Richard Hooper (born 26 August 1956) is a former

long-distance runner Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least . Physiologically, it is largely aerobic in nature and requires stamina as well as mental strength. Within endurance running comes two d ...

from

Raheny Raheny () is a northern suburb of Dublin, Ireland, halfway from the city centre to Howth. It is centred on a historic settlement, first documented in 570 CE ( Mervyn Archdall). The district shares Dublin's two largest municipal parks, Saint ...

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

Career

He represented Ireland in the Olympic marathon in Moscow 1980, Los Angeles 1984 and Seoul 1988. He also represented Ireland four times in the European Championships - in Czechoslovakia 1978, Athens 1982, Stuttgart 1986 and Split 1990. He is a three-time record-holding winner of the

Dublin Marathon The Dublin Marathon is an annual 26.2 mile (42.2 km) road marathon in Dublin, Ireland, held on the last Sunday in October. Prior to 2016, the race took place on the last Monday in October, which is a public holiday in Ireland. Held each year ...

in 1980, 1985 and 1988 and he set his personal best time at the 1988 Irish National Championship in Wexford, clocking 2:12:19 finishing in 2nd place behind John Woods. He went on to win a record six national marathon championships winning his last in 1998 at the age of 42. He is the younger brother of marathoner

Pat Hooper Patrick Hooper (12 May 1952 – 9 October 2020) was an Olympian and long-distance runner from Raheny, Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Career He represented Ireland in the marathon at European and Olympic level. His marathon ''personal bes ...

,My Club: Raheny Shamrock AC by IAN O'RIORDAN, published by The Irish Times - Monday, October 26, 1998
/ref> and, having had a career in banking, also worked as a coach, and an athletics commentator on

Setanta Sports Setanta Sports is a sports television company based in Dublin, Ireland broadcasting throughout select Eurasian. The company was formed in 1990 to facilitate the broadcasting of Irish sporting events to international audiences. The company previ ...

and Irish TV.

Achievements

*All results regarding marathon, unless stated otherwise

References

1956 births Living people Irish male long-distance runners Athletes (track and field) at the 1980 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1984 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of Ireland People educated at St Paul's College, Raheny {{Ireland-athletics-bio-stub