Marathon on hold as Sweeney’s sights on Slovenia

JOE SWEENEY may have other things on his mind but his coach, Jerry Kiernan, won’t be surprised if he adds his name to the list of qualifiers for next year’s Olympics.

On Sunday the imposing 6’4” Dubliner retained his title at the Woodies DIY national inter-counties championships in Sligo and he now has his sights set firmly on a top 10 placing at next month’s European cross-country championships.

“He was 21st last year — only 38 seconds behind the winner and I know from his training workouts that he is at least 20 seconds better than he was 12 months ago,” said his coach.

“Of course a lot could depend on how the race is run in Slovenia. He could find himself sucked into a fast early pace or something like that.”

Regardless of what happens in three weeks’ time in Slovenia, Kiernan is convinced Sweeney will run a big marathon some time in the future “when I say so”.

And Jerry Kiernan, the athlete/coach turned television pundit, should know because he has been through it all himself. A sub four-minute miler on the track, he set course records in the Dublin and Cork marathons. In fact his 2:13:45 in Dublin in 1982 was over a far more difficult course than the present route and he caused something of a sensation in that race when he stopped for a breather in Raheny with the race already won.

His 45:35 in Belgooly was the fourth fastest 10 miles in the world that year and, after that, he ran 46:15 in Bandon where he had local star, Richard O’Flynn, then a scholarship student at Providence College, some four minutes behind.

His ninth place in the Olympic Marathon in Los Angeles in 1984 was ultimately over shadowed by John Treacy’s silver medal.

“The eight in front of me were full-time athletes and so were the next 20 behind me,” he recalled. “I was teaching 44 kids five days a week and when I had five or six weeks off to prepare for the Olympics I did not know myself I had so much energy.”

It was a chance meeting that brought him in contact with Sweeney who had faded from the limelight after an impressive underage career — his performance in the junior cross-country championships in Roscommon some years earlier was outstanding.

“I was out running when he came along and I invited him to join us,” recalled Kiernan. “My group was the slowest but he could barely stay with us. I looked at him and said: ‘Joe you look terrible, what’s the matter’ and I advised to have himself checked out. His haemoglobin was dangerously low — he had almost run himself into hospital.”

Under Kiernan’s watchful eye he progressed to win last year’s inter-counties and then the national inter-clubs in Santry in February but his new coach was impressed with his combination of talent and natural strength and quickly concluded he was made for the marathon.

“I am firmly convinced he will be a very good marathon runner but only when I say so,” he said. “We would not be thinking of the marathon at this point were it not for the fact that next year is Olympic year. The qualifying standard of 2:15 is a pretty soft standard — the equivalent of a 4:06 mile — so it should be easily achievable.”

They started to explore the marathon last year and went to Holland for a 30k race to see how Sweeney would cope with the distance — he won it.

“At the moment we are thinking about the European cross-country championships and, after that, we will have a look around,” Kiernan said. “His strength has improved enormously. We are doing the same work as last year but he is doing it faster and with less effort so that indicates he is improving all the time.

“It was quite a difficult course in Sligo on Sunday and he was pulling away from the field all the time so he has to be excited about the Europeans.”

With the first two athletes across the line in each of the categories on Sunday guaranteed selection, the Irish teams for the European cross-country championships will be finalised today.