Roy Dooney (born 23 January 1958) is an Irish former runner, who came second at the 1991 Chicago Marathon. He won the 1992

Grandma's Marathon Grandma's Marathon (sport), Marathon (Grandma's) is an annual Road running, road race held each June in Duluth, Minnesota, Duluth, Minnesota, in the United States. The course runs point-to-point from the city of Two Harbors, Minnesota, Two Harbor ...

, and was a member of the Irish team that won the 1988 New York City road relay race.

Career

Dooney competed in nine

World Cross Country Championships World Athletics Cross Country Championships is the most important competition in international cross country running. Formerly held annually and organised by World Athletics (formerly the IAAF), it was inaugurated in 1973, when it replaced the In ...

in the 1980s and 1990s. In 1988, Dooney was part of the Irish team that won a relay road race event in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. Dooney was the only member of the four-man Irish team who was not living in the US at the time. He ran the third leg of the race, and completed his in a time of 36:41, a similar pace to Soviet runner Oleg Strizhakov who was in the lead with Dooney at the time. In 1989, Dooney came third at the

Pittsburgh Marathon The Pittsburgh Marathon (also known as Dick's Sporting Goods Pittsburgh Marathon for sponsorship reasons) is an annual road marathon usually held on the first Sunday in May in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the United States, first held in 1 ...

; after of the race, Dooney had been leading by one second. Dooney came second at the 1991 Chicago Marathon, behind Brazilian

Joseildo da Silva Joseildo Rocha da Silva (born 20 February 1965) is a Brazilian long-distance track event, long-distance runner. He won the 1991 Chicago Marathon, the marathon event at the 1991 South American Championships in Athletics, and the 1993 Los Angeles ...

. Dooney had been one of the favourites to win the race. Da Silva led for the whole race, and Dooney broke away from the chasing pack after , and caught da Silva after . Dooney was soon dropped by da Silva, and finished in a time of 2:14:39, one second slower than his

personal best A personal record, or a personal best (abbreviated to PB), is an individual's best performance in a given sporting discipline. It is most commonly found in athletic sports, such as track and field, other forms of running, swimming and weightlifting ...

time, and six seconds behind da Silva. Dooney also competed at the 1992 Chicago Marathon; once again Dooney was a favourite for the race, and he finished sixth in the race. In the same year, he won the

in a time of 2:13:25, after breaking away from American Chad Bennion within the last of the race. Dooney never ran faster than 2:13:25. Dooney failed to qualify for the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics (, ), officially the Games of the XXV Olympiad (, ) and officially branded as Barcelona '92, were an international multi-sport event held from 25 July to 9 August 1992 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Beginning in 1994 ...

, as he didn't reach the Irish qualifying time of 2:14:00 in the two qualification events. Dooney worked as a promoter for the

2002 IAAF World Cross Country Championships The 2002 IAAF World Cross Country Championships took place on March 23/24, 2002. The races were held at the Leopardstown Racecourse, Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, near Dublin, Ireland. Reports of the event were given in ''The New York Times'', ...

which were held in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, Ireland.

Personal life

Dooney is from

, Ireland. Roy Dooney's sons Conor and

Kevin Kevin is the anglicized form of the Irish masculine given name (; ; ; Latinized as ). It is composed of "dear; noble"; Old Irish and ("birth"; Old Irish ). The variant ''Kevan'' is anglicised from , an Irish diminutive form.''A Dictiona ...

are both Irish cross country runners. In 2014, Roy and Conor Dooney became the 13th father and son pair to have both competed for Ireland at the

European Cross Country Championships The European Cross Country Championships is an annual international cross country running competition. Organised by the European Athletic Association, it is the area championships for the region and is held in December each year. The championship ...

References

External links

ARRS
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dooney, Roy Living people 1958 births Place of birth missing (living people) Irish male long-distance runners Irish male cross country runners Athletes from County Dublin 20th-century Irish sportsmen