ATHLETICS EUROPEAN CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS: It's the fans who give a home its advantage, and Santry is the only place to be tomorrow, writes Ian O'Riordan

‘CAN ANYONE open a lock without a key?” The 1979 World Cross Country is famous for lots of reasons, including the enormous crowds that showed up at the old Limerick racecourse that rainy day in March – and when this strange request was aired over the PA system it wasn’t long before several volunteers came forward. Evidently a small section of the crowd had gained entry through that same locked gate. Without a key. That’s how badly they wanted to get in.

Like any great sporting occasion, the number of people claiming to have been in Limerick that day 30 years ago has soared in the time since. They now say 30,000 were there. More likely 25,000. Either way, there was only one sporting event to be seen at that weekend. If they get half that crowd in Santry for tomorrow’s European Cross Country they’ll be doing well. Pity, because every sport relies on the occasional home advantage to thrive, and athletics is no exception.

The difference in athletics is that it happens only very occasionally. In 1979, Limerick presented a rare chance for athletes like John Treacy, Eamonn Coghlan, Danny McDaid and Donie Walsh to compete for championship honours in front of a home crowd, and, perhaps more importantly, presented the home crowd with the rare chance to see them in action. Treacy, by cosmic coincidence, had won the title in Glasgow the year before, and Coghlan was already well on his way to becoming the Chairman of the Boards.

McDaid and Walsh were stars in their own right. Pencil-thin, with an air of detachment, McDaid had run the Olympic marathons in 1972 and 1976.

Walsh also ran the Olympic marathon in 1972, to go with his legendary status on the track. In fact, competition for places in Limerick was so intense that Neil Cusack, winner of the 1974 Boston Marathon, was one of several big names not to make it. In the end, the men’s team was completed by Gerry Deegan, Mick O’Shea, Tony Brien, Ray Treacy and Eddie Leddy.

Once Treacy eased clear after the first lap, the crowd knew they had a home winner on their hands, and reacted accordingly. Seized by enthusiasm, they closed in on their champion. Treacy has often recounted his terror that the crowds were about to encroach the entire course.

Later, the roar of appreciation which greeted Treacy’s victory was marginally surpassed by the roar of approval which greeted the announcement that Ireland also finished second in the team race, behind England – and just ahead of the USSR and West Germany. It remains the only men’s team medal won by Ireland in the World Cross Country.

Truth is, they may never have won it without home advantage in Limerick that day.

“Definitely not,” says Walsh. “We always maintained if we got this event to Ireland we’d a great chance of winning medals, we’d do something. We’d a very experienced team. We were all good buddies, and competed for each other, rather than against. We’d hung around a lot together, having run a lot in the States.

“But that’s really my memory of that day, the crowds. Also the celebrations after. I mean they went on right into the night.”

McDaid is equally adamant running on home soil, in front of home crowds, made the difference. That’s the principle of home advantage and it worked a treat that day in Limerick.

“All the talk in sport nowadays is about being up for it,” says McDaid, “and every one of us was really up for it. Everybody wanted to make the team, to run in Limerick. At the time Gerry Deegan was training to run a four-minute mile, but he said that would mean nothing if he didn’t make the team. Once it was announced that Limerick would be hosting the cross country it was definitely the extra incentive to train harder.”

Earlier this week, McDaid and Walsh were in Dublin for a 30th anniversary celebration of their Limerick success, along with some other team-mates. Thoughts soon switched to tomorrow’s event in Santry, which for the first time is being staged on home soil, giving athletes like Mary Cullen, Martin Fagan and Fionnuala Britton the rare chance of competing for championship honours in front of a home crowd.

Coghlan, who last weekend spoke at a final squad session, believes home advantage can inspire them the same way it did the men of 1979. Provided the crowds come out too.

“Competing like that at home is completely unique, unlike competing anywhere else,” he says. “Running in front of a home crowd gets you fired up, much more than usual. It gets the adrenaline pumping, but also brings out all the emotions. You think about what other people will be thinking, being there to support you. All that just makes you feel you’ve got to compete at a level that you never competed before.

“One of the things I talked about at the weekend is that, for most of them, this will have been the hardest week ever, just waiting for Sunday to arrive. They’ll be wondering are they fit enough? Have they done the right things?

“My advice to them was that they had. Because this is the week when you can blow it as well, by doing too much training, or not getting enough rest, counting down the days.

“But this is the dream being fulfilled, to compete at a championship in front of a home crowd. And they can really draw from that crowd, draw on the positive energy.”

It has been heartening to hear Cullen talk about the chance to compete on home soil throughout the build-up to Santry. Although she’s been singled out as Ireland’s great medal hope, she hasn’t hidden behind the expectations; rather, she has embraced them. Part of that goes back to the summer months, when Cullen was laid low through illness and injury, with the thought of running in Santry sometimes the only thing that kept her going.

“To have an event like this in your home country doesn’t come around very often,” Cullen has said. “That was huge motivation right through the summer. I’m not going to lie. I’ve been training with the mindset of coming to Santry trying to win a medal. It’s going to be very difficult, but I’ll give it a good shot on the day.”

McDaid finished 11th in Limerick, the best run of career: “I had been thinking top-25,” he says. “Running at home made the difference. The crowd were up for it, and that’s the way it panned out for us too.”

Running at home also brings extra pressure, but the true athlete, says Walsh, will relish that.

“Na, you love pressure,” he says. “You must have a bit of pressure in life to really perform. If there’s no pressure there you’re only wasting your time. Pressure is just an incentive to do something. Sure, I’d love to be competing again on Sunday. In front of the home crowd and all that? You just know you’d have to give it your best.”

There is big pressure on Cullen to win a medal in Santry tomorrow, but she’s ready to embrace it. What might ultimately clinch it for her is the level of home support.

The European Cross Country may not be the only sporting event to be seen at this weekend, but it’s no good claiming to be there after the race is run.