Eamonn Coghlan always had come to New York as a contender, aiming to win whatever race he entered. But now the Irish legend will run the Nov. 3 New York City Marathon as a fundraiser in behalf of a children’s hospital back in Dublin.
Coghlan, who turns 50 on Nov. 21, set the world indoor mile record of 3:49.78 at the Meadowlands in 1983, and won the Millrose Games’ Wanamaker Mile seven times at the Garden to earn the title “Chairman of the Boards.” But now he’s competing in the Marathon for the first time since 1991, when he ran 2:25.13.
This time around his stated goal is a more modest 2:55. But his real mission is heading up a group of 100 runners from Ireland hoping to raise $500,000 for the Children’s Medical and Research Foundation at Our Lady’s Hospital For Sick Children.
“I’m not going as a competitor,” said Coghlan. “I’m going over on charity run. As you approach a half-century, it’d very difficult to slug one’s body around the roads in training like I did years ago.
“This being the 10th year of my charity event, and I hadn’t run, I figured this would be the time to join them.”
Coghlan said he’ll happily take a back seat to Irish stars Mark Carroll and Sonia O’Sullivan. Carroll, the 2000 Wanamaker winner and Irish recordholder at 3,000, 5,000, and 10,000 meters, is making his marathon debut. O’Sullivan is an Olympic silver medallist, and they give Ireland its best chance for a win since John Treacy finished third in 1998.
“It’ll be a special year for the Irish in New York. I reckon I’ll be the third-most famous Irish running,” Coghlan said. “This is their stage. I’d be only too delighted if Sonia, the greatest Irish athlete of all time, should go to the greatest marathon in the world and win.”