AS HE TURNED for home towards Merrion Square, Mick Clohisey allowed himself a moment to savour the occasion. There was a clench of the fist as he crossed the line, a first sign of emotion as he was crowned national marathon champion for the first time.
Clohisey’s time of 2:15.58 was a fraction off his own personal best, but the fastest by an Irish man in the Dublin Marathon in 19 years, since Gerry Healy clocked 2:15.37 in 1999.
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Clohisey celebrates crossing the line in Merrion Square. Oisin Keniry / INPHO
Oisin Keniry / INPHO / INPHO
For as long as he can remember, the Raheny runner was on the other side of the fence on the October Bank Holiday weekend, either supporting his father or club-mates.
Last weekend, however, was his moment to race down the final stretch from Ballsbridge to the acclaim of the home crowd, following in the footsteps of his coach, the legendary Dick Hooper, who won the inaugural Dublin Marathon in 1980.
Three months after finishing 18th at the European Championships in Berlin, Clohisey — the Rio Olympian — delivered his finest marathon performance on his home streets, finishing sixth overall, to join an illustrious list of former national champions.
“Since I was young, I’ve gone in and watched Dublin, my father is a runner and he ran since I was young, so I’ve always gone in and supported,” he told The42 this afternoon.
The last few years seeing the way it has grown so much, the popularity of it, I was thinking ‘Jeez,I’d love to get in there and stuck into the racing side of it’ so, yeah, it was a different feeling to the other marathons.
“London [World Championships, 2017] was great, it did feel like a home race nearly, but Dublin had that extra special feel. It was an added buzz.”
In a wide-ranging interview, Clohisey talks about the Dublin crowd, coaching, his plans for next year and ambitions for Tokyo 2020.
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'Dublin had that extra special feeling': Olympian Clohisey savours his win on home soil
AS HE TURNED for home towards Merrion Square, Mick Clohisey allowed himself a moment to savour the occasion. There was a clench of the fist as he crossed the line, a first sign of emotion as he was crowned national marathon champion for the first time.
Clohisey’s time of 2:15.58 was a fraction off his own personal best, but the fastest by an Irish man in the Dublin Marathon in 19 years, since Gerry Healy clocked 2:15.37 in 1999.
For as long as he can remember, the Raheny runner was on the other side of the fence on the October Bank Holiday weekend, either supporting his father or club-mates.
Last weekend, however, was his moment to race down the final stretch from Ballsbridge to the acclaim of the home crowd, following in the footsteps of his coach, the legendary Dick Hooper, who won the inaugural Dublin Marathon in 1980.
Three months after finishing 18th at the European Championships in Berlin, Clohisey — the Rio Olympian — delivered his finest marathon performance on his home streets, finishing sixth overall, to join an illustrious list of former national champions.
“Since I was young, I’ve gone in and watched Dublin, my father is a runner and he ran since I was young, so I’ve always gone in and supported,” he told The42 this afternoon.
“London [World Championships, 2017] was great, it did feel like a home race nearly, but Dublin had that extra special feel. It was an added buzz.”
In a wide-ranging interview, Clohisey talks about the Dublin crowd, coaching, his plans for next year and ambitions for Tokyo 2020.
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