Name: Finbarr Lehane
Member of Eagle AC since:
I joined Eagle in 2012 – I googled running clubs in Cork and Eagle came up as a “Friendly running club” so I asked Mike McGrath as I knew he was a member and he highly recommended it. (Thanks Mike!)
How long have you been running and what made you take it up:
I hadn’t done any running of note before joining Eagle A.C. I was 41 when I joined so my fitness wasn’t great at that stage. I had been a member of gyms for a while but didn’t really get a great kick out of that..What really gave me the bug was the first time we ran Run in The Dark for Mark Pollock- at that time it was down on Centre Park Road! It was either 2 laps or 4 laps (5 or 10k) I did 3 laps!!! After that my buddy in work said we would do the Ballycotton 10 and off we went!! Clueless.com of course, telling everyone who would listen that I was running the Ballycotton 10.
Favourite thing about running:
Lots of things really but I really enjoy the company of clubmates on long runs particularly! You find out all sorts about people on a long run!! Happy to say I have made some really good friends with a number of clubmates. You know who you are!
Can you remember the first Eagle AC member(s) you ran with:
Well the first time I arrived at the track in CIT, Lisa Boland ran with me for the warm up so she obviously saw the “what am I doing here look” and took me under her wing!
Favourite Cork race and why:
That’s a tough one- it’s a toss-up between Cork to Cobh or Dublin City Marathon – both great races- but I’d say the Cork to Cobh is the one..it comes at a perfect time of the year when you are in good shape (if you are training for DCM)- the walk up the hill to the hall is a killer though!!
Ultimate/Overall running goal:
To be able to keep running !! I tend not to take my running overly seriously, I always want to do my best and run faster times but my goal is to be able to enjoy it for as long as I can. I would love to run a few more marathons – maybe a repeat of the Upton Marathon in March with my good buddy Ruairi Egan and maybe a few more?
Most memorable/funniest running moment to date:
Well if anyone saw me the last few hundred metres of Dublin in 2019 they would laugh…I was like a guy after 10 pints!!! (not funny at the time but memorable!)
Tell us something most people might not know about you:
Well…..most people know I am an identical twin (Ron the handsome fecker!) The other thing that people definitely won’t know is that once I won an X-factor competition in work where I sang “Addicted to Love” – During my memorable half drunken routine I went into the audience where the CEO was and did a twirl or two. The same CEO later ended up in jail but that’s a WHOLE different story !!!
Biggest heroes (sporting or non-sporting):
Biggest sporting hero I think would be Jimmy Barry-Murphy .
Non-sporting her would be my brother Padraig.
One bit of advice you would give to someone thinking of taking up running:
First bit of advice is to join a club! The help and encouragement you get is fantastic. You will find your own pace eventually. Set a goal, running without a goal is such a waste so have a goal, have a plan…and most importantly enjoy it- it’s a pastime not a job. Another piece of advice is to listen to your body. If you have a niggle, rest and don’t run. Maybe as you get older you get wiser.
IF you could go on a run with one elite athlete (at your pace!) who would it be and what would you ask them
I was lucky enough to run with Sonia O’Sullivan in December 2019 in the Albert Park Run Melbourne but I didn’t really ask her anything!!
So if I had another opportunity I would run with Mo Farah and ask him what the story is like…with the Quorn and the other wonderful stuff !!
Eagle Athletic Club 
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