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| Denis at the start in Youghal |
ANOTHER FIRST FOR DENIS! ... By John Walshe
As he himself says, it may not be as momentous as the first man on the moon but another statistic was added to Denis McCarthy’s remarkable list of achievements on Thursday (December 19) when he became the first to run the entire length of the newly-opened Youghal to Midleton Greenway.
Although the official opening doesn’t take place until the New Year, what was termed a ‘soft opening’ was enough for the East Cork athlete to lace up the shoes and rise to yet another challenge. The new section which extends from Youghal through Killeagh and Mogeely opened on midday and just a couple of minutes after noon Denis headed off into a strong headwind on his 14.2-mile (23km) trek.
“I suppose the first will always be remembered, whether it’s the first mile under four minutes or the first on the moon,” explained Denis on why he decided on this. “A man who would have inspired me in a small way was a West Limerick athlete, Tom Fitzgerald.
“Tom said something to me once which struck a chord; he was working in Cork on the construction of the Lee Tunnel and said to me one day he was the first man to run under water, so those little things inspired me to run the railway line.”
Although the official opening doesn’t take place until the New Year, what was termed a ‘soft opening’ was enough for the East Cork athlete to lace up the shoes and rise to yet another challenge. The new section which extends from Youghal through Killeagh and Mogeely opened on midday and just a couple of minutes after noon Denis headed off into a strong headwind on his 14.2-mile (23km) trek.
“I suppose the first will always be remembered, whether it’s the first mile under four minutes or the first on the moon,” explained Denis on why he decided on this. “A man who would have inspired me in a small way was a West Limerick athlete, Tom Fitzgerald.
“Tom said something to me once which struck a chord; he was working in Cork on the construction of the Lee Tunnel and said to me one day he was the first man to run under water, so those little things inspired me to run the railway line.”
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| Passing through Mogeely after nine miles (15km) |
Recently the 61-year-old notched up 10 years without missing a single day of running. This streak would have been much longer but for fracture to a bone in his leg back in 2013 which brought almost 28 years of continuous running to a brief suspension. But then, even while on crutches, he famously managed to complete the Shanagarry five-mile race in 71 minutes.
“There were eight days in which I actually did nothing, but then there were days trying to train while hobbling around in a medical walking boot until a doctor said to me I’d never heal like that, so I stopped running then and went on crutches.”
Last October, another milestone was reached when he competed in the Cork county senior cross-country championship for the 41st time (he has also ran the East Cork equivalent on 42 occasions). Back in the 1990s a different challenge came to fruition – that of running a race in each of the 32 counties on this island, before his 32nd birthday.
“It was a small bit daunting heading out this morning,” admitted Denis of his railway run. “My mileage is not particularly high at the moment but when I got as far as Killeagh I was fairly settled as I was familiar with the terrain after that, it’s only a short skip to Mogeely and then only five miles back to Midleton.”
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| Mission accomplished – the number on his chest says it all! |
