The Irishman was abandoned by his parents at age 4 and sent to orphanage. He didn't start running until he ran a 4:52 mile in college. He then smooth talked his way to be coached by Joe Vigil and eventually ran 3:35 and made the 1996 Olympics.
Cathal Dennehy catches up with him with my favorite read of the year so far.
https://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/sport/other/the-big-interview-shane-healy--from-an-orphanage-to-greatest-show-on-earth-904867.html
Learn about the incredible life of Shane Healy
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rojo wrote:
The Irishman was abandoned by his parents at age 4 and sent to orphanage. He didn't start running until he ran a 4:52 mile in college. He then smooth talked his way to be coached by Joe Vigil and eventually ran 3:35 and made the 1996 Olympics.
Cathal Dennehy catches up with him with my favorite read of the year so far.
https://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/sport/other/the-big-interview-shane-healy--from-an-orphanage-to-greatest-show-on-earth-904867.html
Sounds like a tough guy. They don't make them like this nowadays. -
Quite a story.
Let's address his mother who abandoned him. -
Fogrunr wrote:
Quite a story.
Let's address his mother who abandoned him.
Lets not.
An inspiring story, especially in this day in age where everything has t be perfect -- the right stuff, the right base, the right coach, the right support, the right club, the right social media, and more -- in order to keep focus and chase your dreams.
From this day on the answer to all whining is "Shane Healy". -
Great find and read. The guy has a huge heart. I bet, back in the day, his daily regimen was running his arse off(not producing the best results as we know).
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Tick tock, baby! Seize the moment.
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Yes, great article and an incredible story. I’m glad you featured it. By the way, Shane just shattered the 50-54 age group WR for the indoor 1500m running 4:05.7 at the Irish National Indoor Championships. This came only a couple days after he ran 15:20 in a road 5K, which broke the age group national record in that event. Shane will be a guest on the Masters Milers podcast next week for anyone interested in hearing more about him (available on iTunes, Spotify, Google Play and Tune In: ww.mastersmilers.com)
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A great lad.
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One helluva journey that man has had. Great article by Cathal thank you for bringing to us. Total motivation to be better in life. That man is a role model for all of us.
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Stories of Healy at Adams State were legendary. From showing up on campus on a "borrowed" motorcycle to hitch hiking across the country and back. The guy is a legend. The Jack Reaceher of running. Great article brojos.
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joedirt wrote:
Stories of Healy at Adams State were legendary. From showing up on campus on a "borrowed" motorcycle to hitch hiking across the country and back. The guy is a legend. The Jack Reaceher of running. Great article brojos.
The brojos didn't write the article, one of them just shared it, it's got to be a couple of weeks old at this stage. -
Great guy. Met him when I rabbitted the Steve Scott road mile in Santee, CA in 95. He had a wonderful attitude and very friendly. Hell of a runner! Glad to hear he is still doing great at 50
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I love runners that are intense to the point of sounding borderline insane, without crossing the Lindgren line.
But don't take his advice on running through injuries - he is full of superlatives with his hindsight. -
Wicked life story, very inspiring.
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malmo wrote:
Fogrunr wrote:
Quite a story.
Let's address his mother who abandoned him.
Lets not.
An inspiring story, especially in this day in age where everything has t be perfect -- the right stuff, the right base, the right coach, the right support, the right club, the right social media, and more -- in order to keep focus and chase your dreams.
From this day on the answer to all whining is "Shane Healy".
I think we should talk about his mother who abandoned him. Hard to imagine anything more horrible. And to never seek him out again forever? But I am glad he became successful in spite of his childhood. -
I find nothing redeeming about this guy.
A ton of bluster and nonsense.
Self aggrandizing.
He lived a life of Jesuit ideals?
No thanks. -
Thanks for the input lib. Thanks.
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I met this guy back at an indoor meet in OKC in 1991. He was running for Adams State and had just run a 4:04 mile out of nowhere (pretty solid time on that track in those days). He was a most cocky SOB I think I've ever met. If Billy Idol were a runner he'd be Shane Healy. Arkansas had some studs at that meet so it wasn't like he was the king of the track. There's never an excuse for being a dick. I've met Lopez Lomong and he's the exact opposite. It's terrible what Healy went through as a child but it doesn't come close to Lopez's story. Like someone else mentioned, I don't seem many redeeming qualities with this guy. Balls of steel and tough as nails but self destructive and self absorbed.
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Fogrunr wrote:
Quite a story.
Let's address his mother who abandoned him.
I was thinking of writing Cathal. It seems like the best way to find the mom would be to do one of those DNA tests.
Find a relative and see if they know where she is. But Ireland is so small, you'd think people would know where she ended up. -
I understand they didn't write it, but I probably never would have seen it had it not been up on the site.
