Bertie Messitt

Bertie Messitt was Ireland’s leading long-distance runner in the late-1950s/early-60s, and between 1958-64 set 15 Irish records from two miles to the marathon, breaking eight records in 1958. Messitt also won 20 senior Irish titles at 3-, 6-, and 10 miles, as well as marathon and cross-country. His very first Irish title was in 1953 when he won the Novice Cross-Country Championship.

Messitt joined the British Army in 1946 and took up athletics after being posted to Jordan in 1948. After leaving the Army in 1952 he returned to Dublin and joined the Donore Harriers. Messitt had a simple training regime: he would run the 16 miles round trip each day from his home to the Donnybrook bus depot where he worked as a bus conductor. Messitt competed in the International Cross-Country Championships seven times between 1956-64, with a best finish of 19th at Cardiff in 1958. He also competed at the 1958 (5,000 and 10,000 metres) and 1962 (marathon) European Championships, and the 1960 Roma (Rome) Olympics.

In the historic 1960 Olympic marathon, Messitt kept up with leading group containing the eventual winner Abebe Bikila, before pulling out shortly after 15 miles. It was the first Olympic marathon to both start and finish outside the Olympic stadium, and the first to finish in darkness. Messitt founded the Donnybrook Athletic Club in 1977 and played a major role in the birth of the Dublin City Marathon in 1980. He ran his last marathon in New York at the age of 60

Personal Best: Mar – 2-28:42 (1960)