MAXIMUS MICK, THE MAN FOR THE LONG HAUL!
Mick Carolan can be seen standing proudly with our 2009 All Irl winning team in their official photo that adorns our homepage. And why not? He played a key role in their fitness preparations then and subsequently during his 3 year involvement with Paddy Carr's management team (2008-10). By all accounts there could be a book in there - one suggested title might be "Tales of Ticknock"!! Mick is the Football Committee Secretary this year and has been heavily involved in all things Kilmacud for many years. His son, Chris, is one of our well-known footballers. Mick is also Principal of Stillorgan College which must be a time-consuming undertaking so ...... where does he get the energy for his main passion in life: marathon running?
Many Kilmacud people may be unaware that Modest Mick, from Mayo, has run in all 31 Dublin City Marathons - never missed one. That is some achievement!! He has run 59 marathons in all with a best time of 2.45 and he continues to put in very decent performances: last year's 3.18 was marginally ahead of his 3.22 in Boston previously. His best 10k time is 32.42.
Read Mick's personal account of his most recent marathon - Rome 2011 - below. He says he wasn't well prepared but yet he covered the terrain in a cool 3.37. Long may you keep running Mick - in sporting terms we think you should be beatified at least!!
Note: if you are aware of other extraordinary stories by Kilmacud Crokes people please fwd for possible publication here to kccrokes@gmail.com
Following in the footsteps ......
In the summer of1960 when Abebe Bikila won the Olympic Marathon in Rome I was living in north Mayo. Electricity had not yet reached our area so the Olympics were not large in our thinking and emigration had robbed the area of most of the young people so sport did not play a big part in our lives either. It was some time later that I got to learn about the exploits of that fantastic man.
I can only imagine my reaction then if somebody had told me that 51 years later I would find myself with 15,000 others running those same roads that Abebe had ran in his bare feet, as I participated in the Rome Marathon on March 20th this year in what was my 59th marathon to date.
The start was beside the Colosseum where the check in and baggage drop was performed with the minimum of fuss. After a minutes silence, for the Japanese earthquake victims, the Japanese Ambassador got us on our way. During the next 26+ miles we passed almost every landmark in this beautiful city. At ten miles we crossed the Tiber and approached the Vatican. Here we were greeted by a crescendo of choir music that took us up around St Peters where the Pope was celebrating Mass for the crowds that had assembled in the Square. This was surprisingly moving,as was the sight of a large number of the runners removing their caps and bowing their heads as we passed the Vatican. We reached the Olympic stadium at the half way point as the course made its way up and down beside the Tiber. The course then twisted and turned from 20 miles to the finish on narrow cobbled streets as we took in as many of the sights as the organisers could fit in. The Piazza Navona, The Trevi Fountain and the Victor Emmanuel monument were just some of the sights along those beautiful narrow streets until the finishing mile took us past the Circus Maximus and around the Colosseum to the finish beside the Forum.
It’s not surprising that Rome has been awarded a place in the top 5 European marathons as in a city that always seems to be choking with tourists the authorities had cooperated with the marathon organisers to showcase the city to the runners and supporters.
A truly fantastic experience that I will forever remember, Abebe Bikila’s record of 1960 has been broken many times since but between his remarkable story and this wonderful city it’s easy to see why that evening is remembered as truly special in marathon running history.