JOHN TRAVERS TAKES a moment out of his crammed schedule to chat about his long-time coach, Jerry Kiernan.
Kiernan, a father figure for so many Irish athletes, is known for straight-talking and delivering home truths. Not everyone can handle such a direct approach but Travers relishes it.
He also reckons his coach is one of the most loyal people you could ever hope to meet.
Having made the move from Dublin to Sligo some years ago, it takes a lot to get Travers back to the capital these days. But Kiernan is one of those reasons.
In two weeks, the Drimnagh-born athlete will bid to retain his 1500m title at the Irish Life Health National Championships at Santry.
He wants to use that event as a launchpad to Tokyo 2020. Not a day goes by where Kiernan doesn’t ring or check in. And Travers knows no matter what happens in his career in the coming weeks, months and years, his coach will be right there beside him.
“That man is not one to hide anything,” Travers smiles. “If he feels there is something you need to know he’s out with it. He will tell you the truth and not shy away.
“He is very realistic and that can be perceived as him being blunt.
“Some people are afraid of his approach, some people love it. I happen to be one of the latter. He absolutely floored me on RTÉ after a race some years ago, said that I was breaking his heart, but I took it on the chin because he was right. Others can’t handle it at all, though but the tough love suits me.”
Kiernan and Travers have been through a lot together.
Travers’ father, Stephen, passed away in July 2015, and it was a crushing blow for the family. When John, now 28, relocated to Athlone and started living in Sligo he drifted away from athletics having only taken up the sport competitively at 17. He lost the feel for running.
Another highly regarded coach, Dermot McDermott, coaxed him back into some casual running and managed to entice him back down to Dublin to do some running with Kiernan again.
“An eight-minute run was the longest I had done in ages but on my return, Jerry asked me to do six miles at pace,” Travers takes up the story.
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“I got to three miles and I pulled out, started rubbing my hamstring. Jerry lit on me: ‘You’re lazy. Get out of my sight and don’t come back.’”
Chastened but determined to prove a point, Travers returned to Dublin the following week and while Kiernan questioned his presence, he let him run.
Travers will run at the upcoming Irish Life Health National Championships. Bryan Keane / INPHO
Bryan Keane / INPHO / INPHO
“I managed five miles this time before I blew up. Again, Jerry came over and told me to eff off, to stop wasting his time but I was even thicker now.
“On week three, I came back and did the six miles at a high pace. He told me I could stay. Maybe that was his plan all along.
“Jerry got to me because he knows me. He calls me every day and he knows what I have done and what I haven’t because he has contacts everywhere.
“The man is out helping athletes train seven days a week. He could be up in UCD four nights a week. And he won’t take a penny off any of us. If you get him a voucher or a bottle of wine at Christmas he loses the plot. Freaks out. That’s Jerry Kiernan for you. As I say I don’t go back to Dublin anymore unless I have to. Apart from family and competition, he’s the main reason I go back.”
Perhaps they are kindred spirits, Travers and Kiernan. The former is as resilient an athlete as you will find in this country.
When his Dad passed away four years ago, he was in the midst of producing a prodigious performance to qualify for the University Games 1500m final. His Dad had been diagnosed with a brain tumour in the winter of 2014 but John was lifting the load on the family, wearing the green vest of Ireland, running for gold at the University Games.
Before he flew out he received a call from the hospice to come into his Dad.
I thought that was it but when we went in Dad was sitting up in the bed. He asked us to pray that he would pass away. We were completely taken aback but Dad explained that he was suffering now and didn’t want to suffer. And that he didn’t want us to suffer. He asked us to pray that he would die that weekend.
Stephen Travers wanted his son to compete at the Games and so John flew out, his mind all over the place. He wasn’t long landed when the phone call came.
His father had peacefully slipped away back in Dublin. Thousands of miles away from home, a devastated Travers put his game face on and qualified and remained in South Korea for the final.
Ultimately, he came ninth in a time of 3.42.63 but he can’t remember anything of it and who cares?
“I look back now and I had wished for more time to spend with him but sure what was that about?” he asks. “Probably only for me to be with him. Dad was suffering. You always feel you will say things that you want to say to your Dad but it doesn’t always work out like that.
And sure the man had everything organised. He recorded a song for his own funeral, he had all the arrangements made and the funeral paid for. He left no burden for us. He was a class act.
The legacy continues with John and his partner Eimear O’Brien naming their own son Stephen when he was born 11 months ago.
“I have serious perspective now,” he says. “We all moan about stupid things like being injured and workload but I have a different outlook now.
The Dubliner is hoping to qualify for his first Olympics. Morgan Treacy / INPHO
Morgan Treacy / INPHO / INPHO
“I work as a special needs assistant, we look after little Stephen and I train really hard. When my middle distance career winds down I will target the marathon.
“When I compete at an event — I am in Belguim this weekend, for example — the local club Donore Harriers always rally around me and support me.
“We make it work. I am not 24/7 athletics. Why would I be? You need a balance in life and I have that.
“I am living in the country, out in the fresh air, with my family and I have huge motivation from within and my Dad to make the most of my career.
The Irish Life Health Nationals are a vital juncture for me at the end of this month. I want to retain my 1500m title but the competition will be tough. From there it’s a total focus on ultimately making Tokyo 2020.
Travers’ pedigree is right up there. He has represented Ireland at the World Junior Championships, World Cross Country Championships and the European Indoor Championships.
He has also entered the 800m event at the Irish Life Health Nationals and is clocking up some serious times lately. Last week, he clocked a time of 1:51:06 for Donore Harriers at the sixth Dublin Graded Track and Field meet in Santry.
Training has intensified recently and he has learned not to set specific targets but instead to run the races in front of him. He says his performances have improved with that outlook.
“I’m running better than at any stage in the past five years,” he says. “You get that from support, experience, perspective, balance and hard work.
“I’m lucky that I have a bit of all of them.”
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John Travers: Dealing with death, becoming a father and Tokyo 2020
JOHN TRAVERS TAKES a moment out of his crammed schedule to chat about his long-time coach, Jerry Kiernan.
Kiernan, a father figure for so many Irish athletes, is known for straight-talking and delivering home truths. Not everyone can handle such a direct approach but Travers relishes it.
He also reckons his coach is one of the most loyal people you could ever hope to meet.
Having made the move from Dublin to Sligo some years ago, it takes a lot to get Travers back to the capital these days. But Kiernan is one of those reasons.
In two weeks, the Drimnagh-born athlete will bid to retain his 1500m title at the Irish Life Health National Championships at Santry.
He wants to use that event as a launchpad to Tokyo 2020. Not a day goes by where Kiernan doesn’t ring or check in. And Travers knows no matter what happens in his career in the coming weeks, months and years, his coach will be right there beside him.
“That man is not one to hide anything,” Travers smiles. “If he feels there is something you need to know he’s out with it. He will tell you the truth and not shy away.
“He is very realistic and that can be perceived as him being blunt.
“Some people are afraid of his approach, some people love it. I happen to be one of the latter. He absolutely floored me on RTÉ after a race some years ago, said that I was breaking his heart, but I took it on the chin because he was right. Others can’t handle it at all, though but the tough love suits me.”
Kiernan and Travers have been through a lot together.
Travers’ father, Stephen, passed away in July 2015, and it was a crushing blow for the family. When John, now 28, relocated to Athlone and started living in Sligo he drifted away from athletics having only taken up the sport competitively at 17. He lost the feel for running.
Another highly regarded coach, Dermot McDermott, coaxed him back into some casual running and managed to entice him back down to Dublin to do some running with Kiernan again.
“An eight-minute run was the longest I had done in ages but on my return, Jerry asked me to do six miles at pace,” Travers takes up the story.
“I got to three miles and I pulled out, started rubbing my hamstring. Jerry lit on me: ‘You’re lazy. Get out of my sight and don’t come back.’”
Chastened but determined to prove a point, Travers returned to Dublin the following week and while Kiernan questioned his presence, he let him run.
“I managed five miles this time before I blew up. Again, Jerry came over and told me to eff off, to stop wasting his time but I was even thicker now.
“On week three, I came back and did the six miles at a high pace. He told me I could stay. Maybe that was his plan all along.
“Jerry got to me because he knows me. He calls me every day and he knows what I have done and what I haven’t because he has contacts everywhere.
“The man is out helping athletes train seven days a week. He could be up in UCD four nights a week. And he won’t take a penny off any of us. If you get him a voucher or a bottle of wine at Christmas he loses the plot. Freaks out. That’s Jerry Kiernan for you. As I say I don’t go back to Dublin anymore unless I have to. Apart from family and competition, he’s the main reason I go back.”
Perhaps they are kindred spirits, Travers and Kiernan. The former is as resilient an athlete as you will find in this country.
When his Dad passed away four years ago, he was in the midst of producing a prodigious performance to qualify for the University Games 1500m final. His Dad had been diagnosed with a brain tumour in the winter of 2014 but John was lifting the load on the family, wearing the green vest of Ireland, running for gold at the University Games.
Before he flew out he received a call from the hospice to come into his Dad.
Stephen Travers wanted his son to compete at the Games and so John flew out, his mind all over the place. He wasn’t long landed when the phone call came.
His father had peacefully slipped away back in Dublin. Thousands of miles away from home, a devastated Travers put his game face on and qualified and remained in South Korea for the final.
Ultimately, he came ninth in a time of 3.42.63 but he can’t remember anything of it and who cares?
“I look back now and I had wished for more time to spend with him but sure what was that about?” he asks. “Probably only for me to be with him. Dad was suffering. You always feel you will say things that you want to say to your Dad but it doesn’t always work out like that.
The legacy continues with John and his partner Eimear O’Brien naming their own son Stephen when he was born 11 months ago.
“I have serious perspective now,” he says. “We all moan about stupid things like being injured and workload but I have a different outlook now.
“I work as a special needs assistant, we look after little Stephen and I train really hard. When my middle distance career winds down I will target the marathon.
“When I compete at an event — I am in Belguim this weekend, for example — the local club Donore Harriers always rally around me and support me.
“We make it work. I am not 24/7 athletics. Why would I be? You need a balance in life and I have that.
“I am living in the country, out in the fresh air, with my family and I have huge motivation from within and my Dad to make the most of my career.
Travers’ pedigree is right up there. He has represented Ireland at the World Junior Championships, World Cross Country Championships and the European Indoor Championships.
He has also entered the 800m event at the Irish Life Health Nationals and is clocking up some serious times lately. Last week, he clocked a time of 1:51:06 for Donore Harriers at the sixth Dublin Graded Track and Field meet in Santry.
Training has intensified recently and he has learned not to set specific targets but instead to run the races in front of him. He says his performances have improved with that outlook.
“I’m running better than at any stage in the past five years,” he says. “You get that from support, experience, perspective, balance and hard work.
“I’m lucky that I have a bit of all of them.”
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Athletics Ireland irish life health national championships john travers running for life