The ultra running achievements of Tony Mangan from the Metro St Brigids Athletic Club in Dublin are quite extraordinary. It takes your breath away just reading about them. In October 2003 Tony climbed off a treadmill in a Dublin gym having run for a solid 2 days. His reward was the World 24 and 48 hour treadmill running records. Twice this year he has completed in 48 hour races. In Brno

in the Czech Republic over St Patrick's weekend he won covering 426 kilometres whilst 2 months later in Surgeres in France he came second after running 401 kilometres. We interviewed Tony recently to find a bit more about this amazing athlete. Here is an extract,
Running In Ireland - Please describe how you first got into running.
Tony Mangan - I was a late starter as I only started running a few months before my 30th birthday. For many years after watching the first Dublin City Marathons (which used to be broadcast live on RTE) I developed a fascination with marathon running. Before that I was slow to take to it. For a couple of years  I said I must go out and do a training run before the year’s end. I remember one year not going out until very late on New Years Eve, just to keep that promise to myself.

I then got into more serious running in September 1986. Looking back I got caught up in the running boom of that time. I entered a 10K fun run sponsored by Radio Nova. They gave it great hype and made it fun. By the time I got to the finish line I decided I would run the Dublin Marathon as it was only 6 weeks away. I figured that way I would take care of one of my lifetime ambitions and I would probably never run again. That way I would not do the month’s of training required and running would be ‘done and dusted’ from my life quicker than it had started! I ran my only long run of 22 miles / 35 kilometres seven days before my Dublin 3:09 debut. I then got hooked and entered every fun run I could find!

In those days I used to play a lot of soccer too. The penny only dropped when I got an ankle injury and much to my astonishment missed running more than the footie. Besides I was an appalling player – I haven’t kicked a competitive ball since. My then girlfriend’s boss was on the MSB Running Club Committee. She was always telling him how crazy I was. He told her I would fit in well with MSB. So, I joined them in January 1987. For a few years I ran 10K’s and marathons getting my 10K time down to 33 minutes and the marathon down to 2:38. My ambition for several years was to try to win the Low Key Finglas Marathon. I had several placings in the top three to six but never managed to win.
In 1994 I emigrated to the Colorado Rockies and loved it. I ran many mountain races and discovered ultra running there. I soon discovered I could compete in ultras. The longer the distance the better I ran. In 2002 due to a plantar fasciitis injury I returned to Dublin for treatment. This injury usually takes about six months to recover from but Mick (Farrell) was so good he had me back running in two months. I ended up staying in Ireland. I continued running ultras focusing mostly on the 24 hour event.

More extracts will appear soon. For the full interview get the Summer newsletter by joining the Irish Road Runners Club.

Related links -        48 Hour Brno race 2007            24 Hour World Championships 2006
                          24 Hour Treadmill Run 2003     Across The Years 72 Hour race 2006-07
                          48 Hour Surgeres race 2007