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.
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).
Tick tock, baby! Seize the moment.
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)
A great lad.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.