÉ) in 1967 – later to become Athletics Ireland – and was honoured as ‘Official of the Year’ at the 2010 Athletics Ireland awards dinner.

The name T. Hayward appeared on the attendance list at the club’s annual general meeting a staggering 75 consecutive times.

Tommie Hayward was also a very fine cross-country athlete, being a key member of the first great Donore Harriers team that won national senior XC titles in the 1940s. Thereafter, he was instrumental behind the scenes when Donore Harriers were a dominant force in Irish athletics in the 60s/70s.

Eric was tagged along by his father to the Hospital Lane clubhouse at the age of 5. He was a young boy surrounded by giants in Irish athletics. In time, he would make his own mark both in athletics and in his contribution to the development of the club.

Inspired by Jesse Owens, Eric competed in long-jump and sprints, winning 3 national junior medals in 1965 – including gold in the 4 x 100m relay. He competed for London Irish AC between 1972 and 1976, before retiring from track and field in 1980.

Running buddies and the marathon craze motivated Eric to enter the first Dublin Marathon. He went on to complete the first 16 editions of the event, lowering his 42.2km time to 2.45.18.

He was part of the Donore Harriers masters team that won two Dublin silver medals in the 1980s and was the winner of the 1994 Waterhouse Byrne Baird Shield.

The contributions of Eric and Tommie Hayward to Donore Harriers and the sport of athletics is immeasurable! Indeed, they have a combined involvement of 141 years with the club, always giving of their time and efforts generously. Together with other visionaries, they were instrumental in creating the excellent club facilities that the members enjoy today.

It is fitting, therefore, to have Eric share stories about his father and other historical club figures in this the 50^th edition of the Interview Series.

STANDARD QUESTIONS

PLACE AND YEAR OF BIRTH? Dublin 1948

WHERE WERE YOU EDUCATED?Secondary School Chanel College, College of Technology Bolton Street studied Building Services Engineering.

WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR CAREER PATH?I spent a short period as a junior Engineer in a consulting Engineering practice in Dublin and then moved to the UK in January 1972. I spent five years in a practice in Richmond Surrey where I gained valuable experience working on a variety of multi-million-pound projects.

Returned to Dublin in late 1976 where I Joined Robert Jacob and Partners as a senior design engineer rising to Associate director in 1988.

In 1993 we amalgamated with another practice and became Homan O’Brien Associates. In early 2009 as the recession hit the construction industry, I took the opportunity to retire from HOB and continued as a consultant on a part time basis to the present day.

WHY DID YOU CHOOSE DONORE HARRIERS? I guess I did not really have a choice. From early 1953, when I was five and a half, I started going up to the club in Hospital Lane every Saturday with my dad Tommie Hayward. I used to hang out with the sons of other members. One such guy was Kieran Hogan, son of the legendary Eddie Hogan who was at that time starting to turn Donore Harriers into a powerhouse of cross-country and road running.

In the late fifties/early sixties there was very little athletics for young boys or girls, so my first opportunity to compete in the Donore Harriers colours was in the Summer of 1959 shortly before my 11th birthday. I ran in the Civil Services Athletic Club track meeting held in College Park (Trinity College). The race was over 220-yards for Boys under 16, so as a 10-years old I did not quite make the podium.

WERE YOU A MEMBER OF ANY OTHER CLUB BEFORE JOINING DONORE HARRIERS? No.

DID YOU PARTICIPATE IN ANY OTHER SPORT? I was a member of Home Farm Football club for a few years as an 8, 9, 10-year-old. I also played Gaelic football for my school team in both primary and secondary schools.

While I lived in London, I played rugby with Twickenham R.C. mainly on the wing.

I am a current member of Malahide Golf Club.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE ATHLETICS EVENT? The long Jump would always be my first choice followed by the 100 metres.

WHAT WAS YOUR ROLE(S) AT THE CLUB?I started off as a sprinter. I ran in the under 16 national cross-country championships on a couple of occasions. Unfortunately, the talent of the great runners in Donore Harriers in the sixties did not rub off on me, so I stuck with sprinting.

I have had a number of roles. Initially I was Track Captain followed by a number of years as a committee member/Director. I was also PRO for a couple of years.

I was on the Building Committee for the development of the new HQ in Chapelizod.

In the early eighties I also did some sprint coaching.

WHO WERE/ARE YOUR SPORTING INSPIRATIONS/INFLUENCES? As a 10-year-old I was in awe watching Herb Elliott (Australia) winning races at will. He was never beaten over the Mile and won the 1500m in the Rome Olympics. He famously broke the mile world record in the Morton Stadium in 1958.

Many years later I had the privilege of collecting him from Dublin Airport and bringing him to the Morton Stadium, the scene of one of his greatest triumphs.

When I was around 11/12 years old my Dad brought me to a talk given by Jesse Owens (USA) who won 4 gold medals in the Berlin Olympics in 1936. Following a conversation with Jesse Owens after his talk it sowed the seed to my path into Long Jumping and Sprinting.

SOCIAL QUESTIONS

WHAT WAS THE LAST BOOK YOU READ? The Inner Game of Golf by Timothy Gallwey

WHAT WAS THE LAST CONCERT YOU ATTENDED? Eric Clapton in the Three arena

WHAT ARE YOUR 3 FAVOURITE FILMS?

1. Good Morning Vietnam
2. Saving Private Ryan
3. Pretty Women

FAVOURITE COUNTRY VISITED? Thanks to the various trips to the Olympic Games, I have traveled quite extensively. The country that stands out for its friendly people and culture is South Korea.

WHAT ARE YOUR OTHER INTERESTS AWAY FROM ATHLETICS/SPORT? I went on a school trip to Switzerland and Belgium in 1965 which gave me an appetite to see other countries and their cultures. So, I have traveled to all corners of the world and thanks to my Olympic trips have visited some cities not necessarily on my bucket list.

Once the weather is anyway kind you will find me in the garden.

IF DISERT ISLAND DISCS ASKED YOU TO PLAY 3 SONGS, WHAT WOULD THEY BE?

1. My Sweet Lord by George Harrison
2. Imagine by John Lennon
3. Something by the Beatles

ATHLETICS QUESTIONS

WHO WAS/WERE YOUR COACH(ES)? Eddie Hogan in Donore Harriers and Gerry O’Reilly in London Irish. Paddy Darling gave me great advice in my Marathon days.

WHAT DO YOU CONSIDER TO BE YOUR BEST ATHLETICS ACHIEVEMENT? Winning the 4 x 400 metre A.A.U. championship will always stand out in my mind as it was the first championship medal.

As a former sprinter/long jumper running a marathon in 2.45.18 gave me great pleasure.

As a long standing Donore Harriers man getting my name engraved on the Waterhouse Byrne Baird Shield in 1994 will live in my memory forever.

WHAT ARE YOUR BEST TIMES/MARKS?

100m 10.9

200m 22.1

Long Jump 7.08m

Marathon 2.45.18

10,000 m (Track) 33.10

WHAT WAS YOUR FAVOURITE COACHED SESSION? As a sprinter Intervals on the Polo Grounds.

In my marathon training days, I trained at weekends with a group affectionally known as the Malahide Mafia. We did 9-mile fartlek sessions on Saturday mornings in Malahide Castle.

DESCRIBE THE MOST DIFFICULT SESSION THAT YOU HAVE DONE? Sprint sessions up the Magazine hill (Phoenix Park), jogging back to the bottom was absolute torture.

In preparation for marathons, weekly sessions of 2-mile warm up 4 x 1500 metres intervals and 2-mile warm-down in August and September was as hard as it gets.

WHAT WAS YOUR TYPICAL WEEKLY TRAINING PLAN?

In my sprinting days   in winter /early spring

Sunday – Technical jumps session

Monday – Weights

Tuesday – 5-mile run

Wednesday – Sprint session

Thursday – Weights

Saturday – Magazine Hill or Intervals on Polo Grounds

Summer months Saturday and Tuesday interval track sessions

Marathon training

Monday – 6-mile steady run

Tuesday – 4 x 1500 metres intervals or 15 miles (November to June 8 miles)

Wednesday- 10-mile easy run

Thursday – 15-mile steady run (November to June 8 miles)

Friday – 4-mile slow relaxed run

Saturday – 9-mile fartlek run

Sunday – 20 miles (November to June 15 miles)

From July to Marathon day 3 early morning 3-mile runs.

DO YOU HAVE A FUNNY STORY RELATED TO ATHLETICS/THE CLUB? While running for London Irish AC in a league meeting in Bracknell I finished second in the 100m at the same time as the winner. For a few minutes after the race there was great excitement/confusion around the timekeepers as they clocked us with a time of 9.9.

We were all a bit shocked, but all was revealed shortly after when it revealed that we had only run 100 yards.

In the mid-sixties the Graded Meetings had a number of events for under sixteens, including 60 yards and 150-yard sprints. Bob Payne was the chief starter and one evening in the Morton Stadium all the other guys in the race were quite tall – one being the great Late Frank Murphy. Bob decided I should have a handicap, so I was given a 10-yard lead as I was only fourteen years old and not the tallest guy in the world. I comfortably won the race but had to bend my head to break the tape.

The sports results in the following morning paper highlighted my method of breaking the tape. Needless-to-say, I got quite a ribbing from my peers.

WHO ARE YOUR TOP 3 IRISH SPORTSPERSONS OF ALL TIME?

1. Sonia O’Sullivan
2. Eamonn Coghlan

3. Paul McGrath

SPECIFIC QUESTIONS

YOUR FATHER TOMMIE WAS CLUB PRESIDENT BETWEEN 1981 AND 1983, AND AGAIN BETWEEN 1993 AND 1996. HE ALSO SERVED AS CLUB SECRETARY. HOW MUCH WAS THE CLUB A PART OF FAMILY LIFE IN THE HAYWARD HOUSEHOLD? From my mid-teens the conversation at mealtimes was generally around Donore Harriers and athletics in general, much to the annoyance of my Mum and sister who had no interest in any form of sport.

He was secretary for thirteen years so lunchtime was regularly spent on the phone. Back in the sixties each household had one phone generally in the Hall, so my Mum unbeknown to Tommie regularly took the receiver off the hook to allow him to have his dinner in peace.

In spite of my Mums’ lack of interest in sport she did give Tommie and myself great support and came to all my races in my younger days.

YOU VISITED THE CLUB AS A YOUNG CHILD TAGGING ALONG WITH YOUR FATHER. WHAT ARE YOUR FIRST MEMORIES OF DONORE HARRIERS AND THE MAIN CHACTERS AT THE CLUB BACK THEN? I guess my first memories would be Eddie Hogan standing on a bench in the clubhouse giving instructions to the various training packs before they all headed out.

Pat Mullally arriving in the club around the time the various groups returned and going around each member looking for part payment of their subs. I only wish I had written down some of the excuses he was given.

There was a collection box hanging beside the door for members to drop in a few bob for utility bills, so it was my job every Saturday to go around begging everybody to part with their hard earned pennies.

Willie Dunne would arrive in around 4.50pm and would announce all the main English soccer results. Any results that were correct was pure coincidence! More often than not he did not have the right teams playing each other, but he was so convincing at times some guys would half believe him.

TOMMIE HAYWARD WAS ADMIRED AND RESPECTED AS A GREAT ATHLETICS MAN AND ADMINISTRATOR. DID YOU MANAGE TO COLLATE ANY OF THE REPORTS AND RECORDS FROM THE 50s, 60s, 70s? After he died, I discovered he had saved quite an amount of Donore AGM notes and secretory reports and an amount Athletic and soccer programs.

I passed all of the paperwork to Willie (Smith) which will be (if not already) archived. The Soccer programs which were mainly Bohemian FC programs of the Forties and Fifties I passed on to Bohemians.

I still have his full set of 1948 Olympic programs. All the Irish athletes’ results are written in each program.

Jimmy Riordan and Tommie were great friends back in the day, so having his hand-written results is a gem.

BOTH YOU AND YOUR FATHER WERE INVOLVED IN THE MOVE FROM THE HOSPITAL LANE HQ TO THE NEW SITE AT CHAPELIZOD. WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER ABOUT THAT PART OF THE CLUB’S HISTORY?For me it was a bittersweet move. I have such great memories as a young boy spending every Saturday in ‘Hospital Lane’.

Watching Eddie Hogan turning great runners like Tony Murphy, Tommie Dunne, Willie Dunne, Bertie Messitt, Colin Holahan to name but a few into international runners who would all go on to dominate Irish Athletics for many years are great memories.

I did have quite an involvement in the construction of the building (clubhouse). The building was constructed by the late Matt Rudden, who was a successful building contractor and thanks to his ingenuity the building costs were kept to a minimum.

Leo Lynch was President at the time and a very successful Mechanical Contractor – and I was a Building Services Design Engineer, so between the two of us we managed to contact every plumbing supplier we knew to donate 100 Pounds or some equipment. As the overall budget was tight, every penny was important, and this way we managed to fund most of the mechanical services costs.

Looking back, it was such a great move particularly when you look at the great facility we have today. Nobody should underestimate the trogon work Maurice (Ahern) did to get the land in the first instance.

TELL US ABOUT THE SPRINTS AND FIELD EVENTS GROUP BACK IN THE DAY. WHO WERE THE COACHES? WHERE DID THE SPRINTERS TRAIN? AND WHO WERE THE OTHER LEADING TRACK & FIELD ATHLETES AT THAT TIME? Because of the stranglehold Donore Harriers had on the cross-country and road running scene in the Sixties to the early Nineties it is not recognized that we also had a strong track and field team.

As a young teenager I remember watching Brendan O’Reilly breaking the Irish national High Jump record in Shelbourne Park – redeveloped in recent years and now called Irishtown stadium where a lot of the track training was done.

Brendan should have been at the Melbourne Olympics but for lack of finances he was not sent. <<O’Reilly was national High Jump champion in 1950, 51, 52 NACA, 53 & 54 AAUE & IAAB, 56 AAUE, 60 IAAB, 61 AAUE, 62 IAAB, 63 AAUE & 64 IAAB. He was also national Javelin champion in 50 & 52 NACA>>.

Maurice Hogan was national 100m champion on a number of occasions in the early sixties <<1960, 61, 62 AAUE & 62 IAAB>>, Jim Fanning national record holder and national champion <<see Interview No. 10>>, Pat McGuinness was a top Long Jumper <<national champion 1966 IAAB 6.58m>>, Eamonn Kinsella 110m High hurdles national champion <<1951, 52, 53 NACAI, 54 AAUE & IAAB, 55 AAUE, 56 & 57 IAAB, 58 AAUE, plus 100m in 1956 IAAB>> and record holder and 1956 Olympian.

Leon McAleer was a great all-round sprinter and Jumper, Paddy Harmon sprints, and Tom and Joe Coleman in the 440yards hurdles <<Tommie Coleman was national champion in 1956, 57, 58 & 61 AAUE and 1961 IAAB>>.

Then there was Tom O’Riordan, Basil Clifford a Tokyo Olympian and Ireland’s second sub four-minute miler. They were the backbone of a great track team coupled with the Dunne brothers, Bertie Messitt and Tony Murphy dominating the longer events.

In the late sixties most of the track athletes trained in St. Mary’s College sports grounds in Kenilworth Square and Clogher Road cinder track on Sunday mornings.

Donal Swift, Jonnie Maloney, Gerry Conway and myself had some great sessions in Kenilworth Square. Jonnie Maloney went on to captain the Irish Rugby team in the early Seventies.

DID YOU KNOW RONALD ‘RONNIE’ MARTIN WHO WON THE AAU TRIPLE JUMP IN 1962 AND CHARLES MCALINDEN WHO WON THE 880 YARDS IN 1956? Ronnie Martin was one of the many great High Jumpers in Donore Harriers in the Fifties to the Seventies. It started with Dick O’Rafferty, followed by Ronnie Martin, Brendan O’Reilly and Jim Fanning. I remember Ronnie more as a High Jumper, but most could double up in both Long Jump and Triple Jump.

Charlie McAlinden and Jack Doogan were two guys I remember as a very young kid in Hospital Lane who were part of the Donore Harriers team at the beginning of the dominance of road and cross country running.

Charlie moved over to Scotland many years ago. I met him in Bellahouston Park in Glasgow at the world cross when John Treacy won his first World title. He had fond memories of Donore Harriers in the early sixties.

<<NOTE: Charlie McAlinden (born 1932) won the Scottish national marathon in 1966, having being 3^rd in 1964 and 1965 pb. 2.25.45>>

WHAT WAS A TYPICAL TRAINING SESSION LIKE IN TERMS OF FACILITIES, SESSIONS, CAMARADERIE? Compared to today the facilities for sprinters in the sixties was poor enough. The track in Kenilworth Square was only a 300-yard grass track. The Clogher road track was a 440 yards cinder track so after a session of starts and short sprints your fingers were red raw from the rough cinder track. There were no Gyms/weight facilities as we have today.

My weights sessions were carried out in a makeshift gym in the basement of a building in Gardiners Row which was mainly used by body builders.

WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER ABOUT THE DAY YOU WON THE WATERHOUSE BYRNE BAIRD SHIELD IN 1994? I finished second to Ben Good in 1980. From there on thanks to all my marathon training I was normally still quite fit at Christmas time.

I was rarely ever close to winning the Shield but generally finished in the top ten. I had run well in the marathon the previous October.  I would normally ease up on the weekly mileage until January, but I decided to just have just a couple of weeks recovery and then back into training.

That particular morning the weather was dry, and the ground was quite firm with little wind; the sort of conditions that suited me because of my low knee lift. I suffered in muddy conditions! The handicappers were also very kind to me and gave me an extra minute on previous years.

After the first lap I knew I was running comfortably and working my way through the field I found myself in the lead with two laps to go. As I approached the army ground with little over a lap to go my Dad Tommie told me I was well clear, which gave me the confidence to push on… So, at the same spot on the last lap it was a good feeling to know barring an accident the race was mine.

<<NOTE: The Tommy Hayward Perpetual Trophy, inaugurated in 2016, is presented to the male athlete who runs the fastest time in the WBB Shield race: Winners 2016, 2018 & 2019 Niall Lynch, 2017 Ken Nugent, 2020 Eric Keogh>>

WHAT CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT THE ATHLETICS EXPLOITS OF YOUR FATHER TOMMIE? Although quite a chatty person Tommie did not talk too much about his own running career.

Shortly before he died, he gave me his championship medals.

In 1942 he was on the Donore Harriers team who were runners-up in the AAU Junior cross-country championship. In the following year he was also on the Donore team who went one better and picked up gold medals.

Also, in 1942 he won a team gold in the AAU Leinster junior cross-country championship and a team gold the following year in the senior championship.

In 1943 and 1944 he was on the Donore team who won the AAU senior cross-country championships.

He finished in most positions in the WBB shield except first, so in later years I would remind him as a mere sprinter I won it. His retort was always “Yes but I had the fastest time on a number of occasions”.

<<NOTE: Tommie Hayward was on the Donore Harriers team that won the first of their 23 senior men’s XC titles in 1943. W. Sherringham led the team home in 5^th place, with Brendan Foreman in 6^th. Donore Harriers won with a score of 60, 24 points ahead of 2^nd placed Terenure. Tommie was also on the team that won in 1944. Brendan Foreman, in 4^th place, led the team to victory. Donore Harriers were runners-up behind Civil Service AC in 1945 and came 3^rd in 1946 despite having 3 finishers in the top 10 – including Tommie Hayward in 8^th position. Foreman (1918 – 2002) and Hayward later became key figures in the formation of BLE in 1967 with the amalgamation of AAUE and NACA. Foreman, father of former Irish marathon athlete Deirdre Nagle (DCH), later became Treasurer of the Olympic Council of Ireland>>

TELL US ABOUT YOUR OWN ATHLETICS JOURNEY? COMPETITIONS? MEDALS? ETC? My first track race was in College Park in the Civil Services Athletic Club sports day in 1959. The following year I represented O’Connell Schools for the first time in the Primary school sports in Croke Park.

The only other available athletic events for boys were for under sixteens in the graded meetings over 60 and 150-yards sprints. initially I was at a disadvantage as I was normally the youngest in the race but as mentioned earlier thanks to Bob Payne I did get an early win.

It was not until 1967 when B.L.E. was founded that athletic events for juniors became more available.

My first championship medal was the 4 x 100 yards AAU junior championships in 1965. I finished third in the Junior AAU 100 yards Hurdles and Long Jump in 1965. My hurdles career was short lived as I graduated to senior level the hurdles got taller, but I did not.

In 1970 I finished third in the Dublin Long Jump Championships and twice finished 4th in the national championships in 1972 and 1974.

In January 1972 I moved to the UK and started to compete for London Irish Athletic Club. Shortly after joining London Irish AC I went out to Hampstead Heath to support the team in a Southern Counties League Cross country race and was inveigled to compete as somebody had cried off because of injury. I had long since discovered that I was not a cross country runner so my first race for the ‘Irish’ was not a pleasant one.

London Irish had no official clubhouse, but we based ourselves in the West London Stadium behind Wormwood Scrubs Prison in Acton.

LIAC was a young club founded in 1969 by Cork native John Dorgan, so we were in the bottom division in track and cross-country events. There was a great group of very enthusiastic runners who set their sights on moving up the divisions. Each summer out track team would be boosted by a few students coming over to London to work for the summer The Late Tommy Brennan was one such athlete.

Over my five years there we were promoted twice which was quite an achievement for such a small club. In my first league appearance I competed in the 100m, 200m, 4 x 100m, Long jump, and 4 x 400m. It was quite a baptism of fire but very enjoyable.

The whole team did whatever was necessary to gain every point possible to move up the table. On many of the league meetings I competed in one too many events which took its toll on my legs resulting in two stress fractures and a few knee problems.

I returned to Dublin in late 1976. After two seasons back in Dublin my knee problems caught up with me so Long Jumping became a thing of the past.

I continued sprinting until 1980 with little success so decided it was time to retire.

As the summer ended there was lots of talk of the first Dublin Marathon and in a fit of madness I decided to run the marathon on a sprinters training program and a few 15 mile runs. Not the ideal preparation, but I managed to finish in 3.29.

The following year while running through Clontarf I met up with a couple of guys who were training for their first marathon. On my drive home I had another fit of madness and decided to have another crack at the marathon.

Following on from the second marathon I teamed up with a group of guys who like myself were “retired” runners. We had a group of about 15 guys which included Pat Bonass, Maurice Ahern (Clonliffe) and Paddy Darling. Although we were all “retired” runners the training was taken quite seriously.

Back in the Eddie Hogan days one of the secrets of Donore’s success was pack training. Our pack sessions helped to motivate us all and train harder to reach our goals. I ran thefirst sixteen Dublin Marathons achieving PB’s in 8 of the 16 with a best time of 2.45.18.

As all but three of my marathons were under 3 hours I decided when I felt I could not do a sub 3 I would retire “again”. The training was starting to get harder, and the years were taking its toll on the body so what turned out to be my final marathon in 1995 was completed in 2.59.29.

I guess it was inevitable having grown up watching Eddie Hogan turn so many guys into international runners that I should eventually turn my attention to cross country running when I turned 40.

I competed in the Dublin masters cross country championships finishing 6th on two occasions also won two team silver medals.

In 1989 I won the Dublin masters 10,000m track championship and as Long Jumping was never far from my heart, I dusted off my jumping spikes and managed to finish second. It was probably not my wisest decision as I stretched muscles which had not been used for about 15 years, it took me about two weeks to recover.

In 1990 I represented Dublin in the National championships in a very wet, windy and mucky course in Ballybofey. It would not be unusual for track athletes running 800m and upwards to double up on track and cross-country.

So, winning my first Dublin cross-country vest I have what must be a very unusual distinction of representing Dublin as a Long jumper/sprinter and a cross-country runner.

YOU MENTIONED JOHN DORGAN. I GOT TO KNOW JOHN WHEN I RAN FOR QUEEN’S PARK HARRIERS BACK IN THE 80s. OF COURSE, HE WANTED ME TO JOIN THE ‘IRISH’, BUT HE STILL ALWAYS GAVE ME A ‘BIG SHOUT’ AT CROSS-COUNTRY RACES. INDEED, HIS VOICE STILL RESONATES WHEN I THINK OF HIM. I am not sure if I have ever met anyone with such passion for athletics, especially the London Irish Athletic Club as John Dorgan. He had such passion, that it was always hard to say no to him. It was he who coerced me into running in the cross-country race in Hampstead Heath. I met Pat Fitzgerald, who was also one of the founder members, while on holidays in Bulgaria in 1970 so through Pat I ended up in London Irish.

<<John Dorgan, former secretary of London Irish AC and the Brian Boru GAA Club (London), died in May 2013 aged 76>>

DID YOU GET AWAY ON ANY INTERESTING TRIPS WHILST COMPETING FOR THE CLUB? Back in the sixties and early seventies track team trips were not the norm but while I was with London Irish AC we represented London in a European Capital city track and Field competition in Amsterdam finishing a credible second to the host city.

DO YOU HAVE ANY SPORTING REGRETS? I have no major regrets, other than I do not believe I was as dedicated to my track training as I could have been.

YOU ATTEND MOST OF THE MAJOR ATHLETICS CHAMPIONSHIPS. WHAT DO YOU CONSIDER AS THE MOST ENJOYABLE CHAMPIONSHIP THAT YOU ATTENDED? AND WHAT ONE EVENT/RACE STANDS OUT IN YOUR MEMORY? I went to my first Olympic Games in 1972 and but for Covid-19 Tokyo would have been my 13th Games. Each Games is quite unique in itself so lots of memories with one or two sad moments.

I was in the Olympic Village in Munich the day before The Black September Movement invaded the village. The Games were postponed for a day to have a memorial service for the Israeli Athletes who were killed.

Being in Los Angeles in 1984 for John Tracey’s silver medal and Sydney 2000 for Sonia’s silver will always be very special memories.

Seoul Olympics is probably top of my list after the shootings in Munich and boycotts in Montreal, LA and Moscow and the high security around all the stadiums. Seoul decided to break the mould and turn it into the “friendly” Games. The people were so warm and friendly and could not do enough to help. As the security was low key spectators and athletes alike were able to mix with each other around the stadium. The warm-up track was also open to all spectators.

I have one funny incident, while sitting at the warmup track a couple beside me asked me if I was an Olympic athlete. They had spotted my shoulder bag which was green with Ireland printed on the side. Based on that they decided I was an athlete, although I said I was not they would not believe me. They thought I was just being modest. I guess the following day they had difficulty finding my name in the daily program list of starters in the 5000m!

The atmosphere in the Sydney Olympic Stadium is a close second to Seoul. Sonia won her 5,000m silver medal 20 minutes after the local girl Cathy Freeman won gold in the 400m. With 112,000 spectators mainly sports mad Australians in the stadium every day the atmosphere was always exciting, so that day in particular was absolutely electric.

Of the 100+ days I have spent at the Olympics the one race excluding the obvious Irish races that stands out was thewomen’s 10,000m final in Atlanta. It was eventually won by Fernanda Ribeiro of Portugal followed by WangJunxia China and GetaWami Ethiopia

The tactical running of all three over the final 5k was amazing! Being the last event of the day, the stadium was half empty and Michael Johnson had won the 400m gold earlier so all the Americans went home leaving the real athletic enthusiasts to enjoy the race.

<<here’s a link to the final lap of Ribeiro’s race https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etIX65Iq7l4 >>

Seeing Carl Lewis win his 9th Gold media the Long Jump in Atlanta is also memorable.