Running Full Circle book launch
IRISH Runner magazine editor Frank Greally will visit Ballyhaunis this Thursday, December 10, to sign his book, Running Full Circle, in Gill’s Bar, Clare Street, starting at 9 p.m.
The Ballyhaunis native, who still holds the national junior 10,000 metres track record (30:17), set in the Morton Stadium in Santry in 1970, has just released his autobiography and on Thursday he will also be delivering a short presentation titled Running With Gratitude.
Greally’s autobiography is a revealing story of an athlete blessed with a rare talent for running who took the US scholarship route to America in 1972 along with his great friend and Galway native, Ray McBride.
However, the young Mayo man’s dreams of further athletic success came apart in the US when, chased down by the twin demons of depression and alcohol, he fell through the cracks of the collegiate system.
On returning home to Mayo and later going back to live in Dublin, he entered a long downward spiral that threatened his career, his marriage, his sanity and his very life.
Running Full Circle is an extraordinary story of how a restless spirit eventually found balance and peace and a way back to the primal joys of running that culminated last August in him running for 30 minutes and 17 seconds on the track in Santry to celebrate the 45th anniversary of his record run there in 1970.
“I am delighted to be coming home to Ballyhaunis to meet so many great friends and relations there,” Frank said. “I have great memories of growing up, working in the Post Office and competing with Ballyhaunis AC, a lot of which I cover in the book. I believe that home is wherever you start out from, and for me Ballyhaunis will always be my home place.
“We’ll tell a few stories and sing a few songs on Thursday night, when things will maybe come full circle.”
More than anything, Running Full Circle is a story of hope on what for Greally was a rocky road to redemption. His message comes across very clearly in Running Full Circle, as he encourages anyone experiencing the storms of life to 'never give up'.