Guest Post: Cork Marathon magic in 1986 as Fair Hill's Marion Lyons was first over the line ...by John Walshe

In this guest post by John Walshe, he looks back at the 1986 Cork City Marathon. Also check out who finished in 9th place with a time of  2:36!

Cork Marathon magic in 1986 as Fair Hill's Marion Lyons was first over the line... by John Walshe

THERE was a most noticeable change for the fifth adidas Cork City Marathon as it took place a month later than normal, on Sunday May 25, 1986.

Easter Monday fell on the last day of March and as BLE had fixed the National Marathon for April 13 in Portlaoise, there was no way that Cork could go ahead two weeks before.

On that Saturday afternoon in Portlaoise, just 90 runners turned out for the BLE championship, the smallest number in 10 years.


It was won by London-based Kingston Mills, a member of Civil Service Harriers, in a time of 2:15:58. For the past three months in his position as Head of Immunology at Trinity College, Professor Kingston Mills has become familiar and reassuring presence on our national media in the battle against the Covid-19 virus.

Good packing by St Finbarr’s which saw Ricky Burke finishing third (2:22:09), John Buckley ninth (2:30:22), Eric Crockett 10th (2:31:50) and Derry O’Driscoll 11th (2:34:30) won for the Cork club the team title.

Of the four, only O’Driscoll would turn out in Cork six weeks later. An even smaller field of just 42 runners assembled for the BLE 10-mile championship at Castlelyons on May 4, an event won by Tony O’Leary of Leevale. In contrast, an average of over 400 runners were taking part in each of the five St Finbarr’s four-mile road leagues held that summer.

The course for the Cork event showed a number of changes from previous years, although the start and finish remained on the South Mall. Due to road works, further alternations had to be made the week before.

“Two o’clock on a Sunday afternoon is not the most appropriate time for a marathon around the streets,” said Michael Dooley, County Board Chairman and race organiser, adding “we owe a great debt of gratitude to the Gardai and to the public for their patience.”

 Sunday May 25 was also the day of the Sport Aid ‘Race Against Time’, a series of world-wide mass-participation 10km runs thought up by Bob Geldof to help alleviate world hunger. On the morning of the marathon, Cork County Board held a run around the Carrigrohane Road/Lee Road circuit which saw around 3,000 taking part.

Of course this was all before the advent of Sunday trading in the city and so, at 2pm, with the rain starting to fall, something in excess of 300 marathon runners assembled on the Mall to begin their 26.2-mile journey.

Amongst them was a woman from Fair Hill who had already carved out her own special niche in women’s athletics and before the day was out would have further cause for celebration.

The career of Marion Lyons (nee Stanton) had already covered the whole spectrum of athletics. She had recorded track times of 2:11 for 800m and 9:16 for 3000m and had represented Ireland at senior level on a number of occasions at cross-country, the highlights being the World Championships in Chepstow and Düsseldorf.

Back in April 1978, along with Elaine Kelly and Dervla Mellerick, the St Finbarr’s athlete had taken part in the Cork to Cobh 15-mile race, the first time in this country that women had competed with men over such a distance.

After finishing third in the 1985 Cork marathon in 3:06:58, the training over the winter months was geared to breaking the three-hour barrier the following year.

Marion Lyons & Joe Murphy

“I used to train a lot with Michael Dunne and Joe Murphy, and they were fantastic to me,” Marion recalled. “Michael Clancy started coaching me and he would come out on a bike and accompany me on my 15-mile run during the week and then we would do our 20 mile runs on a Sunday up into Whitechurch.

“I used to do an awful lot of quality sessions as well and was able to do around 58 minutes for 10 miles. But all my training was geared towards the marathon; I was running about 70 miles a week at the time.”

 Taking control of the race from the start, at six miles reached in 38:40 she was already four minutes ahead of Brigid McCabe from Mullingar. At halfway, the margin had grown to six minutes. However, coming up to 18 miles Lyons appeared to be in some difficulty as the experienced McCabe began to close.

By 20 miles the Mullingar athlete had closed the gap to three minutes but then she suffered cramp, leaving Lyons on course for victory. Crossing the finish line looking remarkably fresh, the clock showed 3:01:05 and Marion Lyons had become the third Cork woman in five years to take the coveted local title.

McCabe was second in 3:09:20 and finishing third, in a time of 3:15:01, was Dublin-based Nora Joyce, a native of Rathcormac.

Marion Lyons’ recollections of those early days training shows how much running, especially for women, had changed: “All my brothers and sisters ran and I used to do a lot of my training up Fair Hill. All the lads would be laughing at us, but as I often said after, a lot of those who were laughing at us then are running themselves nowadays.”

Marion Lyons, the first woman over the line in the 1986 Cork City Marathon.
Marion Lyons, the first woman over the line in the 1986 Cork City Marathon.
She would eventually break the three hours when reducing her personal best to 2:54:57 in Dublin and Marion Lyons also cherishes the sponsorship of running gear she received at the time from Michael O’Connell of Three Stripe International, the distributors of adidas who were also the marathon benefactors.

It was another adidas sponsored athlete, Billy Gallagher, who dominated the men’s race when winning for the second successive year. His time of 2:20:12 was over a minute slower than 12 months before but he never left any doubt about his intentions, running the last 16 miles into the rain on his own.

Tom Brouder, a member of a strong West Limerick team, tried to stay with the Cavan athlete in the early stages and managed to hold on take second in 2:24:29. Michael Carey of Leevale took third for the second year in a row, his time of 2:25:42 exactly a minute faster than in 1985.

Also repeating his fifth spot from the previous year, 48-year-old Derry O’Driscoll easily took the veterans prize when recording another excellent time of 2:34:27.

Just 303 finishers were officially recorded and as the last few wearily made their way to the finish line on the South Mall as 7 o’clock approached, they were unaware that 21 years would elapse before Cork city would again play host to another 26.2-mile marathon race.

MEN: 1 Billy Gallagher 2:20:12 2 Tom Brouder 2:24:39 3 Michael Carey 2:25:42 4 Gerry Mullane 2:29:35 5 Derry O’Driscoll 2:34:27 6 Brendan Domican 2:34:58 7 John O’Driscoll 2:35:40 8 Seamus Cawley 2:35:46 9 John Walshe 2:36:31 10 Thomas Bracken 2:37:34

WOMEN: 1 Marion Lyons 3:01:05 2 Brigid McCabe 3:09:20 3 Nora Joyce 3:15:01 4 Patricia Crangle 3:23:42 5 Marie Morley 3:29:22 Other names amongst the finishers included:

* Flor O’Leary, first M50 in a brilliant time of 2:43:22 which placed the St Finbarr’s man 11th overall * Sean Whelan from Ennis, a regular visitor to Cork races, finished 23rd in 2:52:20.

* George Webb of Rising Sun finished in 2:52:38 with Pat Dempsey (Leevale) close behind on 2:52:46.

* The final runner under three hours was Peter Gaffney from Mallow in 2:59:55.

* The late Barthy O’Sullivan recorded a time 3:23:12 with Donal O’Mahony on 3:28:54 and Joe Hogan from Blackrock on 3:31:02.

* Tony Cooke completed his debut marathon in 3:44:36. “It was my first and I said at the time, my last,” he recalled, a sentiment familiar to all marathon debutants.

* Declan Harrison from Lisgoold had a time of 3:47:46, one place ahead of Tom Houlihan from Midleton who finished in 3:48:17.

* Just behind in 3:49:37 in her first marathon was Bernice Glavin from Wilton, still a regular at the distance throughout the country.

* Cork goalkeeper Billy Morgan recorded 3:51:34; Pat Cadogan from Bishopstown had 4:30:16 and not far behind was Willie Chambers in 4:47:45.

A list of previous guest posts from John Walshe can be seen HERE

Guest Post : CORK TO COBH RACE OF 1978 – WHEN WOMEN COMPETED FOR THE FIRST TIME ... by John Walshe

This weekend marks a significant anniversary for Cork (and indeed Irish) athletics for it was on this Sunday 40 years ago that women took part for the first with the men in an Irish road race. The occasion was the Cork to Cobh 15-mile event and the iconic picture (courtesy and copyright of the Evening Echo) shows the three pioneering women – Marion Lyons, Dervla Mellerick and Elaine Kelly – at the start line on the Lower Road. The following article, published last Tuesday in the Evening Echo, tells the story of that historic day.

CORK TO COBH RACE OF 1978 – WHEN WOMEN COMPETED FOR THE FIRST TIME
(By John Walshe, Evening Echo, April 10, 2018)

On Monday next, April 16, the famous Boston Marathon takes place for the 122nd time. Twelve months ago, the race honoured Kathy Switzer on the 50th anniversary of her participation in the race which made her the first woman to run the iconic course from Hopkinton to Boston.

Entering by just using the initials ‘KV Switzer’, during her run a race official famously attempted to stop her but he was shoved to the ground by Switzer’s boyfriend and the 20-year-old went on to finish the 26.2-mile course. However, it wasn’t until 1972 that women were officially allowed to take part in the event.

This weekend also marks a significant date here in Cork for it was 40 years ago – on Sunday April 16, 1978, that women were allowed for the first time in this country to line up in a road race beside the men.

The occasion was the 15-mile event from Cork to Cobh, a race with already a chequered history as it had on a number of occasions hosted both National and Munster championships.

Road running in the 1970s was a far cry to what it is today. That year of 1978, the Cork to Cobh attracted just 33 entries, of which 27 finished. Race headquarters was at the old Arcadia Ballroom where entries (at 40 pence) were taken. The race started at 3pm underneath the railway bridge at Water Street and finished outside the post office in Cobh.

Amongst that small entry were the names of Marion Lyons, Elaine Kelly and Dervla Mellerick – three pioneering women in the history of Irish athletics. A preview in the previous Friday’s Evening Echo stated: “It is an ambition at the back of every club athlete’s mind to finish the course [from Cork to Cobh]. It could be regarded as a race that separates the men from the boys but on Sunday next it will be a matter of separating the men from the women.”

The PRO of the Ballymore-Cobh club, the organisers of the race, was quoted as saying he was delighted to hear of women taking part. “They certainly show a lot of courage,” he said, adding that the club may in fact consider having a special prize for the first female to finish.

Marion Lyons is the only one of the three still involved in the sport. She is currently President of her beloved St Finbarr’s AC and as recently as a month ago was the winner of the F60 category at the County Road championship at Castlelyons.

She recalls that historic occasion on the road to Cobh four decades ago: “I suppose we were afraid that the men would object, but nobody really minded. If anything, I’m sure the men were delighted we were there and you could say we have never looked back.

“I knew Elaine and Dervla and we decided we’d love to take on the challenge of running against the men and doing a longer distance. We didn’t really want to tell them in case they would object as at the time there were no women running with the men, even though men were my greatest friends to train with, they were so good to me.”

Of the three, Marion was the most experienced having represented Ireland at senior level on a number of occasions, the highlights being the World Cross-Country Championships at Chepstow and Düsseldorf.

Dervla Mellerick had, a month before, made the Irish team for the World C-C in Glasgow but for Elaine Kelly, 15 miles was a lot longer than she was used to. She was mainly a 400m/800m track runner with two national titles over the latter distance to her credit in 1971 (2:14.7) and 1977 (2:06.07).

“As we got nearer to the race, the organisers heard about us and they said they would allow us run,” says Marion. “We had actually run the 15 miles in training and on the day we stayed together for most of the race and then towards the end I just stepped ahead and won it.

“We felt very good throughout the race, the men were saying to us ‘don’t pass up, don’t pass us’ but I said to them ‘come on lads, come with us, sure we’re all in the same boat’.”

Donie Walsh of Leevale was first across the line in the men’s race in a time of 77:35 ahead of Midleton’s Liam O’Brien who recorded 78:14 with former winner of the race, Richard Crowley, third in 78:48. The times of the three women on that historic occasion were: Marion Lyons, 1:42:30; Dervla Mellerick, 1:42:37; Elaine Kelly, 1:44:56.

Marion Lyons would go on to run six marathons - which included a win in the Cork Marathon of 1986 – recording a personal best time of 2:54:57 for the distance. She is one of the most enthusiastic and inspiring figures in athletics and her passion for the sport is as evident today as it was all those years ago.

“I would still encourage people to get involved in sport because the self-esteem and confidence gained is invaluable. Everyone is important and can make a difference, whether you’re elite or down the field,” sums up this remarkable pioneer who has certainly left her own historic mark on women's athletics in Cork.