In the 80's and early 90's, he was one of the best runners in the country winning the Dublin marathon in 1982 and 1992. He is probably best known for finishing ninth in the marathon at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. He was also the seventh Irishman to run a sub-four-minute mile.
Here are some of his personal bests...
1500m... 3m 41.90s - Dusseldorf - 1976
One-Mile... 3m 59.12s - London - 1976
3000m... 7m 54.70s - Belfast - 1987
5000m... 13m 32.71s - Cork - 1981
10000m... 28m 55.9s - Dublin - 1981
10-Miles... 47m 04s - Ballycotton 10m - 1983
Half-Marathon... 1h 03m 15s - San Diego, USA - 1985
Marathon... 2h 12m 20s - Los Angeles, USA - 1984
Jerry Kiernan also ran in a lot of road races all over the country. The photo above shows him crossing the finish line at the Mallow 10-mile road race.
In later years, Jerry became one of the best distance running coaches in the country and was a regular on RTE television when athletic events were being covered..
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam
RIP Jerry. He will be sorely missed from RTE's athletics coverage.
ReplyDeletea great runner and a great character...he told it as it was...if he were a footballer they would retire his jersey
ReplyDeleteSuperb runner. Fantastic commentator.
ReplyDeleteVery sad news. Superb runner doesn't begin to do him justice. Has a 46:30 for the Dromina 10 in 1984 and is reported to have said he actually held back in that race as he was running the Chicago marathon a fortnight later...unbelievable running.
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