Greally and magazine stand the test of time

Athletics:THIS ONE starts off with a special Happy Birthday. No, not a belated 70th to the man on stage at the Marquee on Thursday night, but to Irish Runnermagazine – 30 years old this month and still going the distance thanks to the indefatigable editorial skills of Frank Greally

To say I grew up reading Irish Runnerwould not be an exaggeration. The first editions coincided with my discovery of athletics, and there's a reminder of that every time I open the garage door of my parents' house: piled up along one wall is every single edition of Irish Runner, in completely random order, naturally, and alongside similarly mountainous stacks of Athletics Weeklyand Track and Field News.

It's still a joy to flick through those old magazines, and the quality of the early editions of Irish Runnernever fails to impress, and indeed inspire. It helped that Frank knew exactly what he was doing, and exactly who the magazine was aimed at.

Somehow he managed to corner all aspects of the sport, which is not easily done, while maintaining a voice for Irish athletics that both wanted and needed to be heard. For a man of unfailing modesty, Frank has much to be proud of.

Incredibly, he’s edited every edition – without a single break – over the past 30 years, and my favourite story about putting together the first edition in June of 1981 was how, in the final rush to get it out, Frank forgot to put a price on the cover. A minor oversight, he reckoned, yet clearly proving he was never in it for the money.

That first cover, by the way, captured two ordinary club runners – Paddy Murphy of Kildare and Brian Keeney of Metro St Brigid’s – in the final miles of the now sadly lamented “Clonliffe 20”. Murphy took the win in 1:38.47, and that time would still hold up 30 years later.

Indeed, Frank always remained conscious of getting ordinary runners on the cover, not just the running elite, and that’s another sign of his selfless loyalty to the sport.

What also helped sustain Irish Runnerover the last 30 years – beyond the wide readership loyalty – is the strength of both the writing and the photography. Frank always commissioned the best, including the Godfather of us all, Con Houlihan, while also finding space for aspiring writers.

In the May 1996 edition he ran an article about vegetarian athletes, and although I’ve long since denounced those theories, I’m forever indebted to Frank for giving me that start, and standing up for me in all the years since.

What I also remember and still love about those early editions were the short and simple Training Tips, written by the late Noel Carroll. Noel doesn’t require any introduction – two-time Olympian, 800 metre runner extraordinaire, Irish, European and World record holder – and his brilliantly direct writing style was no doubt inspired by his days as public relations officer with Dublin Corporation.

“People who live near water should expect to get their feet wet,” he famously said after the River Dodder flooded in 1986, and Dublin Corporation was accused of not doing enough to stop it.

Noel’s Training Tips were equally frank: “If you’re too busy to run on any given day then you’re too busy,” is a beautiful line, and I remember, too, an article he wrote about breathing: “Don’t worry about getting the air in,” he said. “That will look after itself. Think about pushing it out a bit more.” I’ve been breathing that way ever since, and believe me, it works.

As early as 1964 Noel was described by  as "one of the best middle distance runners in the world", and although he probably reached his peak around 1968, he continued to train and indeed compete right up until his sudden death, aged just 56, on October 23rd, 1998.

Yet his spirit and legacy lives on, and having eagerly backed Louis Hogan’s idea to start the Dublin Marathon in 1980 – which Noel, naturally, ran – it’s entirely fitting that the winning trophy of that race is named in his honour.

Perhaps a more fitting legacy will begin this evening with the first Noel Carroll 800 Metres – to be staged as part of the Irish Milers Club meeting at Irishtown Stadium, with the support of Noel’s former club, Civil Service AC. The plan is to establish this as one of the fastest 800 metres races in Ireland every year, with proper pace-making and decent prize-money, and Noel would have unreservedly approved. He relished that kind of competition, where both race tactics and the unforgiving stopwatch meant everything.

In their own modest way, the Irish Milers Club provide a critical service to the sport, and have been since the summer of 2000, when first started up here by Brendan Hackett. Modelled on the British Milers Club – where the likes of Sebastian Coe and Steve Ovett enjoyed humble beginnings – the purpose is to supply athletes with quality competition, and help address the much-maligned fall in Irish middle distance standards.

Former European Junior 1,500m champion Colin Costello is one of those set to line up for the Noel Carroll 800 Metres this evening, and low-key yet purposeful races like this are invaluable for such an exceptional running talent, looking to reignite his competitive spark.

This evening’s competition, run between 5-7pm, actually assimilates the old GV Ryan meeting, and is keenly promoted by Irish Milers Club chairman Michael McGovern.

These meetings are run without publicity or fanfare, and not surprisingly so. It used to be that athletics was all about the higher, the stronger, and the faster – although in some people’s minds it’s now more about the farther and the slower, a bit like Dave Browne’s 114-hour guitar solo. I don’t think Noel Carroll would have been very impressed.

Anyway, there’s another important meeting taking place this weekend, with 44 of our finest athletes at the European Team Championships in Izmir, Turkey, looking to retain their First League status – although wait and see how much publicity that gets.

Derval O’Rourke, David Gillick, Paul Hession and Mary Cullen are among those seeking maximum points against Belgium, Croatia, Finland, Greece, Hungary, the Netherlands, Norway, Romania, Slovenia, Switzerland and hosts Turkey. At the end of the two days finishing position is based on a nation’s combined points, men and women, and the aim for Ireland is to finish eighth or better, and thus avoid relegation.

This won’t be easy – and with sprinter Ailis McSweeney and long jumper Kelly Proper out through injury, survival really will come down to the fittest.

There may be something about this in the papers on Monday, but at least Irish Runnerwill give it good coverage. Look out for the 30th anniversary edition in shops next week!