Faces of Galway 43/100
Meet Gary from Shantalla.
There doesn't seem to be many people around Galway who haven't heard of Gary or know him to see. He often gets approached by people and it isn't because of his job as a national school teacher. For those who don't know him, Gary is a world-renowned marathon runner.
Gary, like many teenagers, decided to go to a cross country race as it would get him a few hours off school. He ran without much effort and suddenly realised that this was something he was naturally good at. He joined the Juvenile section of the Galway City Harriers and running suddenly became his thing.
In 2013 he won the worlds "coolest" marathon in the North Pole in the unbelievable time of 3.49.29. In 2014 he won the world's highest desert marathon in the Atacama Desert, Chile in an amazing 4.10.13. In 2015 Gary was so close to being selected for the Rio Olympics when he ran Berlin in 2:17:19. He was just outside the top three and never got to Brazil this summer. While all of these titles are amazing, Gary feels that age has helped him realise that it's not all about the Olympics or the big wins. He really enjoys the races he runs and even the training runs around Southpark and Galway.
Gary runs on average 100 miles a week so the chances are you will see him lightly bouncing around Galway with a big smile on his face!