John Dier

This time it is the turn of our Club Captain and our very own road runner John Dier.

Name : John Dier

Age : Slightly ancient (56)

Work/School/College : Work is a multi drop delivery driver, Pure Oil, supplying the catering industry with cooking oil and taking back the used oil for recycling into bio diesel.

School and college: St Iberius NS Davitt Road, Kilkenny College and what is now WIT (Waterford regional technical college as it was back the, I told you I was old)

Married/single/kids : Married to the long suffering Sharron for 16 years. 4 kids, including one I inherited when I got married. Becky, the stepdaughter 27, Stephen who would be 25 but sadly died at 20 weeks old, Lauren 24 and Paul who is 15.

How long have you been a member of Menapians AC : March 2015 for the novice road race that year and got club membership off to a good start by managing to strain my achilles during the race by slipping into a crack in the road and only realising it at the end of the race. To this day it is my only run related injury.

Interests & achievements outside athletics : Motorsport in general due to being involved in motorsport journalism since 1990 and also having co-driven in quite a few rallies. Scuba diving. Spending time on my boat, Vice Commodore of Kilmore Quay Boat Club. Getting out and about in the camper van. Music from late 70s to even some from now.

Events you have competed at : Damn near all road races both club and non club events in the county and a few more outside the county as well as a good few duathlons and my first triathlon in Greystones this year.

Favourite event : A hard one to call, but would be a close one between 10k, duathlon or triathlon

Least favourite event : Probably 2 mile, running that hard for that length is gut busting.

Biggest athletics achievement : The one race I ever won was a local 10k run by the local badminton club. It was a low key race and early on I realised it was between two of us. At about 4k I moved clear on a very slight uphill and ended up running on my own for the last half of the race but only had the nerve to look back with a little over 1k to go to see if I would be caught which luckily I wouldn't be as had opened out a decent gap.

Other athletics achievements : I won the over 50s in the Nepal run that our clubmate Siobhán organised in 2015 and 1st & 2nd in the over 50s in the Wexford 10k in 2018 and 2019 respectively. Surprisingly I managed to finish 15th in the try a tri section in Greystones this year. Being club captain for the last two years.

Do you hold any records : No official ones but up until this year happened to be the fastest over 50 to have finished the Hope & Dream 10k. My fastest time was blown out of the water this year, so won't get that honour back.

Favourite moment of your athletic career : Probably getting what is now Wexford racecourse parkrun on the go in March 2015. Just being able to see how much exercise of any pace has made a difference to the physical and mental wellbeing of people that had probably never run or walked much before their first parkrun has made it all worthwhile. Also seeing people go on to become club runners that would have never thought of it, especially this year where the middle distance bunch has grown quite considerably.

Favourite track you have competed on : Never run competitively on a track so not really able to call that one but as for road courses it would be a toss up between either the Charlie Curren course in Carlow (either the 5 mile or 10k versions they have used), Ferrycarrig 5 mile course or what was used for the Taghmon 10k, as well as going past my house, it was also a relatively flat course apart from the finish in the village which a lot of people hated but I loved as as a fairly decent runner up a hill, I could pick people off before the finish. For cross country it would be a toss up between Lingstown or JFK. If I could find a triathlon course with a downhill swim, that would be my favourite there but still to find that bit of downhill sea. The other way to look at it is, I like any venue where the fodder is savage afterwards!!

Least favourite track : Can't really say I have a least favourite course as in one I have done but wouldn't do again but have done some absolute beasts of tough ones like the coalface adventure race.

Who has been your inspiration both in athletics & outside athletics : In athletics there are quite a few, Matt Shields the Irish parkrun country manager, Paul Sinton-Hewitt who along with the 13 original runners started the whole thing in October 2004, I managed to meet one of those 13, James Russell who by pure chance was sitting four rows behind me at the opening day of the athletics in London in 2017 and spotted Sharron wearing a parkrun t-shirt and came to chat with us, Mick, Jimmy and all that had the bottle to start Menapian’s AC back in 2001 and also anyone who has had the get up and go to run or do anything in athletics for the benefit of their health. Outside athletics it would be motorsport journalists like Murray Walker, John Watson, Tony Jardine or Alan Tyndall. The latter three I have been lucky to meet and interview two of them. In sailing or any sea based activity it would either be Chay Blyth or Tristan Jones, if you ever get to read any book by the latter, apart from showing an ecentric side of him, shows how he overcame a wartime injury and losing a leg in later life.

Favourite food/drink : Food would probably be a roast pork dinner with crackling of course and all the trimmings or most pasta dishes. I like cooking and happen to like eating nearly everything I cook. Drink, I am a man of simple tastes, either a nice pint of Arthur Guinness's best or a nice Italian white wine, either Pinot Grigio, Frascati or Gavi.

Post training snack : Training, what's that?? Unfortunately due to work training sessions are very few and far between, usually races themselves but have managed to join a leisure centre recently so getting a bit of gym work and a lot of swimming done which is starting to show some reward so always grab a coffee and a few chocolate biscuits when I get in the door. Taking a drink of water when needed during training helps a bit as well.

Some unusual facts about yourself : I am 4th generation Italian on my Mother's side (now you can see the liking for Italian food and wine) and my great-great grandfather who emigrated to Liverpool was the first person to translate Dante's Inferno into English and also taught two of Garibaldi's (one of the main men in getting the many Italian city states into a united Italy) two sons in a school he set up in England.