14.9.2011

Being President of the IMO is time consuming enough, on top of a full time job as a GP in a busy Cork City practice.  For most the thought of preparing and partaking in a marathon would definitely be something that could be 'parked' for a less demanding time in life, or better still, given a lot of thought with the promise that it's something you'll definitely consider doing when things settle down.  Not so for IMO President, Dr. Ronan Boland, and one marathon doesn't seem challenging enough on top of his already hectic schedule.  

On September 25th Ronan Boland will be on the starting line of the Berlin Marathon and only five weeks later he will do it all over again in Dublin.  Here Dr. Ronan Boland tells us how it all came about.

“In 1981 “city” marathons with mass participation were in their relative infancy- the 2nd Dublin City Marathon was taking place in late October of that year. I decided to sign up as a scrawny Pre Med student, just turned 18. Unfortunately, my enthusiasm for the concept of running a marathon was matched in scale both by my lack of adequate preparation and training and by my entirely misplaced sense of optimism around how I would fare!

The agony of Raheny, Clontarf and the North Wall running into a strong headwind and driving rain were subsequently etched into my brain and I swore for most of my adult life that I would never again run another marathon – been there, done that, suffered the blisters!!