ATHLETICS:In the 1960s and '70s, Donore Harriers had a tradition of excellence unrivalled, before or since. That tradition died away, but now the club has found a new impetus writes IAN O'RIORDAN

THERE’S A small band of Donore men who talk about the National Cross Country the same way Kerry footballers talk about All-Irelands. How many winning medals have you got? Seven? Eight? If the answer doesn’t approach double figures then you are nothing, nobody. In the 1960s and 1970s, Donore had a tradition of excellence unrivalled, before or since. Slowly, surely, the tradition died – and these days most Donore men seem crippled with nostalgia.

How many winning medals have you got? I asked my dad during the week. Must be 11, he said. Plus three individual medals. He thought that was a record. He said Jim McNamara has nine. Bertie Messitt, he reckoned, has seven. Plus the three individuals he won. The Dunne brothers, Tommy and Willie: he said they must have a dozen between them. And Eddie Spillane and Mick Neville have a fair few. He listed several more and I quickly lost count.

Whatever the overall number of winning medals, for two decades Donore ruled the National Cross Country.

This tradition wasn’t built overnight. In 1893, the first group of Donore runners assembled at 78 South Circular Road. They gradually raised their reputation on names like JJ Doyle, and later Eddie Hogan, Brendan Foreman and Tommie Hayward. For years various pubs around Dolphin’s Barn and Kilmainham doubled as their clubhouse, before, in 1948, they set up shop at a cottage down on Hospital Lane in Islandbridge.

By the late 1950s, the most respected running club in Dublin was Donore Harriers. Aspiring runners from all over the country flocked to Hospital Lane, and soon discovered the Donore men didn’t just train hard. They worked hard, lived hard, talked hard, swore hard – and often drank pretty hard too.

Between 1960 and 1975, the Donore men won 16 consecutive national team titles – eight under the old Irish Amateur Athletic Board, and eight when Bord Lúthchleas na hÉireann took over. During the same period they won six individual titles. They were unbeatable, and for some Donore men the real success was being among the four scoring runners.

Ronnie Carroll and Gerry Curtis won the National Cross Country for Donore in the 1980s, but gradually the power was being surrendered.

In 1993, the club’s centenary, when they also hosted the National Cross Country, Donore won the men’s team title for the last time. Three years later, in 1996, John Downes won their last individual men’s title – having transferred from West Limerick AC.

For the last 10 years, whatever tradition was left slowly extinguished itself; the sad part was that coincided with Donore’s move to its current premises in Chapelizod.

Tomorrow, right across the road, on the famously testing Phoenix Park course around the Magazine Fort, Donore will host the National Cross Country for the first time since 1993. Although they have little or no hope of winning a men’s senior title, it is somewhat fitting there are hopes for Donore’s junior, John Travers. Even more fitting is that the man charged with reigniting the club’s tradition is the same John Downes who won their last men’s senior title. Downes not only epitomises the old, raging spirit of Donore: he refuses to be crippled with nostalgia.

“It’s not about going back to the good old days,” he says. “It’s about surpassing them. I don’t want the club to be just mediocre. Forget the great days of the past. Let’s look to the great days of the future. The talent is still here. It’s just about finding it, motivating it in the right way. You have to go back to the schools, find the talent, and feed that into the club. There’s no way you’ll be a successful club if you just wait for the talent to come to you. I also think for a long time the club focused on building the new facility at Chapelizod. Going out trying to find talent was neglected.”

When I called Downes during the week he was in the clubhouse, as he is three days a week. Although he lives in Limerick, Downes travels to Dublin midweek to coach at Donore, plus deliver athletics programmes in schools all around Inchicore, Blanchardstown, Castleknock, Ballyfermot and Drimnagh.

Downes has big, bold plans for Donore, and the passion to deliver them. He returned to Ireland four years ago after spending a large part of his life on the sites in England, where he trained hard, worked hard, lived hard, etc.

“About two years ago Donore were looking to employ a coach, asked me for some suggestions. My wife actually told me I should go for it. So it landed on my lap at the right time. I was sick to death of the building work. My back was wrecked with it.

“Now, we’ll have a team out on Sunday, but it will take another three or four years to really develop again. But the numbers are up. When I came back, about two years ago, there were maybe 30 or 35 kids. At the moment we have about 160. A lot of those might be transient. They come and go. But that’s the same with any club.

“But if you’re going to coach kids, you have to be able to inspire them. It’s not all about hard work. Because if the kids don’t buy into what you’re trying to sell them, it won’t happen. Running is very tough. I tell the kids that. It’s very hard to sell pain to kids. When I come to training I don’t tell the kids we’re going to enjoy this. I tell them this is going to suck. Because you can’t lie to kids. If you’re honest with them you’ve a far better chance of succeeding with them. The enjoyable part is afterwards. Having had a fantastic race. Going away on trips. The fantastic friends you make.”

Downes is, by his admission, as “daft as a brush” – and has countless stories to inspire his pupils. In 1997, he finished fourth in the English National Cross Country, having spent the morning, mixing by hand, about 25 ton of gravel, before driving two-and-half hours to Portsmouth to make the start with five minutes to spare. He frequently worked 12 or 13 hours a day on the sites in London while still running 100 miles a week in training.

“When I think back, what bloody madness. But I wouldn’t change anything. For the kids to go along with you, they have to buy into the daftness, that madness. Part of that is making it fun. You have to think way outside the box to keep kids from getting bored these days. I want them to be successful, ultimately not for the club, but for themselves.”

Downes also leads by example: at 42, he will run the National tomorrow. They may never again win 16 team titles in succession, but for the Donore runners of the future, the answer to how many winning medals have you got? may be: One. Two. But even if that is the answer, then they are something, somebody.

Tonight, 8pm, Donore hold a Night of Champions, with John Treacy, Catherina McKiernan and Eamonn Coghlan (a one-time Donore man), at the clubhouse in Chapelizod, to include conversation, reflection and an audience Q and A.