These trails are the first of their kind to be developed in Ireland and one of the few projects to be endorsed by the Olympic Council of Ireland.
Publish Date: Thursday 24th October 2012
Neil Cusack one of Limerick’s greatest Olympic athletes and the only Irish man to win the Boston City Marathon attended City hall on Friday last for the launch of three new running trails. These trails are the first of their kind to be developed in Ireland and one of the few projects to be endorsed by the Olympic Council of Ireland.
The first trail was launched in Adare in December for athlete Niall O’Shaughnessy. This is a Limerick European City of Sport initiative with Limerick AC and was launched by another Limerick sporting hero Mayor Gerry McLoughlin.
Neil Cusack most famous for being the only Irishman to win the Boston Marathon back in 1974, competed in two Olympics, Munich in 1972 and Montreal in 1976. Neil attended St Munchin’s College, after which he was one of the first youmg Limerick athletes to take up a US athletic scholarship opportunity to East Tenessee University.
The Neil Cusack Trail is 2.6km long has become extremely popular with local runners since it was upgraded. It follows a route along the Condell Road from the Shannon Bridge to the Clonmacken roundabout.
The second trail launched was for Limerick’s greatest Olympian of the modern era, Frank O’Mara, who was also educated at St Munchin’s College. He competed in three Olympic Games, Los Angeles 1984, Seoul 1988 and Barcelona 1992 has been based in the USA for many years since completing an athletic scholarship to Arkansas University and is a regular visitor home to Limerick.
The O’Mara trail which is 3.5 km in distance runs from the Canal lock near the centre of the city to the University of Limerick campus. This trail is currently being upgraded as part of the Limerick Smarter Travel Project and is one of the most scenic trails around Limerick.
The final trail honours Michael O’Shea born locally just off Clare Street who competed in the 10,000m in Moscow in 1980 and was a member of the Irish team that was second at the World Cross Country Championships held in the old Greenpark racecourse in 1979.
The trail runs from Athlunkard Bridge along the Shannon Fields to the Canal Lock along a trail which has also been upgraded as part of the Smarter Travel initiative. Michael attended Sexton Street CBS and Gormanstown College before taking up an athletic scholarship in Providence College, Rhode Island where he still resides to this day working as a computer consultant.
Over the next few weeks it is hoped further trails will be rolled out for other Limerick Olympians including one for Jim (Cregan) Hogan of Athlacca, who ran in the 10,000m and the marathon for Ireland in Tokyo 1964 and then ran for Great Britain in Mexico four years later in 1968. The aim is to provide safe good quality running trails, which will encourage greater numbers to take up running, especially local school children.