If you ask the following question amongst runners, "what are the benefits of running or being part of a running club?" most of them would tell you that running is a very social activity, a chance to meet lots of people and even make new friends. Some of the nicest and most interesting people you will ever meet will be running alongside you with smiling faces!

We asked that question to our featured runner Pat Twomey, and he agreed with all of the above. Pat has been a member of EAC for some time now. We know him quite well and we can affirm that he is a very humble person despite all his personal achievements. We met up with Pat recently and he shared with us lots of interesting stories about his running debut and his recent graduation as a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in the field of Sociology.

Pat started to run in 1994. Like a lot of us he enjoyed a social drink and was also a smoker which did not help for his ongoing asthma problem. 15 stone at the time, Pat decided to take action and took on running. He remembers to this day that his first distance was a quarter of a mile, then he added on more and more to the point where he managed to join a group of runners better known as the Lee Valley Striders, guys such as Roy Cummins, Danny Lenihan, Eddie Mullane and others.... on the straight road circuit.

The lads were training for the up coming Dublin marathon and this new challenge appealed to Pat and he just went for it. Remember that all this started at the beginning of 1994 and the marathon is held in October each year. Pat enrolled for his first five mile road race in June and finished second last. This did not stop him to continue his training. He ran Dublin in 3 hours 13 minutes. Amazing!!! Pat proceeded with running the next 3 Dublin marathons and was constantly seeing his time decreasing 3:06; 3:03 so the logic was to break the 3 hours on his 4rth attempt. Unfortunately this did not happen. After a very good first half 1:24, Pat blew up and ended the marathon in 3:18. Again Pat did not give up and broke the 3 hours in Dublin in 1998, being the last runner in under three hours in a time of 2:59:50. This was followed with a new PB on the club's memorable trip to Krakow, Poland, in 2005, when he posted a time of 2:57:12.

You would think that his favourite race would be the marathon distance but he much prefers the ½ marathon. He took part in the Manhattan ½ marathon and finished 4^th in his age group, his pb for the distance is 80 minutes in the Cork city half marathon. Pat is an ever present figure at all of the local road races, and in recent years has also competed for the club in the very competitive cross country scene. Needless to say that Pat always represents his club very well at all distances and over all terrains. Some of his recent achievements for the club have been:

County:

Bronze medal - Novice Men - CC Team 2006

Munster:

Gold medal - inter-club Masters - half marathon 2006

Silver medal - individual M.O55 - half marathon 2006

Gold medal - individual M.O50 - half marathon 2005

National:

Bronze medal - individual M.O55 - Marathon C/ship of Ireland 2005

If Pat likes keeping active with running he also likes keeping his brain active. He recently graduated from UCC with a Doctorate in Philosophy (PhD) in Sociology. And again his study path is not common at all. Pat left school early to work at the Ford motor plant in Cork. It was only years later that his wife Bernie enrolled him for a 2 years leaving certificate course that he took and passed successfully twice. Pat did not necessarily need to sit the exam the first year but he thought it would be good fun and passed with flying honours the fist year, and more of the same the second year. Then Pat went on studying during the evening while he was working during the day and got a diploma in Social Studies. He liked the subject so much that he continued his studies and got a degree and later a PHD. Nowadays Pat lectures at CIT, UCC, DCU and WIT.

Emma Legrand & Josef Roche