Sort out your aches at new sports injury clinic

Talking Sport with Stephen Glennon

FORMER two-time National Marathon champion Michael O’Connor is not one to shirk from a challenge and, so, when the notion of setting up his own sports injury clinic – Muscle Maintenance – was suggested to him, he jumped at the idea.

Although O’Connor competed in school competitions when he was younger, he did not return to competitive action until his late 20s. However, in the space of six years, he ran 10 marathons from Boston to Berlin and in 2007 and ’08 he was crowned national marathon champion. In addition, he was part of the Galway City Harriers outfit that won the Irish team event at the ‘08 Dublin City Marathon.

Later that year, he retired from competition but the noted Ballinderreen athlete, who is coming out of retirement to run the Berlin Marathon in September, is still a recognisable figure on the local circuit, where he continues to run for leisure in various events.

“I retired in late 2008 but I have still been running almost every day since. Just not competitively racing or stuff,” begins the 41-year-old. “Obviously, setting up the new business, I have to get my name out there again. So, that is partly the reason behind making the comeback – if you would call it that.”

O’Connor hopes to take on the Berlin Marathon with his good friend and top Galway athlete Gary Thornton, who he runs with regularly. “We have been friends for a long, long time. I think the urge to come back was more the build-up to when Gary was in Rotterdam this year going for his times.

“So, I got a real buzz back on the running side of things. I had been doing the running – the training – with Gary but what was an easy run for him was a hard run for me. I really got a buzz back for it though. Hopefully, it will stay there.”

Along with investing his time in his comeback, O’Connor is also in the process of setting up his own sports clinic, which opens this week. Over the past couple of years, he has been undertaking courses on sports massage and sports therapy. His background in running at the top level should give him an unique insight into this area.

“I always wanted to get into the sports side of things. Everything I did has always been sports related, with the running and everything, but when the children came along I got stuck in a rout and it took me up until now to get myself sorted really.

“It was a friend of mine, Gary Higgins – he does a lot of triathlons and stuff – who said to me that Galway was crying out for a service from someone with my background. He said I was well-known [in athletics circles] and that I could maybe offer a better service than everyone else. He said there would be a great chance there for me.”

“So, he was probably one of the main people who pushed me on this; it was his idea really. When he mentioned it, I went straight on the phone and I ran the IMST (Institute of Massage and Sports Therapy) down in Limerick. They are supposed to be the best. I started with them last September 12 months.”

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.