Who is the Irish Announcer Gerry?

I anyone had an iota of doubt that Bekele will reign the running world longer than Haile, this would be the answer to it all. All this - and he's just 25.

Amazing...

If it was not for his coach he would never be competing at the level he has. I mean running a 7:32 over 3km last year was terrible coaching.

Its no secret he struggles over x country and I was suprised he even entered world cross.

Jerry Kiernan. Ninth at L.A. Olympic Marathon. He may also be some kind of National Coach for the Irish. He was a 2:12 type, I'd say... competitive in his day. He's a good announcer. I know he's won the Dublin Marathon at least once.

whatwassaid wrote:

If it was not for his coach he would never be competing at the level he has. I mean running a 7:32 over 3km last year was terrible coaching.

Its no secret he struggles over x country and I was suprised he even entered world cross.

I read an interesting comment on another thread, that Cragg's coach probably doesn't have the time to committ to him because of his full time university coaching duties, that could be true somewhat and maybe a change wouldn't be so bad i.e. like Torres and Ritz w/ coach Wetmore, I can't say for sure but it must be difficult to coach at university team and also try to coach professional post-collegiate athletes as well

I believe that Cragg should spend some time training in his home country of Ireland (well adopted country), I have only been to Ireland once but from what I saw it would be a great place to train, not sure about the coaching but can't be so bad with the history they have in distance running

I did also read that Cragg has an girlfriend in the States, this might sound cruel but maybe time to find a nice Irish girl and move back home to Ireland for awhile

Most times a change induces a positive return.

Who are you to tell a complete stranger to break up with his girlfriend? It is none of your business.

I don't think Ireland would be an option, perhaps somewhere else in europe but in Ireland it rains all the time and he would struggle to find a decent level of athlete to train with.

At Arkansas he may not have 100% attention of his coach but he has great facilities, access to physios, massage, and a top quality group of athletes to train with and his girlfriend and parents live in the area.

The down side is travel time from Arkansas is long and constant adjustment to different time zones if tough.

I guess the real option would be to train with the africans but you have to question if it is worth a total change in your life for a couple more years of competitive athletics.

He was based in Holland over last summer which proved pretty successful.

As for finding himself a nice Irish girl - I think you may be giving a little too much advice to suggest who he should and should not be dating.

Drew Eckmann wrote:

Jerry Kiernan. Ninth at L.A. Olympic Marathon. He may also be some kind of National Coach for the Irish. He was a 2:12 type, I'd say... competitive in his day. He's a good announcer. I know he's won the Dublin Marathon at least once.

Ninth in LA you say?

I would also say that was "competitive in his day" ... most everyone else would also.

Hope that was meant in a different tone than I read it.

OK we know Arkansas has the facilities and all that but are you saying Ireland doesn't have good training facilities as well. I was not suggesting who he should be should be dating but merely was stating that sometimes a girlfriend/boyfriend can hold you back sort of speak.

Come on he represents Ireland at international competitions, wouldn't hurt if he actually lived there for part of the year. I mean Ireland is much more appealing then Arkansas and Irish women are much better looking!!!

whatwassaid wrote:

If it was not for his coach he would never be competing at the level he has. I mean running a 7:32 over 3km last year was terrible coaching.

Its no secret he struggles over x country and I was suprised he even entered world cross.

What did he win? Unless he's running 7:27 or under time is pretty pointless... The purpose of training is to WIN, not to randomly run a decent time, yet not be able to compete when it matters... Bekele passes the 3k in 7:32 in the 5k... so instead of trying to disprove the Announcer who knows a helluva lot more about the sport than you ever shall, take his point for what its worth...

great facilities... that the best argument you can come up with?... ever been to Arkansas... it's a hell hole... The Irish have just as good facilities if not better than Arkansas... "At Arkansas he may not have 100% attention of his coach but he has great facilities, access to physios, massage, and a top quality group of athletes to train with and his girlfriend and parents live in the area." give me a break, it's the 21 century, his girlfriend if things are that serious could move with him, and there are these things called airplanes... dont know if you've heard of them or not... if he wants to run for Ireland the least he can do is live there and be a citizen instead of using Ireland as a means of making competitions he doesnt belong in... you dont see Mottram training in Arkansas...

He was a 2:12 type, I'd say

(He was) competitive in his day

darkness wrote:

Hope that was meant in a different tone than I read it.

What "tone" was there to read?

Gerry Kiernan was a badass who won many marathons to back up that 9th at the Olympic Games. 3:41 1500 up to 2:12 in th marathon.

truth or dare wrote:

darkness wrote:

Hope that was meant in a different tone than I read it.

What "tone" was there to read?

Gerry Kiernan was a badass who won many marathons to back up that 9th at the Olympic Games. 3:41 1500 up to 2:12 in th marathon.

My take on Kiernan:

Great runner who placed ninth in one of the most loaded marathon fields of all-time. This was an all-star field with World XC champions, Fukuoka champions, NY and Boston Marathon champions, current and former WR holders, Olympic medalists, the 2nd and 5th-fastest 10k runners of all-time ...

I am also aware of how good he was overall and I ran competitively during that era.

Keeping that in mind:

My take on what was posted: "I'd say ... competitive in his day." ...

That is pejorative, almost derogatory. He said he was 2:12-level and ninth in the LA Olympics. That speaks for itself. No opinion of the poster is required. We all understand that information and it is self-evident.

Maybe it was supposed to be facetious and he was complimenting Kiernan ... it's hard to tell.

It just struck me as the wrong way to characterize him.

darkness wrote:

My take on what was posted: "I'd say ... competitive in his day." ...

That is pejorative, almost derogatory.

Wow. You've got major synaptic malfunctions going on upstairs. If you're looking for controversy you will surely find it. Nothing posted by Drew even comes close.

Mottram spends more than half the year outside of Australia.

Cragg has always had Irish citizenship. Since he was born.

What did he win? I mean he is a 13:07 guy - at least 17 seconds behind the top guys and more than a minute behind the top guys over 10k.

As much as he would like to win and I would like to see him win - Do you not think that he is at least realistic that he may not be a major championship contender?

He cannot close in 50x. He is good enough to make a career of running so why not live where he wants to, do the best he can in his circumstances and take the results when they come.

The comentator is living in dream world if he thinks that by moving to Ireland he will majically turn into a championship contender.

A guy who finished 9th in LA Olympics in the marathon before the dominace of the Africans is offering his advice to Alistair who finished 10th in the Olympics, 4th at World indoor champs and has run faster than him at every distance except the marathon , which Alistair has never run.

If it were Steve Cram offering advice I might take it seriously but what credentials has this guy got to publicly criticise a guy who is way better than he ever was.

Lets get this straight wrote:

A guy who finished 9th in LA Olympics in the marathon before the dominace of the Africans is offering his advice to Alistair who finished 10th in the Olympics, 4th at World indoor champs and has run faster than him at every distance except the marathon , which Alistair has never run.

If it were Steve Cram offering advice I might take it seriously but what credentials has this guy got to publicly criticise a guy who is way better than he ever was.

Haile Gebrselassie's coach was never a runner.

He was actually.. Anyway Geb chose to have him as a coach as did Alistair chose McDonnel.

My point is to criticise you need to have at least some authority and for me to make such criticism live on air when a private conversation would be more appropriate completey lacks class from this guy.