“I got the best out of myself when I was running. And I was happy with that.”
56 years after his first competitive race around the mart site in Fermoy, Dick O’Brien from Castlelyons has decided to hang up his competitive racing shoes.
Although he will continue to run with and coach his local club, St Nicholas’s AC, Dick (or Dicko as he is more affectionately known), had his last competitive run in the Carrigtwohill 5k at the weekend.
The Avondhu sat down with Dicko in his home outside Castlelyons this week, where he explained in detail how he first got involved in athletics and running; the aberrant forming of St Nicholas’ AC in 1981 and his involvement in some 14 marathons through the years.
Dicko explained that he first found himself interested in running as a young boy.
“My love for running was started by a man who used to pass our house, Tommy Foley was his name, he was in his late 20s or early 30s when I noticed him first. Then he held a cross country event, I remember, I was only 11 so I couldn’t run in it. I was always running because parents in those days were stricter at that time about going away on your own. You wouldn’t be left down in the village at night so I used to run away around the back of the house. It was always something I loved doing.”
Full report in this week’s Print & Digital Edition
