BLE Inter-Counties Cross Country in Fermoy - Dec 1979

Derek O'Keeffe recently put a video up on YouTube about a Cross Country race in Fermoy in 1979. Some might recognise the faces in the video which was held over 40 plus years ago.

Leave a comment if you recognise any of the faces.

This was probably the heyday of cross country running as the numbers taking part and watching are way bigger than would be seen in recent times.

Update: John Walshe kindly sends on the following information...

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Thanks to the Denis McCarthy archives (and the following month’s Marathon Magazine), the short video shown is of the BLE Inter-Counties Cross-Country & BLOE Championships which took place at Fermoy on Sunday December 16th, 1979.

Held on the course used for the Grange International C-C on the Dublin side of the town, the video must have been taken by the local promoting Grange-Fermoy club as several of their young members and mentors are shown.

The senior race over at least 7.5 miles (12km) was won by John Treacy in a time of 39:59. The Waterford-man was then a double world champion, having won the titles at Glasgow (1978) and Limerick (1979). With Gerry Deegan second and Ray Treacy (brother of John) fourth, Waterford easily won the team title on 64 points with Limerick second on 96 and Cork third on 113.

First Cork athlete was local man John Hartnett in third and the other scorers for the Rebel County were: Donie Walsh (6th), Mick Walsh (18th), Richard Crowley (20th), Mick Lawton (22nd) and Pat O’Riordan (34th). Frank O’Meara – later to become a two-time world indoor champion – was back in 46th, one place ahead of another man who would go on to greater things, Liam O’Brien.

The women’s race was won by Mary Purcell from Deirdre Nagle and Jean Whitson, all Dublin. Purcell had a wide range of accomplishments, from competing over 800m at the 1972 Munich Olympics to winning the Dublin Marathon in 1983. In seventh place was another Dublin athete, Carey May, who would go on later that year of 1980 to become the winner of the inaugural Dublin Marathon.

The Cork team who finished second at Fermoy were: Catherine Hourihan (4th), Marie Buckley (8th), Marion Lyons (10th) and Valerie O’Mahony (14th).

The men’s junior race went to Andy Ronan from Wexford ahead of future three-time world indoor champion, Marcus O’Sullivan, only the third man after John Walker and Steve Scott to run over 100 sub-four-minute miles (total of 101).

Cork finished second in the junior race behind Dublin with O’Sullivan (2nd), John Hurley (12th), Joe O’Sullivan (15th), Martin Farmer (24th), Kieran Stack (29th) and Chris Lawor (30th). The man who provided the date and venue of this event from all of 45 years ago - Denis McCarthy - finished in 60th position of the 110 finishers.

And just for the record, last Sunday week Denis picked up another bronze to add to the near-100 county medals he has won when finishing third in the M60 category at the Cork Masters C-C in Bweeng.

Guest Post: WHEN A HALF-MARATHON TOOK PLACE AT KILLEAGH... by John Walshe

In this guest post, John Walshe of Ballycotton tells the story of a half-marathon that took place in East Cork way back in 1979, just before the running boom took off.

WHEN A HALF-MARATHON TOOK PLACE AT KILLEAGH (John Walshe)

The course for the recent Killeagh four-mile road race brought back memories when that circuit was covered three times in what was one of the first half-marathons to take place in Cork.

It was nearly 41 years ago - on Sunday night May 6th, 1979 - when this race was just one of the many events held on the day of the famous Glenbower May Sunday Festival. It was organised by two local athletes, Peter Lee and Willie O’Mahony, both members of the Youghal club at the time.

Willie O’Mahony’s contribution to the sport of athletics in the East Cork region has been immense, both as a competitor, administration (treasurer of the East Cork Board/Division since 1971) and event organiser. Peter Lee – who used to live beside the start line of the current four-miler – was one of the few from the Cork area to run the inaugural Dublin Marathon in 1980, which he completed in 3:02:53 before going on to run 2:53:29 the following year.

The Glenbower Half-Marathon, as it was called, was somewhat of a step into the unknown as road racing in 1979 was just getting established. The running boom that would follow from that Dublin Marathon was still almost two years away. As an example, the Cork to Cobh 15-mile race which took place a week before Killeagh had just 41 finishers – all men.

The half-marathon started at 6.45pm and took in the three laps of today’s course and it had been measured by the calibrated bicycle method, one of the first races in the country outside of Ballycotton to be so measured. Prizes were on offer for the first four finishers, first two teams of three and the first three novices confined to Cork. There was also a signed time certificate presented to each finisher.

Entry fee was probably in the region of 30 pence - it’s worth noting that the entry for the Dublin Open Marathon later that summer was advertised as 50p - and while half-marathons nowadays attract numbers in the thousands (with corresponding astronomical entry fees), the result of that Glenbower Half-Marathon of 1979 lists just 14 finishers.

There were one or two non-finishers on the three-lap course, these included a man for whom such a decision to drop-out nowadays would be unthinkable. However, it should be noted that 16-year-old Denis McCarthy (then of the Youghal club) had already taken part in the Cork County U17 3000m track championship earlier in the day, finishing fifth in 9:57.5 behind Finbarr McGrath (Leevale) and future international Richard O’Flynn (Bandon).

After the first of the three laps on that May Sunday evening, four runners had broken away. There were Liam O’Brien and Paul Mulholland from Midleton and the Leevale pair of Jerry Murphy and the late Dick Hodgins, winner of the National Marathon four years before. On the second time round, Hodgins had been dropped and with about a half-mile to go O’Brien finally edged ahead of Murphy but the margin on the line was just two seconds, 70:34 to 70:36. Mulholland finished strongly to take third in 71:03, over three minutes clear of Hodgins.

In the team race, Leevale suffered a rare defeat as Midleton came out on top by three points, the team consisting of O’Brien (first), Mulholland (third) and Albert De Cogan (fifth). For the first two, the race was more a means to an end as it served two contrasting purposes. To Liam O’Brien, it was probably no more than what would be referred to nowadays as a tempo-run as he was preparing for the track season. A couple of months later he would win the second of his eight national steeplechase titles, his time of 8:52.6 a big improvement on the 9:07.5 he had recorded the year before.

Jerry Murphy was no doubt using the 13 miles as a ‘bleed-out’ for the carbohydrate-loading diet prevalent at the time. The following Sunday, on his 29th birthday, he would win the Munster Marathon in a time of 2:28:47 ahead of Leevale clubmate Liam Horgan (2:31:44) and Michael Joyce of St Finbarr’s (2:39:16).

In honour of Peter Lee and Willie O’Mahony who were ahead of their time in the promotion of what was probably Cork’s first half-marathon, and to remember those inaugural runners, these were the 14 finishers on that May Sunday evening over four decades ago:

Add caption

Results...
1 Liam O’Brien (Midleton) 70:34
2 Jerry Murphy (Leevale) 70:36
3 Paul Mulholland (Midleton) 71:03
4 Dick Hodgins (Leevale) 74:14
5 Albert De Coagan (Midleton) 76:15
6 Willie Cronin (Leevale) 76:35
7 John Walshe (Midleton) 78:35
8 Donal Burke (St Finbarr’s) 83:13
9 Tim Mulcahy (Midleton) 84:33
10 Pat Arnott (Youghal) 84:35
11 Peter Lee (Youghal) 89:24
12 Jerry Mohally (St Finbarr’s) 90:36
13 Willie O’Mahony (Youghal) 91:47
14 Tom Houlihan (Midleton) 101:00.

A list of John Walshe's guest articles on the site can be found HERE

Guest post : MUNSTER MARATHON OF 1979... by John Walshe

MUNSTER MARATHON OF 1979... By John Walshe (The Echo, 11/05/2019)

There is no doubt only a tiny percentage of runners experience the elation of crossing the line first in a marathon. To win on your birthday then is a much rarer occurrence but one such man who did so 40 years ago this weekend is Jerry Murphy from Douglas.

The occasion was the Munster championship which took place from the town of Rathkeale in Co Limerick on Sunday May 13, 1979. Four decades ago marathons, indeed road races in general, were a long way from what we know today.

A field of 30 to 40 runners was considered a good turnout and in all probability you could have entered that championship on the day for an entry fee of maybe 50 pence – a long way from the €65-€75 that would be asked of nowadays.  

A Munster marathon had been held intermittently during the 1970s and Murphy had already one victory under his belt, along with a best time of 2:24:33 achieved when finishing sixth in the Irish (BLE) National Marathon at Galway four years before.

Promoted by the Southern Region Council and held in glorious sunshine, the course in Rathkeale was typical of the day in that it was simply 13 miles out and back. The outward journey was into a fresh headwind and amongst the leading group were two Limerick men, Neil Cusack (Boston Marathon winner of 1974) and Robert Costelloe. However, both were using the race as a training run and would make their exit at halfway.

A more recent photo of Jerry Murphy with his haul of medals and trophies

The early leader was Paul Mulholland from Midleton who reached five miles in 28:35, just ahead of Davie Browne from Waterford. Mulholland had run 2:33:59 two years before at the BLE Marathon in Loughrea and was the pioneer of marathon running in the east Cork region.

At 11 miles, Mulholland began to drop back and this left Murphy and his Leevale team-mate Liam Horgan in control. In any race there comes a moment where the contest is won or lost and, 40 years on, Murphy still recalls where the decisive point came that day: “At 17 miles, Liam started really pushing the pace. At around the 19 mile mark, I turned to him to say I wasn’t feeling great and to go ahead. When I turned, he looked straight at me and said ‘Jerry, continue on and I’ll try and follow’.”

At the finish, Murphy’s winning margin was almost three minutes as he not alone celebrated victory but his 29th birthday in style, crossing the line in a time of 2:28:47. Horgan – who sadly passed away in 2013 after a lifetime of Leevale service - survived an attack of cramp to hold on for second in 2:31:44 with Mayo-man Michael Joyce taking third in 2:39:16 in front of his St Finbarr’s colleague Flor O’Leary (2:40:17).

Willie Hayes, then of Reenavanna Harriers but a ‘Barr’s man now for many years, finished fifth in 2:40:23 ahead  of Gerry Walsh from the Doheny club in Dunmanway (2:44:27).

The following year, Murphy, Joyce and Hayes travelled to New York for one of the first marathons to take place around the five boroughs of the Big Apple. With all three wearing Discover Ireland singlets, Murphy finished in a time of 2:31:44 with Hayes close behind on 2:31:58 and Joyce – a well-known Cork solicitor these days - recording a personal best of 2:38:05.

“It was after that New York Marathon I feel my problems began,” Murphy recalls. “I didn’t realise at the time but I had diabetes and it wasn’t discovered until 20 years later. I was also unaware at the time that I was celiac as well.”

A mainstay of many a winning Leevale cross-country team, he also has the unique distinction of having competed in over 30 Cork senior championships over the country.

With both Leevale and St Finbarr’s having two runners in the top four, the Munster team race came down to the third scorer and although Donal Burke’s 13th place gave the ‘Barr’s 20 points, John O’Leary in 15th spot gave Leevale the title by a margin of just two points.

Although no veterans (or masters nowadays) were acknowledged, O’Leary would have qualified at the time as he had turned 40 the previous December. Remarkably, then, that four decades later the near-neighbour of Jerry Murphy is still competing - 10 days ago he returned a time of just over 42 minutes for five miles at Midleton.

He too vividly recalls that warm Sunday around the roads of Rathkeale in what was his second marathon: “I knocked around 35 minutes off of my first. I remember it was a boiling hot day and I was wearing a cap from the sun and it blew of after a few miles. There were two or three of us together and I wouldn’t stop but didn’t one of them go back and pick it up, a lovely fellow whoever he was.” 

Just 22 runners, all men, finished that day. Although there was speculation that Jean Folan - one of the pioneering Irishwomen at the marathon distance and who would win the Ballycotton ’10’ the following March – was going to run, it was not to be.

Of course that year of 1980 all things utterly changed with the first running of the Dublin City Marathon and long distance running would no longer be a solitary male pursuit carried out on the lonely Irish roads.        

Munster Marathon 1979 results
1 J Murphy (Leevale) 2:28:47; 2 L Horgan (Leevale) 2:31:44; 3 M Joyce (St Finbarrs) 2:39:16; 4 F O’Leary (St Finbarrs) 2:40:17; 5 W Hayes (Reenavanna) 2:40:23; 6 G Walsh (Doheny) 2:44:27; 7 G Ryan (Premier) 2:48:11; 8 J Carroll (Tipperary Town) 2:49:58; 9 P O’Regan (Limerick) 2:50:55; 10 S O’Toole (Premier) 2:55:55; 11 P Carmody (St Johns) 2:56:08; 12 J Walshe (Midleton) 2:57:45; 13 D Burke (St Finbarrs) 2:58:35; 14 M Minogue (Tulla) 3:01:12; 15 J O’Leary (Leevale) 3:02:15.

Guest Post : THE ENGLISH NATIONAL CROSS-COUNTRY... by John Walshe

The English National Cross-Country Championships attracts thousands of entrants and this year was no exception. With a start line as wide as a field, the assembled field eventually thins out as shown in the above photo... if you could call that 'thin'! :o)

(Videos of this years races)

In this guest post, John Walshe of Ballycotton looks at this years event and reflects on the same event 40 years ago.

THE ENGLISH NATIONAL CROSS-COUNTRY
(By John Walshe)

On Saturday last the Saucony/English National Cross-Country Championships took place on the grounds of Harewood House on the outskirts of Leeds. At what was regarded as one of the best venues in recent years, the 10-race programme attracted over 9000 entrants, culminating in the 131st senior men’s championship over 12km which had over 2000 finishers.

It was a great day for the local Leeds City club as they took both senior titles. Their women defeated Aldershot, Farnham & District (who had the individual winner in Emily Thornhill-Hosker) by three points while the Leeds City men had a clearer victory, finishing 81 points ahead of Tonbridge. Last year’s junior champion, Mahamed Mahamed from Southampton, won an exciting senior race by just one second from Emile Cairess of Leeds.

Less than three-and-a-half-minutes covered the top 100 finishers. An indication of the standard can be seen from the performance of Sean Fitzpatrick from Kent AC. After finishing third in 25:58 six days before at the Carrigaline five-miler, the 2:28 marathoner could only manage 282nd at Leeds.

John Treacy winning his second World Cross Country Gold in 1979

This appeared on the RTE Sport Twitter feed last night...

Was John Treacy winning second successive cross-country gold in Limerick in '79 that's decade's finest moment?

Was John Treacy winning second successive cross-country gold in Limerick in '79 that's decade's finest moment? #IrelandsGreatest pic.twitter.com/JT9DyI9ffd

— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) November 23, 2017