70-year-old marathon man dedicates last run to memory of Martin Gallagher

A Derry man who has been running competitively for the past forty years will take part in his last full marathon next month in memory of former club member, Martin Gallagher.
Harry McNulty is one of the founding members of Foyle Valley Athletics Club and a familiar face in the local running circuit.
At the age of 70 he has decided to bow out of full marathons but will continue to compete in shorter distances and will no doubt be seen sporting the famous purple colours of his club as he treks through the streets of Derry or tackles the back roads of Donegal.
He grew up in Melmore Gardens, Creggan, and now resides in the Waterside area of the city.
The 70-year-old has run 70 half marathons and will compete in his 61st, and final, full marathon on October 27 in Dublin.
Harry comes from a family of seven, five boys and two girls, and his brothers Dessie and Brendan were considered the runners in the family. Tragically, Dessie was killed in a car crash in 1989.
“Dessie was the best of us. Him and Brendan were the two runners. Dessie was a great runner at school and then at Sparta where he was captain. He was a very popular fella.
“As well as being a great runner he was a great captain. He looked after his charges very well.
“Brendan and his wife both ran for Northern Ireland and were both very good athletes. Dessie ran shorter distances whereas Brendan ran anything from 10km right through to the marathon.”
Harry was somewhat of a late starter when it came to running, his brothers talked him into it at a time he was overweight in the early 1980s. About a year later he competed in his first marathon in Dublin.
He was one of the founding members of Foyle Valley Athletics Club in 1992. At the time they were told it wouldn’t survive six months, but 27 years later it now has approximately 200 members.
It is an “all ability club” with different groups meeting weekly at Templemore Sports Complex and in the Waterside. “Anybody who wants to run will get the opportunity but if you don’t want to compete you can join to keep fit. We like people to compete but don’t put anyone under pressure to do so.”
“I, to be perfectly frank, wasn’t brought in for my athletic expertise, I’m not saying I was useless but would’ve been average, but that fits into the ethos of the club.”

Personal best

Despite his modesty, Harry has run impressive times over the years, recording a sub-3-hour marathon in Belfast. That is no mean feat, it requires dedicated training, and, on the day you have to run an average of around 6:50 per mile across the 26.2 mile course.
Harry recalled his brother Dessie spurring him on as he neared the finish line that day, sadly, it would be the last time he saw him alive.
“It was the 1st of May 1989 and Dessie was killed ten days later on the 11th. I hadn’t enough long runs coming into it and at the latter stages I was absolutely out of it, really struggling.
“Dessie was there at the 25 mile mark and, in Belfast I don’t know anybody, but I heard this voice shouting ‘Harry, get your head up out of your chest! You’ve come through 25 mile in 2:50 you can break 3 hours but you’re going to have to work for it’.
“It just gave me enough encouragement to keep going. He came round to see me at the finish line. “He had just moved to Belfast and wanted me to see his new house but I had come with a crowd of boys on a train and said I’d be up in a couple of weeks to spend the weekend, to do a bit of running and play some snooker.
“But he was killed ten days later.”

Marty Gallagher

Twenty years later, Marty Gallagher, a young prodigy of Harry’s, was killed in similarly tragic circumstances.
Next month fifty members of Foyle Valley will take part in this year’s Dublin marathon in memory of Marty who died after being hit by a car on the Racecourse Road while returning home on Halloween night.
Martin was 24-years-old and it will be his 10th anniversary this year.
Reflecting, Harry said: “Marty Gallagher was a lovely young fella, very modest, unassuming, and comes from such a nice family.
“He was a member of the club and would’ve been one of my prodigies when he first came into running, I would’ve nurtured him, but then he got to the stage where he was too quick for me and I couldn’t stay with him. I’d have needed a bike to keep up with him.”
Harry has been fortunate to avoid serious injury over the years aside from breaking his ankle in 2009. Doctors warned that without an operation he would have chronic arthritis and would never run again.
“You learn to live with the fact that on the long runs you’re going to be in pain. I was lucky to get away with running the Derry marathon this year.”
After a more recent x-ray, a doctor warned that if he continued at his present rate he would need a new ankle.
“I wear an ankle support and patella support, but you’re not going to let stuff like that stop you,” he added.

Camaraderie

Special club memories include a time when members competed in the All Ireland Marathon Championship in Mallow Co. Cork, in 1995. They won the senior marathon and veteran’s championships.
As winners they had the honour of hosting the competition in Derry the following year. It was a very successful event which stands out as one of the club's highlights.
Harry finished second in the veteran's team and his brother Brendan competed well in the senior team.
Looking back at other fond memories, Harry cited the Walled City Marathon in 2013, which was the first marathon to be held in Derry for many years.
“I thoroughly enjoyed it, along with the London marathon, I’ve done four of them, and the Great North Run, which I’ve done twice.
“But the club itself, the camaraderie is just unbelievable. It’s a social outlet more than anything else. In terms of the people, not just at Foyle Valley but running in general, there are very few people I’ve met through running that I could say I didn’t like, they’re all good hearted, good natured people, and help you in any way they can. They’re gracious in defeat and generous in victory.
“Foyle Valley has a great family atmosphere, if someone is training for a marathon they will always train with you and help you through. That’s part of the ethos of the club.”
Fitness has become an essential component of many people’s lives as experts regularly expound on the benefits to both physical and mental health.
Therefore, the emergence of new clubs, and the introduction of couch to 5k runs, has been “one of the best” things to happen in the city in Harry’s view. “The people behind these clubs love their running and are so friendly. They got people out who never would’ve necessarily been interested in running, and now they’re doing half marathons and marathons - that’s fabulous.”