Background

I've been running since July 1984. My original intention was just to keep my weight in check - over a period of 4 or 5 years, it had been gradually creeping up, from my "normal 10 stone 4 pounds to nearly 13 stone.

I started out with the cheapest of the cheap tennis shoes and used to run about a mile in roughly 7:15 and I thought anyone running a marathon was an absolute lunatic.

I entered my first race, a 10k, in October 1984: 46:44 and three weeks later ran 45:21. That Christmas I ran my first of, so far, 25 consecutive Goal miles. That one was 6:21 and remains my slowest.

Early in Spring 1985 my brother-in-law asked me if I would run for a charity in a local Marathon. He had been planning to run it with three friends, however the three friends had all dropped out, injured. I said "OK!" and off I went and increased my training to 15 miles a week. I did actually do one week where I did a 13 mile run and brought my mileage for that week up to 18. Stop laughing as you read this!!

Marathon day arrived and Joe & I set off, running together all the way to 18 miles, until I stopped for water. After that I walked and jogged, to the finish. I went through 20 in 2:48 but it took me 4:10:03 to finish. I reckoned I was beaten by the event - not distance or time.

And so I'd caught the marathon bug, and with it a real love of running. Six months later I ran my first of 15 Dublin City Marathons, on 56 miles a week, in 3:11:17.

Since then running has been a major part of my life and has helped me through many of life's crises. It has also help me maintain a high level of fitness and health........until now.