Here it is...
The words ‘legend’, ‘inspirational’ and ‘hero’ are words sometimes banded around when people talk about sportsmen and women and dare I say; on occasions these words are used with no credibility or substance at all.
There is however one gentleman who can be regarded as a legend, inspirational and a hero with 100% certainty and he is Terry O’Gara.
I
first met Terry on a hot July evening at my very first Wallsend
Harriers meeting. He asked if I was able to run for 60 mins
which I was; however I wasn’t prepared for the pace! Needless
to say I struggled but Terry insisted I come along again, stick with
it and see when happens after a few weeks. That was my first
encounter with Terry and even then I thought, what a nice bloke.
Over
the following weeks and months I quickly realised how much respect
people had for him. Here’s a bloke of 65+ years, running
his socks off, getting his group through the tough Tuesday night hill
sessions, pushing then hard, making them work and heaping masses of
praise on them.
On numerous occasions following a race I would ask him how he done; he would quickly say something like, “ok” or “went well” and immediately ask me, or others how they done. He was very modest about his running exploits, instead asking how other people done. (by the way, at age 69 he did the Great North Run in 1:32:11)
On numerous occasions following a race I would ask him how he done; he would quickly say something like, “ok” or “went well” and immediately ask me, or others how they done. He was very modest about his running exploits, instead asking how other people done. (by the way, at age 69 he did the Great North Run in 1:32:11)
I’ll
not go into the History of Wallsend Harriers here (click here for
the history) i’ll just add that Terry was one of the driving
forces in the mid 80′s, reviving Wallsend Harriers, putting them
back on the North East harriers map and subsequently helping to
improve North East athletics as a whole.
A
fantastic personality, cheeky humour (verging on sexist?? nah,
not ‘wor Terry. “there’s too many women in the club” ),
fantastic running achievements, a motivator, selfless, an inspiration
to all standards of runners, a dedicated family man and a really,
really decent bloke who I will miss loads.
I only knew him for three years or so but it feels like i’ve known him for a lot longer.
I only knew him for three years or so but it feels like i’ve known him for a lot longer.
Every
time I pull on my Wallsend Harrier vest and take up my familiar
‘middle of the pack’ starting position I’ll be looking skywards
and smile; knowing that Terry will be pushing me along when the going
gets tough.
So
then…a legend, an inspiration and a hero. As I mentioned
earlier, theses words are afforded to many people. Some deserving of
the accolade and some not so much. These words however ARE
Terry O’Gara and so much more.
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