The sudden death of a young runner touches running spirits everywhere
It might be the slow or sudden loss of any desire to chase the great beyond, where the greater the suffering, the greater the pleasure. Or of any need to fill the unforgiving minute with 60 seconds' worth of distance run. Or it might be something much less poetic or profound, such as acute laziness, or just the body and mind getting soft.
Then as if I had been kidding myself, for better or for worse, things would change. A barefoot run at dawn along a sandy shore, a reminder that running can and sometimes needs to be discovered all over again.
Some people will always have a hard time accepting their best running years are behind them, but I've known that for a long while
Only it's never come back with any competitive desire, which is a good thing. Some people will always have a hard time accepting their best running years are behind them, but I've known that for a long while.
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It's different, though, when confronted with the swiftly sobering experience of not being able to run. Faced with that setback over the winter, and now thankfully recuperated, it changed the running picture once again. Maybe running another marathon might some day be a good idea, especially after starting out from the impossibly slow and baby steps like I am now. As long as no one else knew about it until it was over.
In some ways, not being able to run for a while has changed the picture around other runners too. Looking at them now with some sort of newfound respect and envy, it's also given me a fresh appreciation of the simple act of putting one foot in front of the other in relatively swift succession.
Against that backdrop also came the news last Sunday evening of the death of the young runner Ellen Cassidy, who fell ill after completing the half-marathon as part of Cork City Marathon events. Aged 24, and also a champion underage swimmer for Ireland, Cassidy died shortly afterwards in Cork University Hospital.
Then on Monday came the news that Olivia Tuohy from Ennis had also died last Sunday while running the Edinburgh Half Marathon. Aged 25, a former student at Queen Margaret University and working as a nurse in the Scottish capital, Tuohy had also previously played football and camogie with Clare.
Running is, and always will be, far more associated with saving lives, from both the physical and mental side of things
Both Cassidy and Tuohy were in the absolute prime of their lives, with nothing whatsoever to suggest that running carried any sort of risk. Because in the vast majority of people, it simply doesn't. No popular exercise is entirely without some danger, but running has always been considered perhaps the least dangerous of all. Even compared to cycling or swimming, where those dangers can be more pronounced.
Running is, and always will be, far more associated with saving lives, from both the physical and mental side of things. It's also different from the racing driver, or the downhill skier, or the matador, even, where that risk to life is a recognised part of their exercise.
'It is our deadly passion, our terrible joy,' Enzo Ferrari tells his drivers in the 2023 biographical film Ferrari. 'But once you get into one of my cars, then no one is forcing you to take that seat. You get in to win.'
No one takes up running believing, or even suspecting, it might put their life at risk, which is why the sudden death of any young runner touches on running spirits everywhere.
At Cassidy's funeral mass at the Church of the Annunciation in Blackpool in Cork, on Thursday, there was a guard of honour organised by Cork's running community and her former swimming club, Dolphin. The offertory gifts also included a medal she received when finishing the Milan Marathon, along with swimming caps and sheet music, representing the other passions in her life.
Her father, Tom Cassidy, also spoke of how his daughter had 'many plates spinning at a time', and 'how she managed to give them all the time, attention, energy, love, and affection is beyond me'. Which is another way of saying she must never have taken any of them for granted.
It may help the runner to understand that they should never take the simple act of running for granted. The loss of any young runner is a reminder of that
In advance of Tuohy's funeral Mass in Ennis Cathedral on Saturday, the Clare women's GAA said, 'her kindness, warmth, and vibrant spirit touched so many lives on and off the football field, and her absence will be felt profoundly'.
For the family and loved ones of Cassidy and Tuohy, maybe there is some comfort in knowing they were doing something they loved best.
That doesn't make it any easier for them or any runner to understand. But it may help the runner to understand that they should never take the simple act of running for granted. The loss of any young runner is a reminder of that.
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Irish Times
03-08-2025
- Irish Times
Mark English claims 800m title over Cian McPhillips at National Championships
Not since the heydays of middle-distance running at Morton Stadium has there been a more popular and proven winner than Mark English . Nor a victory so deeply and deservedly celebrated. In the standout performance of the 153rd consecutive staging of the National Track & Field Championships, English was imperious in defending his 800m title, the Donegal runner turning the expected two-lap showdown against Cian McPhillips into a tactical masterclass. Most in attendance suspected the 32-year-old would have a race on his hands, and it looked that way coming into the homestretch when 23-year-old McPhillips sat right on his shoulder. Without once glancing back, English shifted gear again and simply blew him away, winning in 1:48.76, McPhillips second in 1:49.26. It made for a 10th outdoor title for English, to sit alongside his nine indoor titles, only this was clearly one to relish – the Finn Valley athlete punching the air as he crossed the line before promptly jogging back down the track to embrace the adulation. READ MORE 'I felt great. I had a plan and it worked out,' said English after the final. 'I knew Cian is in brilliant shape, has run the second fastest (Irish) time of all-time. He's a quality athlete, so I knew I'd have to execute the perfect race to win, and thankfully I did. And for all the support that's here for me today, that gives you a great bit of confidence before the race starts, and very pleased.' The sheer class of English eclipsed the other anticipated middle-distance showdown that was the men's 1,500m, in which Clonliffe Harriers' Cathal Doyle won his fourth consecutive title. Also running tactically astute, Doyle kicked hard around the final bend to win in 3:53.60 – his 52-second last lap enough to hold off the fast-finishing Andrew Coscoran , who grabbed silver in 3:53.84, just ahead of Nick Griggs (3:53.90). Coscoran was back on the track just over 90 minutes later to win the 5,000m in 13:34.14, needing a fast finish to see off Brian Fay. Alex O'Neill holds off Sarah Healy to win the women's 800m final. Photograph: Morgan Treacy/Inpho Six weeks out from the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Sarah Healy moved down to the 800m to test her speed, and tactics too, but had to surrender to the strength of Alex O'Neill, the Clare athlete winning in 2:04.53 after leading the entire last lap. 'Delighted, it's huge to get my first senior title,' said O'Neill, who runs with Limerick Track AC. 'I've been feeling really strong lately, but I was bit shocked the last 50, because I knew there were all there.' Healy finished a close second in 2:04.57, unable to find the space to get past O'Neill in the last 50m. In the absence Rhasidat Adeleke, the title of Ireland's fastest woman for 2025 went to Emerald AC's Ciara Neville, winning the 100m in 11.44 seconds six years after she first claimed the title as a teenager. 'Honestly, since winning my first title in 2019, it's just been such a battle with injuries,' said Neville, who finished clear of Lauren Roy (11.49). 'So this year I knew I was really coming back into myself, and I'm delighted. I have to give such credit to my coaching team down in Limerick.' Sarah Lavin during the women's 100m hurdles final. Photograph: Morgan Treacy Neville's training partner Sarah Lavin , racing for the fourth time in two days, claimed her 10th title in the 100m hurdles, 24 hours after finishing second to Sharlene Mawdsley in the 200m, her time of 12.92 well clear of Molly Scott (13.61). 'I just focused on my job, hurdle by hurdle, so clean and solid,' said Lavin. 'The thinking behind two events was I'm going to need to have the run of my life in Tokyo, on September 13th and 14th, and you're not going to feel super fresh after just running a heat. That was important, so very happy with that.' The title of Ireland's fastest man has rested with Israel Olatunde for the last four years, but an injury sustained in his semi-final earlier on Sunday forced the Tallaght AC sprinter to withdraw from the final. Olatunde would have needed to be at his absolute best to beat Bori Akinola, the 23-year-old from UCD, who won his first 100m title 10.29, just off his lifetime best of 10.25, adding to his 60m indoor title. Sean Aigboboh of Tallaght AC was second in 10.41. In the absence of Mawdsley, Sophie Becker dominated the women's 400m, winning in 52.87, while Jack Raftery won the men's title in 45.71. In the field events, Nicola Tuthill won her fourth hammer title in a new Irish under-23 record of 71.75m, while Reece Ademola from Leevale was also a class apart in the long jump with 8.0m. National Track and Field Championships, Santry (selected results) MEN 100m 1 Bori Akinola U.C.D. A.C. 10.29 2 Sean Aigboboh Tallaght A.C. 10.41 3 Lorcan Murphy Dundrum South Dublin A.C. 10.57 200m 1 Marcus Lawler Clonliffe Harriers A.C. 20.66 2 Darragh McConville Dundrum South Dublin A.C. 21.41 3 Adam Murphy Tinryland A.C. 21.51 400m 1 Jack Raftery Donore Harriers 45.71 2 Christopher O'Donnell North Sligo AC 46.27 3 Ciaran Carthy Dundrum South Dublin 46.34 800m 1 Mark English Finn Valley A.C. 1:48.76 2 Cian Mc Phillips U.C.D. A.C. 1:49.26 3 Andrew Thompson North Belfast Harriers 1:49.93 1,500m 1 Cathal Doyle Clonliffe Harriers A.C. 3:53.60 2 Andrew Coscoran Star of the Sea A.C 3:53.84 3 Nick Griggs CNDR Track A.C. 3:53.90 5,000m 1 Andrew Coscoran Star of the Sea A.C. 13:34.14 2 Brian Fay Raheny Shamrock A.C. 13:34.92 3 Jack O'Leary Mullingar Harriers A.C. 13:41.47 110m hurdles 1 Adam Nolan St. Laurence O'Toole A.C. 14.24 2 Gerard O'Donnell Carrick-on-Shannon A.C. 14.40 3 Conor Penney Craughwell A.C. 14.70 400m hurdles 1 Niall Carney Clonliffe Harriers A.C. 54.87 2 Briain Cullinan Sligo A.C. 54.89 3 Jason O'Reilly Killarney Valley A.C. 55.33 Shot Put 1 Eric Favors Raheny Shamrock A.C. 19.58 2 John Kelly Finn Valley A.C. 17.85 3 Callum Keating North Cork A.C. 14.67 Hammer 1 Sean Mockler of Moycarkey Coolcroo A.C 65.62 2 Simon Galligan Clonliffe Harriers A.C. 60.79m 3 Cóil Ó Muirí Fr. Murphy A.C. 56.68m Long jump 1 Reece Ademola Leevale AC 8.00 2 Sam Healy Leevale AC 7.53 3 Luke O'Carroll Tralee Harriers 7.15 High Jump 1 Conor Penney Craughwell A.C. 2.10 2 Mohammed Ibrahim Halil Raheny Shamrock A.C. 1.95 3 Darragh Kelly Craughwell A.C. 1.90 WOMEN 100m 1 Ciara Neville Emerald A.C. 11.44 2 Lauren Roy Fast Twitch A.C. 11.49 3 Mollie O'Reilly Dundrum South Dublin A.C. 11.60 200m 1 Sharlene Mawdsley Newport A.C. 23.55 2 Sarah Lavin Emerald A.C. 23.80 3 Lauren Roy Fast Twitch A.C. 23.88 400m 1 Sophie Becker Raheny Shamrock 52.87 2 Rachel McCann North Down AC 53.19 3 Cliodhna Manning Kilkenny City Harriers 53.99 800m 1 Alex O'Neill Limerick Track A.C. 2:04.53 2 Sarah Healy U.C.D. A.C. 2:04.57 3 Maeve O'Neill Doheny A.C. 2:04.69 1,500m 1 Laura Nicholson Bandon A.C. 4:13.32 2 Zoe Toland CNDR Track A.C. 4:15.11 3 Niamh Carr Dublin City Harriers A.C. 4:16.08 5,000m 1 Niamh Allen Leevale A.C. 15:35.90 2 Anika Thompson Leevale A.C. 15:40.56 3 Fiona Everard Bandon A.C. 16:04.36 100m hurdles 1 Sarah Lavin Emerald A.C. 12.92 2 Molly Scott St. Laurence O'Toole A.C. 13.61 3 Sarah Quinn St. Colmans South Mayo A.C. 13.84 400m hurdles 1 Cara Murphy Dundrum South Dublin A.C. 59.85 2 Ellis McHugh Ferrybank A.C. 1:00.13 3 Lauren Kilduff Craughwell A.C. 1:00.39 Hammer 1 Nicola Tuthill UCD AC 71.75m NU23R 2 Margaret Hayden Tallaght A.C. 60.22 3 Caoimhe Gallen Lifford Strabane A.C. 52.27
Irish Times
02-08-2025
- Irish Times
Nick Griggs: ‘It very quickly went from a running injury to a serious medical illness'
The worst thing Nick Griggs could have done after being told his left knee was seriously infected was to consult Dr Google . Especially for something like osteomyelitis, which he had never heard of. Nobody knew for sure what impact it might have on a young, super-fit runner such as himself. Even at this stage, almost eight months later, Griggs isn't certain about how it got infected, other than it all started at the European Cross Country Championships in Antalya, Turkey , on December 8th, 2024. Within a month he was unable to bend his knee. He was a 20-year-old professional athlete who could hardly get out of bed. The throbbing pain was well beyond his high tolerance for suffering. Griggs ran a 3:56.40 mile indoors in 2022, less than three months after turning 17, a European Under-20 record at the time. Achieving that time hurt, if mostly in a good way. In Antalya, Griggs was pushed to the ground from behind, shortly after the gun was fired in the Under-23 race. His left knee took the brunt of his fall. That kind of thing happens, so he immediately got up, chased down the leaders and went on to finish a close second . It was his eighth European underage medal between track and cross-country. READ MORE 'I managed to do three weeks of full training right after Euro Cross and remember thinking 'my knee still doesn't feel right here',' he said. 'But as an athlete, you pick up niggles like that all the time.' The sense of lasting disbelief about what unfolded next is still audible in his voice. 'By Christmas, an awkward time anyway, I knew it wasn't right, went for an MRI scan and they reckoned it was bone bruising. I'd probably miss the indoor season, but would be fine in a few weeks. Then we did another scan a week later, a CT scan this time, to make sure the bone wasn't cracked. And it wasn't. So [I was] happy with that. But the doctor mentioned on the phone it might be osteomyelitis, a bone infection. Nick Griggs is getting back in the groove after recovering from osteomyelitis. Photograph: Bryan Keane 'So, instantly I go to Dr Google, trying to find out more. And one of the things it says is '20 per cent chance of death'. I was like 'what?'. I don't know where that statistic came from, because it's obviously not true. 'But it very quickly went from a running injury to a serious medical illness. Then they started throwing out words like 'prognosis' and my only experience of prognosis is for someone who has cancer. They kept saying, 'if we get this sorted now, the prognosis is good for the rest of your career'. 'That's when it really hit me – 'oh s**t, I really need to listen to everything they say'. Of course there's the mental worry. This is your career, your life. This is what I want to do for the foreseeable future.' Osteomyelitis is a bacterial or fungal infection of the bone marrow. If left untreated, it can result in permanent bone or joint damage, with amputation necessary in a worst-case scenario. Griggs was spared that terrifying prospect thanks to relatively early intervention. The infection did not spread beyond his kneecap. Still, it laid bare how quickly fortunes can turn, especially after Griggs enjoyed another breakthrough season in 2024, running 3:35.04 for 1,500m, 7:36.59 for 3,000m and 13:13.07 for 5,000m – each time destroying the Irish Under-23 records, just like he had done at Under-20 level. Ireland's Nick Griggs on his way to winning silver at the European Cross Country Championships in Turkey last December, where he first became aware there was an issue with his knee. Photograph: Morgan Treacy/Inpho This setback might well test his mental resilience too, only Griggs has already been through an awful lot worse on that front. Some people will recall when he first announced himself as a running prodigy, aged 16, coming out of the small village of Newmills, east Co Tyrone, running in the colours of Mid Ulster AC. Griggs managed to convince the organisers of a senior 5,000m race in Belfast to accept his entry, after his older brother and only sibling Josh made a video recording of him running 8:20 for 3,000m in training. Nick Griggs duly produced a startling time of 14:15.98. With that, his running potential – which he honed during the pandemic − was abundantly clear. By that stage, Griggs had hung up his boots from his underage playing days at Brackaville Owen Roes GAA club. His brother Josh, one of Nick's strongest supporters, played on with the club and fully backed his decision to focus on running. One month after his breakthrough run in Belfast, Nick Griggs and his parents, Andy and Royanne, received the devastating news that Josh had been killed in a work-related accident in Banbridge, Co Down. He was 19. Griggs resolved to find motivation in grief; to honour his brother by making the most of his running. Two weeks after Josh's funeral, Griggs was back on the track, running away with the Irish Under-20 3,000m title, clocking 8:11.15. That July, less than six weeks after losing his brother, he won the European Under-20 3,000m gold medal in breathtaking style. He was still only 16. Nick Griggs in the thick of it during the 2023 European Cross Country Championships in Belgium. Photograph: Morgan Treacy/Inpho Griggs turned 20 last December 18th. He sometimes jokes with his mother about his birth date, suggesting he would have been better off if she gave birth on the due date in early January. That would have afforded him another year in the Under-20 grade, given it's the year of birth that counts. Even when properly diagnosed with osteomyelitis, his ordeal was far from over. He spent two weeks in Musgrave Park Hospital in Belfast and was discharged on St Valentine's Day. He missed three full months of running and it took him almost seven months to get back racing. 'I'd never been to hospital before, but this meant a PICC (peripherally inserted central catheter) line into my arm, and antibiotics that way, twice a day, for two weeks. Then another four weeks of oral antibiotics. But look, the staff were lovely, and because I was a sepsis risk, I had my own room, so about as nice an experience as you could want, even in the circumstances, and obviously I can't thank them enough. 'Even now, we still don't know if I just bruised the knee at Euro Cross, kept training on it, which caused the fluid build-up, then that got infected. But it reached the point I'd be lying in bed at night, knee throbbing in pain, couldn't even sleep. It was a nightmare like that, not even thinking about running or having a season. I just didn't want to be in pain; it was really, really sore.' While in hospital, his coach Mark Kirk, the Irish 800m champion in 1988, gently told him that this summer's European Under-23 Championships in Bergen, Norway, might come too soon. Griggs agreed getting his health right was his only priority, but he didn't give up hope either. Ireland's Nick Griggs on the way to finishing 14th in the 1,500m semi-final at the 2024 European Athletics Championships in Rome. Photograph: Morgan Treacy/Inpho His first run, on St Patrick's Day, was near torture. It was four miles at a pace of 7.30, with his heart rate still soaring to 168 bpm. When he came out of hospital, a measurement of his left quad muscle showed that it was down to 44cm, compared to his right quad of 50cm, so there was a lot of wastage to make up there too. Things quickly turned around when Griggs went for five weeks of altitude training in Font-Romeu in the French Pyrenees , with a large group from Athletics Ireland: 'I went from 27 miles a week back up to 85 miles,' he said. '[I was] on the bike a bit as well, and luckily came off that in May feeling pretty good. Being with a group helped me get the love of running back too.' After a few comeback races, including a 3:52 mile in Santry, he then came out at the European Under-23 Championships two weeks ago and won the silver medal in the 5,000m, only being denied gold by rising Dutch star Niels Laros. Griggs will race the 1,500m at this weekend's National Championships in Santry. With four senior silver medals to his name already, between indoors and outdoors, he won't be lacking in motivation. Even more importantly perhaps, his recent brush with illness has given him a greater appreciation for the sport he's always loved. 'I remember with 200m to go, in the Morton Mile, I felt absolutely class, was thinking 'I'm definitely back'. I still think the best is yet to come for me this season. 'But it's definitely given me some fresh gratitude, that I am living my dream, but to remember that can always be taken away. And you have to appreciate the good times when they come around again.'
Irish Times
17-07-2025
- Irish Times
Marathon world record holder Ruth Chepngetich suspended over banned substance
Women's marathon world record-holder Ruth Chepngetich has been provisionally suspended by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) for the presence and use of the prohibited substance hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ). The substance, a diuretic, was detected in a sample collected from the Kenyan athlete on March 14th, the AIU said in a statement on Thursday. 'Chepngetich was not provisionally suspended by the AIU at the time of notification, however, on 19 April, she opted for a voluntary provisional suspension while the AIU's investigation was ongoing,' said AIU head Brett Clothier. 'In the intervening months, the AIU continued its investigation and today issued a Notice of Charge and imposed its own provisional suspension.' READ MORE The AIU said HCTZ is used clinically to treat fluid retention and hypertension, adding that diuretics may be abused to mask the presence in urine of other prohibited substances. Chepngetich smashed the women's marathon record in Chicago last October, running two hours, nine minutes and 56 seconds to become the first woman to break 2:10. In April, Chepngetich withdrew from the London Marathon, saying at the time she was 'not in the right place mentally or physically' to race her best.
