Mullingar native is us masters athlete of the year

A Tennessee-based Mullingar native has been named the Masters Athlete of the Year by USA Track and Field.

Tom McCormack (61) received the accolade in recognition of his athletic achievements over the last 12 months on the ultra-competitive Masters circuit in the US.

Not only did the retired firefighter win seven different national titles in 2013 - 5,000m and 10,000m on the track; the mile, 5,10 and 12k on the roads; and 5k cross country - he also broke the national road records in the 5k and 10k.
Speaking to the Westmeath Examiner from his home in Tennessee, Tom said that it was a “fantastic way to end a great year”.

The father of two, who was part of the Ireland junior team that competed at the world cross country championship in 1973, moved out to the US to join the famed 'Irish Brigade’ at East Tennessee State University (ETSU).

While many of his compatriots excelled athletically at ETSU, Tom was plagued by injury during his time there and “fell out of love with running”.

He believes that one of the main causes of his injuries was the exacting one-size-fits-all training schedule that was employed at the time.

After hanging up his running shoes for a period after leaving college, such was his disillusionment with the sport, Tom ran “off and on” over the years.

It was only after his retirement in 2013 that he decided to devote more time to athletics. When it comes to training, he says that for him less is more.

“At my age the miles take their toll on your legs. I usually run between 35 and 40 miles a week,” he said. “For me it’s about quality not quantity. I try and never be slower than 6.15 minutes a mile. Put it this way, I don’t do any junk training.”

Tom says that his recent award is the ideal way to end “the best year ever”.

“The only thing that tops this year is wearing the green shamrock in 1973, when I represented Ireland at the World Cross County Championships in Belgium.

“It’s great to show people that the success that I had when I was younger was not a fluke and that I actually had some talent. It’s been a long time coming.”