Peadar, along with Martin Keane, is a Life President of our club. A native of West Clare, he moved to Galway in November 2004, having worked for 35 years in Dublin. He has a long and distinguished career in athletics, winning a silver medal at the NACA national championships back in the early 1970s in the Triple Jump. Now 69, Peadar still does this event and won a Masters silver at the Galway T&F Champs this year. He also competed in the 100m and ran a fine 16.2. Peadar has run the Dublin Marathon every year since its inauguration in 1980. In 2011, he ran it in 4:22:07. Peadar married his wife, Helen, two years ago after meeting in Lourdes.

1. What running shoes do you train in? 

Asics (Gel - Flashfire).

2. How many miles did you run last week? 

39.

3. What’s your favourite racing distance? 

5K or 200m.

4. Where’s your favourite place to train?

Palmerstown Wood.

5. What’s your favourite event or race each year?

Dublin Marathon.

6. What annoys you most at races?

Nothing, really.

7. What race, that you haven’t yet run, would you most like to take part in? 

200m at the Olympics - not very likely now at my age.

8. What was your best-ever running performance?

The 13th Dublin Marathon in 1992 - my only sub 3-hour effort: 2:58:50.  I'm not superstitious.

9. What was your worst-ever running performance?

The Dublin Marathon about 4 years ago.  I was hoping for about 4 hours, but a medical injection the previous Thursday weakened me to the extent that I missed my target by more than a half hour.

10. What’s the strangest thing that you’ve ever seen on a training run?

There's nothing strange in my neck of the wood.

11. Favourite piece of running gear?

My Casio €10 stopwatch.

12. Who would you most enjoy beating in a sprint for the line?

Usain Bolt.

13. What was the best bit of training advice you were ever given?

Plan in advance of training and don't shorten the distance when on the road or land just because you feel knackered.

14. In ten years time will you still be running?

Very unlikely as I will be in my 80th year.  I hope to be still walking regularly though.

15. If for some reason you were told you could never run again, how do you think you’d react?

Been there, done that.  At this stage of my life I wouldn't lose a night's sleep.

16. Have you ever been bitten by a dog while running?

No.  A good trick, if a dog is about to nip you, is to stop, face the dog, bend down and pretend to lift a stone, even if the surface is smooth.  It works for me.

17. Have you ever had to stop for an emergency "Paula" during a race?

Yes, but you wouldn't want to know about it.

18. Favourite post-race food?

A large Mars bar.

19. Most embarrassing ever running-related moment?

None that I can recall.

20. The greatest Irish Athlete of all time is/was?

Ronnie Delany.  apart from winning in Melbourne in 1956 [Olympic gold medal, 1500m], he retired undefeated from the boards.