Limerick Athletics - Weekly News Update

LAST month, I drove from Arkansas to North Carolina. The trip takes over 14 hours, so I decided to take a break from tarmac watching in Johnson City, TN.

My friend, Neil Cusack attended East Tennessee State University there, and I had heard many stories about this bucolic spot in the Appalachian mountains.

The campus hosted many professional meets over the years. Another Irish athlete, Ray Flynn, holds the track record with a time of 3:53. You’d think that I would have raced on this gem, but somehow I never managed to even visit the town.

I met Ray for breakfast, and he happily agreed to show me around campus. I mostly wanted to survey the training routes that Neil would have used. Neil was known for tough training. He frequently ran a hard 10 miles before a healthy serving of 400s. Ray toured me around the undulating grounds of the Veterans Hospital where many of these runs took place.

Neil is part of my athletics DNA; we are both past pupils of St Munchin’s College and are both NCAA Champions. Neil became the first Irish man to win the NCAA Cross Country Championships in 1972. I never had the strength to be competitive in cross country running like Neil, but I was stirred by his success.

He went onto win the Boston Marathon in 1974. He was a dominating force in US distance running and regularly beat athletes like Steve Prefontaine and Frank Shorter. During his dominance, he made two Olympic teams. His success and approach were inspiring to a young athlete.

I met Neil first as an underage athlete. We were both members of Limerick AC. The club formed in 1896 met and trained at the LPYMA grounds on the Ennis Road. There was a massive roller designed to be pulled by a horse around the track to smooth the surface.  

We didn’t have a horse so the older lads would reluctantly drag the roller around. One evening as the seniors were attempting to get momentum going on the roller, Neil spotted me and some of the younger lads hanging out and said, “Hey you, O’Mara, isn’t it? “Get over here with some of your pals and help us pull this damn thing”. He knew me!

It was Neil’s work ethic that was most impressive. He always ran hard and never missed. His application was the perfect tonic for a young impressionable kid. Later as a I established myself as a senior athlete, he invited me on a training run with him.

He even called be by my first name this time! We ran the country roads from Caherdavin way up into the Cratloe Hills. I pinched myself as we set off to ensure it was real. I found out how real it was as we turned the corner at Meelick and headed up the long drag to the woods.

It is hard being first up; being a trailblazer. You haven’t seen it done and there is no roadmap to follow. Neil Cusack forged the path and provided navigational directions for those prepared to work. How else would a kid from Caherdavin find himself on a World Championship podium.