ATHLETICS:If any distance runner is looking for a worthy cause close to the heart then the the Great Ethiopian Run is surely it, writes IAN O'RIORDAN

I MET John Treacy for a coffee during the week, and thought he looked a little shook. Part of me assumed it must be Boston, and John seeing someone run two hours, three minutes and two seconds – wind-aided, downhill, whatever – on the same course he’d run several times in the past, with a best over six minutes slower.

But that wasn’t it.

“Did you hear the news about Grete Waitz?” he asked.

It’s not that John and Grete were particularly close, but they’d shared such a tight connection over their long and great careers that her death on Tuesday at age 57 was bound to upset him. “I really can’t believe it,” he added, and left it at that.

In the 1970s, and the glory days of distance running, the World Cross Country was like a heavyweight title belt – when that mattered too. The 1978 championships, in Glasgow, drew the cream of that era, and John, aged just 20, marked his debut in the senior race by winning it. Likewise with Grete, with her debut victory in the senior women’s race prompting Athletics Weekly reporter Mel Watman to claim he’d witnessed “the most devastating cross country performance of all time, male or female”.

The following year, 1979, John travelled the short distance from his home in Waterford to Limerick racecourse and brilliantly defended his title – and likewise with Grete, who crushed her opponents in similar fashion. It was famously muddy in Limerick that day, yet Grete was so smooth and graceful a runner that her white and red Norwegian vest was still perfectly clean at the finish.

John tried hard to win that title again on several occasions, although wasn’t as successful as Grete, who won three more.

By the time John turned to the marathon, in 1984, Grete had already established an unbeatable reputation at the classic distance. She won her first of nine New York marathons in 1978 in a then world record, and had also won London in 1983. Although they ran the Los Angeles Olympic marathon in different guises – John as outsider, Grete as favourite – they had no complaints about each winning the silver medal, beaten fairly and squarely by a better runner on the day.

In 1988 they crossed paths one last time when Grete won her ninth New York marathon, and John finished third in the men’s race. But I think what they shared more than anything was their rise to the very top of their sport, from somewhat unlikely backgrounds – rural Ireland, and Oslo, Norway – based purely on their extraordinary talent and passion for running. It’s something you’re born with and never lose, as John proved when he went on to tell me about the Great Ethiopian Run.

Truth is this was the purpose of our meeting in the first place. John had mentioned it a few times, about his journey there last year, when heading up a Concern challenge team that had for the first time targeted the Great Ethiopian Run as a fairly obvious and yet unique fund-raiser. As a member of the board of Concern for the past three years John straightaway recognised the potential, and the fit – that as a distance runner this could be a cause close to the heart, in more ways than one.

“For the first year we said we wouldn’t push it too heavily,” he said, “just see how it all works. But believe me it was great success, an amazing experience. We got 22 people on board, a lovely mix of young and a little older, some of whom were going to walk most of it. So you don’t even need to be a runner. And it raised about €60,000, all directly for the Concern programmes in Ethiopia.

“Coming away from the airport last year we were still all smiles, because it’s that kind of experience, and the plan now is we want to double the number of people going out this year. We’re aiming for 50 people, really. It’s a great chance to run the biggest race in Africa, and see the work Concern are doing, and why fund-raising like this is so important.

“Of course we got to meet Haile Gebrselassie too because he’s very involved in the race, and I’m really looking forward to going back. And you should really come along too.”

Having never been to Ethiopia, I too recognised the potential, and the fit – but reckoned I’d tease a little more out of John.

“When is it again?” I asked. “And is it not a really hard race?”

“It’s not till November, the 27th. So you’ve loads of time to get ready. And you won’t ever forget running with 35,000 Ethiopians, in Addis Ababa, all wearing the same yellow T-shirts. And it’s only 10k, although at 8,000-feet altitude you do feel it, and let’s just say it felt more like 10 miles.

“I had no idea how fast I ran, maybe around 50 minutes. But it was great fun, from start to finish. There was all this singing and dancing at the start, so of course we did a little Irish jig. And all the way along people are shouting at you, cheering you on. It’s a celebration of running, really, and to experience that in Ethiopia makes it all the more amazing.

“I don’t want to put anyone off, but don’t go out there expecting to run a personal best. It climbs from maybe two miles to five miles. But the atmosphere of 35,000 people running the race more than makes up for that. I still run maybe three or four days a week, so I wouldn’t be unfit, but I think all us runners need a little goal in our mind, to keep us sharp. It helps get you out on the busier days. And look, at this stage of my life I don’t want to be going out running hard, but it is nice to push it a little bit some days. This helps focus the mind, get you out a little more.

“I’ve no intention of running any more marathons. They’re too hard. And I just haven’t got the time to train for them. So this is my challenge, and I’m happy with it. Concern have a big presence in Ethiopia, and do fantastic work. So it was great to see that, having been on the board for the last three years. It’s only when you get out into the field that you really appreciate what is being done. It makes you realise how much we have as well, despite all our so-called difficulties.

“And the Ethiopians are also fantastic people, happy, always smiling. Despite the challenge for some of them, waking up some mornings not knowing where their next meal is coming from.”

With that John had me hooked – and I told him to sign me up. If any distance runner is looking for a worthy cause close to the heart then surely this is it, because if anyone knows what they’re talking about here it’s John Treacy. Register today: www.concernchallenge.org/greatethiopianrun

“You won’t ever forget running with 35,000 Ethiopians, in Addis Ababa, all wearing the same yellow T-shirts. And it’s only 10k, although at 8,000-feet altitude you do feel it, it felt more like 10 miles