It was a remarkable achievement for the 3 musketeers, namely Gearoid Rohan, Tomas Ruane & Pat McDonagh who competed in the recent Dublin City Marathon finishing in honourable and formidable times of 3:10; 3:14 and 3:33 respectively. This was their 1st attempt at the 26.2 mile run and what an amazing day they had. When you ask them ‘was it worth the pain’?; without hesitation they reply ‘Yes, definitely – it was unbelievable’. The 3 lads followed a strict training routine; short runs, long runs, speed sessions, recovery runs, careful diet, injury prevention…. and even between it all they got their holy hour in Burkes on a Sunday night arriving at their usual 8.30pm curfew…..There was little or no hype surrounding their preparation; very few were aware they were participating in what is probably the biggest athletic event in Ireland and certainly none of us were aware of their lofty ambitions. Gearoid completed his 1st marathon in a time of 3:10:33 and still felt there was a bit more in the legs…well, that is …until they ‘locked’ at the finish line. An unbelievable achievement for an athlete running for the past year and a half. One would feel considering his pedigree that there’s alot of marathons left in him yet….Look out Niall down under and take note….Tomas Ruane crossed the line 4mins after Gearoid in a time of 3:14:02. Both he and Gearoid had lent each other huge support running together for the 1st 20miles but unfortunatley for Tomas he had to nurse an old niggling back injury for the next 2 miles until he regained his momentum for the last 4 miles. As he says himself, he was ‘absolutely crocked’ at the finish line but at the same time he was looking forward to his next competitive race. For Pat McDonagh, he merely got a text some months back to say he was entered in the Dublin City Marathon- that’s what good friends like Gearoid Rohan do….leave you with no choice… He finished well within his aim time of 3:40 crossing the line in a hugely credible 3:33. There was little time to soak up or cap their day with significant celebrations as the lads hopped on the train back to Galway and nursed their tired & aching legs. Poor Pat crawled out of bed the following morning at 5am to resume his postman duties, we hope none of the letters got mixed up…So onwards and upwards from here lads, congrats and well done. Ye’re an inspiration to the rest of us. Photos of the event to follow in the next few days