Who is the Irish Announcer Gerry?

soon enough john mcdonnell will be retired or done with the college team at arkansas and could have more time to focus on cragg.

No, he wasn't. He was never a runner on any level. He just studied the sport and physiology. And he's been doing a great job.

maybe he should run for clyde hart

Jerry Kiernan is coach of the Irish national XC team and for that reason he is allowed to critique the runners who run for him and for Ireland....including Cragg.

Kiernan is also responsible for the all time greatest athletics quote of all time. "F**K there's Jerry Kiernan!" courtesy of Jimmy Magee who was covering the 1984 Olympic Marathon for RTE and made the comment deep into the race when all the coverage was on the duel up front between Lopes Treacy and Spedding and at one point the camera panned back and hey presto there was Jerry Kiernan leading the chase pack in 4th place. He faded towards the end but ran a helluva ballsy race.

Critique vs. Insult and in a public not much of a coach this guy.

Paddytheirishman wrote:

Jerry Kiernan is coach of the Irish national XC team and for that reason he is allowed to critique the runners who run for him and for Ireland....including Cragg.

Kiernan is also responsible for the all time greatest athletics quote of all time. "F**K there's Jerry Kiernan!" courtesy of Jimmy Magee who was covering the 1984 Olympic

Wouldn't the quote be "For fooksakes, there's Jerry Kiernan!"

Gator wrote:

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...

Fayetteville is not Arkansas, just as Austin is not Texas. Ireland is WAY over-rated as a place to train. Sure, to the eye it looks nice, but then try finding trails to run....anywhere in Ireland. It is all narrow clogged country roads. A real S-hole for actually running. Dublin isn't particularly wonderful either.

Paul Donovan was once asked why he was running so well post-college. His answer "Fayetteville, the soft surfaces there save my legs".

Also, another factor you ning-nongs haven't factored in....HUMIDITY (the poor mans altitude)....try finding that in Ireland.

Cragg is way better off staying where he is, and doing half his training with the Arkansas team.

If he's the coach of the Irish team, what was he doing on the telly, why wasn't he in Edinburgh? He did have some official team function in 2001-2003 I think. (He was a very good domestic runner, was 26th in the worlds when there were few Africans, ran very well in Los Angeles, he had a good range too. Not many Irish around at the moment of his calibre.)

Good to see the high and mighty routine coming from the same crowd that cant accept Lagat as an American, even though Lagat represents the country and culture he has spent most of adult life as a part of, defending a guy who runs for a country he has never really lived in... In that sense he is using Ireland... he's no more Irish that those who go there on vacation every year... He has citizenship based on a technicality, but there is a big difference between "having the paperwork of a citizen" and "being a citizen". He "owes" Ireland and not South Africa or the US, because (i guess you missed the point) he decides to compete under the colours of the Irish. It is rather despicable to use a country to serve your best interest, instead of representing the country and culture that defines who you are.

Im rather curious to see when someone might figure out that it isnt about expensive massages, or fancy "specially designed energy return trainers", but rather the ability of a runner to find someone to train them properly, and then work as hard as they dream. McDonnell's primary focus as a coach is and shall be until he retires from the position of head coach, the Arkansas athletes currently on scholarship, not Cragg... thus Jerry had one helluva point.

Humidity the poor mans altitude? Are you seriously trying to make that argument... go look at a map... Ireland = surrounded by water... Arkansas = not

Humidity Arkansas =30-70%

Humidity Ireland =60-90%

(way to go on that one Captain "Ning-Nong")

whatwassaid wrote:

Critique vs. Insult and in a public not much of a coach this guy.

When your number one horse steps off the course for no reason you're allowed to to say whatever the hell you want.

Kiernan left guys at home who would have died on that course rather than step off it. Thats why he's not happy with Cragg.

Gator wrote:

It is rather despicable to use a country to serve your best interest, instead of representing the country and culture that defines who you are.

.

aha!.....you are a naive jingoist....I get it now...

Cragg must go to bed every night in a state of high bliss, thinking, "Thank GOD there are Americans to judge me and my decisions at every turn!"

Gator wrote:

Humidity the poor mans altitude? Are you seriously trying to make that argument... go look at a map... Ireland = surrounded by water... Arkansas = not

Humidity Arkansas =30-70%

Humidity Ireland =60-90%

Humidity 101. There is nothing remotely comparable at any time of the year to Arkansas' oppressive humidity.

RH and dew points are entirely different things. Ireland has low dew points, ie low palpable "humidity." Arkansas has high dew points, which means a lot of energy in the air, ie oppressive humidity.

100% agree with darkness.

I thought that "I'd say ... competitive in his day" and the general tone was pejorative and condescending.

Now DE says it's not, so fine, but it could have been interpreted that way (obviously it was). No need to worry about people's "upstairs" (this is letsrun, so we are all nuts anyway).

And Mulvey??? Another DNF...any excuses?

Then why not say exactly that instead of some bullsh1t about having an umbilical cord with his coach and moving to Ireland.

return to index wrote:

100% agree with darkness.

I thought that "I'd say ... competitive in his day" and the general tone was pejorative and condescending.

Now DE says it's not, so fine, but it could have been interpreted that way (obviously it was). No need to worry about people's "upstairs" (this is letsrun, so we are all nuts anyway).

Excellent! Take part of what was written and form the opinion around that

Let me try this again. Third time now. What I wrote was:

'He was a 2:12 type I'd say' The meaning being that I believe his marathons were run in the 2 hour and 12 minute range. He ran 25 years ago. I didn't go to any books or video tape to find out Kiernan's times. It's what I remembered. Was I right? I guess so because nobody has written that he was actually a '2:09 type' or a '2:15 type' I still haven't looked it up.

'...competitive in his day' seems to be the part that, for some reason, has folks riled up. Well, that's exactly what Jerry Kiernan was. As far as I know he never won, or placed in the top three at Boston, New York, Fukuoka, Rotterdam or any of the other major marathons of that era. He never medaled in the Olympics or World Championships. Euro Championships? I have no idea. When asked to name the top ten marathoners of the day, few, if any, would mention Jerry Kiernan. However, if he was in a marathon, he was not someone to be summarily dismissed. He was lurking just outside the upper echelon. he was... competitive.

Jerry Kiernan now has a little PR to go along with a stellar running career. Looks like he needed it though. Remember, this thread started out by asking who he was and the LetsRun banner headline originally described him as an unnamed 'Irish announcer.'

A few of the people who finished behind the "uncompetitive Kiernan" in 1984.

Alberto Salazar, Rod Dixon, Tosheiko Seiko, Pete Pfitzinger, Martti Vainio, and Huw Jones.