Hooper hoping for new home marathon heroes
John Treacy was the last Irish male winner in 1993, with Sonia O’Sullivan leading home the women’s race in 2000.
Hooper feels it matters little that there will be no foreign elite entries and two of his charges, Sean Hehir and Maria McCambridge, are in line to win the top prize of a Renault Fluence ZE valued at €30,000.
“It’s a golden opportunity for an Irish athlete to win the Dublin marathon,” said Hooper, who won Dublin three times including the inaugural race in 1980. “In five years time no one will remember that there were no Kenyans in it. It was a funding issue with no original headline sponsor but the elite will be back next year. This is an opportunity that won’t come again for a long time.”
It’s over 30 years since Hooper etched his name into the history books as the first winner of the event, then sponsored by Radio 2 (now 2FM) – a landmark moment in his career.
“The Boston marathon was the big marathon in town in those days and the only mass participation race I was aware of,” explained Hooper of his journey into the classic distance.
“Then in 1976 New York started to make a big deal of it and from there other big cities got interested.
“I was in Boston in 1979 and I decided that this was for me. Bill Rodgers was from Boston and winning it three times he was synonymous with the race. I decided that I wanted to be the same with the Dublin marathon.”
Working in Central Bank on Dame Street at the time, Hooper was running in and out of work from Raheny, completing some colossal mileage as the first Dublin marathon loomed. “In 1980 I was running 140-160 miles a week,” recalled the Raheny Shamrock coach. “I would train twice a day and three times on Tuesdays and Thursdays. All the top fellas at the time were doing big mileage and I bought into it. I loved it.”
This was the beginning of the first running boom in Ireland but, as Hooper recalls, it was still a far cry from the one that we see today.
“When we started running we would have been an oddity,” said Hooper wryly. “We would wait until it was dark before we went out in our shorts and t-shirts for fear of being laughed at.
“It isn’t like now where you have people strolling into shops buying their newspaper in their running gear. I still think there was acceptance though. And secretly I believe people were envious.”
This secret envy turned into fame when Hooper danced through the streets of Dublin including his home place of Raheny as he breasted the tape in 2:16:14.
“The marathon went through Raheny in those days. Radio 2 was launched at the time and they got behind promoting the event with a slot every week and Noel Carroll giving tips and advice.
“RTÉ radio covered the race live then and people were listening in at home and it was clear that they came out of their homes when the race came close by their houses.
“There was an unbelievable crowd in Raheny. It was normally a lonely sport and it was elevated to new levels. I was a hero for a day. It was magic. I was a familiar sight on the street and people acted as if they knew you.”
The fame still lingers. Get into a taxi in Raheny and mention running and you will be met with the reply, “Is Dick Hooper still running,” or “ah, the Hooper brothers.”
Dick and his older brother Pat made history at the 1980 Moscow Olympics when they both competed in the marathon.
Those halcyon days for marathon running hit a roadblock with standards declining in recent years but Hooper has helped clear the way as part of the Dublin Marathon Mission.
“Four to five years ago the marathon mission was launched because we were disappointed with the drop in standards,” said the three-time Olympian with a best of 2:12:19.
“The top Irish athletes weren’t even attracted to the event, with nobody qualifying for major games. We’ve seen a big improvement since with the likes of Paul Pollock and four women qualifying for the London Olympics.
“It takes athletes to see others doing well and saying to themselves ‘I’m better than him.’”
“In my day Jerry Kiernan and myself were running 2:12/13 and John Treacy would have looked at us and said ‘I’m much better than them.’
“He would have asked us about the event. We raised the standards and essentially we played our part in getting him that silver medal in 1988.
“For me it was the likes of Danny McDaid and Jim McNamara that inspired me and that’s the way it works.”
Running a fast time is one thing but Hooper believes there is no better feeling than winning.
“There’s nothing like winning a marathon. You can go and run 2:11 and finish 11th in Amsterdam but it doesn’t rank with winning the Dublin marathon.”
On Monday morning, a little after 11.30am, two Irish athletes will hopefully know what it feels like.
This year’s Dublin marathon has no elite foreign entry due to a lack of a headline sponsor until late June when Airtricity coming on board, thus clearing the way for domestic winners.
Joe Sweeney and Sean Hehir are favourites for the men’s title while Maria McCambridge is the big fancy in the women’s event, with Leevale’s Claire McCarthy her most likely challenger.
Con Houlihan once famously described the marathon as “a human river”. The waves start rolling at 9am on Fitzwilliam Street Upper as they flow through the streets of Dublin to finish onMerrion Square North.
Sonia O’Sullivan was a surprise entry for the Dublin marathon in 2000 after her Olympic heroics. Scheduled to be in Dublin for the launch of her book Running to Standstill, O’Sullivan decided it could be a good way to get her back into training after as she described “the celebratory tour I’d been on after the Sydney Olympics.” She duly won in 2:35:42. “I was never happier to see a finish line and win my first ever marathon in Dublin,” said O’Sullivan. “Thirteen years later I am still proud to recall that I once ran the Dublin marathon and was first woman home. Surprised me as much as I’m sure it surprised many others on the day.”
Dick Hooper believes that finishing is your only option on race day. “I used to write ‘finish’ on the inside of one hand,” said Hooper of his race preparations. “Then when I was struggling in the race I’d open the palm of my hand and read it. “Once I’d made that decision you want to finish as fast as possible. You have to make the best of things. The marathon is a state of mind. You can’t go round acting like a spoilt child.”
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