King of the road

Limerick’s own Neil Cusack saw a lot in America, like hillbillies with shotguns chasing athletes, but for a moment he owned America too. This weekend 40 years ago he won the oldest and most celebrated city marathon in the world, a moment that brought a welcome sense of joy and colour and even the exotic to Ireland 1974

It probably depends on your age. If you’re under 45 and from anywhere outside of Limerick, you probably haven’t heard of him the way you’ve heard of his contemporary and friend Eamonn Coghlan.

But if you’re that bit older, well then the memory jogs, the years reel and the heart tends to lift at the mention of Neil Cusack.