I've learned that finishing a marathon isn't just an athletic achievement.  It's a state of mind; a state of mind that says anything is possible.  - Jonh Hanc.

On Monday morning October 25th, the inhabitants of the "Fair City" arose from their Bank Holiday slumber to be greeted by the awe inspiring sight of over 13,500 stouthearted souls spilling through the capital's streets.  Woven through this tapestry of vibrantly coloured sweatbands, running vests, bandannas and bobbing heads were over 150 members of AGS and our guests.  Attired in blue and yellow adidas singlets we continuously encountered shouts of "C'mon the Guards" as we soldiered towards the finish line.  The large garda crest emblazoned on our chests, identifying us with aplomb.

 

From 7am a steady trickle of anxious mules had ascended  the 3 flights of stairs at Pearse St, to the conference room tucked away on the top floor.  Within an hour the room was a bubbling cauldron of nervous chat, cautious laughs, bad jokes, and determined statements.  The pungent aroma's of wintergreen and deep-heat wafted through the corridors as we made our final preparations for the battle ahead.  The two Decky's (Egan and Monaghan) issued last minute instructions akin to battlefield generals.  With Spartan like courage, we bounded down the stairs and out into the unforgiving nippiness of an October morn.  The coarseness of the late Autumn climate only stirred our passion and heightened our senses. 

 

A sea of gardai in blue stood to attention at the start line as retired member Mick Miley belted out a rousing rendition of "Amhran na bhFiann" accompanied by the overtures of the Garda Band.  A tidal wave of anticipation and adrenalin swelled up behind us while to our forefront some of the most talented athletes on the planet were introduced to the boisterous, encouraging crowd.    26.2 miles of unforgiving road lay ahead, 42.2km of torture stared us down, our prevailing sentiment was simply .......BRING IT ON  !!!!!!!!!!!

 

The starting gun shot reverberated off of the surrounding buildings, and we were off.  A festive atmosphere abounded as we shuffled down Dawson St past mile one and across the Liffey onto O'Connell St.  Clocking up mile 3 on the NCR we enjoyed the clapping bystanders enthusiasm before tackling the Phoenix Park.  Chapelizod provided the first real test when we charged up the hill under the bridge at mile 8.  Sterner exams lay ahead and we focused the mind on the ensuing tasks.  We fought on through Kilmainham, Dolphin's Barn, and Crumlin before passing the sanctuary of 13.1 miles on Walikinstown Rd.  Half way.  Half done.  Half over.  Past the KCR and Bushy Pk we voyaged on towards our destiny through Terenure and we had ten miles left.  The steep climb at Milltown began to chip away at our determination.  The legs feeling the pain, the mind suffering as the first seeds of self doubt began to sprout., wW conquered the slight incline in Clonskeagh with a little trouble and attacked Roebuck Rd.  10k left.  The toughest 10k we would ever face snaked out before us.  The body may have been weak but the mind gained courage.  10k after all was only 10k.  Sure we'd run numerous 10k's in the past.  What was 10k?  10k was easy, or so we thought. 

 

The Stillorgan fly-over sapped at our mental and physical strength, it became the physcial embodiment of the dreaded "psychological wall".  Impure thoughts of failure were cast out with the gusto of a Spanish Inquisitor.  The satellite tower at RTE offered solace.  The 23 mile marker passed on Merrion Rd in a haze of palpable agony. Outside the RDS we pondered on how agonisingly long 3 little miles seemed when you were emotionally and physically drained.  All that remained in the body was a mule like stubbornness.  A point blank refusal to fail.  Through Ballsbridge and at Hogan Place the 25 mile marker drifted by.  1 mile left. 4 laps of the track and the 385 yards added by the Queen in 1908.  The crescendo of noise emanating from TCD and the bottom of Grafton Street acted like a wave of morphine.  We were literally flown to the line on a zephyr of goodwill.  The carnival atmosphere that engulfed the finishing 385 yards was a stark rebuke of the doom and gloom currently overshadowing the country.   We crossed the line, a threshold, we had smashed the personal barriers, ran the race and lived to tell the tale.  The war was over, the battle won.  We swelled with pride.  Having run in the footsteps of Pheidippides, some had suffered an emotional crucifixion and now basked in their glorious rebirth.  God is Good.

 

There were many tales of personal sacrifice, labouring and suffering among our ranks.  Ancient ghosts laid to rest.  Personal bests (PB's) set.  Mountains overcome.  Paul Moran cemented his position at the head of the Garda table with a new PB of 2:43, knocking 7 minutes off of his previous best.  Moran was closely followed by the darling of Garda Athletics, Lorraine Manning.  Manning has been a colossus this year on the athletic front.  She has captured numerous national medals this season as part of the Raheny team.  However, her individual national marathon bronze here, coupled with team gold crowned  a fantastic year for the blonde bombshell.  Lorraine produced a truly first class performance taking the tape in 2:46.  Bill Egan also demolished the 3 hour barrier clocking 2:53 for the course while Sean Mac Seoin's dedication and hard work paid dividends with 2:57.  The pride of the Royals Liam O'Neill, ran his sixth marathon in a year and was delighted to dip under the magical 3.  Liam set a new PB in 2:59.  Another to set a PB in 2:59 was Denis Ferry, a regular among our Sunday morning training run group.  Denis will cherish 2010 which saw him set drastically improved PB's in both the half and full marathon.

Ronan Hartnett one of our stalwarts has had to curtail his training after the birth of twins in 2010, and he came agonisingly close to sub 3, missing out by just 16 seconds.  Not bad for a man doing no training at all and a regular sub 2:50 performer when on form.  Mountain running supremo Adrian Tucker clipped around the streets in 3:01, and won the national bronze in his age category,  while Ger Mullins set a new PB of 3:10, a bettering of over 9 minutes.  Damian Gannon was satisfied with 3:12, being just outside his PB.  Pearse Street's Com Pol boss Eamon Lynch ran 3:14.

David Craig ran superbly in 3:16,  while  Kieran O'Sullivan had an easy day at the office by his high standards with 3:19.  Zeile O'Connor running her third marathon set a PB aswell.  Her previous times of 3:49 and 3:50 were demolished with a new high of 3:23.  Tri athlete Stephen Brazil came home in 3:24.  Garda Band member Diarmuid Frain put in a sterling performance running 3:26 one week after setting a PB in Amsterdam of 3:17. As the Yanks would say...awesome.   Emma Nelligan tore the record book to shreds running 18 minutes faster than ever before when setting her PB time of 3:27, with John Griffin not far behind.  Infact, Griffin smashed his previous best when setting a new PB of 3:28.  All the training in Australia obviously paid off.  Another with the same time of 3:28 was one of the finest footballers in the Royal County, Damien Beakey.(Banty might come calling for the red dynamo yet!).  Big Hugh Shovlin cruised around the city roadways in a PB of 3:29. 

It was a historical day also for Paul Maher who tackled his first ever marathon.  The curator of the Garda Museum at Dublin Castle reached the journeys end in 3:34.  Marilyn Brosnan continues her rise through the marathon ranks with a new PB of 3:37.  Marilyn's run was an emphatic statement proving that she has fully recovered from her serious injuries sustained last Spring.  Another with the same time of 3:37 was Kenneth Neary who lost his marathon virginity on the day.  Michael McArdle also in his first ever marathon outing ran 3:38 and was thankful for the assistance offered by his training partner and regular star of AGS athletics, Dave Sweeney.  Indeed Sweeney is regular sub 3 man who took it easy on the day, with future outings in the pipeline.  Matt Phylan up from Carlow, had utilised the Garda 10 mile Championships, as part of his training, and was thrilled with his new PB of 3:40.  Kevin Hoey clocked 3:41, while Kathleen Cheshire completed the course in 3:48.  Anthony Malone was elated with his time of 3:49, having the energy to pick up his wee daughter and cross the line holding her in his arms.  Dave Gantly was another born west of the Shannon who took to the city streets and posted 3:49.  Seconds divided Gantly and his partner Donal "Jose" Gleeson who clocked 3:50, the time also snapped up by Ian Redican.  John Fogarty posted 3:54 and Barry McCormack ran a very respectable 3:56, while Gerry Whelan was satisfied with his time of 3:59, considering the past 6 months have been a conveyor belt of niggling injuries.  Gerry Bourke was jubilant with his new PB of 3:59 also. 


Brian Murphy from Ballincollig mastered 4:00. Phil Dee and Wes Kenny both finished in 4:20, with Wes setting a new PB. Dave Swan swam home in 4:22.  Balbriggan's finest in the form of Maxine Quigley continues to improve with a time of 4:25.  Billy Holden also ran 4:25 as he prepares for the Ultra in Connemara next Spring.  Hot on their heels was Garry Stack from Limerick who posted 4:28 in his first ever marathon.  Anne Gavagan made a Lazarus type recovery running a PB of 4:41, almost 3 hours faster than her previous outing.  Brendan Tighe made it home in 4:52.  Vinny Healy also on his maiden trek earned his medal in 4:49 while Brian Moore also ran his first, but not his last he assures us in 5:17.

 

The Traffic Corp, Angelsea St, in Cork displayed solidarity and strength with 4 of them tackling Molly Malone's streets.  Finbarr Walsh ran a PB of 3:59, Myles Galwey crossed the line in 4:01 with colleague Jim Bulger only 10 minutes further back in 4:11.  Iris Brosnan just failed to break the 4 and a half hour mark with 4:31.  No need for 4x4 wheel drives in that unit, the fittest in the country clearly.

 

The Garda Athletic Club would like to extend it's sincere thanks to Chief Superintendent O'Sullivan and all the staff at Pearse Street Garda Station for their assistance on the day.  The operational duties of a busy city centre station is a mammoth task at all times and the invasion of over 150 athletes cannot have made their task any easier.  We also extend our congratulations to Jim Aughey and the Dublin Marathon Organising Committee on a wonderful event, which proudly nestles among the best in the world.  Finally we congratulate all of our members who took to the city streets and conquered the dreaded 26.2.

 

"You have to forget your last marathon before you try another. Your mind can't know what's coming." - Frank Shorter
 

Conditions on the day were universally agreed upon as being ideal.  This fact was reflected in the startling amount of personal bests attained. Indeed, all who ran achieved a personal goal, or in failing to do so have set a new target, which future efforts will attain, however, one is worthy of a special mention.  In October 2009, the father of Muiris Quinn passed away.  Muiris is attached to the Traffic Unit in Galway.  On the death of his father he committed to running the 2010 marathon in his memory.  A feat Muiris achieved on October 25th last in 3:59:51.  Muiris described the feelings that overwhelmed  him on crossing the finishing line as "savage".  There is no more to be said.