Sixty marathon man: it’s about fun, not about times

A sportsman who completed his 60th marathon when he did the virtual version of the Dublin classic last week took up the activity so he could join friends for Run With Ray in Mullingar in 2011.

“Before that I wouldn’t have run across the road out of the rain,” said John McKenna this week. “That’s true, and after it, I swore I’d never run again. I had bad runners, bad training, didn’t know what I was doing – the usual rookie mistakes.”

It took John between 40 and 45 minutes to do that Ray D’Arcy 5k, he thinks. “It was two laps of the town, and I did the first lap trying to figure out where everybody was going, and then found out it was two laps.”

John didn’t keep to his promise never to run again, and before long had decided to try the five-mile distance. He did that and tried the 10k (6.2 miles). “Then it went from there, and I said I’d do a marathon. I thought I’d only ever do one, and I wanted to do it for charity. Westmeath Friends of Animals is one that means a lot to me, so I raised a few quid for them.”

That was the 2012 Dublin Marathon, but he “got the bug then” and he did another marathon six months later, in May 2013. “It snowballed after that!”

John has a number of favourite events among the 60 marathons he has completed, and he has done those a number of times. They include Clonakilty, which he does every year, and which he enjoys despite the cold weather that goes with its December date.

The Multyfarnham man is a member of the Marathon Club Ireland, and records statistics of all his marathons as he works his way towards 100. The club has to verify that candidates have done the marathons they say they have before they will present medals for the milestones along the way – and John has his for 25 and 50 marathons.

He remembers most of his 60 so far: “Number 10 was Dublin (in 2014). I remember thinking 10 was a big thing to hit. No one I knew at that stage had done 10; 20 was in Portumna in June 2016, which was part of a 50k ultramarathon I did. So it was in the middle of the race and it didn’t mean as much because I was still far from home!

“Marathon 30 was Dublin as well, in 2016; 40 was in Donegal, part of the quadrathon, where you do four marathons in four days, in August 2017.”

A year later, at the same event in Donegal John passed the 50 marathon mark, and his Marathon Club Ireland medal was presented there.

Six laps around Lilliput constituted his 60th 42.1km race, the KBC Virtual Dublin Marathon on October 25 last, for which he had the company of Anthony Curran. “He said he’d come out for a couple of laps, and then he said ‘shur, I’ll do the whole lot with you’.”

John’s best time of his 60 marathons, 3:58, came in Dublin in 2015. He has maintained his enthusiasm for running, though due to work and other commitments had done a bit less last year. He was working his way back to a better routine when Covid-19 hit, but he still enjoys getting out to run the roads and to have time to himself.

The restrictions imposed by the pandemic mean there are fewer events, and none for now, so John can’t plan when he will do another 40 marathons, though he still aims to become a member of the 100 club.

He says that running has helped improve his confidence, and he has made many friends along the way. “It’s a great community. If you’re in difficulty in a race, limping or struggling, they’ll look out for you and make sure you’re alright.”

Advice he would offer to someone thinking about the classic marathon distance is to “get with like-minded people”.

“When I started doing marathons I was pushing for times, but you don’t tend to enjoy it as much. If you have a bad race, you fall out with yourself, but in Marathon Club Ireland there are abilities from the super fast, the two/two and a half hour runners to the six/seven-hour people. You need something like that. They’re not out for races, they’re out for fun, for enjoyment, the craic.”

John thanked his wife Leona (who has also taken up running, and has done a number of half marathons – “I’d say she got sick of waiting around at the finish lines, so it gives her something to do!”) for sticking with him when “I’m out running all the time and not a home” and Maurice Looby for his encouragement and guidance over the years.

“I always say to beginners that if you go out for a run and you’re not feeling it, next time put the watch in the drawer and just go for a run. It’s not about the time.”