DUBLIN CITY MARATHON 2011:Marathon Mission is trying to raise Irish marathon standards from off the floor, IAN O'RIORDANtalks to a driving force behind the project to promote a winning ethic, three-time Dublin City Marathon winner Dick Hooper

ONE OF the strangely unique things about any big city marathon is the way these masses of mostly highly-trained runners arrive at the start line for a race they have absolutely zero chance of winning.

Unless of course they're a Kenyan, an Ethiopian, or one of the other so-called elites, specially flown in from some far distant land.

Dublin is no exception – and for the vast majority of the 14,000 runners lining up on Fitzwilliam Street on Monday morning the only ambition is to finish, preferably somewhere within their target time.

No harm in that, although no harm either if there was some Irish interest closer to the front, at least jostling for the win. It wasn't always like this: 11 of the first 14 Dublin Marathons were won by Irish men; but the last 17 have all been won by foreigners. Sonia O'Sullivan did win the women's race in 2000, and thus remains the last Irish success of any sort on the day.

Sadly, it's now 12 years since an Irish man ran sub-2:20 in Dublin (that was Gerry Healy, who ran 2:15:37 in 1999, finishing second), and if you look at the top-20 fastest marathon times run in Dublin, both men and women, there's not a single Irish name among them.

Sadder still, of the top 12 fastest Irish marathon times ever, only two have been set in the last decade, and two in the 1990s. Six still stand from the 1980s, and two from the 1970s. The Irish women's statistics are just as startling – of the top 12 fastest times, only four have been set in the last decade, three in the 1990s, and the other five all in the 1980s, when women's marathon running was still considered an extreme event.

So what happened?

Sure, the Kenyans and Ethiopians have speeded things up, but at the same time Irish marathon runners definitely slowed down, for whatever reason. Fortunately, some people saw hope, and calling themselves the Marathon Mission, have already come to the rescue.

One of the running forces is Dick Hooper, who won the Dublin Marathon three times – including the first, in 1980, then again in 1985, and also 1986, when he clocked 2:13:48. His marathon best of 2:12:19, run in 1988, still places him fifth on the Irish all-time list. He's also finished second, third, fourth and fifth in Dublin, having run the race nine times altogether.

"Two years ago, when we started this mission, Irish marathon standards were really on the floor," says Hooper. "There were two problems. Firstly, no one was running fast times. Secondly, not enough of our good runners were trying the distance, properly identifying with it, or even being properly ambitious about it.

"So we brought together our thoughts and ideas, which we all thought were obvious. The reality is the marathon is an event Irish athletes can be good at, can make major championships, and that's what the Marathon Mission is all about."

As well as Hooper, the mission team comprises Jim Aughney, the Dublin Marathon race director, Eugene Coppinger, the elite-athlete coordinator, plus distance running coaches Teresa McDaid and Jim Davis, from Athletics Ireland.

The mission statement is simple: to nurture an environment for Irish marathoners that will lead to Irish runners qualifying for and competing with distinction in major championships (i.e. the London Olympics) and being competitive on an annual basis in the Dublin Marathon.

Easier said than done, however.

"The first thing for us to achieve was more depth," says Hooper. "Once you have depth in any event then more top performers start to come out. If you go back to the 1980s we had a lot of runners chipping in around 2:15, 2:16. Then a few 2:12 men emerged. Then John Treacy ran 2:09. That's what happens when you get the depth. Someone runs 2:15, and the others look over their shoulder and think, 'I used to beat him'. Monday's race will tell a lot, but I strongly believe there is something happening."

Indeed it is: two weeks ago Mark Kenneally ran 2:13:55 in the Amsterdam Marathon – over a full minute inside the A-standard for London of 2:15:00. Kenneally was one of the first runners to sign up for the Marathon Mission. Also, no Irish man broke 2:20 in 2010, yet so far in 2011, four men have (Seán Connolly, Gary Thornton, Thomas Frazer, and Kenneally), and they're all part of the Marathon Mission.

It's not a complicated or indeed expensive mission: the Dublin Marathon funds some overseas travel and medical back-up, but mostly just offers moral and motivational support:

"We've also bought some altitude tents," says Hooper, "and some of them have been using them. Mark Kenneally was, for example. They're about €5,000 each. But it's the winning ethic and philosophy we're trying to nurture.

"Some people buy into that more than others. They all have different coaches and different routines but we try to get them training together, at least once a month.

"For example, a few weeks back we had a group of them do a 23-mile run together, the likes of Connolly and Andrew Ledwith, all quality runners, yet chances are before they would have been doing that on their own, in some remote part of the country. Instead it was a very competitive run, and very invigorating to watch. That sort of group training is what drives the thing as well. Just look at the Kenyan system."

When Hooper won Dublin in 1980 he was only 24, had already run two national marathons (which he'd won), plus the Boston Marathon, in 1979, and the 1978 European Championship marathon and the 1980 Olympic marathon. He was, in other words, a marathon veteran, at only 24 – and it's no surprise he reckons too many Irish athletes unnecessarily delay the jump to the marathon.

"I firmly believe any runner with a good, firm work ethic can achieve something in the marathon. You'll always be limited by your speed on the track, but even with limited speed, it's possible to be world class in the marathon.

"I also think maybe in the 1990s some of our runners lost that drive, the commitment, to do that work. You can be a good 10km runner or cross-country runner, but the marathon does require the extra discipline and work load that not everyone is prepared to do."

Olympic qualification in the marathon shouldn't be that big a deal: the men's A-standard of 2:15:00, and women's A-standard of 2:37:00 might well be the softest of the lot.

In 2010, for example, 474 athletes worldwide ran the men's A-standard (compared to just 36 in the 400 metres, or 45 in the 100 metres). Likewise, 299 ran the women's A-standard (while only 33 ran it in the 400 metres, and 16 in the 10,000 metres).

Martin Fagan and Pauline Curley both made it to Beijing in 2008, although before that, there had been no Irish representation in the Olympic marathon since 1992. Incredibly, no Irish athlete has run the European Championship marathon since 1990.

"There are three places there for London, men and women, and our goal is to have three qualifiers in each," says Hooper. "I think we have five or six contenders now for the women's Olympic qualifying time, when you look at the depth that is starting to develop in the women's half marathon times.

"We have Maria McCambridge, Linda Byrne, Ava Hutchison, Rosemary Ryan, and Gladys Ganiel all running on Monday and I think that's a terrific line-up, and surely one of them will have to get the time."

Since 2003, the Dublin Marathon has also doubled as the National Marathon, although as if to add insult to injury, last year's champions were Sergiu Ciobanu, from Moldova (representing Clonliffe), and Barbara Sanchez, from France (representing Raheny). Ciobanu is back to defend his title, but Connolly has big ambitions this year, as does McCambridge in the women's race – who both happen to be coached by Hooper.

"I think Seán Connolly running this year will bring a new level of excitement. He's a realistic contender to qualify for London. There's another group just behind him, Joe McAllister, Greg Roberts, Alan O'Shea, Brian Maher, and I would expect all those to go under 2:20.

"I'm not sure if we'll ever get one of our own to win Dublin again, as every marathon in the world now is dominated by the Africans, but we can be competitive. If Connolly runs sub-2:15 on Monday he'll be top six, or top eight, and with the London qualification as well it won't look as embarrassing as perhaps it has in the last few years, when we've waited for 10 or 12 minutes after the winner for the first Irish man to come in.

"At least we're going in the right direction again, and what is important too is that the runners who don't get the time this year need to keep at it. We're calling it a mission, but we're also trying to develop a culture, so that more and more of our top runners are attracted to the event.

"So it's really a long-term project, driven by a short-term goal."

(Live coverage of Monday's race will be shown on RTÉ 1, from 9.15am-1.35pm)

THE LEADING WOMAN

MARIA McCAMBRIDGE (Letterkenny AC)

Age: 36.

Personal best: 2:35:29.

Target time: Sub-2:37:00.

Has enjoyed an excellent career in track and cross country, and married to former four-time Irish marathon champion Gary Crossan. A native of Rathgar, McCambridge has been living in Donegal in recent years, and last April, gave birth to their first son, Dylan. That hasn’t slowed her down as last month she ran a half marathon best of 73:49, and looks well capable of making her second Olympics, having run the 5,000 metres in Athens in 2004.

THE LEADING MAN

SEÁN CONNOLLY (Tallaght AC)

Age: 29.

Personal best: 2:17:23.

Target time: Sub-2:15:00.

After a promising junior career, and four years on scholarship at Iona College in upstate New York, Connolly was very nearly lost to the sport, until the Marathon Mission came calling. A graduate in finance, he’s been juggling his training with a full-time primary school teacher training course in Manchester.