Not many people know this but Raheny’s Mick Clohisey is one of the youngest runners ever to cross the finish line at the Dublin Marathon.
It happened in one of the years when the route took in the north quays and finished in Smithfield.
“My da was running – I think in 2000 – and my ma and aunt went out to support him. When I saw him coming, I joined in and ran the last stretch with him and crossed the finish line. Nice memories.” Mick’s dad Vinnie (by the way), who is a staunch BHAA man, has run at least twenty-four Dublin Marathons since 1984; his best time of 2:58.23 came in 1985. In 2013, he ran 3:30.02 as an M60.
Clohisey (now aged 30) is almost certain to make the Irish team for the Rio Olympics when the marathon qualifiers are announced on May 23 – as is Cork woman Lizzie Lee.
She started her running career as a triathlete with the Piranha club while living at UCD in Dublin; Gary Crossan, who has a number of Irish marathon titles to his credit, was the running coach with the club.
“My first time running Dublin was in 2006. My aim was to get the Boston Marathon qualifying time of 3 hours 30 minutes. I ran 3 hrs 34 mins, so just missed out. I remember a bridge with a little incline going over the canal. It was like Everest to me. I was so delighted just to finish and I remember the atmosphere. It was superb.”
Ten years on, and Lee’s time for the marathon has dropped by over an hour. ” The marathon is about experience and training. You learn from your races and your training.”
Both Clohisey and Lee would love to win Dublin, which is also the National Marathon. They agree with race director Jim Aughney that the
Dublin winners, as national champions, should get automatic selection for whatever major championships are taking place the year after.
Wheelchair phenomenon Patrick Monahan from Co Kildare is setting new standards when it comes to the marathon. Last year, he whizzed around the Dublin course in a new record time of 1 hrs 43 mins 5 secs. His first marathon was Dublin in 2013. “I did an extra two miles when I was misdirected. I was exhausted and I just wanted to stop. But I’m glad I didn’t and I finished in 2 hrs 38 mins.”
After improving his own Irish record to 1:29.45 in Seoul earlier this month, his place at the Rio Paralympics looks secure, although he is not counting his chickens. “There’s only eight places in Rio for Irish athletes and we have twenty with qualifying marks,” he says. Sure of their places are defending champions Jason Smyth and Michael McKillop.
Good news for all of them is that the Marathon Mission will continue. “Our goal initially was to improve Irish times in Dublin – with no disrespect to the athletes involved, we had men’s winning times of 2 hrs 24 mins,” says Jim Aughney, an ex-marathon runner himself, like many members of the marathon organising committee. When it came to the Olympics, Ireland had only one marathon qualifier in 2008 and that was with a B standard .
From the start of the Marathon Mission in 2009, athletes had their say.” We sat down with athletes and asked them what they needed and worked with that.”
Aughney is delighted that standards have improved so much, both for the London Olympics and now for Rio. “At our very first meeting in a hotel in Chapelizod, we said that we wanted to give the selectors a headache and we’ve done that.”
Marathon Mission, funded largely by the Dublin Marathon, is already looking to the future.”On Jun 18, we are starting the process for the next four years. We have 20 women targeted and Lizzie will talk to them. We hope to continue for as long as we can.”
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