Win like Flynn

Pupils of St Michael's national school are gathered in the playground. It's pretty much a normal Wednesday morning. The students complete their Daily Mile and are chatting to a special guest.
The person drawing their attention is the holder of the Irish mile and 1,500 metres record. He also lends his name to the Ray Flynn Mile, an event organised by Longford Athletic Club to honour its greatest athlete.

Ray is in his home town to mark 40 years since he set his Irish record in Oslo, Norway at the Bislett Games Dream Mile.

The St Michael's boys staring up at the icon of Irish running share a commonality. They go to the school Ray attended when he first entered the educational system. Many will progress to the school just across the wall: St Mel's College which is also the record holders alma mater.
In the grounds of St Mel’s is the home of Longford Athletics Club. On land once farmed by John Gearty when Ray was a young man a state-of-the-art training facility is taking shape.

Fastest feet
John Fitzpatrick, vice-chairperson of Longford Athletics Club, is making the final preparations on the indoor running track for Fastest Feet. This is a contest to find the fastest eight year old in Ireland. A potential prospect to break the 40 year record.

A heated discussion on the merits and demerits of the development of GAA football is joined by Donal Mulligan, the Community Sport Development Officer at Longford Sports Partnership before Ray and Frank Greally of Athletics Ireland arrive at the local Athletic Club HQ.

The GAA discussion yields one area of common ground: that running is a skill transferable to all sports. Ray is on a tight schedule, so the sit down face-to-face chat curtails all other discussion.
“I went to St Michael's School, so it was really fun for me to go back and meet some of the young boys interested in running and sport. I really enjoyed it,” he intones in an accent that has only slightly indicated 45 years of living in the US.

school days
It's not easy to reconcile how long ago Ray left St Michael's. He looks considerably younger than the 65 years that elapsed since his birth. The facilities Longford Athletics Club have built up in the last few years are very different to what was on offer when Ray was in national school: “There was no organised running back then, I wasn't really doing any running. This morning I was telling the boys I ran to school, and ran home from school because I just loved running places.”

Ray's participation in the St Michael's Daily Mile brought a thrill to a regular part of the school day. It's a nationwide initiative to get young people out of the classroom for 15 minutes and encourage them to participate in an activity that will have physical, social and mental benefits.
“It's nice to see they're pushing it and promoting exercise and the Daily Mile, getting the kids out and doing things. I think there's so many distractions to do other sports and other avenues. It's nice to see the kids being enthusiastic.”

The 'other distractions' are not necessarily at odds with Ray's main passion. The track to becoming a national record holder was not a straight line.
“Some of the boys asked me about other sports. I said soccer's great, Gaelic is great. Do it all, you know. Runners come out of those sports. I played soccer for Longford town when I was under 16. I wasn't a great soccer player, but I was doing a lot of running on the field. I think it's hard to train for running when you're young. It's better to train for other sports, follow the ball and become a better runner doing that and you end up where you're supposed to end up.”

Having transitioned from an Olympic finalist to a sports agent Ray's observations on how to be a better runner carry a lot of weight. His reasoning for why young runners could be put off by intense training schedules are simple.
“If I brought you out at 10 or 12 years old and started to do interval training, hard running, hill running, disciplined training it would put you off. That's really hard at a young age to get that focus. If I bring you out for a gruelling run today, then again two days later you may get bored. It has to be more fun; orienteering or running after a ball.

St Mel's cross country
“The more fun sports prepare you to run where you're not really thinking about it seriously. Then you get into the serious training as you get older. You can understand the logistics of what to do in order to become a better athlete. You don't want to turn them off young,” he explains.
Training is a key component in success, but there's also a reference to 'God given ability', another factor in achieving goals.

“I think we're all born with a talent. Some people are born musicians or with an aptitude towards music. In any family you'll find different kids end up in different places. One kid is into sport and the other is not in the same way.”

He recalls key moments in the life of a young boy growing up in 60s and 70s in Longford. “I remember watching the Olympics together with Dad when I was young. On the one channel we had on the television. I marvelled at these runners, I was just taken by it. The aura of it, the level these people were competing at. It drew me to it.

“Somebody asked me this morning, what was your first race? I remember running in the St Mel's Cross Country race and I won it. I'm a second year student and it's like, “Wow, you beat everybody”, you know? I think you gravitate to where your natural tendencies are. I tell people I was always training even though I didn't know it, I was training by running home from school, chasing the ball, being active. And you end up with the sum total of, “Hey, you're a runner,”. So maybe that's what it is.”

Ego Trip
The second year student who beats all the other pupils three years ahead of him is a phenomenon. A 40 year national record is also a phenomenon. Ray says there is a parallel between the two.
“It's an ego trip. You remember when you're young and 'a nobody' in the school. If you're the best at something, or you can be the best at something, you gravitate towards it. All of a sudden, if you beat the seniors and you're just a rookie, it's a big deal in any pecking order in the school. We all like to be good at something. Or at least I did.”

Ray speaks of being surprised at his success in that school's cross country race. The thoughts going through his mind while in flight are still readily remembered.

“I was taking it in, just realising that, hey, this is really cool, you know? But it wasn't at a high level. I had really a long way to go, but it was a jump. You go back to your school and people say “I can't believe you did that” . It's not the only reason you do things, but it does make a difference.”
In 1974 Ray moved from Dublin Road, Longford to East Tennessee State University on a scholarship. He joined the ‘Irish Brigade’ of runners including Leitrim brothers Eddie and PJ Leddy and the man who accompanied him on Wednesday morning, Mayo’s Frank Greally.

He says the option to cross the Atlantic to study was not designed. “There was no grand plan. A lot of us don't have a grand plan, and there was no grand plan with me. That next step just evolved. I got chosen to go on some courses, coaching courses, regionally and nationally. People helped me by recognising the talent and my ability to run.

Olympic Games
“I became a champion athlete winning in Ireland and winning the British school championships. Suddenly I got offers to get scholarships to go to college when there weren't any options here. It was a no brainer, you know. It wasn't planned or preplanned, but it happened. That door opened and I walked through it. When I went to college, I struggled again. You're at the bottom of the rung and you get better and better and doors open and all of a sudden you're at the Olympic Games, you know. So it's life.”

A two-time Olympian, he ran in Moscow in 1980 and four years later competed at the Los Angeles games where he was a finalist in the 5,000 metres. There's a pragmatism about the process. “You have to go through the different stages of failure and success, you know, but it's not like I thought it was going to happen until it actually happens.”

culture shock
From Longford, Ireland to the university town of Johnson City, Tennessee may only have been around 3,700 miles, but it was an enormous cultural leap. Ray says the assumed “culture shock” was not as pronounced as might be expected.

“I live in the South. From one perspective, it was a huge culture shock. You're going away. On the other hand, I was very ambitious and I couldn't wait to go. I was full of life and full of dreams. People in the South have their roots in the British Isles, and Ireland. They like to connect with you, because they have grandfathers or great grandparents who are Irish.

The Americans connection

“It was a big shock training wise, you go over there and have a professional coach. He wasn't really scientific, but all of a sudden you are doing 100 miles a week. I'd trained 30 miles a week in Longford. So it's like boot camp, you know, it beat you up, it was a struggle.”

On an emotional level moving away from home in the early 1970s was very different to the experience almost half a century later: “Dad bought me a ticket, a round trip ticket for a year. I went in September for nine months, so you can come back in June. I was excited about the opportunity. The difference between back then and now is that people have money now. You can say, “Oh, I don't feel good, I'm flying home for the weekend”. Back then that was not an option. You didn't even call on the phone because it's too expensive. You wrote a letter home, which took two weeks out and two weeks back. So it's a month turnaround before you hear from your family.”

The life of an athletic scholar is different from other students. “You're constantly fatigued. I would fall asleep. I was so dead on my feet trying to adjust to this new high volume training routine, which was probably not ideal. If you survived it, you were better. I did survive and I got better. It was structured, you train twice a day, you get up in the morning and run, go to class and then a big workout in the afternoon. The climate change was big too, because it's hot. Training in August was a bit of a struggle.”

As Ray recalls his arduous student training schedule he unconsciously digs a thumb into the ligaments at the back on his knee. The personal therapy of a runner who is used to pushing his body. The demands of pushing the body always take their toll.

“I was pretty fortunate I didn't get too injured over my life running. It was always a risk,” he says, “But on the other hand, you don't get good without putting in the work, you know?”
The 1980s saw Irish middle-distance athletes compete at the highest level on the international stage. Ray, along with Eamon Coghlan, Marcus O'Sullivan and Frank O'Mara, was part of the Irish team’s 4 x 1 mile relay team that achieved a world best of 15:49 set in 1985 at the Belfield track in Dublin.

Retirement

In 1990 the Longford runner called a halt to his running career: “I retired at 33. I had to because I wasn't running fast anymore. I wasn't breaking four minutes for the mile. It's just the reality, there's younger runners coming up. I had a great innings, I'm very thankful and grateful. I managed to transition into the management side of it. It's natural that you can't sustain it for long. Runners can't run at that high level for very long.”

Ray's acceptance of that inevitability is admirable. “It doesn't happen dramatically. It happened gradually. You get to 30 years old at this level and you start to get minor injuries, niggles, things that delay you, slow you down and stop you from running for a week or two. That accumulates over a period. That forces you out. It makes it too challenging. You recognise your quality is diminishing and you're just not running as fast anymore. It's tough. It's tough because life is tough.”

Choosing a career highlight is not easy when it contains so many memorable moments: “This morning one of the young boys asked me about other runners. We have a legacy in Ireland of great runners in history. I think that drove me. From Ronnie Delaney winning the Olympics in 1956, to the runners that I ran with who set the world record in the 4 x 1 mile; Eamon Coghlan, Frank O'Mara, Marcus O'Sullivan, all were world champions. These runners raised the bar and we pushed each other. The level was high.”

The fields Ray ran in contained icons of distance running like Steve Scott, Steve Ovett, Sebastian Coe, John Walker, and Steve Cram. “I think it brings you up. You fly at a higher level when you're running with these runners. If you run with better people, you become better. It's simple. You fly to the level of the company you're in.”

Light years ahead
“When you're young and you're there, you're not thinking about the occasion, you're not thinking about the historical part of it. It's only when you extend back later you recognise the company you were in. You can't become obsessed with all of that when you're doing it. You gravitate into the moment, the race you are in. It's only later on you stand back and go, “that was amazing.”
The facilities in Longford Athletic Club today are light years ahead of what Rev Fr Peter Brady of St Mel’s College, Paddy Flynn of Dublin Road (father of Ray), John Kilemeade of Battery Road and Mick Glennon envisioned when they formed the sporting group.

Great mentors
Ray was one of the first to achieve at a high level because of the club. “I think a lot of people helped me. I was telling the young boys this morning when they're asked about expertise that the truth is there are people all around that can help you. If you really listen to them and decide you want to do something, people can help you. They don't have to be super qualified. People who really care and really encourage are the best mentors. They're everywhere. I had some great people from Longford, people who guided me. I would not have made it without them. They weren't experts, but they had good advice, sound advice and snippets of information that could give me enough to get to the next level.”

The wealth of knowledge Ray built up while on the distance running circuit was harnessed when he transitioned to sports agent. His company, Flynn Sports Management, is based in his Tennessee home.
“I'm a sports agent, I guide careers. I find myself in that role giving pragmatic advice where possible. I give perspective to people. That's one thing you gain as you get older. You have wisdom at least. “Don't do this”. “Don't make the same mistake here that I made”, you know, at least those kind of things.”

In his years on the track as an agent Ray has seen countless runners. The spark of genius is not the only asset he looks for in a client. “It's like a recipe. Talent is not the only thing you have to have. Whatever endeavour you're in, you have to have character, drive, ambition as well as talent. Sometimes athletes have two of these things, but then they don't have the other. Can you survive an injury? Can you just stick with it?

There's a future

“A lot of running is patience. It's being beaten down and struggling through it. That's what I experienced. You can only encourage somebody and say, look, I understand you're tired, you're training. This is tough, you're run down. But if you just stay with it, your body will bounce back and you'll gain from this work. So don't give up.”

Longford Athletic Club's indoor training facilities Ray visits is a credit to those working to put them in place. This work is acknowledged by the record holder. “It's great coming back here. We started the club back in the sixties. It's great seeing Donal and John promoting this club. Seeing it succeed, the new facilities, the hard work they're doing and the awareness around them. It's encouraging to see. I think there's a future in this town,” Ray concluded.